O Tannenbaum

It was a beautiful December afternoon. The perfect day for a Christmas tree hunt. We went to the closest lot around; the Boy Scouts were in control. A tree that was not too big, not too small, not too prickly, not too limp . . . a tall order to fill for a young couple that does not have the Christmas tree picking experiences as Annie's parents do.

Yes, Annie can recall the cold Michigan days she and her brothers were scattered about the tree farm, knee deep in snow, given the task to stand point and guard the perfect Christmas tree, only until the next perfect one came along that is. As a child she thought, "How am I going to fend an adult away from this tree, I'm just a kid, their going to have saw, axe, or something sharp and not listen to me. Oh my mom will be so mad." Other thoughts, "I've been standing here a really long time. I hope they haven't forgotten about me. What if they left me here!? No, I'm sure they would do a head count or something before they left. Wouldn't they . . . mom . . . dad . . .!?"

But I digress . . .

We pulled into the lot. Before even completely parked Annie's eyes narrowed in. It was like a magnet attracting her with such great force and not being able to pull away. Quickly exiting the car she made a bee-line to the tree. Not too big, not too small, not too prickly, or too limp. Perfect. Rojelio suggested maybe looking around for a minute to see if anything else catches their eyes. Nope, a quick trip around the rows and we were back guarding our beloved Frasier Fur. It was unanimous.

There was one problem. We only had $11 cash between the two of us. A mere overlook, who carries cash these days anyway. But that wasn't going to cut it for these Boy Scouts. Rojelio jetted across the street to the gas station to use the ATM. Annie was left at a tree yet again to protect the perfect tree from predators. She stood as close to the tree as she could. Others kept walking by, looking at the tree, even touching the price tag to investigate. "How dare they, can't they see this is my tree." She began to have flashbacks, "Where's Rojelio? I saw him go into the gas station. Oh my gosh maybe the there's a robbery over there or something." She no longer wanted to fend off the gawkers. She whistled for a young Scout. The tree was moved off the to side . . . whew no longer on the market . . . what a relief. She could relax.

A few hours later . . . sorry I mean minutes, it only felt like hours, hours of unarmed battle to save what was rightfully ours. Rojelio returned with cash in one hand and an ice cream sandwich in the other.

Here are some picture highlights of our tree, some new ornaments, and our homemade tree topper.

Happy Holidays from Rojelio & Annie!

Our homemade tree topper.

A ginger bread man the preschool made for Annie.

This ornament looks like one of our family members, Chica.

Gotta love a duck. It's McQuackin'!

Keeping up with the Jones'

Our Christmas spirit started a few weeks ago. We noticed many of our neighbors, especially the adjoining ones, had small lighted holiday displays. A light up bush here, a candle in the window there, wreaths and garland strung about. To "keep up with the Jones'" we took on the task of hanging lights. We opted for LED color changing lights. They fade across the rainbow spectrum or as some like to say Roy G. Biv. With the combination of the lights being LED and fading across the spectrum we have dubbed our house Vegas. It is so bright and in your face. We think we even saw it on GOOGLE EARTH! These pictures do not quite give them the full justice they deserve.

The ironic thing is our next-door-neighbors name really is Jones. And even more ironic is that they are the only ones in our row that do not have lights up, though they have a beautiful holiday pumpkin on display!

It's not easy being hubbell house tamarisk . . .

It's not easy being hubbell house tamarisk or summerhouse blue or frappe or some other color like that . . .

The much anticipated upstairs bathroom has been completed. I have to say not as complex as the downstairs bathroom, but very clean, fresh, and vivid. So many different colors to choose from, but of course we went with our two favorites, green and blue, or should I saw hubbell house tamarisk and summerhouse blue.

Upstairs bathroom BEFORE

Upstairs bathroom AFTER

Polish Princess

There once was a Polish girl.

She got a new blue enamel roaster.

"What shall I do with this new roaster?" she thought. Well, what else would a Polish girl do with a roaster but make gołąbki.

And that she did. "What a meal!" she praised.

THE END.

