On Friday afternoon, the Extension office in Walker County hosted a retirement party for Nana. The room was decorated including pictures of Nana from long ago (Dairy Princess in Madisonville, the Trashy Lady in Port Lavaca, and others). There was all that great finger food, spinach dip, fruit, ham salad on rye bread, cheeses, and other treats. People came from her distant past and recent past as well as several relatives. People brought and sent presents and flowers. She received about 60 retirement cards. I heard so many people thanking Nana for all she's done. Her District Manager gave her a beautiful plaque and clock. Needless to say, I'm very proud of her.
At the Scott Mulch Plant in Huntsville there were dozens of 18 wheelers lined up to pick up bags of mulch to take across the country. The trucks were coming out loaded rather quickly. It's that time of the year and the first time I've seen that.
It was fun having Jimmy & Ashley come down for the week with Caleb and Jimmy's parents (Arvin & Patsy). On Saturday morning they caught about a dozen bass from 2 to 3 pounds. Caleb and his grandpa Allen flew a kite. They also helped fix my rotortiller and golf cart. I finally got the garden rotortillered today -- woo-hoo! They also helped clean out some more at Nana's mom's house. They left Saturday night about 8:00 pm and got home Sunday at about 6:00 am. Madison is just beginning to show and Nana and I are looking forward to being there when she's born June 20. Nana, Grandma Allen, and I all grew up in Madison Counties (Texas, Arkansas, and Illinois).
Nana and I are happy that Alexa and Aaron will be moving to Fort Collins this summer to start work at CSU. They've been working hard to fix up the house for sale and Alexa's been working hard to finish the Ph. D. degree requirements. We're hoping Donovan will come stay with us for awhile this summer.
I caught this allergy thingee again and am coughing and sneezing continuously. I had to have a 3-hour nap this morning after I got up. I don’t like missing church, but I think the tree pollen started it and in cleaning out the shop yesterday the dust added to it.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Out with Old - In with New
The Purple Martin chicks are sticking their heads out the doorway of the birdhouses and calling for food. What a great sight!
Nana and I were given some leeks to grow a couple years ago and they've multiplied. We decided to dig up a couple and try them. We found a leek-asparagus soup recipe -- tried it with fresh asparagus from the garden -- and loved it. We then made a second pot of it this week. I had never eaten many leeks outside of a rare occurrence of soup in a restaurant.
We cleaned out more of Nana's office yesterday, but still have a little more to go. We're looking forward to getting it all done. Tomorrow's the retirement reception.
The big news is that Alexa and Aaron called last night to make it official -- they're moving to Colorado the end of June. Alexa will be at Colorado State and Aaron will find a research job in Loveland. We're excited about that.
As life moves on it seems to have a new pace. I'm still sorting all this out in my head.
It's amazing what life will bring
When God opens a new Spring.
Nana and I were given some leeks to grow a couple years ago and they've multiplied. We decided to dig up a couple and try them. We found a leek-asparagus soup recipe -- tried it with fresh asparagus from the garden -- and loved it. We then made a second pot of it this week. I had never eaten many leeks outside of a rare occurrence of soup in a restaurant.
We cleaned out more of Nana's office yesterday, but still have a little more to go. We're looking forward to getting it all done. Tomorrow's the retirement reception.
The big news is that Alexa and Aaron called last night to make it official -- they're moving to Colorado the end of June. Alexa will be at Colorado State and Aaron will find a research job in Loveland. We're excited about that.
As life moves on it seems to have a new pace. I'm still sorting all this out in my head.
It's amazing what life will bring
When God opens a new Spring.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Now in Nana's Retirement Era
Well, Nana already found our first project for her retirement -- lay a paver stone patio outside our side door. During the last rain the water stood at the side door, so we thought we'd raise the area a bit also. So she found a 50% off sale on some red paver brick at Home Depot last week and we picked it up with the truck after church yesterday. I had to put more air in the tires before we drove home slowly from Huntsville. We unloaded it today and the truck gave a sigh of relief.
As we were unloading the stone this morning, we saw a flock of about 100 blue jays fly through stopping in the trees and calling "Thief, Thief." They were looking for bird eggs in the trees to steal. Later in the afternoon I saw the wrens out in the citrus orchard fluttering around. I looked in their nest in the lemon tree and the two eggs were gone! The blue jays must have robbed them.
The lemon tree is full of bees -- more than we've seen in a year. That's great news as we were getting worried about the bee situation. I'm working the garden now and eager to put in cantaloupe. Nana and I had trouble getting the bees to pollinate melon last year.
Nana and I are feeling great as we are feeling a lot less pressure. She's almost done with her work and my work has suddenly slowed down. She has just a few more reports to do and a session later in the month. My next trip is to Dallas on April 16-17. The reduced pressure is making it obvious how much we love we other and enjoy being with each other. Wahoo!
