B&B and Amish Country

It is finally all settled. I have an assignment and a place to live! My sister, Laura is flying into Oh to make the drive with me and we will be spending a day in Chicago. I can't wait! The hard part will be packing up and loading the car, it is always quite the engineering feat. For those of you who are familiar with my visual spatial organization limitations, you can imagine the frustration...not to mention my pack rat tendencies. My company was unable to find me a furnished apartment...actually the apartment was not the problem, the furniture leasing companies were all sold out, something to do with Fort McCoy. This works in my favor as I will be staying in a studio at a charming B&B called Sunny Fields. I am trying to negotiate reimbursement for the extra commute but it will be worth the idyllic setting.
Yesterday I took a trip out to Amish Country about an hour east of Mansfield. It is a very charming area..but really tourist traps are alike everywhere...Pismo Beach to Sugar Creek Ohio. There is no doubt the Amish are capetalizing on their simplicity. You can't really blame them, religion doesn't inhibit the American enreprenual spirit. One of the funnier things I saw was an Amish boy riding a bike with an i-pod or some other headphone device on...no helmet (a rarity for most Ohioans, motorcycles and bicycles). I also explored the main drag in Berlin Ohio. I really didn't buy much, I decided a wheel of cheese or a handmade basket were not so practicle due to my impending relocaiton. I definetely don't need another mug even one with a buggy on it. I don't need a sign painted with witty quotes or a throw pillow. The drive was gourgeous! Rolling green hills, fields of wheat and corn not to mention the dark rain clouds that finally let loose around two o'clock, luckily I was home by then.
Last night I went to a birthday party for one of the nurses I work with at the civil war era home of another co-worker. It was really bitter sweet to share my plans with everyone as I have made some wonderful friends here and will be quite sad to move on from such a cohesive and welcoming team.