Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite holiday. I think it’s because I have so much to be thankful for and because it has less hype than Christmas. Not that I don’t enjoy Christmas, I do, but it just seems like it’s easier to do Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving has been fun.
PREPARATIONS. Getting ready for Thanksgiving was sort of strange this year. For the last seven years the meal has been a joint effort by Vicki and Pauline, and I think that’s been the one thing that has made the holiday a little hard this year. Jenna, however, has jumped right in. She and Vicki made an excellent team and served up a wonderful meal. They used several of Pauline’s recipes and I think she would be proud of them.
FESTIVITIES. The day was warm and overcast so the boys played outside with the neighbors most of the morning. (Twelve hours later the temperature had dropped 30°.) I went to get Mom and Aunt Mar at 2:00. We sat down to the biggest spread of ham, deviled eggs, corn, rolls, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, squash dressing, carrots, stuffed mushrooms, and green beans. We also enjoyed carrot cake and caramel pie for dessert.
After we engorged ourselves we retired to the living room where I had set up a laptop, a projector, and a screen. Over the last month or so I made a big push to scan all of Mom’s slides. I’m pretty sure some of these slides haven’t seen the light of day in 50 years. We rolled through almost 700 pictures from 1953 to 1959. I know Mom and Aunt Mar had a good time looking at their past. (We looked at almost 300 more pictures tonight.)
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. It is not our practice to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. However, while others begin their Christmas shopping on Black Friday we use the day to deck our halls and trim our tree. I am glad to say we have everything decorated and all the boxes put away by the end of the weekend. The only major decoration we haven’t put up is our outdoor nativity scene which is in desperate need of a paint job. Hopefully this will be spruced up and back on display next year.
MRS. MANNERS WANNABE. While getting ready to put up the Christmas tree I was moving a table when a large book fell off and hit my foot. Picking the book up I noticed it was Emily Post’s Etiquette. When I asked Vicki about it she said, “It was Mom’s. I decided to keep it to see how in-etiquette I am.”
I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS. After the last newsletter went out Vicki mentioned something that happened when she ate with Nate at school last week. Whenever a student has a guest for lunch they can pick one classmate to eat with them. Vicki said there was a cute little girl named Rebecca in Nate’s class vying for attention. At first she hung around and sweetly asked who Nate would invite to lunch. Nate didn’t want to be rude, but was trying to pick someone else while still being a gentleman to Rebecca. As the class was leaving Nate still hadn’t picked anyone so she grabbed his hand. Nate found a discreet way to slip his hand out of hers. Nate wound up not picking anyone in trying not to hurt her feelings.
Vicki also ate with Nate when she worked Book Fair several weeks ago. At that time Vicki got on to Nate for not eating his fruit, and then turned to the little boy and said, “Nate sure has a hard time remembering to eat his fruit. Would you remind him to do that?” The boy readily agreed that he could help Vicki out.
When Vicki got to school last week for the Thanksgiving meal that same little boy came up and said, “Nate’s doing better about eating his fruit.” Then another boy in the class chimed in, “Yeah, he is.” Vicki is glad Nate has buddies who have his back.
BUSY WEEKEND. Last weekend was pretty busy for us. Nate was invited to a birthday party for one of his classmates, Hayden, Friday night. Jenna also invited one of her friends, Savannah, to spend the night. After taking Nate to his party we drove on up to Franklin to eat and go shopping. Savannah is a nut. She kept us laughing all the way to Franklin and back.
The next day Savannah was reunited with her family at church and Ben got to bring home on of his friends, Jake, for the afternoon. That evening we went to the Christian Gospel Temple (the big church next to the interstate) for our community Thanksgiving service. We enjoyed music from all the churches attending and Bro. Bill spoke. There was a dessert social afterwards.
HOT MIC. Saturday morning Vicki cut my hair. Some hair trimmings got in my ear and since Vicki was unsuccessful trying to wipe them out she decided to lean over and blow them out. This was so unexpected and deafening that I practically jumped out of my chair. All I could say was, “Vicki, that microphone works very well.” This whole thing got us so tickled that Vicki almost couldn’t finish my haircut.
