Cousin Nikki and Andrew, who were living in Maryland, moved back to Ohio in March, buying a home near the Portage Lakes. Soon afterwards, Nikki announced she was expecting her first child. I went to see her house a few times, once in May and once in August.
On March 15, Deacon Michael Petrochuk was ordained as a Minister of the Episcopal Church and a Friday evening service was held in his honor, with a reception afterwards.
In May, Aunt Kathy asked me if I wanted to re-stain the deck at her home, which I decided to pursue. I had to fight a rainy two months in June and July before the weather dried out around the beginning of August. It paid a lot better than what I make at work, plus she saved a lot by not having to hire a professional.
Dad took time off of his job at Maaco in late June to due chest and leg pains. He ended up getting two stints put in at the Cleveland Clinic on July 26 and decided to retire following that. This led him to sell his toolbox, some tools, and car (Mom and Dad will share a car from now on). I will post a separate post regarding the sell of his car.
August was the best month of the year by far. I worked three eight hour shift to start the month, which was also the first three days of Acme's meat sale. After that, I was on vacation from August 4 to 10. I finished working on the deck on Monday and got my final check for it, which was great since I was getting ready to leave on vacation with Scott. Scott picked me up at my house on Tuesday morning as we headed off to New York state. We stopped for lunch at Bob Evans in Jamestown before getting to Oneneta to check into the Clarion Hotel around 5:30 p.m. We got dinner at Subway before relaxing at the hotel the rest of the evening. On Wednesday, we drove to Norwalk to see the Northeast Classic Car Museum before heading to Cooperstown. We got lunch at a small restaurant in town before heading to the National Baseball Hall-of-Fame and Museum around 1pm. Scott brought his nice camera with him and we got over 200 great pictures. The entire experience was awesome, so I couldn't say that I had a favorite part. After leaving the HOF-Museum around 5pm, we stopped at some sporting goods shops in the downtown before driving back to Oneneta. After getting back, we had dinner at a local Italian restaurant and returned to the hotel for the evening. We drove back on Thursday, stopping for lunch at Panera along the way.
I returned to work on Sunday, but I still had the BHS 10-Year Class Reunion to look forward to on Saturday, August 17. It was held at Loyal Oak Park from 3 to 8pm. It cost $15, which included pizza, pasta, salad, chicken, and jo jos from Fat Boy's, which tasted pretty good. Many class reunions cost up to $60, but by eliminating the fancy meal, pre-paid alcohol, paper invitations, and postage, we saved at lot of money. Most of the reunion was planned on Facebook, but Stephanie (class president) placed two ads in the Barberton Herald shortly before the reunion to make sure people who weren't on Facebook were aware of the reunion. Stephanie was also smart by having a long one day event, instead of two evening events. After leaving the park, we spent the evening at David B's. I had two beers and left around 1am. About 50 graduates and 10 guests attended, most to both events.
I had a short night because the next morning at 10am, St. Andrew's had their annual church service and picnic at Columbia Woods Park. It was a nice time as usual.
I started the Spring 2013 semester with two classes, Visual Design Literacy and Political Methods, both three hours classes. PM was on Monday and Wednesday and VDL was on Tuesday and Thursday, so I had to drive to Kent four days a week for only two classes. The first class was smooth sailing to earning an A, but I never completed the second class due to technical difficulities and conflicts with my work schedule. I ended up dropping the class in March and decided to change my major from Broadcast Journalism (School of Journalism) to Applied Communication (School of Commuication) because it was more commuter friendly. I considered returning to the University of Akron, but they started to require a 14 hour foreign language requirement for communication majors starting the Fall 2011 semester.
I signed up for a summer school course, Criticism of Public Discourse, but it was canceled due to low enrollment. I then signed up for Visual Design Media, but it was also canceled due to low enrollment, so I decided to take it online. After hassling with tech issues for three days, I canceled the online cours and decided to take the summer off.
I started the Fall 2013 semester with four classes, each three credit hours, since I fell behind during the past calendar year. The courses are Foundations of Communication, Into to Technical Writing, and Communication Theory. All classes were held Tuesday and Thursday, but I had a 3.5 hour gap between the first two. There is also an online class, Information Fluency in the Workplace and Beyond. I finished the semester with As in Technical Writing and Communication Theory, a B+ in Foundations of Communications, and a C- in Info Fluency.
In January, I found out I had to get hernia surgery, which had to be performed laproscopically above the right groin area. I scheduled the surgery on March 27, since I was on Spring Break from Kent State. It was also good timing so I would be home for my birthday, Easter, the end of March Madness, and the beginning of baseball season. I was off of work for three weeks as I recovered. I was eligible for sick pay from the UFCW, plus I took a week of paid vacation from Acme. I returned to work on April 16 and was back lifting as usual in early May. I was looking forward to going swimming again this summer with co-workers at Dogwood, but due to Matt working another job, we never got anything together.
Acme offered a buyout to full-time employees in February, which cashier Beth took, in addition to three deli associates. The deli also transfered three associated out, with another leaving a few months later. Long-time assistant manager, Tony, was transfered to Norton Acme 6 at the end of March. The manager, Bernie, retired on Sept. 6 as well as packer Newman. Grocery stock man, Jim, retired from Acme the following day. Other long time associates left this year, including Sherise, Dianna, and Una. Several new associates were hired in May and a bunch more in October and November.
