Those of us who enjoy snow are getting our money's worth this year. We had another system move in Thursday afternoon. School was released early so all the buses ran before there were any problems, but it was slick when I came home from work. I wound up missing the driveway and going on to the barn down the road and driving back across the field. School was cancelled on Friday, but things cleared off by Saturday morning for most of the weekend activities to go on.
We are expecting more snow tonight. As much as I enjoy it, we only have two snow days left before we have to start making up days.
HOLIDAY SOUP. It doesn't seem like Christmas was one month ago today. I think the holidays were still on Jenna's mind the other day when we were going to a Chinese restaurant and she was excited about getting egg nog soup.
WARDROBE HISTORY. We have a free standing wardrobe in our bedroom has been in the family for a long time. It's a tall piece at over seven feet. It has a large area for hanging clothes and a wide drawer at the bottom.
When Aunt Mar was a girl she would hide her school books above the crown molding. She could reach this by standing in the drawer. One day she saw a large crack in the left door and told me it got there because the wardrobe toppled over on her when she was putting her books away. The doors happened to be open which saved her from serious injury, but the left door was cracked from top to bottom in the spill.
THE BIG SWITCHEROO. Speaking of closets, Vicki has been complaining that she running out of room in her closet for quite a while now. The closet space in our house is typical of houses built a century ago -- there isn't much to be had.
When we moved here in 1995 we came to the agreement that I would get the closet in our room and Vicki would get the wardrobe. Best I remember it worked out this way because the closet was on my side of the bed and the wardrobe was placed on her side of the bed.
So, after 15+ years of living here, Vicki and I have swapped closets. You have no idea how many times we've opened our old closets only to be surprised by the strange clothes hanging there. Vicki has more room and I'm quite happy with the space I have. Now if I could just talk her into switching sides of the bed...
PRETTY IN ANYTHING BUT PINK. While we were swapping closets Vicki ran across some exercise pants that no longer fit so she offered them to Jenna. Jenna was not interested because the pants had a thin, hot pink stripe down the outside seam of the legs. Vicki tried a few times to "sell" Jenna on the pants but each attempt was meet with an eye roll.
Finally, Vicki asked Jenna what was wrong with the pink stripe and reminded her that she carried a hot pink book bag to school every day. Jenna's rebuttal to this argument was that she doesn't wear the book bag. A little while later, true to form, Jenna brought Vicki her now empty, hot pink book bag. She had found a new, not pink book bag and switched to it.
GROWING. Ben is "growing like a weed," and at 5'2" he's only 4" behind Jenna. (Nate is 4'9" in case you are wondering.) He sometimes complains of pains in his legs which we figure are growth pains, and to back that guess up we're seeing his pants become high waters in very short order. And the other night he and Jenna decided to compare foot sizes. His feet are definitely bigger than hers. Another sign of growing up is that Ben wants to take a shower every night now.
THE NAME OF THE GAME. One of the games the kids got for Christmas is Farkle. If you've not heard of it, it's a dice game like Yahtzee though the scoring is completely different. We've had a blast playing this many evenings before going to bed. What has cracked me up most was that Ben had a hard time remembering the name of the game so he's come out with many mispronunciations much like Barney Fife would. Among his Barny-isms are Frankle, Frickle, and my favorite, Fartle.
MY TOUGH BOY. Nate's game was cancelled Saturday due to slick roads, but Ben's and Jenna's games were played as scheduled. About 10-15 minutes before leaving for Ben's game he got a splinter in his right foot from our living room floor. We pulled out a large, but short, chunk of wood, and since I couldn't see anything else we treated it and headed to the game.
Ben had a great game, putting 14 points on the scoreboard. Afterwards we killed time in White House before going to Jenna's game. By time we got home Ben had been complaining about his foot quite a bit so we decided to have another look. This time we spotted what we thought was a deeply embedded splinter so Vicki and I went to work trying to get it out. Sure enough there was another piece in there and when Ben wanted a turn with the tweezers he wound up pulling out a piece that measured ⅞ of an inch long. His foot is feeling much better now.
