Round Robin – Craig November 7, 2008
Posted by Diane Bird in : All Posts , add a comment11-6-2008
Hi everybody, it’s Craig.
You know, when it first came up I had a brief moment of reluctance about getting into this Round Robin. While I like knowing what and how everyone in the family is doing, I lead what I think of as an uninteresting life and not one that might be thought of as letter worthy. That and not all of my news is good, or easy to relate. Still, if you want to be in the loop you have to be a part of the loop, so here goes.
As most of you know from the family blog post my daughter Shanna got married in September 2007 out in San Jose , CA . It was quite an affair at a really nice hotel and heavily attended by family and friends of both the bride and the groom. Gayla and I were joined by Susan, Claudia and Stephanie and a good time was had by all. It was great to see so many of Shanna’s aunts and uncles again and to meet so many of Shawn’s family members. Shawn is a pretty successful guy, is well thought of at his company, and is former U.S. Navy (a trait that is pretty prevalent in his family, father, grandfather, uncles, etc. & his sister graduated from the Naval Academy in 2007). I know Dad would have liked that Navy part. Anyway, the time wasn’t right to get to know Shawn well but I look forward to that opportunity in the near future as you will read here later.
At the end of October 2007 I was financially lured back to The Highland Group after having been gone for about a year. Now, I understand the basis of the opinions that say it isn’t right that one should be lured from company to company by the next, more attractive, competing offer…but that’s what happened. It is actually pretty common in a marketing position and especially in front-end marketing in the consulting business. And frankly, I wanted to make more money. The Highland Group had treated me well for 10 years before I left and though being away for a year was some relief from the pressure cooker, I couldn’t resist the offer to return and don’t much miss working from home.
I have, for years, taken time off the week of Thanksgiving in order to return to NE Nebraska and join brother Clark in raiding Susan and Dennis’ farm in our annual hunt for pheasant. For the most part I don’t care whether we get any birds, but very much enjoy getting away from the concrete and into the dirt of that part of Nebraska . Since Clark and Ronda moved from Norfolk to Plainview I have begun staying at their home and enjoying their hospitality. It is a trip that, as I’ve said many times, is good for my soul. Clark is always good company and Susan’s youngest, Alex, has become a good hunting buddy. I do so enjoy the two complimenting senses of humor from those guys. Throw in Dennis when he can get away from his many responsibilities and one can’t help having a good time. Last year, for the third time, my stepson Nick came along and since he had observed for two years we finally let him carry a gun. Getting his first bird was a thrill for Nick but a nerve-wracking experience for the rest of us. Picture if you will, four guys taking aim at the same flushing bird, three of them waiting for the short guy to pull the trigger before the bird got out of range! Well, Nick finally fired and Clark and Alex made sure the bird didn’t get away. I was on the other side of the road, beaming. It was a good looking pheasant and one well-earned as Nick had walked along, learning hunter’s safety and the ethics of the sport for two long years. It was his time and we’ll both remember it for many years to come.
The end of 2007 brought the holidays and they always seem so busy here in Dallas . We drive back from Nebraska on Wednesday and then spend Thanksgiving Thursday with Gayla’s family all day and enjoy it each time. Then comes Friday and the weekend. There are hunting clothes to wash and stow away until next year. Guns and ammo and gear to clean and secure. And of course, the car is always a terrible mess too. But the Christmas decorations need to be put up and the shrubbery in the front yard has to be trimmed before the lights can be strung upon them and all this must be done with one eye on the clock because the Cornhuskers are on TV pretty soon to do battle with Colorado. Going back to work on that following Monday is almost a relief! After that week each year I feel as though Christmas shopping is a piece of cake. Christmas at our house was good. Jaimi, Daniel, little Daniel and Riley were all there as planned. Christmas is always better with toddlers included, but then, I think that’s true of most any event or occasion.
January brought us the news that Jaimi was pregnant again. Good news of course, though we always worry about how they will make ends meet in their household. With Riley still in diapers and Daniel’s potty training only just completed we naturally thought about how much they are truly able to take on. Now looking back it was indeed true that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.
In April I was given the opportunity (read: challenge) to jump over to the company’s fledgling banking division and made that move in the spirit of providing a boost in sales to team and to indoctrinate a new field sales guy. It’s been fun and interesting with respect to the learning experience, though current conditions aren’t the most conducive to generating new business. I’ve decided that bankers of late are much like rose bushes in dormancy…inert and thorny. We were beginning to think the remainder of the year would be uncomfortably quiet but a couple of recent deals have changed that picture for the better.
