Happy Kids Day

How many times have you heard this:

“Mom, Dad, if we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, when is Kids Day?”

Well, at our house, it’s today, Friday the 13^th.

With children all over the country, getting them all in the same
room at the same time is a challenge. Libby is missing from
the top photo, and Lydia is missing from this one. Two of
the grandchildren are missing, too.

Years ago, I figured why not have a day to show appreciation for the kids, and why not make it on a day that used to represent something unpleasant.

We mostly do small things, like a Kids Day Cake, or a Kids Day trip to the grocery store to let each of them buy their own box of favorite cereal. A couple of times there have been Kids Day movies or trips to the park or the ice cream place, or small gifts, maybe hair pretties or a pair of socks.

These days, with everyone so spread out, and half of them with kids of their own, Kids Day is mostly a text message from me, but we try to do something with the girls still at home.

Do any of you have similar traditions?

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So I got this photo from Jessica on Friday night, with 75 percent of our grandchildren enjoying a Kids Day cupcake. Hi girls!

Sharpie Shoes

Yes, our girls sometimes struggle with being tidy, as teenagers sometimes do. But you have to admit, they have pretty good taste in shoes.

When I was a kid, we couldn’t have Converse All Stars until high school, because at $8, they were much too expensive for everyday boy shoes. Our Chuck Taylors were the big deal, and just about the only cool shoe in town until Adidas and PUMA became popular a few years later (those are mine up in the banner photo).

Of course, our kids have their pick of shoes, with dozens of brands and styles to choose from, but their favorites are the $4 ones at discount stores. Since they first started coloring white canvas shoes while camping a few years ago, they’ve each made several pairs that show their talent and something of their personalities – and, I think, something of their independence from fashion.

That’s something to be pleased about, isn’t it?

WTT For My Birthday: Wow, That's Terrific

For my birthday, Kelly and the girls took me to opening night of the WTT season, Springfield Lasers against the Kansas City Explorers. It was great fun, even with the rain showers that delayed the arrival and warm up of the players for more than an hour, and even though we lost.

Through it all, as is tradition, Kelly managed to get some knitting done.

All four players are new to the team this year, and two are new to World TeamTennis. To be honest, to me they look like high school students, but their credentials are sound. Some of them will be successful in their careers, I’m guessing, but they didn’t play especially well last night, with a lot of unforced errors.

Perhaps it was nerves from playing in front of 900 people, you know, with some of them being fresh from Wimbledon in the past fortnight.

Libby and Aubrey like the tennis, but their phones got a lot of attention, too. They were especially aware of the hairdo of the young man who plays singles for our side, and I pondered how they have changed in three years from little girls wanting to be the next Vania King and Liezel Huber to not so little girls who whisper how cute that player on the other team is. To say nothing of the two (no good stinkin') boys who kept hovering around them.

Win or lose, it is fun to watch, and it is fun having family along. We had a very nice Chinese buffet, watched some good tennis, then came home to eat some left-over birthday cake and ice cream. Another very good birthday, one of my best.

Thanks, Kelly.

56 Again

It turns out that today is my birthday, and I get to be 56 again. For the past 12 months, I’ve thought and told people that I was 56, but Kelly got the calendar out yesterday and convinced me that I was only 55. Until today.

That’s like getting a whole year for free. A do over. Yipee!

As she always does, Kelly made one of my favorite meals, which we ate at Mimi and Papa’s last night. BBQ meatloaf (the best meatloaf on the planet, no joke, no exaggeration), and my very favorite pumpkin cake with that thick cream cheese icing – mmmmmmmm. I don’t mean to be unkind, but that cake is so good, I kind of resent all those other people getting a piece, just for what, singing “happy birthday to you.” I mean, c’mon….

We had a lovely meal and a lot of laughs around the table after. It is always a good time with Mimi and Papa and Dan.

I don’t get on Facebook often enough to know how anyone knows, but I’ve gotten birthday greetings from lots of distant family and friends today, so that’s a nice surprise.

I do get on Amazon plenty, though, and with the gift card my in-laws gave me my Wish List dreams soon will come true. Yipee!

About three decades ago, I printed a handful of little signs on paper, simple birthday clip art,  and hung them up for the birthday girl to find the next morning. Well, the next child to have a birthday wanted signs, too, and the next thing you know, it has become a tradition.

About 2 this morning, on a too frequent trip to the bathroom, my forehead bumped into something in the hallway. There was just enough light to see that Aubrey had drawn some signs and taped them around so I would see them when the sun came up. That was nice.

