Birthday with The Buckeyes

The older I get, the less I like crowds.  It isn't because I have a phobia or anything.  It's just that people have become more rude over time and don't have respect for others around them.  So what does someone that doesn't like crowds do to celebrate their birthday?  Well, she goes and spends it with 104,982 of her closest "friends"!
 
Yes, that's right, I celebrated my birthday over the weekend with more than 100 THOUSAND people at Ohio Stadium watching the Ohio State Buckeyes play the San Diego State Aztecs.  Talk about a thrilling day!!!

Zach, my son, and I are H-U-G-E Bucks fans!!!  I mean to the point that if you don't like football, don't even think about coming around our house on Saturdays during college football season because you won't be welcomed.  We promised each other last year, that this would be the year we forked over the money (those tix are NOT cheap) and make the drive to a game.  With as many hours as I work between job #1, job 2 and Stitchnmomma I decided it was well worth the money as a birthday present to myself!

We figured if we were going to make the drive, we would make an adventure out of it.  Some of the people at my job #1 told me where to park to tailgate.  We didn't tailgate, but it was an experience watching the other fans while we were walking around.

Once we arrived in Columbus and parked, the day started with a walk down Lane Ave. to check out the sights.  As we drove straight down there after Zach got home from his 3rd shift job, breakfast was in order.  And what do you do for breakfast?  Well you have beer & burgers at The Varsity Club. 

After "breakfast" we walked around some more, including past St. John's Arena down to Ohio Stadium and all the way around the stadium so we could check it out.  If you're a fan, it's a magical place to be!

We still had 3+ hours before game time and were trying to decide what to do.  After speaking with a very friendly usher, we agreed to quickly make the trek back to St. John's Arena to watch the "Skull Session" that the marching band does before each game.  I took video on my digital camera (for the first time ever) and evidently I can't convert it to a file type that can be shared.  So, I found one from the prior week's game on YouTube.  You can check it out here.

Still time left before the game, so we headed back to the stadium to watch the team warm up & practice.  Oh yeah, and to get some pics before it got really crowded.

And crowded is exactly what it was!!  It's all bleacher style seating, and you're packed in there like sardines.  I spent about 1/2 the game actually standing on my seat and leaning on the concrete wall behind me so I could see over the big guys in front of me.   

Not only was it a home game that happened to fall on my birthday, but it was also weekend for the band alumni to come in.  More than 700 past members of TBDBITL (The Best Damn Band In The Land) came in for the game.  They performed at the skull session, at the half-time show and throughout the game.  The oldest member to perform was 95-years-young!!!

Since there were HUNDREDS of marching band members (see pic above), during the half-time show they did the famed Script Ohio as a quadruple script.  You can see it in my pic below, and if you actually want to watch them perform it, check out this YouTube video here.

The Bucks won with a score of 42-17, so we were all happy.  And I'm pleasantly surprised I didn't encounter one rude person the entire day!  Needless to say it was a really LONG day.  In fact about 17 hours from the time we left the house to drive there until we got back home.  I'm so glad I had the experience of seeing a game in person at "The Shoe", but will also be happy to watch the game next Saturday from the comfort of my recliner.  :)

As a side note, I unfortunately found out while I was there the memory card for my digital camera is only 512mb.  I'm sure you can tell I don't take a lot of pics except for my xstitch stuff, which immediately get downloaded and saved, so it wasn't something I really thought about.  I had to delete some misc. pics I took of some of the tailgating vehicles, signs, etc. so I'd have room for the pics I shared here and the video during the skull session.  I'll make sure before my next trip somewhere I get a card with more memory!!

GO BUCKS!!!
 



 

Ahoy thar mateys!

First, let me apologize (once again) for being absent from my blog so much.  Between jobs #1 and #2 I'm working almost 80 hrs/wk.  When I'm not working I'm trying to stay away from the computer to keep up with stitching custom pieces and dyeing fabric for the shop.  It seems I have no time for even the basics like doing laundry, washing dishes, dusting the house, etc.  However, with it being a long holiday weekend here in the U.S. and me being lucky enough to have Thursday & Friday off from job #1 (too bad I had to work long shifts at job #2!!!), I decided to actually go have some fun!!!  I know, shocking, right?

