Grandparent's Day

Tomorrow is Grandparent's Day at HA and once again I have very mixed emotions. When Ian's grandparents were alive and able to come, it was a wonderful celebration. He got to show them his school and introduce them to everyone. I thought it was one of the most wonderful times. Ian's grandparents were able to come twice and the above photo was taken during one of those visits. However, since my Dad died in 2004 and Keri's Dad died last year and both grandmothers are in poor health, we have been unable to have them come to school with Ian. That makes this a very bittersweet time for Ian and for us. I am so glad we made every effort to keep Ian involved with his grandparents and I am glad they got to come a couple of times. I am sad now that he has none that can come. Tomorrow will be a hard day for him. I went to spend time with him last year and have arranged to do the same tomorrow. I know of several parents that are pulling their children out tomorrow. It is hard to know what to do. I plan to approach this as a time to remember whet wonderful grandfathers he had and what wonderful grandmothers he still has, even if they can't get around as well. If I could take the entire day off we would go and let him spend time with one of his grandmothers but I need to teach my classes. I must admit, we are still more blessed than most and I thank God that Ian had such a close relationship with them.

Ian was recognized as one of the "top sellers" for the HA magazine sale. Thank you to all who helped him out. He approached a few more people this year and is so proud of himself. It make me feel really godd when he has a moment to shine at his school.

We are missing Beckie but are really enjoying her posts. I must admit that I have already used her new mantra several times, "think about your panties before midnight." That is going to become a classic along with "no gappage, no crackage, no cleavage."

As We Get Ready to Return to London!

London Bombing - Effects Video

I have just discovered that you can post video to blog sites. I am interested in playing this for my Humanities class when we return to London next Fall. I have to figure out how to post it on my PowerPoint lecture so that the class can see it. Isn't techonology amazing?

Another Death

Today I went to the memorial service for Cecil Beck who was struck and killed by a car this past week. He was the former husband of a dear distant cousin. Although he had a troubled life, especially in recent years, it was stated that we had gathered to remember the good times and that we did. I so want Ian to remember the good times and I try my best to make sure there are many. At the memorial however, I decided to make sure there were more!

To Say Goodbye!

I just received notification that a dear friend has died. Caroline Dunsmore was my supervisor at Alberta Children's Hospital and is the one responsible for my immigration to Calgary, Alberta, Canada (pictured). I usually only talk to her at Christmas and I now regret not calling her more often since I returned to the States. She was always such a strong person. She had polio during her senior year in high school but continued to be very active in music and earned her graduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology in a wheel chair. I have many stories about her but the one I remember the most involves me getting the nerve to tell her that I was returning to the States to teach at Harding. I had already accepted the job and had gone by her office many times to tell her. But I never could and ended up talking about the weather or some other inane topic. Finally I decided that I HAD to tell her so I went to her office, but darted into the side room before I thought she had seen me. Then I heard this voice that said, "Dan, come in and tell me what's wrong before I have a nervous breakdown." I did and she said, "Well that's a relief, for a week now I thought you must be dying." You couldn't pull much over on her. I introduced her to Keri and always wanted her to meet Ian. It proves that you better not wait to do things! She will always be a part of my memories of my Canadian life and I will think of her often.

Your Game, Your Turn

I don't know why I'm interested in travelling. I'm also not sure why I envy Beckie as she explores Italy. I must live for the moment and learn to enjoy the adventures of life in a small town and employment at a place where only one person seems to have a clue what is happening. Case in point! For the last several years we have been hearing that we were moving toward a master's degree in CSD. We even received calls from people who heard it from the mouth of an administrator at a public meeting. Afterwards a committee was formed (note the sequence of events) to investigate the possibility and the committee decided that if we needed to do this, we could move forward. We are now well into this process with an anticipated beginning point of Fall 2008. Of course this is all contingent on our ability to find faculty, our move into larger space, approval of the appropriate HU and ASHA committees and boards, but we are moving forward. This has been announced in many forums (few of them ours) and last week an article came out in the Bison about Harding's new graduate program.

Of course the article was premature. Of course there were several questionable quotes in the article. After all, that happens when people are interviewed but it appeared to be no big deal. WRONG!!! There have now been several administrative emails saying that just because we want to have a graduate degree doesn't mean HU will support it or even approve it. Most of the flack went toward the Bison, but Mike and I got caught in it as well.

Did I miss something here? Did we go asking for this degree? Did we contact the Bison asking them to run this article? I think that members of the administration haven't talked this over and we are getting caught up in it. Oh well, I only have a few more months before I turn all of this over to Beckie. She will do GREAT! and I'm looking forward to the switch.

Life is too Short!

In trying to catch up on the lives of my friends, I just read a previous post from Reagan. What a dear soul. She mentioned that someone drove by while she was in high school and shouted that he had seen the girl he was going to marry. Boy did he miss out. So did all the others that didn't know what they had while they had it. We even sat next to one of them in Church while we were in Oxford this past weekend. I told her mom that we had sat next to "he who can't be named" and she just laughed. I wish I knew what to say to Reagan. I didn't find my soul mate until I was 37. There were many times I thought about "settling" but held out, then along came Keri. There are no regrets. Looking back on it, I'm glad I did all I chose to do before. But how do you tell that to someone you want to comfort. I guess you just love and pray for them and trust God to provide.

