Vine Success

Posted on April 8, 2006 by jeb

I’ve tried planting flowering vines many times, typically around a mailbox, and it seems like I always end up with some strands of sticks and wilted leaves. Typically we would get a few flowers associated with the original buds never to see flowers again.

Three years ago, I planted a vine on our neighbor’s old fence, hoping it would be an improvement over the honey suckle and mulberry vines. I was somewhat heartened that it did not totally die after the first year and that we got about 3 or 4 flowers the following year. The vine spent last summer growing, and this spring I was happy to count over 20 buds. I sprayed the vine with anti-fungal + anti-insect spray to give the buds the best chance. Kathy and I have observed it takes three years to get most things established and growing.

The shed that Grant built is in the background. I called him on April 1 to tell him it had burned down.

FOPAB Update Q1-2006

Posted on April 1, 2006 by jeb

Jeb and Kathy

Getting through Dad’s heart crisis was the event of our quarter. Everyone pitched in to keep Dad company through visits and calls. Carol gets special thanks for possibly saving Dad’s life. Mom gets special thanks for being with him through it all.

Nicole and the band, Psychic Hearts, are ramping up for a new album release with lots of practice, recording, and promotional tours. They just finished a 10 day tour that took them to Augusta, Louisiana, and the South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin. They say they took in more cash than they put in the gas tank. And even more exciting, Nicole only has two more car payments.

Danny is studying hard at Spring Hill. The four of us went down to visit for Family Weekend and enjoyed dining with Danny and touring the campus. He has picked up a part time job on campus three nights a week and when showing us where he worked, we ran into the president, Father Lucey. Danny did a good job introducing his sisters and mom and dad. We told Father Lucey about Danny’s great, great Uncle O’Leary (whom I clarified used to have Father Lucey’s job) and told him about Aunt Margie’s portrait of him that she was planning to donate.

Kelly is finishing up her last year in middle school. We got a welcome package from Brookwood High School for her, which was a bit shocking. She is currently playing soccer, but plans on running cross country in high school. She likes to run. We are quite proud of her for having volunteered as an assistant teacher in Sunday school. She has been very disciplined about rolling out of bed early Sunday mornings to help out.

Claire is finishing up elementry school and heading for middle school. Our last child leaving elementry school. I’m sure tears will flow at graduation. Claire is also playing soccer on a very competitive team. There is not a single weak player on the team, and the they play very well together with passes and trick moves. A new level for her. She came home covered with mud after her first game, and quite happy about it.

Kathy continues in her new job of selling Ugly Houses and Jeb continues in his old job of selling pretty checks. Both of us are putting in a lot of extra hours with the church because of RCIA, but we have both enjoyed (re)learning a lot about Catholicism with the candidates we are sponsoring. We highly recommend everyone go to church each week and listen for a call for volunteers. It sure can be rewarding, but you have to be around to hear the call.

Power In His Pocket

Posted on March 20, 2006 by jeb

Spring Hill has several construction projects on campus. We were all walking with Danny behind the administration building when I pointed to a green sky crane (aka cherry picker… four wheeler with an extendable platform to lift you.) I said, “I could use that.” My extension ladder won’t reach the full three stories of one corner of our house.

“My post office box key will start that up,” reported Danny.

“What? How do you know that?” I asked.

“One night a group of us were walking by it and for some reason I tried my post office box key, and it started right up. The guys were amazed.”

“You’re kidding? What did you do?”

“I turned it off and said… whoa… this could be too much fun. This is dangerous. I’m taking this key back to my room.”

I was impressed by the lad for giving the key a try and then knowing that starting it up was fun enough. (Unlike his grandfather who I believe raced a steamroller against a tractor of some kind.)That’s a sign of wisdom… having the power and knowing when not to exercise it.

Red Cross on the Refrig

Posted on March 6, 2006 by jeb

Kathy volunteered to be a caseworker for the Red Cross Katrina Disaster Relief. She had to help evacuees get money and set up a plan for what they would do next. Each day she would talk to all kinds of people to help get their official case set up, discuss options, and get money meant to get them through the next few weeks. A certificate of appreciation came in the mail a few days ago, which the girls and I made sure was put in the official place of honor: The Refrigerator. In the attached photo, a Clyde magnet is holding the certificate up. An icecream scoop magnet is holding up Claire’s science test with a score of 118, the highest in the class. “Even higher than the boy that always scores the highest,” according to Claire.