In May, Aunt Kathy asked me if I wanted to re-stain the deck at her home, which I decided to pursue. I had to fight a rainy two months in June and July before the weather dried out around the beginning of August. It paid a lot better than what I make at work, plus she saved a lot by not having to hire a professional.
Dad took time off of his job at Maaco in late June to due chest and leg pains. He ended up getting two stints put in at the Cleveland Clinic on July 26 and decided to retire following that. This led him to sell his toolbox, some tools, and car (Mom and Dad will share a car from now on). I will post a separate post regarding the sell of his car.
August was the best month of the year by far. I worked three eight hour shift to start the month, which was also the first three days of Acme's meat sale. After that, I was on vacation from August 4 to 10. I finished working on the deck on Monday and got my final check for it, which was great since I was getting ready to leave on vacation with Scott. Scott picked me up at my house on Tuesday morning as we headed off to New York state. We stopped for lunch at Bob Evans in Jamestown before getting to Oneneta to check into the Clarion Hotel around 5:30 p.m. We got dinner at Subway before relaxing at the hotel the rest of the evening. On Wednesday, we drove to Norwalk to see the Northeast Classic Car Museum before heading to Cooperstown. We got lunch at a small restaurant in town before heading to the National Baseball Hall-of-Fame and Museum around 1pm. Scott brought his nice camera with him and we got over 200 great pictures. The entire experience was awesome, so I couldn't say that I had a favorite part. After leaving the HOF-Museum around 5pm, we stopped at some sporting goods shops in the downtown before driving back to Oneneta. After getting back, we had dinner at a local Italian restaurant and returned to the hotel for the evening. We drove back on Thursday, stopping for lunch at Panera along the way.
I returned to work on Sunday, but I still had the BHS 10-Year Class Reunion to look forward to on Saturday, August 17. It was held at Loyal Oak Park from 3 to 8pm. It cost $15, which included pizza, pasta, salad, chicken, and jo jos from Fat Boy's, which tasted pretty good. Many class reunions cost up to $60, but by eliminating the fancy meal, pre-paid alcohol, paper invitations, and postage, we saved at lot of money. Most of the reunion was planned on Facebook, but Stephanie (class president) placed two ads in the Barberton Herald shortly before the reunion to make sure people who weren't on Facebook were aware of the reunion. Stephanie was also smart by having a long one day event, instead of two evening events. After leaving the park, we spent the evening at David B's. I had two beers and left around 1am. About 50 graduates and 10 guests attended, most to both events.
I had a short night because the next morning at 10am, St. Andrew's had their annual church service and picnic at Columbia Woods Park. It was a nice time as usual.
I started the Spring 2013 semester with two classes, Visual Design Literacy and Political Methods, both three hours classes. PM was on Monday and Wednesday and VDL was on Tuesday and Thursday, so I had to drive to Kent four days a week for only two classes. The first class was smooth sailing to earning an A, but I never completed the second class due to technical difficulities and conflicts with my work schedule. I ended up dropping the class in March and decided to change my major from Broadcast Journalism (School of Journalism) to Applied Communication (School of Commuication) because it was more commuter friendly. I considered returning to the University of Akron, but they started to require a 14 hour foreign language requirement for communication majors starting the Fall 2011 semester.
I signed up for a summer school course, Criticism of Public Discourse, but it was canceled due to low enrollment. I then signed up for Visual Design Media, but it was also canceled due to low enrollment, so I decided to take it online. After hassling with tech issues for three days, I canceled the online cours and decided to take the summer off.
I started the Fall 2013 semester with four classes, each three credit hours, since I fell behind during the past calendar year. The courses are Foundations of Communication, Into to Technical Writing, and Communication Theory. All classes were held Tuesday and Thursday, but I had a 3.5 hour gap between the first two. There is also an online class, Information Fluency in the Workplace and Beyond. I finished the semester with As in Technical Writing and Communication Theory, a B+ in Foundations of Communications, and a C- in Info Fluency.
In January, I found out I had to get hernia surgery, which had to be performed laproscopically above the right groin area. I scheduled the surgery on March 27, since I was on Spring Break from Kent State. It was also good timing so I would be home for my birthday, Easter, the end of March Madness, and the beginning of baseball season. I was off of work for three weeks as I recovered. I was eligible for sick pay from the UFCW, plus I took a week of paid vacation from Acme. I returned to work on April 16 and was back lifting as usual in early May. I was looking forward to going swimming again this summer with co-workers at Dogwood, but due to Matt working another job, we never got anything together.
Acme offered a buyout to full-time employees in February, which cashier Beth took, in addition to three deli associates. The deli also transfered three associated out, with another leaving a few months later. Long-time assistant manager, Tony, was transfered to Norton Acme 6 at the end of March. The manager, Bernie, retired on Sept. 6 as well as packer Newman. Grocery stock man, Jim, retired from Acme the following day. Other long time associates left this year, including Sherise, Dianna, and Una. Several new associates were hired in May and a bunch more in October and November.
The holiday season was slightly different this year than in past years. Instead of going to Grandma Maybin and Susie's house on Black Friday, we met at Aunt Kathy's house. Also, cousin Krissy decided not to make the trip to Barberton for Thanksgiving and Christmas, instead opting to wait until Nikki's baby arrived. I didn't get to see Dad's family this year, only getting to talk to them on the phone or on Facebook on some occasions.
