Well had a good time on our Jacksonville vacation to visit Chelsea. One noteworthy thing was the unusual sightings we observed while on vaca:

Jelico Mountain TN:  Smelled hot brakes.  We looked at each and I was scanning the guages and sniffing the air - man that smells strong, but I don't think it is us.  We go around a curve and there is a semi truck with smoke rolling off the trailer wheels. I didn't see flames, but I wouldn't be surprised if the grease in the axles was close to combusting. There was a woman close to the truck crying. Not sure if she was the driver or passenger, either way a bad day at the office.

Talibot Island FL:  Heading to dinner at the Crab Trap on Fenandino Beach on Highway A1A (nice restaraunt by the way).  "What kind of car is that coming at us." "I dunno" "No way - it's the Bat mobile!"  Sure enough it was the old style batmobile.  No cape on the driver, but definitely not something you see everyday. After hearing the story Chelsea asked, now did you guys drink before or after you went to the Crab Trap...

Georgia:   Got passed by two motorcyclists - one who has a huge set of horns attached to his helmet!   We sped up and got a picture so that had the evidence.

Kentucky:  Heading home on 75 thru the hills of Southern KY.  And there on the right standing next to a guard rail with a huge hill behind is a goat!  Munching away on some grass, calmly watching the traffic go by.  No idea where it came from as it was hills and pine tree's all around that area.  We hoped that a farmer would find it before a semi-truck did.

American Beach FL  Lying on the beach watching the waves and Becky goes, "Hey look at this guy behind us."  Turn to see a guy assembling a para-sail kind of thing. He had a motor with a fan blade strapped to his back.  Then had a big para sail that the breeze was catching. He revved up the motor a few times and off he went.  Fun to watch, but we were about 100 feet away - we were hoping that he didn't experience any mechanical problems as he went by.

Also at American Beach we were walking the beach looking for shells and sharks teeth.  It was a breezy day.  I looked up and said "Look someone is flying some huge kites."  Becky looked ahead and said 'thats odd, I don't see anyone.'  So we stopped to watch.  Then we saw someone pop up from behind a wave, ride the crest and drop back out of sight.  As they got closer we could see two guys with surf boards attached to their feet and chest harness attached to a sail.  They came down the beach towards us riding the waves and even going 10-12 feet up in the air.  One guy waved as they went past, looked like a blast - I would like to try that sometime.   

But vaca itself was nice.  Chelsea and Dan's place seems OK.  Sort of a college Dorm arrangement.  It is a ranch style house with 3 bedrooms.  Everyone has their bedroom and then shares the kitchen and livingroom.  Both are doing well with their jobs.  Dan actually got a promotion while we were there.  He is mixing up the ingredients for Heinz products.  Sort of scary when you learn what all they put in the products we eat. 

We also went out to eat several times. Whiteys was great as was the Sand Dollar. The Crab Trap was the best.  Did the tourist thing and went to a couple of antique shops.  Went on sunset cruise from Fernandino Beach.  Saw Dolphins and then wild horses on an island that the Carnegies used to own.  In the widows will the horses were turned to fend for themselves.  They have been successful, the herd stays at about 150.

Spent time at the beach of course.  open beaches and not many tourists or snow birds as we are between seasons.  Did some fishing and caught 5 Whiting the one day.  All in all a good time - hard to leave and get back to reality.

Posted by christ77 at 1:18 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, September 24, 2011 1:22 PM EDT

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Well Joe landed a job, working for Last Chance Garage in Germantown. It is a small shop with 6 people.  So far he likes it there.  So glad to see that he is pulling a paycheck.  Now to start charging rent...

Last weekend Kyle had a party at his parents house.  Joe hurt his ankle - jumping off the root of the house into the swimming pool.  His foot hit the bottom the pool and twisted his ankle.  Now if he could develop some common sense.

