Tom Cruise

How embarrasing.  Jet, Ben, and I spent the day in Atlanta yesterday shopping, eating, and then more shopping.  While stopping in at Yankee Candle at the Perimeter Mall, the girl at the counter shouted out to me in amazement, “Oh my gosh!  Did you know that you look just like Tom Cruise!” to which I responded while walking away, “Oh, no” in my best, “you got to be kidding me” voice.  She wouldn’t let me have the last word, though, as she then said “I really do mean it, you look just like him!”.  What is up with that?  I don’t think that I look anything like him … anything.  But over the past few years, this is probably the fifth or sixth time someone has stopped me and told me that.  I haven’t been mistaken for any other celebrity, just Tom Cruise.  What gives?

Anyways, I hope you like the pictures this time as much as we do.  The first few are of Ben and Donald, mostly of Ben wearing Donald’s straw hat.  The next couple are of Ben and his “Donald Trump” look.  I sometimes like slicking Ben’s hair back when we are walking, which gives most people a good laugh.  He is sitting on the bench we bought at a rummage sale last weekend, which as you can see, is now painted and ready for use.  Last evening we got about a good hour of rain and there was a huge rainbow afterwards, so we took a few pictures of that.  Then the next couple of pictures are of Ben in his new wagon, which was the first time that we put him in a hat that he did not want to just tear it off his head.  We bought the wagon for only $30 at Target last weekend, but it was missing the rear axel, that is, the thing that you attach the two back wheels to.  I sent an e-mail request to the company to have it replaced and Jet called the next day to say the same.  So, of course, we ended up getting two rear axel’s in the mail.  Anyways, Ben has enjoyed the rides in the wagon, perhaps just because it changes our walks up a little from only using the Baby Bjorn.  Then the last picture was taken this morning (Monday).  Ben always likes sleeping on one side, then switching to the other in the middle of the night.  As a result, his hair always looks like that when he wakes up.  Thought you might enjoy these.

Woman of the Year!

There is some exciting news to pass along … Jet’s Mom was voted as “Business Woman of the Year” in her hometown of Phitsanulok, Thailand.  That is no small feat when you consider that Phitsanulok is a city of nearly one million people!  There will be a ceremony to honor Jet’s Mom on August 9th (I believe), which was during the time that she was planning to be in Switzerland.  As a result, Jet’s Mom has cancelled her trip to Switzerland so that she doesn’t miss a thing.  And since Jet’s Mom is not going, Jet and Ben have decided not to go to Switzerland as well.  That is sad news for Jet’s sister, Pookie, but (selfishly) great news for me.  To make up for that trip, we are thinking about visiting a variety of locations, such as the Georgia Apple Festival, Chattanooga, Rock City, and/or Nashville.  We will keep you posted on any developments.

Southern Shopper

There have been quite a few developments down here over the past day.  First and foremost, we are all glad that One (Josh) is back home and recouperating.  When I spoke to him on Sunday night he mentioned that he was “luckier” than me because his Dad (Bryon) was going to take him to the batting cages, bowling, mini-golf, and to the water park.  I couldn’t agree more.

Yesterday (Monday) Ben finally began to crawl forward!  What an exciting time.  Ben just gets on all fours as if he is about to do a push-up, crouches back like a frog about to jump, then springs forward moving his arms and in the process, moving his legs in the same rhythm to go forward a few steps.  We figured it would only be a matter of time because he has been able to “scoot” backwards for the past few weeks and was able to move his legs and arms in the correct motion to crawl forward, but never coordinated for it to work.  Amazingly enough, he was also able to move from the crawl position to a sitting position for the first time yesterday as well.  What a lot of fun!

Just under two weeks ago Jet applied for a position at JSU to teach English as a Second Language (ESL), which was a position we both felt that she was well-qualified for.  Well, yesterday evening she got a call-back and did a phone interview, which Jet thought went well.  I really hope so because this would be a great opportunity for her and wonderful to work together.  Jet let the person doing the interview know that she will be leaving for Switzerland next week, so hopefully she will find out soon if there is any further interest in her.

