Boston / DC visit

Boston for the first time. If you have never visited this city (my first time) here are some observations.  I found the people to be very friendly and very helpful. We stayed in the Beacon Hill area of the city only several steps from the Bowdoin Metro station which is on the Blue line of the very simple to use transit system.  Boston is truly a very walkable city.  70% of the current Boston has been filled in to accumulate more land mass.....so yes you can walk a huge portion of the self contained city. 
We flew into Logan International airport which is located on the eastern side of the city.  There is a free shuttle that will take you to the metro system. From there on the blue line we were only 10 minutes from the apartment that we had rented. Janet deserves the props here as she located and researched the area. Being the historian that she is, was very helpful to me as I really took a  break from the history classes between the years 1966-1974. Oh well sorry Mrs. Luthy, Mr. Adams, Mr. P. Finley, Mr. Frazier it's not your fault. "My bad"
So yes I may have found the lunch at the "Cheers" bar more interesting than "Bunker Hill"......again my bad. The history did come to life and even for me started to make sense as to the actual events that took place and how it all took shape. I totally enjoyed the experience and recommend to others.  Jaxon and Layla heads up we will take this in when you are about in the fifth grade.
Another visit to DC just reaffirmed my reasoning for staying in Southern Illinois as even at this time of year the traffic and crowds were just overwhelming.  Don't think you can just run out to Wal-Mart or Aldi's for some late night milk for the next morning's breakfast. Good trip but yes it's sure good to be home.

Wedding weekend

What a weekend....we were blessed with a perfect weather weekend for an outdoor October 15th wedding. We can't say how touched we were by the effort shown by many in making the extended travel arrangements to share with Kelly and Ben on this occasion. It was incredible. Fun was had by all as the wedding took place in our yard. A place that in itself holds so many memory making events such as the playing catch and golf nonstop in the yard. By the way the "alter was pretty close to hole #2". One inside story as to how the father of the bride maintained his composure as to not breaking down into tears was to keep looking down at the ground and reminding myself that I would need to weed whip soon. A subtle change of all the memories of playing in that yard certainly helped me get through the moment. By the way at Abbey's wedding I just made sure the evening wedding had low lights....just a helpful suggestion for those of you that will soon be taking the most precious people down the isle on that wedding day. To all of the people that came...I thank you for helping us make the day so special for all. It truly was a special day one that only will add to the special memories of our yard at 610. A special thanks to our immediate family that really helped pull this off.... Stephen Miles heads the atta-boy list from making the covering on the patio to setting up the lighting and just about everything in-between. Abbey really needs to be a wedding planner while everyone knows Janet can do proms/homecomings/and now weddings. Jo and Mallory certainly deserve an atta-girl. Katie G did enough worrying for all of us yet took care of whatever business that needed done. Me, I was the self appointed supervisor that was in that capacity but no one else knew it. Kelly Coop took outstanding pictures while Pastor Scott Henley performed a beautiful ceremony...."absolutely" as a quote taken from the recent bride Kelly.

Understanding Retirement

Several weeks have passed and I'm starting to appreciate the meaning of the word retirement. After several days of a supervisory carpenters job (sitting back staying out of the way) I have grown to appreciate if I don't get to bed "on time" it's OK to not go to work the next day. How sweet is that? Tonight we just sat by a fire in a swing off of the back porch and really just let the evening become night without too much thought into tomorrow's activities almost as if we were heading into a weekend. I've been told that when you don't know what day of the week it is you've settled into "RETIREMENT". I'm there.
On my walk this morning I ran into a former fellow teacher in Dist.140 and they asked how it was going and really I couldn't put the feeling into words. But for those of you still wondering how the old boy is holding up I can tell you OK and I can only hope you get to enjoy this time in your life as well.
Layla has just gotten her ears pierced and just when I thought the little bundle couldn't get any more cute......she went and did.
Jaxon is still just taking all in and someday it's going to be special to watch him go about his expertly thought out self.
Both have added so much to our family group that is neat to see the growth first hand. We have been so blessed.
The vb team is starting to take shape and getting into a routine...(that's a good thing). As most seasons go that growth and development time can really be rocky.
We are 3-3 after the Conf. Trny with wins over ....you really don't care about that so let's not go there.
Janet is a special women that has the knack of making sure all is going well. Her and Abbey are in the middle of getting stuff ready for Kelly's wedding. I'm sure it will be a very special day. We all can hardly wait. It will be so much fun.

Thrill of witnessing a hole in one at golf course

For the number of rounds of golf that I have not only played but also watched I have never witnessed a hole in one until playing partner Dick Mills tossed one in on Tuesday July 19th. Congratulations to all who have had the good fortune and or talent to have achieved that feat but for all of us who haven't - "Just keep teeing it up" - and it may happen.
In this case the thrill of seeing that ball disappear was exhilarating. I hope with all of the scheduled golf outings scheduled in my retirement future that the feeling will be experienced more often.

For the first time in oh let's see....since 1977 the fourth of July did not signal the downhill slide toward going back to school. For those not in education I understand that makes no sense but for those teachers you know what I'm talking about. We did enjoy the fireworks in DC and due to rain in the local area, we were able to enjoy the rain postponed fireworks at the Sparta Country Club later in the week.
We are looking forward to another get away to Florida before school starts for Abbey and family. Jaxon and Layla can't wait to put those toes in the sandy beaches before school starts.
Volleyball starts on August 10 so the pace of activity should pick up just a little bit for the fall. Looking forward to find out what it's like to coach and not be a classroom teacher during the day. In the fall of 1983, I had been RIFFED(reduction in force) from teaching and coached SHS football to a 7-2 record so I guess it can work. By the way I got called back to teach second semester of that school year and made it to the end of May 2011. All's well that ends well.

J & L sleepover

Just to confirm what momma (Abbey) has been saying about the sleeping patterns....all went super smooth on our sleep over last night. In fact Layla had a very good night only waking at around 7:00 for a quick pit stop and returned to slobberville until 10:00am. Jax got his pit stop at around 6:00 and he got up for PaPa's coffee and oatmeal then went back for a little down time. All is well. Won't be too long when we will be trying to get them up before noon.

Fathers Day

Today was a good day. We had a chance to visit with family. Jaxon and Layla are going to spend a couple of days with Gma J & Pa Pa Rog. We are looking forward to it. Just a quick note of thanks to my family for the gifts that I received today because of it being fathers day. They really don't understand that I am the grateful one for having such great kids and wife. Thanks fam.

What a difference just a couple of days does for the Southern Illinois weather.  One day it is cold enough to have a fire in the fireplace and the next day it is "smokin hot" to steal a quote from Kelly.
The grandkids came over in the new swim suits and certainly were ready for the change in temps.  Unfortunately no pool ready for 12 week old floaters.
Katie and I got the gym set up for the 26th annual VB camp to be held Monday thru Thurs and the gym A/C was not programmed for this hot Sunday afternoon and it reminded us of the many days spent in old Fulton Gym prior to its A/C days.  We are thankful for the upgrades made to the facility.
If you have not seen the upgrades I can tell you the equipment used for the VB courts are first class and very versatile in its configurations as to the number of courts that can be utilized. Oh yeah.....the A/C on those August and September hot nights are a nice feature as well as for those hot summer open gym dates.

Our first entry

Life is good. We have a great family, a great home and had a great career at Sparta  High School.. End Chapter 1 and start chapter 2. Retirement got here quicker than one would think.  We've spent considerable time reflecting and celebrating life as teacher's and coaches and now time to move on to a new phase of our lives.

  Did I already say life is good...............

Things are looking up...

Chapter II has started.