Mood:  a-ok

Well Chelsea's team had the first winning season at North in 20 years according to the coach. Their 10th win was against South on senior night. Chelsea did not score, but did have some assists and rebounds. We were worried going into the game. What if North lost, or North won, but  Chelsea did not contribute. The move to North would not have looked like a good idea. But things turned out pretty good. Chelsea did have a rough foul, she boxed out Bambeck early when she drove in for a layup and knocked Bambeck to the floor. She was out for the rest of the quarter. The team won their 11th game in a pretty ugly game over Carlisle.  So at worst they will end the regular season 11-9. Their last game is against a tough Arcanum team that has a girl with a college scholarship on it. So getting win number 12 will be tough.

 We visited Wright State and Chelsea was impressed with their biology facilities. She liked the campus in general too.  She still wants to do Sinclair and transfer to Wright State. I would rather she just do all four years at Wright State.  Anyway the two schools have a transfer agreement, so that is bonus - she won't lose too many credits.  We visit Ohio State at the end of the month. While at Wright State the advisor let slip that Miami has a good biology department.  Chelsea only is allowed two college visits. So we might go visit them in May when they let the seniors out early.

Her senior project got high ratings and so she will probably be selected to go to Sinclair for some sort of science fair type competition. She is also going to Louisville to compete in some sort of science competion. So she is having a good senior year scholastically.

Took Chad and Sarah out to eat at the Mexican restaraunt in Eaton.  We will start doing this once a month. Since Chad got the new job and new house, he hasn't been around our place as much. So it is a way to get together and chat, plus give them a night out. Sarah seems to be doing OK although she was fighting a cold. She was supposed to get an ulta-sound, but I don't know if they would be able to tell the sex of the baby yet.

 Joe's grades popped up at the end of the semester.  We have a challenge for him to get his grades even higher. I told him that I would get him an ipod if he gets a 3.0 in the last semester. He seems to be making an honest effort. He made Chelsea a very nice easel for displaying her poster board. Then it turned out she was going to display her poster laying down flat! I told Joe that it was too nice to just tear apart. So we will store it in the barn.

Vanessa is supposed to come up and visit in the new few weeks. Elaina has had to fight off an ear infection. But is OK now. They had to change baby sitters, so that was a hassle. She has started her new job at the hospital. So far so good. She said that she gets to see all sorts of people and that it fun to see all the babies in the maternity ward.

Posted by christ77 at 7:23 AM EST

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Chelsea has had a good couple of games 9 points and 4 points. Got yelled at a little bit at the NT game.  Lots of other folks make mistakes, but she seems to have a low tolerance for Chelsea. They had a quiz team competion at Northmont this weekend.  Chelsea's team won against TCN of all teams. They were close in several other matches, and were competitive. She found out that the other teams practice more than they do and are really organized.  So for winging it, they did OK.

Vanessa may have that job at the hospital after all. It will mean $1.50 more on the hour and a better shot at advancement. She thinks that the healthcare field may be the direction that she wants to go.

Posted by christ77 at 7:13 AM EST

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Some things don't change. Could not find my good ratchet the other day. Both Chad and Joe denied using it. I went thru the barn and could not find it anywhere. Giving up, I went and bought a nice one to replace it. Sure enough, Chad shows up a week later and apologized - I found it in my pick up truck and must have forgotten that I had put it there.  Arrgh.

Chad and Sarah plan to go to South Carolina with us this summer. So we are trying to get that trip planned now.

 Joe got his deerskin from the first deer. The tanner did a good job. Found out that grandpa Jack had his made into a nice vest - for only $15 in the 60's.  It cost 90$ just to get it tanned. 

Chelsea had a so-so game against Miami East, they were a very good team. We are arranging visits to Ohio State and Wright State here in the spring.

 Vanessa was sick over the weekend. She was back at work on Monday. Not happy with her job, she does a few hours worth of work, then has to hunt for work the remainder of the day.  Elaina is a roller - she likes roll to get a toy instead of crawl.  So Vanessa thinks that she may go straight to walking.

Posted by christ77 at 11:43 AM EST

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Mood:  down

Chelsea had one of best games of the year defensively.  It was a close game at halftime, but the taller TV team began to work the ball inside in the third quarter. They went on like a 10 point run. They put Chelsea into the game and she clogged up the middle pretty well.  She had like three blocked shots and had a nice steal for a basket. The other girl got the rebound and raised the ball above her head for an outlet pass. Chelsea was behind her and cherry picked the ball out of her hands and laid it in for an easy basket. 

 So that took away the other teams inside game, the North team pressed and was able to make headway, but couldn't close the gap by the end of the game. If the game would have lasted another 3 minutes the team may have been able to complete a come back.

Posted by christ77 at 8:47 AM EST

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Mood:  happy

Chad announced over the weekend that he and Sarah are expecting a baby in August. So that is exciting news, if this keeps up we will have a swarm of grandchildren at our house during future Christmas celebrations.  I would prefer that they were married, but they are both in their mid-twenties so they can make their own decisions. Oh, if it the baby is a boy a name has been selected - Johnathon Cash Tilton.  Sarah is a Johnny Cash fan.  She may stop working her job. She does interior work in house's which involves painting, etc. So to prevent breathing fumes she may look for something else or simply stop working.