Joe
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Winter Break II
Our kids have missed a week of school for next to no snow. Last Friday evening (the 7th -- and then again on Sunday) a weather system brought a substantial amount of snow to the Mid-South -- dumping up to a foot of snow in some places and practically shutting Atlanta down. We were on the northern edge of this weather system and got about two inches of the coveted white stuff. TDOT had all our state roads cleared in short order, but the county roads saw no such treatment and remained icy in many places all week. Consequently, this has been one of the longest lingering snows that I remember because the temperature has stayed below freezing all this time.
CHEF BENTON. I’ll have to say, Ben is turning into quite a little cook here at our house. This sort of surprises me, because he’s never really expressed interest in cooking too much. Ben did help me do the boiled custard for Christmas, and was really good help, but I just never expected this sort of interest. I don’t cook any pancakes any more.
The funny thing is that he’s started to help Vicki in the kitchen some, and he makes as good a team with her as Jenna does. The other night he and Jenna both wanted to help Vicki cook supper. Vicki said she’d only take help from one kid simply because there wasn’t enough space in the kitchen for three people to work. This almost started an argument.
BASKETBALL SEASON IS HERE. Last Saturday (the 8th) marked the first basketball games in our schedule. The snow caused the games for the younger division teams to be cancelled (as fast as TDOT was clearing the roads there’s only so much they can do in a short time) which broke Nate’s heart. The weather this weekend was much better and Nate played as scheduled. He had a good game and assisted in a couple of goals even though the basket seemed to elude him. At this age it takes a few weeks for all the players to get the hang of what’s going on.
Ben and Jenna both had good games and even put the first points on the board for their teams. Ben’s team won by a respectable lead and I think they impressed their coach with how well they played. This weekend was no different. Ben played really well with a lot of points to his credit, and he is a rebounder. He’s tall enough for this to be easy for him, but to make things better his hands seem to have glue on them. Now if he can just learn to do a running lay-up he’ll lethal on the court.
Jenna’s game turned out to be a real nail-biter last weekend. Jenna’s team dominated during the first half, but their opponent woke up and gave them a run for their money. It ended in a tie. What was so fun for us is that Vicki is the assistant coach for Jenna’s team. Last weekend the head coach was unable to be there so this turned in to her coaching debut.
This week’s game was just as interesting with Jenna’s team winning by one point. The funny thing is that there’s only two girls teams in this division so this is going to become a weekly grudge match.
LAST CHRISTMAS DINNER. One of the holiday highlights each year is getting together with our cousins from Ashland City. Some years we manage to do this within our Christmas break, most years we do not. The reality is that both families have three active kids so it’s just not easy to find a time. We finally got this visit in last night when the Bradley/Dee clan came to our house for dinner, and their visit was a lot of fun. The Dee girls sure have grown!
One very smart suggestion was that we just make the Sunday before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day our annual holiday meal. It makes perfect sense since school is out the next day and all the other holiday activities are behind us. So now our Christmas activities will have a very pleasant post script every year in mid-January.
DOTS. While cooking does not motivate me, I don’t mind doing laundry. Vicki doesn’t trust me with the delicate clothes, but we go through enough jeans, tee shirts, towels, and underwear that I can stay busy enough. Helpful as I try to be, I’m not good at separating the boys’ clothes. No matter how hard I try I get things in the wrong closet.
Vicki came up with a great plan to help me out. Armed with a permanent marker all of Ben’s clothes have one dot on the label and all of Nate’s clothes have two dots. And when Ben outgrows a shirt or a pair of pants we make a second dot and pass them down. This has made life so easy for me!
FOOL OVER A FISH. I don’t think Vicki would admit it on her own, but she is very fond of our fish, 36. We’re very surprised that a goldfish won at the fair has lasted this long, but 36 hasn’t just survived, he’s thrived -- even growing significantly. What’s funny is to hear Vicki talk to 36. She uses the same voice I’ve heard her use for a puppy. And 36 just swims up and down the corner of the tank closest to Vicki taking it all in (I’m guessing he’s thinking, “Will you hurry up with the food!”). It’s a sight to see.
