Reddick Family Web

Nobility, Humility, Loyalty

Say Hello to My Little Friend…

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Abel, left, has a new friend, Honey.
Abel, left, has a new friend, Honey.

Wait, we’ve added one more to the bunch. Honey is a (approximately) 3 year old chihuahua. Abel is tolerating all 4 pounds of her. She on the other hand bears her teeth and snarls when he looks at her wrong.

 

The vet explained there is nothing to worry about – Like all married couples they will work it out.

Life Lately

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Aiden shows his crabby friend, "Meany-me"
Aiden shows his crabby friend,

I am done with my course work!!! Yea!!! Now all I have left is to complete my student teaching semester and I will graduate this December! I am so excited. I am planning on getting a summer job to save money for this upcoming semester of poverty.

Lilly and I got to tour her school this Saturday. She got accepted to a new all girls college preparatory school that opens this fall. She is so excited. I think that she was feeling a little anxiety (which should be expected with any move to middle school) – but at our tour she quickly buddied up with the only other girl that was accepted from her current school. I felt reassured too as the superintendent of our district explained that not only did they have the opportunity to select the cream of the crop from the applicant students, but in teachers as well. The school is small, but undergoing renovations and when it is complete, it will be equipped with the latest technology in the district.
At the tour Lilly and the rest of the new student body got to vote on the school’s colors. She voted on the combination of hot pink, black, and silver. Where else but at an all girl’s school?
Aiden is ready for summer! He often inquires about how many days are left in school. He looks forward to spending more time with his Grandma. He often declares how much he misses her. He decided to give her flowers for her birthday – “but you know, the fresh kind that you get at the market.” He also thought jewlery was an appropriate gift for a Grandma – I opted for the first suggestion. He is so insightful.
He is continuing to improve at soccer, though he has told his coach to call him Link. The first time we enrolled him in soccer he had his coaches, other parents, and the referees all convinced that his name was Link. A parent even corrected me once when I addressed him as Aiden. (I guess she didn’t know that I was Mom?? -Whatever) Anyways, the team that he has been playing with for the last year has another Aiden. In fact the two Aiden’s have the same middle name – so at times its confusing.
I have missed some of the games and practices this season because of my intensive school schedule. I was a little surprised when I took Aiden to soccer practice on Friday and heard his coach referring to him as Link. Whatever – he responds to it and the other Aiden doesn’t so I guess problem solved.
Aiden and Lilly have adopted hermit crabs. The four have been named: Clair (aka, Mr. Crabbs) Sushi, Sammy and Meany Me. Yes, it is Meany not Mini. Aiden explained that this crab is mean because it pinches hard. Aiden has been quite upset with me because I won’t by a milk snake or a tarantula. I am so mean. His life is so incomplete. I know because he tells me daily.
Kenneth is excited that I will have more time and energy to contribute to the house work. Who does he think that he married. 
Love,
Jenni

Some family history

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Dianne and Linda have come and gone now. It was a wonderful three-day visit full of exhausting, but rewarding work. Nancy and I began preparations a couple weeks ago, pulling out documents, letters, photos that had been collected during more than thirty years of on and off research. By the time we had it all out, we were stunned. More than 500 photos going back more than a century. But that was not the best part.

Among the typescripts (hundreds of pages) that I have just begun to scan, were transcriptions of letters home from “boys” written in the fall of 1861 through most of 1862 bearing return addresses of places like “Paw Paw Tunnel, Virginia” and “Fort Murray” and “Huttonville” and “Phillippi” in Virginia. Yes, Civil War. Letters home. More2cum.

“We have met the enemy, and he is us!”

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One of my favorite cartoons used to be Walt Kelly’s “Pogo.” One particular episode in the life of Pogo Possum dealt with high-minded political discussion about environmental pollution. In the course of conversation, Albert (the alligator) flips his cigar into the swamp. In agony, Pogo cries, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
Monday night we all (three households, 7 souls altogether) agreed to meet at Buns Over Texas for dinner. At our home, we have contractors in refinishing the floors in the living room and kitchen; so we pretty much had to eat out. And Nancy has been watching the Aiden and Lilly in the afternoon until Kenneth can pick them up. So here we all show up at a burger place for dinner. Somehow the conversation turned to global warming / climate change / greenhouse gases. I looked at our table and laughed. Seven people and we got there in five separate vehicles. I thought of Pogo.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.