Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope this finds you well at the end of Christmas Day and the close of 2018.

YEAR OF THE SOCKS
I had to laugh as we opened our gifts this year. Ben mentioned that he wanted a pair of basketball socks. Six of the sixteen pair of socks he got fit the bill. Jenna and Nate were abundantly blessed with fashionable footwear as well. On the lighter side, we also got the following games to spice up family game nights: Catch Phrase, Onitama, and Ya Blew It.

Our Christmas calendar followed the traditional schedule. We all went to church Sunday morning and then Kenny and Lori's Christmas Eve Eve party that night. Yesterday was much less busy with only the Christmas Eve service at church, followed by dinner at our house. Then, of course, we enjoyed brunch at Mrs. Connie's house this morning. With all the big meals we've had the last few days, I'm glad to have a quiet evening without too much to eat. It's been a good Christmas.

PAID IN FULL!
An extra special part of our church service yesterday morning was our note burning ceremony. We started exploring the possibility of building a new sanctuary a year or so before Jenna was born and were breaking ground in August 2000. Seventeen years ago Sunday, we held the first service in our current sanctuary. Now we've returned the mortgage! Bro. Bill and Cindy, our former pastor and his wife, came to celebrate the occasion. They sat by Mom which made her day.

THE BIG MOVE
We had targeted Thursday of last week to move Mom to Springfield, but the raincloud on the forecast just wasn't moving so we moved her last Wednesday. Getting her and her furnishings there went pretty well and her apartment looks pretty homey.

Unlike her stay there at Thanksgiving, her TV is mounted on the wall so it won't fall to the floor and break and it is connected to cable. She also has a landline phone that she can work. The cell phone she had before had her befuddled.

While it is a good thing that she can call people and watch her TV shows, what's even better is that she is meeting people and doing some of the activities they have available for the residents there. I've tried to call her a couple of times in the last week only to find that she wasn't in her room. Of course, this week has been a soft transition to apartment life because we have gotten her to all of the Christmas activities I mentioned above. Hopefully she can find a routine this coming week as we leave Christmas behind and before school resumes.

I must say that in all of this move, and I know it's big, Mom has been most gracious with us and very positive which Vicki and I really appreciate.

MARRIAGE TRIVIA
Vicki ran the calculation recently day and discovered that as of today she has been married to me exactly as many days as she was single before our marriage. I still have over three years to go before hitting that milestone.

Joe

Tough Decisions

The days have gotten short and gray, but life rolls on at a fast and furious pace. Jenna wound up her fall semester on Thursday and has moved home for the bear. The boys' mid-terms are this week. Hard to believe Christmas break is right here.

STATE CHAMPS!
Congratulations to the Davidson Academy Bears for winning the Division II-A football state championship! They have completed an undefeated season. Our cousin, Wil, has been playing on the team all four years. During the championship game, which was on November 30, he lead the team in tackles and caught a pass in the end zone for a touchdown. What a way to end his high school football career! There has certainly been a lot of excitement around school. Ben's friends, Corbin and Ian, spent the night with us before the game, and Vicki took all the boys to the game the next day.

IN OTHER SPORTS NEWS...
As the football post season has been winding down the basketball season has gotten underway. We have a pretty deep bench and the boys have played very hard. Still, the absence of those players who also play football was felt at the beginning when we lost our first three games. I think we're hitting our groove now, though. Last night's win brings our record to 4-3. I've been soaking in watching Ben out on the court.

Also, the Cross Country banquet was Monday night. It was really nice to hear the coach talk about all the runners on the team, and bittersweet when she got to the seniors. They all got nice pictures of their time on the team. Ben's picture is a cool shot of him running. It looks like he could run right out of the frame.

THANKSGIVING
I need to back up and mention Thanksgiving here. This is unusual for us, but we traveled this time. We left for Virginia right after school on Tuesday before Turkey Day, and enjoyed the holiday with the Jones family. There were all the usual activities along with our Thanksgiving meal. Even with all the eating we managed to work in a double-elimination ping pong tournament. By the end everyone had to concede that Uncle Will is still a force to be reckoned with. Our time in Virginia was quick. We headed back home on Friday. Once home we tore into putting up Christmas decorations.

A FUN DATE
Getting back to more current news, Vicki's birthday was Monday. We've been too busy to celebrate, but plan to work in some movies Vicki wants to see after Christmas. She and I did have a fun outing last Sunday. The Robertson County Historical Society put on a tour of homes and we decided to take that in. I used to walk a lot on my lunch break when I worked in Springfield, and there were many days I wondered what the insides of the houses I was walking by looked like. I also liked to imagine what the street I was walking on looked like, say, 100 years ago. Well, three of the homes I used to walk past were on tour, so at least I know what they look like inside in 2018. The best part, though, was just having a few hours with few external distraction to enjoy with Vicki.

A TOUGH DECISION
In the mix of going to ball games, heading out of town for Thanksgiving, and just doing life we have struggled with how to best take care of my mom. To get right to the point, we have made the tough decision to move mom to an assisted living facility in Springfield in the coming week.

We've been making sure she has round the clock care since the urinary tract infection I wrote about last time. Vicki covers four nights a week and the boys and I have been sitting with her a lot on the weekends. Stepping up the care has been good since she's had a second infection and we were able to catch it quickly.

We also got a little reminder of how quickly taking care of mom can present unexpected challenges when we had freezing rain on Sunday. This weather didn't affect the roads, but it did break power lines. Our house was without power for about three hours, but mom's house was dark for much, much longer. We were pretty confident that her power would be restored before her bedtime, but we had pause to consider a more serious weather event to be sure.

This has truly weighed heavy on my heart for quite some time. I know it will not be easy for Mom to leave her home of 51 years, but she has been so gracious through all of this so far. And for me, it is not going to be easy to say goodbye to the home of my childhood.

Joe

The Pre-Holiday Stretch

I've come to know this time between our school's fall break and Thanksgiving as the pre-holiday stretch. If you don't catch your breath now, you won't get a chance to before New Year's. It's certainly starting to feel like Thanksgiving, and the fall rains are setting in. The farmers are threshing beans when they can get into their fields and taking down tobacco when they can't. The leaves are falling full force now. The boys raked up a pile that was taller than they are last Saturday and enjoyed running the mower through as they pushed them out to the field.

HEALTH SPEED BUMP
I am glad to report that this was non-threatening and short-lived, but a couple of Sundays ago (the 28th) Mom was not feeling well and not interested in going to church. We knew by that she was ill. Long story short, we took Mom to NorthCrest that afternoon where she was diagnosed with a unitary tract infection. They kept her overnight and sent her home with antibiotics. A couple of days and she was back to her old self, however, we have seen the need to step up her care at home. Vicki has been spending most nights with her since then, and we've worked hard to have someone with her full-time now. I am certainly glad I am not reporting a broken hip, stroke, or heart attack.

FINISHING STRONG
Back on October 25 the boys participated in their final race of the season, and for Ben, his high school career. Both ran well and set new personal records. Nate finished in 21:40, improving his best time by 14 seconds! Not bad for his second season. Ben shaved 16 seconds off his best time, completing the course in 18:56! This earned him a coveted "18 Club" shirt. Both boys certainly finished strong.

It is worth mentioning that our girls' cross country team qualified to run in the state race last weekend where they came in fifth place as a team and one of our girls came in fifth place out of all the runners.

Now that the cross country season is over, Ben is going to basketball practice after school. They've already played two scrimmages and won both, and that's without the players who also play football as our football team is doing very well in the post-season. Our first game is Monday night.

CLUBS
Every school has a lot of clubs. Some clubs promote academic performance and/or community service (Beta, National Honor Society, Key Club), others are related to a specific field of study (DECA, FFA, FCCLA). Then there's other clubs that promote great experiences for students like Mock Trial or Model UN. We have many of these at DA as well as several opportunities for fun special interests.

