I am stuffed. I have eaten more Thanksgiving meals than should be allowed. A week ago today the Springfield Middle School cafeteria sent our office plates from their feast. Last Friday Vicki and I ate Thanksgiving lunch with Nate at his school. Sunday we had a pot luck dinner at church. And then there was today.
FAVORITE MEMORIES. One thing that is engrained in my mind is Aunt Mar telling about how they always killed hogs on Thanksgiving Day because it was cold enough that they didn’t have to worry about the meat going bad. I thought of her when I woke up this morning and the thermometer read 15°.
Vicki commented on a couple of favorite memories as we were getting ready to eat dinner this afternoon. First was Ben whistling Amazing Grace as he was sweeping the back hall earlier in the day. Mom was here by that point and she had walked to the foyer to play the piano. This too was another favorite holiday memory for us.
Of course, one thing that was never a favorite memory, or taste, for me was the ham salad. Mom or Aunt Mar used to make that with the left over ham every year after Thanksgiving and Christmas. I never got used to that taste. They served the ham salad to Vicki once because she has bad memories of it too.
CELEBRATING. Our Thanksgiving was pretty low key. We spent the morning cooking and cleaning the house. Mom came over around 2:00 and we were sitting to eat by 3:00. Our menu was the typical fare: ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash dressing, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and rolls with carrot cake for dessert.
When we finished eating we pulled out a DVD of old home movies. This particular disc began with Nate’s birth in February 2003 and had footage through April of that year. This too was another favorite memory of our Thanksgiving this year.
THE LION KING. Jenna attended the Beta convention Monday and Tuesday of this week. We left right after church and I took her and four other girls to Opryland Hotel. (It took several vehicles to get the contingent from East Robertson there.) They have spent the last few weeks working really hard to prepare a medley of music from The Lion King for the talent show: building props for a set, getting costumes together, and practicing their singing and dancing. I had to get Jenna to school early all last week as they worked to perfect their act. They were one of 15 school competing in the group talent tryouts and made the cut for the top 5 to perform their song for the entire convention. Unfortunately they were not one of the top 2 acts to go on to the national convention. Vicki went on Monday and filmed the tryout. It looked like all their hard work paid off to me.
HOOP ACTION. We are half way through Ben’s basketball season and he seems to be thoroughly enjoying it. The best games I watched were on Monday night against Jo Byrns. Ben played most of the JV game and held his own with six points to his credit. He looks like he’s getting more comfortable out there on the court. Ben also got some decent game time in the varsity game playing almost all of the second quarter. He just missed a buzzer shot at half time. The boys wound up losing both games, but they were close and made Jo Byrns earn those wins.
The way the schedule worked out the first five games were all away games. So now the next five will all be at home which will be convenient. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season holds.
MOVIES. Somehow Vicki and I have managed to squeeze in a couple of movies along with all the other family activities. Last Friday evening we went out on a date to Opry Mills Mall where we ate at the food court and watched Gravity. That flick will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Then yesterday we decided to start our Thanksgiving break off right by going to see Catching Fire. This film certainly lives up to The Hunger Games as its sequel and we really enjoyed seeing it.
A CLOSE CALL. I had just settled into bed one night last week when I heard Maggie start barking and growling right outside my window. And then...I smelled...the skunk. Amazing how quickly that odor permeated the house. Fortunately it was only a warning shot and Maggie didn’t get sprayed. The stench was a distant memory by morning. We dodged that one.
When I told Mom about our nocturnal visitor she reminded me of a story from when she and Aunt Linda were in high school and a skunk got under their grandparent’s house. They weren’t so fortunate as we were and the smell got into all their clothes. Mom and Aunt Linda were both on the basketball team and all their teammates were trying to figure out where the skunk smell was coming from in the locker room. Mom said they both kept quiet and hoped no one would notice it was them.
Joe
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Falling Leaves
We’ve had a few cold days in the last week. It’s been a pleasure to see the countryside glistening with frost in the mornings. As for Maggie, we’ve dug out an old dog house and placed it on the back porch with a nice warm bed inside. Now I just need to rig up a door flap and she’ll be all set.
LEAVES. Last Saturday the boys and I went over to Mom’s to mulch leaves. It was a pleasant morning and we put in at least three hours taking care of all the leaves within about 100 feet of the house. We chopped what we could and pushed the rest out to the field with the mower. As we were leaving Nate commented that we had done a good job. I agreed and then added, “Now look up.” He was distressed to see that there are still plenty of leaves up there just waiting for a good rain or strong wind to bring them down. At least they won’t be as thick as they could have been had we not worked on them last weekend.
That afternoon we worked on the leaves in our yard. It was under protest since our trees haven’t finished shedding yet either.
SCARED OF DOGS. The kids and I bring a boy to church on Wednesday nights who wouldn’t otherwise get to go. This boy is Ben’s age so Ben is the one to go to the door to get him if he is not already outside. We usually get a good laugh because as Ben is walking to their door a whole pack of small, yapping dogs assembles for all directions. Some come from the neighbors with others come from the boy’s home, jumping through every window imaginable on a warm day.
