Joe is commited to Wyo Tech outside of Pittsburgh.  He is taking auto body there.  So he is excited about that.  No prom for Joe this year, said that he and Julia would have more fun at Kings Island.  So that is where they are going to go.  

Plowed and disc'ed garden.  Was putting away disc and caught a limb of the old Sycamore tree with the bucket of the tractor.  It was dead from a lightening strike.  One half of the trunk was barely hanging on and was about to fall.  So I knocked it over with the tractor.  The other half was still standing, so I decided to take care of it too.  When I started to push it over, a coon ran of the top.  

I stopped for a second then started to push again.  Then I spotted the babies - still up in the trunk.  So I backed away and parked the tractor by the barn.  Becky came and talked to me about seeing the Momma coon.  I heard a noise and there in the bucket of the tractor was one of the babies!  unhurt.  I picked it up by the back of the neck and took it by the tree so that the Momma could find it.

Chelsea is desperately trying to find a job for the summer.  Several good leads, but no results.  She helped with the fencing to make extra money and has been doing articles for the paper as well.  Has a new boyfriend named Dan that helped mow the lawn.  Our lawn tractor has problems so it had to be push mowed.

Posted by christ77 at 10:47 AM EDT

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Little Violet Deeter entered the world at 8 lbs and 9 ozs last week.  She and Vanessa are doing fine.  Elaina seems to be adjusting well to her new sister.  Coincidently Eric has a part time job as a security officer in the Hospital where she was born.  Just started like a month ago.  We are hoping it goes full time and that he can just leave Home City Ice and have a steady income.

Chelsea just ended another quarter with Sinclair. She edges closer to completion.  Still deciding between Wright State and OSU as the next step. She is seeing a guy named Joe who works at the Green shopping mall.  I have put $800 into her car for repairs.  Hopefully the car will go for awhile and let my checkbook recover.

Chad and Sarah are expecting child number two - just found out this past weekend.  The new addition is expected around Thanksgiving.  I wonder if this is a competition! So she will be expecting again during vacation in SC in August - but won't be as far along as before.  He is fixing up Chelsea's old Toyota for a friend of Sarah's.  Nice guy.

 Joe is doing track this year.  Running the 400 is what he is telling me.  He and Julia are still seeing each other. He takes her out every weekend.  He has been working intermintently on his camero.  The hood looks nice where he painted it. But he needs to swap out engines with the old one. He is starting to feel a little senioritis.  There is a technical school in Pennsylvania that he has been eyeing, but has not commited as of yet.

Becky and I are maintaining.  Renting out the farmland this year and only keeping a couple of cows for freezer beef.  With Joe graduating and so our last supply of free labor soon to leave home we are simplifying.  Plus Becky says that if the cows get out - she isn't chasing them by herself. We did maple syrup again this year, but not as much as last spring - we got a late start.

 Oh and not to be outdone the Durango has given us problems.   I did the work and put in $180 worth of parts for brakes,shocks, etc.  But there is an electical problem that I could not fix.  So it will take a trip to a dealership to figure out this one.  Things are going well with Luxottica.  May be going to Dallas again soon in April or May.  

Posted by christ77 at 7:38 PM EDT

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Well basketball season is over for me.  Ended the season 7-9.   6-6 in the league and 1-1 in the tournament.  Had one really good player and everyone else.  So we saw a lot of box and one's in the last part of the season. Word got around that we were a one trick pony.  Good bunch of kids, but most of them had no experience. Some of the other teams had players who had been doing youth league together for a number of years.  Still the players got better during the season and improved which is what it is all about at 7th grade.  

I survived the lay offs at Luxottica.  They did a reorg and me and another guy from our group now report to a team in Dallas.  We will continue to work in Mason, but report to a Manager in Texas.  I got to fly out there to get acquainted and do some cross training.  We will probably fly out there frequently the first 6 months and then periodically thereafter.  