Ben is very proud of the fact that he is one of the founding members of the DA Ping Pong Club. He and his friends rounded up a couple of ping pong tables and got our theater teacher to host them in her room. There's also a ping pong table at church that sees a lot of action. Now Ben is talking smack to Vicki because she has always been a tough opponent to beat. What's funny is that Nate is beating Ben in about half their games. So, Jones family, have your table ready. There's a showdown that's bound to happen when you see us next.

The yo-yo club meets in my room every Tuesday afternoon. Nate is a member of this club. This may be the most entertaining time of the week for me. We have everyone from beginners to those who can do quite impressive tricks. Nate ranks among the latter group. At home I frequently find him watching a YouTube video to learn a new trick, and it doesn't take him too long to get the hang of it. One of these days he's going to graduate to a yo-yo that uses an unattached string. Those tricks are truly impressive.

SENIOR YEAR STUFF
One thing about having a high school senior is that there are all sorts of things that come up that need to be done for graduation, even this far ahead of time. We ordered invitations the other week and have turned in measurements for his cap and gown.

The class has also selected their senior superlatives. Ben was honored as the boy with the most Christlike attitude, and Wilson was voted as the friendliest boy in the class.

I mentioned the senior research project earlier in the semester. To refresh, this is a capstone course at DA that teaches the students how to do a major research paper and presentation. Ben chose self-driving cars as his topic, though after reading his paper it is more about projected advances in car technology that also includes technologies like heads-up displays and alternate reality projection on the windshield as well as electric and hydrogen powered cars.

Ben had a big sigh of relief when he turned in his 10 page research paper on time last Monday. Now he just has to prepare for a 22 minute presentation to be delivered the Monday after Thanksgiving. He still has quite a few tough classes in his schedule, but this will be a huge load off his mind when it's done to be sure.

Meanwhile, the sophomores are getting info from our counselors about college planning.

JENNA NEWS
It's sort of hard to include news about Jenna when she's not at home, but here's what I know. Her walking is improving all the time, and she seems to be on track for full recovery six months after surgery. She's returned to work in the nursery at Grace Naz Church and is also working shorter shifts at Historic Perk.

Several weeks ago she and her roommates along with a few other friends came out for what has become an annual trip of supper at our house and seeing "Spirit," the play about the Bell Witch, in Adams. She came home again last weekend due to some Haiti related activities at church as well as work. She and Vicki also spent a lot of time cooking because her friends had a big Thanksgiving meal at their apartment Sunday when she got back to school.

LOCAL WILDLIFE
We are used to seeing deer and turkeys in the area on occasion. Every so often I hear coyotes in the distance or an owl hooting at night. I used to hear whippoorwills on summer evenings when I was a kid, but not now. One animal I have never seen around here is a bald eagle. That changed this week when we were leaving for school Tuesday morning and glanced over in the field across from the house and there was an eagle about 100 feet fro the road feeding on something. Never thought I'd see one that close to home. It was quite a sight.

Joe

A Much Needed Break

The fall weather has finally arrived, and when it did there was no moderation. We went from hot to chilly practically overnight. There are signs that the trees are about to turn, so we're looking for the pretty colors to explode in the next few weeks.

FALL BREAK
This week has been Davidson Academy's fall break. This was a week I had set my sights on some months ago for rest and relaxation and it was all I had hoped it would be. Friday after school I cleaned up my classroom, locked the door, and walked away, mentally as well as physically. Our homecoming game was that night. Vicki and I had signed up to work in the concessions stand, so enjoyed the tailgating fun until it was time to go serve hamburgers and hotdogs.

A quick aside, the Bears are enjoying an undefeated season this year. We've scored over 60 points per game in a four game stretch. Our cousin, Wil, is having a good season. Our homecoming game was televised locally. Jackie called me at halftime to say that Wil had caught a beautiful touchdown pass.

Last Saturday we headed out for the lake house once again. I enjoy the lake house. When we are there time seems to come to a stop. It was so nice to wake up later than I normally leave for work. It rained the majority of the time, but we were content to stay in, simply relaxing and enjoying time together. Jenna came up with us, skipped her Monday classes, and returned Tuesday. The rest of us headed home on Wednesday.

SETTING RECORDS
We had a cross country meet in Dickson last Saturday. The boys and I went to that before heading to the lake house. (Vicki and Jenna went to a funeral in Camden and then met us at the lake house.) With only two races left in the season, Ben wanted to to beat his personal record of 19:55 that he set last year before graduating. All the kids have run well this season, but given the 85°-90° temperatures, breaking personal records has alluded most of the team. Saturday morning was a glorious 54° and just about everyone set records, Ben included. He clocked in at 19:12!

I don't want to ignore Nate here. He came in at 22:10, beating his season record by 8 seconds, but seeing the mud covered boy come around the corner and head into the funnel toward the finish line told the story before I heard the tale. Somewhere along the back of the course he tripped and fell. He bore the bruises and scrape marks from that one for several days. Getting back up from the fall wouldn't have taken too much time, but what really cost him was looking for his glasses. Nate normally runs without his glasses---and this race was no different---but his reaction after the fall was natural enough. He estimates he lost about 30 seconds in a panic looking for his glasses until it dawned on him that he never had them on. Disappointing as this was, he took it well and even left the mud on his face for a while as a battle scar.

CAMDEN TRIPS
I mentioned above that Vicki went to a funeral in Camden. She has a good high school/college friend, Angi, who now lives in Bowling Green. They get together periodically. It was Angi's mother who had passed away.

This weekend she and Angi returned to Camden for their 30th year high school reunion. I was going to go, but when other husbands started backing out I opted to stay home. As it turned out, she and Angi had a big time making it an overnight trip and shopping on the way home.

THE BOB ROSS MUG
Last Christmas one of Ben's friends gave him a coffee mug as a gift. It has a picture of famed PBS artist Bob Ross on one side and a quote from Ross on the other that reads "We don't make mistakes. We have happy accidents."

Now Ben is a man of few words. You have to weasel the information out of him to learn anything. So Vicki was naturally curious when Ben pulled his mug out of the dishwasher one evening and set it out by his backpack and gym bag. I will skip the interrogation that followed for the sake of brevity, but the bottom line is that we were all shocked to learn that every Friday Ben drinks hot tea in his English class as they discuss literature. Who knew? Neither of us saw that one coming. I think he'll be switching to hot chocolate as we return to school, since he really doesn’t enjoy hot tea.

THE GREAT POP-TART RITUAL
Since the boys and I ride to school together most mornings (and are leaving about the same time when we drive separately), I get to witness what I call The Great Pop-Tart Ritual. I'm more of a cereal guy, but I am fascinated each morning as I watch the boys consume their breakfast pastry. I'm sure I could go into a deeper examination of what all this means for either boy, just as people do who examine the order in which folks put on their socks and shoes. Rather than overanalyze my breakfast table, I'm just going to report my observations.

Nate will sit down and very carefully break off and eat the edges of the Pop-Tart, the short edges are first, followed by the long edges. Then he will consume the center of the thing in 6-8 bites. Ben, on the other hand, will carefully break a Pop-Tart in half, and then into quarters. When this is done he will pop a quarter into his mouth and chew thoughtfully. Both boys are alike in that they do this one pastry at a time.

So, that's my morning amusement while I munch on my Cheerios or oatmeal. Even teenagers are creatures of habit.

Joe

Fall Is Here!

Fall is here! We thought the days would be cooler--and they were, briefly--but then the temps went back into the 90s. At least those days are numbered. Tobacco barns are firing and corn is being gathered. It is a nice time of year.

OLD TREES
I enjoy a yard full of trees. I grew up in a house that sits in the middle of a yard full of trees; tall, mature oak trees for the most part. We've had to cut a lot of trees out of Mom's yard over the years, but there are still about 100 trees in the area we mow and maintain.

