Since the end of the spring semester things have been a bit less hectic. I finished all the observations, the paperwork, the grade reporting and personal recommendations. At one point this semester, with budget cuts, it appeared some of the tenured staff in the college of education were going to loose their jobs. FSU was actually going to do away with the mathematics and science ed departments all together by rolling them into the mathematics and sciences departments. Ah, but with stimulus dollars, that plan has been scrapped for at least a year. Those of us who supervise interns are outsourced/adjunct faculty and have jobs based on need. So, I may not be supervising interns in the fall, at least math interns anyway.
Personally: Renae and I are well and are enjoying life in Tallahassee. The grand kids are an absolute blessing and we cherish each time we are with them. I again helped their dad coach an all girls, under nine soccer league this spring. I'm sure I appeared and acted like a grumpy old curmudgeon at times but hopefully the girls learned something about commitment, playing with heart and having fun because my knowledge of soccer skills and tactics are severely limited.
In early May Renae and I with daughter Tara, her husband Perry and the girls went to a family wedding in Savannah and had just the best time. We stayed in a condo on Tybee Island with my mom, my sister Kris and her daughter. The wedding was for my sister Tina's daughter Jenna.(If ya'll haven't been to Savannah yet, the waterfront and the old 'squares' section of the city are a place to put on your list of things to do.) Thursday 5/6 was the rehearsal dinner held at a private residence on the marsh. The setting was gorgeous and the beer was free. Friday morning some of us guys went to a gun club to shoot skeet. Now, I'm no gun enthusiast, in fact I won't have one in the house, but that was fun. The wedding was Friday evening, outside at the yacht club. Renae and I haven't gone dancing in like forever, so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My mom decided to come back to Tallahassee with us and she stayed with us for a couple of weeks or so. My father-in-law came to visit as well. It is definitely a challenge taking care of parents. Thank heavens for siblings who can share the responsibility. For those of you who are caring for a parent by yourselves, my heart goes out to you.In mid-May I drove my mom back to Virginia where she stays with my sister Kris. While there I did some yard work to help Kris because mom stays with Kris almost all year now. My brother and I were going to replace Kris' front step so mom could more easily get up and down them, but that idea got bogged down in the planning stage.
Renae and I celebrated our 40th wedding aniversary June 12th. We decided to take a little trip to North Carolina to try wine tasting at several wineries in the Haw River valley and theYadkin River valley. We visited about 3-4 wineries, stayed in a nice B&B in Gibsonville, and played some golf. On the 12th we joined a paddle tour group on the Haw river that ended at a winery with a 5 course meal and wine pairing. We had such a good time. On the following Monday we went to the Yadkin valley and sampled the wares of several more wineries. One of them, Sander's Ridge, had recently completed a series of zip-lines through the wooded area surrounding the vineyards. Since we had sampled several of their wines we decided to forgo the zip-lines this time but we're thinking of returning in the fall when the leaves are turning. Another winery, Shelton, has a wonderful restaurant on site so we had lunch, then sampled their wines after an informative tour of the winery. All in all the trip was thoroughly enjoyable.Well, I suppose I have waxed in-eloquently long enough.
May you all be and stay well.
Jack M.
