Home from NJ

Here's the most recent picture of Kate at 7 1/2 weeks.

Well our trip went well. We drove home yesterday from Linwood NJ. It took 7 hours and 10 minutes and was 383 miles from door to door. We were able to visit with my sister, Faye en route and she got to see Kate via "skype" video cam conferencing.We went with her to a restaurant that had wi-fi and she, Rich and Lauren got to see and talk with Kerri. Isn't technology great!

From there we headed to Absecon to stay with Paula for two nights. It started to rain when we got on the AC Expressway and didn't stop raining until about10 a.m. on Thursday. That was just in time to allow me to go golfing with Bob Morris and the afternoon group at Greate Bay Country Club. I was really hitting the ball well and was pleased with my game. Then, Dee came over for dinner with the group. It was nice seeing all those old friends again. Dee had been visiting with her friends from work from 1 p.m. till about 5:15 p.m. They were thrilled to see her again and had lots to talk about.

The rains started up again and continued all through Friday until early afternoon. The wedding rehearsal was at 6 and then we had a lovely rehearsal dinner at 7:30 at the Inlet Restaurant. The meal was awesome. A great place to go and celebrate. Afterward, we got together with some Andy and Paula, Marie and Tony at the Crab Trap and talked for a while before everyone went their separate ways.

We did get a chance to visit with our friend Sara Green on Friday and with Marie at the church. Rev. Reeder and I got to visit while Marie and Dee chatted. Since I'd taken my white robe, we decided to use robes for the wedding. That turned out very nice. Then, Dee and I had a late lunch at the Cheeseboard deli and then went to visit the Morris' at their nome.

Then on Saturday the wedding took place at 11 a.m. Heather look stunning. It was a beautiful white dress with red trim with a beaded design The deep red trim also went through the train. Very nice. Heather's father, Bob was able to be at the wedding and rallied from his hospital visit earlier in the week. It all went well. The reception was at Boogie Nights, in the Resorts Casino. It turned out to be a nice venue for the young people in our party. We enjoyed it too.

Later we went and walked on the Ocean City Boardwalk and enjoyed watching the waves and the people. Andy had a picnic cookout and invited us over to share burgers and hotdogs. We watched the end of the Phillies game and the first period of the Penguins game. (ouch) Then finished out the evening in our motel room.

Sunday morning we had breakfast with Mae and Kat at Fitzpatrick's Deli and then went to church. Pastor Reeder had been very gracious throughout the weekend. It was nice to see the church people again. And when Frank announced that we were there, people applauded. That was nice. There were some new faces there and we were glad for that. But it was really nice to see our old friends and spend some time with them in worship and communion. We left the church at 1 p.m. and got home (nice sunny drive) at 8:10 p.m.

Heading to NJ

We're leaving for NJ this morning, but I thought I'd post the photo of the new window treatment we got yesterday for the front windows of the house in the living room.

Our trip to NJ will include a stop at my sister, Faye's home for a brief visit en route to the wedding I'll be officiating at my former church, Seaview Baptist on Saturday.

What a Happy Baby!!!

Here's a brief video Kerri sent of Kate's "responsive smile". Something she's just started doing in the last week.

Dee and I were able to use the hot tub the other night after the rains subsided. It was nice out and we enjoyed getting to use it again. On Friday we went out for breakfast and used a certificate they'd sent us in the mail. I love the omelets at Freedom Diner.

Afterward we picked up a couple of items we needed and headed home. We enjoyed sitting on the porch and having a cookout on the grill (chicken) and I made risotto. I really tasted good. I stirred and stirred and stirred. We learned about it at the "gourmet getaway" back in January. In the evening I read some more of my WWII book "An Army At Dawn". Fascinating stuff.

Today, Saturday, we both worked (I finished rangering at Treesdale at 3 and she finishes at 6:30 PM.) So we decided to use the "birthday gift card" Red Robin emailed us for her birthday. That'll be nice because we like their food there. I'm working a golf outing on Monday which should be interesting. It's supposed to be big and involve about 6 of us rangers. As it stands now, it looks like the schedules we wrote for ourselves will continue and I'll be working most Saturdays of the summer. (except for the 6th and 13th when I'll be gone.)

Golf and the movie ANGELS AND DEMONS

Kate and family are doing well. Here's another picture of her.

It's Friday morning and raining. Fortunately I got in 9 holes of golf after Rotary on Wednesday, and then 18 holes yesterday. Yesterday I golfed with two other rangers at Treesdale. I was very pleased with my round. I actually got 2 birdies (both on par 3 holes)! I haven't had a birdie in over a year, and yesterday I had two! Amazing, and in front of witnesses to boot. God is Good.

Today I'm returning some "woods" to a company called Warrior. They had a deal for a free hybrid golf club if you'd try their 1,3,5 woods. And have a money back guarantee. Today they go back. I had to get a "return authorization number" before I could return them. Getting that number was a trip. They offered to let me keep the clubs and return half my money, then they offered to send me a "free" set of irons if I kept them. I was insistent that I wanted my full refund. (I did all this on the phone, just as the movie was starting at Showcase Cinemas.)

I had stepped out of the theater to go to the bathroom and my cell phone rang. It was the customer service department of Warrior. They'd left a message. I returned the call right then because I wanted to get that authorization number and had only been dealing with phone operators. So, for the next 20 minutes I talked with the guy about my refund. (Dee thought I'd gotten sick from the popcorn and came looking for me. I assured her I was okay and that I was trying to get the authorization now that I was actually talking with a person.) Although I missed the first 20 minutes of ANGELS AND DEMONS I did get the refund code #.

