Little of Nothing Much

Sunday, November 11 – Saturday, November 17, 2007

Sunday, November 11

Happy Veterans Day and a huge “Thank You” to all who have served our country through military service!

After all the late night activities in Hobbs last night, we were a bit slow moving around this morning. Barbara was a touch under the weather from the long day, so she stayed at home while I joined Mother, Ernie, and Billee for the early church service before coming back to Big V for the morning.

Our main job for today was to begin printing the second volume of our journal. One might ask, “Isn’t this a little late?” One would definitely be right about that. We spent the first part of July proofing the entries since January 1. Everything was about ready to go when my Dell (with ALL the entries for six months in its memory) crashed. We had it repaired in Albuquerque, but didn’t immediately back it up. We had no more than gotten back to Artesia when it went down again. We bought a new laptop for me, but that didn’t help get the information back, and I began to lose interest in the project.

When we went to Marianna, Florida, in October to pick up Aunt Glennis, we were pleasantly surprised (heck, even exuberant) when Cousin Danny was able to come over from Tallahassee and not only recover all the data, but get the whole system up and running again. Believe me, the first thing I did after reinstalling the various systems that I use was to back everything up on a new external hard drive!

Having said all that, our interest in getting the journal put together was revived. I purchased three reams of 24# paper, set up my Dell and the printer on the “buffet table” in the kitchen area of Big V, and was ready to start up our print shop.

Since we have a relatively small printer, I have to constantly monitor the ink levels as I print out the various entries. Unfortunately, the color cartridges and the black ink cartridges don’t run out together, and if I fail to keep an eye on things, I end up with one or more pages of pictures with no text, or text with pictures that have some pretty funky colors.

Anyway, I got the process started today. Each journal takes about 3 hours to complete, and there’s not much else I can do except watch the ink levels and the paper supply and put the sections together as they are printed. This picture shows the computer and printer setup. What it doesn’t show is the tremendous mess of loose papers, stacks of papers, and empty ink cartridge boxes.

Nancy Terpening called while I was running the first of the journals to tell us about the concert presentation by the Artesia Concert Association that was scheduled for this afternoon at the high school auditorium. We had seen some posters around town, but assumed we had already missed it. Of course, we accepted Jerry’s offer to come pick us up at 3:30 for the 4:00 pm concert.

The concert for today was by Gaelic Storm, an Irish band that had the crowd on their feet, clapping, and generally having a great time for 2 ½ hours. Gaelic Storm, a pub band formed about ten years ago, catapulted to fame when the members were cast as the party band in the steerage scene of Titanic. Featuring authentic Irish pub band instruments (as well as a new electronic bagpipe) and a repertoire of traditional Irish songs, the band plays over 125 dates a year to packed houses and clubs. Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the concert and spending the evening with Jerry, Nancy, and Becky.

Monday, November 12

After getting a few more sections of the journal printed off, we went to Mother’s house to wash clothes and take care of some chores around her house. Since we had several loads of clothes going, we made two or three trips between Big V and the house, trying to accomplish some of the minor chores of the day in between handling loads of wash.

Tuesday, November 13

While we were visiting with Nancy last night she and Barbara discussed Barbara getting in one last mowing on their property. Since this is something Barbara really likes to do, I went out early this morning and got the riding mower ready to go. Jerry bags the grass when he does his front and back yards, but we don’t try to use the bags when were mowing off the range grasses, so I had to disconnect some of the system before Barbara could “saddle up and ride off in a (literal) cloud of dust. (Barbara: As crazy as they all think I am, this is a special time for me to do something useful and reflect on important issues at the same time!)

While Barbara was mowing, I did some of the minor chores around Big V. It seems that, just like with a house, there’s always something that needs to be done.

When she finished on Jerry and Nancy’s property, Barbara brought the mower back and began cutting some of the tall grasses and weeds between Big V and Jean’s house. Unfortunately, the mower ran out of gas after about three rounds, so I grabbed a gas can and went to town to get some more “go juice.” I was going to finish what Barbara had started, but after running for about a minute, the mower shut down and wouldn’t restart…no clicks, chugs, or anything, so we moved it back to the barn until we could talk to Jerry about it.

The afternoon was spent printing and collating sections of the journal…it’s beginning to look like a never-ending project.

This evening I called Jerry and asked him about the lawn mower…seems he’s had that problem before when an in-line fuse blew out…sure was glad to think that it wasn’t going to be anything serious…will just have to find out tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 14

We had the first rumblings of winter early this morning. About 8:00 am a storm front hit the Artesia area with a vengeance. Visibility was reduced to almost zero for a few minutes as heavy wind gusts stirred up the dust and dirt in the area and temperatures began dropping. It never got really cold, but it wasn’t the balmy 80’s that we have been experiencing.

Susan came over from Hobbs to work today, so Barbara and I met her and Jean for our usual Wednesday luncheon at Chaos. Jerry and Nancy missed lunch with us because they were preparing to leave for Albuquerque to attend a Bill Cosby show.

After lunch we went by Mother’s house and then came back to Big V for a short nap. When I woke up, I went out to check the fuse in the lawn mower. Sure enough, it was burned. Luckily, I had a spare fuse of that size with my motorcycle gear, so I installed a good one, fired up the lawnmower, and went out to clear the area between the fence line and the road. The downside of all that activity was that I was soon covered with dirt, so I had to take another shower as soon as I got everything put away. As we say around here, “Cleanliness is next to…impossible.”

Tonight we went over to Jean’s house to sample her latest culinary adventure. She found an old recipe for fruitcake cookies. She made several batches, experimenting with different times and temperatures. We thought that all of the efforts were tasty, but the last batch really hit the spot.
Thursday, November 15

Finally…The first six copies of the journal are completed (well, as complete as we can make them here in Big V). All that is left is to print off the cover pages and take them to the print shop for binding. Volume Two of the journal (January 1 – June 30) runs about 230 pages…a bit longer than Volume One, but then, we had a few more adventures this six months than before.

After dropping the journals off at the print shop, we drove up to Roswell to pick up some parts for the motorcycle and visit the used-book store. We had a large tub of books to take in to them and spent some time looking for new reading material. After about 45 minutes we left the store with a new batch of books and $200.00 in credit for future purchases.

We made a quick stop at Cal and Carol’s house to drop off some pecans that we had gathered in Mother’s yard, and then went to Sonic for dinner. By 5:00 pm we had checked in on Mother and returned to Big V.

We made a short trip over to Jean’s to sample her new recipe of eggnog tapioca (very good) and try the fruitcake cookies that had “aged” overnight (also very good). Then, it was back to Big V for the rest of the night.

Friday, November 16

Happy Birthday to son-in-law Ryan McQuitty in Liberal, Kansas!

It was a cloudy, grey, and cool day when we got up, and nothing much changed until after 1:00 pm when the sun started peeking through the clouds.

We spent the morning working on our various chores inside…too cool to enjoy being outdoors today. Barbara was working on a project at her computer, and I continued trying to straighten out the last of the mess that resulted from our journal printing project…nothing earth-shaking going on around here today…just the usual chores that go with any home and family.

We received an email this afternoon from our good friends Abbie and Bill in Lady Lake, Florida. They informed us that they are moving into Crossroads Community Church (the church that we helped to build in March) this week and will have their first service in it on Sunday. They also included the most recent picture of the completed building. We are planning to be in Lady Lake on December 9 for the formal dedication services. We have fond memories of the time we spent with so many volunteers as we worked to get the structure put up and closed in. Certainly, this is a time of reflection and gratitude as we look at what God is accomplishing in that community.

Jean called and invited us out to dinner tonight with her and Becky. At that time, she didn’t know whether Jerry and Nancy would be back from Albuquerque in time to meet us. When we met at the house, the plan was for the four of us to meet Jerry and Nancy at the Piccolino Restaurant, a place that we haven’t tried yet. Piccolino is located in a refurbished service station on North First Street here in Artesia. It is evidently a good spot to eat…it was crowded to overflowing tonight, with a 30-minute wait by the time we got there.

