Louisville
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Vanessa
Had a nice weekend in Louisville to visit Vanessa. On Saturday we went to the Patton Tank Museum. It was a good time. A fellow from GM was there to authentic the car that Patton last rode in. Found out that several of the tanks still run and they do have groups come out and do battles with tanks - they actually fire blanks. It was more of a guy thing, so we went to the St. Matthew Mall afterwards to get Chelsea a prom dress. So both the guys and girls had an equal opportunity to be bored. I did find a book store going out of business, and got 5 books for only $7. Then we went out to eat afterwards.

Vanessa and Eric have a nice apartment. It is at the end of the complex, next to a good sized wooded lot. They have 2 bedrooms with a loft. Plenty of room, we all stayed there. The location is great. They are within walking distance of Walmart, Krogers, and several other stores. She is quite the coupon clipper. Glad to see that the family trait of being frugal is being picked up by the next generation.

Joe was miffed that he is still grounded. I told him that yes all of his grades came up, but they all have to be C's or better. I did compromise and said that since he improving he can have friends over once a month. He wasn't happy, but I need to stay on message with him. He is definitely smart, just does not want to apply himself. Anyway he gets a partial reward for getting his grades partway back up to where they should be.

Joe seems to have picked up an interest in shooting. So he is signed up with 4H. He would like to get a real deer rifle someday. I told him that if he baled hay in the summer, he could save up enough to buy a nice rifle if that is what he really wanted. I told him that we could go to Michigan or Pennsylvania someday, it would be fun.

Chelsea's math dropped a little, but everything else is doing good. She earneed good money for her A's last report card. She is excited about the prom of course. I think it isn't for another couple of weeks or so.

Chad's house has to have a soil test(even though the water tested OK) and some other test. So it is still pending. Since the water is OK, I don't see why the soil wouldn't test OK too. So I think the deal is still on, just delayed a little.

Dinner w/Rob
Mood:  happy
Topic: General
We went to Milford and had lunch with Robert. Everyone had a good time. Eric said that of all the aunts and uncles of Vanessa's that he has met so far, Rob is his favorite. We joked that they need to get together - Rob with the Tradewinds Ice Tea and Eric with the Ice. We ate at Tony Roma's - it had cheeseburgers which made Joe happy, Crab legs for Becky and steaks for everyone else. Rob said that Chad reminded him of me and Joe reminded him of Matt.

Chad's house is still on track. Nothing negative so far, just waiting for all the paperwork to get processed. Vanessa's belly is going to catch up to mine before it is all over.

Increase in Altitude
Well Joe is just a hair smaller than Chelsea now. So he is pushing 5'8". He is definitely taller than his friend Cody. Chad has made an offer on a house. The paperwork is in process. Will be visiting Vanessa in 2 weeks that should be fun. Becky bought Chelsea another car - but Chelsea is paying for it. I am not happy about it, but maybe if she pays for it then it will mean more to her.

House
Mood:  rushed
Topic: Chad
Well Chad has made an offer on a house. It is on a 5 acre lot. Plenty of storage space, so no reason not to move out all his stuff. There is still a lot of red tape to get thru, but once this deal is done, I am ready to start hauling.

Vanessa and Eric are moving to a new apartment. We inherit two of their cats. They will go outside of course, one in the house is enough. We plan to go visit sometime soon and see Louisville.

Becky bought Chelsea a car. I am not happy about it, I would rather that she walked. She is still grounded. Her project in school with E. Coli bacteria did OK in judging at Sinclair, but was not good enough to go to regionals. I told her it was learning experience and to use the experience to be even better next year. Joe's grades are improving we are keeping the pressure up on him. He has been shooting his 22 quite a bit as of late, now he wants to buy a scope.

3 strikes
Mood:  accident prone
Topic: Chelsea
Oh bother, Chelsea has had another accident. She got 10 stitches on her forehead. She claims that her brakes gave out and that she rolled thru a stop sign. She was T-boned by another driver. Both cars are pretty much totalled. The other driver just had a bruise or two. That is three wrecks in a year and half. That doesn't count the time that she let off the clutch on my truck and ran it into a building when she was 15. She has had two cars totalled. Sounds like Schwinn time to me. When she gets out on her own she needs to locate a place close to a bus stop.

Joe's grades are gradually improving. Keeping pressure on him and keeping him off of the computer are having an effect. Chad is still house hunting. But he is getting fed up with his job. He is going for his CDL today. It will give him more options at his current employer. But he is fed up with them and is thinking about switching jobs again. We told him to watch switching jobs too frequently, banks don't like that. Vanessa is doing OK. Nothing new to report last time I talked with her.

Joe turns 14
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Joe
Well Joe turned 14 yesterday. Kyle and Cody stayed overnight. We went bowling in Richmond and got something to eat on the way home. Kyle had no success until he used "Bill" the bowling ball. It was a loaner from the bowling alley. And it did have the name "Bill" engraved on it. They also had a good time playing video games on the pc's of course.

The boys are getting older now and have a more adult sense of humor. It was fun cutting up and joking with them on the drive over. Kyle's and Joe's voices have changed, Cody's hasn't - all in good time I guess. Joe shaved the peach fuzz off his lip a few weeks ago, but it coming back even thicker. We may need to invest in a razor for the young man.