TOUCHÉ. Vicki got an iTunes card for Christmas and had downloaded some music she liked. One of these songs was “This” by Darius Rucker. When Nate heard it begin to play he said, “Hey, that sounds like what Mr. Kenny would sound like if he could sing!”
Joe
CHEF BENTON. I’ll have to say, Ben is turning into quite a little cook here at our house. This sort of surprises me, because he’s never really expressed interest in cooking too much. Ben did help me do the boiled custard for Christmas, and was really good help, but I just never expected this sort of interest. I don’t cook any pancakes any more.
The funny thing is that he’s started to help Vicki in the kitchen some, and he makes as good a team with her as Jenna does. The other night he and Jenna both wanted to help Vicki cook supper. Vicki said she’d only take help from one kid simply because there wasn’t enough space in the kitchen for three people to work. This almost started an argument.
BASKETBALL SEASON IS HERE. Last Saturday (the 8th) marked the first basketball games in our schedule. The snow caused the games for the younger division teams to be cancelled (as fast as TDOT was clearing the roads there’s only so much they can do in a short time) which broke Nate’s heart. The weather this weekend was much better and Nate played as scheduled. He had a good game and assisted in a couple of goals even though the basket seemed to elude him. At this age it takes a few weeks for all the players to get the hang of what’s going on.
Ben and Jenna both had good games and even put the first points on the board for their teams. Ben’s team won by a respectable lead and I think they impressed their coach with how well they played. This weekend was no different. Ben played really well with a lot of points to his credit, and he is a rebounder. He’s tall enough for this to be easy for him, but to make things better his hands seem to have glue on them. Now if he can just learn to do a running lay-up he’ll lethal on the court.
Jenna’s game turned out to be a real nail-biter last weekend. Jenna’s team dominated during the first half, but their opponent woke up and gave them a run for their money. It ended in a tie. What was so fun for us is that Vicki is the assistant coach for Jenna’s team. Last weekend the head coach was unable to be there so this turned in to her coaching debut.
This week’s game was just as interesting with Jenna’s team winning by one point. The funny thing is that there’s only two girls teams in this division so this is going to become a weekly grudge match.
LAST CHRISTMAS DINNER. One of the holiday highlights each year is getting together with our cousins from Ashland City. Some years we manage to do this within our Christmas break, most years we do not. The reality is that both families have three active kids so it’s just not easy to find a time. We finally got this visit in last night when the Bradley/Dee clan came to our house for dinner, and their visit was a lot of fun. The Dee girls sure have grown!
One very smart suggestion was that we just make the Sunday before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day our annual holiday meal. It makes perfect sense since school is out the next day and all the other holiday activities are behind us. So now our Christmas activities will have a very pleasant post script every year in mid-January.
DOTS. While cooking does not motivate me, I don’t mind doing laundry. Vicki doesn’t trust me with the delicate clothes, but we go through enough jeans, tee shirts, towels, and underwear that I can stay busy enough. Helpful as I try to be, I’m not good at separating the boys’ clothes. No matter how hard I try I get things in the wrong closet.
Vicki came up with a great plan to help me out. Armed with a permanent marker all of Ben’s clothes have one dot on the label and all of Nate’s clothes have two dots. And when Ben outgrows a shirt or a pair of pants we make a second dot and pass them down. This has made life so easy for me!
FOOL OVER A FISH. I don’t think Vicki would admit it on her own, but she is very fond of our fish, 36. We’re very surprised that a goldfish won at the fair has lasted this long, but 36 hasn’t just survived, he’s thrived -- even growing significantly. What’s funny is to hear Vicki talk to 36. She uses the same voice I’ve heard her use for a puppy. And 36 just swims up and down the corner of the tank closest to Vicki taking it all in (I’m guessing he’s thinking, “Will you hurry up with the food!”). It’s a sight to see.
TOUCHÉ. Vicki got an iTunes card for Christmas and had downloaded some music she liked. One of these songs was “This” by Darius Rucker. When Nate heard it begin to play he said, “Hey, that sounds like what Mr. Kenny would sound like if he could sing!”
Joe
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Happy New Year!
I've been lazy. This has been a wonderful Christmas break and I just haven't done much in the way of keeping with my normal routine. I went back to work today so I guess I need to get caught up before getting too much farther into the new year.