One of the things that has been on my unwritten bucket list is to attend the Tall Ships Festival they have nearby in Cleveland, OH once every few years.  The last time they held one was in 2010.  Since it doesn't come around very often, Zach and I decided it was a must do, as who knows when we could do it again.  I took lots of pics while I was there, and promised my fans that follow my Facebook page that I'd put them all in a blog post for everyone to see.  

Last summer we were dealing with severe drought in N.E. Ohio, this year it's the never-ending rains.  So we donned our ball caps & sunglasses (a girl can hope, right?) and off we went.  Hope you enjoy our little trip....

Proud Momma w/her son.  That's Lake Erie about 4 feet behind us.

Hmmm...what do I want to blow up????  Do you think it still works??

One of the small lighthouses along the break wall at Port of Cleveland

A couple of the tall ships sailing on Lake Erie

I guess if you don't have a rain poncho/coat for your kids you can always make one out of an old bag.  LOL!

Absolutely LOVED this stateroom!!

The only thing resembling a life boat I could find.  Do you think all the crew members can fit on there?

Found these plants tucked away beneath some stairs.  I guess when you're on the water for weeks/months at a time, you still want to see some greenery.  :)

Am fascinated w/all the ships bells

Neat storage for all the flags

The wheel house.  Loving all the wood and the skylights!

They had some beautiful stained glass panels on the lower level of the ship.  This is the one I liked best.  You know me and my bright, vibrant colors.  :)

You can see it really was raining.  We both went home with soggy shoes.  But as Zach said the minute we got out of the car and started walking in the rain....."If it ain't rainin', we ain't trainin'!"  Gotta love those Army sayings!

I have no clue what these directional thingys are called, but I thought they were fascinating, along with all the wooden wheels and beautiful brass bells.  I took several pics of them.  And yes, I know, I could Google it, but that's OK.

The closest we came to seeing a pirate flag on a ship, lol!

I found it rather ironic to see a jar of cigarette butts hanging below the emergency fuel shutoff!

An informational poster about the ship that most of these pictures are from.  We toured a total of 3 ships and I took almost all the pictures on just the Peacemaker.

We were both slightly disappointed as we were expecting more "Pirates of the Caribbean" type ships.  Some of them were wood ships w/fiberglass decks.  Very few of them actually had wooden decks.  They were also much smaller than we expected.  Either way, it was still a good time, and a nice break from the crazy work weeks I've had for the past 9 months.  Glad we took the time to go. :)

Punkin Chunkin

Years ago I saw a show on the Discovery Channel called "Punkin Chunkin".  It was really pretty cool.  People build different types of contraptions that hurl pumpkins through the air to see who can get them to fly the farthest.  They have several different categories, including trebuchet, catapults and air cannons.

It amazes me how far you can get a pumpkin to fly!  The current world record in the Adult Air Cannon category is 4,483.51 feet.  That's like 3/4 of a mile (a mile is 5,280 feet)!!!

Unfortunately since I got rid of my cable package we can't watch this year's episode.  :(  Guess I'll have to wait for additional videos, like this one, to come out on YouTube.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTr4nwsYRv8&feature=youtube_gdata

And if you're in the Bridgeville, DE area you should try to get down there and see it.  It is November 2-4th this year and is something that is on my Bucket List as a fun event for sometime in the future.

Sand Sculpting...Art for Big Kids!

I think just about every person at one point in their life attempts to build a sand castle.  Mine never turned out so well.  I mean how hard can it be to take a bucket of sand and make it stay in the same shape as the upside down bucket, if you can get it to come out of the bucket the right way?  Evidently it's pretty hard for some of us as mine were either too wet and slid back down into the sand or were too dry and blew over.  

I'm amazed by the talent & skill some sand artists have that produces awe inspiring, massive sand sculptures.  One of the items on my "bucket list" is to make it to one of those amazing sand sculpture festivals they have around the world (downside of living in N.E. Ohio...we have nothing that cool going on!).  Until I strike it rich in the lottery, I'll be forced to look at pictures of them online.  

I've found a great article through ChicagoNow.com that has photos of 88 fantastic sculptures.  I've included some of them here for you to ooh and aah over.  If you'd like to see more of them, just click here and you'll go to the photo gallery of them.