Wednesday, January 27, 1999

Steven receives his Eagle charge during his Eagle court of honor.

Dear Steven, Grandy, Pappy, Grandmother, and Granddaddy,

I had a very busy week last week with too many meetings, so I am looking forward to a bit of a reprieve this week. I substituted twice (once on Friday--my usual letter-writing day), volunteered at the church one morning, went to a meeting at the high school (concerning parents helping in the sophomore tutorials twice a month to assist students with portfolio development), and had meetings (scouts, PTA, etc.) three evenings. I also watched Michael win his wrestling match by pinning his opponent in the last fifteen seconds. Needless to say, I needed a break by the weekend.

The boys finished their semesters in fine style. They haven't received their grades yet, but both boys feel good about their tests and final assignments. Michael had Friday off because it was a teacher in-service day, so he slept late and tried to do as little as possible. Now his schedule changes so that he goes into a P.E. class for one of his band periods. He continues to wrestle for another month or so, and in fact has a match tonight.

David began a new schedule this week with two new electives. He has completed art and metal shop and goes into cooking and wood shop. It will be very interesting to see how everything goes. His school is being remodeled in a major way, and both of those classes have been dismantled and moved for the spring. Some of the machines will not be accessible, and they have much less space in wood shop, so I'm not sure what projects they will be able to do. We have been assured that they will be able to do woodwork, however. The new cooking class will have only one oven (for demonstration) and many microwave ovens. I'm not sure what recipes they will use, but again we have been assured that they will be able to cook. I'm hoping David will bring home a lot of new microwave recipes for us.

The boys went to Dodge Ridge in the Sierras over the weekend for a scout snow trip. They had a wonderful time but didn't get home until after 10:00 p.m. Sunday night and were extremely tired. David had a hard time waking up Monday morning, and I was substituting, but we got to school. He began coughing some that day, and it got worse yesterday. Today he woke up with a terrible cough and a fever, so he is home. There are some nasty bugs going around, so I hope he hasn't caught one of those.

While the boys were off skiing, Steve and I continued our furniture search. We bought some narrower shelves for Michael's room and moved some of David's furniture around. That didn't clear any boxes from the living room, but we felt like we were making some headway. The new headboards for Steven's, Michael's, and our beds arrived today, so we will need to install them soon. Steve and I taught Sunday School Sunday morning and then hosted a brunch for our Mariner's group. It was mid-afternoon before we got home.

Steven, we were glad to get to talk to you Sunday night. I hope your cookies have arrived by now. We were glad to hear that everything went well with Cecile's visit. Cecile is at UC San Diego and took the bus to LA on Friday evening. Steven had a friend take him to meet her at the station. A group of students were planning to see the Broadway play "Rent," so to get the "Rush" tickets (ones offered at a discount to students on a first come first served basis on the day of the play), they had to get up and be in line at 3:00 a.m. Saturday. They took playing cards to pass the time and took turns going to the restroom and buying food. They were able to get tickets for the evening play but could not leave the line without forfeiting their seats. The seats for the play were in folding chairs in front of the regular audience, and purchasers were not expected to dress up (since they had to stay in line all day). One of the rushers knew a cast member, so all of Steven's group were able to meet the cast after the play. He said it was really great and well worth the process. They slept late Sunday morning and then went to a movie that afternoon before Cecile went back to San Diego. Steven, I'm glad that your course load seems more manageable now that you are in the swing of things.

Steve taught his short course Tuesday morning and said that it went well. I know it is a relief to have that behind him. He has a couple of trips coming up soon, but we have enjoyed having him at home recently. I am teaching two days this week, so I will write again over the weekend.

Everyone take care!

Love,