Duane Slocum: Kansas Plowboy

 This is to remind me spring is just around the corner!

Sunday, Feb, 28, 2010

Another overcast day in Paradise (Colo. Springs).  Things are quiet in our home as Church isn’t until 1 a.m. and we have no prison assignment today.

It was a very busy week.  Monday and Tuesday were taken up with my Judge assignment at the State DECA competition held at the Broadmoor Hotel in the Springs.  They gave me a room for the night and Bobbie came and spent the evening.  We ate dinner in the hotel and had time to talk without distractions.  The judging was fun, most of the time.  I heard presentations from 9 different groups; the ones I had read their manuals.  In the afternoon, I read 9 more manuals from the two other judges in my section.  Our task was to select the top three in each of our sections; which would make 9  groups who would give their presentations to us on Tuesday morning.

My description is a bit confusing, I know.  However, Tuesday morning. we listened and asked questions of those top 9 groups, knowing we had to select 4 of those 9, who would go on the Nationals competition in Louisville, Ky. in May 2010.  The young people were all dressed very nicely and did professional presentations. Three of the presentations were clearly outstanding; both with their manuals and verbal pitch.  The students were to take on the role of being a Management Trainees making a presentation of a new training program to the owners (us, the judges).  We finally decided upon the 4th winner, who was selected because their manual was stronger.  Some of the manuals were poorly done and nobody seemed to care about editing and proofing.

A couple shots from the DECA competition.  The students holding the trophy are from Air Academy High.  All bright capable young people.  Most need to learn writing and editing skills.

The rest of the week was three days of being a Sub teacher.  Two days of PE at Air Academy and the other day at Discovery Canyon in the Technology Dept.; one of my favorite assignments.  I like the kids and they like me.  It is 6 classes of 6th, 7th and 8th graders.  The classes last on 1 hour, which makes the time go pretty fast.  The PE classes are a little tougher; although I did get a chance to go bowling in one of the classes.

Our final dog training class was Wed. night.  Abbie did O.K., not great.  She likes to be near me most of the time and doesn’t do well at staying for very long when I’m not standing beside her.  She was required to sit for 1 minute and lay for 3 minutes with me being away from her by 6-8 feet.  Everything else went well.  She heels, comes, stands and sits better than most of the dogs.  Oh well, I had almost no time to work with her over the 7 weeks of class.  Plus, she doesn’t get enough exercise as I’m gone most of the day, every day.  Plus it is winter in Colorado.

We still haven’t decided about spring break.  I was going to Ecuador, if our granddaughter, Olivia was going.  They have decided it is too expensive and didn’t think it would help her with her Spanish in a country that speaks lots of English.  Now I don’t know what we are going to do, if anything.  Maybe I will just take off and go somewhere. 

Things are gearing up for the Nov. elections.  The precinct caucuses are being held on March 16th.  I went two years ago and was selected to represent our District.  Then I went to the El Paso County caucus, which was a joke.  I decided not to bother with going to the state meeting in Denver.  The County meeting was a waste of time and you never did get to vote on anything; just see who could yell the loudest.  Plus you had to pay to attend the County session.  It was a joke!!

My free time is taken up with trying to find host families for International students.  I can find the families, however most families want a specific student from a specific culture.  Right now, I would have two placements if there was a Japanese girl and a Spanish speaking girl available.  There are a couple of families who are considering it.  There is no money involved for me and more time taken than I really like.  I’m not sure this is something I want to do long term.

A pic to end this post. 

 Tami and her Mom (Bobbie)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

It has been way too long since my last post, which means I must be way too busy for a retired guy.  I put Abbie into a dog behavior class and haven’t even had time to spend working on the things we do in class.  This coming Wed. night is the final class and when they  test each dog to see what they know and how well they follow the commands.

 I sent this pic of Abbie and Camryn to the Red Cross, who was looking for a pet who was some kind of hero in the family.  Abbie has been a real help by being a calming affect on Camryn.

I continue to be a Sub teacher almost every day.  It is still hard for me to say no to a teacher who calls and need my help covering a class for a day.  I’m busy from 3-5 days each week.  Add that to the cold weather and being tired from school, Abbie doesn’t get much practice on her training.

We continue to have snow in Jan. and Feb., which is unusual for those two months.  Our big snow storms come in March and April.  Who knows what lies ahead. 

Several months ago, I agreed to be a judge at the Regional DECA competition.  That went pretty well, so now I am a judge in the State final competition.  DECA is the business and marketing chapters in high schools throughout Colorado.  I was sent 9 manuals to read and evaluate, which I just finished last night.  Each book is up to 30 pages long and has many different sub-sections.  I have to rate and give points to each section and the overall effectiveness of the total manual which describes how the students will improve the training plan of a local business.

The problem is; I did this during my work career.  I was over Training.  I was the Human Resource person responsible for training in a company.  I gave and conducted training meetings.  I know more about this subject than anything they could have assigned.  So, reading high school level information is brutal and difficult.  Most don’t have a clue about the real world of work.  It is hard to be fair and not too harsh.  This turned out to be much more difficult than the Regional judging.  Monday, I get to hear their verbal presentations of their plan.  This will be even tougher because I don’t agree with much in their written plan.  Oh well, I get breakfast and lunch at the Broadmoor Hotel and a night’s lodging at a Double Tree hotel.  Bobbie is joining me for the evening, just because it is something different for us to do.  Maybe even consider it a romantic get-away.

Trying to keep up with all this has been a struggle at times, especially when I supposed to be retired.  Oh yeah!  I forgot to mention; I have been selected to be the Coordinator for Host families and International students in the Colo. Springs area.  My role is to find families who are willing to host a student from different countries around the world.  Regardless of where you live, let me know if you have an interest hosting a high school student for the coming school year.  I’m sending emails, writing stories for the newspaper and contacting people I know who have students in high school, especially where there is only one high school student in the family.  This would give them a compani0n.  If you know anyone like that, let me know.

 This is my International looking picture.  I use it on Face book or in any story about the program.  The hat came directly from Austria when we were there several years ago.

We continue to function as Prison Missionaries going to the prison in Canon City.  We are into our 6th year serving in this capacity.  The only negative; it keeps us out of our home Ward about half the time.  Right now, the Academy Ward meets Sunday afternoons and we are at the prison every other Sunday afternoon.  We attend Mtn. Shadows Ward in the morning when we have prison assignments.

Spring break is at the end of March.  The LDS General Conference is the beginning of April.  My high reunion in Kansas is at the end of May.  I want to go to Shanghai, China during the early part of June before the Hite’s come home from there.  Our daughter, Terri, wants us to consider taking a cruise with them to Greece and Egypt in Oct. and we want to go to Maryland for Thanksgiving in Nov.  This is Terri and Bobbie last thanksgiving in Maryland.

 There is probably not enough time and money to do all those things.  We are trying to find a time to take a trip with the Smith’s.  Plus, we have a dumb dog at home to worry about.  Oh the woes and trials of being retired.

That is plenty for this post.  No telling how long it will be before I get back to writing every other day.  I try to keep current with Face Book and my emails.  The poor blog gets left behind.  Plus very few people read it.  It is my Journal of Life!!

 This is a pic of our two daughters, Terri & Tami, standing in front of the Denver Temple at the time Tami’s daughter, Katie was married.  They are great daughter, mothers and grandmothers.  Parents couldn’t ask for two nicer, responsible, dedicated children.

Monday, Jan. 25, 2010

Its hard to keep track of things with people coming and going.  I’m gretting ready for another day of being a Sub teacher.   I was at Discovery Canyon Friday and will be back there today.  JJ (grandson) stayed overnight so he could watch the football game with Jason (our son).  They went to a friend’s home to watch it as we aren’t into football that much.  I watched the last half in our bedroom as Bobbie really doesn’t care for sports on TV.  The Saints-Vikings game went into OT and it was interesting.

