Oh my!

It has been forever since I have taken the time to post to my blog! So much has happened since I last posted! I spent the first part of summer with my friends Jennifer and Aaron in Sedalia, Missouri and the last two months of summer with my friend Shannon in Gravette, Arkansas (peppered with several overnight visits to my brother's house). Over the course of the past four months I have have lived with three sets of friends. Packed, moved, stored, moved, cleaned, unpacked, and cleaned some more! I am nearly done unpacking, however my new house (rental) has not been properly taken care of and I fear I may NEVER be done cleaning! Additionally, I finally, and I mean FINALLY finished, submitted, and defended my dissertation! I must make a few corrections, print the darned thing on cotton paper, and pray the graduate school approves my margins. I am most excited.

The fall semester began three weeks ago and I've yet to catch up. I am hoping to catch up this weekend, but I fear it may be December before that happens! I've got a couple of new classes, a new Blackboard platform to learn, and twice the number of committee meetings! Somebody light a candle for me!

MKT Trail

Saturday morning found Orion and I hitting the Katy Trail. It was the first time I'd taken Andromeda Dale (AnD) "off road". The trail consists of hard packed pea gravel so it isn't like biking on wet grass or mud. But the gravel does give beneath the tire and made for a most unsettling feeling at first. Once I gained some confidence, Orion and I cruised from Windsor toward Green Ridge for about three miles. We turned around, just past the Pettis County line to make our way back to Windsor to meet John at our predetermined time.

From Windsor we drove to Calhoun and then on to Clinton. With Calhoun only 7.5 miles from Windsor, I think that will be our first one-way adventure with John or another kindly friend meeting us there. Eventually I'd like to make it the 14 or so miles to Clinton.

My brother and his wife have biked the Katy Trail on at least two occasions. (They biked the stretch up near the Missouri River and on to St. Charles.) Listening to their experiences has been a major motivator for my own trail excursions. By spring I hope to be able to bike 20 or so miles in a day (not the 45-55 they did!) which will leave me time to explore, get the feeling back in my rear end, set up camp, make dinner, and rest before moving on the next day. I've got friends I want to bike with!

Fun at the Fair!

Friday was fantastic. Friday was fun. Friday's fun spilled over into Saturday. Friday evening, after work, we raced to Sedalia for the Missouri State Fair for a little fun. The weather was perfect- sunny and the temperature was dropping nicely. We wandered, ate, wandered, ate some more, people watched, ate, checked out fair submissions, at some more, rode a few rides, and well, you get the picture! The best part of going to the fair is eating fair food! Foot long corn dogs, roasted corn, funnel cakes, sausage and peppers, and the list goes on. Thankfully we met good friends and were able to share the tasty treats! We left the fair close to 11:00 p.m. and headed back to our friends' house where we played Guitar Hero till 2:30 a.m. Woot!

Strike While the Iron's Hot

Orion's been making "I wanna be a blacksmith" noises for several months now. I think our trip to the State Fair in Sedalia a few weeks ago was the final piece. Twenty feet into the fair we passed a blacksmith tent. Orion was very curious. But he was so good. He continued on with us. After a few snacks, rides, and midway games he and John returned to the blacksmith tent were they met a few guys from the Blacksmith Association of Missouri (aka BAM). They were as tickled with him as he was with them. He came home with some blacksmith tongs, a pot grabber of sorts, the newsletter, and a huge smile. For the next few days all I heard about was dues to BAM and the urge to buy pipes, a hairdryer, coal, an anvil, and a brake rotor. Honestly, I had a high doubt that these items would actually create a forge. But I said nothing. Groaning as stuff from local junk stores, flea markets, antique stores, auto mechanic shops, and the co-op started finding their way home.

This weekend Orion organized his goods and got to work. It took just about a day to build the forge. That afternoon he tried it out. He was at it again today. He's hot (no pun intended) for smithing and already has his first order: a fireplace poker for his Meme.

You can check out the step-by-step pictures and his narrative at his blog. Remember it's invitation only. If you've not been invited and you want to be, email me. If you've been invited and you've visited a time or two, you'll remember that you need