I didn't mention this at the time, but this happened when we were eating lunch over at Mom's back on the August 26th after church. I had gone outside to throw some table scraps out in the field when I heard the sounds of something crashing through the trees over in the wooded part of the yard. Thinking a limb was falling, I turned to look and was astonished to see that the tree trunk had broken some 8 or 10 feet above the ground and was falling. Rather than fall all the way to the ground, the tree top fell into another tree and is still leaning there at a crazy angle, making the job of clearing this up all the more complicated.

I called my cousin, Brad, who does tree trimming to come out and look. While sizing up the job, we noted a couple of other dead trees that needed to be cut down. Hopefully he can cut this one tree down without having to cut the one holding it up.

Well, Brad has been busy and not been able to get to Mom's job yet. Turns out this is a good thing. A couple of Friday afternoons ago (21st) after the boys and I had gotten home from school we got a brief shower. As the rain moved out I heard two very loud peals of thunder. Pretty soon after that Donna, who was sitting with Mom at the time, called to say that lightning had struck something close by and that she'd "never heard Mrs. Anne praying quite like this before."

I got in the truck and drove over there and saw exactly what happened. Lightning had struck one of the healthy trees immediately next to the tree that had fallen over almost four weeks earlier. This poor tree was splintered! I've seen trees that have burn marks where lightning ran down the trunk, but it's less common in my experience to see the bark just blown off with one side looking like it erupted and large chunks of wood scattered for 30-40 feet all around. If you've ever seen a pencil that was broken but not snapped in two, imagine this in tree scale and you'll have the idea. Too bad the lightning didn't hit the leaning tree and help us out.

This is sad to me. I'm glad Aunt Mar is not around to see her stately trees showing the signs of age.

FINISHING STRONG
We are nearing the end of the cross country season now. The boys have been running well all season. Ben has been trying to beat his personal record of 19:55 this year. He's come close, but with all the heat they've been running in, this goal alludes him so far.

I enjoy going to support the boys run when I can, but I will admit this is not a spectator sport like basketball. Most races, we watch 200-300 runners take off from the starting line, walk over to the opposite side of the course to cheer them on as they go by, and walk back to catch them at the finish line. The fastest runners log times under 17 minutes and the last of the runners cross the line 10-12 minutes later.

What's interesting to watch are the little races that happen as small packs of runners trickle in. That's when you see the boys with determination reach within to summon the will needed to beat those around him. This story played out between Nate and another boy who were running side by side the other week. Nate glanced over with that look of "You're not beating me!" on his face. He poured it on and was half a step over the finish line, clearly in front of the other runner. Later we were surprised to see that the timing system had placed the other runner ahead of Nate by one second.

I was standing by the finish line filming the action which helped us figure out why this is. Nate had attached the RFID chip to his left shoe before the race. By dumb luck his left foot came down just inches before the finish line sensor. His right foot was clearly over the finish line sensor before the other boy, but the other boy's time was recorded first because his RFID tag went over the line before Nate's did. We were laughing about it at home, and I told Nate he'd have to plan a little better so he'd know which shoe would step over the line first at the end of a 5000 meter race.

JENNA'S KNEE
Jenna has come home for a few days while Trevecca enjoys fall break. Her walking has improved a lot, but she certainly isn't back to normal yet. She worked a short shift at Historic Perk yesterday and did well. On Wednesday night, she will resume her duties in the nursery at Grace Church of the Nazarene.

AN OLD STORY
The other day a plastic bag sitting on a shelf in Mom's garage caught my eye. Curious, I looked inside to discover a cache of letters my mom had written to Aunt Carrie when she was living in Arizona, mostly as I was growing up. I brought these home and started skimming through them. There are several funny stories, but this one from a letter written on October 27, 1968, caught our eye. Keep in mind I am about two years old when this happened. Dad had passed away the previous December and Mom and I had moved in with Uncle George and Aunt Mar. Mom writes:

One night this week George wasn't in such good humor with [Joe]. He has monkeyed with their alarm clock before but they have always caught it. This time when it rang they were so sleepy they just rose and went about the morning routine not looking [at the time].

I heard a high pitched, shrill giggle coming from the direction of [the] breakfast table. Couldn't decide whether Margarette was laughing or crying so got up to see what on earth was causing such. There she was shaking with laughter, wiping the tears. George looked glum. They had just finished breakfast and he had checked his watch to see how much time he had to enjoy his second cup of coffee before leaving for work, when he discovered it was 3:30. There was something about his dining in a shirt and tie at 3:30 that was hysterical (he didn't find it that way). They went back to bed but [I] don't think they slept much with all that coffee.

Joe

15 Years

This month marks the 15th anniversary of the Swann Family News! I will refrain from any sort of recap or summarizing as I have done in the past and simply say, "Wow, what a ride!" And while I don't say this here much, I look back every so often with a sense of awe and wonder over how richly God has blessed me and my family over the years, whether in good times or bad. So, to celebrate the most recent aspects of life...

I HAVE A CLASSROOM!
This is not to say I haven't had a classroom since coming to DA in 2015, I have, but this year it was decided to move me into a new portable. The only problem was that the City of Nashville didn't move as quickly to approve my portable for occupancy as we needed for them to. One week before school started the portable had just been set into place and the electricity hooked up. I knew then it would be Labor Day at least before I could move in, so I began setting up my classroom area on our stage. Keep in mind that our stage is also the visitor's side of our gym, so I've been trying to teach with PE classes on the other side of the curtain from me for the first three weeks of school.

Well, my prediction was accurate. Tuesday after Labor Day everything was ready enough that I scrapped my lesson plans for the day and put my students to work moving me to my new digs. There's still some work to be done out there. For example, I don't have an intercom so I have to set alarms on my phone to know when the bells ring. Even so, this is a far cry better than teaching next to a game of flag football, and as we progress through our class project of making pinewood derby cars this semester my students can drill, saw, sand, and paint without me worrying about disturbing the teachers next door.

THE ROUTINE
Four weeks into school we are definitely on our routine. The boys and I ride to school together most days, and I wait for them to finish cross country practice before we head home. Nate is doing a lot of the driving so he should have plenty of experience by the time he takes his road test for his license this winter.

I have really enjoyed the time I get to spend with Ben and Nate. You can't put a price on that sort of thing. And Ben hangs out in my room the last period of the day because he is scheduled for basketball but can't practice with the team while he is actively running cross country. We've enjoyed the time together, which is good because these days are numbered.

HEALING
Jenna has been back at school for three weeks now. She and her roommates are enjoying their new apartment, and they all wonder how they managed the small space of dorm life the last two years.

Her knee is continuing to heal nicely. Vicki took her to the doctor for a check-up last week and he seemed pleased with the progress. He told her that as soon as she can raise her leg with its own strength she can ditch the brace. Hopefully that will be soon. I know it has been a challenge to move around campus like this.

WHIPPING BOY
So one of our friends at church has taught Ben how to make a whip. I don't know how many hours he put into this project or how many feet of paracord it took, but Ben now has a six foot long whip which he cracks outside (until the mosquitos run him back in). It sounds like a firecracker, and can leave a whelp if you're not careful.

If you're wondering why a guy at our church is making whips, he sells them. He tells us his biggest customers are police officers. They buy them to train police dogs not to be scared of cracking or popping noises, which is cheaper than buying ammo for the same purpose.

THAT TRICKY NATE
So one of our teachers stopped me the other day and said, "I didn't know your son was so tricky!" It seems he had her convinced that she had given the class a quiz when she had not done so.

