Last of the year

Oh my goodness--the next blog will be next year, 2017.
In about an hour Terry and I will head to the airport, headed to South Bend where all the kids and all the 12 grand kids will be for the next 2 days.  It should be fun.  I made a batch of fudge for the kids.  A far cry from the 22 batches I made for C/M wedding in 06!
I think I will keep my camera in hand Saturday and Sunday so during the month of January the blog will probably be filled with pictures of the greatest grand kids in the world!
Got a call from Mark Saunders yesterday.  Their Laura had her first baby a couple of days ago and it arrived several weeks early.  She weighed in at 3 pounds and 13 oz but according to Mark everyone is doing well.
I will not have time to do a wrap of 2016 so that will come after the new year.
Here we go, on to the airport.  Flying is not my favorite things.  No fear but the waits in the airport and the cramped quarters in the plane are not my favorite---but it beats spending 2 days in the car.  For such a short trip flying for sure is the best as we will return Monday.
Happy New Year early!

Strange--Strange and really strange

You might wonder why I have these strange pictures and here is the story:
I ordered a piece of luggage  for Terry for Christmas from Macys.  It came December 22 and it was way too large so we returned it to the Macys store in Naples about 4 days ago.  Today that same box was delivered to our place.  I called Macys 800 # and told them the story.  I had not opened it so they asked me to open it to see the packing slip.  When I opened it there were 8 pairs of shoes and 3 dresses in the box!!!  I would guess the value would be $1000-$1500.  It appears that they are items returned to the store and the store was shipping them to a warehouse or another store!  How crazy is that.  The second time I called (lost connection the first call) the lady asked me to return the box to the store.  I said I had nothing to do with it and did not have the time to do that.  She then asked me what I wanted to do!  I said I had no idea but I was not about to take my time to return them.  She then said they would be picked up January 3.  We will see if that happens.  I would say it is one of the more strange things that has happened to me in the past many years.  If I do not hear from Macys in January anyone want some shoes???

Christmas in the past

Gathered around the new Apple---Christmas 83 or 84

Terry and I had a nice Christmas Day.  We received several calls from kids and then spent much of the afternoon with friends while enjoying a delicious meal.
Shortly I will be on my way to the courts with a new tennis racquet, new tennis bag and a water cup that is supposed to keep things cold for several hours.  Will see how cool I am on the court!

Merry Christmas to all

Christmas 1969

It is a wonderful day.  Our savior is born and we now have the choice of eternal life.  Lord, may we accept your grace, love and guidance as we live this life for you and look forward to our life with you when we leave this earth.
I went for a short bike ride this morning, something that would not have happen most of my life.  Why?--because it would have been too cold or too much snow.  Today, in Naples, it will be sunny and near 80.  A different Christmas than most family is having.
I have been thinking about Christmas a lot during Advent.  I ALWAYS thought of Christmas in terms of cold and snow.  Way back in 1985 we drove to CA to spend Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Saunders and it was not a lot of fun.  It was warm and so very different than we were used to.  BUT now I realize that perhaps most of the people in the world do NOT think of snow or cold when Christmas comes around and for sure baby Jesus did not experience it.  So now, as I think of it, I have a different mind set and I feel that whatever the weather I can experience Christmas for what it is, not for external things.
My thoughts this morning turn to the grand children.  I am sure they are so excited today.  I do not know if they open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Day but whatever they do it has to be an exciting time.  I can still hear the screams when the kids opened several packages that contained computer equipment in about 1987--it was fun.
Terry and I had a nice Christmas Eve.  We had a delicious meal, no lutefisk, and then opened some gifts.  I am so excited to now have two great tennis racquets and a super nice tennis bag.  Also got a history DVD and a very nice cold cup for playing tennis.
This afternoon we will be with friends which should be fun.
We are already putting things on the bed in the guest bedroom, things that will go to South Bend on Friday.  I am a bit concerned about Terry traveling that far but if she brings some pain pills (if needed) she will be fine.
We had an interesting thing two days ago when we went for the boat ride.  As we stepped out of the car we were in the middle of a fire ant colony.  I would say in a nanosecond my left foot had a hundred ants and before I could get them off there were at least a dozen bits.  Terry had the same so now we have bites and swollen feet  but it too will pass.  That was the second time I have encountered fire ants and they have won both times.
As I sip the last drops of FP and sign off I, again, wish everyone a VERY merry Christmas.

December 24th, 2016--the last day of Advent

December 23, 2016 on the back waters in Naples FL

Rusty, the captain, leading us in our 3+ hours of pleasure!

