wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

This past week started off with a trip to the dentist for my six month check up and cleaning. Rather than scraping and picking with all the different sized scalers, the hygienist cleaned my teeth with pressurized water - much faster and more comfortable that those metal scrapers. I've been going to my dental practice for a long time. My kids grew up with this practice. Just down the street from the dental office is a bakery that has been around forever so the incentive for my kids' good behavior at the dentist was that we would stop at My Favorite Muffin for an after visit treat. Counterproductive, yes, but good behavior was an even bigger yes. The tradition continued after this past visit. I called Todd and asked him if he wanted anything from My Favorite Muffin, knowing that he would say, "Bring home a few cherry cheesecake mini muffins." 

We headed back to Chicago for our grandson's first birthday party. As travelers cross into Indiana, the sign from Governor Mike Dewine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted invite travelers to come back to Ohio, "The Heart of It All." With Husted filling JD Vance's  Senator seat, Ohio's new Lt. Governor, Jim Tressel, will fill that empty spot.

And THE reason for taking a second trip to Chicago in two weeks...Our grandson's first birthday. We celebrated AJ's first trip around the sun and all the joy and love that he has brought to our lives. It was also a celebration for our daughter and son-in-law for making it through their monumental first year as parents - balancing their son's heart surgery, their careers, sleepless nights, those moments when it's hard to comfort a sick baby, but also their joy of watching their son grow and thrive.