Well, I got him back the other day. We were driving by the Cross Plains Cemetery when Ben made the comment that he had never seen anyone mowing there. Naturally, I took the opportunity to say that no one ever mows that cemetery because the Methodist church bought a really expensive type of grass that never needs to be mowed. I had Nate going there until he asked what the name of the grass was and I replied, "Pullin' Nate's Leg #64."

Joe

School Daze

We've had two full weeks of classes now, and it makes me wonder if summer even happened. At least this August has been fairly cool compared to most.

HEALING
Before I get too far along I should report that Jenna is doing well. She endured a lot of pain initially, which brought nausea along with it, but that seems to have subsided for the most part. She's still wearing a leg brace that keeps her knee straight while walking, but she is able to move round and do most things for herself now.

She has an apartment at school this year. Juniors are eligible for those. She and Macy, her roommate from the last two years, are still together, and they've added two other good friends, Mattie and Katie. We moved most of Jenna's furniture on Thursday, and Vicki dropped her off at school yesterday. Her classes start Tuesday.

Jenna will be hobbling around campus for a few weeks. She opted to leave her car at home until she can bend her knee a little better.

SCHOOL SCHEDULES
One of the biggest blessings of being at Davidson Academy is that I get to see the boys during their school day. I try to give them plenty of space to be themselves without my presence being a large shadow, but still, it's nice to see them around. This is Ben's senior year, so I'd better soak it up with him.

Ben's schedule is pretty rigorous again this year. He's signed up for AP Calculus, Economics (as an independent study), AP English Literature, Foundations of Christian Faith, AP Physics II, Graphic Design, Comparative Worldview, Current Events, and Senior Research Project (some of these are semester courses).

The Senior Project is sort of a capstone course at DA where seniors get to choose a topic for research. Then they have to write a research paper as well as deliver an oral presentation. This seems to overtake life for most seniors, so I'm sure I will report on this over the next few months.

Nate is entering his sophomore year and will be studying Algebra II Honors, Chemistry Honors, English II Honors, Health, Spanish II, US Government, World History, and New Testament (again, some of these are semester courses).

I am teaching my 8th grade STEM class again, and this spring I am going to offer a high school version as an elective. I am moving to a new classroom in a new portable behind the school. Unfortunately, the portable isn't ready yet, so for the last two weeks I've been teaching on the stage in the gym. Not ideal, but we've made it work.

The boys have also geared up to run Cross Country again this fall and have already logged some respectable times. Nate was within 20 seconds of his personal record yesterday. Ben is also looking forward to his final season on the basketball court this winter. It's going to be a full and busy year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
We've celebrated two birthdays since I wrote last. Ben's birthday was on the 3rd. It's hard to believe that Thursday's Baby is now old enough to vote! The Cross Country team surprised him with donuts after practice that morning, and we celebrated with a meal over at Mom's that evening. I celebrated my 52nd birthday on the 13th. We had my family meal over at Mom's the day before.

Joe

Knee Surgery and Other Things

Our summer break is winding down. Two weeks from now the boys and I will be back in class. All our big summer activities are over now, but we've been pretty busy since I wrote last.

KNEE SURGERY
I usually try to take things in chronological order, but Jenna's knee surgery of last Monday needs to headline this edition. One day when she was a senior in high school a few years ago she was participating in an activity in PE class when another student ran into her. This collision injured her left knee by popping the knee cap out of place. She came home limping, but it wasn't severe enough at the time to visit the doctor. (It seems odd that I'm talking about an old high school injury for Jenna.)

More recently, that injury began to affect Jenna's walking and how she felt after standing for long periods of time, which she does when working at the coffee shop. Her knee cap would also pop out of place regularly. A trip to the doctor revealed that the ligament on the inside of the knee (that is, closest to the other leg) that holds the knee cap in place was torn.

Physical therapy and a brace were prescribed at first. This helped, but after a couple of months it was obvious this treatment wasn't enough, so surgery was scheduled. Two procedures were done in the operation, the ligament was repaired and the tibia was raised 8 mm to keep the knee cap more firmly in place.

Presently Jenna is wearing a brace which keeps her knee straight. She can put full weight on it with the brace on, though it is still painful to do so. She has also begun therapy. She will be on crutches for a total of six weeks with a six month recovery time until she's back to normal. This has certainly parked our busy girl on the couch for the last several weeks of her summer break.

ENGINEERING CAMP
Backing up to just after my last installment, Ben got to go to an engineering camp the week of July 8. We stumbled upon a pamphlet about this camp when visiting Tennessee Tech with him back in March. When we asked about it we learned it was an all expenses paid experience for rising high school seniors so he applied. Ben was one of 27 kids chosen to come to the camp (3 kids had to bail out at the last minute so only 24 attended).

We dropped Ben off in Cookeville that Sunday (the 8th) and picked him up on Saturday (the 14th). I will be honest and admit to my envy here. I wish I'd had an opportunity like this when I was in high school. The purpose of this camp was to expose students to several different fields of engineering and computing. Ben participated in activities like building a marshmallow tower, constructing and testing a balsa wood bridge, building robots, computer programming, casting metal, and the cardboard canoe challenge. He was full of all sorts of tales from the week on the ride home until sleep overtook him in Lebanon. It sounded like a good week. Hopefully this will help clarify a field of study for college. If he winds up attending Tennessee Tech this camp experience has earned him a small scholarship.

THE BIG FIVE-OH
Last weekend Vicki and the kids were in Hartwell, Georgia. Will had rented a lake house for the weekend there and invited us to meet them to celebrate Darice's 50th birthday. I was unable to go due to work.

The entire weekend was a big surprise for Darice. She was simply told to pack for a weekend trip, including a swimsuit, and that they would not be flying. They, like my family, headed out last Friday. At first she thought this was a quiet getaway for their family, then they went out to get pizza for supper where they "just happened to run into" the Swanns.

Last Saturday I got a lot of pictures of fun times on the lake. Darice's older sister also flew in from Utah. The fun continued last Sunday with a surprise party that afternoon. In addition to all the family there, Will had invited several of Darice's friends from Athens, where they used to live, to come for the party. She was totally blown away.

Vicki and the kids left after the party. I met them in Murfreesboro since Jenna's surgery was the next day in Franklin. This allowed Vicki and Jenna to find a nearby motel and avoid an hour drive early in that morning. The boys came home with me.

SURPRISE VISIT
Mom got a surprise last Friday. She was expecting Vicki and the kids to stop by to say goodbye as they got on the road when Dianna Cotter appeared at her door. Jim and Dianna had been shopping online for a fourth car and found an incredible deal in Chicago. So, she flew up there, bought the car, and was driving it home. As she was driving down I-65 she decided to take a brief stop and visit Mom.

DISTANT COUSINS
While Vicki and the kids were driving to Georgia last Friday I was able to get away from work a little early and meet some distant cousins, Bud and John Swann. They are a father and son.

My great great grandfather, John Swann, was born in Caswell Country, North Carolina, and migrated here as an adult. All 11 of his children were born here in Cross Plains and he is buried nearby. As I understand it, his oldest son, Elcanah, received an inheritance back in Caswell County and moved back. Bud and John are descendants of Elcanah. Bud is a blacksmith by hobby and several years ago had a booth at an arts and crafts show near Washington, DC. There he met another Swann from Robertson County and they struck up a conversation.

Back in the spring Bud and John visited Cross Plains on separate trips (Bud was traveling through on business, John was in Nashville for a wedding). I met John when he was here then. From that conversation John decided to take his dad on a delayed Father's Day road trip to see the Threshermen's Show and then drive up to Dearborn, Michigan, to visit the Henry Ford Museum.

After spending most of the day in Adams, where they connected with Jackie, they swung by my house. We visited for well over an hour. It was quite an interesting conversation as we got acquainted and shared family stories. We tried to visit our ancestor's grave, but the cemetery was way too overgrown for that.

