Is it February already?!

I look at the calendar and see that we are approaching the end of February. I enjoy reading everyone else's blog, so I guess that I better be more diligent in writing something on mine.

Here are some of the activities that have been going on recently. First of all, Leanna turned 17 this month. We celebrated by going to "Taste of Texas." Very nice steaks, very pricey! But she will never turn 17 again so we treated her.

My nephew (who is a year older than I am), Michael Criddle (Melvin's oldest son) came to town on business. He spent his last night in Houston with us. I took him to the temple for a session before dropping him off at the airport the next day.



I have an old missionary companion coming to town this next week on business and he will be staying with us. I look forward to swapping old stories with him. The only problem is that I am hosting a week-long training workshop and will have very little time. I even had to get a substitute seminary teacher for this week since I have to go into the office early and may have to work late. I have people coming in from all over the world.

Mom has been on a lucky streak lately. No, she didn't win the lottery. But she did win tickets (great seats) to the Houston Rodeo next month. She also won the door prize at the "old ladies at the college" class for a $50 dinner at a nice restaurant. This past week we attended a free, Smooth Jazz concert at the college. Afterwards, they had refreshments. A perfect date - great entertainment and then they feed you - all for free!

I assume many of you have already seen how Mom has redecorated the Master bedroom. She made the curtain and all the pillow covers. It took a long time to find the bed spread and lamps. Doesn't it look great?! Watching all those HGTV shows really paid off!

New Years Day

I had a "Texas" type of New Year's day. First, since we live in the south and it is still the growing season, I spent the morning raking leaves and mowing the lawn. (Bet none of you did that on New Year's day!) Next, since it's NYD - and there is lots and lots of football on the tube, I enjoyed the many games. In fact, I'm using the laptop while I'm lying here in bed watching the Rose Bowl as I write this blog.
We invited our local missionaries to spend yesterday with us. They agreed to come, and brought six other missionaries with them. We had 4 elders and 4 sisters. I had set up the back room with the ping pong table, air hockey, and foosball. (It was their P-Day and they weren't suppose to tract the day before N.Y.) Mom had sandwiches for them to eat. We baked cookies for dessert while they played games. They seemed to have a good time. It was nice that we could give them some service.
Mom got out a puzzle that we put together during the evening. (Leanna had to work last night and then went over to a friend's home to light fireworks.) It was a puzzle map of Texas that was educational as well as fun.
Mom is cooking some "little smokies" and some of those spinach balls that we frequently have during the holidays. It smells great. She sure makes it hard to lose weight!
We've done some maintenance items over the holidays. Our garage door always seems to stop working when the weather gets cool - it goes up two inches and then comes back down. I called a specialist to come and fix it. (Mom is now happy that she doesn't have to get out of the car to help the garage door open when it's cold.) Next, we hired a guy to come and grind the tree stump that was next to the back room. I've never seen that done before. (It made lots of great mulch for us.)
Mom and I will spend tomorrow at the temple. I am enjoying sleeping in during the holidays. We've gone to the library a couple of times already to get movies and reading materials. It has been a very nice vacation/holiday time. I'm sure I'm going to be sad to see the end of my time off.

Didn't I Just Rake those Leaves?

One of the disadvantages of living in the South is that the growing season lasts - oh, maybe 11+ months of the year! This weekend the temperature in Houston was in the 80's and I worked up a sweat raking the leaves and mowing the lawn. (It's hard to get into the Christmas spirit with high temps and humidity.) I noticed today that the back yard is in need of raking - again. Trees are wonderful things until they start to drop their leaves.

I have one tree in the front yard that begins to drop it's leaves in August. But it is now putting on it's second set of leaves for the year. They will be on the tree until February, and then I'll get to rake them again. New leaves will come on again in March.

Mom is visiting Bethany/Zak/Jaks in Phoenix this week so Nanna and I are "batching" it. We will survive, but we miss the "heart" of our home. Yesterday afternoon, Leanna and I put up the Christmas tree and nativity sets. I wasn't as structured as when Mom puts the lights and ornaments on the tree, but Nan and I both think it looks great.

I only have 8 more working days this year. I am taking every Friday off and my last day is Dec 20th. I return to work on January 7. I'm looking forward to the break (and to not teaching early morning seminary.)