Last night, while I was at the lodge, Jet called in to the Southern Shopper and got some gift certificates to the Annistonian restaurant!  Jet’s heart was still racing when I arrived back home and she couldn’t wait to tell me how nervous and thrilling it was to hear her voice on TV talking with them.  Southern Shopper surely is one thing I missed about going to lodge every Monday night, but at least it looks like we will be going out to eat later this week.  We will keep you updated on how everything goes.

Bennie and [the] Jet[s]

Nothing as exciting happening down here as up in Milwaukee it seems.  All three of us down here were on edge waiting for the updates on Josh’s condition (you could just see it in Ben’s eyes), and we are all glad that he is pulling through.  I’m sure that it won’t be long until One (that’s Josh’s nickname, Aunt Sue) and I are able to be playing kickball or footy together.  On Friday, we got a much needed rain for about two hours, and since then, the weather has just been beautiful – sunshine with temperatures in the 80’s – 90’s.  We took our evening walk at Oxford lake last night (Saturday) and just really enjoyed the weather.  Today we may travel up to Mt. Cheaha for a bit more sightseeing and relaxation.

Jet got some take-home Golden Rule BBQ on Friday for lunch, and we were not very impressed.  The BBQ was good, no doubt, but we both felt that Brads BBQ tasted better.  Perhaps we need to wait beyond the opening week to eat there or at least sit-down and order a meal to give their food a complete and full evaluation.  Yesterday morning there was a multi-family rummage happening in the neighborhood next to us up on the hill (Hidden Oaks) that was fun to walk around and see everyones wares up for sale.  Although there were many items we had an interest in, we simply bought a small bench for Ben that was in need of a little TLC.  After we brought the bench home, we placed it in the front of our house and it fit just perfectly.  After we get the bench cleaned up and painted, we will just have to get a picture of Ben in it.  At the rummage, without exception, every family we met introduced themselves to us and said two things; 1) they recognized us from our everyday walks and 2) they thought Ben was just a “beautiful looking girl”.  Yikes!  Looks like Ben is in need of a haircut in a bad way.  I have convinced Jet to hold off cutting his hair until her trip to Switzerland so that it will give her Mom something fun to do during her visit.

Speaking of Switzerland, Jet and Ben’s trip is still on.  They will leave on Tuesday, July 31 at 4:45 pm and return on Thursday, August 16 at 1:40 pm; so they will be gone for a little over two weeks.  On Saturday, August 4, I will be running in a 5K in Anniston; the Woodstock 5k.  It appears that it will be a pretty big event as they are limiting it to 500 runners and are calling it the “Alabama 5k State Championship” – my chance to be a state champion!  Yeah, right.  There will be a pasta dinner the night before and a breakfast after the race, so it seems like it will be a lot of fun.  So there are a few things on the horizon for all of us down here.

One last item of note, before we went walking at Oxford lake yesterday evening, I played “Bennie and the Jets” for Jet.  It was the first time she heard the song, er …., first time she heard the actual song instead of me singing it in a high, disasterously out-of-pitch voice, that it.

Moving Out

Strange as it seems, almost every week for the past month there has been a current resident of our neighborhood putting their house up for sale.  First it was Buddy 1 (wanted to move in with his daughter), next it was Thomas and Sandra (would like to move back to old community/church), then it was the neighbor across the street (daugher and grandsons moved in with her, so now needs a bigger house), and then another person down the block.  The most bizzare case of this was a couple that closed on their house earlier in the month, is now on vacation getting their stuff moved from Texas, got a phone call from his work to relocate to South Korea for two years … starting mid-August!  How strange this is.  At least it doesn’t appear to be because of us.

Tonight we are planning on going out to eat at Golden Rule, which is the latest restaurant to open in Oxford.  Yes, it is another BBQ place, but ever since it was known that one was being built in the area, all the neighbors were abuzz.  Apparently they have the best BBQ in the world, at least that is opinion of many people down here.  We’ll find out tonight.