A 36.78 Pounder

Saturday was a glorious autumn day here in Charlottesville. Luckily there weren't any sick people at the hospital so Rojelio had the day off.

We went on an old adventure, but at a new place. We usually called them cider mills in Michigan, here in Virginia this was just a plain old orchard. The two names could be synonyms if it weren't for the whole production of cider aspect. Carter Mountian Orchard. The name explains it all. The orchard is perched on the very top of a mountain over looking Charlottesville. The view was astounding. It was even more incredible to see how small downtown Charlottesville really is; especially when comparing it to our previous city of Grand Rapids. The biggest building in town seems to be the white one in the middle of the picture . . . which is actually the hospital.

As tradition goes we had to have cider and doughnuts. FRESH HOT doughnuts right off the . . . oil!?

Here's the view from the doughnut cam.

After we indulged, Rojelio spotted a few people carrying long poles with small cages on one end. Interesting. We stalked these carriers and found their destination was the apple picking check-in booth. As soon as those poles were brought back other consumers seized them. It didn't take long for us to figure out these poles were a hot item and hard to come by.

We were up for the challenge. We decided to hang out and shark our prey. Rojelio spotted him. An eight-year-old boy. The pole was bigger than he was. What an easy target. As the boy neared the check-in counter Rojelio swam in his current, being careful not to trip over the pole drowning in the dirt as the boy dragged it behind. SNATCH! A successful hunt.

Now that we had a pole and bag for our apples we were ready to hit the orchard.Yeah sure there were some apples within an arms reach, but what's the fun in that. We were so eager to have a pole to use; that was the primary reason we went out in the orchard. We got to try our hand at pole-picking.

This was a state-of-the-art facility, a doughnut AND pole cam. Who could believe it!?

For the grand finale, Rojelio walked away with a 36.78 lb pumpkin.

What do you call an over-weight pumpkin?

A plumpkin.

We had a doughnut-eatin', cider-drinkin', pole-pickin', pumpkin-haulin' good time!

It's What I Do

It's What I Do
by Annie F. Hokett, MA, CCC-SLP

These kids come to speech-language therapy,
I teach them everyday,
To learn to talk,
And know what to say.

I help kids practice the /r/ sound,
The /s/ and /th/ too,
If they already knew how to say these sounds,
I wouldn't have anything to do.

Some need help with vocabulary,
Some need help following rules,
This girl needs help with oral motor,
Because she always drools.

Many kids have trouble with grammar,
Pronouns, adjectives, and verbs,
Formulating sentences can be hairy,
They say, "I don't know what to do with all these words."

I've heard him scream, whisper and holler,
This boy sounds very hoarse to me,
He's been unable to phonate at times,
That's why he gets voice therapy.

Some kids have apraxia,
Speaking is not hard for me or you,
But these kids have trouble forming words,
They really really do.

The new kid has trouble with articulation,
An IEP is the way to go,
I will give him intervention,
Unless the State regulations say NO.

Whether it be articulation, language, voice, or fluency,
I'm here everyday,
I do the best job I can,
To get these kids on their way.

While you were out . . . kinda

Rojelio had an overnight on-call shift; meaning he'd be gone all day, night, and not back until the following afternoon. Annie's plan was to surprise him by painting the downstairs bathroom. Even though she had never painted before, she thought how long could it possibly take, it's a small room. They do redecorating projects on TV all the time within a day or two.

Well her project became a little more elaborate than expected. She worked all through the night, not even stopping to sleep. At this point she realized a one-man project team is a lot different than a whole crew like on TV.

Rojelio arrived home the following afternoon and unfortunately the room was not complete. But the first coats were on so he was able to get a feel of his new "thrown." Throughout the week finishing touches were added. There are still a few things that need to be incorporated and the idea of tiling the countertop is being toyed with.

Downstairs bathroom BEFORE


Downstairs bathroom AFTER

Even though it's just paint and some accessories it really feels like a whole new room, even bigger. The difference is amazing! One room down, three more to go.

A Special Concentration Puzzle

is


!

Use #64

Empty cardboard tube use #64:
Hide dog treats in it . . . YUM!YUM!