Sucker for attention

Casper loves attention. Oh, he may be talented like most cats and seem uninterested in things like being petted or needing some kitty lovin, however the older he gets, the more he really does actually enjoy being petted and fussed over. He may hide when company comes over, but once he's decided you're okay, he'll pad around unsuspecting feet in hopes of being petted or simply talked to.

One of his favorite things to do to gain attention is to stake out the back of Jamie's chair seat in stealth mode and jump up when someone isn't paying attention. Casper will slip right up into the space between the chair back and Jamie's back.

When he first started jumping up behind Jamie, I was convinced Casper was only doing this because he's a primo heat-seeker and uses us as his blanket warmers in the winter time. However, after watching him night after night jump up on Jamie's chair (and not mine), I finally had to admit this cat wants affection from HIS person and will do whatever he has to so Jamie notices him.

Once he jumps up, he wiggles around until Jamie can't help but happen to notice there's a big white fluffy cat sharing the chair seat with him. Jamie will reach an arm backward and scratch that spot under Casper's chin and the cat will erupt into a huge purring machine. This lasts about a minute until Jamie loses circulation in his arm and quits petting Casper. Then the cat hunkers down into heat-seeking mode and protects the chair back until one of two things happens.

A. Jamie pets him again, or...
B. Jamie has to get up and leaves Casper all alone on the chair to fend for himself once again.

And then poor kitty has to find another willing sucker to love on him and keep him warm until either Jamie comes back or it's bedtime. It's rough being a cat!

Food on a stick, deep fried, and covered in chocolate

Did you try any of the new foods at the 2011 Iowa State Fair? This year's new food selections include deep fried butter (on a stick), deep fried cheesecake on a stick, a chicken Philly sandwich (not on a stick!), BBQ ribs, peanut butter and jelly on a stick, chocolate covered friend ice cream on a stick, and one of my new favorites, red velvet funnel cake.

While my parents were here one of the fair weekends, we decided to try the red velvet funnel cake to see if it really was as good as the long lines to purchase it would suggest.

I'm happy to announce the red velvet funnel cake not only was very good, so was the second one the next weekend when my sisters came for their share of fair fun! 

If you get a chance to come out to the Iowa State Fair next year and decide you're hungry and ready for victuals and sustenance, remember all the great new fair foods just waiting to be sampled so you'd better get started right away! Better yet, adopt the buddy system and have one person wait in line for one food item while the other becomes a runner and goes to find another food you want to try so you can eat all the fair foods twice as fast.

Bring in the bands

I'm happy to say the power was out only for a few minutes and the time clock is working again. Power that's on and a fully-functioning time clock are a couple critical elements for a successful band day competition. And tonight's pretty successful, I'd say, while we're watching the HS bands compete on the field.

Tonight we're in Algona for the annual Algona Band Day Competition. This is Jamie's 19th year as announcer. I'm pleased as punch to be enjoying all the highlights with him up in the press box.

Besides enjoying the best of the area's best high school bands, there are also some great traditions to top off the day, such as fresh donuts from the Rotary's Doughmobile.

And you can definitely tell today is the first of October. Just watch the crowd as the evening moves along. As the temp drops, they sit closer and closer together and pile on the warm layers.

Today's competition host, Algona's Scarlet Regiment, took the field in style...

...and left with a statement as they paused before the audience to play one last time.

It's been fun. Now the last band has finished playing and we're eagerly anticipating the judges' results when the awards ceremony begins soon. May the best band win!

Creative parking and other random fair highlights

On our way inside the Pioneer Hall Sunday morning, I spied this creative parking job and couldn't resist snapping a photo. It was too good to pass by. As I waited for the camera to turn on and focus, a voice behind me said, "That's a great shot, isn't it. Never seen a parking job like that before. Good for them."

Nothing compares to enjoying church Sunday mornings inside Pioneer Hall at the Iowa State Fair. The first Sunday of the Fair, Pastor Leroy Perkins led the ecumenical service in Pioneer Hall. We arrived just in time to slip into a couple of the last empty seats. Pastor Perkins has a talent for incorporating the theme of each year's fair into his sermons.

The Hairball concert was packed around the Susan Knapp Amphitheater for the Hairball concert Sunday night. We enjoyed the view from atop the newly renovated Eco Hill.

The skyglider sunset made for the perfect end to a really good day :)

Counting cows

I should have known I'd get hooked. It all started when I arrived at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Thursday evening, walked towards the Administration Building, and saw three painted concrete cows.

