where I talk with my inside voice
This tradition of organizing movie night excursions for my coworkers goes back 30 years at this point. But, with the exception of a movie night reunion with the old crowd back in 2023 (to see The Marvels), it’s been quite a while since this was a regular occurrence. I’m hoping to revive the tradition now that I’m on MQ-25. Tonight...
Tonight, our ECF chapter was invited to a reception at the St. Louis Zoo to celebrate the WildCare Park donors. ECF has given $150,000 so far towards the upcoming opening of this unique safari attraction in North County. Dixie and I went, along with a few others from the committee. We had some good food and listened to some good...
Josie’s latest piece is from a photo that she took while we were in Florida. I look at this beautiful painting sitting on the table in our basement where we literally spent hours studying art and learning some of the techniques that she is still using today, and I also remember how often my art classes ended with her in...
Just a couple of weeks after Josie’s prom, her friend Aidan asked her to attend his Pattonville High School prom with him. It was a large group of students and they hired a photographer to take some pictures beforehand. Their status as a couple is still unclear to me, but he is very nice and responsible young man who is...
In October, I rejoined the Boeing Volleyball League after an almost twenty year absence. The first few games were rough – I didn’t have the stamina I once had, and my skills were pretty rusty. By the time we went on hiatus for the holidays, I was starting to feel more like my old self on the court. By February,...
Completed in 1890, the Samuel Cupples House is now a part of the Saint Louis University campus. Since Noah was home this week for Spring Break, I decided to take the day off work and we all headed downtown for a self-guided tour of the place. Unfortunately, the basement gallery was closed, so we didn’t get to see any of...
Another year has flown by. Our itty bitty is now a young lady on her way to college in a few months. Today we celebrated her birthday, but a couple of weeks ago, we discovered that our ignorance of the effects of humidity can ruin a guitar. The neck of her $200 guitar (that she has been playing a lot...
I hate Charter with the intensity of a thousand suns, and it was with great pleasure that I called them this week and brought our long and expensive relationship to an end. They naturally attempted to keep me with a better offer, and I just can’t help but wonder, if they can afford to tempt me at the last minute,...
Last weekend, Dixie and I attended the Blue-Tie Gala for Duo Dogs (photo below), and tonight, we went downtown to the Fete du Feather at the Hyatt. I had already bought tickets for tonight’s event a couple of months ago, and then Boeing offered us two seats at the Duo Dogs event, so we’ve been quite the social butterflies this...
In January, I received a summons from St. Louis County to appear for jury duty in Clayton. The letter itself is not surprising – the surprising part is I’ve lived in the county almost my entire life and this is the first time I’ve been selected for jury duty. I showed up around 8:15am and waited around in the assembly...
Noah invited his friend David to spend the weekend at Oberhelman, so we drove out today to hang out with him and do a little target practice. Dinner, as usual, was yummy, and we played a game of Hitster too. It was a good time.
Well, Cosmos canceled our trip (which I had already paid in full), so I had to scramble to find an alternative. Luckily, Trafalgar has a very similar tour with dates that almost matched the other one. Of course, their tour costs more (which is why we went with Cosmos in the first place), and the updated airfare costs more. But...
Because of my volunteering, I was rewarded with the Boeing box seats at the Fox for a performance of The Phantom of the Opera. Because Noah wasn’t home, Josie invited her friend Selby to join us. This production has updated the set, but it is still impressive. I couldn’t resist snapping an illegal photo of my favorite number (“Masquerade”).
We had quite a snowstorm today that left about 8 inches on the ground and made it harder on the birds to find a meal. Lucky for this cardinal that Dixie provides her feathered friends a place to refuel. There’s a short video below.
The Crossroads Arts Council in Wentzville, Missouri, hosts an annual art show that showcases the work of high school students in the area. Homeschoolers aren’t explicitly invited, but they aren’t excluded either, so Josie entered three pieces in the show. She didn’t win, but we were all in agreement that the judging was, if not biased, at least flawed.