Terry and I had a full but a very fun day yesterday.  I played tennis at 7:30 and had a fun time.  When I returned home we headed out to return two items and to have Terry's new watch fitted.  Then on the way home Terry said she wanted to stop one more place which I was puzzled about.  It was the Pro Am tennis store and I have a great Christmas present--a new racquet.  It is just like my other one but it is recommended that you have 2 in case a string breaks or something.  As hard as I hit the ball I may have a string break every 10 years BUT it is recommended you restring your racquet about every 3 months if you plan often.  I am excited to have a new racquet.
We arrived home and needed to leave in about 10 minutes as a friend and tennis team mate asked Terry and I to go on a boat ride.  We spent 3+ hours on the back waters and the gulf.  It was a perfect weather day and a very fun and relaxing time.  I would say I have never spent a December day like that.
I decided to have a bit of Baileys with my FP on the last day of Advent.  Not so much memories of Advent or Christmas this morning but rather of winter on the farm.

• We did not have a hill to sled down but we did hop the fence beyond the three-holer and slid down a tiny hill to the creek bottom.
• Often Dave and I would put on our overshoes, sling our skates over our shoulder and hike up to the lake where we would shovel snow off the ice and play a game of hockey.  That is until that darn hockey puck that Dave glued together out of tire tubes got too cold and fell apart!
• Winter was a time of daily carrying in 5 gallon cans of kerosene for the stove in the living room.  It was the only heat after Dad took out the cook stove.  Some time later Dad did put a barrel outside and a line into the stove in the house.
• There was a time when we would go out to the granary to get coal for the cook stove.  I do not know who delivered the coal.
• Winter was a time of COLD car rides as Dad never heated the car before we left and most of the time we would visit relatives who were close so by the time we arrived the car still was not very warm.
• Winter was a time of  board games, electric sets, Lincoln Logs, ping ping, puzzles and more.  
• Winter was a time of running upstairs as fast as possible and jumping in bed under about 3 or 4 quilts.  I remember when I was in the 5th grade and we had a geography test.  Mrs. Fox was our teacher.  She called me up to her desk the next day and wondered why I got such a poor grade.  She guessed it may be because I slept under so may covers I got tired instead of good sleep!
• Winter was a time of many arguments with Mom.  Ear laps down, ear laps up, ear laps down, ear laps up.  I finally wised up and would cover my ears when I left the house.  Then as soon as we were out of sight I would put the ear laps up!
• Winter was a time of walking to the barn in the snow with a lantern in one hand and the milk pail in the other.  The lantern would hang on a nail while we sat on the one legged milk stool and milked.  I can still see these many many pair of beady cat eyes in the dark begging for a squirt of milk.
• Winter was a time of lying in bed counting the frosty nail heads in the ceiling!
• Winter was a time of enjoying the fruit of our summer labor with quart jars of peaches and other food.  Actually to be truthful it was mostly the labor of Mom.
• Winter was a time of digging out the hay from the snow and throwing it over the fence OR early on riding in the hay rack to the field and filling it with hay and then throwing it into the hay barn when we arrived home.
• Winter always presented the challenge of keeping the water tank in the barn full without having it run over into the pen.  We were successful most of the time!
• Winter was a time of hunting fox as we drove around the country side.  AND make sure you did not complain about cold feet or Dad would stop the car and tell you to get out and run for a while to warm up!

As one can see our life way back in the 50's and 60's was so so different than life today.  No computers, no TV for a long time and no phone.  Our play consisted of board games, made up games and card games.  Oh, you could throw some comic books in for reading material. Actually we could bring books home from school to read.  In the school year of 58/59 I read and handed in 110 book reports--we were encouraged to hand in 25 book reports.  most of the reading was in the winter.  I am guessing that half of the books were about horses!  I always wanted a horse but no luck.

Enough, Terry and I will not hear laughing and screaming little kids tonight.  Instead it will be a pretty quiet time with an early bed time.  Tomorrow we will spend much of the day with friends at their house.  We will relax and enjoy the gift of life and then think about fun and wild times next weekend when we are in South Bend with 12 grand children. 

Advent of 2016 comes to an end and the FP for now is all gone.