Now that Ben has basketball practice in the afternoons it is Nate’s responsibility to go to the door. Nate is not too keen on running the gauntlet of all those barking dogs to get to the front door. The other day we drove up and there were no dogs to sound the alarm. He was relieved. Naturally I started barking as soon as Nate opened the door to get out. I was impressed. I didn’t know he could close the truck door that fast.
THE SPORTS SECTION. Basketball season got under way Monday night with a game against Springfield Middle. Nate had Scouts so we missed the game, but we didn’t figure Ben would get any game time as there was no JV game. Turns out he got to play the last bit of the game, was fouled, and made two free throw shots. If Ben wasn’t excited Vicki made up for it.
Thursday night they played Coopertown Middle. There was a JV game this time and Ben got to play most of the game. He didn’t score but we could tell things were starting to come together for him as he played. Mom enjoyed watching this game. She and I left before the varsity games so that Jenna and Nate could get their homework done. Ben got about four minutes of game time in the varsity game too but didn’t score there either.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN. Vicki and Jenna headed out with some friends this morning for their annual trip to the Christmas Village over at the Nashville Fairgrounds. Vicki told me what all they planned to do today before going out the door. When I heard the itinerary I simply said, “See you tomorrow.” At any rate, they will come home some time tonight having bought a lot of Christmas goodies and caught a bit of the Christmas spirit. I am fine with that as long as we don’t run over Thanksgiving getting to Christmas.
Joe
LEAVES. Last Saturday the boys and I went over to Mom’s to mulch leaves. It was a pleasant morning and we put in at least three hours taking care of all the leaves within about 100 feet of the house. We chopped what we could and pushed the rest out to the field with the mower. As we were leaving Nate commented that we had done a good job. I agreed and then added, “Now look up.” He was distressed to see that there are still plenty of leaves up there just waiting for a good rain or strong wind to bring them down. At least they won’t be as thick as they could have been had we not worked on them last weekend.
That afternoon we worked on the leaves in our yard. It was under protest since our trees haven’t finished shedding yet either.
SCARED OF DOGS. The kids and I bring a boy to church on Wednesday nights who wouldn’t otherwise get to go. This boy is Ben’s age so Ben is the one to go to the door to get him if he is not already outside. We usually get a good laugh because as Ben is walking to their door a whole pack of small, yapping dogs assembles for all directions. Some come from the neighbors with others come from the boy’s home, jumping through every window imaginable on a warm day.
Now that Ben has basketball practice in the afternoons it is Nate’s responsibility to go to the door. Nate is not too keen on running the gauntlet of all those barking dogs to get to the front door. The other day we drove up and there were no dogs to sound the alarm. He was relieved. Naturally I started barking as soon as Nate opened the door to get out. I was impressed. I didn’t know he could close the truck door that fast.
THE SPORTS SECTION. Basketball season got under way Monday night with a game against Springfield Middle. Nate had Scouts so we missed the game, but we didn’t figure Ben would get any game time as there was no JV game. Turns out he got to play the last bit of the game, was fouled, and made two free throw shots. If Ben wasn’t excited Vicki made up for it.
Thursday night they played Coopertown Middle. There was a JV game this time and Ben got to play most of the game. He didn’t score but we could tell things were starting to come together for him as he played. Mom enjoyed watching this game. She and I left before the varsity games so that Jenna and Nate could get their homework done. Ben got about four minutes of game time in the varsity game too but didn’t score there either.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN. Vicki and Jenna headed out with some friends this morning for their annual trip to the Christmas Village over at the Nashville Fairgrounds. Vicki told me what all they planned to do today before going out the door. When I heard the itinerary I simply said, “See you tomorrow.” At any rate, they will come home some time tonight having bought a lot of Christmas goodies and caught a bit of the Christmas spirit. I am fine with that as long as we don’t run over Thanksgiving getting to Christmas.
Joe
Friday, November 8, 2013
A New Smile!
Everything moves so fast this time of year. Thanksgiving in three weeks, Christmas in seven, next thing you know it’ll be 2014!
NEW TEETH. Mom got her new teeth yesterday. I don’t know when I’ve seen her look this happy. She has plenty to get used to when it come to wearing them, but she is truly pleased with her new chops. For those of you who haven’t seen Mom since the surgery it didn’t leave her horribly disfigured. We had all by this point come to not pay much attention to the difference, but then, it’s not so easy to overlook something like that when it’s your own appearance.
I must say that I am proud of Mom. She has held her head up and carried on with life these last six months, and I am glad she now has these new teeth to help her enjoy life all the more. She certainly has an extra sparkle in her eye and lilt in her voice that wasn’t there before.
TRUNK OR TREAT. I mentioned last time that we had postponed our Trunk or Treat due to the forecasted weather. First of all, Halloween night did turn out to be windy and somewhat rainy so we made a good decision. Fortunately that was the worst there was. Several groups in our community rescheduled their events and if kids played their cards right they had the opportunity to collect candy three or four different nights!
