LindaJ

2009-03-23T20:13:00.003-04:00

Birthday Weekend with Beth

I spent this past weekend in North Carolina with Beth and a group of her BFF (best friends forever - I think). We celebrated Beth's 50th birthday. The weather was spectacular and the fun, food and fellowship could not be beat! We went riding on the ATVs and the views from the top were amazing. We had a picnic on Horseshoe Rock with other amazing views, hiked on some of the roads around there, then hiked down to the waterfall and up to the cemetary. It was a great way to celebrate Beth's birthday. I was glad to be able to spend time with her and her friends. I am attaching a picture of Beth (and Joye and I) from 40 years ago.

2009-02-23T17:29:00.001-05:00

Mardi Gras in Mobile

Dan and Jane have come to visit for the week of Mardi Gras. We are having a great time. The weather has been great and there have been plenty of things to do. Here are some pictures of the day at the beach - a little too chilly for the water, but it was a gorgeous day.

Dad and Mom were enjoying the day at the beach and Dad liked that there was someone to sit with him while the women shopped at the outlet malls.

I love the green water, the blue sky and the white beaches.

Dan and Jane at the beach.

The Mardi Gras look.

2008-11-28T21:05:00.002-05:00

The rest of the family was in town for thanksgiving. Here are some photos.

2008-11-25T04:43:00.004-05:00

Joye and Colter

I have had a great time visiting with Joye and Colter. Because they are here, I have had an opportunity to explore a little more of the Mobile and surrounding area.

Joye and Colter at the beach at Gulf Shores

This is a gas rig we passed on the way to Fort Morgan. These gas rigs are visible all around the area here.

Colter and I at the beach. I am not that much taller than him, I am standing on something.

We rode the ferry from Dauphin Island over to Fort Morgan. It cost us $29! Dad was not too happy about that. Joye says all the ferries around the Corpus Christi area are free. I didn't expect it to be free, but I was surprised that it was as expensive as it was.

2008-10-27T08:35:00.004-04:00

Honduras October 2008

I know I should write a post about my trip to Honduras. But Sara has written a few really fantastic posts telling all about the time in Honduras. If you just click on the link for Brian and Sara you can read her posts. I have added my pictures to my winkflash account. If you click on that you will be able to view the Honduras October 2008 photos. They are pretty much in order with Sara's post.

Thank you all who were praying for us while we were there. Please continue to pray for Brian and Sara and the kids. They will be returning to the States in a few weeks for the rainy season. So they have a lot they have to do before then. I am including a picture taken while we were in La Ceiba on our way to the airport.

2008-10-04T15:22:00.002-04:00

So We Went Fishing!

Amazingly, Dad reminded me that we were going to go fishing. So yesterday we went to Wal-mart and bought some poles and a tackle box and a few of the essentials.

I called up Mike and asked if he would be willing to take us fishing this morning. So we met him at the church building this morning around 8:00. We bought some bait and we went fishing.

We had bought two poles, but Mike brought a few extra. But Mom and Dad fished together basically. I had switched the handle on the reel so that it reels left-handed. Dad got the hang of it pretty good. He did some casting, but Mom did all the baiting of the hooks.

We were out there (Cedar Point) about three hours. Dad wasn't ready to leave, but Mom and I were hot from the sun and convinced him to leave.

I didn't catch anything, but Dad caught four little ones. Mike caught a few little ones. And by "little" I do mean little. But if any of you know that Dad hasn't been fishing only but once in ten years, just going out was the best thing.

Afterwards we went to Logan's Roadhouse and treated Mike to lunch. All the while we were riding in Mike's truck we were listening to his tape of Hank Williams! So you know Dad was having a grand time - and as a result so did Mom and I.

2008-10-02T20:42:00.004-04:00

Looking for a Good Fishing Place

I am having a good time with Mom and Dad here in Mobile. I am getting spoiled with Mom's cooking. Dad is doing his share of spoiling me as well. Yesterday he cleaned my patio and driveway and he has been taking the trash out (a job I absolutely hate). Today we were driving around and stopped along the Causeway over Mobile Bay. Dad and I talked about maybe going fishing out here. It was a little windy out there this evening. But I did get a picture of Mom and Dad standing on the water.

2008-09-21T23:49:00.002-04:00

A day at the Beach

I took Tuesday off and spent it at the beach and going shopping. My friend Carolyn took me over to Gulf Shores. It is beautiful. The beaches are all white sand and very clean. The sand was so soft under my feet, I couldn't get over how soft it was. I have always said I hate dealing with the sand on beaches, but this sand was not anything like the sand I am used to. And the water was very warm! It was a great day to be visiting the beach.

I did not come prepared to go swimming, but I almost wished I had. It was warm enough and the water was plenty warm.

This is my friend Carolyn. She has lived in Mobile all but about ten years of her life. Her husband was a Marine and she traveled with him. He was killed in Vietnam in 1968. She was left to raise her two children on her own. I have enjoyed getting to know her.

I was standing out on a sand bar here. It was quite pleasant there.

This is an open invitation for anyone to come visit me. I now know where the best beaches are - so come visit and I will take you to the beaches! Oh, there is a huge outlet mall about 15 minutes from this beach! It was quite huge, maybe not as big as Kittery, but still plenty big enough to keep you shopping all day if you like that. There is also a new Bass Pro Shop just on the other side of the Bay from me -I haven't been there yet, but everyone is talking about it.

2008-08-30T15:27:00.005-04:00

Fishing

I went fishing this morning with Phyllis, Glen and Mike. I had a great time. Phyllis has a pontoon boat, so she took us out. She lives on Roberts' Bayou which eventually feeds into the Dog River. We actually fished in the Dog River.

This first picture is the Bayou behind Phyllis' house. Can you see the white Crane taking off from the water?

Glen is the one on the left and Mike is the one with the sunglasses. This is not a good picture of them, but I didn't tell them to look up, oh well. Glen is a deckhand on a Mississippi tug boat that pushes the barges up and down the River. Do you remember the barge that was hit last month and spilled fuel oil? Glen's company owned the barge. But it wasn't one he was working.

This is Phyllis. She had just caught the Croaker. We caught some Red Fish, but they have to be 14 inches long, and none of ours were that big. But we caught several Croakers. They actually "croak."

I know this Croaker did not look that big, but it was a keeper and I got a little bigger one later. They are apparently good eating, but I am not a big fish fan. Glen kept the fish.

