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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Mood:  celebratory

Chelsea's graduation party went just fine.  It was a little slow in the begining, but more and more people trickled in and by the end of the night we had a decent crowd.  We all had a good time. Vanessa and Eric were up.  Little Elaina has two teeth now, crawls, and will stand if you hold her hands. She likes to throw things - that could be problems if she gets much stronger.  Eric's job has been stressful, lots of things percolating. So he has been putting in long hours to keep things running smoothly.  Vanessa's job is going fine though, they may give her a new position in Louisville and get a pay raise out of it too. 

 Joe has been working on the Dodge Dart.  he has sanded a good bit of the roof.  I told him that if he worked on it just an hour a day that by the end of the summer he would have the car looking nice. he has had various friends stay over. Cody Clark, Cody Fultz, and Joe Keaton.  He is signed up for band, and they have an aggressive schedule. I was surprised at what all he is expected to do.

 Chad purchased an old David Bradley. Supposedly the motor is worth several hundred dollars.  It's an old Continental.  I am skeptical, but what do I know. he borrowed my truck to pick it and fixed several problems with it. He can't stand to drive something that is not working right.  I will have to let him borrow my vehicles more often at this rate.  Since my seats lean back, it was an easy ride for her.  Chad asked if they can drive my truck to SC, I told them that would work fine. His truck is a 4 cylinder and it likes to think about going up the hills in TN.  My truck is a v-6 so it should have more power for the mountains.  And it has cruise control which will make the highway drive easier.  We are all looking forward to vacation!

Posted by christ77 at 11:13 AM EDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Well Chelsea is graduating tomorrow night. Becky got a scare when the school called and said that Chelsea was one point away from passing a class and had failed, therefore she could not graduate!  So Becky called the school to see what was going on since her midterms were all A's and B's. Seems that a 94 was entered as a 64 or some such and due to clerical error it was entered as a failing grade for that class.  It really upset Becky, but she got it figured out and all is well. 

 Chelsea did have a ceremony at the Nutter Center for MVCTC. She had some friends come stay overnight for a little party afterwards.  She is going to Florida with her dabate team, so she is excited about that.

 Joe and his friend Joe Keaton stayed over at Chad's this past weekend. I believe that the other Joe is coming with us to South Carolina for vacation. Chad has liked his other job OK so far. He is doing general maintenance right now.  Eric survived the Kentucky Derby. It was a hectic weekend, but all worked out in the end.

Posted by christ77 at 11:57 AM EDT

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Mood:  celebratory

Well the school year is winding down now.  Chelsea definitely has senioritis - can't wait for the school year to end.  She is state treasurer for HOSA - Health Occupational Students of America.  This is the first year for the state chapter and they had a convention at the school.  Students came in from Toledo, Kent, Columbus, Dayton and elsewhere.

 I was asked to fill in as one of the judges for Medical photography.  I was glad that I did it. Although I am very much an amateur, I have picked up enough to recognize what makes a good picture.  The girl that won it had the best picture - it captured a moment.  A fellow had had a stroke and had asked to have solid food for the first time instead of a feeding tube. The nurse was helping him eat a cracker and had a hand on his throat to help him swallow. She had a look of concern on her face and the patient had a look of determination. A fellow judge said that it was Norman Rockwell scene.  At the awards ceremony she was beaming when she walked back to her seat with a first place medal.  So it was rewarding to be a part of that.

Chelsea was on a biomedical debate team arguing whether the US is prepared for a biological attack or not. Her team won, saying that the US is not ready - hard to argue that assumption.  She gets to go to the national convention in Florida. Should be a good time for her.

Joe's grades are finally inching up. Still is struggling with algebra, but the remainder of his grades are actually pretty good, A's B's and a C.   I think he got behind in math early and just couldn't catch up.  Also Chad has 'helped' Joe by giving him his old Dodge Dart.  It has a V8 engine, so the gas and insurance will be expensive, not exactly the kind of first car I envisioned for Joe, but I don't want to temper his enthusiasm.  He has been doing some work on it - installed a new carbeurator(sp) and so forth.

