Wyatt's Eighth Birthday

We celebrated Wyatt's eighth birthday last Friday.  We decided to serve him his favorite dish, meat loaf and mashed potatoes.  His mother brought a Haunted House cake and Wyatt blew out the candles, and there were more than eight, without any problems.  He is growing so fast, ten years and he will be out of high school.  At the rate he is going it will pass like an instant.

Cruise ship photos

Some people find the photographers on cruise ships to be a major annoyance.  I don't,  you can roam from photographer to photographer and have different poses done by different people.  You have no obligation to buy anything and if you do, while it isn't cheap, it is less expensive than having a studio shoot at home.  My goal this year was to get a good family photo for the wall and for Christmas.  The first night we didn't have children.  It is a lot easier to get a good picture without coaxing children to smile.  Then we did the second night with the children.  OK, but not perfect, the third night I was satisfied.  Every one else was so happy that we weren't going to spend another evening after dinner trying for the perfect photo.

 

Just like an old girlfriend

We had stopped in Tularosa for a bathroom break and to buy some pecans.  At our age the bathroom breaks are an important part of the travel planning.  While Brenda and I were doing other things, Ray happened to notice this 1955 Mercury in the parking lot.  Most people would just admire the very well preserved vehicle and go on their way.  However, seeing this vehicle meant much more to Ray than an admiring look over.   Ray's car when he came to Wichita to go to WSU in 1964 was a duplicate of this one.  I know this, because this is the car he drove when we started dating.  It looks the same, even down to the strange green color of the interior.  I do have to say that this car is in better shape than Ray's was 49 years ago.
Over the years I have made the comment that I didn't fall in love with Ray because of his car.  To be honest Mercury never had the cult following that the 1955 Chevrolet did.  But looking at this car, I will have to admit that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was when I was 18.

Just Us and our Foil Hats

 We went to Ruidoso with Ray's brother Marvin and his wife Brenda a bit over a week ago.  Neither of them had been to that part of New Mexico, so we got to show them all the places that we love out there.  We all had a great time.  The foil hats represent the knowledge that once you get old enough, you don't care what other people think about you.  Brenda and I were talking about going to the UFO Museum and decided we NEEDED these caps. Foil hats are amazingly easy to make.  Everyone should have one for their own.  I think ours are still in the back of the Durango.  Ray was not very excited about the prospect of taking these pictures.  I had to go into the museum and encourage him to come out.  When we got back out, Brenda had convinced four young men to take our picture for us.  Three of them borrowed the hats and we took their pictures too.  Not just the old folks can be silly after all.



Random Stuff

Even when I am being random here I feel more comfortable with at least one photo per post.  This one goes back to June when Nicole and her family went to Florida to visit Nick's brother Mike.  Everyone had a lot of fun, on this day Nick, Andi and Mike and Nathan went fishing.  Nicole and Wyatt went to visit the animals.  There were shows and displays, I am told a good time was had by all..  I was given this picture of Wyatt and Nicole with some Macaws.  I knew better, but the first thing out of my mouth was "Is that bird alive."  The answer is "Yes, he just likes to play dead."  We already knew parrots have a sense of humor, this one is a bit much.

I finally swam in the new pool yesterday.  It took over a week for the water to warm up enough.  I like cool bath tub temperatures. I like the new shape.  We went from a round pool to an oval.  It isn't as big across but it is longer but it doesn't seem like it.  The pool really does seem bigger.  The pool is also about six inches deeper, so it is more fun for everyone who wants to be in the deep end so to speak. We will know Wyatt is growing for sure when He will be able to touch the bottom and have his face above the water.  Right now, it comes to his eyebrows.  I really am glad we decided to replace the pool after the storm.

I have been working for PDQ Notary for a year now.  I am so lucky to have found a part time job that I really like.  I get to do the best part of my old job and get paid for it.  My boss is great and lets his people do their job and appreciates what we do.  I hope I can keep on doing this until I can't drive to closings anymore.

Denny Stauth died a few weeks ago.  He was the best man at our wedding and was married to my friend Kay.  He was Ray's room mate when they came to Wichita to go to school.  We were close friends until he and Kay divorced and Denny went looking for something else.  Ray or I talked to him every now and then, but there wasn't a connection there anymore. Views and politics were just part of it.  We always felt that Denny could not relate to our place in life and we never got the sense that he was ever comfortable in any of the places he was at in his life.  It makes you think a bit more about your mortality when you are our age, but if we want to be in denial, we think about the fact that smoking did a lot make Denny's last years less comfortable.  If I wanted to be philosophical, I tell myself that no one gets out of here alive.  I haven't asked Ray what he thinks.

That is all for now. 

Down by the River

The men went fishing two weekends ago.  Theresa and I went out to eat and I then drove around Wichita for a while.   Theresa had not been to the Keeper of the Plains and Riverside Park.  This was the first pretty weather since all the rain, lots of people were out enjoying the evening just like we were.  The water was still very high, lots of the sidewalks along the water were covered making it difficult to go from one place to the next on foot, but it is fun to pretend we have a big river every now and then.  We also went to Central Riverside and North Riverside Parks.  I tend to forget how pretty the parks are.  We must do a family picnic one Sunday down there before the weather gets too cold.

School Days

Wyatt started second grade last week.  Andrea started pre-kindergarten today.  She had been on the waiting list for the program and Nicole learned she had a spot on Friday.  Yesterday was a physical and vaccinations and today it was meeting Mrs. Shipman and her class.  There was a little boy wailing like he was abandoned there.  I was afraid Andi would cry in sympathy, but she looked at him as if to ask. "What is his problem"  When we left, she was busy with an activity.  Wyatt likes second grade quite well.  There are a couple of children there that he has been going to school since he was in PreK.  Wyatt's teacher is Mrs. Marrs.  She is  very nice.  I don't remember my teachers being as nice as these ladies are.