We stopped for lunch at a place right where the Dog River dumps into Mobile Bay. I had a Shrimp salad. I was tired of feeding all the shrimp to the fish. So I ordered some for myself! The food was excellent. Phyllis had fried okra with her fried oyster po'boy sandwich (a very southern sandwich).

When Phyllis bit into one of her fried oysters, she bit something hard. She found this pearl. I thought that was pretty amazing.

I loved this spider's web that was in Phyllis' yard. It looked so perfect. That spider had an attention to detail.

2008-08-29T07:58:00.002-04:00

I Am Now Official

Yesterday I finally took the time to go to the licensing commissioner's office and the DMV. I now have an Alabama driver's license in my wallat and an Alabama tag to go on my car! I had tried once to do it, but I didn't have the right paperwork. In fact yesterday I had to actually go twice because I still didn't have the right paperwork. But I finally finished the process. I am planning on going fishing with some friends on Saturday and the cost of an out-of-state fishing license is almost double that of an in-state license. So money was the final factor to force me to make the change. I still haven't put the new tag on my car - a little bit of laziness, but some reluctance as well. With the out-of-state tag, people are a little more forgiving when I make turning blunders (like going the wrong way down a one way street). I also have had the same New Hampshire license tag for 22 years! I know my tag number, in fact a lot of people had my tag number memorized. Now I am going to have to work on memorizing a new number.

One thing I do like about my new tag is that it says "God Bless America" on it and the American flag forms the background for the tag. I am so grateful to God for allowing me to be born and raised in America. I pray that He continues to bless America. I have not watched the Democratic National Convention because I do not align myself with their idealogy. But I still am so proud of our Country to be able to nominate a person of color to possibly be the next President of the United States. I am not going to vote for Senator Obama, not because of his skin color, but because of his idealogy. But I think Martin Luther King's dream was somewhat realized last evening. I applaud the Democratic Party for choosing Senator Obama as their candidate. It was an historic moment and may God continue to bless America.

2008-07-31T23:44:00.003-04:00

Supper on the Patio

Well, I didn't get to be at Chris and Amy's with all the family tonight. But I did have a new friend, Laura, over for supper. It had cooled off enough that we were able to eat on the patio. But I hadn't counted on the grill heating up the patio. Once I finished grilling, it cooled off comfortably and we were able to enjoy the evening eating outside.

I loved being able to eat outside, but it probably was no where near as exciting as riding around in the trailer behind the tractor or riding the four wheeler all over Chris and Amy's place.

2008-07-27T06:27:00.003-04:00

Picnic in the Rain

Yesterday our "Group" at the office had a picnic, but because it rained so hard, we ate inside. I took a few pictures so you could meet some of the people with whom I work.

Terri, on the far right was our hostess. She is one of the ladies that brings order to the claim files and identifies and marks the exhibits. Natalie (standing next to her) orders evidence that we need and mails the decisions out. She is newer to the office than I am - she moved here from Greenville, SC. Robbie is the supervisor of all the employees in our "Group." That is his wife and one of his three daughters in the picture.

This is Natalie's little girl. She was enjoying that cupcake.

This is Dawn and her husband Pablo. Dawn is an attorney. She writes the decisions.

Jeanne, on the far right, schedules all the hearings. Myra, in the red, has the same job as Terri. MaryLeigh (with her daughter beside her) is the Lead Legal Assistant. She does the same as Myra and Terri, except that she does extra things - like mentor and training and direct the work of Jeanne and Natalie.

All of the people in our group have been great. There were a few of the other writers that were unable to make it and the other two judges in our group were not there. But I had a good time.

2008-07-20T22:52:00.006-04:00

Bay Bears

I went to a Mobile Bay Bears game this afternoon at the Hank Aaron Stadium, affectionately just refered to as "The Hank." Apparently Hank Aaron was originally from Mobile. The Bay Bears were playing the Chattanooga Lookouts. The Bay Bears won 7-0. It was a fun game, but it was hot. Fortunately the stadium was designed with all the seating facing east - so the sun was not beating down on us. It was hot, but not as bad as if we were in the direct sun. Had we been in the direct sun, I don't think I could have lasted two innings! It was over 100 degrees with quite a bit of humidity.

New Furniture

I have been looking for some dining room furniture. I have never had a dining room furniture set. I finally found a set yesterday that I really liked. I bought it with six side chairs and two captain's chairs for a total of eight chairs. I hope I have plenty of "dinner parties" to justify the purchase. I will attach a few pictures.

2008-07-08T21:46:00.002-04:00

Bugs, Mosquitos and Spiders

Last week on two occasions "flying Asian cockroaches" otherwise known as "Palmetto Bugs" were found in the office at work. One was in the office right next door to me and the other was in the office just across the hall from me. I saw the one in the office across the hall from me when the lady came running out of her office screaming. I dared to glance in her office and saw it on the wall. It was at least two inches long! When it took off to fly, I didn't stick around! I have been very freaked out about them ever since. I think they are going to spray the office this week! It can't be too soon for me.

I have been plagued by mosquitos since I moved here. My arms and face are most affected because they will get me at night when I sleep. But I picked up quite a few mosquito bites on my legs over this past weekend as well. So I have been trying to stay ahead of them whenever I come in and out of my door. At night, before I go to bed, I try to find any stray mosquitos on the walls or ceilings to swat them with my fly swatter. With my ceiling fan on low and my nightly mosquito search and destroy, I have begun to feel like I am turning a corner on my battle with the mosquitos.

But now it is spiders. I am attaching a picture of a spider that has built a huge web on my patio. Fortunately I don't have to walk through the web on my way to and from the carport. This spider is fairly big. I had already killed one like this by my outdoor faucet, because I needed to turn on the faucet. I don't like spiders at all, but when they are big like this, I can at least see them. I am going to have to find out something more about these. I am hopeful that maybe he and I have a common goal in doing in mosquitos. If we do, then I will tolerate him and let him live on my patio. If not, he will probably join his brother. Because I am very uncomfortable around him.

2008-07-04T22:59:00.002-04:00

Happy Fourth of July!

I spent the afternoon sitting on the front porch at Betty Jean's house! There were about twelve or so of her neighbors there. We made ice cream (with an electric mixer) and just visited and talked. It was a great way to spend an afternoon. Later I went to the fireworks over on the bay. The people in the car on the left of me had a 13 year old son that is an absolute avid Boston Red Sox fan - so we had quite a conversation! His mother was a medical transcriptionist and her father-in-law had a stroke that impacted his right side about 9 years ago, the little girl's name was Haley. We certainly had a lot to talk about. The people in the car on the right of me had three very little boys, Oliver, Ryan and Charles. The little boys' mother is from Bedford, Massachusetts and her husband is an officer in the air force. So we had quite a bit to talk about as well. So over all, I had a great time. Oh, I forgot to mention, one of the people from the front porch crowd is related to Elvis Presley. Her grandmother was a first cousin to Elvis' mother (their fathers were brothers).