I was tired last night!!!--John in 1970

Happy Birthday Benedict

Five years ago today Benedict (Ben) came into the world.  He is one of the 12 best grandsons any grandpa could have.  Ben you are a great young man, we love you.
Grandpa Lee and Terry

Christmas Day is close

November 1, 1982

Not much new today.
Terry is getting stronger and better each day.  She went on a mile+ walk yesterday by herself and did well and-----under 30 minutes which is what the Dr. wanted.  I found out yesterday, from the MRI of my foot, that there is not bone damage but rather an inflamed nerve so I sat still while the Dr. did the big "C" injection and I am sure that will make a difference.  I was pain free when I got out of bed this morning.  As I walk on it there is some pain but I know it will heal soon.  Not playing tennis entered my mind but then I said, "that is not an option"!
I have family places on my phone weather and it all looks good: Madison 26, Holiday Island 35, Sandy UT 32, Jamestown 33, South Bend 20, Peachtree City GA 29, St. Paul 28, Grimes IA 28, oh and then there is Naples at 67!
That is it for today, another day to see and experience how good our God is.

We did it!

We won our seventh match yesterday 2-1 and that gave us the league championship.  We had 7 weeks of competition.  Each week we played 3 matches so a team could get a total of 21 points if they won all their matches each week.  We started out 3-0 and then for the next 6 weeks we won 2 of the 3 matches.  We went into the match yesterday against the second place team having to win 1 of the 3 matches for the championship.  I felt we could win all 3 but on court #3 they played a first set tie breaker, a second set tie breaker and then a match tie breaker and lost.  It certainly was fun to win it all in our second year of playing.
The winter season starts January 16th and that will be a new and tough challenge.  There will be more teams and better teams so it will be fun to see what happens.  We played in 86 degree temps yesterday and it was HOT on the court.  It is a 60 and over league with my team ages ranging from 65-82.
We had a fun party after our match yesterday.  Burgers, brats, potato salad and beans.  The guys had a great time.
We are having very warm temps here.  Sunday we set a record high for the date with 86 and I think the normal high is about 76.  I have seen the - numbers in much of the country the last few days and I have no complaints.
Today will be for cleaning up the house, Terry doing PT, me seeing the Dr. about my foot and then some running around and oh I will play tennis at 10:30.
Hard to believe that we are 5 days away from Christmas Day.
I have a sip of FP left but it is cold.

Down memory lane one more time--last Sunday of Advent 2016

Uncle Mark holding John in front of the tree in 1969

I have the correct mixture of Baileys and FP so I am ready to REMEMBER!
It is Saturday, December 21st of 1957.  Mom is bustling around the house getting things in order as today is the big day.  It is the last practice of the church Christmas program.  That does not make me happy.  There is a lot of snow outside and it would be a great day to go sledding.  There is also the puzzle that is waiting to be completed and of course it would be fun to play Dave in Ping Pong.  We are pretty even when we play but last time he beat me and I am itching to get back at him.  BUT it is into the cold car and off to Bergen Church for at least 2 hours.  At the age of ten I did not realize that these program practices and the actual program were perhaps the highlight of the year for Mom.  She loved to play the piano and during the program I am sure we sang MANY songs!  I suppose it is not expected that a 10 year old boy would understand that about his mom but it would have been nice.  We arrive at the church at 12:50 PM and of course we are the first ones there.  Walking into the church I inhale the aroma of pews, song books and Christmas trees.  By 1:30 everyone is there, perhaps 20 kids and Mom.  For the next couple of hours it is stand up, sit down, sing, be quiet and that goes on and on and on it seems.  Finally by 4:30 we are finished and we head home, again in a cold car, as darkness settles in on the North Dakota prairie land.  As we drive home I do take some satisfaction from the fact that Chuckie and I did catch up on school, home and THINGS boys talk about.

It is December 10, 1955.  Dad had been away for several days dealing with some health issues which of course were not shared with us kids.  Mom was so excited as she thought Dad would be home today, Saturday.  Some how we had gotten a small tree and the lights were up.  It was not a magnificent tree, like one would wish for, but Mom was happy and excited about it as there had been times when there was no tree.  The floor under the tree was bare linoleum but after all Christmas was 2 weeks away.  About 3:00 PM as Joan finished washing dishes and Dave and I had all of them dry Mom looked out the window and said in an excited voice, "Daddy is home".  Everyone rushed to the entry, raced past the cream separator and opened the door to welcome Dad who had several packages.   He came into the house and placed them on the kitchen table and then handed one to Mom.  He smiled and said to open it right away.  There in a cardboard box were shiney cone like reflectors that were meant to put on each tree light.  Mom thought they were wonderful.  I am guessing that after we put them on the tree lights Mom thought it was the best tree ever.

