Ben-o-meter      Olivi-o-meter
                                    Age:    2 years 9 months 1 days                     12 months 24 days
                                 Height:    36"                                                     28 1/4"
                                Weight:    29 lbs. 3 oz                                        19 lbs.  5 oz.

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the really long delay in updating the page this time.  Life has been hectic to say the least.   We have lots of news, both good and bad.

First and foremost, I hope you noticed the age in the "Olivi-o-meter" above.  Yup, that's right, she's a year old now!  Unfortunately, we had to delay her party because of gifts.  You see she caught a nasty cold and gave it to Ben who gave it to me and I gave it to Ilene.  We're such a giving family.

A very sad event for us this week was the passing of our dog Cookie.  She was a very major part of my life for the years before I got married.  After that she was as much a part of our family as anyone.   Ironically, her death came less than 2 days after we brought home a new puppy.  We were hoping that she could help us in it's training.  We like to think that she had been hanging on for so long waiting until there was another dog to take care of us.  She died peacefully in her sleep.

Health and welfare section -

Ilene's Dad is doing very well after his minor stroke in August.   He's up and around with a cane.  He and my Dad have races  now.

Josh is doing great.  He just had some minor corrective surgery done and everything is just fine now.

Don Meirhofer has been having a rough time of it the last several months.  While he's presently doing better, a few prayers directed towards him and his family will go a long way.

The kids are healthy with the exception of a couple of ear infections and some springtime allergies.  Though I'm taking bets for when Ben breaks his first bone jumping off of the deck.  Closest date and correct bone to win.

OK.  Next on the agenda - Recreation.   I still haven't found a new job, but on the other hand, I haven't really been looking too hard.  :-)  For those who haven't heard yet, HP decided after 21 years, I must not have anything to offer them anymore.  I was caught up in the latest round of layoffs last November.  It's not too bad because the severance payout is *very* generous.  And I've really not been very happy being there the last couple of years, so I'm looking at it as they're paying me to do something that I was considering doing anyways.  It's a win-win situation!

He was a good cat.  I think he and Cookie are laying in the sunshine somewhere together again.