What an honor, Your Honor!

Last Tuesday my group, the Due West Trio performed at the Westin La Paloma resort here in Tucson for a convention for U.S. Appeals Court judges. The event was outside on a patio and the night was beautiful. The guests ate, drank and mingled while we played western music. Then a little old woman walked over to us and gave us the thumbs up and stage-whispered, "You're great! I love your music!" We nodded in acknowledgment and I leaned over to my partner Rena and asked, "Do you know who that is? That's Sandra Day O'Connor!" Wow. At our break Tim O'Connor, Rena and I made a beeline over to meet Justice O'Connor. For those of you who may not know, she was the first woman ever to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and she is quite the historical figure. I told her that I knew that she surely had heard this many times before but that I was a teacher as is my wife and that many thousands of us all over the world had used her example to teach young girls that they can accomplish great things. She responded that it was nice to hear and, "Look at me now. I'm just an unemployed old cowgirl!" The judge who was escorting her then said, "You should see her (daily) schedule. She is very busy." So we made her a gift of our three CDs and went back to performing. She was gracious and friendly and I count myself fortunate to have met her (plus, she is now a Due West Trio fan!).

A Veritable Hive of Activity...

Here are Pat and I in our Halloween costumes. She as a cute 50's poodle skirt girl and me as an aging Indiana Jones (I held in my gut until the picture was snapped!). Also pictured are Scott as Dagobah Luke Skywalker and his intended, the beautiful Sarah Washburn as Barbie.

One week from now our house will be filled with kids, grandkids and lots of noise, and we can't wait! Tina and Jon and their three kids will arrive in Arizona this Friday and drive down to Tucson to stay with us Sunday the 23rd. Wendy also flies in to Tucson on Sunday and everyone will be here for the entire Thanksgiving week. We are trying to figure out how to squeeze in as much fun and visiting as we can in those days.

Among other things Wendy will be consulting with her mom and sisters about her upcoming wedding to Chad Adams. They originally thought they would plan it for November, 2009. Then after considering how long a 1 year engagement would really be, they decided on June. THEN, the date changed to the first week in February. That is the latest news so far. Stay tuned...

And now, elsewhere in the family rumor mill... It appears that Scott and the lovely Sarah are also considering tying the knot. We obtained this information about our son who currently lives in our house, from his sisters who don't. Well, at least we found out. Apparently, they have been ring shopping and are looking at a late winter, early spring event. A parents, we are pretty chill about the whole thing because in Wendy's case, she is handling most of the planning herself and in Scott's, we are the parents of the groom. Sarah also told Pat that her mom already has 3 of her sisters' weddings under her belt.

News flash!!! Scott just called from Sarah's house where he officially talked to her father (just the two of them alone). Apparently, her folks were a little surprised (of course, they are not in Scott's sisters' network) that they are planning a wedding so soon (maybe January). They are not opposed to it as I'm sure they are fond of Scott (who wouldn't be?).

So a lot remains to be seen but it is exciting. We are proud of all our kids and are thrilled with the wonderful mates they are choosing!

overheard conversation.... again

i was talking to tina on the phone yesterday while the kids were coloring. this is about how the conversation went:

tina- you know what would work best on that, maryn? markers. (pause) hmm...
seth- mom, you put them on top of the fridge because you said we weren't going to use them again.

you can't get away with anything.

Unpaid Speech Writers

It seems Dave and I will do just about anything for a free haircut! CC has called us to help with homework, watch the girls, make apricot and strawberry jam, design birthday party treasure hunts but this last request was new! McKenna is running for student body treasurer and needed a speech written by tomorrow! Dave and I put our heads together and came up with this Pulitzer winning masterpeice!

Hi, my name is McKenna Thompson. I am running for student body treasurer. You should vote for me because I KNOW how to keep track of money! Right now I have $5.35 in my pocket (slap your pocket). My sister has $4.10 in her pocket and Mr. Holmes (principal) won’t tell me how much he has but if you elect me treasurer, I promise you I will know exactly how much money student council has and I will keep very good track of it. Vote for McKenna Thompson for treasurer! (I told her she should throw the $5.35 in pennies in her pocket out to the crowd!)

Good luck McKenna in your campaign! Come on crowd... don't you think it is worth a couple of haircuts???

cue the theme music- indiana! dr.jones

this last week ellena started saying Papa, which is what she calls dad. dad, of course, is just eating it all up.
today i took her to dollar movie day at the cheap theaters where we saw indiana jones. when indie first appeared on the screen, ellena looked and said "papa!". when i asked her, "is that your papa?" she wasn't too sure anymore. she looked very confused.
reference below post of daddy, dressed in his dr. jones' best. you definitely won ellena over.

Viva Differentiated Instruction!!

Last Saturday morning Pat and I packed up the RAV4 and drove to Las Vegas for a 4 day national teacher's seminar on D.I. My school picked up the tab for my transportation, room at the Riviera and a per diem for food. Pat enrolled and paid tuition on her own because the classes and workshops they offered looked very interesting.