Here are a couple pics in case I don’t have time for anything else and need to get ready for school.

  This is our grandson, Matt, who just got married to Christina, in the Washington D.C. LDS Temple on Dec. 29, 2009.

Jan. 22, 2010 (Friday)

Where does the time go?  I think it really does move faster as we get older.  So, talking about getting or being older, here are two pics from Nov. 17, 1956.  Not hard to figure out who and what they are about.

This is at about 4 p.m. (Nov. 17th) when we were married in the base Chapel of the Naval Hospital in Corona, Calif.  I was 20 and in the Navy.  Bobbie had just turned 18 and was a senior at Corona High in Corona, Calif.  The 2nd pic was taken at a small family dinner that evening of our wedding day.  I still carry the dinner pic in my wallet.

It’s been a difficult week with being up every morning for various reasons, about 4:30 to 5 a.m.   I had school assignments the last two days and am whipped.  I’m going to post this in case I don’t get back to it anytime soon.

January 11, 2010 (Monday)

How fast the holidays went and I’m back in the Sub teacher role.  The last three days I have been at Air Academy High (AAHS) subbing for a Social Studies teacher whose Mom died.  It was a busy Thurs., Friday and today.  Then tonight I got another assignment to cover for Spanish at AAHS starting Tuesday (1-12).  I didn’t expect Sub assignments the first four days of the new semester.  No complaints.

Bobbie and I looked and test drove a 2009 Sonata this afternoon.  We are still considering trading for a newer car while the car market is soft.  This one last car will do us, unless we can still drive until our 90’s.  Bobbie just turned 71 and I’m 73 7/12.  It is much like our Camry although the road noise is not a good as I like.  Long trips might be tiresome and annoying.  We will go drive a 2009 Camry and see how they compare.  I know the Sonata is less expensive, but don’t know how much less.

This past weekend was hectic with both Camryn and JJ here all weekend.  Karen had AF Reserve duty.  Then we had afternoon church meetings and Karen and Anna joined us for a crock pot supper.  The meal turned out pretty well.  Crock pots will work in the winter time due to our prison assignment in the afternoons.

Colo. Springs is going to the same things as many other city face, with reduced tax income; they are moaning about having to make cuts in departments and people.  That is what the private sector faces all the time in trying to remain profitable.  Govt. doesn’t understand and/or care about that.  Now a City Councilman is saying we need to give salary increases to City employees.  He is the same person who has been trying to continue to tax residents regardless of how the vote turned out.  We need to replace about half the Council with conservative responsible people, rather than developers and political wannabes.

There must be a pic I can show you to break up at the prose and these musings!

This is to give you some variety.  Camryn is always reading somewhere and has taken over my chair in my den.  The other shot is of the Villcabamba Valley in Ecuador, where I spent spring break in 2009.  The town is at the base of the Andes mountains at about 6500 ft.  This pic is taken as I returned from a horse back ride into the interior of the Andes.

This is Bobbie with JJ and Camryn as we took them for a train ride starting at Alamosa over the LaVeta Pass during our spring break 4 years ago.  Notice the change.  Camryn is now 10 and JJ is 13 and reached 6′.0″.  He is taller that both Bobbie and me.  The other pic is of a statue of Christ located in the LDS Visitors Center in Independence, Mo.  Variety, right?

Well it is 6 a.m. the next day (Tuesday) and I’m ready to go to my Sub teaching assignment.  So rather than letting this bit waste away and get stale, I’m posting it.

January 2, 2010 (Saturday)

Here are a couple of pics from New Year’s day.  We were at the Wilson’s for brunch and shooting off rockets.  They have play toys!

The homemade rocket car is heading into the snow bank.  The three rockets all went off pretty well.  This is one of them.  I was lucky to get a shot of each of them.  Doug Wilson is manning the controls on this one as his cohorts provide technical assistance.

                A shot of Bobbie with Abbie.

 This is Camryn with her best friend, Tahlia, as they sit together in my chair, reading from the Peanuts book.  Tahlia Evans is really good with and for Camryn, which is to have someone to play and do things with.

