Hello on Wednesday Morning

Subject: Hello on Wednesday Morning from Leavenworth, Kansas
Priority: Normal Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 9:05 AM Size: 5 KB

Dear Friends,
We had another pleasant, but quiet day here in Kansas. My cold got the best of
me Tuesday, and I went down for an afternoon nap before our grandchild did.
Right now I have what would be called a chest cold.
As I said before, I don't like being sick even if it is something minor like a
cold.

In a few short hours we will beheading back to the Northeast. If all goes well,
we should arrive at Logan Airport at 7:34 PM. After a quick "Hello and Goodbye"
to our other son, his wife , and our other grandchild, Max, we will head west on
the Massachusetts Turnpike for our 2.5 hour ride home. I am figuring midnight
for an arrival time back in Pittsfield.

We had a fun time here in Kansas! Our son and his wife have been great hosts.
Last night, they made grilled pizza for us. It was so good. Danielle usually
puts the ingredients on the pizza dough, and Mike does the grilling on a couple
of pizza stones which he gets good and hot in the grill. There was just a few
pieces left for Mike to take for lunch today.

It has been interesting to watch the little things that they do as parents when
their child doesn't do what Mom and Dad expects Isabelle to do. As an example,
they have already established a "time out" routine when Isabelle is done eating,
and starts throwing her dishes, food, utensils, etc. They have her sit in her
high chair, face a corner of a kitchen wall. When she calms down they return her
to the kitchen table, and explain to her that what she did is not the correct
thing to do when she is done eating.
I was trying to remember what we did when Mike and Kevin did the same things
when they were growing up. Linda remembers everything that our children did as
toddlers. I must have repressed the not so good things of child rearing.

Mike just went off to work. We said "Goodbye", and he said to have a safe trip.
My ears are so plugged up, that I almost couldn't hear what he said. It was
embarrassing for me!

Politics -- Health Care is getting close to being a reality. I was wondering if
us people who do have and pay for health care will be getting any relief?

Count Your Lucky Stars -- We had another baby boomer pass away the other day.
We will be going to a 10 AM funeral on Thursday morning for this guy. The
gentleman was 63 years old, and he died of liver cancer. He has been in a
nursing home since September 20, 2009. He wasn't a drinker.
It goes back to my theory that some people are dealt "a crappy deck of cards"
in life.
Life is good for the majority of us. Make sure that you take time to enjoy it!

Observation -- As I watched my son put on his summer weight combats boots. He
already was in his military jump suit. I was thinking that clothing stores don't
make money off of these military personal. For at least 5 days a week (for the
job that he is doing now), they are dressed in the same set of clothes.
Seeing my son got me thinking about dress codes for Public School Children.
Some states do allow uniforms for public schools. I was wondering how those
dress codes are working.
When we first arrived in Kansas, 70 students where suspended from this one
school for constantly violating the dress code. This school didn't have a
particular dress code.
There has been much discussion about dress codes in our community. We have a
set policy in the Pittsfield Public schools, but no one wants to enforce it. The
Public gets involved with the discussion because one high school is in downtown
Pittsfield. As people drive by during the day, and see some of the students
sneaking a cigarette on the sidewalks outside of the school, they see some of
these scantly clad students. They get on all those talk programs, and vent their
anger of what they observe.
Once again, this should be a parental issue before the students even enter the
schools in the morning.

Have a great Wednesday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad