Farewell Winter

Spring is here so I suppose it is time to say farewell to winter--not that it’s going to feel like it over the next few days.

BUSINESS TRIP. I consider myself very fortunate that my job does not require me to travel so that I get to be a regular part of my children’s lives; however, I did get the opportunity to take a business trip to Orlando the week before last (March 9-13). This is big for me. Until this trip the only times I had ever traveled outside of Robertson County were for conferences and meetings in Gallatin, Lebanon, Murfreesboro, and Nashville--oh, and once to visit a colleague in Cookeville.

My travels took me to one of the Hiltons on Disney World property (Bonnet Creek) where I attended a conference that offered all sorts of training for software I use at work. Suffice it to say that I feel like I’ve done a grad school course in four days. It was intense. I did get to enjoy one evening at Downtown Disney and another with being treated to dinner at Chevy’s (a Mexican restaurant) with Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, Jim, Dianna, Alex, and Chris.

One funny story from my trip happened when I was in line to board my plane home at the Orlando Airport. The lady standing beside me looked at the carry on bag by my feet and said, “I just have to know, are you traveling with a dog or a cat?” Everyone in line got a good laugh at my reply when I said, “Neither--dirty clothes.”

GETTING THINGS DONE. I got home from Orlando late Thursday night (the 13th). Spring break began for us when school let out the next day. Vicki and the kids took off for Georgia early Monday morning where they had fun with the Jones family. They came home this past Thursday (the 20th). I spent the week here at home knocking out a big to do list. It has been both relaxing and productive and I am glad to have a break in the schedule to get some things done. I was also glad to see my family get back home.

Speaking of getting things done, yesterday Vicki and I decided to tackle one of our storage rooms upstairs. What we really need is something like the Room of Requirement as it appears in the Harry Potter universe when the various characters need to hide something. Unfortunately we Muggles live in the reality where the insides of our rooms are limited by the space that contains them. We put in several hours trimming down and cleaning things out. (Jim, I did find a ticket where you and I went to Disney World on March 17, 1986. This was probably my first visit to Epcot. Remember the belly dancer?)

GROWING UP. There’s a picture I’m looking at as I type this. It was taken one Father’s Day when Jenna was two or three. Seems like yesterday. She’s growing up. Friday Jenna and I went to the bank to open a checking account for her.

Another big step Friday was the cell phone. Jenna has had a cell phone in the past but it was nothing fancy or with a contract. She decided not to keep it given the poor reception it had here at the house. (One almost had to stand on one leg with an arm in the air on top of the picnic table to use it.) Jenna is probably the last of her friends to get a smart phone but we had told her not before she turned 16. Well, her 16th birthday is on the horizon and with a special deal allowing Vicki to add another line to her contract cheaply before the end of the month we said, “close enough.” Jenna has a used iPhone.

FUN AT THE MOVIES. In all this coming and going we did get the chance to have a little family fun. Friday afternoon we all went out to run a few errands. We met Michelle and her daughter, Maegan, for an early supper and then went to the movies. All the girls went to see Divergent while the boys took in Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I don’t recall seeing Mr. Peabody much as a kid but I thought the movie was cute.

Joe