 Chelsea has a Prius and Dan left his job.  I guess he got in a argument with his boss and quit.  Not the best timing in the world.  They are supposed to come up and visit in August.  She seems to be doing fine at Heinz so that is stable for the time being. 

Vanessa and Eric are doing OK - Elaina is getting ready for her first year of school, so that should be exciting for her.

Chad and Sarah are going to Kings Island with us today. Should be a good time for all, I will bet it will be exciting for Cash. 

Posted by christ77 at 7:11 AM EDT

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Wow talked to a young soilder that was in Iraq in the Marines.  He was in a talking mood and told us a little bit about the stuff he went thru while he was there. They were in one of the more hostile towns.  He remembered his first fire fight - how you are scared as hell but your training kicks in and you do what you have to do.  He had two confirmed kills of enemy - his first was behind a truck and he saw him drop.  Later he went to check the body and it was chechian(sp) from Russia. 

he had a friend of his shot by a sniper. But he lived to tell about it. The bullet went thru his hand, thru his gun stock, and went into his belly - but didn't hit anything vital. Later they were able to track down the sniper.  He was using a car and would remove a tail light to shoot.  They snuck up to the car on a side street and opened up on it - riddling him.  Then drove his riddled body around the neighborhood on the hood of a humvee to show the people that this is what could happen to you if you resist us.

He also lived thru a IED.  He remembers the searing heat and the shock wave. He had some damage to his eye and ear, but was back in action.  Others were not as lucky...

The most horrible story was what the terrorists did to a Iraqi christrian.  They not only killed a father and his little boy but did it in a cruel way.  They decapitated them both.  Then put a head of a dog on the man, and disembowled him - placing his son's body in the cavity.  What animals.  

 So the fourth of July was a tough holiday. Some of the fireworks reminded him of the sounds from Iraq - so that stirred up memories. I told him anytime that he wanted to stop by to talk, to just come on over. He is adjusting to civilian life, but not completely.  It is a tough transition to go thru all that and have to live with it all in your mind.

Posted by christ77 at 9:59 PM EDT

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Fathers day weekend began with me getting home late after a flight home from Dallas. When I came in the door Elaina and Violet with Mr Cuddles in tow came running to the door to greet me.  So it was a warm welcome. We celebrated Elaina's birthday on Saturday with a castle cake. All the little kids had a blast playing on the trampoline and swing set.  Although Cash seemed more intrigued with some of the old tonka toys we had dug out of the toy box.

Fathers day itself went nicely - grilled some ribs and spent time with Elaina and Violet. Very satisfing day.  Vanessa and Eric got every thing picked up and ready to go. We were talking in the dining room, but Violet was busy in the Living room.  She left a trail of destruction as she emptied the toy box, threw the crayons on the table to the floor,  tossed out some of the giant lego's, and finally emptied a box of kleenex.  Maybe someone didn't want to leave...

Drove to Pennsylvania for Joe's graduation. Passed a 1949 Oldsmobile in mint condition on the way.  Visited a wine and cheese shop in Blairsville. Joe seemed real happy to see us and was excited about graduating.  Grandma Susan met us for lunch at the Dairy Diner. Good home style cooking at a decent price.  Some how we got everything packed up and ready to go. Chad rode home with me and we talked about the whole way back.

Joe did make one comment that I hadn't considered.  With the oldest grandchild Elaina turning 5 and entering Kindergarten in the fall, and he, the youngest child graduating this summer - one cycle ends and another cycle begins.  Everyone likes Joe - when we got home - 4 of his friends were already there waiting on him.  They helped unload his camaro.  Then he was off to a party at Colin's.  So he was home for like 30 minutes and then he was gone with his friends!  Some things don't change.

Posted by christ77 at 8:06 AM EDT

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 Good weekend, Heather was in for a class reunion.  Visited her for a little while yesterday with grandma Susan. Then today we had lunch at Gells in Eaton with Grandma Garret.  Chad and Sarah showed up along with Misty and Shane. It was nice to have everyone together and enjoy good company.  

