Semi-Empty Nest

I was talking with Steve Freeland the other day and he brought this fact to my attention. In spite of last summer’s drought this August has been drier than last August. Quite the opposite of all our relatives in Florida who are under the guns of Tropical Storm Fay which has dumped as much as 30 inches of rain on them in 24 hours.

GOOD NEWS. We appreciate all your prayers for Pauline and ask that you continue. She is doing very well right now even though she was feeling pretty sick last weekend, she has started to lose her hair. One good side effect of the chemo is that it is drying up the fluid in her lungs. She has been off her oxygen for several days now, walks out to the mailbox, picks tomatoes, and even ran an errand in her car without it. Another piece of good news we are praising God about is that her bone marrow biopsy came back negative!

She goes in for her second round of chemo Tuesday.

THEY’RE ALL IN SCHOOL NOW. Wednesday was Nate’s first day of kindergarten. He was excited about it before going and he has been excited about it since starting. That’s not to say he wasn’t a little scared. Wednesday morning he and I were in the back hall. He was sitting in the floor putting on his shoes when he looked up and said, “I’m a little bit scared about going to school today, Daddy.” Then, in a more confident tone of voice he added, “But I’ll make it!”

The kids ride the bus, and they still get off the bus at Aunt Mar’s house where they stay until I get home from work. It’s a good arrangement as Mom and Aunt Mar have something to look forward to in the afternoons and the kids have a place to go where they can be pampered with most anything they want to eat (I’d hate to see their ice cream bill).

I think it was Wednesday afternoon when I was there, the kids had all gone outside and I was in the den talking to Mom and Aunt Mar. I happened to look out and the kids were absorbed in watching a bug crawling in the gravel. They were standing right next to the truck which made me decide that it was the perfect time to hit the panic button on my key fob. Seeing them scramble for cover was completely worth it..

TOO CLEAN? Ben still sleeps with a large, stuffed Tigger. He actually uses Tigger as a second pillow. The other day I noticed Tigger was starting to get a bit ripe and put him in the dirty clothes hamper. Vicki washed him with extra fabric softener. That night Vicki asked Ben if Tigger smelled better. “Well,” he finally confessed, “he smells a little too clean.”

KIDS OLYMPICS. I usually like to watch the Olympics, but this year the schedule just hasn’t left a lot of time for TV. But when Sabrina Freeland wrote in their blog about their kids having their own Olympic games (you can read it for yourself here) my mind went back to 1976 when all of us kids had our own Olympic games. That summer we had all kinds of biking and track and field contests of our own. I think we even had our own high jump made out of tobacco sticks. Funny though, no one was brave enough to pole vault, not even Steve.

At that time the Winter Games were the same year as the Summer Games and we had a lot of snow days that year. We played hockey on a frozen pond with tobacco sticks. The cow chip pucks usually shattered on a good slapshot. Our luge run was a frozen creek. With all the rocks and tree roots hidden in the snow it’s a wonder none of us needed stitches.

FASHION POLICE. I am not one to take notice of what people wear. Unless you are naked, obviously underdressed or overdressed for the occasion, or look completely hideous, what you are wearing will make no impression on me whatsoever.

Last Sunday Ben had gotten dressed and went running through the house. As he went by the bedroom door I had a split second to catch a glimpse of him so all I noticed was that his collar was turned up. I called after him to straighten it. A moment later I heard Vicki saying, “Ben, you go back and change clothes right now. You have Nate’s outfit on.” Then she came in and fussed at me for not noticing that Ben was wearing clothes two sizes too small. I would have caught this had Ben stood in front of me and let me look him over, but with a glimpse I had no chance.

You see, what goes against me with Vicki is my track record. Now that she is on staff at church she leaves about 15-20 minutes before the rest of us do on Sunday mornings, but to her credit she picks out and irons their outfits. That leaves me to see to all the silly little details. In the last six months Vicki has been known to get a bit touchy when the boys got out of the house without combing their hair (I keep my hair short enough that combing is unnecessary), when Ben wore a shirt backwards, when Ben wore his ratty old play sandals, or when Ben wore mismatching sandals. (Notice how this is all Ben--the boy with a talent for disappearing when you need him.) Hey, at least I get us there on time and in one piece. Vicki laughs and claims she still loves me in spite of myself.

Joe

Remembering Bygone Summer Days

We have had one of the most pleasant weeks for August that I can remember. It has almost felt like autumn outside. A lot of farmers have begun to fire their tobacco so I’m getting in that fall frame of mind. I think the smell of of tobacco being fired is becoming a special memory for Jenna too.

FELINE FAN. Ben has turned into a real cat lover. He loves our cat. Whenever he goes outside he grabs her and snuggles her really tight. Sometimes I see him running around the back yard, cat in hand. I have no idea if cats get dizzy, but she has ample opportunity. Lilly is very patient with Ben and seems to have claimed him as her person. The other morning we were leaving for the bus. Ben came out the door and naturally picked her up to say goodbye. As he brought the cat near his face she reached out and put her front paws on each of his cheeks. I wish I’d had my camera.