THRESHERMEN'S SHOW
Speaking of the Threshermen's Show, I went last Saturday. It was one of the more pleasant days for that show that I remember in a long time. It was good to see everyone on that branch of the family that I don't get to see too often. On top of that, all the equipment ran well. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Joe

Hot and Humid

It has been hot and humid here. The farmers have been harvesting wheat. Here's what we've been up to since I wrote last.

HAITI
Ben's trip to Haiti headlines this edition. We dropped him off at the airport early on Tuesday, the 12th, and picked him up Wednesday of the next week (the 20th). To give a brief itinerary, they flew all the way to Port au Prince the first day and then to Jeremie the next. Their team happened to arrive when another Mt. Carmel team, that ran a dental clinic the previous week, was leaving. The mission for Ben's team was to work with the kids at Emmanuel Children’s Village as well as the surrounding area. They led a Vacation Bible School, a sports camp, and taught some basic English while there. Additionally, they had a birthday party and visit to the beach for all the kids at Emmanuel.

Ben's take on the trip is very interesting and something that reveals a lot about his character. We hear of many who go that find it difficult to be without the amenities of home for very long even though they are aware of the vast differences between the two countries. Ben really didn't mention any of these things much, and when asked just seemed to pass it off as "Why would I expect it to be different?" This is not to say that I don't think he was affected by his experience there…he was. He was simply taking everything as it was and finding happiness in the place he found himself.

From the sound of it, Ben was a hit with the kids there, especially the little girl we sponsor, Mitiana. We got several neat pictures of the two of them doing things together (such as jumping rope, and interesting picture given how much Ben towers over her) and the shot of their parting as he left to come home will melt your heart. I think she touched a place deep within him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ben goes back some day.

ANNIVERSARY
Life was pretty normal for the rest of us here at home while Ben was away in Haiti. One thing that was special was that Vicki and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago (the 18th). Given that both of us had to work and we had weekend trips coming up, Vicki picked me up after work and we headed to Hillsboro Village to see Won't You Be My Neighbor, the documentary on the life of Mister Rogers. This film was very well done and we highly recommend it. After that we ate supper at the Grilled Cheeserie. The whole evening was a very enjoyable date.

CHURCH CAMP
So two weekends ago, the five of us went three different directions. As I mentioned above, Ben came in from Haiti on the 20th. He had one day at home (and for Vicki to do his laundry) before he and Nate headed out with our church youth group to Student Life camp. They stayed at Orange Beach, Alabama.

From the sound of it, they had a good time there, enjoying the camp activities as well as time on the beach with other kids from church. They returned home a couple of Tuesdays ago (the 26th). Nate was the only one in the group to come back with a sunburn.

OHIO
While the boys were in Alabama, Jenna and I headed north to the Akron, Ohio, area. You may recall that my cousin, Grant, visited us from there back in March. When he was here he mentioned that he was teaching Hebrew classes that enabled people to sightread Hebrew in only three lessons. Intrigued, Jenna and I decided to schedule a trip to visit Grant and learn how to do this. So, we left after dropping the boys off at church for their trip and arrived home a few hours before the boys did last Tuesday.

Sure enough, Grant has a brilliant method for teaching Hebrew. Now that I'm home it's up to me to practice what I learned, but as we finished our lessons I could slowly sound out Hebrew words and even read Genesis 1:1 aloud in Hebrew.

While there Grant and Robin did a lot of fun things with us. Grant and I went biking down a stretch of the Erie Canal towpath one day. Another day, Grant, Jenna, and I drove down to Amish country south of Akron where we visited the Warther Museum and Gardens, visited a cheese factory, etc. Jenna also enjoyed spending time with Grant and Robin's daughter, Lindsay. We also got to visit with Grant's brother, Bryan, and his wife, Mem, and their family.

GIRLS TRIP
Not to be outdone by the rest of the family, Vicki scheduled a girls trip to Gatlinburg last weekend. They left last Friday and came home last Sunday. Unfortunately, Vicki experienced a little food poisoning, but mercifully this passed fairly quickly and she was able to enjoy most of the trip with her friends, Tracy and Angi. From what I've heard they did a lot of eating, shopping, and laughing.

COTTERS VISIT
With all our running these past few weeks, we were able to stay home and host Jim, Dianna, and their boys as they came up for a quick visit last weekend. They arrived Thursday afternoon and returned home Sunday. The boys spent a lot of time together as they usually do. They certainly aren't too old to have a Nerf gun battle or two. They also went to play in the river at Kilgore Park a couple of times. We also took dinner over to Mom's house Friday and Saturday.

In addition to enjoying family time we went shopping at Trash & Treasures in Cross Plains where there were a few treasures to be had this year. I found a small bandsaw for $5. I wound up spending $35-$40 more on a new blade and other parts and now I have a bandsaw that runs like a champ!

LONG OVERDUE
I like Pixar movies, and for me the The Incredibles was the best flick they've produced. I also enjoy Toy Story and understand the appeal and why they would make sequels; however, I've been disappointed that the Parr family was left to languish with only one film. Almost fourteen years later Incredibles 2 is out and it was good to reunite with old friends on a super adventure. We went to see this after church on Sunday. A very fitting end to a fun weekend with family.

A QUIET FOURTH
We had a very enjoyable Fourth of July, though I could have done without the 108° heat index. As is our tradition, we went to the Kilgore Remembrance Ceremony at 9:00. Jenna spent about three hours the day before baking cookies for folks to enjoy, and given how few were left, I think they were a hit.

That afternoon we were invited to a cookout and swimming party at Kenny and Lori's. It was a pleasure to visit with everyone, but a struggle to stay cool. Morgan had purchased an inflatable bull for the pool and it was a lot of fun to watch everyone try their hand at bull riding.

We had thought about going to Cross Plains for the fireworks, but after coming in and cooling off from the party no one wanted to go back outside. We stayed in and watched the first installment of the The Incredibles on DVD.

2018, PART 2
As of Tuesday we are now in the second half of the year. School starts in a little over four weeks now. When I go to work Monday it will feel like we don't have enough time to get everything done before our students return. I have a Peanuts comic book which is aptly named Summers Fly, Winters Walk.

Shalom,

Joe

Getting Away

School is out and summer is here! I know the calendar says it's still spring, but I'm going by the thermometer.

VACATION
Two weeks ago (Saturday, the 26th), we packed our van and headed out of town. We were gone seven nights. We left early that morning and drove all the way to the Jones' house in Virginia where we had a great time spending time with family for a few days.

We did most of the normal family things while there. Some of the highlights include attending mass with them at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Staunton, going to see the recently released I Can Only Imagine movie, eating at a local pizza joint, shopping at the Green Valley Book Fair, and playing games, of course. Will has been cutting a lot of new trails on his property, and we took a pretty good hike one afternoon to check them out.

WASHINGTON, DC
Last Tuesday, we left the Jones family and drove up to Washington, DC. Our hotel was located close to Dulles Airport, so the first touristy thing we did was visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum out there (not to be confused with the one on the National Mall that most people visit). We had a guided tour with a very interesting docent. Some of the interesting parts for me were the Enola Gay, an SR-71 Blackbird, and the Space Shuttle Discovery. When we left there we checked into our hotel, rested a bit, ate supper, and then took the Metro to DC to see the monuments at night.

Wednesday we took the Metro back to DC. Our first stop was the Holocaust Museum where we we attended a live interview of Holocaust survivor Bob Behr, which was incredible. From there, we went next door to tour the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. After that, we grabbed lunch in Union Station and then toured the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.

Thursday we drove out to Triangle, Virginia, to visit the National Museum of the US Marines where we enjoyed a tour with a docent who made the museum come alive. When we left there, we headed back to DC and checked out the new Museum of the Bible, which is really well done. Then we ate supper in Chinatown. We had planned to visit the Lincoln Memorial but could not find a place to park that was reasonably close (it was raining off and on by then), so we headed over to the Iwo Jima Memorial.