One Ounce

Jet visited the Breastfeeding support group yesterday (every Wednesday) and found out that Ben only gained one ounce in the last week.  Just one ounce!  Will he stop growing?  After the meeting finished, they invited Jet to join them for lunch at the Olive Garden.  Jet said that it was not a good experience because the service there was not good and there were ten screaming babies.  Anyways, they invited Jet and Ben to a pool party today that she is considering attending.  If they do go, it will be the first time Ben has been swimming.

Things have still been pretty busy around here.  I have been spending a bit of time at school getting ready for the fall semester (starts in about one month) and working on a couple of Websites; one for our department and mine for school.  Unfortunately there is still a bit of work that needs to be done there.

We did not go to Atlanta over the weekend because we were all sick with colds.  In fact, we are still not yet fully recovered and I fear that we gave it to both Donald and Linda.  On Monday Jet took Ben in for his six-month visit/shots and apparently was quite the trooper.  When I saw him in the afternoon he was in good shape.  Jet has been going to get shots a couple times each week for her allergies.  Needless to say, there has been a bit of action on the health front down here.

The weather has been pretty much the same as before.  There have been some scattered showers in the area over the past few weeks, but rarely have they reached us (usually go just north or south of us), and when they have, we get just a few minutes of rain.  I guess anything is better than nothing.  The tempertures have been pretty good, only reaching the low 90’s every day.  We have spent most of our time indoors so the weather has really not been a factor.  As for our garden, I am afraid that the watermelons have been a disaster and the pumpkins a great disappointment.  We have had quite a few watermelons growing, but once they get the size of a bowling ball, they start to rot.  As for the pumpkins, the vines really have just dried up in the heat and we never had any sprout.  As for the other vegetables, we have had lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, onions, zuchhini, and squash in the garden behind the fence.  As for the small garden in our yard, last week Jet trimmed the grape tomatoe bush down because it was just taking over the place.  The bush was about seven feet high and spread out everywhere.  About half of that tomatoe bush appears to be dying now, but since then, our red and yellow peppers have just taken off; each bush growing to about four feet high and sprouting tons of peppers!  Oh well, there are still tons of tomatoes to pick each day despite how much less there is now than before.

Master Mason

It has been a busy week for us here.  All of us have come down with a cold (go figure, it’s 90 degrees outside!) and have been fighting to recover from that.  Ben now weighs seventeen pounds, six ounces and he continues to grow.  Next week he will be six months old, will go in for his next doctor visit, and get the next set of shots.  That will be a tough day for him.  Jet has been working on her scrapbooking and the work she has done looks really good.  She also applied for a teaching position at JSU (teaching english as a second language), so we are all keeping our fingers crossed because this position appears to be a great fit for her.  Jet has also booked tickets to go to Switzerland with Ben from August 1 to August 15 to visit her sister and mother.  They both miss Ben terribly and their trip will not be that long, well, not as long as their trip to Thailand.  Speaking of Ben, he can sit up on his own very well now and when he doesn’t, he is learning to brace himself with his arms as he falls.  Ben can now crawl, but only in reverse!  I have tried working with him to get him to learn to crawl forward quicker, which I might regret, but he just gets frustrated and fusses a lot.  Ben is still not sleeping throughout the night as he wakes a few times either because he is hungry, lost his pacifier, or has had a nightmare.  I wonder what it is that Ben has nightmares about.  As for myself, I have been busy at school every day this week working on research and getting ready for the fall semester.  Last night my lodge held a special session to initiate me as a master mason, so I have now reached the final degree in freemasonry.  Donald attended, which was special since he had surgery the day before to remove a melanoma skin cancer from his face and he looked in bad shape and felt even worse.  I am now considering becoming a Shriner because of all of the charitable work that they do for children.  I will let you know if that goes anywhere.  We are planning on going to Atlanta tomorrow to relax, do some shopping, pick up some groceries, and eat some good food.  With the week that we have had, I am sure that it will do some good to recharge our batteries.

