A Tribute to the Workers

Thanksgiving snuck up on everyone again last week and, since Marian and I were in town, we hosted the turkey fest. With the exception of Matt, who is currently in Air Force Boot Camp, all of the kids and grandkids made it and all were quickly subdued by means of a Calorie Coma.
The purpose of this post however, is not to applaud the gallant eaters who contributed little save for gamely chomped through 25,000 calories in less than an hour. Instead, it is to give praise to the hardworking yet unsung kitchen and domestic staff who, despite incessant bickering and backbiting, incredibly got much of the planned menu together at approximately the right time - kudos to them!

Band Finale

Grandchild #4, Emily, along with hundreds of other High School students across the country, has worked hard all summer playing clarinet in the Leo School Marching Band. In the recent N. E. Indiana finals, Leo placed admirably and everyone concerned - taxi-driver parents not the least - was relieved when the season finally ended.
A couple of weeks later, selected students from each of the bands were invited to give a concert in one of the local schools. Accordingly, 105 students got together, worked on their program for a day and a half and then presented the finished item to a hall full of adoring family members. A good time was had by one and all, especially the somewhat whacky, wish-I-was-a-guy, over the top guest director.

Serving his Country

Yesterday, grandchild #1 stopped by with his mom and dad on his way to Fort Benjamin Harrison, in Indianapolis. No, he isn't standing on a box - at 6' 6" and 240# he hasn't needed a box since 7th grade to look his folks in the eye.
Anyway, following five years in the workforce, Matt felt he would like to do something more fulfilling and began looking at the armed services, finally settling on the Air Force. After various interviews and assessments, the USAF Security Police turned out to be a great fit and the rest is just now becoming history.
This morning, at 11:00 am, Matt was sworn in and promptly whisked away to San Antonio and the Security Police boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
We're proud of you Matt, along with the thousands of other selfless and patriotic youngsters of this country, who have the courage to commit themselves to ensuring our future. Good fortune to you and your fellow newbies!

High Tech Hide and Seek

Back in August, we borrowed grandchild #4 for a weekend and and lumbered off to the "Midwest Geo-Bash" held in the County Fairground at forgettable Kendallville, Indiana. Turned out to be a pleasant few days - weather in the high seventies, numerous things to please little minds and enough activity that even the grandchild was kept entertained.
So, what does one do at a Geo-Bash? Well, Geocache of course! All that's needed is a hand-held GPS receiver and a visit to this site to identify some local caches, and you're in business. There are LOTS of caches to find - approaching half-a-million worldwide - and plenty of cachers looking for them, with about 275,000 "finds" by nearly 40,000 seekers just in the last seven days.
This last weekend, armed with grandkids #5 and #6, we joined a local cachers event and found nine out of twelve brand new caches hidden especially for the event. Great fun had by one and all and we never strayed more than a few miles from home. Check for caches within five miles of your location - you might be surprised - and next time you see a little herd of nondescripts blundering around under a tree in some forgotten corner, you may actually be witnessing 'cachers in action. One thing for sure, caching certainly puts gourd worship in perspective.