We did it!!
...and we did it in style!!
One hundred first-place blue ribbons won!!
What does winning 100 first-place blue ribbons
feel like??
It feels like...
... earning recognition for doing the ordinary,
extraordinarily well.
... a goal achieved...
and a relief to not be stuck at 99 blue ribbons...
(I was really worried that would be the case...
needing just one more win
and heading off to the Ohio State Fair to try to get it...
Oh, the irony of not reaching 100...I thought about that
possibility more than once...it was a little too real)
It feels like another fantastic fair season is in the books...
Visits with long-time fair friends that feel like family and the addition
of new friends...met just this year.
It feels like hot humid summers (10 years of them)
with my then little kiddos in tow...
It feels like 10 years of tweaking recipes,
learning from seasoned judges and culinary experts...
It feels like 10 summers of enormous sink-loads of dishes...
100 blue ribbon feels like a celebration of 10 years of hard work,
dedication, sharing, teaching and learning.
Winning feels wonderful...
But to tell you the truth...
all the times I didn't win a blue ribbon...
(and there were plenty of times I brought home
a handful of red, white, and yellow ribbons)...
The times I came up just a little bit short...
those were the days I learned the most about what it takes to win.
