Boy, have we gotten the rain! And all this rain has brought fall-like temperatures. Tuesday afternoon I looked out my office window at the wall of water coming down and imagined I could almost swim through the air. Flash flooding was a problem in town as the storm drains just weren’t designed to handle the volume of rain we got that day. And that’s not the only rain we’ve gotten since I last wrote. Between the rain and our schedule I haven’t gotten to any of the yards until this weekend. And from the look of the grass trimmings I could bale hay in a few days.
CAN IT BE THREE YEARS? For those of you who have been on the address list since the beginning, you have gotten our newsletter for three years now. I found several similarities when I compared life today with what I reported in the first edition. Back then Jenna had just started kindergarten which is where Ben is now. In 2003 we were trying to get Ben to use the bathroom on his own and he was making making some progress. Today Nate wears underwear and can stay dry during the day, but you’d better have a pull up on him at night. Like Ben in 2003, Nate is attending Mother’s Day Out two days a week. He REALLY likes his teacher, Mrs. Candy. He has also adjusted well to being the only kid at home during the day. Like getting out old pictures or home video, it is fun to look up previous issues and read what we were doing in the past.
POTTY PROGRESS. One or two nights this week Nate has gotten up and gone to the bathroom on his own. He’s still wet in the morning but at least he’s trying. The other morning I found out he had gone without asking for any assistance. One clue was that the bathroom light was on when I got up. The next clue was when he was coming down the hall from his room. Seeing me coming out of the bathroom he asked, “Hey Dad, did you see that crazy butterfly in there?” There had been a moth fluttering around in there when I first got up.
FAIREST OF THE FAIR. Our fair is always held the week before Labor Day. One of the early events is the “Fairest of the Fair” beauty contest (which is unfortunately held in the Livestock Arena). I’m not really into that sort of thing but I have been the scorekeeper for the last 10 years (I laughingly say I am the accounting firm that tallies the judges’ scores). Because of this I am pretty well removed from the contestants and their mothers, although I can say we don’t see very many “win at all costs” types. Most everyone who participates does so because they simply like to dress up. Actually the judges offer more fodder for backstage talk than anything else (one dressed no better than Dukes of Hazzard character Daisy Duke this year). But one very touching story happened about five or six years ago....
To participate in the senior division you must be a resident of Robertson County (and I think a U. S. citizen). This is because the winner goes on to represent Robertson County at the state fair. The girls are together for one rehearsal and the contest itself. Unless they go to school together they really don’t have a lot of time to get to know each other. One year a foreign exchange student from Germany wanted to participate. In submitting her application she told Celeste, the director of the competition, that she understood she could not compete, but she wanted to simply participate as part of her experience here in America. Celeste consented, the emcees gave a brief explanation as they introduced her and she was warmly received (and the judges simply did not score her). Backstage the girls get to vote among themselves for “Miss Congeniality.” That year the German girl got a unanimous vote.
AT THE FAIR. We loaded up and went to the fair Thursday evening. It was very pleasant to be out and we enjoyed our time walking around the midway. The kids enjoyed riding the rides and playing the games (though they did not win a goldfish or a hermit crab). Nate even thanked the horse he rode on the carousel. He also tried to touch the moon from the top of the Ferris Wheel. They wanted to go back the next night.
FRECKLES. Ben has several very small freckles scattered across his nose. We found out this week that he does not like attention to be brought to them (that is, he probably doesn’t like the idea of them making him look cute). Calling him “Freckles” really gets his goat. I do not advise doing this. He has been known to hit--hard. That’s why I only do it when I have him pinned beneath me or have a pre-planned escape route.
BUDDING AUTHOR. Jenna has decided to write a book. I don’t know how far she’ll get with it, but she has already filled a couple of pages in a notebook with her story. She let me read part of it today which brought a smile to my face. She read it to Vicki and by the time she introduced Anne, Anna, and Annabelle, Vicki suggested different names in order to reduce confusion. Jenna just smiled and said, “You just keep listening.” The story continued with about at least eight more characters, all with names beginning with A. Jenna laughed as she threw Vicki’s suggestion out the window.
If you can get past that, you will learn that they all live in a castle and attend school. I think the main point of the plot so far is that they have spread the flu to each other.
Joe