We had hoped to get there in time to get in a session at the L.V. temple the first night (more on that later) but it took us about 30 minutes to get across Hoover Dam , crawling behind a line of cars. We did see the enormous bridge under construction there which will bypass the dam someday. So we got to the hotel and took a walk down the strip. It was about 114 degrees as we walked about a mile to the beautiful Palazzo hotel, next to the Venetian where we bought tickets for the Broadway show "Jersey Boys" for Monday night. It would be our one splurge (about $70 a ticket). After buying the tickets we crossed the street to a food court and had a burger and cheese steak at Johnny Rocket's.

Each day we each attended four 70 minute sessions given by expert presenters who were former teachers, administrators, etc. relating to about every topic you can think of in education. Most were very good, informative and full of practical ideas, only a couple were not that great. Our lunch break on Sunday found us waiting in line at the hotel's food court with thousands of other teachers. There was also a trade show in the ballroom with many vendor booths offering tons of teacher stuff. Pat found some treasures.

That night we decided to get tickets to a Neil Diamond tribute show there at the Riviera ( we got a big discount because we were with the teacher group). The performer was Jay White and he did a show (about 1 1/2 hours) performing the hits with a four piece band. It was a great show and we were all singing and clapping along. After the show we walked across the street to Circus Circus and spent too much money (but had a lot of fun) winning some stuffed animals for granddaughter Ellena at the midway games. We also watched a couple of the trapeze and other circus acts.

At lunch Monday, as we sat at a much coveted table, Pat spotted a young couple (teachers) who had brought their cute little chubby baby to the conference. She went up and told them they could have our place. She is such a grandma! After a short nap we boarded the "Deuce", a double decker bus that moves up and down the strip for $2 a ride and got off at the Palazzo for our show. "Jersey Boys" was so good, great music and story about the Four Seasons, the 1960's pop harmony group featuring Frankie Valli. It did however have its share of rough "Jersey language"! After the show we ate at the Italian restaurant there called "Carnevino". It was wonderful (the overhead music was "The White Album", no kidding). We split a salad, some bow tie pasta and a New York strip steak along with some veggies and risotto cakes. It was pretty elegant (and delicious) and rounded out our splurge evening at about $300 (dinner and show) and it was worth it.

On Tuesday after our classes we hoped to go to the temple but Pat suggested we call first just in case. Sure enough, it was closed for cleaning and maintenance. Too bad. We decided to try the hotel's buffet for dinner. Years ago Las Vegas was known for cheap (maybe $3.99) buffets all over town. No more. Our meal was $16.99 each. It was pretty good but nothing to write home about. After dinner we got back on the Deuce and headed down the strip again. We saw the dancing waters show outside of the Bellagio and wandered through New York New York. It is a fun place with an interior that looked like NY streets with corner deli's, street lamps, Central Park, etc. We got in line for their roller coaster but changed our minds when we saw that it cost $14 apiece! We crossed over to the MGM and started walking again. We visited the 4 story M&M store and the Coke store and headed back to the Riviera. After our classes Wednesday, we headed home most of the was talking about ideas we had learned that we can use in the classroom. It was a very fun time together.

So, some thoughts on the famous Sin City... There is lots to do and see, it is very bright and flashy but it still has a very dark side. Everyone is solicited at some point on the street for some decidedly non-family activities. It is VERY expensive to eat and stay. We are not gamblers (not a penny on this trip) but I can see where that could be fun for those folks I don't know... strictly from a vacation standpoint, I think I'll take San Diego anytime.

Lost and found... with a happy ending

Fourth of July and nobody was home at our house. Rachel and Scott were both out and Pat and I were in Taylor, AZ where the Due West Trio was performing. Our little terrier, Jaxx was locked in the backyard as usual. The sun went down, the fireworks started popping in the neighborhood and Jaxx began to get nervous.

We have a heavy wrought iron gate which closes in the yard but it has been off a hinge and in need of repair for some time now. A non-panicked Jaxx would not normally be able to budge it. So after surely scratching at the Arcadia door to no avail he began to shoulder his way out the gate and off he ran. The kids really did not notice him missing until the next day and everybody started looking. Pat and I got home late afternoon Saturday and Wendy, her boyfriend Chad, Scott and I all went in separate cars and combed the neighborhood searching and calling his name. Rachel was at work and said she was going to cruise the Nielson's neighborhood. No luck.

We called Pima County Animal Control, the City Pound (because they typically pick up a number of scared strays every Fourth) and went on the websites to check and report him missing. In short, we did everything we knew to do.

Then, Sunday afternoon we got a call from a woman who said she had found him. We were all very happy with the news! She lived at Houghton and Camino Quince. Jaxx had run there (crossing Houghton and Broadway, both very busy streets) and scratched on her door. So he must have spent at least one night alone and a mile from home.

Rachel and I drove to the corner and Jaxx seemed pretty happy to see us. Of course, I offered to reward the lady but she refused and was very gracious.

So there was a happy ending to what could have been a very sad story!