This blog makes mention of important events that took place in my life this year, in addition to those written about my week's of paid vacation and going to college.
I had several good moments this year, with both my co-workers and high school friends.
Starting with my co-workers, I started 2012 celebrating New Year's at the home of Matt's sister and brother-in-law, Lauren and Jason. It was the best New Year's I ever had. I continued to go swimming this summer with my co-workers from Acme. After going to Norton's Griffith's Pool in 2011, Austin introduced us to Dogwood Park in North Canton. I went there three times this summer, usually with Matt, Max, Justin, Austin, Tyler, Todd, Dayne, Sarah, Sara, Jessica, and others (sorry if I forgot to mention your name). Lauren and Jason, turned 30 this spring and were nice enough to invite me to their birthday party, which was awesome. I also went to a nice party at Justin's house in June and to Jacob's (aka Hawk) graduation party in July. I haven't even mentioned playing fantasy football this year with Matt and his buddies (I'll need a separate blog to discuss this, lol). Megan left Acme this year, but we continued to stay good friends. We lost Keefe for a few months, but fortunately he found his way back. Ashley left to stay home with her new son and later decided to come back. It was a bad year health wise for several older co-workers, but almost all of them have improved by year's end and have returned to work. I've become more acquanited with some fun new customers too. I always know who to look for on certain days of the week to come through the checkout.
My friend from high school, Mandi, moved to Colorado in April and she had a nice going away party at the Hunky Club in Barberton. In December, I went to a Christmas Party at the home of Father George and Kathy Tarsis and ran into several old friends there, including Paul and Megan. A few weeks later, I got to meet Brett and Josh for the Greynolds Classic. Sean wasn't able to join us this year, but I got to see Brett's son, Andrew, for the first time. I'm looking forward to continuing the tradition next year and for many more to come. Josh and I also met for a few other Magics sporting events, which we continue to enjoy as we're now approaching 10 years out of high school. Since Adam is living in Streetsboro now, I now meet him on occassion in Kent on my way to school.
I don't have much of a social life at Kent State, but I do have to give a shout out to my new friend, Jesse. We met in Newswriting this summer and since she's really good at photography, she helped me gets some really nice photos for my assignments. We also took Law of Mass Communication this fall.
Father Tarsis is retired from St. Andrew's, but Deacon Michael Petrochuk arrived this summer and I enjoy having him around. He has a good personality, is well-organized, and gives good sermons. Scott and I continue to usher once a month and we always go to Taco Bell for lunch with his parents on Sundays. We went on several road trips while I was on vacation, in addition to a trip to the Dennison Train Depot in Tuscarawas County.
A few people I knew passed away this year, including Uncle Larry Hanshaw (a previous blog details this), my former next door neighbor Millie Sharkey, classmate Frank Bochard, and family friend Darah Farris. Two new cousins were born this year, Jackson (Sarah and Evan's son) in January and Anna (Krissy and Brett's daughter) in November. Now that Krissy has three daughters, I'm still the only male born into Mom's immediate family (we'll see how long I can make that claim). Speaking of Anna's birth, it was the week before Thanksgiving, so this was the first Thanksgiving I didn't see Krissy. Fortunately, her, Brett, and the girls made it for Christmas. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on June 12 and a surprise party was held for them at Barberton Center Court (a few weeks before it closed).
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
2012 Fantasy Football
This year was an exciting year for fantasy football as my team, Big Mike Boyz, participated in the Damn D Fest's league, started by Matt D. in 2008. His friend Jeremy was not available to play this year, so I filled in place of his team. In late July, a draft lottery was held at David B's in Barberton to determine the draft order of the 12 participants, which is done in a snake format (draft order reverses from round to round). A month later, the draft was held at Greg and Mario's house, where we paid our $80 entry fee.
Once the season started, Nick got off to a 7-0 record and finished as the regular season champion before losing in the semifinals. The championship, won by Mario, was held in Week 16 since many NFL teams would be resting their starters in Week 17. The weird thing is that the 5th and 6th seeded teams played for the championship, both of whom finished the regular season 7-6. Actually the weirdest thing was Jason starting 0-5 before winning 4 straight with a large number of points. Big Mike Boyz's finished 4th place with a 7-6 record before losing 100-76 in the first round. I started the season 4-1, before losing 3 straight and leveling out for the final weeks. I won $15 the last week of the regular season for finishing with the most points in the league that week.
