Friday, September 11, 2009

Veterans, School Children, and a Trip to the Arch...

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to update you all on what has been going on. On my last blog I showed the ceremony that we had for Lt. Hudnell. Mary had called me and asked if I was going to drill this weekend but the truth is that I am not back with Det. 17 yet, plus I am a little worn out of the Army right now and am enjoying the break.

Well, these last two weeks, I have been busy. I had the honor of speaking to veterans at our local war museum. We had 30 or so WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veteran's who came out for coffee and doughnuts. They were extremely interested in not only what we did while deployed but also where I thought our war efforts were leading. I am not sure I had an adequate answer for the latter. They were all most gracious and my kind of guys. One of the leaders of the group is Sparky Songer. He actually had his life saved when a bullet hit a spoon in his shirt pocket and kept the bullet from entering his chest. He was taken POW by the Germans, however. I would love to sit with him and spend a few hours listening to his history.


Then earlier in the week, I was invited to speak to our Jr. High AVID students about what the PA profession is all about. I am not sure how well 7th and 8th grade students actually pay attention to what an adult has to say, but they did have a lot of great questions when I finished. I think they were just glad that I was able to get them out of their 3rd period english class.

Finally, this weekend, we went to St. Louis to meet Karen's sister Brenda. Brenda had two graduate students with her so we got to hang out with them, which was big fun. Below are some photos.

I have been really busy trying to get things done that I neglected over the last year. I have also been serving as the stage manager for the new play that Karis is in. She does three to four plays a year, so I am devoting some time to that project. It allows me time to spend with Karis and I get to yell at kids and tell them to pay attention and to work at their assigned duties. Pretty much what I did when I was in Iraq with our guys. They listen about as well as our soldiers did as well. :0)

Well, I pray that you are all well. Thank you so much for keeping up with this blog. I will update my other blog in the next few days. I have been working every night putting the finishing touches on 'The Lookout Tree'. It has been sent to the publisher but I have been working with them on the cover design and editing. I had some additions and deletions to make and I have to keep going through the text to ensure that any changes I make in one area of the book doesn't conflict with any other area of the book.

Have a great week everyone and here are a couple of pictures from St. Louis.

Jeff












We met these two guys at Grant's Farm. Check them out, they are Craig Hawes long lost brothers. Who else would have such a stylish haircut.










Our group with Craig's brother. He is a very photogenic young man and only charged us two dollars to allow us to take our photo with him. His normal rate is five dollars but I got a military discount.












Karen and Karis at the arch. I had to lay on my back and shoot upward to get this photo. I didn't get a plug nickle for my effort, although Karis was nice enough to use a stick and brush off some bird poop that was on the back of my shirt.






















Pictures above: Picture One: Is Karis and Parahtina (Sp?) at the top of the arch, (on the inside of the arch of course. I was on the outside shooting the photo in through the window :0} ) Parahtina is from Sri Lanka and is getting her MBA.
Picture Two: Is Karis and Ishi. Ishi is from Jordan and is getting her graduate degree in communications and Spanish. Both girls work with Brenda who is a foreign exchange coordinator for Pittsburgh, University. Brenda was a missionary for years, so this job is very fitting for her.











Group photo from inside the arch. After this picture, I had to go back through the window and slide back down from the outside of the arch. Sure, I was just showing off but I do, normally, try to use my super human powers for good and not evil.












Everyone say goodbye to Craig's brother. Perhaps that's being a little unkind to the poor creature to associate him with Craig.

Chow for now.

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