I am including a few pictures here that I have in my album. I did not take any of these today.

Fireworks at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Flags hanging at Union Station in Washington, DC.

Flags hanging at the New York Stock Exchange.

2008-06-28T17:31:00.003-04:00

Graduation and Home

I graduated from "Judicial College" on Friday and after some delays at the airport I finally arrived home at 11:30 last evening. It was a long four weeks, but well worth the time. I learned a lot. I am including a few pictures here and I just downloaded my whole disc on my winkflash (use the link on the side).

We will get "official" pictures from the photographer, but I had a couple taken outside. This is Judge Cristaudo. He is our Chief Judge in our Agency. I really respect him.

We were sat in groups at round tables for the entire four weeks. These were my tablemates. We really enjoyed our time together. Marie Greener has been assigned to Syracuse, Kathye Scully-Hayes is now in Wilkes-Barre, and Rob Ringler is assigned to Albany. I think there were 43 in our class. But there are four classes this summer. We were the second class.

I had included this picture on an earlier post to show you the side of my house. I took this picture on May 10th. Notice the "banana palms" just in front of the bushes alongside the house. Then look at the next picture.

This picture was taken today, June 28th. There has only been seven weeks between the two pictures and look how much those "banana palms" have grown! Isn't that just amazing? I don't think even corn grows that fast and that big, does it? I am amazed.

2008-06-22T12:51:00.003-04:00

Grace Life Church

I just returned from church at Grace Life Church. I have attended there all three weekends I have been here in Baltimore. I have really enjoyed their services and the challenges from the Word of God. They are a young congregation, mostly college kids and medical students. They are a multi-ethnic group and they meet in an old bank building. Check out their website: http://www.gracelifechurch.com/GraceLifeBaltimore/index.html I suspect this is something like the churches Walter and Laura have been involved in and hope to continue to be involved with. They have just begun a series on Revelation. Today's message was built on the letter to the church at Laodocia. The pastor remarked that America today is similar to Laodocia was at the time of Revelation, wealthy, and basically full of themselves. He challenged the congregation to allow Christ to change them, to be more than lukewarm. I appreciated the services at this church.

But I have to tell you, I am ready to go home! Even though I am going home to Mobile, where I basically do not know a soul. I need to get back to a routine and where I can have access to a car to go where I want to go, when I want to go there. I know I am whining. I am sorry. Baltimore is a great city, and I am glad I have had such quality time here. But I am ready to go to Mobile!

2008-06-15T18:48:00.003-04:00

Baltimore/Washington

Beth and her friend came to visit me this week. I was so pleased to have them visit. I had to be gone during the two days, but we filled the evenings. We were able to get to an Orioles game. They played the Pirates and won. After the game there were fireworks at the stadium. They were really great fireworks. They left on Saturday, but not before we went to DC to look at a few of the sites.
We went to the Lincoln Memorial first. I have been there numerous times, but each time, it still impresses me - even when there is huge crowd of people. He was an amazing man in a very difficult situation.

I also went to the Supreme Court Building. Beth and Robin had already left, but I asked someone to take my picture. I told them to make sure the statement "Equal Justice under the Law" was in the picture. They asked if I was a lawyer! I wonder how they could tell!

I had not seen this Albert Einstien statute before. The book on his "lap" has the theory of relativity and some other mathematical equation. I was "sitting at his feet" but I don't think it helped.

The Vietnam Memorial Wall is always a striking view. Beth is looking at the wall where David's father's name is etched.

On the Inner Harbor walkway there is a stage where there is always something going on. Today there was an Elvis impersonator. He was drawing a huge and loud crowd. I know it wasn't "him" so much as the draw that Elvis still has, even though he has been dead over 30 years!

2008-06-03T20:25:00.002-04:00

Baltimore, My New Home away from my New Home in Mobile!

Actually for the next four weeks I am in training in Baltimore. I am in a Residence Inn, so I have a little "studio" for the time I am here. It is small, but it will work for me. So far the real difficulty is staying awake during the last half hour of class. For some reason about 3:45 in the afternoon, I have gotten really sleepy! I am fighting to stay awake at that point. If anyone has any tricks to staying awake during the worst part of the day, I would welcome them.

I was able to get to the Red Sox game last night at Camden Yards. The Orioles won! I was disappointed, since the Red Sox had won all the other three games. But it was still fun to go an cheer for the Red Sox. There were enough Red Sox fans at the game that it was almost like being at a home game for them. Everyone around us were cheering for the Red Sox. There were two lone Orioles fans. They were pretty good natured about the whole thing, but it was kind of funny to hear everyone chanting "Let's go Red Sox!" when they were supposed to be saying "Let's go O's".

If anyone is going to be through Baltimore during the month of June, come look me up. I have an extra bed and a pull out couch!

2008-05-10T22:21:00.002-04:00

Mobile, Alabama, My New Home

I arrived in Mobile on Thursday evening and got the keys to my new house on Friday morning. The moving truck was here when I arrived. They had the truck completely unloaded by 2:45. I have been cleaning and unpacking boxes since. I still have dozens of more boxes to unpack - but I am making some progress. I thought you might want to see pictures of my house.

This is the street front of my house.

My house sits on a corner, so this is the side view of my house. Notice that I have a carport instead of a garage. But the house does come with quite a bit of storage room.

This is the one room I am pretty much finished unpacking - my bedroom. I have more closet space in this room than in my house in New Hampshire.

I haven't really unpacked in my living room, but I thought I would show you how bright the room is. The windows are huge; they go down to about a foot from the floor!

I don't have a porch, but I do have this covered patio. My porch furniture fits here just fine. The back yard is completely fenced in and very private. I have banana trees in the yard!

Come visit sometime!

2008-04-20T06:50:00.004-04:00

For Sale

A cozy four bedroom cape in Manchester, New Hampshire. I have put my house on the market. It is a cute place with plenty of bedrooms for a growing family. Here is a link to the market listing. Anyone interested?

http://www.mlsfinder.com/nh_nneren/kw_538/index.cfm?action=listing_detail&property_id=2715987&searchkey=683b2e88-91c5-185e-888d-4f58ea0c72e5&npp=10&sr=1

The summer look.