Chad is seriously looking for a house. We'll see how this project works out. I hope he gets lots of garage space and lots of acreage so that he can move his stuff off of our property.

Chelsea made the honor roll. She mock rolled her eyes and said jokingly - Geeze, I can finally get Uncle Vaughn off of my back. We are working on getting Joe focused. The grades that we see are finally starting to pick back up.

Elana Jane
Mood:  happy
Topic: Elana
Got a first peek at Elana Jane. Vanessa stopped by this weekend and brought ultra sounds of the baby. You can see the little turned up nose. She had a hand up to her cheek as though she were sleeping. The baby did kick a little and I got to feel it move. I told Becky that if they stick with Elana Jane - that sounds a lot like Eliza Jane, every time I hear that song, I'll think of her.

Did some work this week on building a stool for the baby to use when old enough. I got some old oak from the barn. I was amazed how good it looked when I got it cut and sanded down. The boards are probably 100 years old or so and still look nice with just a little tung oil on them. I did experiment with staining a few pieces to see what they would like. The yellow pine did not age well. It had an odd color to it, so I probably will use for some projects around the farm.

Joe got 2 F's. We knew that the turmoil with Becky having to deal with Earl was probably a factor, but now we are really pushing him. He did get a B on his last math test, so hopefully this extra attention will get him pointed in the right direction. No track this spring.

Chelsea is doing OK with her Burger King job. She is thinking about playing for Shawnee or North next year. Not sure if anything will come of it or not.

Chad took his girlfriend, Sarah, to the custom car show in Cincinnati. She seems nice enough. Chad's longtime friend,Mike, brought his girlfriend, Brittany. They seem to make a couple too. Joe and I tagged along. It was a nice show, but really crowded there were lines to get an autograph from Scooter of Dukes of Hazzard, Eddie Munster from the Munster TV show. Joe is becoming aware of girls. Chad told me later about the comments he made about the girls from Hooters. They were at the Nascar race car that is sponsored by the restaraunt chain.

Chad is also looking at a house inbetween Gratis and Middletown. Sounds like a good deal, it must need some work though. $125k for a 1 story house on 10 acres. But a fixer upper for a single guy wouldn't be too bad. I have all the tools he needs. It's premature to say if he can swing a mortgage or not.

Vanessa
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Vanessa
Well Vanessa found out that she is going to have a girl. She seems very happy. As are Becky and I. Baby looks healthy and is on track for June 10.

Trying to get Joe interested in something. We are hoping that track is it. Chelsea is thinking about maybe playing basketball at Shawnee or North next year. We'll see if it really was the coach or that she is just lazy.

Christmas 2005
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: General
Well it was a good Christmas for us. It was just our family and we had a quiet morning together. Becky used part of her inheritance to make sure that everyone was taken care of in the present department. We had plenty of Christmas food and cheer.

We took some of the engineers from the phillipines to see the Whispering Christmas. They all had a good time. They snapped a ton of photo's and the women got their pics with Santa. It was fun to see the kids interacting with them at Taco Bell afterwards, both sides learned things about the other. I think that Chad was kind of sweet on Guen.

Looks like Vanessa may not lose her job after all. She pointed out that although she was among the last hired, she was one of the better performers. So her boss is going go bat for her. Vanessa has a device for listening to the babies heartbeat. Becky got to listen.

Chad has been seeing someone named Toni. He is still adament about getting another job. Joe has spent most of his vacation on the PC. Playing games. Chelsea has spent a good of time with Ron. They seem to be quite the item. Oh, I guess that he is trying to catch up to her in the wreck department. He totalled his car when he rear-ended a pickup truck. He wasn't wearing a seat belt, so he was lucky to escape with cuts and bruises. What a couple, they should buy matching crash helmets.

Went to grandpa jacks over new years. We watched Ohio State beat Notre Dame. One of the cows knocked the satelite dish off line. So we had to hook up the rabbit ears to watch the game.

Last thoughts on Trip; return to normal
Mood:  special
Topic: General

Last thoughts on India and then I'll return this blog to it's original purpose - keeping track of the kids and their activities.

On the flight back the plane passed over the Caspian Mountains in Iran. They were various shades of brown. In the valleys you could faintly make out the roads. Some of the mountain tops had snow on them. It was quite a sight, mountains as far as the eye could see.

Many of the Krishna temples had swastika's on them. It is a symbol of good luck. It is hard not to think of Hitler when you see them. Odd that a symbol has one meaning in one culture and almost the opposite in another.

Temples are sprinkled all over. At one point we parked to stop at a restaraunt and a large tree across the street had fixtures for incense, flowers, and a bell. When I asked what was up with the tree, they told me that it was used as a temple. I guess god is where you find him.

Vanessa will lose her temp job soon. They are keeping the 11 temps that have been there the longest. I told Vanessa that it sounds like management took the easy way out. They could have put some thought into it and kept the 11 best workers. So she will be looking for a new job shortly.

Chelsea is doing OK at Wendys. She got a good report from school, she seems to be doing well.

Joe is studying nightly although it takes some prodding. Hopefully his grades will come around.

Chad is starting to actively search for a new job. Both of the positions that he is looking are for delivery. Maybe he is getting burnt out on being a mechanic.