Circleville Pumpkin Show

I really enjoy a good festival or fair, and Ohio seems to be full of them. Circleville, OH (population about 14,000) is home to the largest pumpkin festival in the U.S., so of course we went to check it out last Saturday. After being tempted by the largest pumpkin pie I've ever seen,we went to see this year's winner for biggest pumpkin (1,635lbs) and the traditional pumpkin tree.

There was a man who grew pumpkins in a steel mold that was created in 1903 for the specific purpose of making face shaped pumpkins. There are apparently only two in the world, and he has them both.
One of the day's highlights was the pumpkin pie eating contest. Michael was disappointed that it was only for kids under 16. The winner for the girls was the defending champion from 2008. Her whole family came from North Carolina for the festival, and her younger sister (or cousin?) came in second. No one felt badly for the girl from Michigan (go figure) even though she put her whole heart and face in it, literally.
Check out these HUGE pumpkins!!
Not at all pumpkin related, but the army and air force was recruiting at the festival. As I couldn't do a pull-up or even hold myself up for 30 seconds, they weren't interested in me.
If you're in Ohio next October, you should be sure to check out this classic.

Today's highlight

Subbing has been going really well. I get to read a lot, and I get to experience a variety of classrooms. This is the list so far:
- elementary music
- high school choir
- h.s. reading
- middle school math
- m.s. science
- kindergarten
- m.s. ESL
- h.s. family and consumer science
- h.s. band
- alternative school
- and m.s. art

It certainly is an eclectic mix. One great thing about working with the younger kids is hearing the funny things they say. In today's art class, the highlight for me had to be when I told a 6th grader that his paper mache spider looked really good. He replied, "Both my parents have PhDs in entomology." Then he went on to tell me their whole history: Harvard, Cornell, Madagascar, etc. He was so serious, and I just wanted to start laughing as he told me about some giant Rhino beetle or something they have hanging above their fireplace. It was great :)

My cheesy quirk

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I love cheese. Okay, many people who know me know I love cheese. However, not many people know this. Though I love almost all cheeses, the one I eat the most is American cheese (so processed, so not good for me). It isn't because I like it the best; it's just cheap and easy. I don't know when it started, but as far back as I can remember, I've always had the habit of folding the cheese slice in half four times until I have a stack of sixteen tiny little processed cheese pieces. Then I eat them one at a time. It's weird, right?

Yum!

Facebook is being stupid

So, I've been trying since yesterday to upload some pictures to Facebook, and it keeps failing. I will just post them here instead. Stupid Facebook!! Anyway, this is a picture heavy post, but I hope you enjoy.

Polo's new favorite spot is on top of his crate. He has to crawl through the bars to get there.

Michael holds Polo after a bath.

He loves his chew sticks.

I wanted to take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors on one of our walks.

I wanted to get some shots of Polo with the beautiful background, but he kept sticking too close or getting distracted by smells.

Movie Trailers

Michael and I went out for a movie and dinner date night on Friday. We ate at Cotters in downtown Columbus and then walked across the street to Arena Grand theater to see Couples Retreat. It was the first theater I've been to that has a bistro and bar inside. The movie was pretty good. It was funny with some good messages about marriage. I don't know about you, but one of the things I love about going to see a movie in a theater is the previews. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to completely forget what I saw previews for by the time the movie starts. I'm trying to work on remembering, and this time I saw two previews that interested me. I thought I'd share.
It's Complicated stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. IMDB describes it as "a romantic comedy in which two men vie for the affection of a woman." You can check out the official trailer here: It's Complicated official trailer
Or watch this one.


The other movie, Date Night, stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell and Mark Wahlberg. Unfortunately, the trailer is not available online yet, but you can check out this Access Hollywood interview with Tina and Steve.

I love fuzzy socks

I wish I could remember which of my fabulous roommates first gave me fuzzy socks, but I've been buying and wearing them ever since. I have a few pairs of slippers, but I rarely use them because fuzzy socks are so superior. They are the best for keeping my feet warm on cold nights. They're soft and comfortable for wearing around the house. And I think I've convinced a few other friends along the way to get their own. It may be a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but they make great stocking stuffers. Target usually has some fun ones in stock, like these.