Jerry and Nancy arrived while we were trying to decide whether to wait or go somewhere else. We ended up voting to go to the new Chinese restaurant n Main Street. It turned out to be an excellent choice and a good time was had by all.

After returning to the place, we went in and visited with Jean for a few minutes. Barbara came back to Big V to do some dishes while Jean and I watched the end of a college basketball game. Then, it was time for me to return to Big V, watch the news to see who Artesia would face in the football playoffs next week (the Bulldogs were seeded first in the state playoff brackets and had a Bye for this week).

Saturday, November 17

Birthday Greetings go out today to one of the country’s newest teenagers, granddaughter Randi Colwell in San Antonio, and to niece Brandi Boley (Tom and Nancy’s daughter) in Cleburne, Texas.

We did find out this morning that our Artesia Bulldogs will host Moriarty in a second-round football playoff game this Saturday. Moriarty defeated Los Alamos last night while the Bulldogs took the night off with a first-round bye in the state playoffs.

Not much excitement around here today…the morning was spent in washing clothes and doing some chores at Mother’s house. The afternoon was reserved for lounging around and watching Kansas University take care of business with Iowa State on the football field at KU Memorial Stadium.

Tonight I got a little rowdy as I was watching the Texas Tech/Oklahoma football game, so I went over to Jean’s to watch with her while Barbara watched a couple of her shows here in Big V…wow…what a game! It should be really interesting to see how the standings shake out tomorrow.

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”… Bernard Meltzer

At home in Artesia (at least for a little while longer),

Jim & Barbara

Keeping a Little in Touch

Sunday, November 4 – Saturday, November 10, 2007

Sunday, November 4

It was a get up and get moving morning as we were taking Alexander and Abby out to breakfast at McDonald’s before we all headed over to the Special Events Center in Garland for Randi’s cheer competition.

With breakfast out of the way, we drove over to the activities center where we found John and Carol inside (Randi was already warming up somewhere with her team). Since we were a little speedier than we expected, we eventually took the kids outside to run around. They found the bars around the sidewalk irresistible and had much fun crawling from one side to the other.

Once we were back inside, we went to the staging area where Randi and her team had just entered. After giving Randi a quick hello, we headed back to our seats by John and Carol. It’s just amazing to see what these girls can do athletically! It is not at all like watching the cheerleaders at a Friday night football game…instead their whole routine to music is round-offs, tucks, and a bunch of other maneuvers that the granddaughters have told me about, but that we still don’t understand…to us, gymnastics was tumbling and cartwheels…just shows our ages! Anyway, Randi’s team did super and Randi personally nailed all of her stunts.

At the same time that we were in Garland watching Randi, granddaughter Jaycie was performing at a competition in Lubbock. Though we missed her this week, we’ll drive to Lubbock this coming Saturday to watch her in another competition! I can’t even begin to imagine what our schedule will be like when Alexander, Abby, and Little Jimmy begin taking part in whatever activities grab their fancy! Anyway, thanks to the speed of the computer, we were able to have a photo Jimmy Clint sent me showing Jaycie at her meet. Jaycie is the one on the top left cheering because they nailed this difficult stunt!

Alas, even though both girls and their teams did well, both came up just hundredths of a point from first. Not a shabby job!

As soon as Randi came upstairs and we hugged, visited, and took photos, Jim and I and the kids left to meet Heather and Andy at a nearby Sonic where we would exchange cars and children!

Jim and I then pointed the Vibe toward Cleburne where we intended to attend the Sunday evening Prayer, Praise, and Communion service with my younger sister Nancy and her husband Tom. As it turned out, we arrived early enough to fit in a visit before church. All I can say about the church my sister’s family attends is that it would be our church, even though it’s not Baptist, if we lived in Cleburne! Jim was itching to join the ensemble they had playing during the Praise time.

Luckily, Brandi, Nancy and Tom’s daughter, and her family also attended church tonight so I was able to get their photo before they headed home. Keylin is growing up so fast…she’s a first grader and on the cheer squad, both of which are important jobs…just ask her!

Nancy and Tom took us to somewhere to eat…probably shouldn’t say this…but…cooking isn’t her bag even more so than mine! Guess Carol was the only Susie Homemaker in our family! After dinner, it was back to the house to have a photo op session and look at the kind of coat I should get for riding the cycle in cold weather! Since I couldn’t decide which picture I liked the most, I just decided to add them all together! Nancy has really lost a lot of weight and looks great!

Monday, November 5

Nothing to write about…we drove from Cleburne to Artesia in record time, arriving at Edith’s at 3ish. After checking in with her and then later with Jean, we called this day over!

Tuesday, November 6

Happy birthday to my brother-in-law Cal Crenshaw, who lives in Roswell, NM!

This was just a wonderful ordinary day doing ordinary chores around the house! How great it is to sleep in one’s own bed for a change!

We did get a really interesting and exciting email from Cousin Danny’s wife, Cindy. (Duh, she’s the one in the hat!) She said I could add it to our journal so that’s what I’m doing! What a fun opportunity she just had!

Cindy wrote:

I have had a fun couple of days. HBO is shooting a movie about the 2000 presidential election in Tallahassee called "Recount". I was cast as an extra and worked as a "hippie protester" Saturday and today (Tuesday). Both days were long, but it was a lot of fun getting to be a face in the crowd for a movie that is about such a divisive time.

Part of the time I was a Bush supporter and part of the time a Gore supporter, so it will be fun to watch the movie to see if I can tell which time I was what, and to see if it is obvious. It wasn't just me that they had switch; a lot of us had to for the "people mass" they needed at any particular time.

Kevin Spacy is starring in it, and was on the set both days I worked.

And you thought nothing exciting happens in Tallahassee!

Cindy said that this HBO special will be aired sometime between March and May. Someone with HBO will have to tape it for us since we don’t get HBO. That’s pretty cool, huh?

Wednesday, November 7

We’re back to the Wednesday routine of meeting with the clan for lunch; however, today we tried the new Chinese restaurant downtown.

Other than that, it was the sameness that is common for most folks, but not us. We revel in this sameness! (at least for a while)

This seems to be the week to catch up with family that we haven’t seen lately. Whitney and Jim sent 6 months photos of Little Jimmy.

Whitney wrote:

Jimmy celebrated his first Halloween both as Baby Darth Vader and as a penguin. At his 6 month check-up, he weighed 20 lbs, 2.6 oz, and was 27.5 inches long. He loves carrots and sweet potatoes, but thinks rice cereal is boring. He sits up by himself but hasn’t crawled yet because he can roll to get to anywhere he wants.
It will be another month before we get to see Jimmy, but it's quite obvious that we're going to enjoy every moment of getting to be around him!

Thursday, November 8

Jim spent yesterday and today just working outside on Jean’s land. This activity soothes his restless spirit and fosters a sense of doing something worthwhile. I, on the other hand, have cleaned almost every cabinet, closet, and bin in Big V. One thinks we have very little space, but you’d be amazed at what all we can collect and store!

We had an email from Cathey about Jaycie that is worthy of remembering…

Cathey wrote:

We just wanted to share some news with you all about Jaycie. Over the past few months she has been training and timing herself at school to make the Murfee Cross Country Team. Everyone interested trains at school for the one mile. It’s for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. They take six boys and six girls. Her fastest time has been in 6 minutes and 31 seconds!!! She’s a fast little thing even with her short little legs J Anyway, she made the team!!!! They had their first cross country meet Tuesday. Of course the weather has been in the high 70’s and low 80’s except on Tuesday…it was 54 degrees!!! Brrrrrr!

The boys ran first. Then it was time for all the girls. There were 200+ girls from all LISD schools lined up and ready to run the mile.

