An overdue update!

Well what can I say? This post is way overdue, partially due to my underestimation of the busy nature of married and parental life, my forgetting how to actually get to this area of the site, and general laziness.

In the past year, Amy and I have celebrated our first anniversary, our second Christmas as a family, and several honor roll events for Emily. We have also endured difficulties with work and money, a miscarriage, and a few complications with Amy’s third pregnancy.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Connor Reddick. His middle name is currently a topic of much discussion (and some controversy) but we will come to a decision in the near future.

Connor is scheduled to arrive on July 24, 2010, and we couldn’t be more excited!  Even Emily wasn’t the least bit disappointed to be getting a brother instead of a sister.

Currently everything is going fine, and we can hardly wait to welcome the newest member of the Reddick family into the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to Get a Haircut

His hair fell out in clumps today. I teared up and he said, “Time to get a haircut.” He seems fine with it all. It’s me that falls apart every time something new happens.

Do you ever just feel like nothing is going your way? I decided that it wasn’t cancer when I sat in the hospital room, but the doctors said otherwise. I decided that they would get it all with the surgery, but the radiologist disagreed. So I decided that his blood work would be fine and markers would go back to normal after the tumor was removed, but the oncologist said, “Chemo.” Then I geared up and decided that he wouldn’t get sick, I was wrong again. Hair fell out in clumps today, and he says, “Time to get a haircut.”

I am ready for things to go the way that I want them to.

A White Christmas (Eve at least)

Winter, who has barbed the South Plains a couple of times this fall, came in with a vengeance Wednesday night.

The result Thursday morning was a beautiful blanket of snow over everything. Except for the occasionally howling wind, it was peaceful, quiet, and glorious. Lights from the city bounced off the low clouds and then were reflected off the snow-carpeted streets and yards so that there was luminescence all around even in the dark hours of the morning.

As advertised, the storm came into the Hub City about 7:30-8 p.m. Wednesday with a mixture of snow and rain. The snow did not stick.

On into the evening, it was mostly rain until about 11 p.m. or so, when it turned to snow. Forecasters said we would have snow and blowing snow with increasing winds until mid-morning or noon. We’re expecting a high of about 39, so the six inches or more of snow we have probably won’t stay around.

Nonetheless, the voice of Der Bingler crooning the season’s anthem fills the mind.

Independent research

So. We had decided some time ago that we would DRIVE to Houston for my August appointment at MD Anderson and then drive back by way of Austin so that we could take in the annual meeting of the Texas Association of Broadcasters.

Then Texas Monthly published this article titled “The 50 Greatest Burgers in Texas.” Well, you have to eat when you are on the road, yes? So Nancy comes up with this research project:

Let’s replicate the study done by Texas Monthly, and see if we get the same results!

All 50 burgers? Well, no, just a convenience sample … just top burgers that happen to be “in our way,” along our pre-determined path. So if we get an early enough start on Monday, we should be able to make Fort Worth for lunch. There, on University Drive just two miles south of I-30 and on the edge of the TCU campus is Dutch’s, home of Burger #8, Dutch’s Bacon and Bleu Cheese Burger.

We ordered a couple burgers and some onion rings and then sat down to wait for our order. Up comes this blonde woman wearing a red-and-white striped sleeveless dress, saying “I see you’re from Texas Tech.” “Oh boy,” I thought, here we are in Horned Frog Heaven, all dripping with purple and white and I’m wearing black and red with an embroidered double tee on my shirt.

While I am wondering what kind of fight I just started and considering a diplomatic response, Kay Greenlee – the blonde, who just happens to be Dutch’s general manager – wistfully announces  ”I just left my baby there this weekend.” So that started a wonderful conversation about Texas Tech and Lubbock, and her son who is planing to major in sports medicine. It wasn’t long before the conversation turned to burgers and Texas Monthly. And presto! Our burgers were ready.

Verdict? A burger worthy of Top 10 designation, and better than burger #10, a designation belonging to the Cheeseburger in Paradise served up by Orlando’s in Lubbock.

The bacon cheeseburger served at Beck's Prime in Houston.

Beck’s Prime

After our experience at Dutch’s we were ready for burger #9, the bacon cheeseburger at Beck’s Prime in Houston. Beck’s Prime is actually a short order café at the golf course clubhouse in Memorial Park just south of I-10. Tuesday’s experience echoed Monday’s: Another burger, worthy of top 10 designation, and probably better than Orlando’s. But choosing between Beck’s and Dutch’s was more than we could do.

