Ted Kennedy

I learned some time ago not to engage in significant political debates with my family. My views can sometimes surprise, if not enrage others, I have found. Today, though, I have to express my feelings of loss after following the memorials of Ted Kennedy over the past few days. Not because I am or ever was a huge political supporter of him. But because I admire what he stood for as a man.

It seems to me that it would have been so easy for Ted to check out after some of the tragedies of his life. He certainly had the financial means to seclude himself from society after the tragic loss of his two brothers. Who would have blamed him? At that time the name Kennedy was something of a bullseye on the back of anyone in the political arena.

The bad press that surrounded him after the death of Mary Jo Kopechne must have been something he wanted to run away from. The loss of the presidential bid to Jimmy Carter could have left him terribly bitter about politics. Instead, it appeared to free him to devote his energies to matters in the senate.

No, this man was not a runner. He used his losses as challenges to better himself and his environment. He became a well respected colleague among his business associates, and a trusted family member in more than just the immediate Kennedy family. One of Bobby Kennedy's sons was quoted as saying "John Kennedy inspired America, and my father challenged America, but Uncle Teddy changed America". Regardless of your political views, I'm not sure you could argue with that.

I have never been to Washington DC, but the one thing I have always intended to see in my lifetime is Arlington National Cemetery. Perhaps I will make a point of doing that soon.

Golf and Friends

Yesterday we played golf with our friends and neighbors, Warren and Jann.

We played at Greystone at 32 mile and Mound. I haven't played it in many years, and had almost forgotten what a pretty course it is. It was a hot day, but there was a cool breeze, and lots of shade (one of the advantages of playing with the guys - you get to see lots of trees!). Jann made sandwiches for lunch, and we had plenty of water and Arnold Palmers while we were playing. Afterward, of course, we sat in the air conditioned clubhouse for a couple beers.

The Hubs beat me by three strokes, but had lots of fun, from beginning:

To end:

My New Office

I was talking with Godson David over the weekend and he asked how the new building was coming along. I realized I haven't given an update in the past couple months.

Mostly that's because there hasn't been anything to see until recently. For a while it has just been an artist's rendering hanging on the wall. Now we have steel, and something of a structure.





It probably doesn't look like much to most people, but I am really enjoying watching it change from 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions. Since it's just down the block from our current building, I pass by it every morning.

Move in day seems very far in the future. But, I know it will come quickly, considering how much we have to do before we move.

A Lazy Weekend

I didn't get much done this weekend. OK, I paid bills (which it seems I do every weekend), and the laundry (actually the hubs did most of that). I was kinda glad I had a hair appointment yesterday, cuz it got me out of the house in all that rain. then when I got home I finished the novel I started last weekend. That took most of the afternoon.

Today I managed to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Then we went grocery shopping (another chore for every weekend). The hubs spent the afternoon in front of the TV in the basement, where he could stay cool. I played Bejeweled 2 on my laptop while I watched golf upstairs.

Yep, we basically accomplished nothing, but boy we had fun doing it!

The Camping Trip

We had a great weekend, despite the cold and damp weather. Of course, I forgot my camera, so I will have to wait until someone emails me a picture of the group This was the 33rd consecutive year they have got together, but we have only been going with them for about 26 years. Seems like just yesterday that I gave the hubs-to-be a look of "you've got to be kidding", when he mentioned a weekend in canoes and tents.

Now I am an old hand at camping, so even the rain and cold did not get to me too much. We still had a great time with the group, although I did pass on tubing down the river in 65 degrees and a thunder storm.

When we first hit the road, I realized I had left my camera behind, and the hubs had forgotten his favorite flannel shirt. We decided not to go back for them, though. He said we would just have to "take mental pictures and keep each other warm". (I really don't think he gets how romantic he can be at times!)