Vanessa has a date set for her c-section.  Little Violet Leigh Deeter should arrive March 15.  Vanessa is hoping for sooner, she wants to get this overwith.  

Chelsea is thinking of going to Ohio State after she graduates from Sinclair. Originally she wanted to go to Wright State.  But OSU may have some degree's that would be a better fit with what she wants to do. So she is going to visit again this spring and check out their programs.   

Chad has been working all the overtime he can handle behind the steering wheel of the snow plow.  He has been working long days to keep on top of all of the snow we have been getting lately.  

Joe (our baby) turned 18 this past Friday.  Had some friends over for Pizza and what not.  Played WoW until the wee hours of the morning with Cody, Cody, and Co.  He is on track to graduate this spring.  

Posted by christ77 at 8:47 AM EST

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Herschels came out to tow Chelsea's car - only she did not leave her keys.  So they wouldn't tow the car.  This after I had told her to be sure and leave her keys with her mother.  When does responsibilty kick in?

Had a good trip to Dallas to meet the new team.  Weather was rainy - that same system was heading to Ohio and would turn into snow.  But more on that later.   They are more laid back than Mason.  Took me out to some really nice places to eat.  The first place was very rustic - Pine lodge with tall ceilings, and moose, elk, caribou, etc. on the walls.  The second place also had tall ceilings and had its own micro brewry.  Did have a 'Shiner" that is a popular beer in Texas - I liked the taste.  

Their offices are actually inside the same building as the manufacturing lab. And of course I got a tour of the facility.  Very interesting to see how eyeglasses are made.  They have some automated machinery and also some stations where work is done manually.  The lenses start out as round blanks and aren't shaped to fit into the frame until the last step. 

The flight back wasn't bad until we started to descend into Dayton.  We were in the middle of a snow storm.   Looking out the window, all you could see was white.  Did not see the runaway at all until we touched down.  And the ride home was not pleasant.  About 6 to 8 inches of snow, I think it took as long to drive home from the airport as what it took to fly from Dallas to Dayton.  

This morning the tree limbs are hanging low from the weight of the snow.  It is going to be a nice day to stay inside and fool around on the computer.

Posted by christ77 at 10:26 AM EST

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Oh Chelsea and her luck with cars. The clutch has some sort of problem again. The part that was replaced may have gone bad.  A $120 dollar bill to get it towed to our house.  We plan to take it back to Herschels and see what they have to say.

 Oh how I hate taxes.  Several employers in 2009.  And to make things even more difficult all the entries in my book keeping software for 2009 somehow got deleted when I upgraded to a new version.  So I have to key them all in manually - again.  

Posted by christ77 at 4:29 PM EST

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When/if I go sledding again, I am wearing a pillow.  Both Becky and I hit hard on the hillside behind the house.  And both of us have sore rumps today.  We went sledding with Vanessa and Elaina.  Elaina, of course, had a great time. 

Went out to bonefish grill for a meal and watched "It's Complicated".  It was like a 2 hour movie and it was difficult to sit thru - I had to keep adjusting myself to get comfortable.  We may be young at heart, but our bodies have definitely aged.  We are not as resilient as we once were. 

Posted by christ77 at 2:46 AM EST

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I know why kmart is having a tough time competing against Walmart and Co. Becky was checking for a new pair of blue jeans.  After searching and trying on several pairs, she finally finds 'the' pair.  She goes to the counter to pay. "Sorry we can't sell those to you, they are supposed to be shipped back to the main office and sold off as discontinued items. "

Becky goes, I don't care - I'll pay full price, they fit me better than any pair I tried on.  Still the clerk resists.  I can't sell these to you.  So she complains and asks for a manager.  

So stop and think about this.  You are in a store that sells merchandise.  You find merchandise on the shelf that you want to buy and then the store says - I can't sell this to you.  What the???  I took a lot of business classes while I was in college, my grandfather owned a department store - and even a kid selling lemonade knows this if I have a cash buyer - SELL them the $%&@! product and make a profit!  

