Christmas Swap

We just got back from a lightning fast visit to my father's to find my present on the porch. It seemed that I had already been paired with the perfect partner, when I had to apologize for barely getting my package mailed in time, she responded that she had just mailed my package; so I was excited to see what she would send me.

The first thing that I found was a post card from Superior, WI. I have always been a geography nut so I enjoy pictures from different locales but this struck me on a couple other levels. First, I was born in Normal, IL; so I found it amusing that this was a gift from a Superior woman to a Normal man (female readers may think that every gift falls in to this category). The second way that I connected with this picture was that the postcard showed pictures of a large cargo ship and my grandfather was a radio man on a great lakes cargo ship. I remember him trying in vain to teach me Morse code. I was barely in to the package and I was already impressed.


After checking out the postcard, I moved on to the gifts. The first one I unwrapped was a beautiful picture frame. As a newlywed, I have a few pictures, so a picture frame will be a welcome gift for the foreseeable future.

I was really getting in to the unwrapping, so I did what I think that most people would...I went for the big package. I was rewarded with one of my favorite things, CHOCOLATE. I received three packages of Hershey's products, YUM.

The last package turned out to be an amazing gift. My final gift was an assortment of hand-made cards. I knew from our initial contact that Sara was crafty but these cards knocked me out. They are amazing! There are cards for all occasions, my only problem will be giving any of them up.

I was very impressed with the Christmas Swap. I had a ton of fun receiving presents and even more fun shopping for Sara. I hope she enjoys her gifts as much as I like mine. Thanks to Angie for setting up the swap ans especially to Sara for my gifts. By the way, Sara's blog is great, so I hope all 3 of my readers check it out.

Can I keep the bone?

We stopped up at the lake a few weeks ago, just to grab a fishing pole. The boys wanted to jump in the water despite the fact that we were only going to be there for 5 minutes. We don't normally go in with bare feet but we let them swim. Of course, the Big Guy cut his toe on a rock. When we got home, we cleaned out the cut with peroxide and then alcohol. The Big Guy was pretty fussy and one of the neighbors came to see what was wrong. Bylinda asked him if we could use his pocket knife if we needed to amputate. With out missing a beat the Little Guy chimed in with, "If you cut his toe off, can I keep the bone?" Brotherly love at its finest.

Busy Summer

Summer seems to be in full swing, as the declining frequency of blog posts might indicate. Baseball season finally wrapped up with our five year old playing a double header in ninety-five degree heat. I'm still not sold on the whole culture of youth sports (except Upward). Still both boys got trophies, the Little Guy's was larger as his team came in 2nd in the end of season tournament and generally seemed happy with their decisions to play. I'd call that a small win.
Reluctantly the Big Guy headed off to church camp for a week. The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee has a small but very nice camp up near Watts Bar Dam. As late as when we were pulling in to the parking lot, he seemed convinced that this was a plot to get him out of the house for a week. He refused to believe that we just thought he might have fun and enjoy himself. After all how could anyone have a good time swimming, fishing, canoeing, learning to shoot a bow, doing arts and crafts, etc. On Friday, we got a post card that said "Thank you soooo much for letting me come". He was the "King Fisher" of his session, catching a total of five fish. Church camp was definitely a big win.

We headed out to the lake for most of the weekend, camping with Bylinda's sister and brother-in-law. It was hot and I can't muster much enthusiasm for swimming in the lake after spending a week at the beach. Still there were some good times and my father-in-law procured some army cots for us, which are an improvement over the air mattress.
We're gearing up for the 4th of July, planning a trip to see the Lookouts, and maybe a trip to watch Chattanooga FC play their last home game. Somewhere in all of this, laundry must get done, the house needs to be kept clean, and we try to find some time to visit with our family and friends.
I'd keep going but I think it's time to start the grill and keep the good summer vibe moving along.