The Search for Miss Direction: One last Ohio adventure...

Well if you saw any of the scores from yestrday you can only imagine that it was a rough night here at the Gatchel's. Tigers - lost. Michigan - crushed. The only bright spots in my night were that if we had to go down, so did MSU and OSU. Though along that same line, the Big Ten season almost looks like a joke! It could be a long college football season around here. And I don't want to invite more misery, but I'm terrified for my Tigers again tonight and then tomorrow the Royals (who we're behind in the ALCS at the moment) come into town for three games starting tomorrow night AND I'm tentatively keeping my fingers crossed about the Lions opener tomorrow night. Oh, and for the record, I wish I owned a satellite right now because if I did I would totally want to fly it over Detroit tomorrow night and take pictures of the complete chaos I am sure downtown is going to be with both of those games going on at the same time! If you're not familiar, Comerica Park and Ford Field are literally right across the street from each other. I've already heard about some epic tailgating that is going to be going on. If I didn't have kids :-p

But enough sports (I know, blasphemous!) It was another adventure filled day at the Gatchel's as we headed out this morning to check out the Art and Apples Festival in Rochester. We went last year and saw lots of fun stuff so wanted to go back again. The talent people have - it amazes me! There were all kinds of artists with everything from furniture to clothing on display. And it was a gorgeous day to just get out and enjoy it. After the heat Friday it has cooled down considerably and Fall is definitely in the air, Didn't make any purchases (other than a maple root beer Grant really wanted to try) this time, but we still had fun.

When we got home I put together tonight's dessert of Shaker Lemon Pie. Our last Ohio meal has a 'simpler life' take on it and this pie (also known as Ohio Lemon Pie) is said to be a specialty of the Ohio branch of the Shaker community . Let the record show that this pie and I are not friends. First, it reinforced my belief in never using store bought pie crust when I can avoid it. The crust and I had quite the battle when I went to unroll it and I didn't get the pretty pie I was hoping for. The fact that the filling leaked out and burnt my hand when I took it out of the oven pretty much pushed me over the edge.

I was just getting over the burn when I heard Noah crying in his room. Now as a Mom I can and have dealt with quite a bit that doesn't phase me. Leaky diapers, spit-up everywhere, poo explosions - no problem. This one though was beyond me. Thank goodness Grant was home today as my track record of being a 'sympathetic puker' left me calling for his help on this one. Poor NJ. We're not sure right now what the deal is - he had been complaining of his throat bothering him but he is not and has not been running a fever. So not exactly sure what made him sick. He's noshed on a couple of popsicles since then and says he feels 'fine' so guess we will reassess overnight and in the morning. Oh how I love being a Mom some days. (And seriously, thank goodness for Grant. I didn't manage to keep my own cookies in check from just seeing it, no way I could have dealt with the clean-up. And both Grant and I reassured Noah many times it wasn't his fault and we were not angry, that I'm just crazy. hehehe)

With Noah settled the Bean and I started getting her ready for her big day tomorrow! We picked out the perfect polish to match her dress and got her all snazzed up. Not sure if the kiddo is going to be able to sleep tonight she is so excited! Me, I'm just hoping I can get out of the building before losing it.

Dinner tonight was Amish Poor Man's Steak and Spaetzle. (Note, I had intended to use this recipe, but snagged some authentic spaetzle when we were out this morning instead as I used all the eggs in the pie and making sure I had enough for Kayla's request of scrambled eggs for breakfast on her first day.) Grant adores meatloaf and I thought this would be a close second and pay tribute to Amish Country in Ohio. Glad that I had taken a look at the recipe last night since it had to set up bu it was worth it since everyone here liked it. And the pie? Well, the pie and I continued to do battle. In Grant's words "The inside is good, except that the lemon rinds didn't soften at all and are pretty much inedible." Touche pie, touche. I wasn't upset because I'm fairly positive the pie has had it out for me from the get go, and decided this wasn't the hill that I wanted to die on. I trashed the rest of it and we had ice cream and Girl Scout Crunch Bars (thanks Morgan!) You win some you lose some, right?

Today's been kind of a roller coaster and I'm struggling with tomorrow a bit more than I thought than I would be. While I'm OK with the Bean going 3 days instead of 2 this year, it has suddenly become more real that this time next year she'll be gone all day, too. And what's this Mama going to do??? The thought terrifies me more than a little. But, on the positive side of that is I've now got a whole year to figure it out. Speaking of years.... I'm not quite ready to make the official announcement but I am 99% sure that I have come up with next year's project. And it is something completely different than I've mentioned to anyone so far. I think I'll be ready to make it official later this week, so stay tuned! I know there will be no topping this one, and I'm OK with that. But I think I've come up with a good choice based on who I've got home with me when and how busy we are now. Noah starts Scouts and CCD (or whatever it is called here), which is going to take up two nights every week for the whole school year, I've got MOPS and PTA, Grant's busy with work and my little social butterfly thrives on playdates, so hopefully this will be a little less intense and involved. (haha, I say that now, anyone who knows me knows I say that and it'll be GIGANTIC when all is said and done.) Anyway, more on that later in the week. Say and extra prayer for my adorable four year old (and her Mama!) in the morning if you think about it. I'll post her first day pictures earlier in the day and then we officially kick off the 46th state to join the Union - the Sooner State of Oklahoma- tomorrow! So until then...

Ohio Fun Fact of the Day: Ohio senator John Glenn became the oldest man to venture into outer space.On February 20, 1962 he was the first American to orbit the earth. In October of 1998 at age 77 he returned to the space program and traveled back into space.