Refrig of fame.

Happy Birthday Claire 11!!!!

Posted on February 7, 2006 by jeb

I’m sitting far away in a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona, wishing I was not missing Mary Claire’s 11th birthday. They have very strange and colorful things out here. I wonder if Claire would like any of them for a birthday present?

At least I’ll be home for the big party this weekend in our new yellow house.

Happy Birthday Claire!

Analog Blockage

Posted on January 28, 2006 by jeb

Kathy and I were walking our furry dogs when she told me, “The vacuum cleaner is not sucking. I think it is broken.” She told me she had tried to see if it was clogged by pushing a coat hanger through the intake. Annoying, given it is only a few years old.

When I got home, I took it down to the workshop and started inspecting. Belt was fine. Motor sounded ok. Suction was very weak. Between the intake and the bag is a tube that you can disconnect from the bottom and add hand attachments (clue: for example an attachment for sweeping wood floors.) I had to unscrew the top to inspect the hose. It was too long to look through, so I tried blowing through it. Blockage. I then used a drain snake to push and push. Pop. Out came a big furry clog. Like Kelly did with her owl pellets, Claire and I dissected the fur fewmet and found a strip of film negatives in the middle. That’s how the clog started. So that’s another advantage to digital cameras. No negatives to block your vacuum cleaner.

Good as new.

Crazy Costume Contest

Posted on January 8, 2006 by jeb

Mary Claire attended two birthday parties this weekend. Both had a crazy costume contest built into the party. Claire was not sure about it, so she did not dress up for Saturday’s party. Realizing there were prizes involved, she did not miss the chance to compete for the second birthday party on Sunday. She won!

The prize was a very nice bath gift set including soaps, lotions, and bath salts. Good thing. She needed a bath to get rid of all the crazy makeup.

Merry Christmas! (About the card.)

Posted on December 24, 2005 by jeb

As I worked on the 2005 Time Line in our Christmas card, I found myself wanting to create links… which do not work very well on a paper card. So I put them here. Some FAQs on the card:

Q: How was the front done? Who did the front?

A: Claire created this acrylic painting in her art class. She gets credit on the back. Kathy thought it would make a good Christmas card, so I photographed it. The browns and dark reds did not work too well with inkjet, so I experimented with sending the photo to Sam’s photo center via www.samsclub.com, which did the painting better justice.

The original painting does not have the same proportions as a 4 x 6 photo, so I copy pasted the left and right sides to make it wider. You may spot a repeat in the snowflakes and bells.

Grandad got out his magnifying glass to see if he could read the signature. He thought it said “Cassius Clay.” It doesn’t.

Q: Did Claire start 6th grade? I thought she was in 5th?

A: My mistake. I often forget these two peas-in-a-pod are three grades apart.

Q: Is Kelly sad in the net picture?

A: No. She is afraid. She was very worried she would fall through the net into the water below. She’s thin, you know.

Q: The colors in Merry Christmas on the front match the lightbulb colors on the front. Was that intentional? What font is that?

A: Yes, the coloring was intended. The font is Chalkboard and comes with Mac OS X Tiger. The card was composed in AppleWorks.

2005 Time Line

Jan:

Claire leads her basketball team to a championship. Jeb abandons Las Vegas business trip to beat ice storm in Atlanta (barely.)

Feb: Kathy and Danny work with Missionaries of the Poor in Kingston, Jamaica.

Mar: Danny pitches season opener for Brookwood. Kelly, Claire, and Danny all sustain sports injuries.

Apr: Danny

awarded half

academic scholarship to

Spring Hill College in Mobile.

May: Nicole graduates from UGA. Danny graduates from Brookwood. Danny pitches exciting playoff game against Lassiter and goes to prom.

June: Kelly and Claire drama camp and tennis camp. Danny vacations St. George Island. No summer swim team because of vacation schedules. Nicole and Psychic Hearts play Music Midtown on 99X stage.