The winter look.

2008-04-18T04:02:00.003-04:00

The Goodbye's Have Begun

I have begun saying "Goodbye" to friends and co-workers. I have some great friends. I am going to miss them. Sunday friends from my old office here in Manchester "kidnapped me" and took me to a surprise going away brunch.

These are some of them from that party. These individuals were all candidates for the same position as me. They all were sporting these red sweat shirts with an "L" on the front indicating "Loser." They were such good sports about it. The guy on the far right currently has my old job as the Director of the Manchester Hearing Office. He has just been selected to fill my current position as the Boston Regional Attorney.

These are the ladies from my Tuesday night Ladies Bible Study. They took me out for dinner on Tuesday night, our last time together. I am going to miss these ladies. I have been having the Tuesday Night Ladies Bible Study in my house since the fall of 1991. I don't think any of these ladies were from the original group, but some have been coming for a long time! They are such a great group of friends.

Yesterday the people in my current office gave me a send off as well. Some of these people I have worked with for quite some time, even before I started working in Boston. The gentleman on the far right I have worked with, in some capacity, since 1995, but I have known him since about 1988. The lady standing next to me on the far left, is the current Regional Chief Judge. She has only been in the Regional Office since October. I have very much enjoyed working with all of these people.

Of course what is a "send off" without food! Oh my, it has been good food. This is a cake one of the ladies from my Tuesday night had made for me. Those are real strawberries making up the flowers! This was a great cake!

I thought I would show you a picture of my new office in Mobile. When I was in Mobile, I did not go into the office, I just drove by.

This part, however, is the most impressive part of the office building. This is the parking garage, attached to the back of the building. All the employees have FREE covered parking at the building! In our office building in Boston the spots are in great demand and simply not available. Even if they were available they cost $380 a month! So to be able to park for free and to keep the sun from beating down on your car all day will be simply great!

Mom and Dad are coming on Saturday and the "For Sale" sign will show up on my lawn on Saturday as well. (Anyone interested in a cute red cape in Manchester, just let me know.) I have about two more weeks before I leave for Mobile. Today is my last day in Boston - so I better get started.

2008-03-30T15:20:00.003-04:00

The Garcia Family

Some of you might remember my friends the Garcias. I haven't seen them only but briefly over the past four or five years. We finally got together for a long afternoon of visiting and chatting. I thought I would publish a few pictures that Clarissa took with my camera yesterday.

These are six of the seven kids. Aaron is away at college. He is studying at Liberty University in Virginia. He intends to become a pastor.

These are the three girls, Miranda 13, Vanessa 12 and Clarissa 17. Clarissa is also going to Liberty next year. She is going to study nursing, with a minor in music. She taught herself to play the piano! She is very talented. I heard her at a competition recently where my friend Kenny was competing.

This is Jesse the youngest. He is five. He looks exactly like Ric, his Dad. Ric works at Velcro (for those that do not know it, Velcro was invented by someone in Manchester and the original plant is here). He works 10 hour shifts, four days on and three off. So he was working this weekend and I did not get to see him.

This is Jeremiah, he is eight. His nickname is Jerry. So that makes him Jerry Garcia - he doesn't look like he belongs with The Grateful Dead!

This is Javier, he is 16; a sophomore in High School. All these kids are home-schooled and are doing really well academically. Jav plans on college and then to military. He wants to be an Officer in the Marine Corps.

This is Naomi (the mother) and me. We had a great visit. I had made clam chowder and cornbread. I had a plate of veggies and crackers and cheese along with some fresh fruits. So we had plenty to eat and visit over all day.

2008-03-22T22:31:00.004-04:00

Kathy's Birthday Celebration and Easter Egg Hunt

Just a few pictures from our afternoon today celebrating Kathy's birthday and Easter. We had Clam Chowder with Corn Bread. It had been a while since I have made Clam Chowder - boy did it taste good.

Enjoy the pictures. Happy Easter - may each of you enjoy time at church and then with family and friends celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Kathy. It was a good excuse to make chocolate cupcakes!

"Play it again Sam." Whoops, I mean Thomas.

Easter eggs everywhere!

Ponytail Lauren.

Egg Hunt results, plenty of eggs and lots of fun things to eat!

2008-03-17T19:59:00.005-04:00

A "Long" Weekend

I had a chance to spend Saturday and then Sunday with my friends Tony and Susan Long and their two boys Josh and Jason. Josh is now married to Randi and Jason is dating Randi's sister Katie. On Saturday we had homemade Chicken Pot Pie with an apple cobbler for dessert. On Sunday we celebrated Tony's birthday with homemade pizzas and a Cherry Nut cake for dessert. We played Fictionary on Saturday night and Scattegories on Sunday. It was a great weekend with good food, good fun and great friends. I am going to miss the Longs when I move. So I was glad to have some extended time with them this past weekend. I will include a few pictures that Katie took with my camera yesterday.

Sunday we celebrated Tony's 54th Birthday. He was a little pleased at this point, we had just watched the naming of the teams for the NCAA Basketball Tourney. He was afraid Kentucky wouldn't make the tournament this year. But they did, so he was pleased. I was very pleased to see that Kansas was the top seed in the Midwest.

Susan had a busy weekend cooking for us. Everything she fixed was absolutely great! I enjoyed everything she fixed, and I still managed to lose three pounds when I weighed in this morning!

Josh and Randi both work for Fidelity. They are on vacation this week. They both work the "second shift" at Fidelity. Randi's sister Katie and her brother Jarrod, both work at Fidelity as well. Josh just recently passed his "series 7" tests, allowing him to be a "broker." This gives him a great opportunity with Fidelity and any other investment company. He managed to pass these very difficult tests on one take! Congratulations, Josh!

This is Jason and his girlfriend Katie. Jason is going to school at UNH in Manchester, living at home. He made straight A's last semester and made the Dean's List. He is studying business. I don't know whether he is hoping to get on at Fidelity as well. But I keep trying to talk him into something more interesting than business. I am not being very successful

I just liked this picture of Jason concentrating. He and I were trying to find out the score for the Kansas/Texas game. Fortunately, Kansas won, but I don't think we ever did find the score.