One of the big challenges was the “hill” they had to run up and then back down as they headed to the finish line. We were able to take the kids to Mae Simmons Park to train so they could get a feel for the route. Well, the gun went off and there they all went! It was great! Jimmy and I waited at the bridge ¼ of the way into the race. We cheered Jaycie on. She looked like a deer caught in headlights but she was booking it as best she could in the congestion of runners.

When they made it to the hill going up everyone pretty much dwindled down to a single file line. Jimmy ran up the hill ahead of them to cheer Jaycie on! (Ask him how in or out of shape his is..hee, hee) When the girls were up on the hill running we could spot our Murfee girls and they were doing great!!!! They were holding places in the front and Jimmy said Jaycie was passing a few girls.

Then they came around down the hill into the finish gate lined with cheering parents and our principal! Our Murfee girls did amazing! We had 6 girls run. Jaycie and Shelby were our 4th graders and then we had four 5th graders. Our 5th grade girls placed 6th, 11th, 29th and 45th.Jaycie placed 36th!!!! The other 3rd grader placed 21st. We were so proud of her!!! She had a great time and is already talking about next year and she wants to win!!! It’s pretty funny!
She also plays her basketball championship game tonight for first place!!! Her team is the Red Hots and they have played together for the last 4 years. Last year they won the tournament and they have an awesome chance to win tonight! They’re undefeated. (Jimmy wrote later that for the second year in a row Jaycie’s team won the championship. The score tonight was 37-16, and Jaybird played a great game!!!!)

Then she has a cheer competition Saturday which if they stick everything they need to, they could win as well! Needless to say we have been very busy, or should I say Jaycie has been very busy!

Thanks for letting us share our stories about Jaycie! We are truly proud of her and are blessed to have her as our daughter.

Jerry called and invited us to a trip to the Cottonwood Winery after they all got off work. Since we had never gone out there and the company sounded inviting, we decided to join them. Jim and I didn’t realize that NM has become quite a wine state and enjoyed the history lesson as well as the atmosphere of the place. It’s definitely a place we will want to go again.

Next on the agenda was a trip to the Pizza Inn out at the bowling alley…another place we hadn’t been. Just a night to visit different places, I suppose. There we enjoyed the buffet and more good company before returning to Big V and calling it a day.

Friday, November 9

A teacher I taught with in Liberal has a son, Michael who is in Farah City, Afghanistan, and he was pictured in an article describing the work he does there. It was quite interesting, and we wanted to share it in our journal.

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=12448

Jim went to the Artesia Bulldog/Goddard Rocket football game tonight with Jerry, Nancy, and Becky. Tonight's game was for the district championship, with both teams coming in with 7-2 records on the season. When it was over, Artesia claimed its seventh consecutive district football championship and earned a bye in the first round of the NMAA football playoffs by defeating goddard by a score of 56-28.

Saturday, November 10

We were on the highway to Lubbock by 6:30 AM as we were supposed to be there by 11:30 TX time to see Jaycie’s cheer competition. We made it with time to spare! I’ll let photos do the talking at this point…

Since the kids had other plans after the competition, Jim and I did some shopping as we waited for my friend, Becky, to finish singing at a wedding. (as she quickly informed me, she was singing with a choir…not solo!)

After an hour of visiting at Starbucks, Jim and I drove on to Hobbs where we were joining the Terpening/Francis clan in a celebration of James’ birthday.

We eventually arrived back home in Artesia at 11:15 pm and were ready to call this day over!

“When you give each other everything, it becomes an even trade. Each wins all.”...Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign, 1999 US science fiction author

A Little Family and Friend Time

Sunday, October 28 – Saturday, November 3, 2007

Sunday, October 28

Today was an extremely special Sunday for the Little family since TJ and Glennis were here to join us for church. It was rather disappointing that they didn’t get to hear our pastor, Rick Sullivan, preach, but still it was fantastic to have us all together in the Lord’s house.

Jim and I had fixed a special meal for all of us and, believe me when I say, no one left the table hungry! We were hoping that brother Jerry and his wife Jane would join us, but that was not to be this time.

After cleaning the kitchen and saying our good-byes, we headed home to prepare Big V for Joyce and Gary who were spending the night with us. We have so few guests in our home that this was quite exciting and everything had to be as perfect as it could be (even if we were packed and ready to take the sisters back to Mineola tomorrow.)

Once Joyce and Gary arrived, we spent some time visiting and then took them over to Edith’s to meet her and the sisters before going to introduce them to Billee and Ernie. Eventually it was back home where Joyce and I visited while Jim and Gary went over to Jean’s to prepare the fire for the cook-out we were having with the Terpening clan.
Susie and James came in on their way back from Ruidoso and eventually Jerry and Nancy arrived after their church fall festival. Becky was under the weather and unable to attend.

Though I didn’t take many photos tonight since we were all busy visiting, I did capture proof that Nancy decided to check out Jim’s grilling skills while everyone else was in the house.

I also made certain that I snapped a photo of Joyce and Gary since we don't get to see them very much.

After dinner and more visiting, the four of us wandered over to Big V where we spent another hour or so catching up on each other’s lives. Finally when each of us began to yawn incessantly, we decided it was time to call this day over!

Monday, October 29

Since Joyce and Gary were heading towards Houston and we had to take the sisters back to Mineola, there was no time for breakfast or much visiting. And, after saying our good-byes, we all jumped in our respective vehicles and hit the road.

Glennis and TJ were ready and we were on our way! The rest of the day was a blur of scenery and towns until we eventually made it to Mineola around 7:30 pm.

Tuesday, October 30

About 9:00 this morning, Jim and I once again said our good-bye’s with intentions of going to Cleburne to see my sister. However, we wound up in downtown Mineola at Legal Grounds internet coffee shop checking our emails and sipping drinks. When I called Nancy to tell her that we thought we’d take a rain check on the visit since Tom was busy with class tonight, she asked what we had planned to do. Since we had nothing in mind, just time for ourselves, she suggested that we go to Durant, Oklahoma, where she and Tom spent the first night of their cycle trip. Anyway, once she planted the seed, it grew; but not until we spent several hours wandering in and out of the quaint shops in downtown Mineola. We found several “treasures” we just couldn’t live without! (One was a full apron for me since I’m such a messy cook!) I’m dying to tell you what I found for my sisters, but since I haven’t given them these little tokens of love, I can’t tell yet! Maybe next week…

As much as we love being with family and friends, it was wonderful to spend an evening with no place to go and not knowing anyone we were around.

Wednesday, October 31

Finally got up and checked out of the Microtel around 11:00 am. Then took our time journeying to Richardson where we will spend the next 4 nights.

Once Heather and Andy and the kids arrived home and dinner was over, it was the moment Alexander had been waiting on…going trick or treating!

Imagine our surprise when we opened the front door to find that the people across the street had set up a huge screen and were showing Casper movies on the front lawn. Alexander found that absolutely too cool!

As Heather and Andy would take the kids to the doors, Jim and I would wait on the sidewalk. And, it never mattered whether it was the first or the last house, Alexander would run to us and say, “Now look how much I have!” His eyes lit up and his enthusiasm was contagious…the simple things bring such pleasure…something we adults could certainly learn to remember!

Thursday, November 1

After Heather, Andy, and the kids left for work and school, we proceeded to get all our laundry completed before we started out for Flower Mound where we would meet our friend, Bonnie, a former Liberal resident, at the Red, Hot, and Blue barbecue restaurant for a leisurely lunch and visitation. Living in this area certainly has agreed with her as she seems more beautiful and happier every time we see her!

With good instructions from Bonnie, we made it over to Grand Prairie with relative ease to see Jean’s grandson, Paul, who is working on his masters’ degree in engineering. Since Stephanie was a work, we weren’t able to see her because we wanted to get back to the Richardson area before dark.

However, it didn’t take us long to figure out that we were trying to get across town at the utmost worse time of day! Therefore, as soon as we found a mall to hide in, we did so! This wound up being wonderful for me as I found a pair of jeans and 3 shirts that I couldn’t live without!

