Life in Steubenville

We had a contractor come in to give us an estimate on running a gas line and putting in electrical for a gas stove and an under the counter microwave. While he was here he got to chatting with David about what company he works for... he saw his work truck out front and was curious if that was the company that's buying his brother-in-law's building. Yep, it is. It's a small, small world.. especially in Steubenville!

David stopped at the post office yesterday to buy stamps for me. Not only had I asked him to get stamps, but knowing that there isn't a self serve kiosk and knowing he would have to go to the counter anyways, I asked him to get me some pretty stamps. What's the point of wasting time in line if you don't even bother to get some nice looking stamps, right? The lady behind the counter had to deal with someone being rather unpleasant to her, so when David came up and told her his wife wanted some pretty stamps... she was thrilled. She told him that I had made her day! She was really happy to pick out what she felt were the prettiest stamps they have (I agree... check out the cherry blossom stamps sometime!) It just goes to show- you never know when or how you might brighten someone else's day.

We found the best bakery in town already. Saturday morning on our way out of town to drop off my Mom at the Dayton airport we stopped at the Downtown Bakery. Yum. Or maybe I should say YUM.  Or numnumnum. If nothing else, this town has some really good food. And for donuts, brownies, and other sweets... this is the spot! It's hard to balance wanting to keep up with my health challenge and wanting to try all the new foods in the area!

Steubenville is so small that the trash service doesn't even offer recycling. I think that, more than anything, makes me feel like I've gone backwards in time. I miss my recycling bin, and I feel so wasteful putting things that could be re-used into the trashcan, knowing they're just adding to the landfill now. I'd like to keep recycling, but I'll have to see if it's worth the extra trouble of taking stuff to the recycling dumpsters around town.

I hope that after I've lived in Steubenville for a few years I'll be able to point out all of the good things about the town. I don't want to discourage people by telling them how little there is to do, or how the shopping is much better in other cities. I want to be able to still appreciate the fact that a festival downtown doesn't require a 45 minute drive or huge parking fees; that the local museum shows that the town has pride in itself; that you have everything you really need within 15 minutes; that there's a drive-in theatre 5 minutes from my house and just up the road from the church; that the people are friendly; that there's some really good food available; and that it's a beautiful area with a slower pace of life. Maybe I'll be bored enough to want to criticize it after a few years, but I'm going to try to emphasize the positives, because there really are quite a few.

It's so much quieter here. I had always thought our home in Cincinnati was in a pretty quiet area- until we went back after spending a few days here. I couldn't believe how loud the traffic on 275 sounded and how much general noise I had never noticed before. I think the noisiest it gets here is when someone is doing yard work.

Our neighbors look out for us. When David went back to Cincinnati for the move he let one of our neighbors know that he would be out of town and asked if he would keep an eye on the place. When this neighbor noticed someone at the house (our new bishop stopping in for a visit) he sent his wife over to find out what the man was doing. They were quite happy to hear that it was our "minister" and made sure to tell us about it when we got home. It's reassuring to know that people are aware of what's going on in the neighborhood. I feel completely safe here.

I already have a pepper and a tomato planted out back. Aimee would much rather use the space for pretty flowers, but I'd miss having some homegrown veggies. I guess we'll see how they do here. If worse comes to worst, there's always the farmer's market down the road. :)

In my limited spare time I've been reading a book I picked up at a funky used book store in Wheeling, WV. It's called "Raccoons are the Brightest People" and I have to admit that it's worth far more than the $1 I spent on it! What a fun and interesting look into the personalities and nature of creatures I had never given much thought to. The fact that it was written in the late 60's makes it even more charming.

This is life in Steubenville so far. Nothing exciting, but certainly not boring, either. It's just home.