This is a recap of my roster:
QB: I drafted the Lions' Matt Stafford in the 2nd round and he had a rough start to the season before having a strong finish. At one point, I had to bench Stafford in favor of Bengals' Andy Dalton.
RB: Dolphins' Reggie Bush and 49ers' Frank Gore were questionable picks coming into the season, but they both gave me a good year and Gore was selected to the Pro Bowl.
WR: I drafted Texans' Andre Johnson in the 1st round and gave me a good, but not great, year. Steve Smith was solid and I was in trouble at the beginning of the year because my other WRs were garbage. I made a bad pick with Titans' Kenny Britt. As soon as I made it, I thought I should've drafted Redskins' Pierre Garcon, but looking back now that wouldn't have been any better than Britt. Packers' James Jones had a big first game so I decided to pick him up off the waiver wire and he saved my ass. Jones was the only significant waiver pickup I had this season.
TE: I drafted 36 year-old Tony Gonzalaz in the 9th round and he proved to be a steal. He had a big year and made it to another Pro Bowl. I drafted Cowboys' Jason Whitten a few rounds earlier, which was risky considering his spleen injury, but after a slow start, he finished strong and also made the Pro Bowl. I used Whitten as a WR-TE flex.
K: I drafted Patriots' Stephen Goskowski, which to no surprise was a great pick considering the large number of points the Pats score.
D: I drafted the Texans and with J.J. Watt on their line with 20 sacks, it turned out to be another great pick.
Once the season started, Nick got off to a 7-0 record and finished as the regular season champion before losing in the semifinals. The championship, won by Mario, was held in Week 16 since many NFL teams would be resting their starters in Week 17. The weird thing is that the 5th and 6th seeded teams played for the championship, both of whom finished the regular season 7-6. Actually the weirdest thing was Jason starting 0-5 before winning 4 straight with a large number of points. Big Mike Boyz's finished 4th place with a 7-6 record before losing 100-76 in the first round. I started the season 4-1, before losing 3 straight and leveling out for the final weeks. I won $15 the last week of the regular season for finishing with the most points in the league that week.
This is a recap of my roster:
QB: I drafted the Lions' Matt Stafford in the 2nd round and he had a rough start to the season before having a strong finish. At one point, I had to bench Stafford in favor of Bengals' Andy Dalton.
RB: Dolphins' Reggie Bush and 49ers' Frank Gore were questionable picks coming into the season, but they both gave me a good year and Gore was selected to the Pro Bowl.
WR: I drafted Texans' Andre Johnson in the 1st round and gave me a good, but not great, year. Steve Smith was solid and I was in trouble at the beginning of the year because my other WRs were garbage. I made a bad pick with Titans' Kenny Britt. As soon as I made it, I thought I should've drafted Redskins' Pierre Garcon, but looking back now that wouldn't have been any better than Britt. Packers' James Jones had a big first game so I decided to pick him up off the waiver wire and he saved my ass. Jones was the only significant waiver pickup I had this season.
TE: I drafted 36 year-old Tony Gonzalaz in the 9th round and he proved to be a steal. He had a big year and made it to another Pro Bowl. I drafted Cowboys' Jason Whitten a few rounds earlier, which was risky considering his spleen injury, but after a slow start, he finished strong and also made the Pro Bowl. I used Whitten as a WR-TE flex.
K: I drafted Patriots' Stephen Goskowski, which to no surprise was a great pick considering the large number of points the Pats score.
D: I drafted the Texans and with J.J. Watt on their line with 20 sacks, it turned out to be another great pick.
Friday, December 14, 2012
2012 Educational Year-in-Review
In 2012, I continued my pursuit of a bachelor's degree in journalism from Kent State. It had its highlights and lowlights.
