Wrapping Up 2016

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This Christmas break has been a very enjoyable end to 2016. It has had just the right balance of fun and down time. The break started off cold, we even woke up to a dusting of snow one morning, warmed up to almost 70° and sunny by Christmas Day (I wore shorts) and has gotten cold again now.

The week before Christmas was busy as we were on the go almost every evening. There were no ball games scheduled during exam week so we made up for it once school was out. This run of games had a depressing start as we were matched up against DA’s closest neighbor, Goodpasture. That game was a disaster for us. At least the series ended Thursday with what was arguably Ben’s best overall performance on the court so far this year against Portland High. It was also a lot of fun to meet up with Derek, Amanda, and Tanner when we played at Sycamore High near Ashland City. Fun as it all is, I’m looking forward to next school year when Ben is not playing both junior varsity and varsity. Four hours plus is a long time to sit on a bleacher.

We also had an afternoon of culture that Wednesday (the 21st). One of my students, Rosa, (and her little brother) had been casted for parts in the Nashville Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker this year. Earlier this month she handed me a card that listed which performances she would be in and invited me and my family to come. This was our first time to see any ballet. It was quite impressive.

Equally impressive was the fact that Rosa won a part. Obviously, all the big parts go to professional dancers, but ballet students from all across the state audition for the smaller parts. Parts are awarded to multiple students to give lots of kids the opportunity to perform in something big like this. Rosa, who played one of the medium mice, took part in about a half dozen performances. As I said, we were impressed, both with the show and Rosa’s part in it.

Friday evening before Christmas was the annual holiday party at Kenny and Lori’s house. We laughed, ate, and had a great time. I most enjoyed reconnecting with Brent and Sabrina as they are in for the holiday. Then the next evening was the Christmas Eve service at church. We ate supper at Mom’s afterward.

We returned to church Christmas morning for a Christmas Day service since it falls on Sunday this year. From there we enjoyed brunch at Mrs. Connie’s, came home for a bit, and then went to Mom’s for supper.

Now that the kids are older the clothes, gift cards, etc. are more the focus of the Christmas gifts. I think the biggest novelty or fun gift was the yo-yo Jenna gave to Ben. This yo-yo is “non-responsive” which means it just reaches the end of the string and spins when you throw it. This is so you can do a lot of tricks with it. I’m used to a responsive yo-yo which spins a little but will return when I flick my wrist. One of the skills you have to learn with Ben’s yo-yo is how to make it return to you. Ben is starting to do quite a few stunts with his new toy, as is Nate. Nate finally had to order one for himself so he wouldn’t be hogging his brother’s new toy all the time.

Tuesday we left to visit the Jones family in Georgia. We returned home yesterday. It was another fun time together as family. This visit we played several gameshow style games from jackbox.tv which uses a computer connected to the TV and a smart phone, tablet, or laptop for each player. On Wednesday the kids also went to see Disney’s current release, Moana, while Will, Darice, Vicki, and I went out to eat at Cali-n-Tito’s in Athens on a double date (with dessert at Menchies, a frozen yogurt place, afterwards). Thursday evening we all went out to play an Escape the Space game. This is one of those games where you are “locked” in a room and have an hour to solve all the puzzles and unlock the door to get out. We escaped the space I am proud to say.

What was a little sad about this trip is that this was the last time we will ever visit them in Georgia. Will’s job has transferred him back to the plant in Waynesboro, Virginia, where he worked some nine years ago. We have thoroughly enjoyed visiting them in Athens for the last eight and a half years, and their house, which they bought seven years ago, has provided the perfect setting for all the family fun. Sad as it was to leave Athens for the last time, we also enjoyed visiting them in Waynesboro before and will again, and we certainly won’t miss all the traffic tie ups in Chattanooga and Atlanta which consistently added an hour minimum to the travel time.

So there you have it, our Christmas break and the end of 2016. This evening we met some of Ben’s friends from school and their families for bowling in Hendersonville. We came home after bowling for a couple of hours. Ben will spend the night with a couple of friends to ring in the new year. Come Tuesday it’s back to work for me and Vicki. Classes resume for the boys on Wednesday, and Jenna checks back into her dorm on the 10th with her classes beginning the next day. I wonder what 2017 has in store for us? Stay tuned to find out.

Happy new year!

