FAIR TALES

Today we went to the Porter County Fair and by "we" I mean Jill, Grant, my dad, and me. Grant had a ticket from the library so that he could go on rides for free from 11-2. Ride tickets were also available for the rest of us for only $7 during that time period, which isn't too bad. We got there a bit before noon and were able to go on 8 rides. Grant was unsure of himself at first, describing himself as "cautious." But he really relaxed into it and enjoyed most of the rides we went on - the Tilt-A-Whirl, Hang Glider, Matterhorn, Spider, and more. I was proud of how he went with it. He strangely wanted to ride next to me the whole time too; I guess today he felt safer with me than with Jill...sometimes you need your dad. I saw tons of kids that I've taught at the Y and got hugs from many of them. We also ran into some close family friends at lunchtime. We split two giant elephant ears among us for dessert, plus Jill and Grant had cotton candy. We also looked at old tractors and lots of animals. It was a fun afternoon.

Last night I went to bed around 11:15 and Jill was out on the porch reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I woke up around 3:15 this morning and noticed the light was still on the living room and there was no sign of Jill. I got up and discovered her still sitting in her spot on the porch, getting ever closer to the end. She stayed up and finished it...I told her she was completely mental (as Ron Weasley would say). Anyway, the book is mine now and I'm up to pg. 445. Jill said I'm at the point where you can't stop but I put it down to do the dishes and type this post. Tomorrow I will finish - only work and cooking will get in my way. I want to be able to give it to Dad on Wednesday, so hopefully it will all work out.

You can check out John Vanderslice's new album, Emerald City, on his MySpace page. Sounds pretty good. I'll have to order it at some point, since Barsuk isn't on eMusic and I'm sure Best Buy won't carry it. Still no option to download the new Jason Isbell or Buffalo Tom yet.

Oh, and Chris Roberson linked to my short review of his short story from the other day. Looking forward to the next one, Chris!