Memories, they are good to have and fun to make.

An update on Naples life.  Terry is doing more and more things.  She now goes on walks by herself and does well.  She is almost off all pain meds and that is good.  Today she will spend some time in the kitchen as she makes a couple of things for our party tomorrow.
I actually took Thursday off from tennis and that helped my foot.  It is not bad but it does bother when I do too much.  I will find out on Tuesday if there is any hairline fracture but really it makes no difference as no matter what it is time will heal it.  Our last fall tennis match is tomorrow.  After wards the team and wives will come over for a picnic party.  Terry is making potato salad and beans while I will BQ burgers and brats.  Nothing fancy but I think it will be a good time.  I have already started to think about the winter season which begins with league play January 16th.  I will have 13 players, 8 of which will be pretty quality tennis players.  It may be interesting to get in playing time for everyone.  Maybe I have recruited to the point where I will be hurting for playing time!!!  I think the guys feel I am a pretty good captain now but after the season maybe that will change.

My Advent readings have been very good.  I am so thankful for the goodness of our God.
The Baileys and FP are gone.  Oh my, a week from today will be Christmas Day.

Warm

Travis and Aaron helping Dad shovel the driveway in 1976

I checked my phone weather this morning shortly after I got out of bed.  58 with a high of 81 today.  Then I checked other places: South Bend IN 10, St. Paul 8, Jamestown ND 2 and some places are looking at minus double digits by Saturday.  For now I will take Naples with its bike and tennis weather!
Once again my tennis team won 2 of 3 matches in our league play last Monday.  We now hold a 3 point lead with our final match coming Monday.  We do play the second place team so we need to win 1 match to win the league.  I am confident but I hope I am not over confident.  We have already played this team twice and both time came away with 2 of the 3 courts but I know anything can happen in sports.  The team will gather at our home for a picnic after the match.
Health wise, Terry is doing better.  She does not have much pain now and yesterday actually went for a walk solo!  I had an MRI on my foot Tuesday and I have not gotten a call so I am thinking things are fine.  The Dr. did say he suspected there may be a tiny fracture someplace in the bone and that was the reason for the MRI.  I am on that med that you take pills like 6 the first day, 5 the next day etc until you get to none and then things should be perfect!--I predict!  I did not play yesterday and that helped a lot.
Wow, Christmas is coming fast.  Christmas Eve is a week from tomorrow.  I have taken time each day this Advent to be thankful and I do try to be a better person each day.  The only problem with that is it is too easy to fail.
My FP is gone and it is time to dress and get to the fitness center before 9:00 tennis.

December 11, third Sunday of Advent and time for memory lane with Baileys!

It was the Christmas of 1971.  A friend came over for a good home cooked meal as he was not married.  He said he had a special present for John.  Rodger went back out to his car and came in with a box that was wrapped in Christmas ribbon.  As he set it down the box moved and as John walked over to the box he stared at a little puppy!  Buster was added to the Lee family.  It was probably one of the most unexpected presents we ever received!
It is a good thing Christmas only comes once a year as I remember many times I put MUCH work into those presents.  1975 was the year and I had worked on presents for the boys for some time.  I had decided to make them toolboxes.  Willie, the woodworker at the School for the Deaf, had given me a key for the wood shop so I could work some nights.  About a week before Christmas I carefully cut all the pieces of pine for the three tool boxes.  I figured that the next night I would work late again and put them together.  As I walked into the shop the next night, it was late, my heart sank as several of the pieces had warped and were of no use.  Time was short and I had to put them together that night so I carefully picked out more pine from Willie's wood, I would ask for it the next day, and cut again but this time I cut and assembled.  As I finished the clock was near midnight so I had to call it a night.  I still had to put a finish on them and then wood burn their names.  Christmas eve came and there was no doubt the presents were more about Dad than the boys as they were 6, 4 and 2.  What were they to do with a tool box but anyway they were delighted to get something that Dad had made. I think all three of those boxes still exist and are used by the boys.

It was Christmas in the 50's, perhaps mid.  There was NO money to be had but it did seem like Dad and Mom managed to find enough for some presents.  The ping pong gun was a big hit.  I am not sure if it went to Dave or me but both of us used it for a long long time.  Some time later there was another one that you could load multiple balls in and fire away at a rapid rate.  It was great fun and one of the best ever presents.
That is it for today, the third Sunday in Advent.  I have been faithful in reading scripture each day and it has been good.  Thank you Lord for your son Jesus who came as a baby to save us from our sinful self.  I am grateful for your love, your protection and I desire to serve you each day.
We have our 6th tennis match tomorrow.  I find that I am always nervous before a match but now that we are in 1st place there is a bit more nerves coming through.  Win lose or draw it will be fun.
FP, it is finished and was special today as we have a glass cup that shows how much Baileys you need to use.  I used a bit more than last Sunday and it was GOOD.

