Andrew's parents arrived for their ten day visit on Friday November 20th. We
took them to Windchimes, one of our favorite local Chinese restaurants, for
dinner. In fact, the portions were so generous that some of us even had
leftovers for another day!
Saturday November 21, 2015
Today’s
outing of the day was a trip to the Giant Eagle Marketplace at Kingsdale
Center. We took them there on their last visit here about four years ago, just
after the Marketplace opened. In fact, one of the employees saw them wandering
around and even offered to give them a personal tour, so we didn’t even see
them again for about an hour! This trip mostly consisted of us dragging them
around while we stocked up on food for the week. I don’t think they would have
minded spending a bit longer, but Andrew isn’t that keen on shopping and didn’t
want to spend all afternoon there. Plus, he wanted to get home and have lunch.
In
the evening we split up so the guys could attend the Mozart Clarinet Concerto
at the Southern Theatre while we ladies attended the Darby High School
production of “The War of the Worlds,” which lasted just over an hour. It
probably felt like the end of the world to our meager little audience since the
Buckeyes just lost their game in the last few seconds, moments before the play
began.
(cast photo - we thought the kid in the blue plaid shirt looked a lot like Callum)
Since
Karen and Mike’s house was on the way back, we popped in for coffee and
conversation before retiring back to Chateau May where we watched several episodes
of “Tiny House Hunters” before heading to bed.
Sunday November 22, 2015
Today
was an activity-packed day for the Mays. For starters, there was the 11am
contemporary service at Scioto Ridge United Methodist Church. Though I offered
to drive them, the elder Mays opted to walk to church. I’m not sure why, but
for some reason it reminded me a little of “Little House on the Prairie,”
though the Ingalls would have arrived by buggy, as most attendees did.
It
was a lovely service with a very entertaining sermon/homily and I told the
minister as much afterwards. Meanwhile, Colin had a nice long chat with the
organist since Colin & Ann’s church in Hereford is currently shopping for a
new organ. Never hurts to shop around and ask advice from others! (which I
explained to them that I did before I bought my Honda Fit when I popped in on
some neighbors to ask them about their Fit).
While
we were having a chat with some other parishioners after the service a neighbor
I didn’t know I had on Darbyshire somehow knew I lived on Wenwood and asked if
we wanted a ride. Ann & Colin were a bit hesitant, but I talked them into
it not wishing to offend our neighbors, and knowing that it would be a long and
exhausting walk back for the elder Mays (and we still had more places to visit
on our agenda). Much thanks Mr. and Mrs. Waid!
Our
next stop was lunch at the North Market. Unlike the West Side Market in
Cleveland, which is enormous (and more than one building), and most other
European markets, the North Market isn’t that big, so we didn’t figure it would
be too exhausting for them to walk around. Also, we didn’t figure the meal
selection would be so vast that they couldn’t make up their mind. They selected
curry from Flavors of India while I bought a waffle sandwich from Taste of
Belgium next door. Andrew joined us with a rather large (but apparently normal
size) pretzel from Bretzel. I later stopped over there too and bought some
pretzel twists to eat at home later. Ann purchased a box of Macaroons for us
too, which we look forward to eating as soon as we finish the last of our
Thanksgiving desserts.
From
there we drove over to the Wexner Center to see the After Picasso exhibit which
featured works by many of Picasso’s contemporaries including Andy Warhol,
Jackson Pollack, Jasper Johns, and Roy Lichtenstein (who apparently attended Ohio
State at one time). Everyone seemed to enjoy it, but I think Andrew’s mum was
tired of walking, so the elder Mays sat and watched one of the continuously
running videos, which are perfect for when you want a break, or are
particularly interested in the subject matter. I thought the collection was
very interesting and I only wish we could have taken pictures so I had examples
from which to draw inspiration for my own art. They did sell a catalog, but it
was quite expensive and just another item to clutter up my bookshelf. At least
the free brochure had some good examples.
(above - this was one of my favorites that was recreated by Anton Henning)
When
I got home from the food pantry later that evening, Andrew’s dad was snoring
loudly in the living room, so we obviously exhausted them, which is why the
rest of their visit was a lot more low key with them mostly sitting around our living
room (though Andrew did take them to the Ohio History Center and a shopping
trip on another day).
Thursday November 26, 2015
Someone
told me Thanksgiving is the day one species ceases gobbling and another starts
(gobbling). How true!
As far as the highlights of the day
go, running the Flying Feathers Four Miler Race is definitely at the top of my
list. It was held in Dublin in a neighborhood bordering Glacial Ridge Metro
Park, so we ran some city streets as well as paved trails through the park.
