County Fair Time

This summer Matt and I are exploring our new region. And anything that we can do that doesn't require much driving is even better. Sooo, we went to our county fair. This fair had all sorts of advantages:

A. Matt's bank sponsors the fair so we got two free tickets (yay!)

B. The fairgrounds are about 4 blocks from our apartment so we walked saving even more on parking!

C. There was the possibility of elephant ears (and we all know how I feel about elephant ears!!!)

D. The intrigue of an activity called "cricket spitting"



So for the family members and friends who questioned the cricket spitting, I didn't actually see any crickets or other insects being spat out, but here's proof. We did see the Mutts gone Nutts, which was really cute and advocated for adopting pets from humane societies, a great idea.





The theme of the fair was "Year of the Corn" so this picture made perfect sense. The corn was yummy too.



I think this picture sums up our fair experience. Matt holding an elephant ear in front of the grandstand while truck pulling was going on (Bret Michaels was there the next night; we didn't go.) I thoroughly enjoyed my biennial elephant ear.

Yay for County Fairs!!!!! Support Local Businesses and Local Activities!!!

I'm still here!

Sorry for the lack of blogging. Life has just been kinda crazy. Good, but crazy. I've been student teaching since August and then I'll be done before Christmas. Whereas my Wisconsin fellow students will be done mid-January! Ha! I'm not gloating, well, maybe a little.

Matt is now the ancient age of 31. Of course, in a few months, I'll be the same age but for right now, I'm still the youthful age of 30. I don't know what 30 is supposed to feel like but I certainly don't feel 30. Maybe like 24-25. I might feel that way because I'm in college but even when I wasn't I didn't feel my age. I suppose that's a good thing but I have to remind myself of my actual age sometimes. However, when dealing with teenagers, I often think, "They're 16 -18 and I'm 30. That means I'm almost twice their age and heck if I'm going to let them beat me!" It's my little peptalk and it does a pretty good job.

Ok, back to Matt's birthday. Here is his cake that I made. It's a red velvet cake with orange frosting and Scooby Doo decorations. Yes, he turned 31 but he is definitely a kid at heart and I love that about him.

Here he is with his cake.

Interior shot of the cake. I must admit, one of the most unusually colored cakes I've ever made, seen, or eaten.

News

There has been something that has been weighing on my heart for a while. Even though I love my current job and generally enjoy what I do, I feel as though I'm being called in a different direction. Although topically similar. I love history. There is no denying that fact. Sometimes, it feels like history is flowing through me like my blood. I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't enjoy history. It hurts my heart when I hear people say that they hate history. (now, I hate math but that is a completely different matter. I'm certain that when I say that, it doesn't hurt my dad's heart (math teacher)) Just kidding, Dad!!

History, to me, ties all people together. It is the great connector. History can be great events: war or small events: rising gas prices. It can affect two people in completely different ways depending on those individuals' personal histories. And to me, that is fascinating.

History is more than the study of events; it is the study of the human heart. What makes people react in certain ways to certain events? If you were a recently freed slave in the 1860s, how would you feel? How would you react? How about if you were a slave owner? How would you feel? Regardless of where or when a person lived, we all react with the same range of emotions.
Greed, hate, love, lust, anger, jealousy, kindness, compassion, and pain have been around for millennia. All of human history has at least one of these emotions involved, if not more.

So, after this diatribe on my passion for history, I'm resigning from the history museum and returning to college to get my teaching license. I'm just a few credits shy and it will take roughly 2 semesters of classes plus one of student teaching. I told my executive director yesterday and gave my month's notice and she accepted it well (I had mental images of her yelling at me and telling me to leave but I knew she wouldn't do that!) She agreed, I have to follow my heart and she wished me well.

Matt is completely supportive. He has been wonderful through this entire process. I'm constantly amazed at his supportiveness and can only hope that I return it in some small manner. (He's also excited about being with a college girl and that I now get the student rate at movie theaters!!)

I should have my schedule worked out soon. I also might have an on-campus job already. They need some help in the school museum and the regional archives located on-campus.

