Well I'm getting ready for the trip to India.  The first part was getting myself ready physically.  Shots were no big deal, everything was current except for the one for Typhoid, so only the one shot. Went to Doctor Jim about a month ago when I first found about the trip.  He commented that my body is like an old car - after the warranty has run out.  The hang nail has been ongoing and he sent me to a specialist to have it yanked off. The hope is that it will grow back straight in about a year.  If not they burn out all or part of the nail so that it doesn't grow back.

 Next specialist he sent me to was a back specialist for my hip pain. I can't stand or walk for more than 15 minutes without pain.  This was the main thing I wanted taken care of before the trip. He wanted previous history and when I told him that I played football until I was about 32, used to play basketball on blacktop, used to weightlift regularly, worked my farm on the weekends, etc.; he made a comment that "it's not your age, it's your mileage."  The diagnosis is inflammation around the sciatic nerve and the treatment was an injection of cortisone in the backside where the hip and spine connect. This is day two and so far the pain seems to be dimmished, but a true test will be later today when I go out and do some shopping.

Jimmy is going to take Joe hunting in KY.  About a week after agreeing to go on the trip, I realized that it was going to interfere with trip with Joe. Part of the agreement that we made at the start of the school year was that if he got good grades and finished out football that I would take him deer hunting in KY again.  We were going to ask Chad to take him, but Joe stated that would not work out. Chad is not a hunter and wouldn't know what to do. So it is great that Jimmy is taking him - I told him that I owe him a favor bigtime. That if he needs help on a home improvement project to give me a call so that I can return the favor.

 Chelsea is planning on moving back home soon. Michelle backed out of being a roomie (she moved in with yet another boyfriend in the meantime!) and Stephany would like to, but doesn't have the funds. So rather than work herself to a frazzle trying to work enough to pay all the bills and go to college fulltime, she is going to commute from our house. Which is OK, I want her to focus on grades.  She is planning on returning after Eric and Vanessa find a place to rent and move out. 

Vanessa and Elaina move in on Friday night after I leave. Eric is staying in Louisville for 2 more weeks.  It will be different to have munchkin roaming around the house again.  I think that Becky is looking forward to watching the baby during the day when Vanessa goes to work.  

Chad and Sarah have visited a couple of times this past week. Young Cash seems to be growing well and is strong for his age. Definitely an eating machine - that kid lets you know when he is hungry!  Becky was playing with him and I see that he is smiling now, so he is getting more interactive.  He is putting a fancy exhaust system on his white truck. Putting a fancy ribbon on an old sow, but it's his time and money. Have to admit that it sounds nice with the headers on it. 

Posted by christ77 at 6:25 AM EDT

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Joe had his best game ever against Miami East. He had two tackles for loss, assisted on several more, and pressured the quarterback each time he passed.  Since I am going to India and will miss his remaining games it was great to see him perform well.

 Chelsea brought home a dog of undetermined origins. We will see how this works outs.

Vanessa is moving in next weekend. Chad and Sarah helped paint the upstairs for them. So that was really nice of them to help out. Eric is finishing out the month in Louisville, then he is moving up too.

Went to Rex's 50th birthday party - a good time.  Nice to have the old gang back together again.   

Posted by christ77 at 11:08 PM EDT

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Joe's friend, Cody, was in an accident where the car he was riding in was rear ended by another car driven by an old man. They were stopped to turn and the driver did see them until the last second and then it was too late. They took Cody by care flight to the hospital.

 His hip was dislocated and so they had to do surgery to put it back in place. We visited this past weekend.  Poor Cody was heavily medicated, so it was difficult to carry on a conversation.  But both he and his parents were happy that we dropped by. 

On the way home we stopped at Pizza Hut. We ordered and then waited and waited.  We never even got bread sticks. They we found out that our order was completed but was taken out and they had to redo it.  We were fuming.  But they made it up by giving us the meal for free. Plus they messed up the order on one of the pizza's and so they gave us a third pizza for free.  Still it wasn't worth the hassle.