Heather had a friend from Canada in town and we watched the kids (can you call it watching them if they were asleep?) while the three of them went out to enjoy a quiet visit.

Friday, November 2

This was what Jim and I declared grandparents day…Heather and Andy went on work and left the kids asleep with us; so we could spend the day together. To summarize the day, we went to all the cool places…Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, and 3 parks. We also watched a plentiful amount of cartoons with Power Ranger Overdrive being the most important!

Jim spent the evening listening to the Artesia vs Roswell High School football game on the internet. Artesia wasted no time in putting the game out of reach, and for the second straight week the mercy rule was invoked in the second half…final score: Artesia 48 and Roswell 0.

Saturday, November 3

Pretty much a relaxing day. Later in the afternoon, we did keep the kids while Heather was at the store and Andy had the oil changed in the car. Playing in the backyard is always a treat with

the kids and it doesn’t take much to make them happy.

Since it was Saturday afternoon, Jim was alternately watching college football games on television and keeping track of scores on the internet scoreboard. He was concerned that Texas had dug too deep a hole to get out of at Stillwater, Oklahoma, but the Longhorns came alive in the nick of time and edged the OSU Cowboys for another Big XII South win, while Kansas walloped Nebraska in the Big XII North.

He was hoping to get some word on the Liberal vs McPherson playoff game from this afternoon, but nothing had been posted at the time of this writing. Also, there was no news about the Artesia Bulldogs soccer team and their bid to win the New Mexico state championship this afternoon.

For the rest of the evening, it was a great meal and enjoyable family time with Heather, Andy, Alexander, and Abby.

“A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.”…Ogden Nash

From Richardson, Texas,

Jim & Barbara

In and Out of Artesia

Sunday, October 21 – Saturday, October 27, 2007

Sunday, October 21

For us, this was a much needed day of rest. After the long drive from Marianna, Florida, to Mineola, Texas, yesterday, we just kicked back and relaxed.

The morning (which started later than usual for us because we were able to sleep in) began with a wonderful breakfast that Aunt T.J. fixed for us. After that, we sat around and talked, trying to get caught up on the family news of the past couple of weeks and make plans for the coming trip.
During the afternoon Barbara and I went down to a little internet café we had discovered on an earlier trip to Mineola. The Legal Grounds Coffee Shop was closed, but they left their modem and router on, so we were able to sit out at the sidewalk tables and catch up on our email.

After a trip to Wal-Mart to try to find a lighting system for T.J.’s backyard, we returned to the house, had a light snack for an evening meal, and began packing for the trip to Artesia. Once the packing was done (except for the last-minute items), we settled in for the evening. I watched the Red Sox finish off the Indians to win the ALCS and advance to the World Series while Barbara did some reading and Glennis and T.J. watched the Republican candidates debate each other.

Monday, October 22

Everyone was up early this morning to get ready to leave. The lighting items we bought last night didn’t work the way we thought they should, so Barbara and I made a trip back to Wal-Mart to return them. Actually, we made two trips, since the customer service desk wasn’t open at 6:15. We returned at 7:00 to conclude that bit of business.

T.J. had to take Patty (one of her dogs) to the “doggie hotel” to spend the week while we were gone. Fortunately, she got Patty checked in at 8:00 am and was back at the house in time for us to stow the last few items in her car and get on the road by 8:30.

The rest of the day was spent in travel, travel, and more travel. We had four adults, Copper (T.J.’s dachshund), and as much luggage and miscellaneous items as could be legally fitted in the car, leaving not much wiggle room.

We finally got to Artesia about 5:45 (MDT), a 10 hour and 15 minute drive. After unloading T.J. and Glennis at Mother’s house, Barbara and I elected to take the car out to our place since it was cool and windy. We had left the cycle and cargo trailer at Mother’s house and had planned to use it to take our things out to Big V, but decided that discretion was the better part of valor in this case.

After getting everything of ours out of the car and into Big V, we went across the lot to check in with Jean and pick up our mail. We also found that Lydia, the lady who cleans Jean’s and Mother’s houses, had left an order of homemade tamales while we were gone. Jean graciously offered to fix a batch of them for us, and we readily agreed.

After a good meal and getting caught up on the local news of the past couple of weeks, we headed back to Big V, crawled into our own bed, and called it a day – a v-e-r-y long day!

Tuesday, October 23

Today was a day for catching up with some of the normal necessaries around the place. We made a couple of trips over to the house to check in with Mother and the aunts. I went down to Wal-Mart to get a very much-needed haircut. I don’t remember when my last one was, but I was certainly overdue for another one. Other than that, it was just a normal day (whatever that is).

Wednesday, October 24

It got busy in a hurry around Big V this morning. We invited Mother and the aunts out for breakfast…pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and lots of fresh-ground coffee. They got to the place around 9:45. After a couple of cups of coffee to get everyone started, we set up the “buffet table” and served everyone from there. We spent about an hour and a half eating, talking, and laughing. T.J. and Glennis had been in Big V before, but had never seen her all decorated, so that was a new experience for them. It was fun for us to show off the place and serve a home-cooked meal to everyone. After they all left, we washed the dishes and got Big V cleaned up again.

Wednesday is our regular day to meet the Terpening-Francis clan for lunch at Chaos, so we scrambled around to get ready to see them at 12:30. Having had such a late breakfast, we opted to just order something to drink while Jean, Jerry, Nancy, and Susan had their meal. It had been a while since we joined the group for lunch, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

Naps were in order for the afternoon. After that, we made another trip to Mother’s house to check in with everyone and let them know that we would be “on the road” tomorrow. That worked out fine with them, because they had planned a trip up to Cloudcroft to see the sights there.

Tonight…hang around Big V. Barbara worked at her computer while I watched the first game of the World Series between Boston and the Colorado Rockies.

Thursday, October 25

It was a beautiful morning for a motorcycle ride, which was good, because we had planned to take the cycle and the cargo trailer up to Ruidoso. James and Susan Terpening were going to be up at the Inn of the Mountain Gods for a couple of days while James was participating in a conference, and we thought it would be nice to go up while it was still good weather and visit with Susan while James was working.

The morning was a little cool, but not uncomfortable as we headed out. We stopped at the Kawasaki dealer in Roswell to order some trim pieces for the cycle and then rode on up to the mountains. As we entered the Hondo Valley, we could see that the trees were starting to put on their fall colors…they ought to have their electric reds and yellows in another couple of weeks, and will really be beautiful.

We made our first stop at the Apache Travel Center where we played a couple of our favorite games before saddling up again to ride up to the Inn of the Mountain Gods, a 5-star resort on the Mescalero Indian reservation. The inn is surrounded by beautiful mountains and has a view of a lake and a golf course on the back side…a very peaceful place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the world.

It didn’t take long to meet up with Susan and get caught up on everything since we last saw her (yesterday). Since none of us could check in until 3, we played a couple of games and then headed to the rooms when they were available. Susan had already eaten, but she agreed to meet us down in the sandwich shop when she finished in her room.

I spent the evening watching Boston and the Colorado Rockies square off again in the World Series while Barbara and Susan visited downstairs.

Friday, October 24

Our friends Gary and Joyce Whitaker (moved from Salisbury, Maryland to Houston, Texas, last June) would be coming up to Ruidoso today from El Paso, so we had arranged to meet them at the travel center for lunch.

After sleeping in and taking our time getting ready to leave, we checked out of the hotel and loaded all of our stuff in the cargo trailer so we could go back down the mountain to the Travel Center where we were to meet Susan, James, Joyce and Gary for lunch.

While Barbara and Susan were talking, I decided to walk around the place. Imagine my surprise when I ran into brother-in-law Cal Crenshaw and Barbara’s sister Carol. They had gotten up this morning and decided to make the hour and a half ride up to Ruidoso to spend the morning. Barbara introduced everyone all around, and then I went outside to wait for Gary and Joyce to arrive.