Sunday evening turned out to be very pleasant for us. I don’t know how many came but I was busy handing out candy from the back of our van the whole time. I know they ran out of hot dogs.
We didn’t dress up with a family theme this year. Jenna and her friend Maegan decided to be Halloween Fairies at school so Jenna reused her costume Sunday night. The rest of us were going to be stick men but at the last minute Vicki and Nate decided to be mimes. Nate has a dramatic flare about him and he really got into that act. This, of course, got me going on all sorts of lame puns and since Vicki had to stay in character she couldn’t even groan aloud, though she did like it when I asked her if she would be mime. She got the last laugh of the evening when she had taken her makeup off and said, “Well now I can’t think of anything to say!”
PRACTICE GAME. We had a practice game at Knox Doss Middle School last night. Our team looked really rough out there on the court. Ben and his fellow seventh graders are facing a whole new game with middle school ball and they’re going to need some time to wrap their minds around that. I think they are about to start playing practice games against the high school team which wouldn’t be much different from what they were up against last night.
SOUND SLEEPERS. I used to be a sound sleeper but that is changing as I get older, but the loud crash that happened at our house around 3:20 this morning should have awakened the entire family. It certainly woke Maggie up because she started barking and she sleeps outside on the back porch!
I knew the sound came from the boys room upstairs and it didn’t take me long to discover what happened. The boys have Pauline’s old TV upstairs. They’ve set up a whole gaming corner with the papasan we bought a few months ago. In all the rearranging of furniture the TV stand is right next to Ben’s bed. I learned at breakfast that Ben was having a dream where he was falling and this caused him to kick the TV. I also learned he was awake but playing possum when I came up to check on them.
HEALTHY DOG. I’m not easily startled but Maggie got me really good one day last week. I was working on a little project out in the shop and was running a 2x4 through the table saw. It was warm so I was wearing shorts and had the doors open. That dog walked up behind me and stuck her cold nose on the back of my leg. Fortunately I had caught sight of her tail out of the corner of my eye or I would have jumped over a running table saw.
Joe
NEW TEETH. Mom got her new teeth yesterday. I don’t know when I’ve seen her look this happy. She has plenty to get used to when it come to wearing them, but she is truly pleased with her new chops. For those of you who haven’t seen Mom since the surgery it didn’t leave her horribly disfigured. We had all by this point come to not pay much attention to the difference, but then, it’s not so easy to overlook something like that when it’s your own appearance.
I must say that I am proud of Mom. She has held her head up and carried on with life these last six months, and I am glad she now has these new teeth to help her enjoy life all the more. She certainly has an extra sparkle in her eye and lilt in her voice that wasn’t there before.
TRUNK OR TREAT. I mentioned last time that we had postponed our Trunk or Treat due to the forecasted weather. First of all, Halloween night did turn out to be windy and somewhat rainy so we made a good decision. Fortunately that was the worst there was. Several groups in our community rescheduled their events and if kids played their cards right they had the opportunity to collect candy three or four different nights!
Sunday evening turned out to be very pleasant for us. I don’t know how many came but I was busy handing out candy from the back of our van the whole time. I know they ran out of hot dogs.
We didn’t dress up with a family theme this year. Jenna and her friend Maegan decided to be Halloween Fairies at school so Jenna reused her costume Sunday night. The rest of us were going to be stick men but at the last minute Vicki and Nate decided to be mimes. Nate has a dramatic flare about him and he really got into that act. This, of course, got me going on all sorts of lame puns and since Vicki had to stay in character she couldn’t even groan aloud, though she did like it when I asked her if she would be mime. She got the last laugh of the evening when she had taken her makeup off and said, “Well now I can’t think of anything to say!”
PRACTICE GAME. We had a practice game at Knox Doss Middle School last night. Our team looked really rough out there on the court. Ben and his fellow seventh graders are facing a whole new game with middle school ball and they’re going to need some time to wrap their minds around that. I think they are about to start playing practice games against the high school team which wouldn’t be much different from what they were up against last night.
SOUND SLEEPERS. I used to be a sound sleeper but that is changing as I get older, but the loud crash that happened at our house around 3:20 this morning should have awakened the entire family. It certainly woke Maggie up because she started barking and she sleeps outside on the back porch!
I knew the sound came from the boys room upstairs and it didn’t take me long to discover what happened. The boys have Pauline’s old TV upstairs. They’ve set up a whole gaming corner with the papasan we bought a few months ago. In all the rearranging of furniture the TV stand is right next to Ben’s bed. I learned at breakfast that Ben was having a dream where he was falling and this caused him to kick the TV. I also learned he was awake but playing possum when I came up to check on them.
HEALTHY DOG. I’m not easily startled but Maggie got me really good one day last week. I was working on a little project out in the shop and was running a 2x4 through the table saw. It was warm so I was wearing shorts and had the doors open. That dog walked up behind me and stuck her cold nose on the back of my leg. Fortunately I had caught sight of her tail out of the corner of my eye or I would have jumped over a running table saw.
Joe
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