PART 7--THE END
Our neighbors two doors down had a fire in their basement this afternoon. Unknown cause at this point; the son was at home and just had time to save his laptop and a couple of papers before their house totally filled up with smoke. Emergency response was quick and they had gas-powered fans going within minutes, to help clear out the smoke. Quite a lot of excitement in the neighborhood for several hours. I’m hoping they have good insurance to cover their losses.

That’s enough about me and mine. How about you???

I read somewhere on gardener’s index that it is only 78 days until spring. That’s good.

One last thing...I'll NEVER accuse you of being long-winded!

Sorry I took so long, but somehow I just couldn't keep it short and sweet.

:-)

PART 6
Lincoln (21) is back at school for his final semester and he’s hoping to find something there in Pennsylvania that will allow him to stay and work in Grove City, PA. We’ll see what God has in store for him.

I suspect that within the next three to five years (maybe sooner?) Susan and I will be empty-nested. Then Susan and I can spread our toenails and move into (or build?) something a bit smaller than our 4-bedroom home in Federal Way.
Let’s see, all I have to do is fix a few things around the house…complete my book…finish my garden… Hmmmm. Well, we’ll see. Our priorities will change as we age. Maybe I should be looking into nursing homes instead. (That was a joke.)

The last time I was out to our property at Mossyrock, a neighbor’s cedar tree had broken and fallen onto one of my prolific apple trees. Busted it up pretty bad. I sawed off the broken branches (one was the main leader) and I am hoping for the best.

Our apple yields have been several hundred pounds per year. We have plenty to make applesauce and Apple Betty and (this year) we had plenty to give away.

I drove around town with Joey today in his pickup after his Mom had him practice starts/stops in a parking lot for an hour. He’s much improved! I think shifting will be “old hat” in a week and his clutch may survive quite a while longer than I originally anticipated. He bought new mats for the floor and “tubes of sand” for the bed, both to improve the ride and give better traction when it next decides to snow here.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

PART 5
Yesterday Joey bought the 2006 pickup truck in Auburn with his insurance proceeds and some of his savings. This pickup has 49,000 miles on it, so it's just broken in and I'm hoping it lasts him a VERY long time. It's a stick shift, so he's learning about the clutch, and I’m trying to be patient. He doesn’t stall it too much, and his greatest challenge is hills. He is very tickled with having the “car” of his dreams.
God worked it all out.

Originally, Joey wanted a pickup truck, you see, but he couldn’t justify it and the ones he was looking at would have depleted most of his savings. Joey purchased the Pontiac at an auction last year for $3200 and “out the door” the total price was right around $4000. Joey drove it for eight months before his accident. Because the parts he installed were brand-new they covered that expense too and our insurance company gave him $5775 for the car when he totaled it. God made up the difference in price for the vehicle Joey wanted in the first place. How cool is that? Yes, we do believe that prayer works for those who trust in HIS name. We’re praising God for HIS provision.

Now we’re praying that God provides Peter with an affordable, dependable, economical car that fits a 6-foot 6-inch tall person comfortably. In God’s timing, of course.

Virginia (number 2 daughter) is now teaching English at Cougar Mountain Junior High to 9th graders. This is her third school in three years and she finally has “tenure.” Virginia also makes greeting cards in her spare time and has gotten quite good at it. Virginia has a good eye for colors and patterns. She’s also in the planning stages of moving out of our house. She’s investigating rental possibilities. She’s even investigating a potential home purchase (though I think that may be a bit “optimistic” at this stage of the game). Virginia is at the point where she needs to “spread her fingers” and fly, and be more independent from Mom and Dad.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

PART 4

Then, Joey and I spent all day Monday driving around in the northern areas of Seattle checking out available pickup trucks with 4-cylinder engines. We prayed that God would lead us to the right one. The first we looked at was a 2003 in Lake City, WA with 103,000 miles on it. The dealer said the radio had been stolen out of it the night before. It looked very nice, but the "check engine" light came on as soon as I popped off the emergency brake. I drove it a block to see if the light would extinguish, then took it back. (I took that “check engine” light as a sign not to pursue that one.) The second was a 2006 and it made some engine noise that I didn't like at 2300 RPM and one of the seat belts didn't work and its radio was likewise missing/stolen (another sign that it wasn’t for Joey).

