Welcome Fall!

Hello all!  Fall is love, right?  There is just something so entirely captivating about the crispsness in the air, the crunch under your feet, the smell of falling leaves.  It's the perfect time between the hot humidity of a fun filled summer and a cold frosty winter full of family and celebrations.  Fall, to me, is the perfect bridge between to two.  It's like mother nature saved her best for us, and she put it all in Fall. 
What one thing do you equate Fall with in your mind?  Apple picking?  Pumpkins?  Bonfires?  For a lot of people there is something that happens, some event where it just clicks "This is Fall!" in their minds.  Today I walked to my Grandparents house to visit.  I can't stress enough how blessed I know I am that I can simply walk out the door and be with any member of my immediate family with just a short walk.  Most people don't have that option.  As I grow older I know that the memories I have with my Grandparents will be with me for a lifetime, and even though they can grind my gears sometimes, I truly do love them for all they have done to hold me and my family together for so many years.
This blog post came about because today, as I rounded the corner to the garage to find my Papaw, I asked him "Well what's broken now?" because it seems like, for the past few months, something breaks on an almost weekly basis.  He told me that my Grandma was working and that she had been asking about Hickory nuts.  "I've heard a few fall out there out of the little tree on the left.  If you go pick some up, we'll both be in with the old girl."  In translation: go pick up some nuts and Grandma will be happy.
So, for me, Fall is here.  Hickory nuts, for me, signify the beginning of Fall.  The same two trees litter the ground in the front of my Grandparents yard with Hickory nuts at about this time every year.  I have memories locked away inside from as far back as I can remember about picking up Hickory nuts in the yard with my siblings.  We would have pokes and coffee cans and would sit in one spot and see how many we could reach from that one spot without moving.  After we had coffee can after coffee can full, we would watch as Grandpa methodically, delicately, precisely cracked them with a hammer on the porch.  It was a sign of maturity when he said "Okay now son, I'm going to show you how to crack them."  Hickory nuts are my Fall.
I took pictures today while I was picking up and cracking some of the first Hickory nuts of the season.  There are more nuts to come.  It's truly something to look forward to!

The first Hickory nut of 2011

 

The very first nut that I cracked open had this worm inside of it.  That happens.

This is after all the work has been done.  All that happens now is the 'treasure hunt' for the meat of the Hickory nuts.

With the love of Fall,
Logan

PS- Upon re-reading this, I have never felt more like a country boy.  I don't mind.

My day at OSU

I start classes at OSU a week from today, so I have 7 days left of freedom (ish?) and 7 days to worry about everything.  I am feeling a little better after today, though.  I tackled several things off of my to-do list.  (Ordering books was on the list, so I regretfully shelled out the bucks to get them sent to me.  Thanks for Chegg I will be renting a few of my books, and half.com scored me some savings, too.)
I left Blain Highway at 11 and made a pit stop at Office Max to make some copies, and I was on my way to Columbus.  I called the testing center on my way, because during orientation (which was horrible, there is a whole blog post about it) I didn't have time to take my Spanish placement test.  The woman who answered the phones said I had to be at Hagerty Hall by 2:15 to be able to take the test.  I was pushing it.  I did finally make it and when after I parked in the garage, found the building on the map, walked to the building, then found the room inside of the building it was 2:13.  Holy close call, Batman.
The placement test was not as bad as I had anticipated, but I really hate the language.  I don't know why I have this disdain for it, but I do.  To me it just sounds so dirty.  Weird, huh?  After the placement test I had to take my General Appeal form to the SSC building.  It's on the opposite side of campus.
I walked and walked, and I called my Mom along the way.  I don't remember what we talked about, but it was nice to have company during the walk.  When I finally arrived at the SSC building, I could automatically tell something was up.  People had this panic stricken crazy look in their eyes.  An OSU employee at the door told me that the building had lost power and that it would be shut down soon.  Employees were already leaving the building, the computer systems weren't functioning, it was a mess.  I suppose I should point out that this is the busiest day for the SSC because they handle all the finances for the university, and that includes tuition and fees.  Today was their big day.  I did sneak into the building, and once I found the stairs I went to the 4th floor.  Turning in the appeal was not much of an event, and I did not get to meet with Goldean Gibbs.  I hope I can speak with her in the near future.
When I finally left the building there was a crowd of people outside and 1 solitary OSU employeee trying to tame the crowd.  All of these students and their parents had come to campus to make a tuition payment, and they couldn't.  Insane.  This woman was talking to all the people, and taking their tution checks.  Making sure they had the students name and OSU ID on them, then she would hand the person who she took the check from her card.  It was actually a good idea. 
I just sat down to watch the people, and after a few minutes, she slipped inside the building and the door locked behind her.  That was it.  It couldn't have been more than 2 minutes later when this woman and her daughter came racing up to the building.  They looked SO panicked.  I stopped them before they got to the door and explained to them what had happened.  They had driven an hour to pay the girls tuition bill, and were frustrated that they would have to make another trip the next day.  Before they walked away, the woman thanked me for stopping them and telling them what I knew.  She said "A lot of people wouldn't have done that.  It takes a special person to stop a stranger from having a panic attack."  I suppose I can add that to my resume, right?  (:

Next on my to-do list was to do a 'dry run' of my classes.  I wanted to walk to each building, go inside, find the classroom, and then walk to the next building, go inside, find the classroom, etc.  I've done this before and it worked out well.  There is always a lot of emotions the first day of classes, so if a person can get their bearings about where they are going that takes one more thing off their shoulders.  So, I did just that.  I felt a little silly, but it was a good thing for me to do.  I like to know where I am going.  Getting lost on my own when I have tons of time to find out where I am is okay, but getting lost amidst 40,000 other students when I am on a schedule is simply not an option.  I took a picture of each classroom when I got to it, and they're posted below. 
The bright side to all of this is that my last class is in a building that is located right next the the RPAC and the parking garage.  I can work out and then jump in the car and drive home.  Perfect.
I went to half priced books next, for no real reason.  I just love the store.  I bought an audio book to listen to during the trips to and from Columbus, and a few other books.  I could have spent hours in the store shopping around, but I set a spending limit for myself before I walked in and when I reach that limit I forced myself to leave.  That's called self control, Logan.

 Arps Hall 384: History 152

 Thematic literature- Cannibalism: Denney Hall 238

 Math (ugh): Central Classroom Building 326

I'm proud to be a buckeye and all, but do the port-a-potties need to be scarlet and grey?  Really now?  I didn't take a picture of it, but during my blundering I came across a construction area and all of the workers had buckets that they were using, and all of them were scarlet and grey with the OSU logo on them.  Wow.

That's all for now.  Sending blog love to you and yours,

Logan

My weekend in pictures 9/9/2011-9/11/2011

I think it's important I start this post with a little bit of sentimentality.  10 years ago today, I was walking from the Middle School to the Cafeteria with my friends on our way to lunch, when someone from the TAG class mentioned the World Trade Center attacks.  I will never forget this moment, because it became clear to me that the administration at our school decided to shield us from the news of the attacks.  The only students who watched the footage were the TAG students, and Mrs. Kellough (the TAG teacher at the time) went against the adminstration and played the footage all day for her classes.  I had a close friend who was worried that her dad was on a flight to NYC.  The moments of that day will never escape my memory, I can still remember getting home from school and seeing the footage for the first time.
I think that is why, today, on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, I have avoided all media outlets.  I simply don't want to sit around all day and watch the attacks happen over and over again, replay after replay.  To me this is no way to honor those who lost their lives.  I am all about moving forward, so I am happy that I did not have to watch that particular footage today.  I can honor the memory of those who lost their lives without reliving the events that are so painful to so many.

My weekend in pictures:

 Finally, after several months of waiting (and frustration) my brother and sister-in-laws wedding pictures were uploaded.  This one is not good quality, because I took it with my phone of the computer screen.  The pictures are stunning, and I am so happy for Melissa that she finally has them.  I won't say more, but 6 months is entirely too long of a time for a bride to have to wait for her proofs of the pictures of the most important day of her life. 

 I really do believe that I could be in a committed, monogamous relationship with Pinterest.  If you aren't a member yet, let me know and I can send you an invitation.  I didn't quite expect it to be as amazing as it truly is.  I found this idea on Pinterest, and I wanted to recreate it.  The idea is that you mount all your pictures above and below a center horizontal line, making them into an automatic installation.  My failed attempt is below...

 So, I started.  I couldn't find a tape measure.  I tried to make straight lines myself, but they were crooked.  I hung a few things just to see what it would look like.  I stopped when I remembered that we plan on painting this room (and others) in the near future.  You can't hang pictures until after you paint the walls, Logan.  Sillyhead. 

 That's me at my 5th Birthday.  16 years ago.  Wow.  I am the one in blue and green, and my brother Jarred is the one in the cut-off shirt.  He is blowing out my candles with me.  He just wanted the thing to be over with so he could eat cake, I am sure.  I love this picture and I love the Sesame Street cake.  Shout out to my lovely mother for always making my birthdays amazing.  I have so many fond memories of my birthday's from my childhood.  (:

 Saturday evening I rented a chick flick from iTunes and kept things low-key.  At this point in the movie the guy in white is about to let out this girls deep, dark secret (you can kind of see her head in the bottom right) and since they were playing badminton, she whacked him in the face with her racket to get him to shut up.  That was a horrible description, but I am not a move person, really.  This film was good, but I am one for cliched romantic chick flicks with happy endings.  (Because we all will find our own happy ending, right?)