 Joe lost his starting slot at defensive end. When he was hurt, they moved someone else in there and so Joe is now special teams and giving the starters a break on JV.  He talked to the coaches after the game.  He was bummed. The one coach did mention that he had good hands. So I told Joe to see if they will work him at reciever next week.  Sometimes one door closes, but then another door will open. We will see if can wiggle his way into more playing time next Saturday. 

Chad had his 27th birthday yesterday.  We had a turkey with the trimmings. I joked that Becky was warming up for Thanksgiving.  Cash fell asleep on me again, I guess spare tire around the middle is good for something.  The young man certainly seems to be strong for his age. And good lungs, definitely lets you know when he is hungry.

Posted by christ77 at 12:24 PM EDT

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Mood:  energetic

Lots of stuff going on. Thought that I would take a few minutes to relax and check in. 

Vanessa is sniffing the job market in Cincinnati.  Her company has a position open there with higher pay. Eric is not to keen on his position right now. They had a record setting summer, but there are a lot of other things going on where he is just tired of putting up with the hassle. So we will wait and what happens with them. It would be nice having them a bit closer where we could visit more easily. Plus Eric puts in a lot of hours - 12, 14 hour days are not uncommon. And I know that he would like to spend more time with the family.

 Chad flipped a tractor last week.  Fortunately, he was not hurt. He had been mowing along Highway 4 North of Dayton and was throttled up heading back to the garage at the end of the day. He got squirrelly and it started bouncing. The next thing he knew it was on it’s side.  After he filed the incident report, he found out that everyone else at the maintenance department that drove tractors for any length of time has rolled them over as well. Fortunately the newer tractors have roll bars and seat belts.  Chad and Sarah visited last weekend. After we ate some roast chicken for supper, I started nodding off on my Lazy Boy. I was holding Cash and just put him on my chest.  We slumbered peacefully for an hour like that.  Sarah remaked that he can't sleep on Chad like that without rolling off. I said that my fat just makes a big cushion for Cash to lay on - maybe Chad should put on a few pounds ;- )  Cash is definitely growing. I think they said he was like 9-10 pounds.   Chelsea is adjusting to Sinclair. She was so worried about her math class. She wanted to drop it at one point “I’ll never understand this.” But I told her to hang in there, it’s too early to just throw in the towel, plus she would just need to take it again later. She aced her first quiz and was proud of that. I am worried about her one room apartment.  Since Michelle backed out, she has to pay all the rent. It’s not much, but when you are just working part time then it’s a mountain. She is hoping to find someone else to move in, but no luck yet. Joe wanted her room, but Becky said that we should hold off on any moves until we are sure that Chelsea is going to be able to swing this.  

From what I am seeing, Joe is doing OK at school. He seems to have more discipline to get his home work done.  Football is going OK, his ankle is holding up fine. They are trying him at nose tackle on the JV defense.  He is still hoping to break into varsity, I told him that when they play Bradford and Trail that those would be the best opportunities to get in a few quarters of action.  He is working on a computer chair for shop class, it seems like a very ambitious project, but he  seems to be talented with his hands.  

I had my yearly check up with the heart doctor and had my best visit ever.  No whining from the doctor about my weight, or my blood test being out of  whack.  The stress test, the blood test all were great. The weight was 242 exactly the same as last year. He told me to keep on doing what I have doing. So I went home, had a beer, and watched some TV. Well not exactly, I still have a beer or two but I think working on the farm helps to give me a workout and keep me somewhat fit. Although I would like to lose the doughnut in the middle. And I still try to walk 3 times a week.   Oh and guess what – a return visit to India.  They got with me late last week to see if I would go.  Another group was going to take 4 engineers to provide training but decided to just take 3.  They asked my boss if she had anyone that would be willing to go,  and she offered the opportunity. This go around, there might be a visit to the Taj Mahal. The host company asked us what we wanted to do on the open weekend in between when we enter and depart the country. The offered a flight to New Delhi to visit – and if we can work on the details that would definitely make the trip memorable.