Chad has been having Joe stay over the past couple of weekends to help do some work around his place. I like to see the two sons getting along, but miss having the extra labor on the homestead. Oh, Joe got to compete in the last track meet.  He did better than his last meet where he missed the call for the 200m dash! He was 7th in his heat this go round and didn't place in the long jump. We are hoping that they do the triple jump again at Madison on Thursday, hopefully he can repeat his performance from the first track meet.

Speaking about the homestead, we are expanding our livestock operation - adding some chickens and pigs. I was talking with farmers and with corn going higher because of ethanol, the price of meat will have to go up to compensate.  So we will be growing more to keep our costs down. Plus we are raising extra so that we can share it with the Deeters and with Chad and Sarah. 

 Chad and Sarah are having regular meetings with the midwife. I joked to Sarah that her belly has almost caught up to mine! His place is looking nice - lawn well taken of, and he had Joe tear down an old shed at the back of the property. The garden is planted. They have it all looking nice. The garage as one can imagine is crammed full - but well organized.  Once they get ahead, I can see them putting up a pole barn with a good portion devoted to a shop and the remainder for storage.

Little Elaina had tubes put in her ears - just had bout after bout with ear infections, which seems to be a family trait.  Vanessa reports that she is doing well after the procedure. All is going well South of the Ohio River. Vanessa did make a casual inquiry on a property and now they are deluged with real estate proposals. But they are not ready to take the plunge yet. 

Posted by christ77 at 11:37 AM EDT

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Mood:  a-ok

chelsea and I visited Ohio State. It is the last of the colleges that she is visiting for the time being. The campus is big of course. The first test is finding the admissions office. They guide you thru the middle of campus and you have to follow all the arrows and twists and turns.  I guess this is how they weed out the weak ones.  I did get a kick out of seeing signs for Woody Hayes drive. On the way out we had a copy of the campus map and were able to navigate back out with just two turns!

 The campus is impressive - huge recreational area, multi-level with rows of exercise equipment. 6 swimming pools. Tons of student activities.  We ate at the Eddie George bar and grill for lunch.  She still prefers Wright State, liked the atmosphere there better and during the visit they actually took her into several of the labs and so she got to see their equipment. They did not do that at Ohio State. 

 During the ending stages of our visit they talked over majors with Chelsea and this other boy who was interested in the same college. He was interested in being like a park ranger. The brochure showed that major with a starting salary that averaged $25k. With tuition + board averaging about $15k per year, it would take a long time to pay off those student loans.  Chelsea said that she couldn't see going into such a low paying field like he was doing.

 Joe is going up and down academically. He shows two low grades in progress book.  After having a good grading period last time we rewarded him with a little more time on the computer. So we will have to back off on the computer time and also ground him until he gets things straightened out. Track practiced has started, he is moaning and groaning about being achy from the workouts.

Vanessa is still enjoying her work at the hospital. Chad is still doing OK at work. Lots of overtime. The midwife is coming out to their house for the first time this week.

Posted by christ77 at 9:03 AM EST

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Well Chelsea's season is over. Basketball wise it started with a bang as she scored 11 points. But had some rough stretches. She had some other games where she scored 7-9 points, but others where she struggled to get a bucket. Still the team ended with a 12-8 regular season record - the first winning record in about 8 years and the most wins in since way back.  So she got to be a part of that. Did beat South and helped contribute in that game. Her best game of the season occured when I was in the hospital with gall bladder surgery. So I was sorry to miss that game.

 On the plus side, she learned to be independant.  Had to be responsible and do her own homework, get to practice, etc. So that was a positive. This weekend we go to Ohio State to visit their campus. Chelsea is still leaning towards something in the biology field.

Posted by christ77 at 6:30 PM EST

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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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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:  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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