Trial Run...

I didn't set out to begin this tonight. It just so happened that I was clicking around on the internet, and found an interesting-looking site related to blogging, something that I have near the top of my to-do list for the new year. Five or six clicks later, here I am. Totally unprepared with what I want to say.

I'll begin by saying that today is my 48th birthday. Well, it's after midnight, so technically I'm 22 minutes into the day after my birthday. But, I'm staying up late, and to me it's still "today." I've not given a moment's thought to growing another year older; instead, my husband, daughter, and I had a full day planned in Columbus. Our high school basketball team played a game at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center, so we wanted to go to that. None of us had ever been to a game there before, so we were very curious to see it.

Since the game was at 1:30, the trip to Columbus allowed us to fit in some shopping. One place I really wanted to go to was The Glass Thimble, a wonderful quilt shop on North High Street. They were having their annual 25% off sale. I spent most of the time just looking at the great samples they had hanging all around the store. Then I decided that it would be cool to look for the books or patterns that these samples were made from. That was time-consuming, though, so I began looking for some fabric that sort of just "spoke" to me. The total damages were close to $100, as I found 2 books, 1 pattern, and 4 pieces of fabric, 2 yards of each.

Another place I really needed to go to was Sam's Club, as we were out of quite a few of the staple items that I buy there. We bought the stuff I really needed to get (green beans, cold medicine, bar soap, laundry detergent, etc.) and some things I never expected to get. Kevin had been wanting a laundry hamper to put in our bedroom where we've always had just a basket. We found a 3-piece basket combo, one of which is a hamper, for around $37. Also, Kevin found a pair of blue jeans to his liking. I hope they fit. There was no place to try them on.

A really fun late-afternoon lunch stop was to Macaroni Grill at Tuttle Crossing. I've been there 3 times now, and have never had a bad meal. Emma had a chicken-fingers kids meal. Kevin ordered a special - sole, fixed in a really delicious way with orisi (?) pasta. Quite good. I had a canelloni (?) with parmesan cheese. I ordered this because I thought I was getting something a little smaller, yet this thing was gigantic! It was cut into 5 wedges, and I could only eat 2 of them. Of course, they serve a small loaf of bread for dipping in olive oil, and we ordered an antipasti dish of bruschetta with pancetta. We were very full when we left, to say the least. But it was all good, and the waiter was a gem. He explained all the food, and even gave us directions to a closer Sam's Club than the one we would have go to.

Since getting home, I've done 3 loads of laundry, attempted to learn more about our new computer (just hooked it up last night!), and watched our Buckeye boys lose in double overtime to LSU. Bummer.

As I've typed this bit of time, I've been thinking about what kinds of things I will write in this blog. Or does one say "on" this blog? Anyway, whichever is correct, I think I will write about my main interests:
1. Reading and books
2. Italy
3. Italian cooking
4. Quilting and fabric shopping
5. Teaching (what I do professionally)
6. Family

I'd like to think that I'd have some fabulous insights along the way, but I really don't think I will. I will try, though, not to be too banal in my ramblings. It's a pretty safe bet that I will not get too many comments about the things I write, but that is fine with me. I am not doing this to get comments. I want to keep a blog just to have a formal journal. I've not been doing it at school like I used to, and I need to get back to it.

And so, I will sign off with the immortal words of Jackie Gleason, "and awaya-ay we go!"