Back on the Job

Tap, tap, tap. Anyone still out there? Man, I needed a break. And obviously, I took it.

We're back in Colorado after 2 1/2 weeks in Ohio, which was very fun. But I did notice that my Mom had developed a nervous tic in her eye by the end of the trip.

As I was looking back at our pictures, which I'll post a link to here in a sec, I realized that this trip was mostly about seeing people as opposed to going places. It was a very different trip from last year when the boys and I went a few days early to Ohio, but then Eamonn joined us and we went to Niagara Falls and Eamon and Nicole's wedding. That was a vacation trip. This turned out to be more of a visiting trip. Not that we didn't have fun--we definitely did--but you'll see in the pictures that it's all about the people!

According to the boys, the Ohio State Fair was definitely a highlight of their trip. I was all excited about it, too, until I was actually there and having to try to appease two boys who are separating in terms of their levels of interest on things. Finn is still happy to do the kiddie rides. Declan is more interested in trying more of the "big kid" stuff. Frankly, even if Finn did want to do bigger rides, he's not tall enough for most of them. So there was a lot of compromising going on at the fair this year and they were both good sports. In years past, Eamonn and I would divide and conquer, which is good, because I don't really relish going on too many rides that I know have been assembled on site in a matter of hours. My Dad was with us for a few trips down the Giant Slide. I am happy to announce that I did not "scream like a girl," as I have been accused of doing in the past.

I will now be entering a detox program for people who have consumed too much Donatos Pizza and Graeter's Ice Cream. I lost count of how much Graeter's I ate. Donatos--twice. Sushi. First Watch (my poached eggs on my caps were a little overdone, which made me sad, but oh well, the conversation was second to none). Ice cream at the fair. Homemade ice cream at Grandpa's. Numerous bowls of popcorn with Mom while watching Midsomer Murders at night.

Number of workouts while in Ohio? One walk. I did go horseback riding, but the horse did most of the work.

My fat pants are snug. It's a little alarming.

One of my big goals on this trip was to record my Grandpa talking and telling some of his infamous stories. I remember my Dad tape recording my Great Grandparents when I was about Finn's age and I wanted to do the same with my Grandpa, who I think, as I've talked about before, is pretty much the greatest person in the world. I mean, who is 96, still buys rental properties as investments, and does all of the necessary clean up himself? I need to take a lesson from that.

Anyway, over the years, there are a few things I've realized when generations pass on. First, their stories mostly go with them. Yes, there are the timeless tales that get passed down, but the details and nuances that the original storyteller adds go missing. And also, I just miss hearing their voices--their funny laughs, their dry delivery, their little sayings. I miss that. And, belive it or not, I come from a very funny line of people. My Great Grandpa Moffitt, who lived into his 90s and died when I was a freshman in college, was a character like you wouldn't believe.

So blah, blah, blah, the bottom line is that I wanted to record Grandpa and some of his stories before it was too late. Not that he's unhealthy or anything, but whether you're 96 or 26, I'm infamous for procrastinating and then regretting not doing stuff like this and I didn't want to miss my chance. And if I get to record Grandpa until he's 106 now, I'll feel very, very lucky.

I did buy a new camcorder to get all this done and the boys and I had fun experimenting with it and then recording Grandpa. I did discover that the microphone on it is so sensitive that it picked up all of my jabbering relations in the background. And kids, including my own, seemed to like to stand right in front of me while filming. I needed one of those "on air" lights. Or a dart gun.

Anyway, the camera is totally cool and I love it. It's a Panasonic, 60 GB hard drive, 75x optical zoom and a battery life of about 2 hours, which dramatically beats the 3.3 minutes we were getting on our old camera. The fact that it's about the size of my hand is a bonus. I haven't downloaded any footage yet. But I'm lazy that way. I'll probably get to that right before my next trip to Ohio. Also, I need to backup my laptop's hard drive first because I have some concerns about its, um, behavior lately.

So, now that you've held on through all of that rambling, you can check out the pictures HERE. And just a note about the captions on the picture, when I was particulary verbose (which happens a lot, as you know), you'll see the caption end in . . .Just hold your cursor arrow over the caption and you'll be able to see the whole thing. Because I wouldn't want you to miss any of my electrifying wit.

In a photographic bonus, I'll be back soon with pictures from Karen and Neil's visit in July. I realized I never posted them! Now those will be some serious scenery shots.