There were 4500 runners signed up, so we got stuck in a bit of traffic on the
way there, but managed to park across the street from where the race started.
By across the street, I mean, a mile away, but still closer than some of the
other parking lots. In spite of the long walk, we still had plenty of time
waiting around, and I wish I had worn one more shirt that I could have removed
later. We were given free hats and gloves, both of which I eschewed because
they impeded me using my I-Pod. The race began at 9:10am and it took us about
10 minutes just to get to the starting line. Also, there was a mixture of
clouds and sun, so we were intermittently hot and cold, but managed to survive
it and sweat some as well!
All I can tell you is four miles is a
long distance, especially as we did a circular circuit, so there really wasn't
much doubling back. Every time I looked into the distance I could see how much
further we had to go and it was pretty discouraging, but I kept at it and
managed to pass quite a few people. Andrew was nice and stayed with me most of
the time. I was pretty happy when he flashed me 3 fingers for 3 miles
completed. I knew I could complete the last mile after that. The long and short
of it is we both RAN the entire length, occasionally having to slow down for
other runners. Statistically speaking, we started out with a 16 minute mile
pace, but then ended up doing about a 13 minute mile pace. I am proud to say
Andrew and I completed the 4 miles in 47 minutes. We both got a pretty substantial
(heavy) medal and a bottle of wine (Malbec and Sangria) for completion (along
with a long sleeve runner's shirt). I was so proud of myself. I should also
add, though we were both tired, neither of us were so shattered that we
couldn't walk the mile back to our car. I probably could have run, but didn't
want to drop my bottle of booze!
Mom and dad later joined us for lunch
and dinner (after making a run back to Karen’s to finish fixing the wiring in
her dining room and clean up the resulting mess). Mom, Ann, and I also went for
a walk after lunch to enjoy some of the warm, afternoon sunshine. All total I
figure I probably walked close to 7 miles today, which should hopefully offset
some of the holiday overeating.
(group photo November 2015)
Friday
November 27, 2015
Today we went over to the Weers for
our annual Thanksgiving celebration. The guest list included 4 Denisons (Mom,
Dad, Jim & Gwen), 4 Mays (myself, Andrew, Colin & Ann), and Mike’s
brother, Steve.
It was very much a typical
Thanksgiving celebration as far as food, entertainment (football on the telly,
cards on the table) and family go. Hence, I think I can safely say the elder
Mays can cross of ‘Experience a traditional American Thanksgiving’ from their
Bucket List. In fact, we even saw they had the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade
on the television when we returned from the race yesterday. Not sure how much
of it they watched, but at least they had it on.
This year I learned all about Franken
desserts (where you combine desserts to make a new creation like pie and cake
(piecaken) and got to sample Pumpkin Dump Cake which was made by one of Karen’s
mothers-in-law. In fact, she even let me take home the leftovers. I plan to add
that to the menu next year in lieu of the traditional pumpkin pie.
Saturday
November 28, 2015
Tonight
the rain let off long enough that we could dash out to a movie without getting
too wet, so we treated Andrew’s parents to a showing of “Brooklyn” at the AMC
Lennox. Because of how crowded it was (the movie opened the day before) we had
to sit in the front row, but thankfully not in the closer seats on the floor.
It was a really good movie, but Andrew said he worried it might have hit home a
little too much for his parents, since like Eilis, he ended up emigrating to
America after marrying me (though there was a 6 year lag in between). Here’s a
plot summary of the movie: “An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where
she quickly falls into a new romance. When her past catches up with her,
however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist
within.” Thankfully both of his parents seemed to enjoy it, and there were no
tears either during or after the film.
Sunday November 29, 2015
I took his parents to church (at St.
Brendan’s) with me where they got to meet our pastor, Fr. Bob, who is also a
Brit (from St. Austell, Cornwall). Fr. Bob said he'll pray for them on their
return journey since a hurricane is due to hit the UK soon (of which Colin
& Ann were unaware). Apparently Yorkshire is expected to get a lot of snow,
where rain is expected further south. That seems pretty typical for December,
so I doubt they’ll have too much trouble getting back.
After church we went to downtown
Hilliard for lunch at Abner’s and afterwards drove them past First Responder’s
Park and over to the historical village where they had a very quick look
around. Though it was sunny, it was also a little cold and breezy, so they didn’t
want to spend too long outdoors.
Bon Voyage & Safe Travels, Colin
& Ann!
