Elections, Birthdays, and more Rains....

Cleared up for awhile yesterday afternoon, too late to save my game at Van Wert...but the partial clearing brought hope for today...NOT!  I awoke at 6:30 this morning to the sound of more heavy rain hitting the windows...how many days in a row, how many overnights in a row?  Too many to count it seems, as the Spring from Hell continues.  The weather gerbils called it "An Upper Air Disturbance"  I say it's another wrong prediction for those folks...not to worry though, one good day for tomorrow, then, back to another 4 or 5 days of downpours....

The rain might have canceled my game at Convoy Crestview tonight anyway...but that was already ditched because the opponent from Lima Bath has to make up a WBL league contest.  That is going to be a recurring theme for the next couple of weeks...trying to push league games into a few dry days(any?) while tournaments are in full swing, won't be easy.  Tomorrow a long trip to Kalida, then more rains for Friday, Saturday, and beyond....my Sectional Tournament double headed back at Crestview Saturday morning and afternoon are looking "iffy" to say the least.

 A Big Happy Birthday to my wife Patricia....we have been hanging around together since late 1973....I'm sure it hasn't been easy for her...but she seldom complains....numb to it all I guess?  Won't give her age, but suffice to say, she is a few years younger than me....

Her Birthday happens to fall on the same day of the year as the anniversary of the Kent State "Massacre".... Which occurred May 4, 1970  .I was in Vietnam, stationed for my final couple of months, working "C" Flight(Overnights) on Blue Patrol...where we guarded the inter compounds of Tan Son Nhut Air Base...seems we were protecting the base from thieves from both the civilian and military ranks, who had a case or two of "lite fingers".   It was a pretty easy way to finish off my war tour.  As far as Kent State,  I remember vaguely hearing the news of the shootings on ARVN Radio...and thinking to myself, "So?  Guys are dying here everyday, and I'm supposed to give a damn about college kids in my home state, protesting us, and getting shot?"  I didn't then...and really don't know.  I consider them a casualty of war....cold as it seems.  Those people didn't give a damn about us, the left still doesn't today...I found it then and find it now,  hard to worry or care about them.

Primary Elections____

Yesterday was primary election day in Ohio...School levies, local races, etc, were on the agenda....

A small turnout was reported locally.  I'm sure the lack of interest, and the lousy weather,  had much to do with that...the results, at least here in Mercer County were interesting, and telling.

In the race for Mayor of Celina...the Republican incumbent, Sharon LaRue, was challenged by her former Safety Director, Jeff Hazel...with the lies and BS, coming out of City Hall these days...the election wasn't close.  The ousted SD easily defeated the Mayor, by a 2 to 1 count for the GOP nomination.  He out polled all 3 candidates, including the two Democrats.  One Dem, my high school classmate, who was Mayor a few years back, as a Republican, easily won that primary.  Given the fact he not only changed party affiliations, but was a slave like worshiper of Barack Obama in the last Presidential Election...Mr Party Switcher, has about a snow balls chance in Hell of winning in this conservative town, come November.

Meanwhile in the GOP battle for City Law Director.  A young lawyer, George Erik Moore, challenged the sitting LD for the post....Kevin McKirnan has been in office since 1977...residents thought it was time for a change, as "Erik" won easily, by a 2-1 margin.  "Moore" was the only yard sings I had on my property...not so much for the dislike of McKirnan, but because in addition to wanting some new blood in city government, Moore's dad and I, the late George Moore Sr...coached baseball together for several years...and Erik and Sam were classmates, and I coached them both through Little League and Pony League years.  So, Congratulations to George "Erik" Moore...you done good.  He will be the next Law Director, as the Democrats didn't bother with a candidate.