It was a very quiet New Year’s Eve.  We went to Karen’s house with her three and ate pizza and played a board game.  We aren’t very good and seldom play board games.  This one was called “Would You Rather.”  Some gross choices a person has to make.  You saw what we did on New Year’s Day in addition to enjoying a super good meal which Debbie Wilson and their daughter Naomi do a great job.

Sat. was recovery time and having Camryn.  We brought Jason along and had breakfast together at the remodeled Village Inn.  It was a decent meal.  The rest of the day was trying to get motivated to take down the tree, take all the outside lights down.  I finally decided to wait until Monday.

Sunday was church in the Mtn. Shadows Ward for Sacrament and Sunday School.  Then we are heading to the prison this afternoon; in about 20 minutes.  We are starting a study of the Old Testament beginning with the book of Moses.  I have read the material and hopefully, am ready.  The weather has been pretty good with no snow or really cold weather.  Trying to decide upon trading in one of our vehicles.  We have a 2003 Camry and a 1998 Tacoma.  We want to get one more change of car/truck which we hope will last us until we can no long drive.  Don’t forget; I’m 73 & 7/12 months.

Dec. 31, 2009 (Thursday)

Where does the time go?  I thought things would be easier and slower this time of year.  I did finish one book and am well into another.  No trip to Maryland.  Missed our grandson’s (Matt) wedding in the D.C. LDS Temple.  Had to cancel our flight due to Jason being back in the hospital.  He didn’t get out until Sat. night and our plane left Sat. morning.  Tried to get a flight for Monday with no success.  So goes the best laid plans of mice and men.  Rather than lament, here are a couple pics.

This is Christmas week as we are decorating the tree.  Camryn is holding an ornament I made for her while Subbing in the Special Needs Dept. at Pine Creek High.  We decided to give Abbie a treat and Camryn cracked up giving it to her.  It was fun!

 This is Anna, Camryn’s little sister.  Anna saw Camryn and Bobbie’s pic I posted on Facebook and wanted to know if I could post one of her.  Anna is 5 and our youngest granddaughter.

  I might as well post one more.  This is of Camryn and me putting her ornament on the tree.  You can see how tall Camryn is getting to be or it is me shrinking.

Quiet New Year’s Eve for us.  We will be in bed well before midnight.  We are hoping 2010 will be a better year and Jason’s health improves.  Terri, Tami and Troy all seem to be doing well within their families.  Tami is enjoying her nursing assignments at Memorial Hospital, except they have her working 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. 3-4 days each week.  Troy’s job as a Project Mgr. for a civil engineering firm sees stable, so far.  Scott, (Tami’s husband) is still a Regional Mgr. for the LDS Church overseeing buildings in 4 states and almost half of Canada.  Terri and Dave keep very busy with both their businesses; his owning Financial Services Advisory and her’s being a personal fitness trainer.

We are still serving at the Canon City prison, taking religous services to inmates on Sunday afternoons.  We are about to begin our 6th year in this calling.  Terri teaches Gospel Doctrine and Dave is the Bishop of their Ward.  Tami is Ward Choirster and Scott chairs the Missionary Committee; Troy is Scoutmaster and Lisa is Young Women’s President;  which means they are all very busy at home and in their church assignments.

Have tried three times this week to get someone from Liberty Toyota to call me re: trading in one of our vehicles for a newer one.  Hard to believe their business is so good, there is no need to bother; even though we or our kids have bought 12 Toyotas from that dealership going back to about 1985 when we bought our first new Camry.  I have decided to kiss them off beings they don’t have better sales and/or customer service than that.

Home from a quiet evening of pizza with Karen and her three children; JJ, Camryn & Anna.  Mostly talking and played a silly game callled “Would You Rather.”  We left a little after 9 p.m. and will hit the hay in a few minutes.  No staying up to watch the fireworks off the top of Pikes Peak.  HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVERYONE.  MAY 2010 BRING YOU PEACE AND GOOD HEALTH!!