Once everyone was there, we introduced Gary and Joyce and then decided it was time (maybe even past time) for lunch. We invited Cal and Carol to join us, but Cal said he was feeling a little under the weather and that they were heading back to Roswell.

Lunch was a lot of fun. The Smokey B Restaurant at the travel center is one of our favorite places to eat, not just in Ruidoso, but in the whole state. The service is a little on the slow side, but the food is more than worth the wait (and the prices are very reasonable).

After lunch it was time for all of us to go our separate ways. James and Susan were staying in Ruidoso at an uncle’s house, and Gary and Joyce were looking around the area for a couple of days to check on some property. We, on the other hand, had to get back on the cycle and head down to the flatlands.

The ride down from the mountains was generally uneventful. We stopped at our favorite used book store in Roswell and gathered up a few new titles before riding back to Artesia.

Back in town we checked in at Mother’s house and then went back to Big V for the evening to watch TV and listen to the hometown AHS Bulldogs win their football game with Taos by a score of 82 – 0 (not very exciting, but a win is a win is a win).

Saturday, October 25

Busy day today…housecleaning and clothes washing…have to get ready for the trip back to Mineola on Monday. It’s hard to believe, but Mother’s sisters have been here for nearly a week, and it’s almost time to go.

Jerry and Nancy Terpening were very gracious to open their home to all of us for a little get-together during the evening. We prepared some snacks and desserts, and Mother, Glennis, T.J., Jean, Jerry, Nancy, Becky, and Ernie all joined us for a delightful evening of visiting and eating…what a fun time we had…a great time to end the week!

(Barbara: The photo on the left shows Edith (Jim's mom), her sister Glennis, then sister TJ...next is Ernie, Jim's youngest brother, and last, but certainly not least, Jim...)

In and out of Artesia,

Jim and Barbara

“The constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” …Ben Franklin

A Little More Travel

Sunday, October 14 – Saturday, October 20, 2007

Sunday, October 14

We got up relatively early this morning…wanted to be on the road by at least 9:00 am. First, I had to check the computer to review scores of Saturday’s athletic events. Guess what, the Red Sox found a way to lose in extra innings…sure was glad I didn’t stay up until the wee hours of the morning to witness that!

After getting cleaned up and packing the car, we had hugs and kisses all around before taking off for the day’s adventures. First stop was at Mineola, about an hour and a half from Richardson, where Aunt T.J. had a wonderful breakfast cooked for us. We enjoyed the visit, short as it was, but left knowing that we were scheduled to be back in a few days after we visited Aunt Glennis in Marianna, Florida, and brought her back to Mineola so we could all go back to Artesia together.

By shortly after 11:00 am, we were back in the Vibe and headed down to Lindale to pick up I-20 and continue our journey east. Passing around Shreveport, Louisiana, and through Bossier City, we found ourselves on a relatively uncluttered highway and were able to make good time. Having eaten a late breakfast, we decided there was no point in stopping for lunch, so we just kept on motorizing until we stopped for gasoline (and a necessary break) in Monroe.

From there we cruised on across Louisiana on I-20 until we got to Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the Mississippi River. It was almost sundown when we crossed the river, so we decided we would stay in Vicksburg for the night and spend some time at the Vicksburg National Military Park Monday morning before continuing our journey.

Driving downtown, we found a nice hotel at a good price. There was no internet service available, but that was a secondary consideration tonight; we only wanted to stop driving and find a good place to relax and enjoy the evening.

Monday, October 15

We took our sweet time getting around this morning. Our destination for the day wasn’t all that far away, so we just didn’t get in a hurry about much of anything. (Sort of like this loaded barge floating down the Mississippi!)

We made it out to the park shortly after 9:00 am, presented our National Park Senior Pass (what a bargain…unlimited lifetime access to all national parks and monuments for only $10.00! Believe me, we’ve gotten much more than our money’s worth since purchasing the pass last June).

Once through the gate, we drove up to the visitor center to see what was available and get our bearings for the morning. Inside we found a large selection of books, recordings, and other Civil War memorabilia. We also discovered that there was a short film about the Siege of Vicksburg (also known as the Battle of Vicksburg and the Campaign for Vicksburg).

Again, as we discovered at Antietam last summer, the numbers of Americans killed or wounded during the battle are not only staggering, but also mind-numbing. While the numbers of casualties at Vicksburg (9,091 killed, wounded, or missing for the Confederates and 10,142 for the Union) don’t come close to those of Antietam (the single bloodiest day in American military history), the horror for those who were involved is graphically described.

By late 1862, Union forces had gained control of the Mississippi River except for a 250-mile stretch from Vicksburg on the north to Port Hudson, Louisiana, on the south. Commanders of both armies well understood the significance of controlling traffic on the river and thereby standing a better chance of winning the war. Without that control, the transfer of men and materiel was stymied in all directions. President Lincoln, knowing the military significance of Vicksburg, ordered General Ulysses S. Grant to capture the city and establish a Union presence.

Generals Grant and Sherman were unsuccessful in attempts during November and December to attack the city from the north and east. In January, 1963, Grant resumed his efforts to capture the city, utilizing a number of civil engineering tactics to turn the Mississippi River into an aid rather than a hindrance to his campaign.

In March, he finally came up with a plan that would ultimately be successful in surrounding and laying siege to the city. Grant would march his 45,000 man Army of the Tennessee down the western side of the river, utilize U.S. naval vessels to cross to the eastern side, and eventually be in position to attack from the east. Meanwhile, the Federal army would operate against Vicksburg from the south while a U.S. Navy contingent, under the command of Rear Admiral David D. Porter, would bombard the city from the river.

Grant’s Northern infantry began their march down the west side of the Mississippi on March 29. Facing strong Confederate opposition along the way, Grant’s forces and Porter’s vessels met at Disharoon’s Plantation in Louisiana, where the naval vessels began ferrying troops across the Mississippi to Bruinsburg.

By May 14, the Union troops had marched to Jackson, the state capital, captured it, and scattered its defenders.

Wasting no time, Grant turned his troops westward toward Vicksburg. On May 16, at Champion Hill, Grant’s forces defeated Lt. General John C. Pemberton’s confederate field army in the largest, bloodiest, and ultimately the most significant battle of the campaign. The next day, at the bridge on the Big Black River, the Federals overwhelmed the remainder of Pemberton’s troops and chased them back into Vicksburg.

After making unsuccessful charges toward the well-defended city, Grant began a formal siege campaign. For forty five days the army artillery fired upon the city from the east, while the naval ships fired from the river on the west. The siege took a heavy toll.

The Confederate forces expended all of their ammunition in defense of the city. Vicksburg was cut off from all supplies and assistance - food, water, ammunition, and replacement troops. Civilians, their houses destroyed by the constant bombardment, were living in caves and scrounging for the barest morsels of food. Military troops, without ammunition, and facing diminishing food rations, were unable to function as a viable force.

In early July, concerned about the plight of his soldiers and the citizens he was sworn to defend, and not receiving any assistance from his superior officer, General Johnston, Pemberton sought terms of surrender. On July 3 Pemberton met with Grant, and on July 4, 1863, the formal surrender was accepted. After 46 days of incessant pounding, Vicksburg, the key to a Confederate victory, was under the control of Union forces.

With all of this information in hand, we left the visitors center and took the 16-mile auto tour through the park. It was a gorgeous day – mostly blue skies with a few high clouds. It was almost impossible to imagine the horrors of war that took place in this unbelievably beautiful and calm countryside. The heavily wooded hillsides, gullies, and ravines belie the savageness of the siege. Only the monuments and statues are left to tell the story of a classic military campaign that is still studied for the elements of defensive and offensive tactics, coordination of troops, combination of infantry and naval forces, utilization of espionage, and the unshakable belief of leadership, troops, and civilians on both sides of the fray that not only did they stand for the truth, but that their cause was supported by God.

