Annual newsletter. Those of you who are Facebook friends probably already know most of these things, but here goes:

January: Anthony returned from his deployment in Afghanistan. Of course we are proud of his service to our country, but we are so glad he’s no longer overseas.

February: Kim finished Phase Two of the new flooring. Phase One was wood flooring in the dining room and porcelain tile in the entryway. The second phase involved wood for the kitchen, living/family room and porcelain tile in the guest bath. In addition to “standard” flooring work it required a plumber to break through 8 inches of concrete slab in the bathroom to locate and repair a leak (one of the few things Kim doesn’t do is use a jackhammer). Later she did Phase Three, extending the wood down the hallway and into our bedroom. Only carpet remaining in the house is in two bedrooms.

March: Kim and I traveled to Harrisonburg, VA for a couple of days as part of my Fulbright Ambassador position. I visit universities and conferences to encourage faculty applications. We also visited Pittsburgh in April, Indianapolis in Sept., Valparaiso (IN) in Oct. and Ames in Nov. I asked to be invited to Iowa State at that particular time so I could attend a ceremony at the Greenlee School posthumously awarding Barbara Mack the School’s highest award. If you work at a university and would like me to come visit (at no cost to your university), get me invited. Information is at http://www.cies.org/ambassadors/Flyer.pdf.

April: Kim visited the Caristi grandchildren near Tacoma. Anthony and Megan got to have a brief vacation and Kim loved having the kids to herself. I made my annual trek to Vegas. Honest – I wish it were somewhere else. At least they have direct flights from Indy.

May: Kim and I shared our anniversary with Joe and Nicole at a “cabin” in Brown County. It was a pretty nice place, complete with satellite TV, hot tub, pool table. We had a good time taking it easy. It just so happened to be the “Taste of Brown County” weekend, so of course we did a little eating, too.

June: Saw lots of Kim’s family at a get together at Jacque and Stuart’s house in St. Louis. It’s always great to see Kim’s family. It was the first time most of us had been together since Kim’s mom died in 2012, so it was especially nice to be together.

July: We hosted a couple of college students (just a couple of days) from Malaysia and Indonesia who were in a program at Ball State. We were challenged because they are Muslim and it was Ramadan, so we didn’t eat dinner until 9:10 p.m. and they wanted to eat breakfast before 5 a.m. I also had the honor of speaking at BSU’s summer commencement ceremony. Immediately after, we headed down to my mom’s in Florida. Of course – visit Florida in July! We stopped going down and back at my brother Tony’s in Atlanta. Both my brothers were with Kim and me at my mom’s. We had asked her if she would rather we spread out our visits or plan them to coincide, and she preferred the latter. She says because it’s more festive that way, but I think it’s so we’re not around too much. J We did some work around the house: replaced screens on the porch, painted the kitchen, plastered walls. While there Jack installed a computer with remote software so he can Skype with her – even created a Facebook account for her. She’s 95 now and still doing well.

 

August: This was a challenging semester, as I picked up an extra class. A colleague resigned two weeks before the start of the semester, so I and another colleague “took one for the team” and absorbed some of her load. The semester sure flew by. The big August news, though, was the arrival of Tony Pons, our foreign exchange student from Mallorca, Spain. Tony has really acclimated himself quickly. He’s made tons of friends and has gotten involved. As a junior at Muncie Central High School (only 15, but advanced) he was in the school play and is on the Swim Team. I am extremely impressed with his dedication. He has to leave the house for practice Mon, Tue and Wed at 5:30 a.m., Fri at 4:30 a.m. and Sat at 8:30 a.m. We have been doing our best to give Tony a complete American experience, including everything from sitting around watching TV, to college sporting events, to outdoor concerts, to his first American Halloween. Yes, he trick-or-treated a little, but also went to a party, and volunteered at the local Haunted Forest for charity. He’s very excited about the Christmas decorations and presents under the tree (he says it looks like a movie).

September: I keep trying to invite people to visit. Kim’s sister Jacque and husband Stuart took us up on the offer. We gave them as much of a red carpet treatment as we could, including a Ball State football experience.

October: RILEY IS BORN! On October 18, daughter Nicole gave birth to Riley Kaplan, her first child and our third grandson. Kim and husband Joe were in the room for delivery, while I sat next door in the waiting room. Please don’t be too critical of me. I wouldn’t have been any help during delivery, and Nicole said she would have been uncomfortable knowing that I was bothered by her pain. Nicole, Joe and Riley are all doing great. It’s also a real treat having them only an hour away. No telling how long we will be able to enjoy that luxury.

November: Headed to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. We always have a great time with Kim’s family but this time was even more special as little Riley and Tony experienced their first ever Thanksgiving, made their first trip to St. Louis, and rode up in the Gateway Arch for the first time. I doubt Riley will remember it, but we have pictures to prove it J

December: Our annual Holiday Open House had 80 people, I think. I may have lost count of one or two but that’s pretty close to correct. Because we host a six hour party, it gets spread out pretty well. There is probably an hour when it’s pretty crowded but for the most part it’s manageable. Kim doesn’t feel like we should put an end time on a party but after six hours I’m pretty much exhausted and think people should go home!