On the levy side...The Celina School renewal "plus" levy passed by a couple hundred votes...I held my nose and voted "Yes"...property taxes will go up slightly as they revert back to 2006 levels.  The wife's school levy in St. Henry passed much easier....while the folks across Grand Lake in St. Marys, with brand new school just opened, said "NO" by a resounding 3-1 margin.  The Cheryl Ann Mental Retardation levy here in Mercer County, passed with 70% of the votes...daughter Anissa is served well by CA, and a yes vote was a given from this household.. 

All-in-all...one thing for sure, the voters in Celina are not happy with the tax increases and priorities of the current administration.  They want side streets and alleys repaired, and really don't care about $Million Firetrucks and making Main Street and the Lake Shore Pretty....if they don't wake up, more incumbents are going to be tossed out...and tax levies overturned.

Looking out the Window...still cloudy, still wet, what else is new?

back later>>>>

Photos-Voted Yesterday...at least I can say I did, not that much will change, either locally or come the next State and National Elections....Patrica turns  ___ today, back in 1976 on our wedding day in Wisconsin, and last year at the VSPA Mini-Reunion at the Air Force Museum with me in front of our VSPA/Defender Statue..and again the overnight rains plague western Ohio and the Midwest....when will this end?  Not anytime soon it appears....

More December Milestones

A light snow is falling, with temperatures in the low 20s early this Friday morning.  It appears we are guaranteed a "White Christmas" for 2010....as it appears we will not get above 30 for the foreseeable future.  Hopefully we will get another inch or two to cover up the grit and grime and the snow cover of the coming holiday season.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xubmk_bing-crosby-white-christmas_music

I put out the daily ration of feed and seed for the birds and squirrels about an hour ago...and I noticed the squirrels and Cardinals are nowhere to be seen...and Sparrows are skittish and tend to hide in the Raspberry bushes this hour...making it my guess our winter resident Marsh Hawk is in the area, looking for his morning meal as well.  It's going to be an interesting winter in the PRH backyard.

December Milestones____

As I wrote about a few days ago, December, of all months, at least in the Houseworth and adjoining families, has more anniversaries, births, deaths, and other milestones than any of the others, by far.  Mom reminded me that my Uncle Bill(her brother) was December born(4th), and others I had missed as well.  Bill DeVore, as I have written about before on this blog, was a Battle of the Bulge survivor from World War II.  I lived part time with him and his family in Wilmington, Delaware, back during my days stationed at Dover, before I headed across the big pond to South Vietnam in 1968 and 69.

On this date in 1981, the first Houseworth male in our immediate family was born in St. Marys, Ohio....our son Sam, was the first male born since March of 1949, when I was born in Van Wert, Ohio.  In the proceeding 32 years, 5 girls from the mom and dad's kids had been born, plus my two younger sisters...but no males until Samuel William Houseworth were born 29 years ago this morning.  Hal Stanley, after another girl to one of the sisters, came along in 1984.                                                    

Speaking of Sam, he just left for Columbus this morning, then with a couple of friends, will head to Atlanta, to party with a friend who graduates from Georgia Tech this weekend.  Sam, is midway through his Junior year at The Ohio State University, and is on course to graduate in the spring of 2012, at the ripe old age of 30.  Carrying a 3.4 GPA in Actuarial Science, his grades are fine, and sometimes the later you head off to college, the better.  I know I finished college at 28 and then went to broadcast school, finishing that in 1978 at 29 years old.  Patricia, with a degree from Bryant and Stratton in Milwaukee, she finished that at 20 before moving to Ohio...but her teaching degree and accompanying Masters Degree from Wright State, came along in her mid 30s, after the kids were all born.  Hal was the only member of the clan to actually get his BA and Masters at a "normal" age, and that seemed, at times, like he was swimming upstream.  But after taking 6 years to get his BA in Social Sciences and History, he quickly got his Masters to teach, and was finished with college at the age of 25.

December 18, 1976_____

Sam came along a day before Patricia and my 5th wedding anniversary...so she spent the 5th in the maternity ward of Joint Township Hospital....