Now if it were a product with an expiration like milk then yes yank it.  But a pair of Lee Jeans???   I hope that somewhere there is someone with a MBA that will soon be shown the door...  

The jeans, she was finally able to buy them.  After a half hour of complaining, escalating, and being a pain in the backside.  Kmart join your buddy Dell - two companies that forgot customer service...

Posted by christ77 at 8:27 PM EST

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Nice relaxed Christmas this year.  All the offspring were able to stop in.  A pleasant time to be with family.  Elaina and Cash had a good time of course.  Cash got a new 'car car'.  Elaina got a lot of play dough stuff and games.

Went to see the movie Avatar.  The graphics and eye candy were great. The story a bit hackneyed and cliche.  Can't anyone think of an orignal storyline, or have they all been done?  

Played Civilization online with Eric, Apple, Glenn and Joe.  An interesting game with several twists and turns.  Apple got a bit angry when he got ganged upon by me and Joe.  And as it turned out Joe got second place - not bad for someone that doesn't play the game much.  

Posted by christ77 at 8:19 PM EST

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 Chelsea is moving out of the apartment that she and Ron had been sharing. Not sure if this is definitely splitsville or not, but it seems like she is thinking about moving on.  She is even talking about going to a 4 year college in California next year.  So lots of changes in her life.

We organized a family get together between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That seemed to go fairly well so we will probably do it again next year.  The two cousins, Cash and Elaina really had a good time. 

Joe has a prospect for a job. A body shop in Fairborn is looking for part time labor. They do collision and restorations, so he should be able to get a broad range of experience if he is hired. Interview this next week. He is still seeing Julia, so they seem to be getting along together just fine.

It's going to be a crafty Christmas.  There is a chance of being laid off at Luxottica, so this elf is putting together some presents in the work shop to conserve cash. If there is a layoff, there will not be a nice serverance package like there was the last go around. 

Looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas at home this year.  The children will be coming and going thru out the day. I'll be snacking and enjoying some Sam Adams by the woodstove while watching "Christmas Story" on TV.  

Posted by christ77 at 8:37 AM EST

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Joe got into an altercation at school yesterday.  Another kid swiped the charger for his laptop.  Joe alerted security, but they said something to the effect that were not allowed to search kids bookbags or lockers.  They had some words in one of the classes and a teacher had to seperate them and sent Joe to the library.  

The other kid was like 4 inches taller than Joe.  Joe got himself pumped up and then walked up to him at lunch time and punched him in the face.  They then wrestled around and Joe was able to get in another uppercut.  When the guys friends stood up,  Joe's friends stood up so that they knew to stay out of it.  Security broke the fight up and I guess the other students in the lunchroom stood up and cheered.  Joe's friends thought that he got the better of the other kid.

 I told Joe that he did the right thing, that you can't let other kids take advantage of you like that or they will just keep running you over.  Unfortunately when you retaliate, you have to be ready to take the heat. Joe is suspended for 5 days for starting the fight, the other kid for 3 days.  Life isn't always fair.

On the other hand, Joe is going on his first real date with Julia this weekend (no chaparone), so the young warrior gets a reward of sorts.

Chelsea is doing a great job as an assistant coach.  If she had the time, I think that she would make a great head coach.  But with school, etc. it is hard for her to find the time it would take to dedicate herself to a program. Sinclair is winding down for winter break, so she will have some free time.

Vanessa is ready for Turkey day tomorrow.  Poor Elaina is sick.  So Vanessa has take a couple of days off of work to nurse her back to heath. Hopfully she is better by the time everyone arrives.  Joe is running an ice route with Eric so that he can home early to help out. 

I worry about Chad.  The city of Dayton is doing layoffs.  He is working for the city of Riverside and they are not doing any better budgetwise.  

With my future uncertain as well, I am handcrafting some gifts in the workshop.  Trying to keep that Christmas budget low. 

Posted by christ77 at 7:13 AM EST

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