Joe
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Let the Holidays Begin!
Cooler weather is here. We are having more and more days with an early morning frost now. November has also brought rain which reminds me a lot of taking down tobacco. Mom and I went to the annual Cross Plains Heritage Commission Thanksgiving Dinner tonight so it feels like the holidays have begun.
TIME AWAY. When I went to the 73rd Bomb Wing reunion back in May I earned a $300 voucher for giving up my seat on an overbooked flight. This helped Vicki to buy a plane ticket out of Tennessee for five days last week.
We took her to the airport Tuesday evening where she took off on the first leg of her trip to Georgia. She stayed a couple of days with her brother and family. Then on Friday she flew to Oklahoma City to spend a couple of days with her friend, Ginger. She came back home Sunday afternoon. Vicki had a great time visiting her family and Ginger. I’m glad she had the chance to go, and we were very happy to get her back home.
WHILE SHE WAS AWAY. I somehow managed to hold down the fort while Vicki was away. Since I am not handy in the kitchen Vicki took pity on me and cooked several meals for us in advance which I really appreciated. I usually try to help out with laundry as much as I can. I am always amazed with how much dirty clothes we generate in a day.
We stayed busy with homework and such the whole time Vicki was gone. Friday night Jenna went with the youth at church to the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home. The boys and I played the Wii. Saturday we ate breakfast at the Master’s Table in Springfield. This is a non-profit restaurant that offers free meals to the homeless and is supported by the money it makes from paying customers. We also raked leaves and rewarded ourselves by going to see Megamind. That night we went out to eat with Mom and Aunt Mar.
BOMBS AWAY! Thinking about laundry, one day I asked Nate to throw down their dirty clothes. When the boys do this the stairwell becomes the laundry chute with the laundry landing in a pile beside the stairs. On this day I kept hearing Nate count down from ten and then make explosion noises. It seems each article of clothing had become a bomb with a time delay fuse.
THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL’S BACK. Each year the elementary school has a canned food drive so one day last week we sent food to school with the boys in their backpacks. Nate had also been coughing some so I stopped and got him so cough drops. The morning we sent the food to school Nate realized he’d forgotten his cough drops as he was walking out the door and went back to get them. When he came back out he said, “My backpack sure is heavy. It must be those cough drops.”
Joe
TIME AWAY. When I went to the 73rd Bomb Wing reunion back in May I earned a $300 voucher for giving up my seat on an overbooked flight. This helped Vicki to buy a plane ticket out of Tennessee for five days last week.
We took her to the airport Tuesday evening where she took off on the first leg of her trip to Georgia. She stayed a couple of days with her brother and family. Then on Friday she flew to Oklahoma City to spend a couple of days with her friend, Ginger. She came back home Sunday afternoon. Vicki had a great time visiting her family and Ginger. I’m glad she had the chance to go, and we were very happy to get her back home.
WHILE SHE WAS AWAY. I somehow managed to hold down the fort while Vicki was away. Since I am not handy in the kitchen Vicki took pity on me and cooked several meals for us in advance which I really appreciated. I usually try to help out with laundry as much as I can. I am always amazed with how much dirty clothes we generate in a day.
We stayed busy with homework and such the whole time Vicki was gone. Friday night Jenna went with the youth at church to the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home. The boys and I played the Wii. Saturday we ate breakfast at the Master’s Table in Springfield. This is a non-profit restaurant that offers free meals to the homeless and is supported by the money it makes from paying customers. We also raked leaves and rewarded ourselves by going to see Megamind. That night we went out to eat with Mom and Aunt Mar.
BOMBS AWAY! Thinking about laundry, one day I asked Nate to throw down their dirty clothes. When the boys do this the stairwell becomes the laundry chute with the laundry landing in a pile beside the stairs. On this day I kept hearing Nate count down from ten and then make explosion noises. It seems each article of clothing had become a bomb with a time delay fuse.
THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL’S BACK. Each year the elementary school has a canned food drive so one day last week we sent food to school with the boys in their backpacks. Nate had also been coughing some so I stopped and got him so cough drops. The morning we sent the food to school Nate realized he’d forgotten his cough drops as he was walking out the door and went back to get them. When he came back out he said, “My backpack sure is heavy. It must be those cough drops.”
Joe
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Nerds Rule the World
We have enjoyed some of the most pleasant fall weather. Saturday the boys and I had a great time taking a walk to earn a hiking belt loop for Cub Scouts. All of this year's crops have been harvested so all the fields are empty (though some winter wheat has been sown and is starting to sprout).
NERDS RULE THE WORLD. This year our family dressed up a nerds for Halloween, and I don't mind bragging to say we looked really good as nerds go.
We had Trunk or Treat at church Sunday night. I think this was the best one we've had yet. In planning the event Vicki told people to buy candy for about 300 trick or treaters. Several people ran out of candy. I know they also ran out of hot dogs.
It's always as much fun to see how everyone dresses up to hand out candy as it is to see the trick or treaters. The Swann/Raglin clan dressed as Sesame Street characters. They even had a backdrop with buildings painted on it to look like the Sesame Street set. Kenny, while not exactly a Sesame Street character, came as Miss Piggy.
SIGNS OF GROWING UP. There are subtle things about Jenna that lets me know that she is growing up and time with her at home is getting shorter. Most mornings now she has the hair dryer going to tame her hair. Was it really seven years ago that we took her to kindergarten for the first time?
SPEAKING OF TIME, as the kids grow up it is getting harder and harder to find time to record our activities. My goal is to try to write about once a week, but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes I feel like I miss a lot of neat stories because I can't sit down to write as often as I'd like. I was reminded of one such story from this summer just the other day so I wrote myself a note to make sure I wouldn't forget.
One Saturday Ben was out playing in the yard. I don't remember what he was doing but he was running and jumping around as boys are prone to do. Above his head, and unknown to him, a baby bird was leaving it's nest for the first time, it's anxious parents close by watching as their chick learned to fly. In a moment of incredibly bad timing the baby bird fell to the ground right in front of Ben as he was in midair from jumping. He had no time to react and crushed the poor bird. That's when mama bird lit into Ben like windmill in a hurricane.
I remember him coming into the house being sad about what had happened and scared about the mother bird attacking him. He couldn't go outside that day without having to run for cover, and the next day he came under attack again as we were leaving for church.
IMPORTANT OFFICE. Now that Ben is in the fourth grade he is part of 4-H. Each class that participates in 4-H elects their own officers, and Ben was elected vice-president for his class this year. (Ben attended an orientation for all 4-H officers a few weeks ago. I was amazed at the number of kids there.)
The kids were out of school today due to Election Day so they came to town with Vicki to run errands. As they were driving by my office Ben noticed the 4-H sign on the side of the building. When he asked Vicki about it she explained that the Extension office has the top floor and my office has the basement. That's when Ben said (with concern in his voice), "Should I go in? I am the vice-president."
FLYING SAUCERS AND FAST CARS. Last time I wrote I mentioned that Nate would get to paint a concrete block in the hall at school. Nate came up with two designs, one featuring some UFOs with aliens inside and another featuring a fast car. Since he had trouble deciding which design to use he put it to the family for a vote. The UFOs got unanimous approval. When it came time to paint his brick on Friday Nate still liked his car so he decided to combine the two designs. The final picture features flying saucers chasing the car.
JOKES. It's book fair time at school and the boys have gotten to purchase a couple of books for themselves. Nate came home with a joke book and was reading some jokes to me. He got tickled with himself because he kept losing his place and reading me the same couple of jokes. I thought that was funnier than the jokes too.