Barbara: I leave all the intellectual details to Jim and I get the fun stuff that we learned during our tour…So…here goes…

* First, President Lincoln, in a speech he delivered, used a great analogy when he compared Vicksburg to a key that he wanted in his pocket. He told his civil and military leaders, “See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.”

*The Mississippi River changed its course after the Civil War and the body of water currently in the old river bed is the Yazoo River Diversion Canal.


*The only wartime structure in the National Park is the Shirley house. When Mrs. Shirley, her 15 year old son, and a few slaves were caught in the crossfire as Union soldiers approached Vicksburg, they were very afraid for their lives. So, Mrs. Shirley tied a sheet to a broom handle and placed it on the upper front porch. When the Union solders removed them, they were given shelter in a cave some distance behind the house.

*When the Union soldiers exploded a second mine on July 1, 1863, a Black man named Abraham was working in a countermine and was hurled in the air. The bewildered man landed in Union lines, and when asked how high he had gone, he replied, “Dunno, master, but think about three miles!”

*Perched atop the Wisconsin Infantry Monument is a likeness of “Old Abe,” the eagle mascot of this troop who accompanied them through many hard fought battles and was once wounded. He achieved so much attention through the war that afterwards P.T. Barnum attempted to buy Old Abe for his circus. The State of Wisconsin refused to sell.

*Private Albert D.J. Cashier, with the 95th Illinois Infantry, served for 3 years and participated in several major battles. Almost 50 years after the war, Albert was injured in an accident and rushed to a hospital where doctors discover he was a she. Albert Cashier was really Jennie Hodges, disguised as a man so she could fight in Mr. Lincoln’s Army.


*The Navy Monument is the tallest monument in the park.

*The Cairo, one of seven ships in the city class, was rocked by two explosions which tore gaping holes in the ship’s hull. She sank in 12 minutes and was the first ship in history to be sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo.

*In the National Cemetery, upright gravestones are used to designate the identified soldiers while small blocks of stone are used to indicate those soldiers who were never identified.


During our tour around the National Park, Jim suddenly shouted and stopped the car. (That almost scared me to death.) He said, “Quick, give me the camera!” Being the obedient wife I am, I did so rapidly as he was climbing out of the car. I had no idea




what was so very important and he didn’t offer to tell me. Watching him roam around the back of the car for a while, I said what are you doing? Well, seems as though he had seen a diamondback rattler and wanted a good photo of it…

Jim: Finally, We left the park around 1:00 and continued our journey east on I-20 toward Jackson, where we turned south on U.S. 49 to Hattiesburg (but not before making a quick stop somewhere south of Jackson for a Sonic meal).

From Hattiesburg (after getting a bit lost) we got onto U.S. 98 and headed southeast toward Mobile, Alabama. We’d been assured by some family members that this was unquestionably the quickest route (it even says so on MapQuest), but you couldn’t prove it by us. The road was great until we got close to Mobile, but then we hit slow traffic and heavy congestion. At the first opportunity, we got off of 98 and down to I-10.

After going through the tunnel under Mobile Bay, we continued east on I-10 through Alabama and into Florida. We’ve made this trip a number of times, but always on the interstate. This time, we wanted to see some of the local scenery. So, at mile marker 12 inside Florida, we turned south on I-110 toward Pensacola to again hit U.S. 98 to follow it along the Gulf Coast.

It was getting dark as we turned east, so we immediately began looking for a place to spend the night. We found a really nice Quality Inn at the small beach community of Gulf Breeze. The location and price were right and they even had free wi-fi…how much better could life be?!

After taking things in to the room, we went down the street for some Taco Bell takeout, returned to the room, and had a feast. Then, it was a walk around the place, where we found that the motel had its own little beachfront. It was too dark to take advantage of it tonight, so we decided that could wait until tomorrow morning. So, it was back to the room where we worked at our computers and I watched the Red Sox find a new way to lose to the Indians.

Tuesday, October 16

Wouldn’t you just know it! During the early morning hours a weather system developed out in the Gulf and we woke up to wind and rain…there went our plans for an hour or so of beach time before heading across the scenic route.

Barbara went out with the camera and got a few shots of the area, and then we went in to have some breakfast after loading the car and making a final check of the room. Then, it was off to breakfast, get in the car, and head east.

We had left today open for adventure. What we had in mind was to get to Destin for some sight-seeing and then either stay there for the night or drive on over to Panama City Beach to spend some outdoor time.

Unfortunately, the weather was bad across the entire eastern Gulf Coast, so when we got to Panama City, we decided to just shelve the beach plans for another time and get on in to Marianna.

We finally got to the house in Marianna around 2:00 pm, unloaded the car, and visited with Aunt Glennis and Cousin Darren for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, October 17

What a great “down-time” day. Except for great meals, we did almost nothing of consequence today. We did get out for a bit in the late morning to make a Wal-Mart run. We needed to get a few things inside, and then Barbara visited the local Dollar Tree while I gave the Vibe some much-needed nourishment.

The afternoon was spent in alternately reading, resting, checking email, etc…certainly nothing worthy of much print space.

For supper, Darren fired up the grill and cooked some of his famous cheeseburgers…yum-yum! We do eat well when we visit down here!

There were no ballgames tonight, and in spite of our day of non-activity, we were all pretty well whipped…guess the travel days caught up with us. Anyway, we called it a day by 9:00 pm.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

You’ve heard the song, “Rainy Night in Georgia?” Well, today was a “rainy day in northern Florida.” A tropical depression formed was working out in the Gulf and the result was that the entire day was spent with alternating showers and downpours. It was great sleeping weather…just don’t know now why we didn’t take advantage of it.

About 2:00 pm we all loaded up in the big car and Darren drove us over to Graceville (about 30 miles northwest of Marianna). Glennis and Barbara wanted to do some shopping at the outlet mall, while Darren and I were pretty much along for the ride while we waited to go visit Paula when her school was out.

Barbara and I did find a few items that just “jumped” into our basket while we were in one of the stores, and we also found some microwave safe dishes to take back to Big V.

Around 4:00 we went over to Paula’s house. We had decided that supper tonight would be from Grady’s, a wonderful catfish and shrimp place. People come from miles around to eat at Grady’s, and tonight was no exception; it as filled to capacity at 4:30.

Luckily, Paula had called in our order for takeout, so it wasn’t long before we got back to the house with a sack full of fried shrimp and French fry dinners, along with two large baskets of golden-fried onion rings.

We had a great time visiting…just not enough time. Before long, it was time to say goodbye and head back to Marianna for the night. I stayed up to simultaneously watch the Red Sox stay alive in the ALCS and follow the University of South Florida Bulls on Fox Sport Trax on the computer. The sox did a great job in advancing to yet another game in the series, but the Bulls fell victim to their previous week’s #2 ranking and were edged out by Rutgers.

There was nothing to do after that but call it a night and go to bed.

Just as we were preparing to turn out all the lights, Barbara noticed something on the window and headed for her camera. Glennis explained that what we were seeing was a rain frog. When it rains heavily, these frogs attach themselves to windows, the side of the house, etc. Interesting!

Friday, October 19

We think we’re about to wear out our welcome with all of those who were so happy to see us because we brought the rain. We don’t know what the rainfall total was, but it rained all day long. That gave us a chance to get clothes washed and packed for our trip tomorrow, so it wasn’t all bad.

The day brought a number of visitors. Cousin Danny came over from Tallahassee and helped me get my Dell computer back on track. It’s been down since the first of August, and it had all of the past journal entries on it. We haven’t been able to start printing Volume 2, and now it’s getting close to time to be thinking about putting Volume 3 together. Anyway, I’m up and running again on the Dell.

Other visitors for the day included Glennis’ grandson James (Paula’s son); He’s home from law school for the weekend. Then, another grandson, Ty, and his wife Sarah, came to see us and visit Glennis before she leaves with us tomorrow.