WE HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS! Granted, it was a little less than an inch, but we sure did enjoy it. It was just enough to make the landscape pretty without messing up the roads for people getting out to see family on Christmas Day. One of our local weathermen wrote that the Nashville area has a seven percent chance of getting snow on any Christmas Day.
THE BEST PRESENT EVER! The last time I wrote was Tuesday, the 21st. That night Nate was talking to me and Vicki at bedtime and brought up the topic of becoming a Christian. This is something he's discussed with us off and on for well over a year. Well, that night he decided he wanted to Jesus to be his Savior so we talked about what that means and then prayed with him. It was the best Christmas present we could have gotten.
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES. Our schedule at Christmas has become a tradition. We go to Kenny and Lori's for their party on the evening of the 23rd. There's the Christmas Eve service the next evening. We have brunch at Mrs. Connie's on Christmas Morning and supper over at Aunt Mar's that night. This year was no different, except that Aunt Mar didn't feel like getting out.
Vicki and Kelly Raglin sang "Ring the Bells" as a duet at the Christmas Eve service and really made the song sound great. I was very proud of my wife who still battles stage fright.
Having the snow on Christmas morning was nice because it enticed the younger kids outside after eating to allow the adults time to talk and reminisce before opening presents. We had the best time listening to Kenny, Lori, Kelly, and Kathy telling about all the funny adventures gone wrong in their family. Vicki and I lead dull, drab lives compared to them. We laughed and laughed. They need to write a book. It was a very fun morning.
CHRISTMAS LOOT. Invariably when people talk about Christmas after the day has passed someone asks what you got for Christmas. We were very blessed this year. I was able to get some pictures framed for Vicki this year. David Head painted portraits of Jenna and Ben some time ago and we simply hadn't found an affordable picture framer until now. Vicki was pleasantly surprised. (David has promised to do a portrait of Nate to complete our set.) We also had a couple of large collage picture frames designed to hold 4x6 snapshots so I picked out some of our favorite pictures, printed them, and filled the frames.
I also had our ice maker repaired for Vicki. It has been on the fritz for several years now. We never bothered to fix it because we could get ice from Pauline and it was a good reason to go over and check on her. Now that we are renting the house that was not an option. The funny thing is that the appliance repair guy came and installed a new water valve since that's the problem the majority of the time. We fell in the minority so he came back and put a new ice maker in our freezer for free. We have to laugh because this "new" ice maker won't quit making ice after the bin is full. We've gone from one extreme to the other.
The kids got many of the things they wanted. I think their favorite is Uno Attack. This version of the game has a card launcher that sits in the middle of the table. Whenever you are in a situation where you need to draw cards you press the button on the launcher and it may or may not shoot cords at you. You should hear them playing!
We also got a game called The Settlers of Catan (http://www.catan.com -- rhymes with baton). The premise is that you've landed on an island and are working to be the first player to colonize it. So far we've played it twice and really enjoyed it.
YES, THE TOOTH FAIRY DOES VISIT ON CHRISTMAS. The week before Christmas one of Nate's top, front teeth was really loose. He had Vicki pull it on Christmas Eve because he wanted to know if the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus would visit on the same night. They do.
TRIP TO GEORGIA. Tuesday morning we loaded the van and headed for Georgia. Our first stop was to eat lunch with the Yergler family. Daryle had to work, but all the girls were in so we had a nice visit with them.
You may recall seeing video on the news or YouTube of the camel brought into a church at West Palm Beach for a Christmas musical rehearsal which decided to kneel in the aisle and then stood back up and fell into the pews where people were sitting watching the rehearsal. Fortunately, no one was hurt by the camel, but it just so happened that Emily Yergler was sitting on that pew (a few seats from the end) and got a ring side seat for the accident. You can see the video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFd3e3m4Eao
Moving on to bigger news from the Yergler family, we have learned this weekend that Sarah is now engaged. None of us have had the opportunity to meet her fiancé since they live so far away, but we are all very happy for her.