 Not much new to report from Louisville.  Vanessa and Eric will be up for both Christmas and New Years, so they will be putting in a lot of time on the road.

Chelsea's basketball team is now 6-4, not bad. Joe needs to focus on the classes where he is struggling. He has the ability, but not the drive.

Went hunting with Jimmy. We did not get a deer although we had our chances. Still it was nice to be outdoors.  The one day it was 50+ mile an hour wind gusts. Simply awful weather - but we saw more deer that day than any other day that we were out. An owl must have gotten blown out of it's tree because we saw it flying and land on a huge oak tree in daylight.  Later one morning we heard two owls hooting back and forth in the woods before daybreak. Jimmy saw a coyote. Of all things we found a bow saw in a fallen tree.  It was not in the tree crossways as one would think, but long ways with the grain of the wood. The treen was semi rotten, but we both used our knives to shave away the wood that had grown around it and finally pull it free.  No idea how long it may have been in the tree, or why someone would have stuck in the tree like that. It was not broken or anything.

Posted by christ77 at 8:39 AM EST

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Mood:  a-ok

Joe decided to do a science fair project.  The effect on temperature on the number of times per minute crickets will chirp.  We had an old aquarium, so I stopped by a pet store and purchased 20 crickets.  As it turns out, Mr Cuddles has no appreciation for science and was able to get in the aquarium and create havoc.  He did this not once, but twice. The second time he left 4 crickets, 2 intact and the other 2 alive but maimed. I told Joe that if he didn't figure out a way to keep the cat out, I wasn't going to buy any more. I told him that maybe he should change the project just do a study on insects as a feline diet food.  He did place his wooden shield on top of the aquarium with a weight on top and that worked.  He and his buddy got an 84 on the project.

Joe's Maritime Salvage Company:  Joe and Kyle found a paddle boat in the creek. One of the paddle boats that you sit and use you feet to pedal in the water. It holds 4 people.  It was jammed up in brushpile in the middle of the creek. He and Kyle got an axe and cut away the wood. I had to help supply the horsepower to pull it out and up the creek to where we could load it on the truck.  We had to tip it up on end to drain the water out of it. It could then float and so we dragged it up the creek, up over a few logs that had fallen across the creek, and finally up the bank to the truck. What a work out.

It needs work, but looks to be salvagable. The rudder and paddle have been broken, but I gave him some idea's on how to repair them. They have pushed out all the dents in the hull. So they need to give it a good cleaning and then start putting it back together.  I am starting to have the same problem with Joe that I did with Chad - my tools are ending up everywhere except my tool box. 

 Chelsea's basketball has been up and down. The team is like 5-4 right now. They had a quality win against a league opponent last night. Chelsea just got one basket, and had a 'tomahawk' foul. Girl had a break away layup. Chelsea ran beside her and was able to get her hands on the ball as she went up. The girl did not release the ball, and neither did Chelsea. So she went up, stopped in mid air and tumbled to the floor in a heap. From a distance it looked like Chelsea threw her down. The opposing coach wanted an intentional foul, but she was definitely going after the ball, not the girl. I called it a tomahawk foul because it looked like she tomahawked her to the floor.  She has started two games, but it looks like her role is to give the post players some rest in most games. I told her to make the most of her minutes. Her being sick for three days did not help either.

 Vanessa's job opportunity at the hospital in Louisville fell thru. A girl had said she was leaving, then changed her mind. So the opening was taken away. They are definitely interested in her, but just have no place to put her right now.

Chad is still spending a lot of time at home. With him working second and Sarah first shift, they probably want to maximize their time together. Chad is putting some drywall in the garage and insulation. This is after installing new gutters.  So far all of the improvements have gone into the garage - hardly anything into the house.  I foresee that he will have the best garage in all of greater Eaton, but the most neglected house.

Posted by christ77 at 7:21 AM EST

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Mood:  not sure

Chelsea's basketball season got off to a hot start, but it has cooled down as of late. She scored 10 points in the opener against Dixie, but has scored only 2-3 points in her other games.  However the team is 4-1 so overall they are doing OK.  Chelsea just has to be more aggressive going after the ball. As always she boxes out well, but doesn't break to the ball quickly and missed a lot of opportunities for rebounds.  Still she seems to provide good leadership.  Hopefully she will improve and get more playing time. Right now she is sick, so we are hopeful she recovers for the game on Monday.  Her midterm grades were very good, so we are happy for that.

 Chad hasn't been around as much as of late. Since he has his own house, I guess that he is spending more time there with Sarah.  Plus it has gotten colder, I am sure that he would rather stay warm inside.  He is very busy at his new job - putting in some OT to stay ahead.  He has more responsibility - ordering parts, maintaining an inventory, etc.  So this will be a good experience for him.

 Vanessa has been accepted for a new job. It is cleaning medical equipment for a hospital in Louisville. She will make about $2 an hour more with this new company. It starts up after the first of the year. I think it is a good move. The medical industry is just about recession proof, and all the baby boomers are getting old...