So in less than a month, I'm returning to school (again). I'm attending UW Platteville (Home of the Pioneers) and am looking forward to it although I'm looking forward to having it finished more than anything else. I would like to teach jr high/high school history. I think I can help the most in those grades and younger than that I would also have to teach math. Bleh! Hopefully I can help explain that history is not singular, unrelated events but rather a long string of interconnected events. And help to bring it to life for my students: even if that means wearing funny clothes!

So that's my news!

A Fair Weekend!!

Very punny, Mer, very punny!



It was a fair weekend: Matt and I went to 2 (two)!!



Yay for fairs! I love fairs. They are just fantastic!! We went to the fair in our small town (the only community one in Illinois) and had a great time! Last year I entered a couple of canned goods: beet jelly and pickled beets. I won first for my pickled beets (thanks to Aunt Genny's recipe) and my beet jelly took second because some other woman had violet jelly. Violet jelly? What a waste of sugar!!! (Does anyone else remember making sugared violets? And if you have never heard of them, they are exactly what they sound like: boring pieces of sugared flowers) Anyhow, last year I was quite perturbed that I lost. I eventually stopped muttering, "Second, second? Violets, violets?" and started coming out of the basement more and more. Ha!

This year I didn't enter because I don't have too many canned goods to enter and I mistakenly opened the jar of chili sauce I was going to enter. Oh well.



But enough of my contest woes. This year we just went and had fun. The best part is saying hello to all of the animals: sheep, goats, and cows. They also had truck pulling, which is a sport I don't get. But it was still neat.



That was Friday night. Saturday night we went to Wisconsin to a county fair.
Now that was F-U-N!! I haven't been to a county fair in years!!!!! The rides, the food, the exhibits, the carnies (small hands, smell like cabbage) Oh such much fun!!!!!!

We also went to say hello to the animals! We're just like that. You know those people that actually say "hello" to the animals as if they know English? Yeah, that's us (well, me at least!).
We looked at all the dairy cattle (we're in Wisconsin, so there were a lot. And please ignore those commericals for California cheese, our cows are far happier than any other cow!!!!)
We looked at pretty Jerseys, Guernseys, Brown Swiss, Red and Black Holsteins and who knows what else. I like cows.
Then we went to the goat/sheep barn and a strange occurrence happened. At first it was just the goats. Matt and I thought that it was because I had a gyro for supper. The goats kept coming up to me and nibbling. On my dress, on my fingers, whatever they could find. They would come to me from other side of the pen. We thought since I had a gyro, maybe I smelled like goat??? And my dress was flower print, so maybe they thought it was actual flowers?? Some of them even ran (or trotted) over to me!!!! (I have the same effect on men:)

But then the sheep starting doing it!!!!!!! All of them let me pet them like dogs. It was very funny. And odd. So now my name is "Mer of the Goat People." All goats and sheep were strangely drawn to me.

Except that sheep do call for Matt: "Maaaaat, Maaaaat." According to him.

We also saw the awarding winning Swiss Cheese (remember, Wisconsin)
And I had ice cream (Wisconsin)
Matt had corn (Wisconsin)

All it all, it was a very fair fair!!!!

This weekend there is a fair in Iowa. Wonder if they'll have elephant ears? I am on a years' long quest for elephant ears. I have been craving one for at least 4 years. There weren't any at our fair and only funnel cakes in Wisconsin, elephants being a foreign creature and therefore protected by the Anti-Margarine Code of 1889. We even asked around for elephant ears but no one had any. Some people didn't even know what they were! I could find a deep-fried twinkie or snickers bar but no elephant ear. What is wrong with this picture!!!!!!

Ok, someone please tell me that you have been to a fair recently and have at least seen elephants ears being sold! Otherwise I might go back to the basement......

"E" is for the way I enjoy you
"L" is for the way I love you
"E" is for your yumminess when I eat you.....

and that's enough. You get the picture!
Elephant Ear, Stat!