HEADING HOME
Friday we loaded the van and headed toward home. We decided not to make it a hard driving day, so we spent the night in Kingston, Tennessee. This allowed us to take in Solo: A Star Wars Story at the theater there and enjoy a last leisurely supper together.

Last Saturday, we hit the road and got home around lunchtime. This gave us time to unpack and get caught up on the mowing. We were greeted by a swarm of mosquitos when we got here. Not the welcoming committee of choice.

THE SUMMER ROUTINE
Now that we're back home we are fully into the summer routine. Vicki is back to work, of course, and since I am a twelve month employee, I am too. The kids have filled their schedules with odd jobs.

Summer basketball practice has started up, so Ben has been getting to school by 7:30 most mornings for that. This week they had a camp at Lipscomb University. The varsity team won five of the seven games they played. We got to watch a couple of games on Wednesday. DA only graduated two seniors last year and have a lot of talent moving up from middle school this year so early indications are they will be a fun team to watch.

Cross country training has also cranked up. Nate has been running a lot on his own since Ben has basketball and we can’t get him to practice.

HOME INVASION
I guess with that headline I need to spoil the story right up front. Nate thought he might’ve had an intruder in the house Wednesday morning. It was actually Vicki. She had left for work and realized she had forgotten her phone about a mile or so down the road, so she turned around. When she got back home and came in the alarm keypad chimed as it normally does, she hollered at Nate to let him know it was her, grabbed her phone, and left. As simple as that.

Nate was upstairs. I don't know if the A/C was running or he had his earbuds in or both, but the only thing he heard of the above was the alarm chime. So, with only that to go on Nate thought an intruder was in the house. Being Nate, he didn't think to grab his phone and call his mom at best or 911 at worst. No, he sneaks downstairs as silently as he can. Seeing no one he heads to the kitchen and grabs two knives from the kitchen counter. Thus armed he proceeds to silently and methodically search the house.

Ten minutes later he has worked through the back of the house and is now entering the foyer. As he rounds the corner to the living room he hears what sounds like someone taking a breath. (It was actually two of the boards in the floor rubbing together when he stepped on them.) He concludes that someone is hiding behind the couch. After a three minute stand-off Nate rushes the couch, kicking it back to the wall in order to pen down whomever might be back there. Much to his relief, he was alone in the house.

I'm glad all this was a false alarm. I wish Nate had thought to use his phone which was right beside him upstairs. And I'm not really sure that the sight of a 6'2", pimple-faced, 15-year-old dressed in pajamas and brandishing a steak knife and a paring knife would truly instill fear in a hardened criminal. Foolhardy as this may have been, I am glad he had the courage to face fear in an uncertain situation. That's my boy!

Joe

School's Out!

A lot has happened in the last four weeks. Most importantly, school is out and summer break has begun! I'm a 12 month employee so I will continue to report to work throughout the summer, but the quiet classrooms will be a nice change of pace for the next couple of months. Besides, the ending of this school year proved to be more stressful than most so I am particularly happy to move on.

Jenna moved back home on May 1. She had a good school year and did well. Now it seems as if she has been here the whole time, though I suspect Vicki is glad to have some female balance in the house. She has been working at Historic Perk and in the nursery at the church she attends when school is in session, as well as picking up some babysitting jobs. She is also lining up some job shadowing opportunities to see various aspects of nursing this summer.

Ben has finished his junior year now. DA being a private Christian school we have Chapel every Thursday. Our last Chapel service is known as Senior Chapel. Part of that service includes a candle lighting ceremony where the graduating seniors pass their light to the rising seniors and then blow out their candles. Ben chose to receive his light from a senior he played basketball with; it was a moving moment as Vicki and I watched from the bleachers.

Ben will be leaving for Haiti in 18 days. As the school year has wound down he has ramped up his efforts to earn money for his trip. I have to admire his industriousness and his work ethic. That boy has mowed a lot of grass, cleaned out several flowerbeds, spread gravel, moved furniture, and even helped a beekeeper. He's still a little short of his goal so if anyone local has any odd jobs he can do let us know.

Nate has now finished his freshman year. Boy, that's really odd. But then, looking up to him is odd too. He has stayed busy since school has been out because Ben rooks him into some of his larger mowing jobs (namely, the church).

Nate is also doing well behind the wheel and for the last few weeks he's done all the driving to and from school. There's still a lot of nuances to driving that only experience can teach him, but he's getting there. I am not cringing whenever we pass a mailbox anymore, and I don't go for the imaginary brake in the passenger floorboard as much as I did for Ben.

Getting to Mother's Day, we had a pleasant day to celebrate the moms in our family. Actually, our Mother's Day meal was a nice, light lunch at Mom's house. This is because her 90th birthday was the day before and we had celebrated that with a larger meal. Mom thoroughly enjoyed her birthday. She received something like four dozen cards, quite a few phone calls, and several visits in honor of the occasion.

So, that pretty much sums up the month of May for us. We've just been very busy with a whole lot of normal.

Joe

April Showers

This year April showers mean monsoon season. We have seen heavy rains. All the creeks and rivers are up and my phone has sounded with flash flood warnings several times now. On the brighter side, our trees have greened up enough they no longer look bare.

MOM IS HOME...
Mom came home Thursday of last week (the 19th), and she sure is glad to be back. About as soon as she got home she left for her hair appointment. Then Sunday she returned to church where she received a warm welcome from all.

Kenny has been putting messages up on our church sign for the last year or more. Most of the time his messages are encouraging quotations from folks within our church or greater community, a very interesting twist on church sign messages. On Tuesday Kenny posted this: Webster's Dictionary: Faithfulness--see Anne Swann.

Vicki and I took turns staying with Mom the first several nights she was home, but after seeing that she never called for help during the night she dropped that. I think we're getting back to a pre-heart attack normal now.

PROM
The big excitement around here last weekend was the prom. We decided to buy a nice suit for Ben rather than rent a tuxedo. So, Friday of last week (the 20th) Ben got all cleaned up and looked very dapper. He had decided not to ask anyone to go to the prom with him. He went with about a dozen kids--some with dates and others single. We, students and parents, all met over at Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville to take pictures on their campus. The kids then headed out out to eat at Demos' in Hendersonville before going to the prom. Afterwards his group went bowling and then out for an early morning breakfast at IHOP. From there the group broke up. Ben spent the night with a friend.

He hasn't said much about the prom itself to us, but he’s chosen to fill us in on every other part of the evening from the conversation he enjoyed at supper to getting up early with his friends and building a rock fort nearby their house. From the sound of it, they all had a really good time and that's what matters to me.

DRIVING ADVENTURES
I mentioned last time that Nate is driving now. He's doing pretty good for no more experience than he has. The worst thing he's done is put a scratch in the plastic headlight lens on my truck while trying to pull up to our mailbox and check the mail.

He drives us home from school most days. The good thing is that our commute gives him plenty of opportunity. He hasn't tackled heavy traffic yet, but he has already gotten on the interstate a few times. He has a ways to go when trying to park in a parking lot, but then my truck with its large turning radius is not the easiest vehicle to wiggle into a parking space.

WINDING UP THE SCHOOL YEAR
The boys and I have a few weeks to go before our summer break begins; however, Jenna will have completed her second year of college by Tuesday. The end of a semester always brings a lot of stress, and she’s looking forward to summer at home where she plans to work at her job, raise a garden, and read for pleasure.

The reality that she will be home again soon struck yesterday when I went to Trevecca and loaded up her big chair, fridge, and other things and brought them home. I left a mighty plain looking dorm room behind.