I guess that Sean is not doing so well healthwise.  So we hope the best for him. Grandma G. seems more frail, but she is chugging along. Misty and Heather have aged well like fine wine.  I am little rougher for wear - aging more like cheap whiskey. 

Took Cash for a walk when he got a bit fussy.  We got to see three pigs and the big bad wolf - a building down the street from Gells had them all painted in the windows of the second floor.  I told him to tell Sarah, she was very quizical about his story until I explained.

Posted by christ77 at 8:28 PM EDT

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Chad is visiting Joe in PA this weekend, Sarah wanted to visit a friend and so they stopped by Joe's on the way.  Both Cash and Serenity are doing OK.  Serenity was a bit colicky early on, but she seems to have a cheerful disposition now.  He is working on my pick up truck.  It has like 200k miles on it so he is putting in a new timing belt and doing other routine maintenance on it. Gotta hand it to Nissan, that ole truck just keeps chugging along.

The move to Louisville seems to have been a good one for Vanessa and Eric.  She is enjoying her job at the hospital. Eric has the edge in the favorite son-in-law category.  He is working in the Budweiser warehouse.  He gets so much free beer every month and then can buy beer real cheap that has gone past the expiration date.  They carry a lot of brands and so I get variety of beers each visit. I joke that I need to open a beer tasting club and have folks buy tickets to try all the varieties. Both Elaina and Violet are doing OK.  Violet is walking now and so this last visit she did a lot of exploring.  Hard to keep those little hands out of things. 

Chelsea and Dan are doing OK so far in Florida. He works for a company that puts up fences.  And she is a contractor for Heinz - the company that makes ketchup, and horseradish sauce, and Wendy's Chili etc.  All foods that she has to sample as a Quality Control Technician.  She also samples from the line to be sure it is the right color, that the containers are being filled to the right spec. and so forth.  So they are both gainfully employed.  We hope to visit sometime this fall, maybe in October before basketball season starts.

June is busy as I have a week of pager duty, Ugh. Then I have to fly to Dallas for a week, then when I come back we go to Joe's graduation from WyoTech. He is ready to leave Pennsylvania.  I asked him if he got a job offer there, if he would stay - no way was the reply.  He would like to stay within a 2 hour drive of home. We will see how the local job market goes.  But before he gets on with his lifes work, he wants to go on a road trip, to California.  Pretty ambitious, we will see how this plays out.

Had a traffic jam on usually quiet Aukerman Creek Rd. A tractor with a big disc was parked on the road. A back hoe was doing something to it. A big sprayer had to squeeze by as well as several other vehicles.  They had several helpers as a truck and a car stopped by too. Then a bit later am ambulance went to Precision Wood.  So lots of excitement in the county last night

Posted by christ77 at 8:03 PM EDT

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Halfway thru the weekend and it has been fun so far. Vanessa and Eric are up from Louisville and it was nice to see them and the girls.  I joke with Eric that he is my favorite son in law since he brings me beer from the Busch warehouse that he works in.  I guess he can buy expired beer at a discount. So I get a variety of beers each time he visits. Some day I am going to set up a beer garden and sell tickets to the different beers...

Elaina likes to come with me to take care of the animals.  When we went to feed the cows, they were not up by the barn. E: " Grandpa, where are the cows?" Me: I dunno where they are at now. E: "Maybe they went to eat in a restaraunt?"  Vanessa said that her favorite part of the weekend so far was just going outside to pass the softball with me. She is doing co-ed softball this season. So she wants to keep in shape.  Little Violet is quite the walker now.

Went to Chad and Sarahs for a cookout.  That went fine except we had a thunderstorm roll thru - so much for the dry weekend we were promised. Anyway the food was good and so was the company. Raven was there and all the kids had a good time playing. Little Serentity seems to a much more cheerful disposition. She was cholicy early on, but seems to have left that behind.  Cash had a good time playing with everyone.  It was hard to keep them all out of the creek. 

