It Still Hurts

We are buckeye fans... no doubt about it! Sue was born in Columbus and I was raised there. The horseshoe is a shrine. Our colors are scarlet and gray. We were raised under the influence of Woody Hayes. But after a week of pain and heartache... it's time to talk about it.

I am tired of being embarrassed on national TV. It hurts when that Cincinnati NFL "what's his name" quarterback talks about his Alma mater being so much better than ours and we are the most over-rated team in the nation. Well last Saturday night we looked like it, and it looked like he was right...

But he's not and neither are any of those other "experts" across the land who are trashing our team. I know that our marching band could have played better than the team last week, but we have the best coach in the land (a friend of mine knows him on a first name basis) and the season is young. I trust Coach Tressel will use his faith to say and do the right things (this is not just about football). I trust that our guys will stop reading and listening to the press (good and bad) and just play to their potential. Let's put last Saturday where it belongs, in the past. But let's learn from it too.

Well another Saturday is just around the corner, and we will get out our colors and wear them proudly. The OSU flag is still waving in our front yard and we're ready to cheer our guys on as they "fight the team across the field..." By the way, we can wait until next year, when those California guys come to our house. And does anyone know where Troy is...? Go Bucks!

A Week Full of Fun

On Sunday, August 24th, we packed up and headed south to visit our family in Columbus (OH) and Colfax (NC). Arriving at Angel's we were treated to an evening of pizza (one of Angel's super salads) and a restful night with Angel, Amee, Kerri and Greg. The next morning, we were off to see the rest of our clan in North Carolina. We got in to Colfax late on Monday, but we were all energized with a hugs and kisses reunion. Before the night was over, Sue was reading stories to the grandkids, Tony and Jillynn caught us up on their new life in the South and we headed to Zach's for ice cream.

The week was saturated with memories that will last a life time. We didn't spend a lot of money or travel long distances, we simply shared each other. We enjoyed leisure mornings, Jaykob's first day at school (see Parsonsfamilyfive.blogspot.com for more), eating noon meals out, touring beautiful Shady Grove Wesleyan campus, Farmer's Market (sampling all we could), helped landscape their new pond, shopping together, porch swinging, reading stories, playing games, family prayer time, eating evening meals together with Jillynn's great home cooking, ice cream, playing football in the front yard, seeing the new Star Wars movie (Tony, Grandpa and Jayk), while Sue and Jillynn had a ladies' day out, a special trip to Greensboro Nature Center (where Addi "fed the alligators"), a trip to CeCe's Pizza (where Jayk had won second prize in a coloring contest), computer upgrades, Wednesday evening youth with Tony speaking, plenty of picture taking, Jillynn and Sue to a horse ranch, Missy hiding from one year old Ella, drinking Cheerwine (that's pop), Sue's birthday complete with special surprises, gifts and a visit to Cold Stones for more ice cream and ended with Roger speaking in the Sunday morning worship at their church.

Following another wonderful meal together, goodbyes, hugs and tears; we headed back north. We arrived at Amee's late on Sunday night to share another visit with Angel, Amee' Greg and his son, Ryan. We talked about the Ohio State Buckeyes (and their 43-0 win the day before) and a brief review of the previous week. The next day was Labor Day, but it was a lazy day for us. We traveled to Buckeye Lake and shared a wonderful day on Greg's boat. It was a picture perfect day with plenty of sunshine and more memories. The scenes were outstanding (including a tour of $680,000 home that Angel's boss has for sell), laughs with Amee and Ryan as they went tubing, a great lunch on the water and a trip back home to rest before a nice meal out (Greg paid). Tuesday morning, we met Mom, Dad and Randy for breakfast before heading back to Flint. We thank God for a great family and the fact that after all these years, we would still rather be together than anywhere else in the world.