July: Jeb and Danny evacuated from freshman orientation by Hurricane Dennis. Sleep in Wal-Mart parking lot. Cashin-Ettensohn family vacation Perdido Key. Grandad retires FOPAB newsletter, another victim of the Internet.

Aug: Kathy takes us on Windjammer barefoot cruise (see photo.) Kathy and Jeb take Danny to Spring Hill. Kelly starts 8th, Claire 6th.

Sep: Kelly and Claire play church softball and soccer. Danny evacuated by Hurricane Katrina and Spring Hill shuts down for a week. Kathy volunteers with Red Cross to help Katrina victims. Kelly joins

running club.

Nicole and

Psychic Hearts play in the CMJ Music Marathon at the Lincoln Center in NYC.

Oct: Kathy and Jeb join RCIA. Kelly in district honors chorus in Athens. Harley (parakeet) dies after a long life.

Nov: Jeb in Callaway for management meeting. Nicole gets raise as manager of UPS store.

Dec: Kathy starts new job in real estate. Gramalie treats us all to a wonderful visit to the Georgia Aquarium and a

delicious

dinner. Danny

goes to work

for Grant in Athens.

Two Altar Servers

Posted on December 23, 2005 by jeb

Kelly and Claire went through altar server training and assisted in their first mass on November 27th. There was much discussion and concern about the three different duties: bell ringer, book handler, and cross bearer. Claire set up a pretend altar at home and had me play the priest so she could get the timing of the bells down. The trickiest is the first, single ring as the priest extends his hands over the gifts. This is a relatively new ring for our parish, having traditionally had the two 3-bells.

The more experienced altar server took on book duty. Claire ended up being the cross bearer, and Kelly handled the bells. Because it was the start of advent, there was a little change in sequences, so the time for ringing the 1-bell came early, but Kelly did some quick thinking and handled it smoothly.

Both girls did very well, and sat very still. Claire managed to only wiggle her feet a few times, which was probably only noticeable to her dad.

I accidentally took a flash picture of the altar at the beginning of mass. (I had turned off the flash, but when the camera powered itself down and I had to turn it on again, the flash reset.) Father Bill noticed and said something to Kathy later, but I am not going to be ex-communicated.

Bill Marten announced that this was the two girls first mass and they got a round of applause

Sisters

Posted on December 18, 2005 by jeb

We all very much enjoyed Kelly’s chorus concert in Athens on Fiona’s birthday. However, I never did write about how really good these kids were and how impressive the show was on the following Saturday. The Athens Classic Center is something of a small Carnegie Hall with a double balcony and two levels of box seats along the side. Kelly had never performed in anything so grand.

Each chorus was composed of the honors singers from many schools across Georgia, and each was conducted by a guest music professor. The boys chorus (about 100 members) made a very theatrical entrance from the back of the theatre, singing an African-sounding chant as they came in: Eh Ohooro Obayafayo Owa Eh FehOh Ohwa Awafaragay. The effect on the CD makes it sound like a large tribe of young warriors coming towards you across the plains. The girl chorus members sitting in the audience exploded into applause and cheering.

I may be biased, but every song sung by Kelly’s 8th grade chorus was exquisite. Nicole claims it brought me to tears. (And it did, although I was suffering from a cold and very itchy eyes, so I had been in tears all day.)

One of my favorite songs was Berlin Irving’s “Sisters”. It makes me think of the sisters we have in our family:

Nicole + Kelly + Claire

Betty + Julie + Patsy

Carol + Kathy + Jami

Here is the song as sung by Kelly and 124 friends: Sisters.

Here are the lyrics:

Sisters

Sisters

There were never such devoted sisters

Never had to have a chaperone “No, sir”

I’m there to keep my eye on her

Caring

Sharing

Every little thing that we are wearing

When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome

She wore the dress and I stayed home

All kinds of weather

We stick together

The same in the rain or sun

Two diff’rent faces

But in tight places

We think and we act as one

Those who’ve

Seen us

Know that not a thing could come between us

Many men have tried to split us up but no one can

Lord help the mister

Who comes between me and my sister

And Lord help the sister

Who comes between me and my man

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