Pictures!

Below are some of the pictures from our week in Milwaukee.  Our flight/drive back home was rather uneventful.  It was overcast and in the 70’s for most of yesterday which was nice to come back and relax to.  Linda made us a very delicous fried chicken/biscuits/green beans dinner with peach cobbler for dessert.  What a nice surprise to come back home to.  I will be off at JSU for most of the next few weeks working on research and the upcoming semester while Jet will still be in job hunting mode.  Ben has his six-month check-up coming in the next week, so we will keep everyone updated on that and other things happening down here.

Back To Bama

Well, one week always seems a lot shorter after it has passed than before it has arrived.  On Friday, Jet and I took Ben, Josh, and Ty mini-golfing out in Waukesha and had a good time.  The rest of the evening we played basketball and kickball at Kristin’s house, which was enough to wear us down to nothing.  Saturday morning, nearly everyone joined in for breakfast at El Greco – no Cracker Barrel.  We wanted to have something different than what we could have in Alabama, so Jet ordered a Mediterranean omelet while I ordered a Country-style omelet.  After playing with the kids for most of the day, Saturday night the rest of the family (Jenny, Stephanie, and Janette with their kids) arrived to celebrate Maggie’s birthday.  The party was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to get a “grand-kids” picture in with Ben and a chance for the rest of the sisters to meet him in person.  Since our flight leaves Milwaukee at 7:00am this morning (Sunday), we had to say our good-byes after the party last night, which was a somber moment for us.

Thank you everyone for making our week back in Milwaukee enjoyable and worthwhile.  It was great having the chance to see everyone once again, spend time with you, and eat way too much food.  A special thank you goes out to Matt and Sandy for opening up your home to us once again and being so kind to make sure that we were welcome in your home.  Maggie, thank you for being so kind as to take Jet out for coffee and bagels in the morning to give her a taste of life back in Milwaukee – it really did bring tears to Jet’s eyes.  Kristin and Sandy, thank you for letting us use your cars anytime we needed and helping out with Ben when we needed a rest.  And a huge thank you to Dad for picking us up and willing to drop us off (no questions asked) so early on Sunday morning at the airport.  What a guy.  And thank you to everyone else that made our trip that much more enjoyable.  Until the next time we are back in town, thank you very much.

Still Here

With only a few days left in Milwaukee, there has been no shortage of excitement.  The gathering at Kristin’s for the 4th went well with lots of food (too much, of course) and a wild fireworks display.  The show went off without a hitch except for two medium-sized multi-shot fireworks that kept everyone on their toes.  These fireworks had about 9 shots in them and after shooting off about half of them its weight shifted, fell over, and sent the remaining shots off into the crowd.  As I said, it certainly kept everyone on their toes.

Yesterday, with a tremendous amount of help from my brother-in-law Matt, we painted part of my Dad’s house.  Maggie came over as well to get an idea of the project ahead of the family next weekend as they will rummage off everything they can in his basement and garage.  During that process, we were able to dismantle some old aluminum chairs that were recycled that helped free up a slightly modest amount of space.  It will take a lot more of those modest improvements to make a difference there.

Today Jet and I will take Josh, Ty, and Ben mini-golfing.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful today, 80 degrees and no chance of rain, which is in contrast to the mid-80’s and scattered showers we had for the past three days.  Tomorrow it is forecasted to be 90 while Sunday will be 96.  Funny.  It appears that we will have to leave Milwaukee for Alabama to escape the heat (forecast is 90 degrees in Alabama on Sunday).  It looks as if Alabama should be getting some rain this coming week as well.  Watching the national forecast last night they highlighted northern Alabama as currently being the driest in the US (most extreme drought) and listed Anniston as being 20 inches below the average and Tuscaloosa being 22 inches below the average.  That type of weather has made it tough on our garden.  I just wonder how bad of shape it will be in when we return Sunday morning.