After leaving the Yergler's house we headed on to spend time with the Jones family. We stayed with them through Friday morning and had a good time playing games, watching movies, eating, and visiting. The kids were all so happy spending time together we just stayed around the house, however, when we left on Friday we all traveled to Knoxville for the UT-College of Charleston basketball game. We made good time up there and ate lunch in Knoxville. Between the game and lunch we walked around campus and reminisced. All the kids were impressed when Will showed them the spot where he was struck by lightning when he was a student.
We were really disappointed in the game. UT scored first and that was the only time we led the game (The Vols lost 91-78). I would say the biggest highlight for the family was that Pat Head Summit came to the game (her son plays on the men's team) and we got to meet her afterward (well, Ben and I didn't because he had an upset stomach). After parting company our two families drove to their respective homes.
JOGGING. I mentioned the last time I wrote that the boys and I had been jogging. I'm still at it as is Ben, though he has missed a few days.
I'm really surprised with myself because exercise is a pretty big demotivator for me, however, I've kept at it and I'm up to 0.8 miles now. I run across the farm and my goal for now it to be able to run to Bill Chatman's and back.
What's been interesting is the psychology of an exhausted runner. As I'm returning to the house I run up a slight hill beside a line of trees. At the end of the trees I turn right, pass a barn, and head for the house. I'm some 250-300 feet from the house when it comes into view and the funny thing is that the distance literally appears to stretch right before my eyes making the "finish line" look like it is moving further away. I really had a hard time with this until I decided to move my end point to the barn which gives me that short distance to walk and cool down a bit. Once I made that decision the running got a whole lot easier.
SELECTIVE LISTENING: A CASE STUDY. Ladies, how many of you have been totally frustrated by the male ability to listen selectively? I had something happen that illustrates this phenomenon in action.
I told the boys to shower. Ben went first. After a while I went in the bathroom and said, "Hurry up so that Nate will have enough hot water." Knowing I needed to verify this I asked, "Do you hear me?" … six times. Now Nate, who was in another room answered me six times, but Ben, who I was talking to finally said, "Are you talking to me?" after I had repeated myself so much.
You’d think I’d know I need to call the boy by name and make sure I have his attention before trying to talk to him.
Joe
WE HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS! Granted, it was a little less than an inch, but we sure did enjoy it. It was just enough to make the landscape pretty without messing up the roads for people getting out to see family on Christmas Day. One of our local weathermen wrote that the Nashville area has a seven percent chance of getting snow on any Christmas Day.
THE BEST PRESENT EVER! The last time I wrote was Tuesday, the 21st. That night Nate was talking to me and Vicki at bedtime and brought up the topic of becoming a Christian. This is something he's discussed with us off and on for well over a year. Well, that night he decided he wanted to Jesus to be his Savior so we talked about what that means and then prayed with him. It was the best Christmas present we could have gotten.
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES. Our schedule at Christmas has become a tradition. We go to Kenny and Lori's for their party on the evening of the 23rd. There's the Christmas Eve service the next evening. We have brunch at Mrs. Connie's on Christmas Morning and supper over at Aunt Mar's that night. This year was no different, except that Aunt Mar didn't feel like getting out.
Vicki and Kelly Raglin sang "Ring the Bells" as a duet at the Christmas Eve service and really made the song sound great. I was very proud of my wife who still battles stage fright.
Having the snow on Christmas morning was nice because it enticed the younger kids outside after eating to allow the adults time to talk and reminisce before opening presents. We had the best time listening to Kenny, Lori, Kelly, and Kathy telling about all the funny adventures gone wrong in their family. Vicki and I lead dull, drab lives compared to them. We laughed and laughed. They need to write a book. It was a very fun morning.
CHRISTMAS LOOT. Invariably when people talk about Christmas after the day has passed someone asks what you got for Christmas. We were very blessed this year. I was able to get some pictures framed for Vicki this year. David Head painted portraits of Jenna and Ben some time ago and we simply hadn't found an affordable picture framer until now. Vicki was pleasantly surprised. (David has promised to do a portrait of Nate to complete our set.) We also had a couple of large collage picture frames designed to hold 4x6 snapshots so I picked out some of our favorite pictures, printed them, and filled the frames.