Posted by christ77 at 6:10 PM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 6:14 PM EDT

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Mood:  celebratory

Well Chelsea has made a move.  She is leaving home and moving into a 1 room apartment in West Alexandria. She is renting from Steve Unger. She was supposes to split costs with Michelle - but she moved in with some guy instead. So she is going to have to hunt down a roommate, it will be hard to keep up with the costs on her own.

Sinclair is going OK for her so far. So we hope that she can juggle working and school. She will be very busy.

That leaves us with one at home - Joe. He gets to be an only child. He has his learners permit and I have been letting him get some time behing the wheel of the truck. He is learning to grab gears just fine with the stick shift. So far school seems to be going OK.  He is recovered from his ankle injury enough to start working out with the team again.  We plan to go deer hunting in October since he is doing a good job at school.

Posted by christ77 at 2:03 PM EDT

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Heather and several of her children visited. Michael, Megan, and Callie. Joe hung around with Michael and Callie hung around the Chelsea it figures that these two problem children would stay together. At one point they were out until 4am in the morning! Felt sorry for Megan, she is 13 and didn't have anyone her age.  Oh, Katie is doing international studies in Fiji and she will be there until this winter sometime. Tim had some accounting work to do and was unable to come along.

Michael is certainly getting tall and muscular. He is doing cross country, basketball, and Lacrosse. I saw him shooting around and he certainly seems athletic. Megan was very quiet and I didn' t get very much from her. Callie is excited about college. Undecided about a major at this time. But I see her as a people person, she will do something where she interacts with others.  It was nice to see Heather however briefly.  

Joe hurt his ankle playing football. Had it X-rayed just to be sure, but it is just a bad sprain. We are hoping that he recovers enough that he can practice with the team soon. School seems to be going better for him so far this year.  I did lay down the law. No computer and no deer hunting if his grades are as dismal as last year. So far it seems to be working.

 Chelsea is enrolled and ready to go at Sinclair. Except that her car died on Thursday. Oh, how that child vexes me. So we are scrambling on this holiday weekend to find her a car. Classes start on Wednesday - if we don't find one soon, she may be hitchhiking. 

Speaking of cars, Vanessa is looking for a set of wheels. They are looking this weekend. I gave them advice, hopefully they will follow it. Otherwise they are doing fine in Louisville.

 Chad and Sarah and Cash are all doing fine. Cash seems to be well behaved and content for the most part. Chad is working some overtime to make up for the week of work he took off when Cash was born. Sarah's mother and brother are moving in. So there will be a built in baby sitter handy.  

Posted by christ77 at 8:14 PM EDT

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Mood:  sharp

Joe decided to play football after his friend, Joe Keaton, talked into playing.  Keaton quick after one practice. But Joe elected to stick it out.  Right now he is a defensive end on the JV squad. He had a good showing this last scrimmage and had several tackles, plus pressured the quarterback. Nice to have a football player in the family once again.

 Chelsea is learning about red tape. She put off her regristration to Sinclair until now.  She has been there 4 times and still does not have it all together. Recently she applied for a student loan.  But had to go to the library and access a computer there to take a quiz on how it looked. After walking all the way there and back, she learned that the computer system was malfunctioninng and they could not see the score. So she has to go back and see if they can recover her score. I hope that she has learned a lesson about waiting until the last minute.

 Young Cash seems to be doing fine. Becky helped out for like 3 days during his first week.  Chad and Sarah seem to be getting settled in with the new addition.  Vanessa will be up this weekend to see the Grace's who are visiting.  So young Elaina and Cash will meet for the first time. 

Posted by christ77 at 5:20 PM EDT

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Mood:  celebratory

Well young Johnathon Cash Tilton arrived on what better day than a Friday. Who doesn't like getting Cash on Friday - the traditional payday?  He was born August 10, 2007 at 12:47pm weighing 8 pounds and 5 ounces; 21 inches in length. 