2008-03-09T19:49:00.006-04:00

Sunday Afternoon

Today was a tough day for Kathy and her family with the death of her father. While she and Tommy were out today, the kids stayed with me. They wanted to do cards for their Mom. They were so thoughtful, wanting to give her something because she was sad. So they made cards and pipe cleaner sculptures for her. They played and watched television. Steven told me that my house was "quiet." They helped to make it less quiet. I took a few pictures. I thought you might like to see the boys watching the movie. Tommy said they are so "focused" when they're watching television. I told him I didn't know where they learned to be that way at all! Kathy and I laughed about his "innocent" denial of being that way himself!

Smiling for the camera.

Focused on the movie "Fluke." He watched the whole movie sitting sideways in this rocker.

Lauren and I looked at pictures, hunted for Cinderella's missing slipper and brushed her hair. We weren't into the movie.

Pillow time!

"Okay, I will take time to smile for the camera, but I need to get back to the movie."

Doesn't this look like Tommy 35 years ago?

2008-03-01T20:44:00.004-05:00

March is Here, Spring must be Coming!

It snowed all night and into the afternoon today, breaking the record for the snowiest winter since 1900. But even with all that snow, Tommy and Kathy and the kids came in for supper this evening. It was such a nice evening. I took two pictures and then between Thomas and Steven, they managed to take quite a few more. Scroll on down and you will see some snow pictures.

Steven has learned to read. He was reading and writing on an eraser board with Tommy, but he took time out of his reading to let me take his picture. Isn't his smile so sweet?

Thomas was hamming it up in this picture Steven was taking. He practiced on the saxophone tonight. He wants to do something with music - so Tommy and Kathy are looking into it for him.

Isn't she just adorable? I had gotten her this dress for Christmas, she loves the polka dots, but what I really love are the stockings. Pippi Longstocking syle?

I thought you might like to see some of the snow that we have been graced with this year. We had about six to eight inches last night.

That snow pile is about six feet tall and it is sticking out in my driveway a little too far so I have to angle my car out of my garage.

It is pretty, isn't it. This was before I shoveled this snow.

Mountains and Mounds of Snow!

This is my front yard. The Comcast van is parked on my side of the street, so you have a pretty good picture of how much snow is in my front yard.

2008-02-28T21:41:00.002-05:00

Mobile, Alabama

I have accepted a position as an Administrative Law Judge in Mobile, Alabama. I am so excited about moving someplace warm! I will be reporting on Monday May 12, 2008. After a couple of weeks in the office, to orient myself to the office and problably begin to give them a schedule for my docket, I will report to Baltimore for a four week training session. So I will settle down to really working about June 23rd.

I will be about six or seven hours from Beth and about ten hours from Joye. It looks like it is about 14 hours from Salina. It is almost 1500 miles from Manchester. That is about a 22 hour drive! I just checked about airlines, neither Jet Blue nor Southwest Air fly to Mobile. But US Air does fly into Mobile! I hope I can expect a lot of visitors in Mobile.

I am excited about the opportunity of a new adventure. But I know that leaving Manchester will be extremely hard.

2008-02-22T15:46:00.004-05:00

Atlanta!

We had a great time in Atlanta. It was warm and there was no snow! We visited the Coca Cola Museum. I am a Pepsi fan, but it was still fun to see how the "other one" is done.

This is Beth and Marybeth in the Museum beside an old car that was used to advertise and deliver the Coke products.

Standing with Marybeth outside of the Museum is Mr. Pemberton, the pharmacist that invented Coke. (Now you know why I prefer Pepsi, Coke tastes like medicine!)

We ate a Montana Buffalo - it was pretty good, but none of us had the interest in trying the Bison meat. Chicken and steaks were our choices.

After Atlanta we were back at Beth's for a few days. I got to meet Solomon and this was the first that I had seen Walter and Laura since their wedding. I enjoyed getting a chance to look through their wedding album. They brought some chocolate fondu with strawberries and pound cake! Yum!

I had the chance to go to Beth's classroom and see her kids and the computer lab. She is really quite something keeping 30 computers running while monitoring a bunch of kids. I enjoyed meeting some of the teachers and seeing Beth at work!

Do you love our Funky Glasses?

We didn't tour CNN, but we did take a few pictures of their logo and ate in their food court.

I had fun with Kush and Kishan. They posed this picture, wanting to get a good picture in front of this fountain at their school. You can tell that Beth has trained them well in the fine art of taking pictures!

2008-01-21T19:27:00.000-05:00

Nubble Lighthouse

On Saturday I went to the Maine coast with my friends Tony and Susan. We visited Nubble Lighthouse. I had taken Tyler over there when he was here. Thomas and Steven had gone with us. By the time we got there it was dark, so we didn't get pictures. It was bitterly cold and windy on Saturday. But it was a beautiful day.

You can see how windy it was. We were freezing. This is my friend Susan. We stopped in Dover at the Salmon Falls pottery. Then we stopped in Kittery, Maine at the "When Pigs Fly" bread store! We sampled just about everything they sold in the store! It was sooooo good.

These are surfers in the water. In the height of summer the water temperature does not go much over 65 degrees. It had to have been bitterly cold! Surfing only in wet suits. These people had to be nuts!

2008-01-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

Countdown to the NH Primary!

I love the Primary season here in New Hampshire. It has been fun to follow the debates, the candidates and the ads. But I will be glad when my phone stops ringing and the mailings stop coming! This year the candidates have really inundated us with ads on the television, radio and by telephone. We have also had mounds of mailings! I think I have finally made up my mind and feel pretty certain about who I will vote for when I step in the booth on Tuesday. I thought I would give you all a little picture of the signs that are covering all our snow mounds around the state! It is quite a colorful sight. My favorite though, are the "STOP GLOBAL WARMING" signs that are planted into the six foot high snow piles!

2008-01-01T09:46:00.000-05:00

SNOW

I had said yesterday that December may have been the snowiest December in New Hampshire history. I read this morning on WMUR TV 9 website:

With 10.1" of snow out of this past storm, December 2007 has become the snowiest December on record with an amazing 44.5", breaking the old record of 43.0" set back in 1876. To take it a step further December 2007 also becomes the 5th snowiest month on record! Bear in mind those records go all the way back into the 1870s.

We are set to have more snow starting this afternoon. New Hampshire still is a great place to live.

2007-12-31T16:39:00.000-05:00

We had more snow overnight. We have had snow enough now that they are saying we may have broken some records for the most snow in December. So much for Global Warming. Here is a picture of the snow in the front of my house. We are supposed to get more snow tomorrow.

