HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE It has certainly been an eventful year here in Missouri. Right now Rose and I have Scott's two boys who keep us busy and laughing. Goldman and I met Scott half way to Louisville on Wednesday and picked them up. Tuesday Goldman and I took Maddog down to the lake and checked on things at the lake house. I had doctor's appointments all day Thursday so Goldman watched the boys and delivered Shirley to the airport. Thursday evening Goldman delivered me and the boys to Doug and Suzanne's for a pizza dinner and play session with Luke and Josie. On Friday we convinced Goldman to join us at Chris and Shelly's for at least part of our Christmas celebration. We did give him a day off and let him sleep in on Saturday.

We had a lovely dinner at Chris and Shelly's Friday night. As usual, their house was decorated like the North Pole inside and out. Mark, Karen, Katie, her fiance Austin, Andrew, Scott, Sherry, Jalen, Brayden, Rose, Chris, Shelly, and I enjoyed a lasagna dinner set on a lovely table that was almost too pretty to mess up. Katie was sporting a diamond engagement ring. Austin will graduate from KU this spring and pursue employment in elementary education. Kate's degree will some day [as Mark puts it] be in interior design.

Shirley's brother-in-law is quite ill in Louisiana so she flew down last Thursday to visit and help out. She hated to miss our Christmas celebration but has a new niece there that she was excited about seeing.

Rose just got up. She's hoping today is better than yesterday. She took the boys to an indoor swimming pool for 3 hours yesterday. She put Brayden's shoes in the wrong locker and they couldn't find them as they were leaving. On the way home he was in the back seat in his carseat and dejectedly said "I guess I won't get to play baseball next year". After a short silence he decided that maybe he could play in his socks.

The handy man came to install some cabinets in the laundry room that Rose and Shirley had ordered special made. When the handy man and his assistant opened the box, one was damaged. The special order takes 6 weeks.

Last night we took the boys out to dinner. Brayden puked all over himself, the carseat and the backseat on the way home. Rose couldn't get the carseat out to clean so just had to do her best effort to clean it, and she left all the windows down in her car to air it out. She threw all the pukey stuff in the washer and bathed Brayden. Suddenly the burglar, fire, flood alarm siren sounded LOUDLY. The handyman had not put the washer hose in the drain. The alarm was sounding, the laundry room was flooding, and Brayden was on my lap absolutely terrified. The alarm stayed on for at least half an hour because the flood had shorted out the phone line to call the alarm company. [We could have been burglarized, robbed, kidnapped, on fire, raped - well maybe not raped because the lights stayed on - and the police, fire department nor neighbors showed up.]

Rose didn't know that when she rolled the windows in her car down to air it out, she inadvertenly set the alarm. [In fact, she didn't kow her car HAD an alarm.] The boys and I were already in bed when she went out to the garage and set it off. Again, no response from police, fire department or neighbors. This is supposed to be a safe and friendly neighborhood we live in. I'm wondering.

The final straw for Rose was when she came downstairs in the middle of the night and stepped in a puddle of water. RAIN, LEAKY (NEW) ROOF!!! The handyman is late this morning. It may be because he's afraid to show his face because Rose gave him a phone blast after mopping and coping with the alarm.

We're going to Doug and Suzanne's for a prime rib/lobster dinner tonight. Jalen is going to spend the night. Rose and I are not sure we can stay awake to usher in the New Year, but we're going to try.

Up until a few months ago, Rose did the typing for me. She devised a poker for me and now I do it myself. I'm slow but I get it done.

As we usher out 2006 I want to thank everyone for their love, prayers, assistance and caring.
Thanks to everyone.