Tonight, a trip to a great Chinese restaurant where Darren, Glennis, Barbara, and I outdid ourselves at the buffet before returning to the house to follow our Artesia Bulldogs on the webcast from our home station.

And that’s the news from Marianna, Florida for this week.

Saturday, October 20

Barbara woke up at 4:30 this morning and started getting ready for the trip. I was up around 5:15…took my shower and got dressed for the day.

Before getting the last minute items packed in the Vibe, we made a final check of our computers. There’s a strong possibility that there won’t be any internet service available to us until we get back to Artesia, so we checked the mail and sent out last minute messages.

A look at sports news showed that Artesia, who was well ahead at halftime last night, lost a close one to the 5-A Clovis Wildcats by a score of 35 – 31. This was the second consecutive “squeaker” loss for the Dogs, with both of them coming at the hands of larger classification schools.

A glance at the Wichita online paper let us know that Liberal won their second consecutive district game, defeating Arkansas City. This sets up a showdown with Wichita’s Bishop Carroll High School next Friday for the district championship and seeding rights for the sub-state tournament.

We were hoping to get away between 6:00 and 6:30, but finally got everyone and everything in the car and pulled away from the house at 6:41 am.

The rest of the day was just drive, drive, and drive. It was a beautiful day, and with a few well-timed stops along the way, we made it just fine. We pulled in at T.J.’s house in Mineola, Texas, shortly after 7:00 pm after driving 719 miles through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and into Texas.

We visited for a while and then we settled in to watch the Red Sox extend the ALCS to a final seventh game of the series by beating the Indians 10 – 2. There was a lot of channel switching going on as Barbara and I were also trying to keep up with the Auburn at LSU football game that was won by LSU with a last second play that resulted in one of the wildest finishes in college football history. Our hearts were with Auburn, but I couldn’t help but give LSU credit for a great team…can’t help but believe that we’ll be seeing them again in the national championship game.

And that’s the news for the week.

On the road again... but back in Mineola for a couple of nights.

"It's hard to cope without God's hope."...sign on the West Florida Assemblies of God Headquarters in Marianna, Florida.

Jim & Barbara

A Little Bit of Info

Sunday, October 7 – Saturday, October 13, 2007

Sunday, October 7

Today was “High Attendance Sunday” at our church. As part of the celebration, the preaching services were combined into one service immediately after Sunday school. Following the preaching, the Little clan joined other church members in the Total Life Center for a brisket and pot-luck lunch. It goes without saying (although I’ll go ahead and say it anyway) the food and fellowship were wonderful and we had a great time together.

After a short afternoon nap, I grabbed the gasoline-powered weed eater that I had borrowed from Ernie and went out to try to carve some weeds away from Jean’s fence line along Eastwind Road. Some of the weeds were so thick and close to the bottom of the fence that all I managed to do was break a lot of the string I was using. So, it was back to the tried and true method – grab the hoe and start chopping…it took close to an hour, but I chopped or pulled weeds along the outside of the northeast section of fence…that’ll teach me to let it go so long!

Jerry and Nancy called to invite us to join them for a hamburger cookout at their house, so we went over there and joined Jean, Jerry, Nancy, and Becky for burgers with all the trimmings and a round of Chicken Foot before calling it a day.

Monday, October 8

We spent most of the day working at the Marie Chase Community Center. I had completed assembling the computer armoires on Friday, so now it was time to disconnect all of the computers (10 or 11 of them), move everything out of the room that we wouldn’t need for the lab, and begin hooking up computers in the armoires and setting them where we wanted them.

With the lab being reduced from 11 computer stations to just four, there was a lot of equipment to move out of the room into the hallway. There were also a lot of cables and cords to be disconnected and rolled up to be stored away or be reconnected to the computers we would set up.

All in all, it was a busy day, topped off by my carrying the excess tables and chairs out to the storage garage while Barbara decorated the lab with some things she had found while we were cleaning things up a couple of weeks ago.

Tuesday, October 9

We spent the morning at Mother’s house, going through more of the boxes that had been moved from El Paso but hadn’t been opened. As usual, we found some really nice treasures to take inside to be used for decorations.

By the time we were finished, we had all the cabinets straightened out and reloaded with boxes of things that aren’t slated to be used inside in the near future. For the first time in four years, the storage boxes are all packed away inside or on top of the cabinets that Ernie had assembled three years ago. We still had a number of things without a “home place,” but that will be a project for later in the week.

Artesia hosted the annual marching band festival for the Southeastern New Mexico Music Educators Association this afternoon at Bulldog Bowl. Barbara decided she would take the afternoon off and rest, so I went on down to the stadium and watched several bands, including the Bulldog marching band and their presentation of “Music from the Movies.”

When I got home, Barbara was visiting with Jean, so I went over to the house and we talked for a while before going back to Big V to call it a night.

Wednesday, October 10

Happy 65th birthday, to Barbara's sister, Carol!

Because of the occasion, we decided to spend the day with Carol and Cal in Ruidoso. While Barbara and Carol spent time bonding and making wise cracks at each other, Cal and I just did what we do best...sit around and shake our heads at their antics. It was a very peaceful, pleasant way to spend a day. Since Cal hadn't given in to the hunger mode as we had, we left him to his own devices while Carol, Barbara and I went to a diner for our meal. Carol and I were a little more reasonable with our sandwich selections but Barbara insisted on having breakfast pancakes. Go figure! Once again, I found myself listening as Carol and Barbara volleyed the words back and forth. And, before we knew it, it was time for us to meet up once again with Cal and say our good-byes.

We got back to Artesia around 4:00, checked in with Mother and the puppies, and then visited Jean a while.

Tonight – kick back and relax.

Thursday, October 11

We had a rather lengthy agenda for the day…wash clothes, pack for a trip to Florida, make sure the car is ready, tie up all the loose ends, etc., etc., etc.

We started by going over to Mother’s house to wash clothes while we finished cleaning out the garage. After a couple of hours, we had the garage completely cleaned and straightened, and all the trash carried out, While I oversaw the washing and did some ironing, Barbara and Mother went to the library room and straightened it up. This was no small chore, since that is the “catch-all” room in the house. Still, the two of them working together sorted out a lot of stacks of paper and got them filed away. All is now in order for a visit from Mother’s sisters in another week or so.

By evening we were pretty washed out, so we made a brief visit to see Jean and then went back to Big V to clean, finish packing, and start loading the car for tomorrow’s trip.

Friday, October 12

About all we can say about today is that it was just a travel day. We got away from Artesia at 7:30 am (MDT) and arrived Heather and Andy’s house in Richardson, Texas around 6:00 pm (CDT). All went smoothly until we hit the outskirts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. From there, we just crept along with everyone else.

Tonight was just lazy family time with the kids…Pizza Hut delivery for dinner, Andy and I watched the Red Sox dismantle the Indians in the first game of the ALCS, and we had a good time getting reacquainted with Alexander and Abby.

Saturday, October 13

We started with a rather lazy morning (well, as lazy as a morning can be with a 3 ½ year-old and a 1 ½ year-old in the house).

After a quick breakfast, Heather and Andy planned out the menu for the next three weeks and went shopping while Barbara and I loaded the kids in Heather’s car and took them to Wal-Mart for some necessaries. It’s really amazing what jumps into a cart when the grandkids are aboard. Without going into details, let’s just say that Alexander and Abby are well prepared for their Halloween activities, and have a few extras to boot.

Heather went to an event during the afternoon, so Barbara and I watched after the kids while Andy worked in the yard. After Heather came back, Barbara and I left to take care of some things so we could get ready for the next leg of the trip. When we returned to the house, Heather and Andy left again for a while and we got in some more quality time with the grandkids while I fired up the grill and started barbecuing some chicken for tonight’s meal.

Supper tonight was grilled chicken, potato salad, and corn on the cob…yum-yum!!! Afterwards, it was the usual evening chores involving two young children. Heather and Andy gave the kids their baths while Barbara cleaned the kitchen area Heather hadn’t had a chance to clean.