Posted by christ77 at 7:34 AM EDT

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Well Chelsea and Dan are Florida bound. I think of it as Dan and Chelsea's excellent adventure. It got off to a shaky start.  Didn't leave our house until 1:30 in the afternoon. But went over to Debbies to say good bye.  Which in hindsight turned out to be the right move.  I had an awards ceremony for the basketball team. When I got home I sat down at the computer desk.  Chelsea's only debit card was sitting on the desk. We called her and fortunately they were only as far as Middletown.  So they came back to pick it up.  That was around 3:30.

They made it to the campground in Kentucky in time to see a 'moon bow' I guess there is a waterfall there that makes a rainbow during a full moon. It is supposed to be a scenic trip, there are several stops they plan to make. Then they have a job interview lined up in Jacksonville.

Also this weekend we are celebrating baby Violets birthday.  Hard to believe that she is one year old.  It will be nice to see the Deeters.  Eric plans to bring some free beer for me from the warehouse.  My favorite son in law.

 Joe is visiting next weekend - and bringing his girlfriend to visit. She comes from Pittsburgh and is taking art at school there. We haven't seen him since the holidays so we are looking forward to his visit.

Chad had to have gall bladder surgery.  He is getting around better now and he is trying to get Joe's car finished so that he can drive it back.  He has had some bad luck with his own vehicles.  The engine blew on the pickup truck. The Neon was down for awhile.  So he has been keeping his hands greasy.  

Posted by christ77 at 7:33 AM EDT

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Well we couldn't have asked for a better day in December in Ohio.  50+ degrees and sunny.  Snow a week before the wedding and the week after, but clear for that day.  There were still icicles on the falls, so it was picturesque.  

The reception was at the Twin Valley Rod and Gun Club which matched the outdoor theme.  Fair turnout, but I think the short notice limited the number people who hadn't already made plans.  Still all in all it was a good time and went well.  Now comes the hard part.

 Becky is helping watch Vanessa's kids for a week. Got a list of instructions to follow for all the critters.  Didn't realize how much Mr. Cuddles was being spoiled.  He only drinks bottled water and when I prepare his food I am suppposed to make a gravy to put over his food!  Well Mr. Cuddles will drink the same tap water that I drink and he will have to make his own gravy if he wants any on his catfood.

Posted by christ77 at 1:55 PM EST

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I am shopped out.  And we really didn't do much Christmas Shopping.  A few gifts for the grandkids and some food for Christmas day.  The rest was buying stuff for the wedding of Chelsea and Dan.  With the Durango broke down, I am the designated driver for shopping expeditions.  And I can't stand shopping.  We left around 9am and didn't get back home until after 6:30pm.  There was smoke coming off of the VISA card we used it so much.  Oh and my little Suzuki was filled to the brim with food, decorations, and champagne.  Could have just forgotten about the wedding and gone on a week long road trip.

Anyway we have a few perishable items to buy a day or two ahead of time, but most everything has been bought.  Now it is a waiting game where we watch the weather to see how things are going to break on the 31st. 

We are paying for the repairs to the Durango, it will take a replacement engine + labor.   I am still taking Advance Auto to small claims court since they sold me the wrong spark plugs which caused a hole to be burned in the piston.  But the wheels of justice grind slowly, so that is why we opted to proceed with the repairs now rather than wait.  Although the shop is swamped with work and so we have to wait our turn in line...

 Sorry to see Vanessa, Eric and the girls move back to Louisville, but happy that Vanessa has a good opportunity.  I think it is a good career move.  The Cincy office is small and not much growth. The Louisville operations are a lot bigger and so she be able to branch out and grow with the company. 

Basketball team is struggling a bit this season.  Hard time getting everyone on the same page.  But I am seeing signs of progress.  They are getting better.   As a junior high coach you just try to remember that the end game is getting them to learn they skills they need to play Varsity some day.

Posted by christ77 at 7:21 AM EST

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