47 years ago

Time flies when you are having fun (I mean when you are busy).  Happy birthday John.  You are a shining star in a world that needs more like you!!!  We love you, Dad and Terry

2 of 3 again

My tennis team played its 5th match of the season and for the 4th time we won 2 of the 3 courts.  What happened to me--on court 1 I lost in a tie breaker.  We lost the first set 3-6, came back to win the second set 6-3 but faltered in the tie breaker.  I did not help our cause.  With 1-0 lead in the tie breaker I had an easy shot to put away and hit it wide.  On the next point my partner returned an easy shot into the net so there we were 1-2 instead of 3-0.  We ended up losing 7-10.  In those darn tie breakers a mistake here, a great shot by them there and you are in the hole that is difficult to dig out of.  The good part is we are now on top with 11 points leading second place who has 8.  There will be 6 more points to gather in the last two matches.  I sure would be nice to go into the last match, which will be against the second place team, with a 4 point lead.  I know, success breeds greed!  But what the heck there is nothing wrong in wanting to be #1, is there?
Even though I lost my match I did have some good news.  I have been working on my serve and even took a 30 min lesson last week.  I had Terry chart my first serve and second serve.  I got 82% of my first serves in a and we won 70% of those points.  On my second serve we won 75% of those and I double faulted once.  I know that is boring but being a fairly new player I am happy to improve in that aspect of the game.
Our tennis courts are about 1/4 mile away and Terry walked to and from by herself so she is making good progress.
Time to dress and get to the courts and guess what, I have enough FP to put in a cup and bring it with me.

Second Sunday in Advent, a little Baileys' and down memory lane we go

Aaron, Travis, John and Lisa in front of the tree at Aunt Ann's in 1973

It is about 1957 or so.  There is a long thin package under the tree with my name on it.  It looks like it could be a gun but I am sure it is not.  After the lutefisk, lefsa and potatoes we gather in the living room to open presents.  There are not a lot of them but my eye is glued to that long one.  Final it is my turn and I rip the paper off like there is a tornado knowing that really Mom likes to keep it.  There in from of me is a long shiny metal stick with a place for a foot on each side of the pole.  I stare in wonder, really wondering what it is.  Well of course it is a pogo stick what ever that is.  The short story is that pogo stick gave me much fun for a long time.  As the snow melted away and I could play with it outside I became pretty darn skilled with it.  I could get on it and jump all the way to the barn, turn around and come back again.  I think it gave me good balance that carried over into my adult years.

mine was not colored but it was pretty much like this

Christmas is here and I am so excited. I let Mom and Dad know that I would like a clock radio.  Now I am not sure if any electrical device will work upstairs in the winter as the temperature often goes below freezing.  Sometimes I go to sleep counting how many frosty nails I can see that poke through the roof boards above the bed.  But I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, Mom and Dad were able to get a clock radio for me.  Mostly what I would like is to be able to see the time when I woke up but even more than that it would be glorious to lie in bed in the summer time and listen to Harry Cary announce the St. Louis Cardinals baseball games.  THERE it was on the floor in front of me, a kind of square package that certainly had the possibility of a radio AND yes it was that.  The only downer was Mom then told me she would not have to call upstairs to wake me in the morning.  Shoot, I always liked that as it made me feel important but of course the radio out weighted the downer of that.  For the next several years I listened to Harry C as I lay in bed trying to convince myself it was not stifling hot in my bedroom during June, July and August.  Now the clock could not be counted on to be accurate when ever the temp dipped below freezing in my bedroom.

