YORK ST. NICK FAYRE

to get the group into the christmas spirit, we ventured out to york for their annual st. nicholas fayre. there were all kinds of street merchants, and guys with singing dogs, and we even met a couple buckeye alumni.... it was a really nice day trip, and just as a warning to everyone....dont fall asleep around pete, because he will either take pictures of you or....well, just ask nicki what she was warned about.

MANCHESTER UNITED vs VILLARREAL

well even though man united only managed a
0-0 draw against villarreal, pete, thomas, and i still enjoyed our night at old trafford. christiano ronaldo was a dribbling machine, and made quite a few spaniards look ridiculous. wayne rooney played well, and ruud was pretty impressive, but no one could find the back of the net. cheers to thomas uk for getting us the tickets and being our guide all night. this is something that i've always wanted to do, and i cant thank him enough for going out of his way to make it happen.

GO BUCKEYES

buckeye pride was well represented in the sports cafe in manchester. after one of the most exciting games that ive seen in a while, the bucks came out on top 25-21 over the state up north. im not going to say that we own them, but if we would like to sell them for cash and or trade them for another state, i think we would have the right to. after scaring some of the locals at the bar to watch a rugby and or soccer match we converted a few of the tables around us to buckeye fans. our waitress as well must have been a big buckeye fan as she only charged us for about a third of what we actually ordered, which was a nice treat. anyhow,after we won, we celebrated with much dignity and respect....see attached pitcher....im sorry i mean picture.....hahaha im so silly.......buckeyes for life

GRANDPA HOYING

herman joseph hoying
march 14 1914 - nov 10 2005

my grandpa just passed away at the age of 91, on what happened to be my 22nd birthday. its difficult that he left us on my birthday, because thats one day that i always find myself thinking of him. on probably my 16th birthday, i was sent a card by grandpa hoying that ive kept to this day because of the simple message that he wrote on the inside, "paint me a picture." the fact that he took the time to hand write that simple request, in his shaky, imperfect, wonderful grandpa hoying handwritting, made a big impact on me. a few years later i did a portrait of my grandpa that hung proudly by his sofa. it wasnt great, but it won a first prize ribbon at the mercer county fair, and most importantly, my grandpa liked it. there are 53 of us that were lucky enough to call him grandpa, and he always found a way to make each one of us feel special. i hope that the portrait that i did, however simple, made him feel special too. im really going to miss him.