Oops, I Skipped March!

April is here. The trees are just starting to turn green, I'm digging out my short sleeve shirts, and the farmers are starting to plant corn. The world is waking up to a new growing season.

I think the biggest news in our extended family is that Sadie Brave Ring was born last Saturday. Her parents, Jimmy and Morgan, have waited for this day a long time and we are thrilled for them. Vicki visited them at home the other day and said she is perfect.

Our spring break was two weeks ago. We didn't go anywhere, opting to stay home and get stuff done. We got a lot done at the house, though this is proving to still be an ongoing job. Our house and my shop have been overtaken with things from Mom's house. We've made an amazing amount of progress going through it given the spare time we've had to work, but we still have our work cut out for us.

Mom has been doing fairly well, though her hiatal hernia acted up one day over spring break causing some issues with her swallowing which scared the nurse on duty half to death. This prompted a trip to the doctor to have her esophagus stretched yet again.

Our staycation wasn't all work. The boys and I went to Thomas Drugs for lunch one day, which is always a treat. Another day we went to Nashville, picked Jenna up after class, and enjoyed visiting with her. We found Bobbie's Dairy Dip on that trip which was a great treat. As much as I enjoyed my Chubby Checker milk shake I'm glad they are way over on Charlotte Pike and not easy for me to get to.

Ben is enjoying tennis. He talks a lot of smack with Vicki who had been trying to get him to play tennis for the last several years. He's played in two matches so far, losing the first one playing singles but winning the second playing doubles. And outside of playing on the team for school, he and Nate are now slipping off a couple of times a week to play. I'm glad he has found tennis. As much as he loves being physically active tennis will be a good sport he can play for many years to come.

So now we've had two weeks of school since our break. One of our guidance counselors sent an email Friday reminding the parents of seniors of all the activities leading up to graduation which is in six weeks.

We can tell Ben is ready to spread his wings and fly solo, yet he is not so impatient as to want to rush through the remainder of his senior year. Nate, on the other hand, is going to be really sad when his brother moves to Cookeville in August. This feels like watching the last bit of sand slide through the neck of an hour glass.

Joe