The day before they admitted Sarah citing that they felt that the baby was starting to stress and so they wanted to induce labor.  So Thursday night they tried to induce the easy way.  That did not take hold so they gave her an injection to bring on hard labor that morning.  It did not take long and the baby was born early afternoon.

 We visited the first night. We passed up one room where there was a bit of a situation going on.  One young man was stating that "he was the father and he had every right to be here." Meanwhile a woman, apparently the Mother of the mom to be, "Was stating that I have more of right to be here than you."  There was some other statements and then I heard something about "I have my own camera you can stuff yours up your ...."  That baby will have an interesting childhood. 

 At Chad and Sarah's room it was not quite as dramatic. Although the nurse was a bit patronizing.  Sarah had wanted to have the baby at her house. But with the stress on the baby she was now in the hospital and not happy about it. The nurse must have said about a dozen times that "We are sorry that you aren't having the baby at home, but for the safety of the baby we are doing it here."   After hearing it for the umpteenth time, it got old.  Sarah finally got another nurse who did a better job of explaining what they were doing and why - with out the condescending comments.

I arrived the next day over lunch to see what was up. Sarah was dilated 8 centimeters and so I decided to stick around for the fireworks.  The baby was delivered in short order. Later I thanked Chad and Sarah for making it so easy for me. The hospital was 5 minutes away from work,  the delivery was over my lunch so I was able to just extend lunch hour, snap a few pictures, and head back to work.  One of the folks here at work stated that it must the German in him that made him so punctual. 

He does have the Tilton nose. Becky thinks he looks a lot like Chad when he was a newborn.  It is hard for me to say, to me all babies look alike.  Anyway the new family is at home now. Chad is taking a week off to help care for Sarah and the baby.

Posted by christ77 at 12:19 PM EDT

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Mood:  crushed out

Took a contractor from India and one from China to the fair last night. They had the tractor pulls.  We got to peek thru the fence at a few runs and saw one with 3 engines and one with a jet engine.  They were amazed. Nothing like some good old American horsepower.  Joe’s tool box got 5^th place – he was gypped.  The other tool boxes didn’t all fit together smoothly etc. Several of them had gaps where the ends joined together. Joe's seams were snug and tight, with no gaps. I told Joe that the judges must have closed their eyes and selected the places.

We are trying to get Chelsea's financial aid squared away for college, what a hassle. You fill out the federal grant, and go thru all that hassle only to find out that you don't qualify - what a waste of time and effort. Now we are working with Sinclair to see what we can get from the state and school. 

Sarah is getting closer to having the baby.  We are thinking the new arrival will occur within the next week or so.  Poor Chad is having sinus problems. The doctors want to do a procedure, but he wants to wait until after the baby arrives.

Posted by christ77 at 11:38 AM EDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Joe had a great time camping. he had Joe Keaton and cousin Asa were there. They seemed to be magnets for girls.  I dropped them off at the beach and left to run an errand. When I came back, I scanned the beach for a blue cooler, I saw one with a family, one with a group of 7 teenagers and another family.  I was up on the hill and walked uncertainly to the one with 7 teenagers. As I got closer sure enough it was the three boys - surrounded by 4 girls. Same deal at the campground - the boys are at that stage I guess.  Asa said it was really fun weekend for him. So I am glad that we had him along.

 One kid at a neighboring campsight hit his head against a dumpster trying to catch a frisbee. Becky asked if he damaged the dumpster...  We had some homemade ice cream that boys really enjoyed. We gave some away to some nearby campsites and so they invited over some more girls who sat at our campfire for awhile.  Joe is off to Massachusetts where he will visit for a week before coming back for football.  At least that is what I told him before I left.

Chad made a visit with Sarah and had some burgers.  She is getting close, a week or two to go before she has young Cash.  He drove the Mary Kay and it got some looks at the campsite. 

Posted by christ77 at 4:46 PM EDT

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