I am running out of room to pile it by my driveway and sidewalks. Well, not me really, but the guys that plow out my driveway and shovel the walks. They are making a killing this year in fees. But I guess it will make up for last year when they hardly had anything to shovel.

I am going to some friends for the evening and then I am having some others over for lunch tomorrow. I am going to be serving a Mexican turkey chili. But I am saving the pork and saurkraut for later in the evening. I didn't think it would be a big hit to serve to non-Germans on New Years Day (or any day for that matter).

My friend Susan gave me a recipe for some "Fluffy Stuff" that is very tasty, and very low in calories and fat. It is extremely easy to make. Here is the recipe:

Susan's Fluffy Stuff

Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 5 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Course: desserts

Ingredients
· 8 oz Cool Whip Free Whipped Topping
· 2 pound fat-free vanilla yogurt
· 1 cup canned crushed pineapple in juice
· 2 Small boxes Jell-O Sugar Free, Fat Free Instant White Chocolate Pudding. Do not prepare this – just mix it with the yogurt dry.

Instructions
Mix pudding with the yogurt. Then fold in the Cool Whip and the pineapple. It is good eaten just as you prepare it, but it is even better if it is chilled for a few hours.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year.

2007-12-26T10:14:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Day at Tommy and Kathy's House. I had an absolutely wonderful time.

Christmas morning in front of the Christmas tree in new pajamas.

Tranformer Star Wars Death Star.

New racing video game!

The Princess opening her monkey from Grandma and Grandpa.

Still going after all the wrapping, cooking and transforming the Star Wars Death Star.

Happy Daddy.

Aunt Linda and the kids. We had a great day, playing, eating, laughing, and even a little napping!

2007-08-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

Saturday Chantelle and Doug were married. They had a beautiful wedding and for my first "Texas" wedding, I was very impressed. We had barbeque for the meal, the music was "country" and the bride wore a cowboy hat at the reception! It was great to meet so many of Joye and David's friends - ones that I have heard about over the years.

2006-12-30T18:49:00.000-05:00

I have heard a lot of you asking for an update to my Blog. I know it has been awhile. I am going to take just a quick minute to upload a couple of pictures. This first picture is Dad, Mick and Mick's boy Dustin. They stopped in to visit today.

This picture, of course, is the "greats" again on Christmas Day. They were having fun playing with each other.

This is a picture of Tom, Kathy and the kids, taken just before Christmas.

2006-10-23T19:54:00.000-04:00

Pennsylvania in the Fall!

This picture was taken at the top of Yaw's Hill. It was so pretty this past weekend that we were in Pennsylvania.

1966 or 2006? It is hard to tell from this picture whether it is Bill Evans or Brady Evans on that old garden tractor! I think it is still the same tractor we used to ride in when we were kids. This is Brady Evans, by the way. I think he said he is ten. He is in the 5th grade.

Mike and Kim standing by the "hole" that will eventually be the foundation for the basement of their new house. They are building on a property in Liberty, PA. This is Ethan, Kati's son, standing with them.

Aunt Mary and Mom after church. Aunt Mary will be 80 in December. Last week she replaced the ceiling tiles in her kitchen. It is a drop ceiling but is about 10 feet high! She fixed lunch for us on Friday! Cole slaw, baked turbin squash (tasted like pumpkin pie) and chicken pot pie with cheese biscuits on top! Then she had apple pie for dessert! We were so stuffed. It was the best. She is one awsome lady!

This is Mom and Aunt Ann in front of Ruth and Aldie's house. David Holdren made the siding for this house. It is really gorgeous. Ruth was recovering from her first chemo treatment while we were there. She is a trouper and will beat this cancer and she isn't going to let the treatment keep her down. She was up at Kim's property on Sunday when I was up there. Keep Ruth and her family in your prayers.

Dad, Aunt Betty and Uncle Jerry. Dad told Uncle Jerry he was better off than him, so he would get up for the picture and Uncle Jerry could sit still. We got a good laugh at that at Uncle Jerry's expense. We had such a good visit with all of them.

I loved this picture of Mom. It was taken at Greenfield. We were out there with Thomas' cub scout den.

Here is a new picture of Thomas, Steven and Lauren. We were walking through the woods.

I have posted more pictures at Winkflash. You can click on the link on the side of my blog.

2006-10-04T20:11:00.000-04:00

Thomas, Steven and I picked apples on Saturday at my friend Paul's house. Paul has a professionally maintained apple orchard surrounding his house. He also has about 80 trees on his own land. He and his wife lease them to the orchard owners. The orchard then maintains them and Paul has access to them. It is always a fun day and I usually think of it as the beginning of Fall.

Lauren had a cold on Saturday, so she and Kathy stayed home (Tom was working). But she had put on her boots to go with us. As you can see, the boots didn't match and one was about three sizes too big for her. She is such fun!

This is Thomas and Paul's son Zachery playing "Star Wars." Zachery is only five years old. But he is a tall boy. The left side of the house in the background is the old cape that Paul is restoring. It was built in 1733!

The boys each picked an entire grocery bag of apples. We had fun. We went out for lunch afterwards at Shorty's. The boys wanted to go there because they love the espinaca dip!

2006-09-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

I have posted some new pictures to my winkflash site. With Amy's help this link on the side should take you to my pictures and it should let you see all my folders. Right now I have three folders there.

I am going to put a few of my favorite pictures here of course, just in case my link doesn't work. This first picture of Emily, Haley and Aiden mirrors the one of Tom and Kathy's kids. Mom has that one as her wallpaper on her computer. The girls were looking at it and I mentioned that I would like to take their picture like that. Haley, at only three, immediately said "so I will be behind Aiden because he will be on the bottom, and Emily will be behind Aiden and me." I was so impressed that she could look at the picture of Thomas, Steven and Lauren and figure out the order of the kids, then how that would be mirrored in her own family. We had fun taking this picture.

This is a picture of RaeLynne and Josh's house in Smolan. It is a really cute house, with a full fenced in back yard. I think it has three bedrooms and a bath upstairs, a living room, dining room, kitchen and full bath on the first floor. The back porch is enclosed and has a washer and dryer on it. The house has central air conditioning and has that great front porch. I think it is a great house.

These next three pictures are of Madi. Here she is with her parents. I liked this picture. Madi is so alert!

This is Madi with one set of her grandparents. I thought this was a particularly good picture of Dan and Jane. Boy don't they look like the proud grandparents!

Just as an aside, I am going to have to do another study when next I am in Kansas. I am going to see how frequently husbands and wives wear the similar colored shirts as both Dan and Jane and Chris and Amy did on the day of these pictures.