With Alexander and Abby finally in bed, the rest of us settled down to watch the Red Sox and Indians in the second game of the ACLS. We had every intention of staying up for the ending, but the action and excitement of the day had worn us down. Barbara had gone upstairs to bed earlier and Heather, Andy, and I found ourselves dozing off. By the end of the eighth inning we gave it up…after all, we could read about the Red Sox victory tomorrow morning.

“What a bargain my grandchildren are! I give them my loose change and they give me a million dollars worth of pleasure.”…Gene Perret

On the road again,

Jim & Barbara

A Little of This and That

Sunday, September 30 – Saturday, October 6, 2007

Sunday, September 30

This Sunday for me was a walk back in time. Since it was the 50th anniversary for Clark Memorial United Methodist Church, that’s where Jim and I chose to attend services today. What a pleasant surprise awaited us as my older sister Carol had traveled over from Roswell to join in the celebration. For the two of us to sit in that church together for worship for the first time in probably 45 years was an awesome feeling. If I closed my eyes, as I did in prayer, I was back in time and Daddy was right there in the pulpit. It was a wonderful experience in my books!

After the service, Jim took some photos of Carol and I at the front of the sanctuary before we joined the others out at the pavilion for a meal of brisket, beans, potato salad and cole slaw.

Once the meal was over, Carol came over to our home and we visited a while. We also proofed the photos Jim took and agreed that I would only use this one since the really good one had her mouth open and my eyes closed…we never could do anything alike! And, the other close up was fuzzy (my mouth was open and hers was closed in that one!) See what I mean?

Anyway, it was a fabulous day and one we enjoyed sharing with Carol.

After Jim took a nap, we ran over to Edith’s (in the car!) to visit a little while. Then it was back here in time to watch The War…

A very interesting side note to the series that we are watching…they showed an interview with Ken Burns and he is a very young man (he was born in 1953)…this project of The War became all important to him when he realized that the generation of men who fought so hard for our country were dying at the rate of 1000 per day. The thought of losing that bit of history was unacceptable to him…What an impressive young man he is!

Monday, October 1

Happy 10th birthday to granddaughter, Jaycie!

Today Jim and I took separate paths…he headed over on the cycle to the church to work on another computer cabinet while I took the car to Edith’s where I did laundry while Edith and I went through another round of boxes in the garage. We found among other things, a communion chalice that she had been given when she was 2 for singing for a neighbor…do the math…it makes that piece 82 years old! Much of what we found was left in the boxes, but Edith did find quite a few things that she wanted out. It was a walk down memory lane for her and a learning of Little / Faulk history for me.

Jean is not feeling well today and didn’t go to work; so I dropped by for a moment to chat with her before putting up the laundry and straightening the house.

Jim came home for lunch, but then went back to tackle the rest of the cabinet building. After finishing the work there, he went over to his mother’s while I washed some dishes. The good thing about having sink covers is that we can store quite a few dirty dishes out of sight; the bad thing about having sink covers is that we tend to hide too many dishes under there instead of getting them done in a timely fashion! Oh, well…

Jean gave us some fresh green beans to go with supper tonight (she and Jim had snapped them Saturday while they watched the college football games)…yum, yum!

Otherwise, it was a quiet night in front of the tube watching The War.

I did have some photos from sister, Nancy, which I wanted to include in the journal this week. The first one is Keylin at a football game. She is on the Spirit Team and undoubtedly the prettiest!

And, since it’s homecoming week for her private church school, Monday was crazy dress day. What a charmer this girl is!

Tuesday, October 2

After checking all the weather reports in the area, Jim and I decided it was definitely a day to run away on the cycle. By 9:00 we were on the road with a cool, brisk morning before us… perfect weather for a ride.

By around 3:00, we had shed all the top layers of clothing as the sun was warming the earth quite well! With a quick trip to Albertson in our sights to look for a particular soup Edith wanted, we headed to Roswell and then back to Artesia.

The trip, which eventually wound up being around 300 miles, wasn’t without its high points! I managed to remain on without a stop for 86 miles! That has to be a record for me.

While Jim went over to Edith’s, I wandered over to visit with Jean. Then we spend another night engrossed in The War.

Wednesday, October 3

While Jim went to the church to put together another cabinet, I went over to Edith’s to help her sort through more of the boxes in the cabinet…another day of treasure hunting! However, Jim found the church was closed for the day so he came over and joined us in our endeavors.

Another trip to Wally World and then back home for some rest and relaxation.

After his nap, Jim decided that he would take the edger and go over to his mother’s. I chose to stay home and do basically nothing!

Thursday, October 4

A definitely slow morning as neither of us cared enough to get in a rush to do anything.

Billee, Jim’s sister-in-law had given me some Amish friendship bread…you know the kind that has a starter and it keeps multiplying! Well, I decided that enough is enough and spent all day baking bread.

Now, that might seem like an exaggeration, but trust me it isn’t! With math being my weakness, I didn’t quite grasp how many loaves that would be…12! We borrowed loaf pans from Jean and Edith, but I still had to continually wash the mixing bowls, measuring cups, spoons, etc., and, I had to interrupt Jim’s cabinet building at MCCC to go to the store for more sugar, flour, etc. It was certainly an experience; but, I have given Jim permission to slap me if I ever take any more starter bags from anyone!

While I was working kneadlessly, (bad pun) Jim was busy proving the old adage, Practice makes perfect. He sailed through the cabinet-building today by completing the last two. Have any cabinets you need put together??? Just call Handyman Little Jim…806-544-9811.

We were in bed and sound asleep by 9:00! This retirement is hard work!

Friday, October 5

Since MCCC is closed on Friday, Jim went with me to Edith’s to tackle the rest of the boxes…Sure enough by 12:00, we had gone through everything in the garage and Edith, who hadn’t seen some of her things for 4 years, discovered many treasures to bring into her home.

This is an unsolicited, unpaid commercial…

Find time now to discover treasures of your parents or grandparents! For example, we found this crude, badly varnished corner shelf that would have unknowingly been thrown away years down the road when Edith wouldn’t be there to share its history. That little shelf was made72 years ago by her when she was in the 6th grade!

After we loaded the car with all the empty boxes, papers, etc and took it to the dumpster in back, Edith sent us to Ruth’s for lunch. Then it was time to come home for a nap. Tomorrow must be a day to clean our own domain up! (Just threw that in even though it doesn’t relate to today…)

Tonight…A real treat for us as we made enchiladas, something we haven’t fixed in our own kitchen in a long, long time.

I watched TV and worked at the computer while Jim volunteered to do the dishes and clean the kitchen while he listened to the Artesia / Las Cruces High School football game and continually checked his computer for the scores of the Major League Baseball division playoff games. What you might call an exciting night, huh?

Saturday, October 6

12:15 and we have the house spic and span…Just to explain how serious about the tasks set before us, I even wiped the blinds by the kitchen sink one at a time…what a yucky job…I’m glad that’s the only set of regular blinds we have. And, Jim even used WD40 on the glass shower panels! (In case you don’t know, WD40 repels the shower water and doesn’t let the water stain the glass.) The end results met with our approval and are glad that next time will be regular cleaning. Even in retirement the hum-drum jobs never change.

My niece, Lynette, called the other day and invited us over to Roswell for a surprise birthday party for my sister, Carol; so around 3:30 we headed over there. As always, it was good to see Carol’s family and we enjoyed a hamburger cook-out with the clan. Since Carol is diabetic, the girls had gotten her a special birthday cake with huge numbers depicting her age…However, at Jim’s suggestion, Nettie made a minor adjustment to the candles as they presented the cake to her. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what adjustment was made.

“Why is a birthday cake the only food you can blow on and spit on and everybody rushes to get a piece?” ~ Bobby Kelton, comedian

Still home in Artesia,

Jim & Barbara