Lilly didn’t look so well to me after we found her in the fence row, but today she looks the picture of health. We first thought she’d have long hair, but we were wrong there. Her fur has shortened to a pretty black coat with white on her feet, face, and belly. Aunt Mar is please with her healthy glow.

NEW TALENT. Ben can whistle now, and he revels in his new talent. This really annoys Jenna because she whistles like a bird with pneumonia. Nate aspires to reach Ben’s level.

DINNER CRUISE. Back in the spring Vicki won a buy-one-get-one-free dinner cruise ticket for the General Jackson as a door prize. We had intended this to be our anniversary date back in June but could never find the time to book the cruise. We finally got around to it Friday night so it doubled as my birthday date. The weather couldn’t have been more pleasant. After casting off we enjoyed watching the scenery go by for a bit before they called us below for dinner. Before dessert was served we went back out on the deck to see the sights of downtown Nashville where the Titans were playing football and a concert was going on at Riverfront Park. Back in the dinner theater we enjoyed the NashVegas on the River show which featured Tina Turner, Elton John and Elvis Presley impersonators. It was a fun evening. The last time we sailed on the General Jackson was for our first anniversary.

MEMORIES OF THE GENERAL JACKSON. Some of you may not know that I was a deck hand on the original crew in 1985 when the General Jackson was brand new. That was probably the best summer job I ever had in spite of the long hours (I think we worked 6:30 am to 11:30 pm with a three hour break in the middle). It was really fun to walk around the boat and reminisce about that summer.

There were several of us from Cross Plains who worked on the boat: Steve Freeland, Cletus Fisher, Matt Wall, Jeff Woodfin. As deck hands on the crew we were responsible for whatever the captain needed. Our normal duties included docking and undocking, keeping a bow watch, watching the ends of the boat as the captain turned around, etc. We were also the first responders for any fires and medical emergencies (which never happened on my watches, though we drilled a lot).

Turning the General Jackson around in the Cumberland River was always an interesting maneuver. The river is on average 400 feet wide. The boat is 300 feet long. Neither the wheel house nor the two wing bridges offer the captain a clear view of the bow or stern. We would have to be stationed at either end calling distances to shore to the captain over squawk boxes. (They took the walkie-talkies away after Jeff dropped one of the $700 units in the river.)

There were two complete crews of us and I remember both captains very well. William Howell and Edgar Allen Poe (no kidding) were both very special men. They had known each other for years from their days as tow boat captains and had come to this job in semi-retirement. Captain Howell was very soft spoken while Captain Poe was louder and more of a cut up. What I found interesting was that their driving styles were so opposite of their personalities. Captain Howell, the quieter one, would be quicker to move the throttle to full than Captain Poe ever was when turning around or docking. Not that one was better than the other, just different.

I’ll never forget going up to the wheel house one night to talk to Captain Poe for a bit. We had just gone under the Silliman Evans Bridge heading upstream toward Opryland. Suddenly Captain Poe asked, “You know how to steer this boat?” I said I thought so and he quizzed me on a few things and then said, “Good, I’ve got to go to the head (bathroom),” and before I could reply he was gone. He had let me steer several times before, but this was the first time he had ever left the wheel house. I was alone up there for about 15 minutes. To this day I can say the General Jackson is the smallest self-propelled boat I have ever driven.

One time the Delta Queen came to Nashville. It is a true steam powered stern wheeler (the General Jackson is a diesel-electric). Captain Howell radioed their captain and lined up a tour for us on our break which was really interesting. That night as we approached downtown we blew our whistle at the Delta Queen and she returned the salute to us. Needless to say, our air powered whistle sounded very hollow compared to the steam powered one on the Delta Queen so she had the last word.

Joe

Starting Off Busy

Well, we’ve kicked off the 2008-2009 school year here in Robertson County. This is always a busy time for my colleagues. At one point Friday I had to stop and laugh at myself--I was working with one person on a computer problem via text chat on my laptop, helping a second person on my cell phone, and dealing with a third problem over my land line phone. I was glad when quitting time came.

CHEMOTHERAPY. While I was going nuts at work Friday Vicki was with Pauline as she was getting her first chemo treatment. It went well. Pauline came home basically tired from a long day. Now that I have gotten ahead of myself let me catch you up. Wednesday’s visit to the Oncologist laid out Pauline’s treatment schedule. She is to have 6-8 rounds of chemo at three week intervals. They will periodically scan her (CAT and PET) to check her progress. She also goes in this coming Wednesday for a bone marrow biopsy.