Since I'd read the book, I knew the plot of the movie, and enjoyed the rest of the movie. It's a MUST SEE flick. Good stuff. Great mystery. Dee and I hadn't been to a movie theater in a long time. We decided to go, and then discovered that our Cranberry theater closed! So we went to the Showcase Cinemas on McKnight Road. As it turns out Wednesday is seniors day. All people over 60 get in for $4.50 all day! Cool. We even used the coupon they gave us for a discount on drink and popcorn. Very nice.

On Sunday I read an article in the Post-Gazette entitled "They Died for You" by Rick Atkinson. It was about WWII. The things every American should know about WWII. It was a great article and I was motivated to buy his book "An Army At Dawn" (the first of three books about WWII).

I'm clueless about that war and this writer is a good story teller and packs in loads of facts. I'm 100 pages into it and am enjoying it very much. I didn't realize WWII had been going on for 27 months before the United States got into it. Nor did a realize that 1,150 men died every hour in it - for 7 years! Atkinson is working on the third book in the series. This first book is about our invasion of Africa; the second book is about Italy and the third is about France and Germany I think. Good rainy day reading.

Nice Picnic!

Well the "coming out picnic" for Kate is now history. The weather cooperated and we had a blast. There was plenty of food and 26 people in all (three of whom were children). Thanks to John and BJ for cooking the burgers and dogs and to everyone else who brought delicious side dishes and desserts. Dee's pulled pork went over very well. (We decided not to have chicken.) We even had halushki and cheese cake! Our friends from our very first church, Mooncrest Community Baptist Church, Chuck and Betty Werme, were able to come and meet Kate. (Betty had saved a newspaper photo of 34 years ago when it published a photo of me, Dee and a brand new baby named, Kerri. She recently sent it to Kerri and we thought it would be nice for Kerri to meet the Wermes.) Here is a picture of Kate in her debut dress. Also one of Kerri holding her in a "wrap", and of Grandma Dee with Kate.

Our visit with the Julians went very well. Kate slept well doing her regular feedings on time. We never even heard her during the night. And when we went to church and out to eat, she just snoozed away. Folks at Church were happy to see her.

I started back to work at Treesdale and worked a few hours on Saturday and on Memorial Day (after the Julians left for VA.) The weather was sunny buy not real hot, which made of a nice afternoon of riding in the golf cart and watching people golf, and picking up a few lost golf balls.

Getting Ready for the Picnic

Here's a recent photo of Kate.

Since my last entry, I went to visit with my mom. We went to lunch at a place called "The Speers Street Grill" in Speers, PA. It's owned by the same people who own "The Back Porch Restaurant " across the street. It sits along the Monongahela River and you can see a marina and boats going up and down the river. There seems to be a little "village" there with a couple of shops. We had a nice view. Mom said she thought she'd been there before. I took my computer so she could see a video of Kate with Kerri. I also tried to use the Skype program so she could see them live, but they didn't have wi-fi, nor did Eat'n Park nor did the local McDonalds. (They were out of cards that had the wi-fi code on them.) Maybe next time. We had a nice visit. I tried to put her bills in order and make sure things were paid up. I couldn't find the new check's she'd gotten that had the duplicate check system. Not sure where they ended up. However, we did find checks that were relatively new and so used them.

I'd stopped along the way to her place and golfed 9 holes with my friend John Curdie. We golfed at Rolling Green Golf Course along Route 136. I've driven by that place for 45 years and never golfed there. (of course most of that time I was not a golfer) but I've always wanted to do that, so John was available and it wasn't far from his home, so it worked out nicely.

On Friday, Kerri and Pat and Kate arrived just in time to celebrate Dee's birthday. They said their trip went well, and Kate got hungary at the right time (when they got to Breezewood) so it worked out well. Once here, they got to see the changes we'd made in the house, and we got to see and hold and sing to Kate again. They'll be here through Memorial Day. We're having a picnic on Sunday afternoon and invited some of the people who were at her baby shower to come and visit. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Today, Kerri and Pat and Kate will see some of their Pittsburgh friends in the afternoon, and I'll start my first day back at the Treesdale Golf and Country Club as a "starter/ranger". I'll work the afternoon shift and we'll all reconnect later in the early evening. It good to have them back in PA.

Making Plans for Memorial Day

Yesterday before and after the Chamber Networking meeting I re stained the deck and steps to the patio. I did it once before during one of our trips to the house from NJ. That was two summers ago now. The weather had taken it's toll on the stain job I did then, and I wanted to get it done before the really hot weather came. It looks great again and was a lot easier and less time consuming this time around. Now we can put the table and umbrella on it Yeah!

Today after Rotary the new pub table and chairs for the kitchenette will be delivered. We're looking forward to getting them. It's nice they'll be here for the picnic we're having on Sunday afternoon. Kerri and Pat and Kate will be here for the weekend (Yipee!)and we've invited some people over for a potluck cookout. Should be fun. It'll be a chance to let people see Kate and also see the new paint job and reconnect. It'll be interesting to see how Bonz deals with having Kate around. Here are a couple of new pictures of Kate.

During the last couple of days I've been downloading and trying to figure out a new program called Skype. It allows you to make phone calls through your computer and if you have a web cam, you can see the person you are talking to and they can see you. Kerri has one too, and so we worked out the bugs on Monday and got it working! It was so cool to see her and Kate (and even be able to take pictures of them) from our house here in Mars! I'm planning on taking my laptop and the webcam and also the headphones with me when I go to see my mom tomorrow. I'll look for a hotspot where I can connect to the internet and then hopefully we'll be able to see and hear Kerri and Kate so that my mom can see and talk with them. I think there is a hotspot at McDonalds or the local Eat'n Park. Should be a hoot for mom, if I can get it working. Since we have about 20 people coming for Sunday afternoon, we decided not to bring my mom up for the day this time. Hosting the event, and having Kate here and keeping an eye on Bonz will keep us busy as it is.