Nana is being taken to lunch tomorrow with Nell Williams, a lady she appreciates so much. Then Nana has a doctor's appointment to discuss the mammogram from last week that showed a suspicious object. She might have to experience a biopsy. More later.
As we were unloading the stone this morning, we saw a flock of about 100 blue jays fly through stopping in the trees and calling "Thief, Thief." They were looking for bird eggs in the trees to steal. Later in the afternoon I saw the wrens out in the citrus orchard fluttering around. I looked in their nest in the lemon tree and the two eggs were gone! The blue jays must have robbed them.
The lemon tree is full of bees -- more than we've seen in a year. That's great news as we were getting worried about the bee situation. I'm working the garden now and eager to put in cantaloupe. Nana and I had trouble getting the bees to pollinate melon last year.
Nana and I are feeling great as we are feeling a lot less pressure. She's almost done with her work and my work has suddenly slowed down. She has just a few more reports to do and a session later in the month. My next trip is to Dallas on April 16-17. The reduced pressure is making it obvious how much we love we other and enjoy being with each other. Wahoo!
Nana is being taken to lunch tomorrow with Nell Williams, a lady she appreciates so much. Then Nana has a doctor's appointment to discuss the mammogram from last week that showed a suspicious object. She might have to experience a biopsy. More later.
Monday, March 31, 2008
March Out Like a Lion
March flew by. I had a week (10th to 14th) in Burbank with Warner Bros. facilitating "Writing Netiquette" sessions. One beautiful evening I had a great Oriental dinner sitting outside with my talented cousin Dave (Mongo) Lloyd and his interesting writer friend, Miv, from Wales.
On March 18, Nana and I picked up Alexa and Donovan in Dallas at Love Field, spent the night with Jeff & Emily (and 2 adorable 'munchkins' as EAT puts it), and the next morning Alexa drove home in her "graduation present." Meanwhile we started our 1900 mile trip with Donovan to Big Bend Nat'l Park by stopping in Austin to stuff in Jason to go with us. God has put a taste of heaven in west Texas and Big Bend National Park. Everything was a lot of fun -- we saw a herd of about 100 big horn sheep, I saw a herd (?) of javelina (not hogs but peccary), hundreds of deer, a herd of pronghorn elk, incredible rock formations, the pink granite at Enchanted Rock State Park (near Fredericksburg) , the LBJ Ranch Park (Johnson City), hundreds of windmills (as Donovan called them - "new ones" and "old-timey ones"), the art of Marfa, and the rail tracks through Marfa where Donovan wanted to spend all his time crushing pennies. Retrieving an old railroad spike was the best part of Donovan's trip. We passed through many ghost towns - Study Butte, Terlingua, Boquillas, and others -- a moving experience for a history dreamer. And camping in a tent in the Chisos Mountain Basin with the sun going down and the full moon coming up was a spiritually moving experience. Even hot dogs and chili over a campfire was a memorable experience. But the little coyote running through our camp gave me a quick fright. Nana and Uncle Dudley (Jason) walked almost 3 hrs. and were exhausted that Saturday night. Donovan and I played P's&Q's by flipping a quarter instead of using cards. Darn - I had to get up three times in the middle of the night with TB (tiny bladder). But in so doing I saw the Big Dipper rotate around the North Star for the first time in my life! The unexpected cold and wind on Easter morning made me think of the Lord coming from the tomb.
Nana and I took Jason to the airport to fly back to NYC on March 26 and had a great Luby's lunch with Aunt Jo. Donovan fished that afternoon and on Thursday and Friday catching four 2-lb. bass and several 1-lb bluegills. The pain of his sunburn was offset by the joy of his experience. I enjoyed the fried fish at Luby's and at home!
I flew Donovan back home on March 29, enjoyed a great weekend (although suffering with either allegeries or a cold) with Alexa and Aaron, devoured a meatloaf sandwich at Cracker Barrel, heard a moving sermon on "3-way honesty" at their church, and flew back today.
I'm exhausted. Nana and I have been on the run all month and today was her last day of work - first day of "retirement" is tomorrow. I predict she'll finally sleep in. She's had a crazy busy month also - too many 4 or 5 am mornings and 1 pm bedtimes this month. I'm sure April will come in like a lamb. I'm hoping for daytimes in the garden and evenings just sitting with Nana cracking pecans.
