Some Pig!

As you may recall, we went to a county fair a couple Fridays ago. Somehow, despite living in Ohio and being related to half a dozen farmers, I don't recall ever visiting a fair before. I'd never been invited, compelled or forced to go to one (at least as I can remember). So, since I have nothing better to do with my time and I'm always available to do pretty much anything these days, I packed up the kiddos and headed out to Xenia for some good ol' livestock and fried stuff fun.

It was a bad idea.

The fair itself was fine, I suppose, but it was a mismatch of circumstances and environment. The circumstances being me with three toddlers and my mom with another toddler and the environment being a festival of food, games and rides with a allure all too powerful for the patience and understanding of a three year old.

It was fun getting to hang out with Grandma and cousin Andersen, but I think this would have been a more manageable trip if we were minus one toddler or plus one adult. And it could have been an outstanding trip if it were just Jameson and I. As it stood, though, we had more tykes than my mom could handle alone for any great length of time. This meant I couldn't separate myself from the caravan to let Jameson fully enjoy the carnival ride utopia spread out before him. It was essentially torture for him. It would have been like taking me to a bacon and consumer electronics festival without treating me to any of the wares while I watched a bunch of other guys gorging themselves on pork and mashing buttons on the coolest gadgets imaginable.

It was a hot day. And three out four kids were due for a nap. And the fourth kid was being repeatedly denied access to super awesome fun-ness.

It wasn't a complete disaster. We just didn't plan well. Jameson got to ride a handful of attractions and we of course ate plenty of junk food. It just could have been better.

No fair can ever really be that bad of an experience. At what other single location can you buy traditional foods from all around the world prepared in the most unauthentic, heart attack inducing way?



Next time, bring extra hands.



"You're going to eat me, aren't you?"
"Deep fried if I'm lucky."






See, Jameson had plenty of fun on the rides he did get to enjoy!

Giddyup

It's "Kids Day" at the Greene County Fair. We're off to feed some goats and eat fried stuff.

Peace!

Time to Cram

In my entire life I don't think I ever once studied for a test more than a day or two in advance. And that's if I even studied at all. It's partly because I'm lazy and a world class procrastinator. And it's partly because I always did well enough on the tests anyway. (I'm one of those annoying pricks that never had to try very hard on your run-of-the-mill traditional school tests.) Anyway, when it came to studying (or homework, or projects, or reports) you could pretty much bank on the fact that if there was any work to be done, yours truly was doing it, at the earliest, during an all night cram session. Or, at the latest, right before the bell rang for class. ("Please put your books away. Now. James. JAMES.")

Well, old habits are hard to break. Except now I don't take tests in school. Now I have doctor and dentist visits for which I can procrastinate. That's right, I cram for my physical exams. For example, in two weeks my doctor will be drawing blood for a routine checkup. She'll check my cholesterol (and whatever else doctors check) as part of a general health assessment. And to prepare, I'll spend the next two weeks on a rabid health kick to try and beat the system. Yes, I'm trying to fake my health. Rather than leading a moderately healthy lifestyle, I'll cram and try to fool my doctor. I'll run. I'll eat fruits and vegetables like mad. I'll get more sleep. Sad, isn't it? It's like, if I can at least whip myself into shape in two weeks, then in my mind that means I'm at least healthy enough. If I were sane, I'd want an accurate assessment of my health. Instead, I just want to get an "A" so I can falsely justify bacon cheeseburgers for the next twelve months. Am I the only idiot that thinks like this?

(You should see how much floss I go through the week before a cleaning.)

Photo: Apple by ChiareZZa via deviantART