College Prep

Snow was the big news I wrote about last time. The following Saturday (the 30th) it had warmed up so much I slogged through the slush in shorts and a tee shirt to check the mail. I think we got close to 70° the next day. It has cooled to more seasonal temperatures since and we even got a little snow Tuesday afternoon--enough to close school Tuesday, yesterday, and today. It’s almost laughable that we are out as traffic is moving normally on the highway. Again, it’s the tree covered backroads and the potential for black ice that are to blame.

GONE TO HAITI
The house is a little quieter this week because Jenna is in Haiti. We’ve heard some news from the team there, but Internet connectivity is limited. They left last Friday and arrived in Port au Prince that night. The next morning they flew on to Jeremie. This being a medical trip I know they’ve seen about 416 people in two days of their medical clinic. I’ll save the rest of the details until next time, but I do know the team made it back to Port au Prince today. We are looking forward to seeing Jenna tomorrow night.

COLLEGE VISIT
Jenna’s top college choice is Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. We certainly want to see her dream become reality but this dream rides on whether she wins some scholarships, particularly the McClurkan Scholarship which is a full tuition scholarship and only open to applicants by invitation. Jenna is one of about 40 applicants competing for two scholarships. We go to Trevecca on Monday for Jenna to be interviewed and to get another campus tour and other activities.

Given the fact that this might not work out Jenna and Vicki headed to Cookeville a couple of Fridays ago (the 29th) to tour Tennessee Tech. They really enjoyed the tour of the campus and Jenna came home saying that she would be happy going to school there if Trevecca doesn’t work out. Whether Jenna is meant to be a Trojan (Trevecca) or a Golden Eagle (TTU) it will all be good. I’m sure she would appreciate your prayers as she interviews Monday afternoon.

MORE COLLEGE PREP
Speaking of college prep, Ben has developed a love of Ramen noodles. If we’re home on the weekend or for snow I usually see him boiling noodles at some point. You just keep that up, son. Ramen noodles are a staple of the college diet.

END OF THE HOOP ACTION
The Junior Varsity Davidson Academy Bears played their last game last night, beating Ezell Harding in the process. They’ve completed a winning season though I’m a little behind on the record. Once I started driving the bus it got harder for me to keep up. The website says their win loss record is 9-5, but they don’t have scores for the last four games posted yet. Ben had a good season this year. He told us the other day his coach said he was the fourth highest scorer on the team. Not bad for the freshman year! We certainly enjoyed watching him play. I’ll miss the games but I’m also ready for things to settle down a bit.

CATARACT SURGERY
Mom had cataract surgery on her left eye last Thursday. She seems to be doing well, though she sort of questions the success of the surgery. I think one of the problems may be that the 20/20 vision in that eye has given her vanity a jolt. My mom does not have wrinkles like most people her age, but she can now plainly see the few that she has. I think one of the bigger adjustments for her is that the implanted lens has a fixed focal length making reading glasses more of a necessity than they were before. She is scheduled to have the right eye done next Thursday.

Joe