Patricia Callies and I met in late 1973 after I had moved back to Celina from upstate New York.  3 years later we were married in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  Like any other couple married for this long, we have had our ups and downs, but have survived my days in radio and locations like Wausau and Merrill, Wisconsin, Kokomo, Indiana, and Dodge City, Kansas.  We made it through her working 2 jobs and attending Wright State University, while we raised 3 kids...one, Anissa, with multiple handicaps....it's been an interesting ride, and it certainly doesn't seem like the wild days of the mid 1970s was all that long ago.  Time, indeed, does fly by at a lighting pace.

So with Sam out of town, we will have a dinner with him on Tuesday of next week...as for Patricia and my 34th year....we still have an Outback card from last year to use, and a movie to see this weekend...not sure what the schedule is, or how we can work around our time with Anissa, and my basketball games, which start tonight in Paulding, and tomorrow with games at Spencerville....but I'm sure we will find the time.  Who says retirement means having the time to relax?  I haven't seen that yet!

enjoy the weekend....back later>>>>

Photos-Patricia and me on 12/18/76, Sam at Riverfront Stadium on his 7th Birthday in 1988...the temps were near zero and the Bengals thumped Houston's Oilers 61-3 on the memorable day.  Sam with a can collection, beer and other cans he collected after local fisherman had tossed them along the farm house on Coldwater Creek Road....I suspect some of those cans(but not that Red, White, and Blue crap) were dad's as well.  Another of us at the church in Oconomowoc on the wedding day...and then Patricia and me in front of the Defender Fortis Statue at Wright-Patterson at our Vietnam Reunion last March in Datyon.

#33/Oconomowoc, Wisconsin December 18, 1976

After not having a cold or at least a bad one for some 15 years...last winter at the start of basketball officiating season, I came down with a douzy that lasted most of the winter off and on. Looks like I may be back in a similar situation this season. I had a cold, albeit not bad, a couple of weeks ago...after ditching that one, I was ready for the cold free season...not so fast, I've managed to acquire another weak one...but still irritating, none-the-less.

Basketball north last night...a JV Girls game, in which the "squad" had to haul one of the girls off to the ER...didn't look serious, probably a hip pointer, but still causing a delay...can't remember the final score, but the home team got beat by 21-10 or something like that...a real ugly game, with fans and coaches wanting us to call more than we were willing to do...it would have been a long evening, especially with the varsity game to follow.....some nights you just shake your head and move on.

Nothing tonight as far as Basketball, tomorrow a JH Boys game at Waynesfield...one game next week{Tuesday} then off for the Christmas Break, until JH tournament games on the 29th and a JV game on December 30th, before one final break....then a very busy January is in store.

33 Years Ago_______

Patricia Callies and I were married 33 years ago today, on a Saturday afternoon at Martin Luther Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin....we had a small wedding and small reception at her parents house near Lake Nashoda between Oconomowoc and Deleafield....a 1 night "Honeymoon" at the famous "Pfister Hotel" in Milwaukee, then back home to Celina. We would have a "real" honeymoon the following October to the east coast and down to the shores, both east and west coasts, of Florida. Rick Pearson was my best man, and her sister-in-law Sandy Callies was her maid of honor...Rick actually traveled with us in my buddy Rick Tester's car to Oconomowoc...Pearson and I had been in mine when it got t-boned the week before. We drove back in a snow storm...after the weekend in Wisconsin had been unseasonably warm, with temps in the 50s and 60s.

I first met Patricia when I was 24, just out of the Air Force and working as a "Janitor" at the local schools during the day, and bartending at the infamous Red Door at night....not sure as what I wanted to do with my life...I had returned to Celina that fall of 1973, and no longer wanting to work at the local Huffy Bicycle Plant, I figured to go to college, I just wasn't ready....that would take a couple more years.

