Friday, November 27

Having a wonderful time in Dover, Delaware. We had a pretty uneventful drive out on Wednesday other that sitting for about an hour south of Baltimore waiting to cross the Bay Bridge. 8 toll booth lanes that merge into 2 lanes to cross the bridge and then throw in some thick fog and you get a pretty long delay. This trip took about 10 hours and it normally takes 8 1/2 or 9. But it has been worth it. Luke is growing up so fast, talking a lot more and has quite a strong personality. He helped me make the stuffing and we baked a Toll House cookie pie for Thanksgiving dinner. He ate lots of turkey or "chickie", as he called it and Pop Pop loved the turkey dressing. The meal was great and we ate until we couldn't eat another bite.

Today we drove up to see Grammie Bichler. She lives in New Jersey about 2 1/2 hours from Dover. She was so happy to see everyone. We took her out to her favorite place, the Key City Diner for lunch. Luke was pretty good for a 2 year old in a home that wasn't very child proofed. Grammie did cover up her jig saw puzzle so he couldn't get at it but there was a multitude of other trinkets for him to get into. He spent most of his time gathering many of her cat collectibles and carrying them to the middle of the living room. He did enjoy playing with the new "Hess" collectible car that Grammie gave him for Christmas but he really liked the old (and I mean old!) toys he found in a cabinet in the front room. Luke even gave his Grammie B a big kiss and hug when it was time to leave.

Tuesday, November 24

Zoo day today. Had the best job ever. I had lion cub watch from 12-2. Today was the first day the public could view the 3 new lion cubs. Docents were asked to be on hand to give information and I guess for some crowd control. The cubs were absolutely precious, romping around and playing in the outside enclosure. Mom was still pretty protective but tolerant of the many people that lined the fence to get their first peek at the new little cubs. They are certainly a "must see" if you can get up to the zoo. And do it quick as they are growing fast!!

Our scrimmage went really good and we thought the girls did a pretty good job of running the offenses and defenses. Now all we have to work on are all those missed lay ups and free throws.

Monday, November 23

Well, I know for a fact that 37 years ago, today was Thanksgiving. As I like to say, I married the turkey on that day. It certainly seems like a long time ago and I guess 37 years is a long time. We didn't do too much. I had to run some errands and we had a nice dinner at York Steak House, one of our favorites. Of course we had practice and a Parents meeting for the perfect ending to a perfect day. I know one thing, it better be another 37 years before we have another year like this one!! Scrimmage tomorrow night, excited to see how we match up with another 8th grade team!

Sunday, November 22

Well I think we have it completely finished. The train table is ready to go to Dover for Christmas! I wanted to get it finished as we are going to be busy for the next two months with basketball and getting ready for the Christmas season. We have a scrimmage at home on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and an away scrimmage on the Monday after Thanksgiving. The season officially opens on Thursday, Dec. 3 at Grandview. Our first home game is Thursday, Dec. 10 against a very good Liberty Union team. We have the potential to be pretty good but we are going to have to learn how to work together as a team. It should be exciting to watch their progress.

Saturday, November 21

It's been a busy week. Mr. B had a doctors appointment with his rehab doctor from Dodd Hall. After telling him that his recovery was nothing short of miraculous we went upstairs to the 3rd floor to visit with a few of his therapists. It was so good to see everyone that helped to make this recovery happen. It was a really good afternoon. We have also been busily trying to finish the train table we are building to give to Luke for Christmas. It is just about finished. Got it's 2nd coat of paint today and tomorrow I will finish with a border of planes, trains, sail boats and cars.

We also got great news that Sara and Matt will be coming home for Christmas. Matt has 10 days of leave so we will have the entire family home for the holidays. So exciting. Looking forward to Thanksgiving. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for, not the least being our family and friends that have been our source of support and encouragement this year. Thank you for everything you did to help to get us where we are today!

Saturday, October 7

Basketball is moving along pretty smoothly. The girls are picking up the offenses quickly and next week we will start putting in defenses and the full court press, "mad dog". Mr B had "Louie and Rachel" in on the very first day. I guess there are some things even a brain injury can't erase!! I think we are going to have a really fun season with this group of girls. Practices seem to go by so quickly, as they say, "time flies when you're having a good time"! We won't really know how good we are until our first scrimmage. (*photo: 1995-outside the old gym office.)

When Mr. B isn't at school or practice he has been very busy raking and blowing the leaves in our yard. His energy level seems to be much improved the busier he becomes. I'm thinking we should put up the Christmas lights while the weather is so nice.

My buzzard's (turkey vultures) have headed south for warmer climates. When I walked Friday, they were gone. The sycamore tree seems empty without them. I will miss watching them each morning with their wings outstretched to dry in the sun, but they will be back next March. Bambi commented that she saw buzzards at her house Thursday. They were probably staging. They will gather in large groups as they prepare to begin their migration. There were about 60 here last week before they moved on. I like to think that our vultures love it here so much that they wait until the very last possible day before leaving.

Monday, November 2

Happy Birthday to my sister in Atlanta! Pretty soon you'll be as old as me!! Pretty day today so I finally took time to walk through our woods. The turkey vultures are still here, I counted no less than 25 in the sycamore tree. I also saw two red-tail hawks and the Cooper's hawk. The hawks and the vultures were riding the thermals and looked so graceful. In my next life I want to come back as a vulture or hawk. Maybe a hawk. Sticking my head in a dead carcass doesn't sound very appetizing, not that eating mice, rabbits and snakes would be a lot better. But the flying and gliding thing would be awesome.

Mr. Bichler got called this morning at 6:15 to substitute. He decided not to go in and then all day long he kept saying he should have gone in and made some money. He feels better now because they called this evening and he is going in tomorrow. Tomorrow is also the first day of basketball tryouts so he will be quite busy.

Pics: 1. My sister the birthday girl 2. Luke & his best friend Logan on Beggars Night 3.Luke, a pretty cute skeleton

Good luck to all the schools and libraries that have levies on the ballot! I can't think there is any thing more important than our children's education.