GETTING READY FOR HAITI
Every time I've reported on a mission trip to Haiti in the past it has been because Jenna went. This time Ben is gearing up to go! He’s raining his own money and needs about $1300 more. If anyone who lives locally has any work a 17 year old boy can do let us know. He'd love the opportunity to make some money! He has more and more time on his hands as the school year winds down.

Joe

Milestones

Easter and spring break have come and gone. Now we begin that fast-paced final leg of the school year. It all happens quickly from here on out. I've heard Ben say several times, "I'm glad I'm not a senior this year." Of course, that will be here before we can blink.

REHAB
To give a quick update on Mom, she has finished one full week of therapy. Naturally, she is eager to be back home, but she is also a good sport and wants to do what she needs to do to regain some strength. Hopefully for her, this time will fly by and soon be a distant memory. We are just glad she is getting the professional attention she needs now, so that she'll be better prepared for returning home later.

GETTING AWAY
This past week was DA's spring break so we had reserved a few days with Don and Penny to use their lake house for a few days. When Mom first had her heart attack, we figured we'd need to cancel these plans, but as the week progressed and she was sent to rehab we kept our eye on getting away. By the time she was settled in at the nursing home, she gave us her blessing to keep our plans, so a week ago Saturday (the 24th) we packed up and headed out, returning home last Tuesday.

Our trips to the lake house sound boring, I'm sure, but sometimes just getting away to different scenery where you have nothing but time where you can focus on each other is just what we all need. As usual we read, watched movies, played cards and board games, and ate. We didn't make it to church Sunday, but we did drive to Paducah to catch Paul, Apostle of Christ in the theater which we all enjoyed.

One different thing about this visit was that Jenna was unable to join us. We certainly missed her and as Vicki noted, her absence really changes the dynamics of the family. Still, it was good to get away.

A NEW DRIVER
If you live locally, watch out! Nate is on the road. He got his driving permit on Wednesday and I've been making him chauffeur me on various errands ever since. He is not coming into this with as much experience driving around the farm as Jenna and Ben had so, to be honest, this is a little scarier when riding shotgun with him. He is a quick learner, though, and I've been impressed with how quickly he picks up on how to handle a vehicle. For now I'm just glad I've convinced him not to ride the white line. Those brick mailboxes were getting intimidating!

MY THIRSTY BIRD
A couple of years ago I got a drinking bird toy for Christmas. I never had one as a kid so that stocking stuffer scratched that itch and when the novelty wore off I put my bird up on a shelf. Well, in moving knick-knacks around in our study some time last fall that bird wound up sitting on top of our router on the computer desk. Over the Christmas holidays a little motion caught my eye as I was at the computer and when I looked that bird was bobbing its head as if I had put a cup of water there for it to drink from. Strange thing is, there's no cup of water there!

For a quick explanation, the drinking bird toy is basically a heat engine. Placing a cup of water in front of the bird for it to dip its beak into starts a heating and cooling cycle that makes it bob in what appears to be a perpetual motion cycle. I won't go into any more detail here, but if you really want to geek out on how this toy works Bill Hammack, aka the Engineer Guy, does a great job explaining how the toy works on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKC-QVcVn0).

So, for over three months now my thirsty bird has been trying to get water from a cup that is not there. Knowing how the toy works I find this amazing. I'm guessing the little bit of heat generated by the router it is sitting on is just enough to jump start the cycle. I'm curious if this will continue as hot weather approaches and we turn on our A/C.

COLLEGE VISIT
I led off this edition mentioning Ben is fast approaching his senior year of high school. Another big reminder of that was our trip to Cookeville to visit Tennessee Tech today.

We headed out this morning in time to drive the 90+ minute trip so we could eat lunch on campus and then take the tour. Vicki and Jenna had looked at Tech as a backup plan in case the financial aid package at Trevecca didn't work out, and she came away more impressed this time than she had been two years ago. I don't know if this will be where Ben goes to college, but we have one college visit done and several more to go.

Joe

A Near Miss

I never dreamed as late as Monday morning that I would be giving an update on Mom's health right now. To cut to the chase, mom has had a silent heart attack. Aunt Linda alerted us to this when she talked to Mom Monday morning and noticed she didn't sound quite right. Vicki took her to NorthCrest in Springfield where they ran tests and decided to do an angiogram. This resulted in putting in a stint in one of the arteries around her heart. She is now recovering nicely and in good spirits considering all she's been through. I am sure that having to lay still and flat for hours after the heart catheter procedure was hard. All that is behind her now. She was moved from the CCU to a regular room this afternoon.

I am going to say she had the heart attack overnight Sunday/Monday, but it is possible the event began on Friday. Mom never complained to us about any pain or anything that was cause for alarm. She only reported to us that over the weekend that she was not sleeping well. We found out Monday that during those nights she did feel an odd sensation in her chest and arm but this was not distressing to her and she did not tell us. Actually, she complained more about her toe hurting. My cousin, Grant, came in from Ohio and visited us this weekend. We all went out to Los Agaves in White House and she enjoyed a nice conversation around the table Saturday evening.

The next morning Mom was really dragging when I came to pick her up for church. I have seen this before, but this was a little different and I was concerned. However, she participated in everything as normal and when I went back to check on her that afternoon she was perky and even asked if I planned to do anything about my hair loss. I left feeling better about things…except for my self-image.

To fill in the rest of the blanks, when Vicki got Mom to the hospital the EKG showed nothing abnormal. The bloodwork was a different story. This prompted the angiogram. Mom has a lot of blockage due to plaque and calcification buildup in all the arteries around her heart. This is not new, though I think her cardiologist will be surprised by how much. One artery did have a clot and was 99% blocked. This was treated with the stint.

Mom never felt any pain or discomfort in her chest. Vicki and I commented that she may have been the happiest heart attack patient they've ever treated. She even introduced me to some of the medical team as her father, caught her mistake, and laughed about it with everyone. She was still laughing about it when she introduced me to the CCU nurse after waking up.

Mom has had a near miss. I don't want to ignore how serious this could be, but I am thankful that it was caught in time for her to receive the treatment she needed. I am glad she has not dealt with a lot of pain and that in all of this we have found things to laugh about. This picture could be very different.

Joe

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An Update on Mom
Saturday, March 24, 2018

I just wanted to give a brief update on Mom. She was discharged from the hospital on Thursday. We were preparing for her to come home because that’s all the hospital staff had mentioned to us the whole time, so we were surprised when at the last moment they recommended she go to a local nursing home for rehab. That evening we moved Mom to NHC in Springfield. We met with the staff at there yesterday and they laid out their goals for helping Mom regain some strength and make sure she can do everything she was doing before this happened.

It was an understandable disappointment for Mom that she didn’t go straight home, but she also gets the rational behind this decision and has maintained her good spirits. Her heart is in better shape now and she has some work ahead to keep her previous level of independence. We all appreciate your prayers on her behalf and ask that you keep it up through her recovery.

Joe

The Mid-February Report

Hello from wet, rainy Middle Tennessee! And when it’s not raining it’s warm enough to make you think spring has sprung. I don’t think the groundhog knew what he was doing this year.

A NEW PASTOR
I am happy to report that we have found a new pastor. Vicki was part of our pastor search team and they really worked hard over the last year. Russ Noss and his family were here the weekend of January 19-21 and we voted unanimously to call him as our pastor that Sunday. Russ is currently back at his old church to wind up his ministry there and will move here in a couple of weeks. His wife and their three kids will finish out the school year where they are now and move here around Memorial Day.

It will be hard to say goodbye to Bruce Grubbs who has been our interim pastor since the fall of 2016. He has done a remarkable job helping us heal and preparing our church to have another full time pastor. I am looking forward to starting a new and healthier chapter at church this year.

THE SPORTS SECTION
Basketball season is over. We ended with a 13-9 record. The last two weeks of the regular season were very exciting and busy with seven games on the schedule (one was a make-up from when we had snow). Ben had some really good games making his defensive presence felt strongly on the court. The Bears played such good basketball here at they end they totally upset the standings within our district going into the tournament.