Now to that bad news I mentioned earlier. The month of May this year brought an end to our marriage. I won’t go into all the details here but to say that even though the problems seemed then to be so great that coping with them was unimaginable, we were and have remained civilized about the relationship and amicable in dealing with each other. Gayla moved in with some family friends near to her parent’s home in Denton . Nick decided he was not able to live with his mother either and moved to his dad’s home Northwest of Fort Worth after the school year had ended. He is doing well there having gotten a part-time job cleaning boats at a local marina, keeping his grades up, getting a provisional (age restricted) driver’s license and is even starting for the high school’s J.V. football team. Each time we talk he requires reassurance that the hunting trip to Nebraska is still “a go” for this year, and he gets it, as long as he keeps his grades above an 85. Not a huge challenge for Nick, but just enough. He doesn’t realize that my siblings in Nebraska would be very upset with me if Nick were to miss a trip!
Things got a bit worse for Gayla after the divorce but have now started to turn around. She is back to work now, going to her meetings regularly and trying her best to be the person she once was. We are all relieved by this, but especially so her parents who were upset to the point of seeming wounded by Gayla’s situation. I met with her this past Sunday at her storage facility (still not completely moved out of the house, I was transporting furniture and stuff) for about 45 minutes and she looked and acted better than I had seen in over a year. It feels good to be able to tell you that.
Now comes August of this year. I got a call one evening in early August from Jaimi. She was pretty upset as they were in a bind financially, late with rent and at wits end as to what to do. This was when Gayla was unemployed and unable to help. She was really looking for someplace to “nest” her family with a baby girl due in early September. I have a really big and pretty empty house. So the kids moved in with me. It didn’t last nearly as long as I’d have liked. It is hard to put into words the great uplift I got for that short time having two grandkids come running downstairs to greet me each evening after work. Daniel happy to see his granddad, Riley wanting to be held by her “dad-dad.” It was great.
Then later on little Avree was born. A girl with a sense of symmetry, she was born on 8-28-2008 at 8:18am, was 18” tall and weighed in at 6lbs 3oz. (multiply it). Unlike her brother and sister she has Jaimi’s dark wavy hair and at this point it seems likely she will take after Riley and Gayla and be forever a “shorty.” A quiet baby, she is probably just what the doctor ordered for that household.
The kids found a place up in Little Elm, TX not far from Daniel’s parents and moved there in September. I miss ‘em.
So here we are, back in November again. No hunting trip this Thanksgiving. Alex is away at the University of Nebraska and wouldn’t be in Coleridge at the usual time. What’s more, Texas schools changed their schedules (much to Nick’s disgust) and he is in school until noon on 11-26. Clark and I have rescheduled, perhaps permanently, to the gap week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The thought of hunting without “the guys” just didn’t have the same appeal. More accurately, there is too much ground to cover efficiently with just two guys with old knees and we can’t always count on the availability of Dennis’ youthful presence.
Instead, this Thanksgiving brings a visit from Shanna and her new husband Shawn to Texas . This is actually the payoff of a bet that Shanna made with Shawn, a Cowboys fan, and lost from last year when she was certain that the Seattle Seahawks would have a better year. Works out well too as Shanna has sworn off the Texas summertime heat and late November in Dallas will seem like a San Jose summer to her. Seattle plays Dallas in Irving on Thanksgiving Day. I have no false illusions about being the attraction that brings them here and am simply happy they’re coming. Shawn’s grandfather Sam, and brother Richard are likely to be here too. At the time of their wedding I was recovering from surgery and dealing with the rush of emotions that accompanied my only child getting married. Shawn didn’t get much of my attention though he had sought it out. I should do better by him and will later this month. I’m really looking forward to the visit though I’m still at a loss as to what one feeds a couple of vegetarians for Thanksgiving!
And since they are staying until the Sunday after Thanksgiving I think those Christmas lights might just have to wait this year. Not everything needs to be done according to schedule after all. Sometimes being with loved ones doing nothing brings greater rewards than getting that “important job” done on time.
Now for a few pictures…
This is Avree at about 7 weeks. Just starting get some pudgy in her cheeks.
This is Riley at about 2 ½ years. I do so love that little smile. She is the apple of her Granddad’s eye.
Here’s Daniel helping his Granddad out on the back patio. You can barely see the cuffs of his “work gloves.” He’s already a “plugger” and only 4 ½ years old.
That’s Clark, Nick, me and Angel outside Dennis’ office. Look close enough and you’ll see the birds. I’ll save some of the “Angel stories” for Clark to tell.