In January, I began the Spring 2012 semester taking Media Writing and Multimedia Techniques (three credit hours each). Media Writing teaches journalism students the basics of Associated Press style journalism writing. It was challenging to learn so many grammar rules, but it was a very helpful class. The instructor was tough, but she was also fair and helpful. Multimedia Techniques was definately my favorite class of the semester. It was a "hybird" class, which means that we had to meet for two lectures a semester and the rest of the assignments were submitted online. We could also meet with our section instructor on Tuesdays to help us with our major multimedia assignment for the class. The first few weeks of the class, I was having trouble thinking of a topic, but one night I had a dream about going to old Rolling Acres Mall when I was a young child. When I got up the next morning, I realized that was going to be my assignment for the project. I went to the abandoned mall to make a three minute video of what the mall looks like now, completed three interviews, gathered narrative material, and old pictures of both the mall and my family being there to complete the project. At the end it was a very fulfilling experience.
In May, I took a three credit hour, three week, intersession class, Principals of Microeconomics, which was much easier than I expected. In June and July, I took a three credit hour, eight week, Newswriting class. I got two articles published in the Daily Kent Stater from that class.
At the end of August, I began the Fall 2012 semester taking Law of Mass Communication and Broadcast Beat Reporting. Law of Mass Communication, a three credit hour class, was a very interesting and informative class, where I researched an interesting report on political advertising. Much of the class was based on the 1st Amendment protections for freedom of speech. Broadcast Beat Reporting was a much more eventful class, despite it only lasting one month before I had to drop it. I never realized how much more demanding broadcast was that print journalism. I had to constantly be on campus to complete assignments and with my status as a non-traditional student, it was too much to handle. I plan to get caught up with the loss credit hours by taking Print Beat Reporting this summer, also a four credit hour class. Once I complete that class, I will decide whether I want to focus on news or magazine journalism.
In January, I began the Spring 2012 semester taking Media Writing and Multimedia Techniques (three credit hours each). Media Writing teaches journalism students the basics of Associated Press style journalism writing. It was challenging to learn so many grammar rules, but it was a very helpful class. The instructor was tough, but she was also fair and helpful. Multimedia Techniques was definately my favorite class of the semester. It was a "hybird" class, which means that we had to meet for two lectures a semester and the rest of the assignments were submitted online. We could also meet with our section instructor on Tuesdays to help us with our major multimedia assignment for the class. The first few weeks of the class, I was having trouble thinking of a topic, but one night I had a dream about going to old Rolling Acres Mall when I was a young child. When I got up the next morning, I realized that was going to be my assignment for the project. I went to the abandoned mall to make a three minute video of what the mall looks like now, completed three interviews, gathered narrative material, and old pictures of both the mall and my family being there to complete the project. At the end it was a very fulfilling experience.
In May, I took a three credit hour, three week, intersession class, Principals of Microeconomics, which was much easier than I expected. In June and July, I took a three credit hour, eight week, Newswriting class. I got two articles published in the Daily Kent Stater from that class.
At the end of August, I began the Fall 2012 semester taking Law of Mass Communication and Broadcast Beat Reporting. Law of Mass Communication, a three credit hour class, was a very interesting and informative class, where I researched an interesting report on political advertising. Much of the class was based on the 1st Amendment protections for freedom of speech. Broadcast Beat Reporting was a much more eventful class, despite it only lasting one month before I had to drop it. I never realized how much more demanding broadcast was that print journalism. I had to constantly be on campus to complete assignments and with my status as a non-traditional student, it was too much to handle. I plan to get caught up with the loss credit hours by taking Print Beat Reporting this summer, also a four credit hour class. Once I complete that class, I will decide whether I want to focus on news or magazine journalism.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Week of Paid Vacation: July 29 to Aug. 4
I took my second week of paid vacation from Acme in 2012 from July 29 to Aug. 4. Overall, it was a good productive week with a few lowpoints and really hot weather.
The first two days I spent with Scott since he was off work. On Sunday, I went to church and after eating lunch with Scott, we went to Tuscora Park to play catch with my new football. On Monday, Scott and I went to Best Buy and I bought the camera and equipment that I would need for my fall class, Broadcast Beat Reporting. We met again in the evening, this time with his brother Mark and our retired minister, Father Tarsis. I spent Tuesday getting an oil change, cleaning and waxing my car, and working around the yard and house getting it cleaned up. I sent a message to Cousin Ginny and called Aunt Helen to find out some more info I would need to get ready for the trip I was going to make with Dad to visit the old family sites in southern OH/WV/KY.