Then here is Madi with her great grandparents. What a rich family history this little girl gets to experience!

This final picture was just too precious. This little tiny girl has the complete attention of all three of these guys (Dad, Ray and Chris). You Go Girl, keep up the good work!

2006-09-13T21:09:00.000-04:00

Do you remember playing Twister?

I think I figured out how to get you to see my photos from Thomas' birthday. I had forgotten to make them public photos. So try this link:

http://www.winkflash.com/photo/public.aspx?u=LJH916

2006-09-12T22:14:00.000-04:00

Beth said she could not link to my pictures, so I have added a few more of them here.

Thomas on his seventh birthday.

Steven loves to say "cheese." Even if I don't ask him to say it, he does the minute it looks like I am going to point the camera at him. But then cheese is one of his favorite foods, I think.

Lauren is such a ham. I asked her if I could take her picture. I expected her to grin big like the boys do and say "cheese". But then she did this pose and I was able to capture it. I was laughing so hard at her. She is adorable.

2006-09-10T22:32:00.000-04:00

Thomas turned 7 today! We had fun eating, playing hide and seek, drawing chalk art, and mugging for the camera. I have a few more pictures I will put on the media site I have linked in my previous post. Some of them are really cute (of course the subject of the pictures are always cute!).

Thomas loved his transformer "The Millenium Falcon." He has seen the original three movies and loves them! And of course his Dad is sitting on the couch reciting long quotes from the movies as Thomas is flying the Millenium Falcon around the room! A whole new generation of fans.

I took this picture, and several like it, of the kids sitting on my stairs. Aren't they cute?

2006-09-03T17:37:00.000-04:00

I am not sure how to put a link on the side of my blog for my pictures. So I am posting the link right here.

http://www.winkflash.com/photo/public.aspx?u=LJH916

I had the best time in Kansas with my family.

I am going to add a few of my favorite pictures here on the site. But you can see them all through the link above.

This was the first opportunity I had to meet Madi. Please note Beth, I am holding her before you!

These are the four "Greats" together. I had no problem asking them to smile (or say cheese) on this picture. The Zsuzics children just adore Madi!

For some reason I did not get a picture of Madi with her Grandparents together. But I did get some good shots of each of them holding her.

But I did get one of Madi with her Great Grandparents! She is such a doll.

And don't you just love this one of Dad at the shop?

I had such a nice time in Kansas visiting with all the family.

2006-08-24T21:19:00.000-04:00

As you can tell, I am finally getting my railroad tie curbing replaced with granite curbing. Here in New Hampshire granite curbing is everywhere. They use salt on the roads during the winter and so concrete curbing would just disintegrate. Besides New Hampshire is known as the "Granite State." I think you can see from both these pictures that in addition to the curbing, I think I am also getting about a foot or a foot and half more of yard. This first picture particularly shows where the road was and by that then, where the old curbing was. The granit curbing is about a foot and a half further out into the road. I wonder if they are going to discover the change or just leave it like that. I guess I don't mind, but it does seem odd that the road in front of my house is narrower than in front of my neighbor's house.

So now it is up to me to figure out how to make the new curbing look right with my yard. Does anyone know, should the yard be even with the top of the curbing? Or can I leave the curbing higher than the yard? It might be kind of dangerous. But if the yard is to be higher, then I am going to have to do something about making my yard more level!

2006-08-21T21:29:00.000-04:00

This morning I read about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3. These guys were pretty amazing! They are being prepared to be thrown into a fiery furnace and their response to the king is "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." The furnace was so hot that the men throwing them into the fire were killed. Yet, they survived and "their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them." It is so easy to limit ourselves by not recognizing how truly awesome is our God.

2006-08-20T16:59:00.000-04:00

These are a couple of pictures of my freshly painted house. It also includes a picture of my newly redone porch. I am pleased with how nicely it turned out. The previous paint job was a little dull looking compared to this new paint. But I stayed with the same color. I love the red and cream color look.

Notice above the garage door I have a Pennsylvania Dutch "sign". It was hanging inside the garage. I had the painter hang it instead of the huge wreath that was there previously. This particular design stands for friendship. If you want to read about these signs you can link here to http://www.amishnews.com/featurearticles/Storyofhexsigns.htm.

I looked to see what actually constitutes being "Pennsylvania Dutch." I checked it out on the internet. This is what I read:

The Pennsylvania Dutch are not even Dutch at all. They are not from the country that we know today as the Netherlands. Some say that the Pennsylvania Dutch should be more properly known as Pennsylvania German. Deutsch means German and the early English in America corrupted the term Deutsch to Dutch. The term German though had a different meaning before 1800. The Germans were not members of a formal country at that time, but were a loose collection of principalities, free cities, protectorates and confederations. The country that we know today as Germany came into being in 1848 with the unification process starting around 1800. German areas before 1800 included areas that are now part of Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Russia, France and other areas as well as Germany. A more formal definition of Pennsylvnia Dutch then are those that came to America from those areas where the German language was spoken before 1800. Those that came after 1800 are usually referred to as Pennsylvania Germans or just German imigrants.

So I suppose technically our family may not be able to trace our roots back before 1800. I have not done a geneology history of Gram Helm's family (Hardy) or Grandpap Helm's family, but I suspect that they were closest to being here before 1800. I know that Grandmommy Holdren's family (Mundrick) were only first generation American, so they probably came in the late 1800's. I don't know about the rest. I will have to check it out someday. But in the meantime, I like the looks of the Pennsylvania Dutch sign.

2006-08-20T05:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Deerfield Old Home Days. Thomas' (and Tommy's) Cub Scouts had a float in the parade. It was the best float! You can see Steven sitting in the float, but I don't know which of the white helmets is Thomas. Tom rode in the jeep pulling the float. The kids had candy they were tossing all along the parade route. After this float my next favorite was one the local nursing home had. I didn't get a picture of it until they were finished, but you will get an idea from this picture. They had the float filled with residents all dressed in World War II uniforms. They had a truck decked out like a USO show (with the people that could stand for the parade) and then the trailer with the "soldiers" that needed to sit. It was great. One of the older gentleman they were helping from the float looked pretty tired, and maybe even a little "out of it." But when he walked past Lauren standing with Tommy, he patted her on the head. He had enjoyed himself. The whole parade was quite fun. They had all the local emergency vehicles as well as a few from neighboring communities. So they were noisy. Kathy and I both raised our eyebrows at the "Mass Casuality Unit" when it went by! It was shared by Raymond, Deerfield and Newfields, funded by Homeland Security.

