friends through THICK and thin

I love this group...a shot from last night's bunko...this group includes people who:

• I've taught with.


• I run with.


• are Ohio State fans.


• are Penn State fans.


• are in a book club with me.


• I've babysat for.


• share the love of blogging with me.


• are still teachers.


• are pharmacists.


• hash with me.


• have gorgeous children!


• play Bunko!

spreading myself beyond the PSU lines...

so, i've NEVER, in my entire life, been a fan or patron of the Ohio State Buckeyes. i grew up in a small town, Jeannette, Pennsylvania, until i was 4, where we had a buckeye tree growing in our yard. my only real influence of buckeyes was with that tree, collecting them in a small plastic swimming pool and playing with them. they weren't edible nuts (though a relative of the chestnut) but they were kind of fun to play with because they were hard, made a cool noise when knocked together, and were especially fun to run your hands through if you had a huge pile of them. but i digress...

the OSU Buckeyes have always been an enemy of mine, consider the following facts:

• I am a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University.

• PSU and OSU are both in the Big Ten.

• OSU usually beats PSU in the season. They didn't this year.

• I am from Pennsylvania and have some family and friends from Ohio...forming a natural rivalry.

• A lot of Ohio State fans I know, have always been a little negative toward my boyfriend, JoePa.

However, with all of this against me ever doing anything positive in the light of the Buckeyes, i've turned over a new leaf. i present to you:

YES! You are seeing what your eyes are telling you. I did bake a cake and make it into an Ohio State "O." if it weren't for the cold, hard fact that a friend from Bunko, Carrie, was a HUGE Ohio State fan, this never would've happened. however, carrie, who has been a part of this group since it started (3+ years), is moving to Ohio in January and we're all very sad to see her go. last night, at her last bunko, we gave her a little sayonara with a "Virginia-themed" gift and an Ohio State cake. Carrie, we will miss you...and you've seen another side of me that may NEVER happen again...but should be cherished in all of it's Ohio State glory.

Hope you enjoyed the other side of my leaf. I will be returning to my usual buckeye inspiration (the nut) for the rest of time.

a PLIABLE question...

interestingly enough, ears were the topic of a short conversation at bunko last night...in a rather amusing context, jodi asked everyone sitting at our table if their ears were soft or hard at the tops. we all immediately took our ears and attempted to bend them because jodi continued by telling us that her boyfriend made fun of her ears because they were rather rigid and his were more of the floppy type.

if you've never really thought about this, i urge you to reach up to your own ears now and notice if they're floppy and pliable at the tops, or if they're more of the rigid, hard-to-bend types. it's an interesting question and something to experiment with when you're around your husband, wife, children, boyfriend or girlfriend.

funny...we talk about the most random things. did you hear that?