Beauty

Today is Jodi's birthday! We're out to dinner at Chiccarino's. I know you're not supposed to tell a woman's age, but 39 never looked so good! Jodi's beautiful both inside and out, and I love her sooo much! I'm so blessed!

Jodi's political career begins

Jodi and I arrived home from the District Ministries Summit in Dover, DE late on Thursday night. In our pile of mail was a set of letters: one for Jodi, and one for me, that stated that we had each received a tying number of votes for committeman and committeewoman, respectively.

Why? How did we each receive votes, and land a tie? Simple. I wrote in each of our names in the May elections.

The letter stated that we could come to the courthouse on Friday and draw lots to see if we won. Jodi had to work, but I went up on my lunch hour to see the political process in action, and to hopefully begin my own political career.
Not too complicated...there was a pouch decorated with the good old stars and stripes, and for each person tied for the office (there were several ties from several areas) there was a ping-pong ball for each person numbered to match the amount of candidates tied. Whichever candidate represented that drew the number one ball would win the election.

After several rounds, it was finally my turn. There were two of us, so two balls were placed into the bag. I stepped to the front of the room, thrust my hand into the pouch, and drew out the number....two. I lost. Deflated, I walked back to my seat knowing that this would not be the year I would change the world through politics.

Then, as quickly as my joy had faded, hope returned....Jodi might get elected! I listened as they began extracting names for committeewoman. There were only two in this race, as well. Jodi's opponent drew the first marker...a TWO BALL!!! JODI WON!

Anyway...a couple of lessons to be learned here:
1) If there's ever a vacancy in an office, know that I will write in a name.
2) Beware...it could be your name that I write, right Jodi?
3) After all of these years, and the sophisticatd and technologically advanced age that we live in, when it comes to really important stuff like elections: we stick with the ping-pong ball method.

Amazing.

Phillies vs. Pirates

Great weekend! On Friday, we took the family to the Phillies vs. Pirates game at PNC Park. We had great seats, 3 rows back from the rail in center field! Early in the game, Jason Werth hit a home run that landed right in front of us. We didn't get the home run ball, but we did get on SportCenter on ESPN! I never got on for my "athletic ability" but I did finally get on!

It was fun to see the Phillies win. It was shocking to see so many Phillies fans at the game. It's amazing to see so many come out of hiding when they field a decent team!

A couple of other notes...Jason Werth (the Phillies Centerfielder) waved at JoLyn and Jacki when they kept yelling his name. That only made them yell it more...pretty funny. Also, Nate McClouth (the Pirates centerfielder) threw their between innings warm-up baseball into the stands. I leaped up to catch it, and just missed. However, the people above me tried to catch it as well, but they missed it and knocked it down below me. I grabbed it! It was the first ball I ever got at a game like that! Then my kids took it.

Jodi and I also went to the game alone on Saturday night. We rode down on OBL and had a great time together. It was pretty cold on the way home...43 degrees on the sign in Hermitage when we got home!

Jodi

Last night Jodi and I went for a ride on OBL and went out for an early dinner. As much as I love being with the whole family, I just love getting some "alone-time" with Jodi. In the last year, we've been able to take some time to get away on the motorcycle and just do something together. It's always fun, and it's just great to be with my best friend! We went to dinner at a new restaurant in Mercer. The food was ok, but the company was better...much better!