Joe

'Tis the Season!

Christmas break is here! Jenna finished her finals Wednesday and is home for the holidays, and the boys finished their mid-term exams by Thursday. The last three weeks have just been a build up to this climax. Now that break is here we have all the rush leading up to Christmas next Sunday.

A GAGGLE OF GIRLS
Saturday of last weekend (the 10th) Jenna brought a gaggle of girls home from school. Twelve girls in all. She had invited them out to give everyone a diversion from studying. They got here around 1:00 and the last of them left by 7:00. They watched movies, played games, made crafts, and ate. The boys and I showed our faces for the food and then retreated upstairs to their room. Vicki and I were very impressed with all of Jenna’s friends (three of whom we had met before).

Speaking of friends, later in the afternoon when about half of the girls had left the remaining group was sitting in the kitchen decorating cookies. Vicki was also there. One of Jenna’s friends, watching Vicki and Jenna interact, interrupted and said, “You two are best friends, aren’t you?” Without missing a beat Jenna replied, “Oh yes, I tell her everything.” This affirmation was special for Vicki, I know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Last Saturday was also Vicki’s birthday. With all of the excitement, we didn’t celebrate on the day. She and I enjoyed dinner at Colorado Grill in White House the night before, and we all went out as a family (minus Jenna) to IHOP at the new Love’s Truck Stop in White House after church on Sunday.

CHOIR
I think I have mentioned before that Vicki joined the Springfield Baptist Gospel Choir. This choir is open to anyone to join. They practice on Wednesday afternoons for an hour, but during the Christmas season they sing at the local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Last Sunday evening, the boys and I went with Vicki to Springfield Baptist Church as all of their musical groups were giving a Christmas performance that night. It was fun to hear all the Christmas music and everyone did a really good job. I had to laugh because Vicki is the youngest member of her choir by at least 30 years. She’s also one of the tallest.

BASKETBALL
Ben’s basketball season is well under way. He’s getting a lot of playing time in the junior varsity games and even a little time on the court in the varsity games. We are seeing him get better with every game. It’s a lot of fun to watch him play which is a good thing because the ball schedule is as busy as ever during the break.

CATCHY
Our librarian at school teaches an 8th grade art class. She had Nate in class this past semester. She caught me the other day and asked me if we’d heard some expression that was strange to me. (The expression actually sounded like gibberish to me when she first said it.)

It turns out that one day in class she was having the students show off their work. Nate, amazed at something one of his classmates had drawn exclaimed for all to hear, “Oh, dang! [short pause] Wow!” Well, this caught on within the class. Any time something sufficiently amazing was experienced someone would call for Nate to give his “Oh dang wow!” to it. I told Nate that if he ever visited China he could give that as his name.

ROGUE ONE
We went to see Rogue One, the first of the Star Wars anthology movies, last night. (Ben saw it with friends the day before and was at a Christmas party while we were at the movie.) I must say, well done. I would love to see that movie back to back with Star Wars: A New Hope now.

WHO IS MESSING WITH THE THERMOSTAT?
For years, no one ever touched the thermostat in our house. Oh we would adjust it when shifting from A/C to heat and back, but once set, it was generally left alone. Not so this year. Ben has discovered how to use it, and when the cooler weather hit a few weeks ago we kept finding ourselves freezing in our own house.

I totally get it. We have one unit that heats and cools this two story house that was built in 1908. Even though we have replaced almost all the windows and insulated walls, floors, and ceilings, this house does not heat and cool evenly. Naturally, the boys’ room upstairs is going to be warmer than the downstairs. Heat rises. But even down stairs we see big differences in temperature. We set the thermostat at 70° or 71° just to keep the majority of the rooms at 68°. Even so, Jenna’s room is struggling to stay at 65°. While all this is going on the boys’ room is a toasty 75°. It is no wonder I noticed the other day that their A/C was running when it was 17° outside.

Of course, things are never consistent here in Tennessee. Early last week we enjoyed highs in the teens. By yesterday those highs had climbed to near 70°. It felt like spring when we were out Christmas shopping after the movie last night. Several stores at the Indian Lake Shopping Center had their doors propped open. After we got home a cold front blew through. We woke up to a dusting of snow. Today’s high will be in the 20’s. Who knows, by Christmas day we may be back to short sleeve weather.

Joe