Home Decorating

Jenn is here talking with Dawn about interior design stuff for our home. They are picking colors and window treatments. I am staying out of the way. Colors are better left to the women, as I often cannot tell what looks good together. I trust Dawn to make a good choice in that arena.

We are planning to repaint, and cover the windows in the main room. We also want to finish landscaping the backyard. It will just take money and time.

Troy says he is willing to assist me with roto-tilling and raking the flower beds in the backyard. I need to till in sand, top soil, and humus to improve the ability of the soil to support plants. Then We will reset the irrigation sprinklers and hire my gardener to start planting. Hopefully we can have the interior and exterior of the house done before Dawn's Feb. birthday.

A leadership day

I spent today with 27 of my Leadership students attending a CADA Youth Leadership Conference at the Tulare Farm Show facility. The kids were well behaved, but I was not impressed with the location or the event. I loved the two keynote speakers, but the breakout sessions were a little disappointing. Two of my groups reported that they shared more ideas with the presenter than they got from the presenter.

A highlight two years ago was an excellant presentation on poster making. That session really made an impression on me and the students. This year and last year, there was no mention of effective poster making. A downer man.

The students will present their reactions to the day tomorrow in class. I hope they got more out of the day than I did.

Then a Nephew

When we took our niece back to her parents, we brought her brother to spend about 5 days with us. Peter was fun to have around. He attended a Grizzlies double header with me. He also showed us his interest in and flair for cooking. He spent time in the kitchen preparing food. For our Sunday family dinner, Peter made a yummy caramel sauce to drizzle over apple slices. It was the hit of the meal! Monday Dawn & Peter made California Sushi rolls. They were very good.

I also convinced Peter to try playing Tetris on the xBox 360 when we could not get Guitar Hero to work. It took some perserverance, but I think I got him hooked.

A neice

We have our ten year old niece spending time with us this week. Dawn is enjoying time helping her learn to sew. Nicole is doing amazing work at the sewing table. We love having you here with us. She also enjoyed swimming with her older cousins.

Intro

We are empty nest parents enjoying this time of life. Our children are adults chasing their dreams. We love each other, our family, and teaching.