On Being a Parent.

(or "OH NO, It's Parent Teacher Conference Time)

We had our first parent/teacher conference of the year this afternoon. I have really learned to dread those things because I usually take criticism of Ian as a reflection of what I haven't done correctly. This one was a pleasant surprise. I must admit that I am thrilled with his teacher this year. She is kind and gentle with him. She still expects him to behave appropriately, but seems to be actively seeking ways to make that happen. Tonight, she had suggestions about how to make him stay in his seat (something we have been working on for 9 years) and seemed to really welcome suggestions. Ian has a long way to go to attend appropriately and to finish his tasks, but his teacher is certainly motivating him.

Beckie is away from the Villa so I am not getting my Italy fix. We seem to be stuck at 26 for the Harding University in England program next Fall. We lost one and gained one. I posted flyers all over campus and even posted a Facebook ad but nothing seems to help. I really don't understand why there is so little interest in HUE. Of course we only had 28 students in 2003 and it was the perfect number for everything except finances. We need additional students to afford the things we want to do. I guess there is plenty of time but it IS getting close.

Ole Miss Weekend

We have just returned from a wonderful weekend away from Searcy. The Communicative Disorders Program at Ole Miss is 40 years old this year and they invited everyone back to celebrate. Of course Beckie could not go because she is "suffering" in Florence this semester. The program lasted for three days, but we could only go down for Saturday. It was still well worth the trip.

We started out with a breakfast reception in George Hall. It is certainly much grander than it was in June, 1973. They kept saying that they were making do and I reminded them that in 1973 it was an old dorm that had been painted for us and we were thrilled. It was certainly better than University House where you did theraly on the sagging back porch.

At noon, we had a picnic in The Grove across from the Alumni Office. It was fun to meet everybody and see many old friends. Of course, they wanted to get me up to perform with the Hand Band, but I forcefully reminded them that it didn't exist while we were there. Tommie Robinson got up and performed with them (of course). Old and new faculty were introduced. As expected only the fun ones were there. That gave us lots of freedom to tell stories about the other faculty.

Afterwards we took a double-decker bus tour with Gloria giving the narration. She has certainly moved up and is a mover and shaker at Ole Miss. We receivesd a behind-the-scenes tour of the Lyceum Building and the Football stadium and training complex. Gloria knew all the dirt and was passing it on. It was great fun.

The evening ended with a reception at the Depot. This was the old train depot that unloaded students at Ole Miss. When we were students there it was deserted and I was always afraid that they would tear it down. They have restored it and are now using it for events like the one we had. Anyway, we got to telling stories and laughing and had a wonderful time. Someone said that there was something about an Ole Miss graduate that joined them with all graduates that had gone before or came after. Gloria said it was a spiritual element. Of course she didn't mean it the way we usually do, but I think she is right.

Sunday morning we went to Bottletree Bakery for breakfast and to Church afterwards. We saw lots of old friends. The Shields (McKay's parents)invited us home for lunch and we visited with John Richard Duke as he gets ready to leave for Germany.

All in all it was a magical weekend!!

Long Term Disability

I just finished a meeting with our Human Resources people about Long Term Disability and additional life insurance. It is always such a sobering experience to think about those things, especially when you have a nine year old and you are worried about whether to take him to soccer, baseball or home to do his homework. How could I have gotten so old? I don't feel that old. Oh, it's harder to get the energy to complete all the things I need to do, but I'm always game for those things I want to do. It is an interesting situation.
Unfortunately, I am discovering that this blog is becoming depressing. I am going to need to talk about the wonderful things if I plan to keep it going. I really wanted to try it out before I headed off to England next Fall. Beckie's postings from Italy appear to be the best way to stay in touch with everyone. I'm sure I will also try that out. In the meantime, I'm not mentioning this to anyone. Perhaps when it is more positive and less depressing I will start making my posts to Beckie's and Tammie's blogs using this account.

Fair Parade

Unfortunately, the White County Fair Parade was cancelled because of rain. Ian and all the other Cub Scouts were so excited, but the weather decided not to cooperate. How do you tell Cub Scouts that they aren't going to have a parade this year? For some of them, this may have been their only opportunity to be "in a parade." Oh well, it certainly makes it easier for the parents, but I am so disappointed for the kids. Will they get over it? Of course! But it still sad.

Blog Envy

I find myself drawn to the blogs of my friends. They seem to lead such exciting lives. I have read tonight about travels in Italy and Germany, adventures on the stage, favorite books and music, sailing up the inside passage to Alaska, and other adventures that make me laugh. Is it that their lives are more exciting than mine? No, I must admit that they are not, at least considered as a whole! I have had my adventures in the past, and I will set off again at some future point. For the time being, I will oversee homework, assist aging parents, complete responsibilities and be glad that God has given me the relationships and opportunities that fill my daily life. I will continue to live vicariously through the adventures of my friends and rejoice with them. Please keep posting! I know they rejoice with me when my son gives me a big hug and says, "I love you Dad!" I'll take that anyday!!!!!