The lutefisk and lefsa were all gone(we had them yesterday)  the presents were opened and they were pretty thin this year but there had been a new puzzle so that was good.  We huddled in the cold car, as always, and headed the 3 miles to Grandma and Grandpa's home.  It would be a fun evening with cousins and Grandma and Grandpa were always fun to visit.  Grandpa had a laugh that would echo back from the Grand Canyon,when he was still in ND, and Grandma always had cookies, lots of them!  Of course we would have to endure Grandpa eating way way longer than anyone.  He would grin from ear to ear and then take another helping of something just to tease us.  As he looked into our worried faces he would throw his head back and laugh, a laugh that I can still hear today.  The evening would be long.  We would eat and then play games.  If the weather was nice enough all the cousins would venture outside for a game of hide and seek.  I think I may have been really good at hiding!  As the evening wore on we would get tired and want to go home but about that time the adults would be in the middle of a card game so it was into Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom, move all the coats off the bed and go to sleep.  As midnight approached it would be home again in the cold car and then hustle upstairs and cozy under the layers of blankets to keep warm.  As I drifted off to sleep I am guessing I was already looking forward to New Years Eve when we would put puzzles together, maybe put leaves in the table and play ping pong and for sure toast thin slices of potato on the cast iron stove top.

On another note we have a tennis match tomorrow at home.  In fact our last 3 matches of the season are at home.  I have been practicing my serve and I am hoping Terry can chart some things for me to see if it is an asset yet!  We play Grandezza, who we took 2 of 3 from earlier but they won all three courts against Pelican Sound last week so I am guessing we will have our hands full.  I am hoping for 3 wins, I will be OK with 2 wins but anything less will be a downer.  As you can see success brings about a certain level of greed I would say.  I will try to change but....

Terry is continuing to get better but at a very slow pace.  She did walk a mile in under 30 minutes two days ago.  The Dr wanted her to be able to do that by the end of December so my idea of slow pace may be totally off base and she may be doing very very well.

We plan to put together our Christmas cards in the next couple of days.  For us we are a bit late but maybe not as we have received one card so far!  Maybe that is all we will get.

One last sip of FP, the Baileys' is long gone, and I will sign off.  

We have a name

Up early this morning and guess what!  I looked at my phone and we have a name.  So what did I do?  I had a little bit of Bailey's in my FP to celebrate. (just a little as there is tennis at 7:30) Leo Augustine is now official.  Not sure what we are going to call him this New Years with Leo Charles Lee and Leo Augustine Adkins but maybe by their middle name too.  Some suggestions would be Little Leo (do not like that), Leo Charles or Leo Augustine (too long), Leo C or Leo A (not sure about that).  Maybe we can get by over New Years with baby Leo.  I think!  Whatever comes about is fine but it certainly will be a fun time over New Years with ALL the Lee Clan.
There was more good news on the tennis front last Monday.  For the third week in a row we came out on top in 2 of the 3 matches.  We will now play each of the 3 teams one more time before the fall season comes to a close.  It has been fun to see the guys as they finally have had success with the team.  We all rode in my car to the Monday match and on the way home you would have thought these guys were the BEST of friends and had known each other for a long time.  Well the truth is there is not a lot of social activity among the guys outside of the tennis and one of the guys is on the team for the first time. I had lunch with two guys yesterday, one of them is on the team and the other was on the team last year but he is dealing with a medical issue.  The guy who is on the team went on and on about how much fun the team is having--fun to hear.  Regardless of the "fun times" we are hoping we do not do a Vikings act and fall flat on our faces.  It is interesting as one has success it is easy to get greedy!  Now I want to win all three courts next Monday!  We are in first place with a 2 point lead and there are 9 more points to fight for over the last 3 matches.  We will see.  I would make a prediction but that may be dangerous.
As I walked into the kitchen this morning to start the FP the clock showed 4:44, way too early but what is one to do.  There is a tennis match at 7:30 this morning so I can't really go back to bed and for sure one can not go to bed after having a tiny bit of Bailey's.  MAYBE there is a nap later today.  I try to avoid those darn things as I have in my head they are for old people or sick people but then maybe I fit into one of those categories!
The FP with a tiny bit of Bailey's is gone!

6 & 6

Baby Adkins arrived yesterday, November 30.  At this point he is "no name".  He entered the world at 7 pounds & 7 ounces and from this picture he looks about perfect, just like the other Lee grandchildren!!!  Cynthia reports that the labor and birth went very well and everyone is doing great. His due date was December 7 so he is following in his sibling's footsteps by coming a bit early.
I just got a text, no phone call yet, which only means we are in a modern world!
More news when there is a name.  "No name" makes everything equal, six girls and six boys and he also makes the Adkins 3 & 3.  Like Jude said in October, "when the baby comes out it will sleep in the crib"!

Here is the crib.  I am so happy that they are making good use of it.  Veronica will have to give it up in a few weeks.  To this day the cribs remain one of my favorite projects.  It was a bit beyond my skill level but time overcomes ineptness!