Hello everyone:

Thanks again to everyone who helped to make Hannah and James wedding so special. I thought I would share what we did the week before. I hope to have pictures loaded at some point in the future:)

Tim was in Ariz for school meetings so he didn't join us until Monday. The rest of us met in Tulsa so that Erik could show Hannah and Andrew his "new life". We enjoyed a tour of the campus. All of the kids then went to the Colin and Brad show for the evening. I guarded "THE DRESS" and the dog in the motel room.

During the week we ran errands, finished gathering things, etc. Hannah and James opened some wedding gifts. And Ember smiled as she had everyone gathered up - at least for a short while.

Wednesday evening we went to Tim's cousin, Pat's house. Quite the nice place. The ladies made Thanksgiving food in the kitchen and the guys practiced wedding music in the parlor/dining room.

Thanksgiving day we went to a ranch which belongs to James's mother's cousin. Lots of room to walk in the "hill country" which reminded me of the pasture except that it is not flat. Everything is so dry there, we even walked in the river bed. We ate in a big open building that had a kitchen at one end. Erik enjoyed playing with one of their dogs as he can jump almost straight up and quite high as you will be able to see in the picture.

Since returning from Texas, we have been getting ready for Christmas. And so we will plan to see most of you on the 18th. Love Vicki

Charles' Graduation!

Four generations attended Charles' Masters Graduation at KSU on December 9, 2011. We are proud of his accomplishments. Here are a few photos of the event.

Happy Holidays

Today it was 26 degrees with a wind chill of 6 degrees so it really feels like winter has arrived.

I thought it might be a good day to finish my shopping and it was quite pleasant. Seems like most people decided it was too cold to be out so the crowds were very slim. No pushing or shoving to get to the sales. One could move at your own pace and not have to hurry.

Grandpa worked at the Friends Shop and he saw very few customers too.

Not a lot has happened here this past week since the bus trip to Austin. I think the saying no

news is good news does apply sooo.... I am sending a few trivia questions and maybe a couple more pictures if I am lucky enough to get them in!!

1. Who was the name of Scrooge's dead business partner?

2. What Christmas food is made from "marsh-whorts"?

3. In which author's novel is it "always winter but never Christmas"?

4. Who wrote the poem, "The Cultivation of Christmas Trees"?

(maybe more pictures next time, I think I need another lesson on how to )

Let me just say that playing 'tour guide' for the bus trip down to Austin was easier than figuring out what I was going to blog about here. It was easier writing a guest post for Kate's own blog. And it's not that I'm not doing anything (I'm pretty busy these days, even though a recent bike accident has slowed me down finally), it's just that I'm not sure what is worth telling about and what not.

Post accident photo. I didn't really need that wrench, unless I was thinking that I could use it to 'fix' my knees...

The most important work I've been doing this semester is learning a little academic irresponsibility. I visit Dr. Geenen (not my academic adviser, but certainly a life one) every Friday at noon for about an hour with another friend of mine. We eat lunch and talk about classes, his college experience, technology (Dr. G is a little confused by it all), and philosophy. I made mention one time of how irresponsible I felt I had been with my week and Dr. Geenen gives me this funny look: "why, because you didn't do your homework?" He seemed a little 'incredulous.' For Dr. Geenen, both his undergraduate and graduate years were spent doing hardwork--and learning how to fly fish, play foosball competitively, practice his tennis and ping pong and soccer and ultimate frisbee and mountain biking. I admire him more than I do my actual adviser because, for Dr. Geenen, it's not about how far he's getting by one's standard measures of success but rather how well he's balancing his obligations with his happiness and how well he's answering the questions about the world that genuinely worry him (he's an anxious fellow). My grades still matter to me, but along with the helpful influence of another excellent friend, some other things matter a little more. People come before papers if need be.

As a sidenote, Dr. Geenen has also asked me to mentor his freshman seminar, which I'm extremely excited/flattered about. He's also going to have some difficulties with it, because he's not sure how to teach them things like time management, when, clearly, he may not always have been the best exemplar of managing his own time...and then there's me with my sleep experiments...

I've also had to stop my sleep cycle (I was experimenting with a polyphasic sleep cycle of small naps in place of a large block of sleep). I was doing quite well for several weeks, but Daylight Savings Time, and a few experimental changes I made to the cycle, threw things off too much for me to adjust to. Since I was going to go back to monophasic over Christmas break, I just did it a few weeks early. It was a worthwhile experience though, and I enjoyed it. Even if getting 4.5 hours of sleep a day was hell for a while...

Going forward, I have a few plans. Westminster College needs a better carpooling program, so I'm working on that. Bike Club wants to see some community bikes around campus. Philosopher's Corner has some big debates in a few months. I'll be completing all of my general education requirements next semester (I'm taking Leadership Studies, International/Cross Cultural Psychology, Philosophy and Science Fiction, Ethics of Genetic Modification, Informal Logic, tennis, and two one hour credits for tutoring and mentoring).

Ignore the numbers, but this is what Westminster College's Ridesharing Program will 'look' like. I'm as proud of this graphic I made as I am of the idea I had for the program.