Overdue News

If you drive around Robertson County right now you'll see smoke drifting from our many tobacco barns. It's that time of year again. To me it is the smell of home.

A BIRTHDAY RECAP. You'll remember from the last newsletter that we celebrated Ben's birthday at Hollywood's in White House. Angela Arnold (a college friend) and her son Jackson were recently here for a visit about two weeks ago and we all went to Hollywood's for that occasion as well. Vicki wrote the following in a response to an email from Angie.

I think Jenna would go to Hollywood's every day if we took her. She is lousy at skee ball but enjoys it anyway! Benton is loving telling everyone that he is now officially four. He got two pairs of Spider Man boxing gloves from his cousin. (I initially called them "mittens" so as to disuade him from their actual use...tactic did not last too long!). I told him that he and Jenna would have to stop boxing if either one started crying. Jenna proceeded to lightly hit him ONCE and he started to "pretend" cry, I said nothing, and he looked at me with a concerned look on his face and said, "Hey, I'm crying now." So Round 1 came to an end as I laughed at my brave boy. He is a mess!

SCHOOL IS UNDER WAY. Jenna has had a great first week at school. We were sort of concerned about her since she has been used to taking an afternoon nap every day and you don't get to do that in first grade. But she has handled it just fine.

We also thought Ben would be pretty lost since he and Jenna have been big playmates all summer. But he has picked right up with Nate and done fine. I guess Nate will be the one who is lost when Ben starts school.

Starting school up is what really affects my job. Last year we had about 130 work requests submitted in the first week of school. As of Friday we were approaching 250. We do have one new technician at work. She is very computer savvy and is picking up on things quickly but it will be several months before she has learned enough to be an effective member of our team. It makes a difference when you know help is on the way.

ENJOYING QUALITY TIME. I read Miss Nelson is Back to Jenna and Ben the other night. This book is part of the series of children's stories about Miss Nelson, an elementary teacher, and Viola Swamp, Miss Nelson's alter ego and the meanest substitute teacher in Texas. What was so fun was seeing the kids get into the story, even covering their eyes in certain parts of the tale. One of those moments you want to remember forever.

A NICE VISIT. Back on New Year's Eve I drove to Clarksville to meet Mr. James Krantz and his wife, Mrs. Mildred. Mr. Krantz was the one who was a gunner on a B-29 just like my dad. I had been trying to get back together with them ever since and it finally happened last weekend. We all (Vicki, the kids and I) went to visit with them and then went out to eat and had a most wonderful time.

Mr. and Mrs. Krantz are two of the nicest people I have ever met, and I don't mean that lightly. Every time we looked Nate was holding his hands up to Mr. Krantz and Jenna and Ben really really took to Mr.s Krantz. She is a short person and is ready to give out hugs to anyone. They are both fun to talk to and are genuinely interested in everyone they meet. They are the kind of people you meet and later say, "I want to be like that."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! We all (including Mom, Aunt Mar, and Pauline) celebrated my birthday with a trip to the Catfish House Friday evening. As we sat down at the table Ben spotted a gentleman at another table with black and gray hair. Tugging on my sleeve he asked, "Daddy, can I go over there and say hi to Uncle Bob?" (Uncle Bob, you may live in Florida but you belong at the Catfish House in Ben's mind.) Afterwards we went to Aunt Mar's for cake--the famous chocolate cake!

What was really funny was that Ben rode back home with Mom and Aunt Mar. Close to the end of the trip he noticed that Aunt Mar had not buckled her seat belt and called her on it. After she made the excuse of forgetting to buckle up he told her, "You need to do that. I would miss you."

Last night we continued the celebrations by going out with two other couples from church. We ate at Outback Steak House, played miniature golf, and stopped by Sonic for desserts.

Joe