We had planned to try burger #12 in Austin (Chop-House Burger), but frankly, it was so hot in Austin (103-105 each day), and the humidity so high that we just wanted to stay close to the hotel. However, on the way home we stopped in Buffalo Gap, south of Abilene. There, at Perini’s Steakhouse, was another top burger, #7. We felt it was not good enough to dislodge Dutch’s or Beck’s in our minds, but it was worth the trip off the beaten path.

Spiders and such

Hey everyone.  Everything is fine here in South Carolina.  It is hot, but these last few days have been California hot.  Not too bad and not very humid.  My girls are happy.  Jenna loves spiders and bugs, Riley loves to read.  She will be able to read on her own soon.

We have a pet Black Widow (typical David) that we found in our sandbox.  I just couldn’t kill it.  I have always had a strange thing for dangerous spiders.  Maybe compassion because everyone else just kills them and doesn’t see their value.  Jenna and I created a habitat for it and we have had two eggs sacks (that I exterminate).  I am holding the spider in prison as it awaits it ultimate death sentence.  Jenna asked me why God made spiders that are dangerous.  I told her that God made dangerous spiders so that we could learn wonder and curiosity.  And in some unfortunate cases, great pain and suffering.  A healthy black widow can live up to two years, and we keep “Charlotte” as Jenna named her well fed.  ~Two years on Death Row maybe?

We also have brown widows and red widows here.  They are cool and dangerous, but not as dangerous as the black widow.  We have brown recluses, but I have yet to find one (and I have a keen eye for finding spiders).

We harvested 10 lbs of carrots today.  Home grown are they best.  They taste different!

Well, take care and we’ll talk more soon.

Love, Dave

Crossing the desert without a/c

The prospect of crossing California, Arizona and New Mexico in a car without air conditioning or cruise control is bad enough, but this was forbidding.

We got to Paso Robles late Friday (May 15), and Paso set a temperature record Saturday (105) while we were digging in the yard. Our plans were to head east across the desert in Jake’s car (no air conditioning, no cruise control) on Tuesday. Sunday was not much cooler. Running through my head were thoughts like, if it’s this hot in Paso, what’s it going to be like in the Mojave?

Tuesday we left in two cars, headed back to Los Angeles for Linda’s birthday party and to return Ray’s car, which he had so graciously loaned us. It was cool and foggy in many places along the coast, but grew warmer as we crossed the Conejo Grade and followed 101 in toward Studio City.

The party was nice, and we said our good-byes, then headed east in Jake’s Civic. It was hot, but bearable. We made good time, and stopped at a couple of shopping centers near Barstow before grabbing a motel room at the west extremity of I-40. Needles, through which we would drive on Wednesday, was 99 degrees at 9 p.m.

The forecast was for scattered showers between Flagstaff and Gallup. That’s exactly what we encountered. By the time we reached Williams (Ariz.), skies were overcast and threatening. The temperature fell into the 80s. Relief.

As it turned out, we had showers on and off from just east of Williams all the way through Grants (NM).  Temperatures generally were in the upper 70s and low 80s. The first rain smelled glorious, and we enjoyed mild temperatures the rest of the trip.

We got back into Lubbock Thursday evening in time to pick up the dog, bring in the mail and round up the lawn mower before dark. It’s nice to be back home, and we are grateful the trip went so smoothly.

Jake and Ani’s Trip to the Mojave

We just got back from a Desert Field Studies Center in the Mojave Desert. We went there as a class for Cuesta College and had a blast!!! We started off the trip by meeting at Cuesta College at 6:30 am on Thursday April 30th. That means we had to get up at 5:00 am. Yikes!

Good thing our bags were packed and we were ready for the adventure. It took about 5 hours to get there with various stops on the way to see Joshua trees and Juniper trees. We already knew about those Junipers!

After arriving at the Center we got our room assignments, unpacked, and then were off to dinner. After dinner we had a lecture and then off to astronomy. We observed the Moon and Saturn including the rings that night. It was so awesome and really interesting!

Friday was a full and fun day. On Friday we went to the Lava Wash and hunted lizards. On the way to the wash we spotted a Desert Tortoise on the side of the road. It was about 8 inches long and estimated to be 20 years old. When we got to the site we started out lizard hunting. This entailed tieing a slip knot with dental floss at the end of a car antenna and catching all you could find. Neither Jake nor I caught any that day, but we had so much fun trying. After all was caught, we observed them and documented our findings.