The third pickup was in Munroe, WA. That one was a 2005 and had 79,000 miles on it. It ran well and looked good and seemed a "likely" candidate--except for the price $6994 price tag. Joey had cash and he didn't want to pay more than $6700 (including tax and license) “out-the-door” total. So, we told the salesman that we’d continue our search which led us to Lynnwood, WA. In Lynnwood we looked at a 2005 GMC Sonoma that Joey didn't like at all (it appeared to have been “lowered” and it was too much money--over $7000). Meanwhile, we were still praying and Susan was praying at home.

We were pondering the truck in Munroe and called the dealer while we were parked in Lynnwood and asked the salesman if our $6700 total price was feasible. While we were waiting for his callback, Susan had gotten back on the internet and she called us and told us that another 4-cylinder pickup (a 2006 Ranger) had just shown up on Craig's list, priced at $6000, and listed by a private party. We immediately called the guy and checked it out in Auburn Monday night on our way home. It was just right.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

PART 3
In early December, Joey (and three of his buddies) spent five days working on his 2002 Pontiac, they replaced both front axle wheel bearing assemblies and installed new brakes, rotors, etc. He'd spent over $400 on parts alone, plus money for several new tools (bearing puller, etc.) he needed to do the job. Let’s just say they were all “amateur” mechanics.

I drove his Pontiac the day after they'd put it all back together and was thinking what a nice riding car it was.

The following day, he wrecked it. Joey had been going too fast for the wet road conditions, lost control, spun out and hit a tree and a rock wall. Joey has been without a car for about three weeks. Because it was just before Christmas, it took a while to get insurance reimbursement and then we spent some time checking vehicle ads on the internet.

At first, we thought he should just buy another Pontiac, but their repair record isn't the greatest. Then we checked out Buicks. The repair record for Buicks is several hundred percent better than the Pontiacs. But, what Joey really wanted was a pickup truck, so we did some research on those. He can get as good, or slightly better gas mileage with a 4-cylinder pickup truck, as with a full-size car like his Pontiac. But it seems that pickups typically cost more than a 4-door sedan of equal mileage and vintage (in our area).

We spent several hours this past Sunday night checking out the possibilities and he settled on the Ford Ranger as the pickup truck to buy. He can’t afford a Toyota; we know because we looked at lots of ads. The Ranger is relatively small and some have four-cylinder engines for good gas mileage. We looked on Craig’s List and noted a number of potential pickups in our area to check out.
(TO BE CONTINUED)

PART 2
Cecelia gave up on her advanced schooling and moved back home from Atlanta last August, and had been doing some part-time translation work and interpreting (mostly medical) for Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking patients at various hospitals in our area. Before coming back home, Susan flew to Atlanta and helped Cecelia pack her belongings and get rid of other stuff she couldn’t fit into the car. Susan and Cecelia (including Cecelia’s pet rat named Mellicent) rode/drove our 1997 Explorer from Atlanta. The Explorer had been stationed in Grove City, Pennsylvania for use at college and for trips to-and-from the Pittsburg airport. They drove it back across the country and they shipped an additional 24 boxes of Cecelia’s stuff (lots of books).

Cecelia wasn't able to take her pet rat aboard an airplane when she left for her new job, so we gave it away to a family from our church. Her rat reminded me of the pet white rats my brother Art and I had as kids, only Cecelia's was gray and VERY inquisitive and friendly.

Joey (my 19-year-old with diabetes) completed his course of study in sheet metal technology in late November. He is in the process of locating a full-time job. He’d like to get a job in the industry that uses the sheet metal union. He’s contacting everyone he knows, looking for leads. So far, nothing has surfaced.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

PART 1 (OF SEVERAL)
Sorry in advance that this is such a long post from me. It'll be in several segments...

Christmas here was great. All the kids were home and I think they had a pretty good time.

My wife, Susan, and I are thinking of flying to Las Vegas in mid-March and visiting the Mohave Desert and Death Valley for about a week. That is a New Year’s present to ourselves.

My oldest son, Peter (23) is working full time, not at his "ideal" job, but something to keep him going until he can land a fireman's position somewhere. He works at two physical therapy clinics setting up rooms for patients and doing some interactive stuff (heating pads, electrical stimulation, etc.). Pete's also monitoring an EMT training class in the evenings and on Saturdays and hopes to complete that training in three months. He has a long commute and wants a car that gets 30+ MPG, but can’t afford anything at present. He’s driving the old ’97 Explorer at the moment. That’s the car my (number 2) daughter rolled over in Pennsylvania about four years ago.

Cecelia, our eldest (26), moved to the D.C. area at the end of December and has started her "executive assistant" job in the adjacent state of Virginia. She's working for a non-profit organization taking care of the office.

(to be continued...)

Hi Liz you sure do have some beautiful roses.