On March 18, Nana and I picked up Alexa and Donovan in Dallas at Love Field, spent the night with Jeff & Emily (and 2 adorable 'munchkins' as EAT puts it), and the next morning Alexa drove home in her "graduation present." Meanwhile we started our 1900 mile trip with Donovan to Big Bend Nat'l Park by stopping in Austin to stuff in Jason to go with us. God has put a taste of heaven in west Texas and Big Bend National Park. Everything was a lot of fun -- we saw a herd of about 100 big horn sheep, I saw a herd (?) of javelina (not hogs but peccary), hundreds of deer, a herd of pronghorn elk, incredible rock formations, the pink granite at Enchanted Rock State Park (near Fredericksburg) , the LBJ Ranch Park (Johnson City), hundreds of windmills (as Donovan called them - "new ones" and "old-timey ones"), the art of Marfa, and the rail tracks through Marfa where Donovan wanted to spend all his time crushing pennies. Retrieving an old railroad spike was the best part of Donovan's trip. We passed through many ghost towns - Study Butte, Terlingua, Boquillas, and others -- a moving experience for a history dreamer. And camping in a tent in the Chisos Mountain Basin with the sun going down and the full moon coming up was a spiritually moving experience. Even hot dogs and chili over a campfire was a memorable experience. But the little coyote running through our camp gave me a quick fright. Nana and Uncle Dudley (Jason) walked almost 3 hrs. and were exhausted that Saturday night. Donovan and I played P's&Q's by flipping a quarter instead of using cards. Darn - I had to get up three times in the middle of the night with TB (tiny bladder). But in so doing I saw the Big Dipper rotate around the North Star for the first time in my life! The unexpected cold and wind on Easter morning made me think of the Lord coming from the tomb.
Nana and I took Jason to the airport to fly back to NYC on March 26 and had a great Luby's lunch with Aunt Jo. Donovan fished that afternoon and on Thursday and Friday catching four 2-lb. bass and several 1-lb bluegills. The pain of his sunburn was offset by the joy of his experience. I enjoyed the fried fish at Luby's and at home!
I flew Donovan back home on March 29, enjoyed a great weekend (although suffering with either allegeries or a cold) with Alexa and Aaron, devoured a meatloaf sandwich at Cracker Barrel, heard a moving sermon on "3-way honesty" at their church, and flew back today.
I'm exhausted. Nana and I have been on the run all month and today was her last day of work - first day of "retirement" is tomorrow. I predict she'll finally sleep in. She's had a crazy busy month also - too many 4 or 5 am mornings and 1 pm bedtimes this month. I'm sure April will come in like a lamb. I'm hoping for daytimes in the garden and evenings just sitting with Nana cracking pecans.
Monday, March 10, 2008
San Antonio Weekend
Nana and I drove to San Antonio last Thursday night to pick up Sister Joy. Then on Friday we toured San Antonio - Huervos Ranchero breakfast, Alamo, Trolley Ride, Mercado, River Walk, Botanical Garden, the Four Missions, King William District, and that old Bermann hotel. It was a packed fun day.
Then on Saturday it was Nana's Aunt Euna Faye's 80th birthday party at the Country Club in LaGrange. It was a great party with Nana's aunts, uncles, and cousins (lots of them).
A great worship Sunday morning at Madisonville and then worked all afternoon to get ready for a week in Burbank. Nana and I have been tired -- sleeping long and solidly each night lately -- travel gets to us.
Then on Saturday it was Nana's Aunt Euna Faye's 80th birthday party at the Country Club in LaGrange. It was a great party with Nana's aunts, uncles, and cousins (lots of them).
A great worship Sunday morning at Madisonville and then worked all afternoon to get ready for a week in Burbank. Nana and I have been tired -- sleeping long and solidly each night lately -- travel gets to us.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Workbook Frenzy
A crazy busy day yesterday. Nana helped me put together 75 workbooks yesterday to ship to Warner Bros. for my sessions there next week. Putting workbooks together - strategy, development, printing, collation, packing, and shipping it off is fun when we do it together. After that we went to a basketball game at SHSU to watch them thrash UTSA. I love b-ball, but the game made me want to coach basketball again. I had a great time when I coached little league back in about 1988-1991. It was also exciting to get the phone call from Alexa at Colorado State saying they offered her a post-doc position for next year. What a day!
Today Nana has a presentation at SHSU so I'm going with her and will get a blood test while she's there. Then we leave for San Antonio to meet Joy who's flying in for a conference. We'll spend Friday with her sight-seeing in the Alamo city.
Today Nana has a presentation at SHSU so I'm going with her and will get a blood test while she's there. Then we leave for San Antonio to meet Joy who's flying in for a conference. We'll spend Friday with her sight-seeing in the Alamo city.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Trip to Birmingham, Alabama
I'm at the Birmingham airport with Nana, about to fly home. We came over the weekend to visit Bill Moss (college buddy) and his wife Pat. Then yesterday I visited trainers at Maxwell AFB, Verizon Wireless in Huntsville, and at NASA's Marshall Space Center. Hopefully some new business will come out of this. Nana and I had a great time together, and I really liked having the companionship on a business trip. They can be so lonely.
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