I am going to add a few of the extra pictures from today. It was a fun afternoon.

"Astronaut" Thomas had completed his mission to distribute candy all along the parade route.

Thomas, Steven and Kathy's Dad. Riding in a parade was hot, hard work. Both boys needed water right away! They are so cute.

Cub Scout leader Tom and his mother-in-law Diane.

These are a couple of random parade shots. For a small town, they had a nice parade. It was fun to watch. There were a lot more "floats." Everyone on the floats knew someone along the side of the road and were talking back and forth with the parade viewers. It was a fun parade and I enjoyed the "small town" atmosphere of the parade.

2006-08-18T21:23:00.000-04:00

Except for a long ride home on the bus today, this was a very quiet Friday! The bus was delayed because of emergency vehicles swarming all along the bridge over the Merrimack River on 93 in Methuen, MA. There were emergency personnel on jet skis in the river as well. I wonder if it might have been a jumper. It certainly did tie up traffic this afternoon.

2006-08-17T22:44:00.000-04:00

In the movie On the Town, three sailors are on liberty in New York City and they sing:

New York, New York, a wonderful town.
The Bronx is up, but the Battery's down.
The people ride in a hole in the groun'.
New York, New York, it's a wonderful town!

But the next time Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jule Munshen sing the verse they say:

New York, New York, a visitor's place,
Where no one lives on account of the pace,
But seven millions are screaming for space.
New York, New York, it's a visitor's place!

I am glad I was just a visitor in New York! I had a great visit. But I like Boston better and I love coming home to New Hampshire!

2006-08-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

We finished our training class today at 2:30! A guaranteed way to get good evaluation comments is to end the class early! But we did accomplish all that we had intended. It took me a while to get the room cleaned up and back to the hotel. I needed a nap, but I spent about an hour doing some work. Besides, the hotel was testing their fire alarm system! It was incredibly annoying. I finally was able to nap later in the afternoon.

After a ride around the harbor in a speed boat and a water view of the Statute of Liberty, we had supper at the South Street Harbor. We ate at a Cuban restuarant. It was quite good! One of women I had supper with works for the New York health department. She had said that her daughter was late the morning of 911 and as a result she had to take the train to work instead of driving. If she had been on time that day, she would have driven and would have been parking her car in the WTC at the time the buildings were hit. As it was, her office was right there at the site. She talked tonight about what emergency actions her office took in response. She said that if her daughter had not made her late, she most likely would have been dead. Judge Teehan from Boston was having supper with us. He then said that his neighbor was supposed to be on one of those flights. He had run to catch the plane, but he was too late. So he caught a later flight. His family thought he was on the plane that flew into the WTC until he called them and let them know he was safe! It was amazing to be sitting in the shadow of all those buildings and hearing about some personal stories about 911.

2006-08-15T20:20:00.000-04:00

I went into St. Paul's Chapel - the miracle building untouched by the 911 tragedy. It became the place where people went to find peace during the days after. "Located directly across from the World Trade Center site, St. Paul's Chapel, part of the Parish of Trinity Church, was home to an extraordinary eight-month volunteer relief effort after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Unwavering Spirit, an interactive exhibit, honors that ministry and its legacy of love and compassion." (From their website.) Even after five years it was still quite moving to wander through the exhibits and the chapel. I had to stop reading the exhibits as I was close to tears. I was with the other trainer and I didn't want to have him see me scrambling for a tissue!

I saw the design for the new "Freedom Tower" at the World Trade Center site. It will be 1776 feet tall, over 400 feet taller than either of the twin towers. The "tower" at the top of the building is supposed to mirror or mimic the Statute of Liberty. The bottom will begin as a cube 200 feet by 200 feet. As the building goes up, it will become an octagon and then eventually going back to the cube shape at the top. I know that it has been controversial, but I think it is appropriate. It is supposed to be finished by 2009. It will be worth the trip to see it.

2006-08-14T21:40:00.000-04:00

Amtrak's Acela is the best way to travel between Boston and New York. I caught the 7:15 at South Station and was in Penn Station by 11:00. I managed to get in about a two hour nap and then reviewed some of my material for the training I am conducting this week here in New York.

My co-trainer, Jack, was telling me how beautiful the Woolworth building is, particularly the lobby. As we walked by the doors, we tried to see through the lobby doors (no visitors were allowed in the building). We must have looked like real tourist because the guard said she would take us into the lobby. It is a beautiful building. It has been called the Cathedral of Commerce because it is so beautiful. It is really impressive.

2006-08-13T16:10:00.000-04:00

Kenny (the 14 year old son of my friends Ken and Cheryl) graduated from boot camp for the Sea Cadets. This is a teenage version for the Navy. I suspect it is very similar to the Young Marines that Uncle Gene does. It was a great day for a trip down to Cape Cod. He was at Camp Edwards on Otis Air Force Base. He had ten days of drilling and PT and making his bed everyday! He said he is not going to make a bed ever again, except that next year he wants to go back to camp as one of the cadet instructors!

2006-08-12T23:18:00.000-04:00

Today my niece called out "Aunt Linda" as I came in the door at their house today. She is the cutest thing.

We went through a corn maze, looking for information on endangered species. We learned that the Ethiopian Wolf is the most endangered of the dogs.

2006-08-11T22:45:00.000-04:00

Today I had no electricity when I got up. I was able to get ready in the dark with the aid of a small flashlight. But I did not know how to disengage my automatic garage door opener. So I could not get my car out of the garage. I had to catch a ride to the bus depot this morning. I have since learned how to open my garage door without the little black box. I sure could have used Tom's boys standing in front of it this morning opening it with "abracadabra". It always opens for them!

2006-08-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

Today we had pizza for lunch. I commented that it was particularly good since the only pizza I really eat is Dominos. Someone brought up that the man who founded Dominos had "found Jesus." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Monaghan Of course this was said with derision in his voice. Nothing came to my head to say except "well they deliver to my house!" I am not sure there would have been an appropriate response, but I wonder if I should have remembered Romans 1:16 & 17!

2006-08-09T21:07:00.000-04:00

Saturday I went fishing for the first time this season. I paid $37 for a fishing license and I did not even cast my pole in the water - but I had a grand time. I went with my nephews and brother and their cub scout den. I helped untangle lines, bait hooks and I even took a few pictures.

We didn't catch any fish, but all the boys did earn a merit badge. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.