Dec. 25, 2009

This is one of those difficult times people go through throughout their lives.  Thank goodness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Commandments of God.  That gives us a basis of life and knowing that even this too shall pass.  Jason continues to be in and out of the hospital, trying to get his pancreas attacks under control.  He is in a hospital in Denver, which puts our trip to Maryland in doubt.  We are scheduled to leave at 8 a.m. Saturday (tomorrow) for the Denver airport and be gone 10 days.  Crud, when it rains, it pours.

Oh, we do have snow for Christmas day.  That is pretty rare for Colo. Springs.  Cold,yes!  Snow, seldom!  It was very quiet in our home this morning with no little ones around, wanting to open presents.  At times, I miss that excitement.  Tami and Terri both have kids and grandkids around.  Troy & Lisa have taken their 3 kids and went skiing at Monarch.  Hardly anyone skies on Christmas morning!  Nobody on the slopes and no lines to wait in.

This is to make it seem like a Christmas letter.  Here is Camryn with Abbie at the Humane Society to have their pic. taken with Santa.  Abbie wasn’t all that happy about being in that place.  Karen bought Camryn 6 horseback session for her birthday as part of therapeutic therapy for those with balance issues, like CP.  Camryn loved her hour long class and this was her last class.  We took the pic a week ago.

Based on what happens with Jason, we are scheduled to fly to Maryland on Saturday (tomorrow).  We will see.  A grandson is getting married on Tuesday in the D.C. Temple.  Christy’s baby was due yesterday (Christmas Eve).  Lots of things happening and trying to keep all the balls bouncing is difficult at times.  We are ready for some boring time, like school starting, me being in class most of the time and seeing grandkids on weekends.  Last Sunday, I participated with others to ordain Taylor Hollister to the office of Elder in the Priesthood.

Taylor is surviving in his 1st year at the AF Academy.  Chemistry and Calculus have been hard and he took two weeks break from wrestling.  He made the varsity team and wrestles at 154 lbs.  His primary objective is to go on his mission after completing his 2st year at the Academy.  Then return to finish the last three years at the Academy and become a fighter pilot.  I saw him last night and he looks awesome.  Seeing him and his two brothers, Ryan and Scotty, is always a treat.  The two older brothers are both in the AF.  Scotty has been accepted into OCS, starting in March 2010.  Ryan just finished his college degree and is thinking of changing services so he can become an officer also.  Karen, our daughter-in-=law, is a Major in the AF Reserves.  She is taking War College exams so she is eligible to be promoted to Lt. Col.

  This pic is 7 of our great-grandkids that were in Maryland during our family gathering in July 2009.  Doubtful we will ever have them all together at one time.  No. 17 is due now and No. 18 is not due until mid Jan. 2010.  We all went for a walk and ended up in the river.  It was on a Sunday and I’m still in my white shirt and tie with pant legs rolled up.

Well, enough of remembering and back to reality.  I hope each of you, including us, have a great 2010.  Socialized health care concerns me a great deal, but let’s not panic as most doesn’t go into effect until 2014 and much can happen in four years.  Hopefully the Dems will pay a huge price for what they have foisted on this country.

 This is Camryn with Mike Boyle, who I went to college with at Cal Poly.  He has a radio show about resturants in Denver and comes to Colo. Springs each Sat. morning featuring some place that has a good lunch.  Today it was L&L Hawaiian BBQ.  We went and Camryn loves Mike which is why we got a picture of them.  Mike always waves when he sees Camryn.

Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009

After two days of unexpected Sub. assignments, I was ready for a day off.  The weather has been great all week, although it is a busy time for most people.  Bobbie had all kinds of hair and visiting teaching appointments this week, so I decided it was a good day to go to the Denver Temple for a session.  I don’t like doing that alone, but no other date was available in the near future before we leave for Maryland on Dec. 26th.  I went to the YMCA to work out, shower and then straight to the Temple from the gym.  Of course, I took along my white shirt and tie to look presentable.  Good session, although it is different being there without your spouse.

 Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009

We aremuch too busy; it must be the season.  Friday was busy with all kinds of errands and getting ready for the weekend.  We went out to dinner with Karen, Jason, their three kids and ourselves (7 people).  Our favorite place was stacked to the rafters with people and didn’t want to wait 45-60 minutes.  So we tried a new place that opened in our neighborhood center.  It was a pizzeria type and not set up for a family.  It worked, just not very good.

Today was workout at the gym, then to Camryn’s final horseback riding session.  Here are a couple pics. well only 1 as she was about to quit for today.  This was good for her physically, especially with balance.

The pic of Mike Boyle above was out of place, but that’s the way I do things.  Here is one more of Camryn reading Mormon Doctrine, which is her current interest when reading, which she does all the time.

Its now Sunday morning and time to get ready for Church; 7 a.m.  Had to pick up Jason at the hospital E.R. as he had another pancreas attack, which cause his blood pressure to go sky high.  There never seems to be an end in sight.  Done for now! 

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The snow has stopped and melting is happening.  Not yet this morning, but in a few days most of it will be gone.  It still freezes at night, but with a warm breeze, the snow will not last long.  This is unusual for us to have much snow and bitter cold in December.  There is a chance we will have a white Christmas.

Today is a church meetings, called Stake Conference.  We went to the adult session last night, which was very good.  It is good to hear the thoughts of others, especially our Stake President McConkie, who related the importance of heritage and our responsibility and obligation to continue the positive values of our ancestors.  For LDS members, it was interesting to hear him talk about his grandfather McConkie and his family members you knew Brigham Young and Hyrum and Joseph Smith.  Great music also.  Today will be the family session of conference at 10 a.m. and we will leave from there to go to Canon City for our prison assignment.

Last Sunday we participated in the Blessing of our newest Great=grandchild, Ethan Michael Pratt.  Our two other great-grandkids were there.  Here is a pic of all three, dressed for Christmas.

  This is Amelia, Ethan and Emery, all cousins and grandchildren of  daughter, Tami & Scott Hollister.  This makes 16 great grandchildren for us with two more on the way.  Christy is due in 10 days and Samantha is not due until late January 2010.

  Here are our two oldest great-grandchildren;  Emma and Eliza Harris.  They are grandchildren of our oldest daughter, Terri and Dave Petersen.  Terri has 6 grandchildren, all living in Maryland, where they reside.  Christy, their daughter, is the one due in 10 days.  Eliza is 10 and Emma is 8.

This is the last week of schools in our local district.  It is unlikely I will have any Sub. assignments during final’s week.  It can happed, but doubtful.  That means there will be time for “getting ready for Christmas” time.  The tree is up, but no other decorations.  We leave on Dec. 26th to return to Maryland for Matt, a grandson’s wedding in the D.C. Temple.  It is a trials to travel this time of year, plus expensive.  But you do what needs to be done!  Thus, we have decided Christmas dinner will be pretty simple; like a baked spiral cut ham, some yams, maybe some frozen peas, rolls and cranberry sauce.  We will do dinner early so we can get ready to travel the next morning.

Camryn continues to grow, JJ is working on his Life Scout requirements and Tami is working nights at Memorial hospital as she is the newest R.N. on the staff.  She is committedto two years of working for them to pay back the tuition money they provided while she was in college.  We seldom see Troy and his family as they are all busy withsoccer withDean and Camille playing basketball.  Taylor is struggling with academics at the AFA, which is normal for all students in their first year at such a difficult academic school.  He has given up wrestling for now to concentrate on grades.  Taylor made the varsity, but can’t do both things and survive.  He wants to go on a Mission in June, but can’t be on academic probation when he leaves or the AF won’t let him back into the AFA.

 Camryn aboard Tigger, her horse for her horse back riding therapeutic training.  She goes each Sat. morning for 6 weeks as a birthday present from her mom, Karen.  One more week to go!

Time to get ready for the day.