As they were leaving the hospital Vicki needed to open the tailgate of the van to get something. When she did one of Pauline’s spare oxygen tanks fell out, nipple end down, onto her right foot. After trying to take a few steps she knew she was out of commission. Fearing her foot was broken she forgot all about picking up what was needed at Wal-Mart and took Pauline home. After I picked up the kids, fed them, and went back to Wal-Mart I took Vicki to the hospital to have her foot x-rayed. Fortunately nothing was broken, and she was significantly better the next morning.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Jenna seemed to really enjoy her first day of school. She told me a lot about it while we were eating supper at Sonic Friday evening. Ben, on the other hand, gave me those typical one word answers that I used to give my mom after school (which I still do, much to her frustration). I think he had a good day but he simply wouldn’t say much. I earned everything he told me. Neither of them have any close friends in their classes from previous years.

Vicki and I feel really good about Mrs. Lilly, Ben’s teacher this year. Kim was a year ahead of me in school and I am glad she got Ben. I think she will be a great fit for him as a teacher. We were talking to her at Open House Tuesday night and were impressed with how her classroom creates a comfortable environment. At one point during the visit the boys got really quiet, something that makes alarms go off in the heads of parents. Vicki and I looked around and saw Ben sitting in the reading corner READING A BOOK TO NATE. If the gravity of this statement has gotten by you go back and reread the last sentence.

I am not ignoring Nate on his first day of school. He simply hasn’t started yet. Kindergarten has a delayed start due to testing.  He goes in this Tuesday for his screening, and his first day of class is Wednesday, August 20.

YARD HELP. I have been telling Jenna all summer it is time for her to learn how to mow the yard. She has steadily resisted. I finally forced the issue, now she wants to mow all the time! I still do the rougher parts, like the ditches next to the road, but she has started doing the level parts. Learning to drive a zero-turn mower isn’t the easiest thing, but she’s getting the hang of it. What’s so nice is she frees me up to do other chores around the house. Now I can start catching up on a lot of chores I never seem to have time to do. And to her mowing is such a novelty she is always ready to ride the mower. Now if I can just get her trained on the weed eater....

Joe

The End of Summer Break

Well, a lot has happened in the last two weeks. With school starting up in two days this is a normally hectic time for us, but this year has stretched that quite a bit.

UPDATE ON PAULINE. First of all, Pauline is doing pretty well right now. If I remember right she came home a week ago Thursday (the 24th). Everything we have learned so far has come to light very slowly, and we don’t have the complete picture yet. After several tests the doctor has finally diagnosed Pauline with lymphoma. We just don’t know what type. Treatment, which has yet to be determined, will include chemotherapy and/or radiation. We hope to learn more this week.

Will, Darice, and the kids came while Pauline was in the hospital and left the day after she got home. Of course, the kids had a great time playing together.

Pauline is on oxygen now, as they didn’t get all the fluid out of her lungs. I say she is doing pretty well, she is up around the house doing most of her normal stuff. Maybe not as much of her normal routine, but she is still active. The night before Will and Darice left she stayed up until midnight playing Scrabble. Saturday I sent the kids over to check on her and they came back saying she was mopping the floor. Pauline is not getting out to church or the store like she did though.

END OF SUMMER. Wednesday marks the first day of school here in Robertson County, so tomorrow is the last day of summer vacation for the kids. This is the only year all of our kids will attend elementary school together. Jenna is starting the fifth grade. Her teacher is Cindy Knaebel. Ben will be in the second grade with Kim Lilly as his teacher. And Nate will have Jill Templeton for his kindergarten teacher.

One thing we have really enjoyed this summer is swimming. It has been especially nice since everyone can take care of themselves in the pool. We have used Kenny and Lori’s pool a lot this year and really appreciate them for allowing us to come whenever we wanted. We’ve even taken kids who were visiting our kids with us swimming.

BENTON TURNS EIGHT. Ben celebrated his eighth birthday yesterday. I remember never liking it when my birthday fell on a Sunday (or Christmas for that matter) as going to church in the morning sort of throws a kink in celebrating. I think the rest of the the day made up for any time he missed though. After church Wil and Ethan came home with us for pizza and play time. Then we went to White House Party Bounce and enjoyed all the indoor inflatable toys they have there. One of their slides is tall and we all got enough speed on it that we have friction burns on our elbows.

Yesterday evening we grilled hamburgers over a Pauline’s. Mom and Aunt Mar came over. I spent almost three hours putting together one of Ben’s larger toys, a K’NEX Dragon’s Drop Coaster (813 pieces). It stands about three feet high. Everyone really enjoyed watching it go once I finished.

GOODBYE TO DEAR FRIENDS. David Jennings has been our Associate Pastor at church for the last eleven years. Actually, we hired his wife, Amy, to be our Youth Minister when we hired David. She kept that position for several years until she felt God was leading her to other things. Their daughter, Jennifer, was four when they came.

Six weeks ago David announced he felt God was leading him to other things, more specifically to a ministry position at First Baptist Church, Greenwood, South Carolina. We said goodbye to the Jennings family today, which was very hard. They have been good friends since they moved here, folks we love very much. Mom and Vicki have both enjoyed working with David. For me, David has been one of those really steady friends--easy to talk to , easy to work with. You just don’t run across people like him too often in life.

David, Amy, and Jennifer, we miss you already.

Joe