This is me, cuddled up with my GIANT elephant (thanks Antonaccis!) watching the movie.  I was excited because I remembered we had a box of Sno-Caps in the kitchen half way through the movie.  It was a great night.  (:

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I loved writing this.  Soon I will blog about my anxiety over starting classes at OSU, buying books, commuting, large school night mares, and getting lost.  Also, I really want to post my own DIY thing on my blog, but I just need to decide on what I want to DIY.  I'm open to suggestions.  (:

Best,

Logan

Heads will roll

I will know, from now on, to be very careful about going over people's heads.  I don't want to disclose too much information, but I want to get this down for posterity's sake.  I start at OSU on 9.21 and I am more than a little bit nervous.  I am not used to life on a "big campus" and I am not sure how commuting for (at least) a quarter is going to work out.  I have always lived on campus.  5 minutes and you could walk anywhere: Thanh Linh, Markin, Cullom-Davis.  Anywhere.  This is not the case at OSU.
Let's jump back a minute to that commuting thing.  Did it sink in?  Because it is starting to sink in with me.  I will be driving from the Oates Homestead (or T & Mel's, this is still up in the air) 2 days a week for 10 weeks.  This adds a whole list of problems to my already growing list.  I've been working on fixing some of this over the past few days, but there is so much that I just can't fix on my own.  I hate that feeling.
Did I mention the part where my Senator personally contacted  the director of financial aid at OSU on my behalf?  Well, it happened.  I was not happy with the answers OSU was giving me about my financial aid, and I went over some heads.  Over everyone's heads.  I did get some answers.  The answers have come from a woman named Goldean Gibbs, who works at OSU as the Assistant Director of Financial Aid.  She's a BIG deal.  I am to file an appeal with Ms. Gibbs and she is going to "personally" review it and "handle" matters herself.  She also wants to meet me face to face. 

"Additionally, you could drop off on the 4th floor of the same building which is the Office of Financial Aid, please ask the receptionist to see if I am in the building as I would enjoy an opportunity to meet you face to face."

So this is my life.  This is pretty much what I asked for when I went over heads.  It seems like heads will roll.  Exciting.

My weekend in pictures

I love a long weekend, and I love fall weather, so this Labor day weekend was simply amazing.  I have decided that since a picture is worth a thousand words I will start doing a post called "My weekend in pictures."  I didn't really think this through, and I didn't really take an exceptional amount of pictures, but the few that I do have will work perfectly.  This is a trial run, just to see if I can figure out how to post pictures to my blog and add captions under them.  There's always a new adventure, and this blog post is my adventure for the day. 

 This is the only picture I took on Friday.  I was stopped at a stop light, I assure you that!  I drove my Grandma's big ole' Buick to Columbus so my older brother could pick up his new work van.  It was really hot on Friday but it cooled down a lot later in the weekend.

 My mom and I are planning to make our own cushioned ottoman, and I have been collecting ideas from websites and magazines.  I wanted to post this because it's all either of us have thought about this weekend.  We have the perfect table, but want to wait to get it for cheap cheap when it goes on sale Wednesday.  When we do this little project I will make sure to post pictures!

 Friday evening I spent writing thank-you cards, eating Swedish Fish, reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" and slowly loving the smell of incense.  (Shout out to my Aunt Robin for the book and incense, the latter was part of my birthday gift.)

 Saturday night was race night!  I went with my Aunt Robin and Grandpa to Wellston, Ohio to watch my older brother Tristen and my cousin Zach race their go-karts.  I had 3 of these giant pop-sicles throughout the night.  They are SO good.  It was also OSU game day so you can see my OSU shirt in this picture.  Go BUCKS! 

 The race track is dirt, so when the karts come off the tires are really dirty.  I am normally part of the pit crew (along with Grandpa and Melissa) who wash T and ZT's tires.  (I don't really understand why we wash the tires, because they just get dirty again as soon as you get back on the track?  It's just one of those 'don't ask' things.  Do as your told, Logan.)

 Sunday morning I found my goldfish Chester dead in his tank.  This is an archive photo of when we was living (swimmingly!) with his old friends Seabiscut and Max's goldfish who's name I can't recall at this moment.  (Possibly Destiny or Child?)  SIP to all 3.

 Sunday evening Mom, Lindsey and I went to dinner at Red Lobster and watched the movie "The Help."  This picture is really dark, I know. 

 On Monday Mom and I went to Columbus to pick up Lindsey a book bag, and I made out like a fool.  I got 2 new V-necks, a Britta water bottle and an ADORABLE blue ceramic vase.  Lindsey doesn't like the bag we picked out for her.  I think I'm the winner, then.  (:

This was actually easier than I anticipated, so I will probably continue to do this every weekend.  Next time I will take more (better quality?) pictures so I can share them.  For my 2nd blog post I think this one is pretty great, don't you?  

Best,

Logan