 Joe's mouth got him a detention. Nothing major, just got caught calling another kid a name. He made a really nice box in wood shop and is thinking of making himself a cross bow. 

Posted by christ77 at 12:11 PM EST

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Mood:  vegas lucky

They had a youth deer season this weekend. Joe and I went to the Powells to hunt.  Parked the truck at the edge of the field and walked to the woodline.  Some of the corn at the edge of field had not been harvested yet.  So our plan was to wait at the edge of woodline until 7:30 when it was legal to hunt.  Once it was time, I would walk thru the corn and Joe would walk parellel to me along the woodline.  If any deer were browsing in the corn, they should make a break for the woodline and Joe would be able to take a shot.

 We had about 20 minutes before it was legal to hunt. So we sat down on a couple of rocks and waited by a small stream. We heard the screech of a hawk and heard some squirrels chattering in the tree's as we waited.  It gradually became lighter and finally it was time to commence the hunt.  I remember commenting to Joe that we had two things in our favor. The air was still - hardly any breeze at all, and it had rained recently, so the leaves were not noisy.

 Picture an L.  Joe and I are at the tip of the shorter leg of the L away from the corner.  The truck is parked at the furtherest point away from that corner.  There is woods bordering the open field to outside of the L, there is a partially harvested cornfield to the inside of the L.  As we walk out of the woods, I let Joe go first.  He spots a deer in the open field close to the truck - about 400 yards away.  Definitely has antlers.  We later remarked that we could have just sat in the truck and got this buck. It was casually browsing and walked within about 50 feet of the truck.  It disappeared in some brush and walked out the other side and went out of sight into the unharvested corn.  It was headed to the top of the L when we lost sight of it. It was too far away for a shot with the slug rifle - they are only good to about 100 yards.

 I walked up to Joe who had crouched down. "It is probably headed to bed down in the woods, let's follow along the edge of the unharvested corn and see if we can get a shot when it walks out of the corn.  We made our way along the corn and made it to the corner of the L where we slowed our pace and started to head up the long portion of the L.  Joe was in front and crouched down after going about 100yards.  I did likewise, about 20 yards behind him.

I had a set of binoculars and slowly got them out of my pocket and glassed ahead. The field had a gentle rise and Joe was to the top of that rise while I was too far back to get a good look. But the deer had crossed the open space and was walking along the woodline towards us.  Finally I spotted him.  He was still casually walking, pausing every so often but he definitely had no idea that we were around.

As he got closer, Joe who had his gun in the ready position slowly raised it up and drew a bead.  I was trying to stay as still as possible and was even trying to control my breathing - taking shallow breathes.  In my mind I was saying shoot, Joe, shoot.  But Joe was patient letting the deer gradually get closer and closer. Finally about 100 feet away the deer started to go into the woods at a gap by a rock pile. Joe took his shot.  The deer stayed on his feet and turned 180 degree's - he was stunned.  Joe chambered another round and and let loose another shot.  This round knocked the deer down.  It was pretty much out for the count. I commented to Joe that was good shooting since we knew that the sights were off on that gun - it shot to the right, so you had to aim to the left to be on target.  

When we got closer we saw that it was nice 7 point buck. When time came  to dress the deer, I discovered that I had lost my good knife. Somewhere in all the crouching and walking it must have fallend out of my pocket.  I went back to the truck and searched, the only utensil I had was a swiss army knife.  That would have to do. I did as best I could but when it came time to break open the chest - the knife just wasn't up to the task.  I was afraid that I would just break the blade.

 What to do - we drove the truck to the deer and put it in back. We went to the Powells and asked if they had a heavy duty knife we could borrow.  And boy was it a knife, a big Martha Stewart kitchen knife. The blade was 12 inches and heavy duty. We drove to an open field and finished field dressing. The swiss army knife did have a saw on it that we were able to use when even the Martha couldn't break the pelvic bone. 

Now to check in the deer. We went to a local shop that did the deer check - the guy was also a taxidermist. While he did the checkout, we looked at some his past work.  He had a stuffed Panther on a log, a standing beer, coyotes, a wolf, etc.  Even a badger.  Not to mention some very nice bucks.  Joe's buck had a good rack, but not as nice as some of the racks in the shop.  I had told Joe that I would do one and only one mount for him if he got a nice buck.  We talked about it after leaving the shop, did he want to mount his first deer with antlers.  No, let's not mount this one - I think that I can get one even bigger. So I know what we will be doing next fall.  

Posted by christ77 at 8:59 AM EST

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Mood:  bright

had a good time in colorado.  While I was there around 15 inches of snow fell.  Nice to be in the mountains in Keystone. Chelsea seems to be doing OK with basketball - they have like 4 scrimmages so she will be busy getting into shape.  Joe got into trouble at school. He called the principal at home and told him that he had better do something about another kid on the school bus or that he would do something about it. He was called into the office the next day and given a good talking to.  I admire his straightforwardness and directness in working thru a problem.  But maybe he should have followed the chain of command on this one.

Chad's house is taking shape, they still have a few things to move about but most everything is unpacked. The Deeters are doing fine.

Posted by christ77 at 5:25 PM EST

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