After lizard hunting we came back to camp and had another lecture about desert fish and then off to dinner. After dinner, and when it was dark enough, we were off to scorpion hunting. Jake and I each had our black lights, which when shined on a scorpion will cause it to become florescent. That was fun until my shoe got caught in some barbed wire. I couldn’t see, and it ripped the front part of my shoe. Im just lucky it wasn’t my leg!

Saturday was our absolute favorite. Jake and I and our class woke up very early and we were off to the Kelso Dunes. Once there, we loaded up on water, our lizard nooses, and sunscreen (which I seemed to forget) and were on our way up the dunes. It was 1.5 miles to the top and 700 ft up – in sand. Jake caught a Leopard Lizard on the way up. He noosed it, and then wrestled it to the ground. Maybe not that extreme but it was a big lizard and it was quite the sight. We continued on our way and it was getting harder and harder for me.

I wanted to quit several times but Jake was there cheering and encouraging me on. Did I mention how wonderful he is? We both made it to the top and what an experience it was! Seeing the 360 degree view of the dunes was breathtaking. I would do it again! We also saw another tortoise at the dunes. After the dunes we visited the Vulcan Mines. It was awesome to see all the Iron filled rocks.

On our way back from that we see our instructor slam on his brakes and pull over to the side of the road (we saw this with the first desert tortoise). We assumed it was a large snake or something. We all get out and it was a Gila Monster. This was awesome because there have been no Gila Monster sightings recorded in 40 years.

Our instructor, who specialized in Herpetology, was in a state of euphoria. It brought him to tears. It was so incredible to see. We came home today after a 5 hour car ride. I would do it again in a second. We both learned so much about the desert life and would love to learn more in the future. Here are the photos from our trip. Hope you enjoy them!

Nipped in the bud

Saint Patty’s Day is just around the corner, and we have been enjoying a lot of greening up around here – not just on the family Web site. 

If you believe the weather forecasters (and generally they are fairly reliable on the South Plains), a lot of trees are going to get nipped in the bud this week. We’ve been basking in spring-like weather so long that redbud trees, apples, even some elms are out in full bloom.

Why, even the Bermuda grass is starting to green up a little. We had the first wave of weather come through earlier today – with some rain – and then some wind this evening.

The real chill is yet to come. The weather folk say we will have a high Wednesday of about 39. Then Thursday and Friday they are forecasting “mix.”

What they mean by “mix” is that we will have rain mixed with freezing rain and sleet and maybe even some snow. Just for fun, we could throw in some severe weather, and with things as warm as they have been we may have a good chance for cold to clash with warm.

As they say around here, if you don’t like the weather, stick around a minute.

Riley on the mend

Well, we finally made it!  After 11 weeks in the cast, Riley is finally free and moving about.  This also means that she is back to using the potty all by herself.  No more diapers–hooray!  The pictures below detail the break and our trials with the cast in place.  Now Riley hobbles around cheerfully all by herself and has resumed activities such as playing in the park with her older sister, Jenna, and riding her tricycle up and down the block.  Riley still enjoys playing computer games, which became her favorite pastime while she was immobile.

December to remember

The pace was torrid, but the saga was glorious. Jenni graduated from Tech. Ben and Amy got married, and we had children, grandchildren and siblings and such from coast to coast visiting. All this in one weekend, Dec. 12-14.

Dianne and Linda came in Thursday so that they could attend all the honors ceremonies for Jenni on Friday. Laura and Atarah had their own saga of flight cancellations, re-routing and delays, but they made it in Friday night. Driving in separate cars from California were Jake, Ani and Isaiah (car 1) and Dick and Jim (truck 1). Heather, David, Jenna and Riley flew in from the East. All arrived Thursday. Roxanne and Davis flew in Southwest on Friday.

Because Jenni graduated cum laude, we had two honors ceremonies Friday afternoon. The College of Education ceremony at the Allen Theatre was followed immediately by a more personal one in the College of Human Sciences. Jenni and Grandpa Randy both participated in the graduation ceremonies Saturday morning, and then all retired to a reception hosted by Grandma Nancy.

On Sunday, most everyone drove to Fort Worth where Ben, Amy and Emily had already rehearsed the wedding. The gathering time music had an Irish flair, while the reception music afterward was a little country. Some combination of Best Man Jacob Willard Reddick Groomsman James Lynch Reddick, and Usher Kenneth Faulkner prepared the getaway car with appropriate surprises.

The couple (and Emily) returned to Lubbock for a few days prior to a year-end honeymoon.

Photos here by Roxanne Reddick. (For other photos, see the December Page.)

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