Awhile later we walked past the giant pumpkins outside the Ag Hall, and saw a few more concrete cows. Turning to my hubby, I asked, "What's up with all the cows?" And he told me there are over 60 all over the fairgrounds in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the first butter cow.

[Read Abigail Livingood's blog about the concrete cow she painted here, pictured above]

Mentally adding up the half dozen we'd passed in the last half hour, I thought, Hmmm...Sixty. I've seen about ten percent of them already. Finding the rest can't be that hard. And it'll be a fun way to explore the entire fairgrounds. Cool. Let's do it! And so the challenge was on. I started counting cows and taking photos of each.

  
As beginner's luck would have it, it started strong and as soon as I was hooked, my luck ran out. Before long I was stuck. After the first dozen and a half of the easy-to-find cows, I didn't know where to look next to find the rest. Thankfully I wasn't stuck very long. A good friend shared a photocopy of her Concrete Cow Locations map and I was back in business.

Each day I've been to the Iowa State Fair, I've scoured right and left in hopes of spotting more concrete cows. Saturday we counted several more. Yesterday I enlisted my parents' help and together we found more than a dozen.

Tonight Jamie joined in the adventure and we found a bunch too! We're nearly two-thirds of our way to all sixty. And it's a good thing too because the fair's halfway over and we're running out of time!

So if you'd like to start counting your own concrete cows at the fair, be sure to visit the Butter Cow page on the Iowa State Fair website where you can learn all sorts of cool butter cow facts, print your own Concrete Cow Locations map, and start enjoying the thrill of crossing off those cows from the list, one by one as you find them. And who knows? You may discover new parts of the fair you haven't enjoyed before! Happy counting! Moo!

It's only just the beginning

Hooray! It's here! After all the waiting and much anticipation, I'm thrilled to inform you the Iowa State Fair has arrived! Today marked Day #2 of the ISF and the 100th Anniversary of the Butter Cow.

What better way to start our adventures at the Iowa State Fair than to stop for a gander at the Big Pumpkin Winner.

A friend was sporting this custom number. Too. Cool. And so very creative! 

All over the fairgrounds you'll see these super neat-o cow sculptures. There are 60 in all. As soon as I learned that I decided right then and there that I must find all 60 of these cute little critters or my fair experience won't be complete. With patient help from my hubby, we found 14 tonight already!

The midway was lit up brighter than our Christmas tree and the crowds were pouring in to enjoy the rides and games. I'll let you in on a little secret: One of our favorite places to watch the fireworks after the grandstand concerts is from the Big Wheel in the back of the midway. When the wheel comes around and you're at the top, it feels like you could reach out and touch the sky and tickle your toes on the fireworks in the infield.

The poultry were arriving tonight for the big show tomorrow. This classy fella was strutting his stuff around and around inside his enclosure. I hope he'll do well in the placing tomorrow.

Be sure to visit the Museum when you get to the Fair. The butter cow display on the main floor is really neat. And you can even pose for a photo with a life-size butter cow replica!

We ended the evening with the Tonic Sol-fa concert. Mark, Jared, Greg & Shaun - you're the best! Looking forward to your Christmas concert and can't wait until you're back at the Iowa State Fair again!

Hope you enjoyed the quick tour. Now - hurry out to your car and drive as quickly as you legally can to the Iowa State Fair and experience your own grand fair adventure!

You know it's bad when

After the hottest July on record for the state in which I currently live, it's nice to remember back a few months and appreciate summer because it can always be worse.

Case in point: March 23, 2011 was the day of the worst blizzard I've had the priviledge of driving in yet. What started as an angry gray sky and skiffs of snow blowing across the road in North Dakota quickly became more.

More, you say? Yes, I say. As in much more. Think thick slush in the good parts of the road and black ice in the bad coupled with blinding snowfall, mind-numbingly cold temps and treacherous winds. Sounds nice if you're curled up inside in front of a roaring fire with a mug of hot cocoa warming your hands, under a pile of blankets with nowhere to go for the next 2 days. Not so nice if you're 2 hours from your destination and your eyes are bugging out from all the strain from trying to see where the sides of the road end and keep your vehicle on the straight and narrow between the edges.

You know it's bad when the good, hardy people of North Dakota are cancelling school mid-morning because of the blizzard you're still driving through hours later.

Yup. This is what the aftermath on the good part of the road looked like the next day when we were one of the first vehicles to brave venturing onto the newly opened mostly one-lane Interstate. Not pretty.

So the next time you hear me say I'm too hot - please remind me that on March 23, 2011 I was telling myself that summer couldn't come soon enough.