They Came, We Saw, He Conquered

We had a wonderful visit with Beth, Zak, and Jakson at Thanksgiving. It was great to be able to visit with them and - especially, to bond with Jakson. He and Grandpa had a great time together. (Thus - he conquered our hearts.) He is a very "busy" boy - always wanting to do something. We pulled out all the old toys that were worth keeping. I remember when Jeff/Jon played with the same toys. It was also nice to be able to give him back to his parents when he started to smell.

Mom invited a widow lady from our ward to spend Thanksgiving dinner with us. She commented on Sunday how much she enjoyed being with us.

Bethany helped to make my blog better looking. Thanks to her!

I've posted some pictures of the week on my Web Album. Click on the link on the right to view.

Slow - Slow - Quick Quick

We've still got it!

If I were asked what was the most valuable class we took in college, and what we still use all these many years since graduation - I'd have to say social dance. Mom/Anne signed us up at the local community college to take a dance class this semester. The class has been going on for several weeks (like about 6 weeks) but this last Thursday was the first time I was able to attend with her. (My AP trip and stake meetings prevented us from attending earlier classes together.)

The class is just a bunch of us oldies who get together for this class. Someone brings a CD player and music. Mom and I are the youngest couple there. Anyway, as the class progressed, the instructors commented that we must have taken dance classes before. We admitted that we had in college. Everyone was amazed that we still knew many of the steps. (I guess it's because I kept my skills up while dancing with Bethany in the kitchen when she was young!) The instructors had to leave early to go to a play at the college while the rest of us stayed to practice. It ended up that Anne and I became the "substitute" teachers and were showing steps to the other couples. Then, since there were more ladies than men in attendance, Mom sat down while I danced with another old lady. It was a fun evening. We have a few more classes to attend this semester.

On Friday, Mom had volunteered to assist at the college play taking tickets and serving the refreshments after the play/musical. (It was Kismet, for those who want to know.) Mom was put in charge of all the volunteers that night and she was short-handed. So I got to help take tickets, seat people, serve the refreshments and clean up afterwards. The play wasn't that professional (kind of what you'd expect from a community college), but it was a fun evening. I enjoyed working together with Mom. We are going to more of these kind of activities over time.

It is the Best of Times, it is the Worst of Times

We are having our two weeks of good weather in the fall. The evening temperatures are into the 50's. The daytime temps are in the low 70's. No humidity, bright sunny days. The weather is such that we want to leave our windows open all the time to get the fresh air. Mom and I go for a walk both Sat/Sun mornings just to enjoy the weather. It is the best of times.

The downside is that ragweed pollen fills the air and my eyes are dry and itchy. I am able to use a nose spray so that my sinuses don't give me a problem like when we first moved to Texas. But I have to be very careful to not touch my eyes or they really give me fits. It is the worst of times (at least for my eyes.)

I still have 15 days of vacation to take before the end of the year. We planned it out so that I am off every Friday for a half or a full day. This past weekend I used the time to take care of some necessary "honey-do's" that needed to be done.

We gave the two sofa's that were upstairs away to Salvation Army (the brown love seat and the white leather sofa). We also donated three old recliners to the SA. After I got back from my trip, Mom and I went shopping for some new furniture. We now have a nice leather sofa for the family room and two leather recliners for the master bedroom. Too bad our kids don't live close to us so that we could recycle our old furniture to them. (Maybe that is why they don't live close - hummm?)

If it's Friday, this must be Singapore

I'm sitting here in the Singapore airport waiting for my next flight to Hong Kong. The business lounge has free computers for passengers to use, so I'll take a few minutes and just say hello to everyone. I'm halfway through my AP trip, and I'm looking forward to my return home. I was pleased to have Jonathan call me yesterday as I stood in line at McDonalds waiting for my breakfast. I talk to Mom every day since my cell phone is a world phone and is suppose to work everywhere.

I will spend this next week end in Hong Kong and attend church there. Regular services due the the time difference with General Conference. (I'm having trouble typing this note as some of the letters on the keyboard are in different locations.) Next Wednesday I fly to Shanghai - a new location for me.

I've been fighting a bug the past few days. (It better not be malaria!) One student I had this week told me as he shook my hand how he almost didn't come to the class because he had been sick, but didn't want to miss my training. I thanked him for his interest and discretely wiped my hand on my pant leg. :-)

I'll be sending out a letter of "AP Week Two" when I'm next in the office on Monday. My love to all.