Of course, one of the things I appreciate about my wife is that she can have an off beat sense of humor at times. Recently, after viewing A Hard Day's Night, she's been reading a few books on the Beatles (one book was over 900 pages). The other morning we were having our usual bathroom mirror conversation as we were getting ready for the day. She pointed at a book and began telling me about something she'd read and then, with a perfectly straight delivery, threw in, "Did you know the Beatles broke up?"
I guess that's a lot better than my nerd joke suggesting we make a sign for Halloween night to read, "Pies for sale: $3.14."
Joe
NERDS RULE THE WORLD. This year our family dressed up a nerds for Halloween, and I don't mind bragging to say we looked really good as nerds go.
We had Trunk or Treat at church Sunday night. I think this was the best one we've had yet. In planning the event Vicki told people to buy candy for about 300 trick or treaters. Several people ran out of candy. I know they also ran out of hot dogs.
It's always as much fun to see how everyone dresses up to hand out candy as it is to see the trick or treaters. The Swann/Raglin clan dressed as Sesame Street characters. They even had a backdrop with buildings painted on it to look like the Sesame Street set. Kenny, while not exactly a Sesame Street character, came as Miss Piggy.
SIGNS OF GROWING UP. There are subtle things about Jenna that lets me know that she is growing up and time with her at home is getting shorter. Most mornings now she has the hair dryer going to tame her hair. Was it really seven years ago that we took her to kindergarten for the first time?
SPEAKING OF TIME, as the kids grow up it is getting harder and harder to find time to record our activities. My goal is to try to write about once a week, but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes I feel like I miss a lot of neat stories because I can't sit down to write as often as I'd like. I was reminded of one such story from this summer just the other day so I wrote myself a note to make sure I wouldn't forget.
One Saturday Ben was out playing in the yard. I don't remember what he was doing but he was running and jumping around as boys are prone to do. Above his head, and unknown to him, a baby bird was leaving it's nest for the first time, it's anxious parents close by watching as their chick learned to fly. In a moment of incredibly bad timing the baby bird fell to the ground right in front of Ben as he was in midair from jumping. He had no time to react and crushed the poor bird. That's when mama bird lit into Ben like windmill in a hurricane.
I remember him coming into the house being sad about what had happened and scared about the mother bird attacking him. He couldn't go outside that day without having to run for cover, and the next day he came under attack again as we were leaving for church.
IMPORTANT OFFICE. Now that Ben is in the fourth grade he is part of 4-H. Each class that participates in 4-H elects their own officers, and Ben was elected vice-president for his class this year. (Ben attended an orientation for all 4-H officers a few weeks ago. I was amazed at the number of kids there.)
The kids were out of school today due to Election Day so they came to town with Vicki to run errands. As they were driving by my office Ben noticed the 4-H sign on the side of the building. When he asked Vicki about it she explained that the Extension office has the top floor and my office has the basement. That's when Ben said (with concern in his voice), "Should I go in? I am the vice-president."
FLYING SAUCERS AND FAST CARS. Last time I wrote I mentioned that Nate would get to paint a concrete block in the hall at school. Nate came up with two designs, one featuring some UFOs with aliens inside and another featuring a fast car. Since he had trouble deciding which design to use he put it to the family for a vote. The UFOs got unanimous approval. When it came time to paint his brick on Friday Nate still liked his car so he decided to combine the two designs. The final picture features flying saucers chasing the car.
JOKES. It's book fair time at school and the boys have gotten to purchase a couple of books for themselves. Nate came home with a joke book and was reading some jokes to me. He got tickled with himself because he kept losing his place and reading me the same couple of jokes. I thought that was funnier than the jokes too.
Of course, one of the things I appreciate about my wife is that she can have an off beat sense of humor at times. Recently, after viewing A Hard Day's Night, she's been reading a few books on the Beatles (one book was over 900 pages). The other morning we were having our usual bathroom mirror conversation as we were getting ready for the day. She pointed at a book and began telling me about something she'd read and then, with a perfectly straight delivery, threw in, "Did you know the Beatles broke up?"
I guess that's a lot better than my nerd joke suggesting we make a sign for Halloween night to read, "Pies for sale: $3.14."
Joe
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