Our first post season game was a district tournament opener on the 6th. Unfortunately, we lost which ended our season. Ben had the flu and was home in bed while that game was being played. We’ll never know how much of a difference Ben would have made in that game, but many were kind enough to say he was missed.

Now that basketball is over Ben and Nate are already into spring training for cross country a couple of days a week. Nate is coming home pretty sore.

BIRTHDAY BOY
Speaking of Nate, he celebrated his 15th birthday on Wednesday. It being a school day and church night we saved our family celebration until last night when Jenna was home. She and Vicki made breakfast for supper at Nate’s request. Instead of cake they planted candles in a pan of homemade cinnamon rolls and served that alongside strawberries dipped in chocolate.

YAHTZEE! UPDATE
Well, I knew immediately when Jenna read my last newsletter because the following text came through from her that evening, “Dad!! No!! Don’t get rid of it!! I want the Yahtzee game!! That’s what I look forward to in the bathroom at home!!!!!”

I had no idea. And it turns out the last score on the game I reported as mine was actually hers. So, I put the retired game on her dresser to wait for her until she dropped in at home, and then Vicki bought me another one for Valentine’s Day.

Joe

News from the Frozen South

I make it no secret that I love winter. Living where I do; however, my common complaint is that I pay admission for the show without the much anticipated special effects. In other words, it’s cold but no snow. Snow, for us here in Tennessee is more of a novelty than a nuisance. I’m sure I would feel differently if I were in a different line of work.

Right now we have snow! It canceled classes on Friday, today, and again tomorrow, making this a five day weekend so far. I’m sure the public schools will be closed for a couple more days. I’m less certain how that will play out for us.

NO MORE BRACES!
Ben got his braces off on Friday! His teeth look great and he said one thing he’s missed eating are apples. He’s been able to eat apple slices, but not bite into the fruit. At any rate, he got the braces on February 16, 2016, so after almost 23 months I know he is glad to have those things off his teeth.

NEW YORK CITY
I reported last time that Ben was on his way to New York City. He was part of a group of forty juniors and five chaperones from school to go. They flew up there on the 2nd and began taking in the sights immediately. The schedule that day included Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Little Italy, Chinatown, and ended with a nighttime trip to the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

The next day they got moving early so they could visit the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and enjoy some shopping time on Fifth Avenue. That evening they took in the broadway show, School of Rock! That’s when they, and we, all learned that their flight home had been canceled due to the bomb cyclone that was working its way up the Eastern Seaboard dumping snow on everyone from Florida to Maine.

The itinerary for their last day in New York included trips to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and a stage door tour of Radio City Music Hall before flying home. All this was canceled and the kids were told to be ready to leave their hotel early to head home by bus. They drove all day, getting away from the threat of bad weather first before heading south, and made it to Roanoke, Virginia, where they went to the movies and saw Jumanji for their evening entertainment. The next day they hit the road early and pulled in at school around 1:30. From the sound of it Ben had a great time in spite of the change in travel plans. A trip to remember for sure!

BASKETBALL UPDATE
Just a quick update as we are a little over half-way through our regular season now. We currently have a 6-7 record with 9 more games before the tournaments begin. Our team has a pretty deep bench so sometimes he gets a lot of game times and other times not. Either way, we are enjoying watching Ben and the team play.

ODE TO YAHTZEE!
It is time to say goodbye to one of my favorite time-passers, my Electronic Hand-Held Yahtzee! game. Many people like to read a quick magazine article while taking care of business in the bathroom, though I’d say this has pretty much been replaced by reading things on a smart phone nowadays. (This makes me wonder just how much social media is consumed from this location, a metric I’m glad Facebook and other platforms cannot track.) For me, it’s been Yahtzee!

Vicki says we got this game before Nate was born as she remembers playing it when she was first starting to feel the labor pains before we went to the hospital for Nate’s birth. I remember that Mom gave it to me for Christmas one year. This stands out in my mind because she immediately tried to take it back as she was afraid it would lead to an addiction to gambling. So, for at least 15 years now I’ve been playing Yahtzee! in the bathroom. I have no idea how many games I’ve played or how many hours I’ve put in, but I do know it takes about two and a half minutes to play one game. My high score is 610, just under Vicki’s high score of either 612 or 615 (a battery replacement wiped her score years ago), and I earned a 423 the last time I played.

I’m choosing to say goodbye to my long-time friend. Three or four of the rubber buttons hardly work making game play a little frustrating. I can (and may) go to Walmart and buy a replacement for $9.49, but for now, I say it’s time to put it down.

Mom, that has probably been the most well used and enjoyed Christmas presents you’ve ever given me and you’ll be glad to know I never lost a penny to gambling.

Joe

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! The year has certainly gotten off to a cold start. So far the highest temperature recorded on our thermometer is 21°. This morning’s low was 1°. I’ll take a coat and cracked fingers over sweating and a sunburn any time.

To catch up from last time, we have had a wonderful holiday. Since Christmas Eve fell on Sunday this year we were busy with our regular activities at church that morning and the Christmas Eve service that evening. We went to Mom’s afterward where we enjoyed the chicken enchiladas that Vicki and Jenna made for supper.

Christmas morning we got up and exchanged our gifts. We’re pretty much past the toy stage now, though I did see a Star Wars Lego set in the mix. Jenna got a new Kindle. As much as she enjoys reading this will be the gift that keeps on giving until she wears it out. The boys are wanting to build their own computer so they got money so they can buy computer parts. There were also a lot of clothes and books under the tree, and it seems the kids all got enough socks to replace everything in their sock drawers.

Later that morning we headed over to Mrs. Connie’s for brunch. It was sort of interesting to see two new girlfriends in the mix with all the family. That evening we returned to Mom’s and ate supper together. All in all, a pretty typical Christmas for us.

The next day we ventured out a bit. Vicki, Jenna, and Ben headed out after lunch to do a little shopping. Nate and I caught up with them a little later at the movie theater where we watched The Greatest Showman, the musical about the life of P. T. Barnum. We really enjoyed this flick.

Early Wednesday we headed out for Virginia to spend a few days with Will, Darice, and their kids. They live far enough away that the drive takes the whole day now, though we can work in a fun stop along the way.

Will and Darice’s new house is very beautiful. It is situated on the land they purchased when they lived in that area over ten years ago. They moved in about three months ago. As with their previous house in Georgia, there’s plenty of room for everyone to spread out and play games, watch movies, battle it out in ping pong or air hockey, etc. and that’s just what we did. One popular game this year was the Telestrations game we got for Christmas. I have not laughed that hard in a long time.

We ate out twice. The entire family dined at El Puerto in Staunton on Friday. That was the first time I’ve ever been to a Mexican buffet. The next day Will, Darice, Vicki, and I drove to Harrisonburg for lunch at A Taste of Thai.

All too soon our visit was over and we headed home on Sunday. We did a little shopping in Knoxville and Crossville on the way and still got back in plenty of time for most of us to celebrate the new year.

Yesterday we spent the day taking down our Christmas decorations, a big job in which everyone pitched in and made it happen smoothly. Ben also spent part of the day packing for his school trip to New York City. They had to be at the airport by 4:30 this morning. One of Ben’s friends lives in Hermitage and he invited Ben and a third friend to spend the night so their could sleep in a bit and have a short drive to catch their flight. So, all three families met for supper in Hermitage last night and we said our goodbyes to Ben there.

I want to say congratulations to my cousin, Ginny Yergler, who got married in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday. I wish it would have worked out where we could have gotten there to celebrate with them.

It’s hard to believe 2017 is in the books and our Christmas break is coming to a close. I return to work tomorrow and classes resume on Thursday. Hopefully there’s some snow in our future.

Joe