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
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Monday, April 2, 2018
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
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
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