Although we live in the city, there isn’t a whole lot of diversity in my neighborhood. The Ohio State University isn’t far away and there is an array of color and culture there, but I don’t make a habit of letting my kids walk around Big Ten campuses. Maybe MAC, but not Big Ten.

So yesterday afternoon I carted the kids off to the International Festival. We ate Chinese food (but, only because I didn’t see the Mediterranean booth, no offense to the fried-rice), we watched Irish, Indian, African and Russian dancers and looked at art and crafts from around the world.

Then my daughter and I got henna tattoos.

I have always wanted a little, teeny-tiny tattoo and I’m pretty sure that henna is the gateway drug of body art. I love this design on the inside of my wrist.

Even if it does closely resemble my living room rug.

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I often talk about how far my son has come and how tenacious he is. Sometimes I am blown away by how many things from which he has bounced back. But, he isn’t the only person I know who has managed to succeed when faced with insurmountable struggles. My cousin, Shrevie, has been through some very hard times.

When he was just a kid, Shrevie got kicked in the head by a mule. I don’t remember it, because Shrevie is quite a bit older than me, but I’ve heard the story a million times. For some reason, he was trying to braid the mule’s tail when it reared up and kicked him right in the forehead. Shrevie was knocked unconscious. He awoke two days later with crossed eyes and a lisp.

Because the kids teased him, Shrevie took to sports to prove himself. He started out as the team manager, fetching water and towels for the high school kids. When they finally gave him a chance, Shrevie gave it his all as a kicker. Despite his crossed eyes, he managed to punt the ball 20 yards!

Unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough for Ohio State, where he dreamed of going to college. But, as luck would have it, Texas was quite interested. Ironically, because so many children in Texas get kicked in the head by mules, Shrevie wasn’t the only one on the team who sometimes ran the wrong way down the field.

This is me and Shrevie back in the day…just before he left for school. Just look at how happy he was. Someone had just given him a Member’s Only jacket.

Shrevie is married with kids now. He unfortunately took another hit to his eye in what he refers to as Pea-Shootpalooza, but he is doing well. He left Texas years ago and is trying to find his way back to Ohio. No one has the heart to tell him that our fine state isn’t in the Mid-Atlantic, but we feel confident he’ll make it home someday.

Oh, and this post? Is nothing but a big, fat, cross-eyed joke on NukeDad. NukeDad, you’ve been blunked. Here, let me break that down for you…that’s blog punked. Even if you’re my hero, you are still due some paybacks. And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks you needed this.

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Dear NukeDad,

I had fully anticipated the Buckeyes eating Bevo for dinner last night, but apparently our defensive linemen are vegetarians. Who knew? Oh, that’s right…you did.

Congratulations on the victory. A year which gave Mack Brown his 200th win, and gave Colt McCoy an NCAA record for completions, also gave us Buckeye fans our third bowl loss in a row. You must admit, however, that we gave you a run for your money. You can’t tell me you weren’t a little bit worried. Give our quarterback a couple of years, and then we’ll talk.

At the very least, our band sounded better than yours. Oh, and as far as fans go, you can keep this guy…

Sincerely,

Momo

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Dear NukeDad,

I thought I’d make sure you don’t want to back out of our little wager. You know, the one where you write a groveling post after Ohio State beats Texas tonight in the Fiesta Bowl.

Just in case you haven’t heard of him, this is James Laurinaitis. He’s going to do some ball stripping, intercepting, serious tackling, and maybe a little sacking. He’s a nice guy, so he won’t pop any one’s head off, but he could if he wanted to.

Actually, you may remember him from scenes like this…

Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Momo

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