Patrica had graduated from a Business College in Milwaukee{Bryant and Statton} and had moved to Celina and was rooming with a college friend of hers, and working at the Celina Insurance Group...she was just 20 at that time. Eventually she would add a BA and MA in Special/Early Childhood Education from Wright State to her Resume, and starting somewhat late in life{mid 30s} she now has over 20 years of teaching under her...er belt.

We were married 3 years to the day after we met...December 18, 1976.....

Lots of water under the bridge, good times, tough times, kids, cars, houses, several moves, several states, and towns along the way....we have survived thus far, as has our marriage...and I have no doubt we will remain together until one of us departs...we get along, and give each other space{especially her giving me space} when we need it. Neither of us are clinging vines, and that's the way we think it should be.

Tonight, after she finishes up a school meeting for something or other, we will go to a small Mexican Restaurant in town, and have a small dinner...keeping it simple and comfortable as usual.

Happy Anniversary Patricia.....

Enjoy the weekend...back later>>>>

Photos from Oconomowoc 12/18/1976

Happy Birthday Patricia

Mix of sun and clouds today, with a high approaching 70...more of the same for tomorrow, before the rains return from the plains on Wednesday...we really need a long, long, dry spell, but it doesn't appear that is in the cards for the foreseeable future, so I guess we take what we get. I should get my league games in tonight and tomorrow....A big match-up tonight at Convoy, between the hometown Crestview Knights and visiting Delphos Jefferson...this one could decide the NWC Championship...Crestview is a perennial favorite in the area, while Jefferson made it's first deep run last year in many years, with a march to the Regional finals, before bowing out. Both teams are in the same Sectional this season, so only 1 can make it past the District. Tomorrow a WBL game at Lima Shawnee against St. Marys is on the agenda...before Wednesday looks like a wet one...but time and the every changing forecast will tell.

Happy Birthday to my wife____

I met Patrica Callies about 35 1/2 years ago in Celina...I had moved back from upstate New York, and she had just moved to Ohio from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and was living with a college friend of her's from Stout State University(now UW Stout) in Wisconsin. I was a handful of years older than her, but we hit it off rather quickly, and some 3 years later we were married at her home town church in Oconomowoc, on December 18, 1976....she has put up with me since....although I have not figured out why. These days she is the bread winner in just about total, with still another 9 or 10 years to go teaching. Meanwhile me, the aging Airedale, and the cat watch the house during the week and try to keep it somewhat in shape between baseball games in the spring, and whatever else comes up....so she doesn't have to do all the housework, although, she still bears the lion's share I'm sure.

May 4th is her birthday....like I said, a handful of years younger than me...you figure out the math.

I won't be home when she gets off from work, the baseball game beckons, but hopefully the small token of my appreciation is welcome...not nearly enough I know....

Happy Birthday Patricia....many more to come with us together, I hope.

back later>>>>

Photo-Oconomowoc 12/18/1976 with me, Patrica, and her parents, Bill and Bev.

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

10:30am

Yesterday was Monday and nice, today the rain made it's show...we could use it, but anytime you can get sunshine and warm weather with less humidity in October, we will take it.

Worked the Greenville gig this morning....can't figure out what to drive to work, the Jeep or the Intrepid...the Jeep rides rougher, but the seat is firmer, the Dodge rides nice, but with the low, soft seats...he messes up the back...took the Dodge and the back feels it....with the end of the football officiating season in sight, I look forward to easing the back problems....after going over a dozen years with no major pain in the back...I have to say this sucks, but hey, things could be worse. No football until Thursday, so will rest up....another down side though is , with the back problems, I can't hit my basement gym and do weight training...so it throws the whole damn routine off kilter.

Decided to change the second header photo on occasion, the current one is me and my bride some 30 years ago on the wedding day in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin(her hometown)....it was in December and for some strange reason, the temperature was in the upper 60s on that December 18th....a record high I am sure....

{the photos on the post show the rain that replaced to 80 degree sunshine from yesterday...the Jeep and Intrepid getting a free wash}