News from the Midwest

Out here on the other side of the Mississippi, we missed the big family camping trip, but we take consolation in the knowledge that no one had any fun without us.

Fiona has registered at Lakeland Community College and will start taking a class next week.  She is nervous and excited.  She is also working at a doggie daycare two days a week (http://www.hattielarlham.org/v/cleveland-dog-kennel.asp) and volunteering every other Friday at the Democratic headquarters in Geauga County.  These are all big changes for the better -- she has been so inspired that she is has started walking half an hour each day, as well.  There is a beautiful path behind her home that goes through the woods and circles the community she lives in.  

Nora finished her summer on a high by attending the LeaderShape Institute, where she spent a week with other OSU students learning how to build communities to create positive change (http://leadershape.osu.edu/).  It was a big honor to be selected for LeaderShape.  Immediately upon her return, she started her internship with Senator Sherrod Brown -- again, there's a lot of competition for Senator Brown's internship spots, so she was excited to be selected.  She quickly made an impression on the other staff -- the first day of her training, as she was leaving the building, she heard one trainer say to another, "Nora is awesome!"  This fall, she will also be in the executive leadership for a group she worked with all last year, Girls' Circle (http://www.girlscircle.com/), which uses pairs of college women to work with groups of middle school girls in the community to give girls the confidence to express themselves, think critically, and make healthy decisions.  We spent the weekend moving her into her new house with ten (10!) other women from her sorority (ten!).  They have rented a beautiful, big, old house just off campus in a neighborhood that, it appears, never sleeps.

Last night I made a dish for dinner that was sooo delicious that I have to share it with you.  I heard this described on NPR's Weekend Edition in a story about summer foods (http://www.npr.org/2012/08/19/159194178/seasonal-recipes-the-tastes-of-summer).  I am a member of MSU's Student Organic Farms CSA, so every week I get a fresh pile of organic vegetables, which means I have really good tomatoes and peppers on hand.  If you are lucky enough to have some yourself, you really should try this -- pepper, tomato, anchovies, olive oil, garlic, YUM!