I also had our ice maker repaired for Vicki. It has been on the fritz for several years now. We never bothered to fix it because we could get ice from Pauline and it was a good reason to go over and check on her. Now that we are renting the house that was not an option. The funny thing is that the appliance repair guy came and installed a new water valve since that's the problem the majority of the time. We fell in the minority so he came back and put a new ice maker in our freezer for free. We have to laugh because this "new" ice maker won't quit making ice after the bin is full. We've gone from one extreme to the other.
The kids got many of the things they wanted. I think their favorite is Uno Attack. This version of the game has a card launcher that sits in the middle of the table. Whenever you are in a situation where you need to draw cards you press the button on the launcher and it may or may not shoot cords at you. You should hear them playing!
We also got a game called The Settlers of Catan (http://www.catan.com -- rhymes with baton). The premise is that you've landed on an island and are working to be the first player to colonize it. So far we've played it twice and really enjoyed it.
YES, THE TOOTH FAIRY DOES VISIT ON CHRISTMAS. The week before Christmas one of Nate's top, front teeth was really loose. He had Vicki pull it on Christmas Eve because he wanted to know if the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus would visit on the same night. They do.
TRIP TO GEORGIA. Tuesday morning we loaded the van and headed for Georgia. Our first stop was to eat lunch with the Yergler family. Daryle had to work, but all the girls were in so we had a nice visit with them.
You may recall seeing video on the news or YouTube of the camel brought into a church at West Palm Beach for a Christmas musical rehearsal which decided to kneel in the aisle and then stood back up and fell into the pews where people were sitting watching the rehearsal. Fortunately, no one was hurt by the camel, but it just so happened that Emily Yergler was sitting on that pew (a few seats from the end) and got a ring side seat for the accident. You can see the video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFd3e3m4Eao
Moving on to bigger news from the Yergler family, we have learned this weekend that Sarah is now engaged. None of us have had the opportunity to meet her fiancé since they live so far away, but we are all very happy for her.
After leaving the Yergler's house we headed on to spend time with the Jones family. We stayed with them through Friday morning and had a good time playing games, watching movies, eating, and visiting. The kids were all so happy spending time together we just stayed around the house, however, when we left on Friday we all traveled to Knoxville for the UT-College of Charleston basketball game. We made good time up there and ate lunch in Knoxville. Between the game and lunch we walked around campus and reminisced. All the kids were impressed when Will showed them the spot where he was struck by lightning when he was a student.
We were really disappointed in the game. UT scored first and that was the only time we led the game (The Vols lost 91-78). I would say the biggest highlight for the family was that Pat Head Summit came to the game (her son plays on the men's team) and we got to meet her afterward (well, Ben and I didn't because he had an upset stomach). After parting company our two families drove to their respective homes.
JOGGING. I mentioned the last time I wrote that the boys and I had been jogging. I'm still at it as is Ben, though he has missed a few days.
I'm really surprised with myself because exercise is a pretty big demotivator for me, however, I've kept at it and I'm up to 0.8 miles now. I run across the farm and my goal for now it to be able to run to Bill Chatman's and back.
What's been interesting is the psychology of an exhausted runner. As I'm returning to the house I run up a slight hill beside a line of trees. At the end of the trees I turn right, pass a barn, and head for the house. I'm some 250-300 feet from the house when it comes into view and the funny thing is that the distance literally appears to stretch right before my eyes making the "finish line" look like it is moving further away. I really had a hard time with this until I decided to move my end point to the barn which gives me that short distance to walk and cool down a bit. Once I made that decision the running got a whole lot easier.
SELECTIVE LISTENING: A CASE STUDY. Ladies, how many of you have been totally frustrated by the male ability to listen selectively? I had something happen that illustrates this phenomenon in action.
I told the boys to shower. Ben went first. After a while I went in the bathroom and said, "Hurry up so that Nate will have enough hot water." Knowing I needed to verify this I asked, "Do you hear me?" … six times. Now Nate, who was in another room answered me six times, but Ben, who I was talking to finally said, "Are you talking to me?" after I had repeated myself so much.
You’d think I’d know I need to call the boy by name and make sure I have his attention before trying to talk to him.
Joe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)