Tonight, we have a little outing planned, one of my favorite things to do, so look for an update in the next day or two.

So, happy birthday to me, and mom, my thanks to you.

World Team Tennis, The Shortest, Hottest, Funnest Season In Sports

Even our picky “that’s so stupid” teenage girls like going to watch World TeamTennis.

You don’t have to be a tennis player, or even a tennis fan, to enjoy the matches. Unlike tennis on TV, WTT is fast, loud, and fun. It’s also co-ed.

Each team has four players, two men and two women. I used to think the males would dominate the mixed events, but they don’t. Most of the players are up-and-coming hopefuls, with world rankings usually between 80 and 120, which means they are really, really good. Most teams have a marquee star on their rosters, such as a Williams sister or Martina Hingis or Lindsay Davenport, but those pros usually only play one or two home matches.

Martina Navratilova came here a couple of years ago, and although she was no longer the dominating opponent she once was, she was amazing. John McEnroe came to town once, as did Anna Kournikova, who was injured but signed autographs for far more men than usually come to the matches.

We were lucky to have Vania King and Liezel Huber on our side for two years, both top-ranked doubles players, so there is no shortage of excellent play and excellent players.

The game is shorter than on TV, with simple scoring and no ad play. The first side to win four points taks the game, the team with the most games won at the end of the night wins the match. They play men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles, my favorite.

The crowd is close to the action, and you can hear the players talk, when the crowd isn’t making too much noise. It's exciting.

Uncle Dan, Libby and Aubrey wait for Vania King's autograph
while she admires the drawings of her the girls made during the match.

If you live in or near a WTT city – Newport Beach, Sacramento, Springfield, KansasCity, New York, Boston, Philidelphia, Washington, D.C. – you should go. Or maybe you can swing by one on your way to Elephant Rocks.

But you better hurry. The WTT season only lasts from July 9 – 28.

My Dad On The Fourth Of July

Second only to Christmas decorating, my dad loved celebrating the 4^th of July. He enjoyed fireworks and, despite objections from our mother, always made sure that we had plenty to use around the house: Black Cat fire crackers, bottle rockets, smoke bombs, and, our favorite, Cherry Bombs.

In those days, you could blow things up with Cherry Bombs. Drop one down the drain pipe on the back of the house, BOOM!, no more drain pipe. A kid at school dropped one down the toilet, BOOM!, gotta get a new toilet.


We often camped for the Fourth, and there are lots of things to blow up at camp grounds, things like the trailer coupler on our camper, which dad didn’t realize, um, one of us had done until we were packed and ready to drive off.

Because Cherry Bombs were water proof, we loved lighting them and tossing them into the river, waiting for the BOOM! and the spray of water that seemed to go 20 feet high, soaking us.

When we weren’t camping, we often went to the drive in theater, where they had a big fireworks display between the two feature movies. I loved watching my dad watch the big fireworks. There was always a younger brother for him to hold, getting the baby to watch and imitate dad’s “ooooooh” with every new explosion.



As we got older, the Elk’s Lodge near us put on an annual fireworks display, and we would go there with nearly everyone in our small town. By then we were, you know, too big, too cool, to hang out with our parents, but I would often spot my dad in the crowd, leading the chorus of “ooooohs” and “aaaaaaahs” after every sparkling shower.


Did you have a dad like that?

It Wasn’t Really Any Of My Business The Way Those Guys Were Stealing From My Boss

Kelly and I went to Steak ‘n Shake last night, an old favorite we rarely visit anymore. On the wall was a photo of Herb Leonard, my old boss. I doubt if Mr. Leonard remembered my name, but he taught me an unforgettable lesson when he could have just as easily sent me to jail.

Mr. Leonard owned the Steak 'n Shake where I was the window guy back in 1976. I received orders from outside and passed them on to the grill guy and the shake guy. A couple of the carhops began asking for their tickets back. I eventually realized that they were erasing big ticket orders and writing in small drink orders. They would report the 89 cents and keep the $22.

Of course, Herb Leonard caught them, and he knew the only way for the scam to work was if the window guy was in on it, so he invited me to his office. He made it clear that he could have me arrested – for the second time at Steak ‘n Shake – but he wanted my side of the story. I explained that I was aware of the situation but not involved. He asked why I didn’t say anything, and I replied that it wasn’t really any of my business.

Mr. Leonard looked at me a long time. “John,” he said, “anytime anyone steals from the man who signs your paycheck, they are stealing from you, too.”

In 35 years, I’ve not forgotten. Thanks, Herb.