Back on the Bench

Has it really been a year since my last posting?  Well, I suppose it has.

A few things have changed in that time but the bench remains.

I volunteered as a mentor at the high school and that went very well.  The young lady, Jessica, is now off to college at the University of Arkansas in Monticello.  She is an energetic teenager and possesses more raw intelligence than I ever have.  I think she taught me more than I did her.  But we both have a love of games, particularly Words With Friends.

I travelled a lot more this past year.  Trips from Jacksonville, FL to Anaheim, CA and many places in between.  Amanda and Tina have accompanied me on many of them.  We went to Denver in June and I took Amanda to her first baseball game.  It was scorching hot but we enjoyed ourselves.  We also went back to Disney World last September and we're returning again next month. 

As far as Amanda goes, she is growing up in a lot of ways.  She started back to school today, the 8th grade to be exact, and she got out of the truck this morning like she had only been out for the weekend.  Her maturity has progressed but there are still many of the same issues.  She doesn't transition well, she must have routine, she will seldom try new foods, and she doesn't do well on foot if she is in a crowd.  But, on the upside, her sense of humor is more developed, she likes to play Skylanders, All be it not very well.  And she will spend more time entertaining herself than ever before.  That last part is all important because I'm not getting any younger.

I will be more diligent in my postings and do some back tracking because there have been a lot of fun times this past year.