George Benson at the Kennedy Center

Thanksgiving

Well, now that we are living in Oklahoma, we miss being around my parents in Virginia. So this Thanksgiving, we are spending a week in Alexandria visiting.

We have been to Jazzercise with our old friends and Mary Taylor, DeAnna's Jazzercise mentor. Wednesday night we went to see " A Broadway Christmas Carol" in Old Towne - it was so much fun! Then Thanksgiving day, the sun came out and wind died down and we all went walking before the big feast! It is so good to be able to spend time with Mom & Dad... What a blessing this Thanksgiving!

Home

OK - so it's been a while since I posted anything up here. It's been busy and we are changing many things in our lives, but it's all moving in a good direction.

DeAnna has been doing some really wonderful things with her Jazzercise - including her own regular class. She is a gifted instructor and works tremendously hard to create new routines every week. It may not be so obvious to those who have not attended a Jazzercise class, but she has to remember every move to multiple songs for an hour and then cue the audience to perform with her. As a participant sweating on the floor, it's hard enough just to follow along, but to perform and instruct at the same time is incredibly challenging. I am so proud of her!

I am now working for a new client - the Federal Emergency Management Agency. While FEMA has been in the news a lot lately given rain, floods and tornadoes, my work is in departments that plan the things you see FEMA do.

We bought a new car! After 4 years of having no cars or only having one car, we decided the time was right to get a second car.

It is a Hyundai VeraCruz which is a mid-sized SUV so DeAnna can sit up high. It is a truly beautiful vehicle with tons of appointments inside. It is a deep royal blue with tan leather interior. Right now, we love the automatic hatchback! This is a dealer picture (since I have not taken any pictures of our actual car).

So the biggest news of the past month is that we have bought a house! That's right! We are now homeowners! It is a bit of a departure from our past 12 years (not a townhouse or condo). It is a 4 bedroom house on a 1.25 acre lot with a large outbuilding (otherwise known as the man-cave). Here are some pictures...

This is the front with the circle drive and wonderful east-facing front porch.. There is beautiful landscaping all around!

The kitchen is large and welcoming with a huge pantry and lots of large windows. It directly accesses a study room and formal dining room.

This is my attempt to do a panorama of the back yard. As you can see, it is just a beautiful as the front yard with lots of mature trees. There is a large deck, a small outbuilding for yard tools and the large outbuilding is behind the small one in the picture. The rest of the acreage extends beyond the picture "into the sunset"!

So, we are getting ready to settle down and enjoy some homesteading! I personally can't wait to collect more tools and start building things again - something I haven't been able to do since 1999!

More to come as we get settled in! In the meantime, this is no less than a huge blessing from God and we credit all of this to HIM!!!

Congratulations DeAnna!

After several months of practice and very, very hard work, DeAnna has passed her certification audition and is now a certified Jazzercise Instructor! I am so proud of her. She is a natural leader and instructor. Hopefully, we'll have pictures before long!

If you get the chance, congratulate her!

Next

Wow, It's been a long time since I posted on this blog. A lot has happened since that time, but in many ways, not that much to report.

I continue to work for the US Navy. We have been doing a lot of great things - most of which would be pretty banal on this blog (and I don't like to say too much about the clients for which I work here). The one big thing I can report is that I have finally brought my ideas about Capability Management and the blending of Lean, Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints together! For those who aren't asleep already, I'll continue with other subjects.

We had planned to move to Hawaii last fall, but contracts have fallen through with the continuing resolutions from congress and so I await my next assignment(s) while doing more stuff here in Virginia for the Navy. Having sold our place in September, we now reside at my dad's office apartment in Alexandria with all our stuff in storage.

So where do we go next? We have ideas, but are working our options. It is wonderful to have multiple opportunities and options. We are truly Positively Blessed!

LASIK Results & Blast From The Past

For those of you who asked, my LASIK surgery went just fine and now my vision is remarkable. I still have to wear reading glasses, but that's not too much of a hassle. Now I need to go get some new sunglasses!

My parents came across this article from the October 15, 1980 KWTV newsletter. I thought you'd enjoy it. Look at the article on the left... we had just purchased a new 2-inch video tape machine! That's right, the machine I am leaning on is a top-of-the-line video tape recording and playback machine! It is actually much bigger than the picture shows, but you can see one of the reels behind me. This machine played back up to 70 minutes of programming.

Years later, the BetaMax and then VHS Tapes would storm the consumer market while TV stations downsized to 1-inch video tape and 3/4-inch UMatic portable video machines. Those UMatic machines were so small that it only took one person to carry the camera and one person to carry the video Recorder when reporters did stories on site. Today, we hardly use video tape and in many cases, the only thing capturing a signal is a computer chip!

Yep, I knew what every button and knob did on those machines!

LASIK Surgery

Well, the time has come! In 15 minutes, I will be headed to the LASIK clinic to have surgery on both of my eyes. I have worn glasses for years and though I wouldn't say I have "suffered", I felt like it was time to just get the astigmatism and nearsightedness fixed.

DeAnna had PRK surgery on one eye last week and is doing well. She opted to get monovision - which leaves one eye focused on nearby objects while correcting one eye to see far away. It will take her a little while longer to fully realize the benefits (PRK takes longer to heal), but soon, both of us will be seeing better!

So a quick prayer for the surgery and I'll be home by lunch time!

...... see ya later!
:-)