On Wednesday, I met with Adam for the first time in several months. He was busy for a while and since he was now between jobs, we headed up to Cedar Point. We rode several rides and watched a couple of rock music shows, in additon to having lunch. On the way back, we stopped at Friendly's in Montrose. Unfortantly, when I got home I found out Uncle Larry died earlier in the day. Dad and I had to cancel our trip, which was kind of ironic because the next day I found out my tie rod (which controls the steering of the tire) was busted. I took it to Eagon to get it fixed and came home to do some cleaning in my room and ran a few errands. On Friday, I painted the living room closet and met with Cousins Elaine and Ron at their home with Aunt Edna. We had dinner, played cards, and stopped to check out the LaFlavor concert at Lake Anna.
On Saturday, Mom and I met Aunt Kathy and Cousin Nikki for lunch at Hookline and Drinkers since Nikki was visiting from Maryland. When I got home I worked on some family tree information for a while since the weather outside was too muggy to do anything else. On Sunday, St. Andrew's welcomed its new minister, Dr. Michael Petrochuk, for his first service as deacon-in-charge. He was very enthusiastic and I think it will serve St. Andrew's well. I'll write a separate blog about Uncle Larry's services on Sunday and Monday, before I returned to work at 4 p.m. on Monday.
The first two days I spent with Scott since he was off work. On Sunday, I went to church and after eating lunch with Scott, we went to Tuscora Park to play catch with my new football. On Monday, Scott and I went to Best Buy and I bought the camera and equipment that I would need for my fall class, Broadcast Beat Reporting. We met again in the evening, this time with his brother Mark and our retired minister, Father Tarsis. I spent Tuesday getting an oil change, cleaning and waxing my car, and working around the yard and house getting it cleaned up. I sent a message to Cousin Ginny and called Aunt Helen to find out some more info I would need to get ready for the trip I was going to make with Dad to visit the old family sites in southern OH/WV/KY.
On Wednesday, I met with Adam for the first time in several months. He was busy for a while and since he was now between jobs, we headed up to Cedar Point. We rode several rides and watched a couple of rock music shows, in additon to having lunch. On the way back, we stopped at Friendly's in Montrose. Unfortantly, when I got home I found out Uncle Larry died earlier in the day. Dad and I had to cancel our trip, which was kind of ironic because the next day I found out my tie rod (which controls the steering of the tire) was busted. I took it to Eagon to get it fixed and came home to do some cleaning in my room and ran a few errands. On Friday, I painted the living room closet and met with Cousins Elaine and Ron at their home with Aunt Edna. We had dinner, played cards, and stopped to check out the LaFlavor concert at Lake Anna.
On Saturday, Mom and I met Aunt Kathy and Cousin Nikki for lunch at Hookline and Drinkers since Nikki was visiting from Maryland. When I got home I worked on some family tree information for a while since the weather outside was too muggy to do anything else. On Sunday, St. Andrew's welcomed its new minister, Dr. Michael Petrochuk, for his first service as deacon-in-charge. He was very enthusiastic and I think it will serve St. Andrew's well. I'll write a separate blog about Uncle Larry's services on Sunday and Monday, before I returned to work at 4 p.m. on Monday.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Remembering Uncle Larry Hanshaw (1944-2012)
On August 1, my uncle, Larry Hanshaw, passed away at the age of 68. He wasn't feeling well lately, but it was still a surprise. Dad and Uncle Larry were close considering their small 15 month age difference (Dad is 69). After Grandma Webster died in 2005, Uncle Larry always made sure to keep up with Dad regulary so he didn't lose touch with things going on in Marion. We had a great time at his and Cousin Brent's home a few years ago. We hung out for a while in Brent's garage which was pretty neat with all the antique auto items. That was definately my favorite memory of Uncle Larry. I found a photo of Dad and Uncle Larry as children that was a favorite of mine, so I posted it as my Facebook profile picture.
My parents and I attended the calling hours were held from 4-6 on Sunday, August 5 at Boyd-Born Funeral Home in Marion. We saw a bunch of people we don't see often and met a lot of other nice people. On Monday, we went to Marion Cemetery (near President Warren Harding's tomb) for the graveside service. The best part of the service was when the minister said that Uncle Larry "beat his brothers to the finish line," which was perfect considering the four Hanshaw brother love auto racing and that Uncle Larry was the first to die. Afterwards, we headed out to Brent and Heather's home for lunch. Heather's family was there watch Dylan and Bryce and were nice enough to make lunch for the family and Cousin Pat had some interesting family stories to tell. Afterwards, we went home so I could go back to work.
My parents and I attended the calling hours were held from 4-6 on Sunday, August 5 at Boyd-Born Funeral Home in Marion. We saw a bunch of people we don't see often and met a lot of other nice people. On Monday, we went to Marion Cemetery (near President Warren Harding's tomb) for the graveside service. The best part of the service was when the minister said that Uncle Larry "beat his brothers to the finish line," which was perfect considering the four Hanshaw brother love auto racing and that Uncle Larry was the first to die. Afterwards, we headed out to Brent and Heather's home for lunch. Heather's family was there watch Dylan and Bryce and were nice enough to make lunch for the family and Cousin Pat had some interesting family stories to tell. Afterwards, we went home so I could go back to work.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Week of Paid Vacation: May 6 to 12
I took my first week of paid vacation from Acme in 2012 from May 6 to 12. Overall, I had a fun and productive week.
On Sunday, I went to church in the morning before meeting Scott, his brother Mark, and Father Tarsis at the Magic City Fastlane for a few games of bowling. On Monday, I spent the day cleaning up around the house. I took some old magazines to the Barberton Middle School to donate to my former art teacher Mr. Reichenbach. He will use them for collage project in his classes, which is better than me throwing them out with the trash.
On Tuesday, I met Scott at Tuscora Park to play catch, something I hadn't done in quite some time. Afterwards, we got ice cream from the Magic Freeze. On Wednesday, I visited Aunt Kathy before spending time w/ Mom's cousins (the Boldrys and Bob) and Aunt Edna at the Boldry home. I learned how to shoot a pellet gun and played pool. On Thursday, Scott and I went to two museums in Canton. The first was the Hoover Historic Center (vaccum company) and the Blue Majesty Boat Museum. The second museum was especially fascinating because there were numerous hand made model ships made from abstract woods from all over the world. We met the man who made the ships, who has been doing so as a hobby for over 35 years.
On Friday, Scott and I went to Kirtland (Geauga County) to visit a Morman settlement from the early 1800s. I never realized the Mormans settled so close to where I lived before going to Utah. We stopped for lunch at Quaker State before heading home. On Saturday, I went to the Cherry Blossom Parade and met cousins Elaine, Sarah, Evan, Jillian, and Jackson. I ran into some old high school acquantances while there. I went home and cleaned the three family cars for a while before heading to a 30th birthday party for Matt D's sister, Lauren. I saw a lot of old and new faces there, not realizing how many people I knew were related to each other.
On Sunday, I went to church in the morning before meeting Scott, his brother Mark, and Father Tarsis at the Magic City Fastlane for a few games of bowling. On Monday, I spent the day cleaning up around the house. I took some old magazines to the Barberton Middle School to donate to my former art teacher Mr. Reichenbach. He will use them for collage project in his classes, which is better than me throwing them out with the trash.
On Tuesday, I met Scott at Tuscora Park to play catch, something I hadn't done in quite some time. Afterwards, we got ice cream from the Magic Freeze. On Wednesday, I visited Aunt Kathy before spending time w/ Mom's cousins (the Boldrys and Bob) and Aunt Edna at the Boldry home. I learned how to shoot a pellet gun and played pool. On Thursday, Scott and I went to two museums in Canton. The first was the Hoover Historic Center (vaccum company) and the Blue Majesty Boat Museum. The second museum was especially fascinating because there were numerous hand made model ships made from abstract woods from all over the world. We met the man who made the ships, who has been doing so as a hobby for over 35 years.
On Friday, Scott and I went to Kirtland (Geauga County) to visit a Morman settlement from the early 1800s. I never realized the Mormans settled so close to where I lived before going to Utah. We stopped for lunch at Quaker State before heading home. On Saturday, I went to the Cherry Blossom Parade and met cousins Elaine, Sarah, Evan, Jillian, and Jackson. I ran into some old high school acquantances while there. I went home and cleaned the three family cars for a while before heading to a 30th birthday party for Matt D's sister, Lauren. I saw a lot of old and new faces there, not realizing how many people I knew were related to each other.
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