It turned out to be really nice this week. It has been pretty and warmer. I think the temperature reached 60° yesterday.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is back in town and we went to see the show today. Vicki had promoted it as a children’s ministry outing so there were 45 from church who went.
We were last at the circus two years ago and we recognized a few of the clowns from that visit as well as Ringmaster Chuck Wagoner (who grew up in Gallatin). The show we saw this time is called Over the Top and it was that. Many of the stunts are the same, but the floor show and script are different. My memory may be hazy on this, but it seems like there were more aerial stunts (trapeze, etc.) than last time. The seven motorcycles zooming around inside the spherical cage remains my favorite. We were entertained for a good three and a half hours.
CIRCUS MEMORIES. I’m going to go out on a limb here and reminisce about a memory that’s a bit fuzzy for me, probably because I was about Ben’s age. If anyone remembers more, please let me know.
We were talking about the circus and how the one we saw travels to each city aboard its own special train. That made me remember a circus that came to Cross Plains when I was a kid. I can’t remember what circus it was. Obviously it traveled by a fleet of trucks. But they had a big top and everything. At that time the area where True’s Barbecue and Tesha’s Cafe are, clear back to and including the car wash was one big hay field. They rented this field and set up there. I believe they even put the elephants to work setting up the tent. Like any circus there were clowns, trained animals, acrobats, etc. A whole lot of fun to be had just down from the four-way stop in Cross Plains.
DISRUPTING THE HOME LIFE. We have started to get a little renovation work done on the house this week. We are working toward two short term goals right now: to get some insulation put in some of the walls and for Jenna and the boys to switch bedrooms. We’ve hired Mike Lilly to do the work (his wife is Ben’s teacher). Mike and his helper Henry started by taking care of some electrical issues that were on my wish list (e.g. adding a few plugs upstairs, adding a switch to a light that only had a pull chain, etc.). Mike has replaced the ceiling fan upstairs with four new fixtures which has helped the lighting in that room tremendously.
We’ve put the electrical work at the top of the list because some of our wiring is quite old and I wanted to inspect it before we start putting insulation around it. So far everything Mike has checked out has looked good with the exception of a light fixture on our front porch that showed signs of shorting out. If we were going to have a fire hazard that was the best place to have it as we rarely turn on the front porch lights.
So, there’s going to be a lot of unusual activity at our house over the next few weeks. This weekend we are getting a lot of the extra stuff moved out of the kids’ rooms to store at Pauline’s. This will allow us to move them around quickly when we need to. There will be a couple of times when all three will need to share a bedroom while we paint. I have been saving some vacation days for painting, not as fun as Fall Break at Disney World or Christmas Break, but better than doing it at night after work.
PUBLIC SPEAKING. One of the good things about clubs like 4-H is that kids have to opportunity to develop skills they will need later in life. The 4-H public speaking contest is one of these opportunities. Back in the fall Jenna participated in this contest at school with a speech titled How to be Caring and Responsible for Our World and was selected to participate in the county wide speech contest. Jenna is a true child of me and Vicki, but she faced her stage fright and took part in this contest Thursday evening. This speech was on bald eagles.
There were quite a few participants in the contest this year and the fifth grade was split into three rooms, with the top two contestants from each room being called back for a second reading. Jenna’s delivery was excellent -- enough to make her parents, and any bald eagle proud! However, she wasn’t chosen for the final round. She was so relieved that she wouldn’t have to present her speech again that she kept saying, “I’m so glad I lost,” over and over again with a big grin on her face.
Afterwards we were sympathizing with Jenna about her stage fright. That was when I found out she purposely misspelled a word in her classroom spelling bee a few days ago so she wouldn’t have to go to the school wide spelling bee. I can’t be too hard on her. I did the same sort of things when I was a kid.
MR. METICULOUS. It’s always amazing to me how different each of our children are. Ben is a lot like me in regard to homework. He HATES to do it. He will, but under much protest. I have resigned myself to knowing that his spelling words are making me pay for my raising.
One neat thing about Ben is his bed. Every morning the kids are expected to make their beds. Ben does an excellent job! I think you could bounce a quarter on his bed. What’s so interesting about the boy are his stuffed animals (and there are several). Each one has a particular place on his bed, and he places them carefully each morning.
I can’t really describe why that’s important or striking to me. It’s just one of those little details like that you notice about people you love that makes them all the more special to you. This simply brings a smile to my face every time I glance in the boys’ room. Of course, it stands out because it’s the one tranquil spot in the middle of the pig sty. Keeping the rest of their room clean is sort of like herding cats. I will miss seeing his bed when they move upstairs.
Joe
