More Photos of our trip to St. Louis

Will I promised that I would post some more photos of our trip to St. Louis so here we go. The first is a real oddity as I am in it. It was taken in a shoping area tha Yvone took us to (she also took the photo.)

I'll also add one of Jenifer's living room. Of course it doesn't look very lived in, but I still don't think that she and her room mate have much in the way of furniture even now.

This is one along the street that the apartment is on.

The last that I will post is on Delmar Street which seems to be THE street in the evening. It has lots of resturants and some entertainiment places. Reminded me a little of a cross between Howard Ave and Gatlingburg.

I think that the photos are going to be in the opposite order of my post but you can figure it out.

Get Your Pens Out!

It's official! I will soon be a full time graphic articst at Bic Graphic in Clearwater. I will be working 2:30pm - 11pm but I don't start until they find a replacement for my current position. It could be 2-3 weeks. Just wanted to let everyone know. Talk to you later!

Life at School

Hi everyone! I know I should have posted something sooner but orientation week has been kind of hectic. First off, St. Louis is really a beautiful place. I know it is a big city but it doesn't feel like it, at least around the school. There are 38 people in my class and for our studios we are split into 3 groups. I might be biased but I think my group is pretty great. They are all really nice kids. (I still think of everyone as kids?) Our instructor, so we've been told, is the best but the toughest. They told us we will work the hardest but learn the most. I guess it's a fair trade. For orientation week we were at school from 9-5, if not later, working on a project that tested our drafting skills and got us familiar with the computer programs. Because we were there so much last week, we all feel pretty much at home with the people and facilities. (We were assigned permanent studio spaces so we all possess our own little spot in the building) My roommate and I are trying to get our apartment situated before classes officially start on Wednesday. We have no real furniture yet but we did purchase a TV today (the important stuff). I'll try to keep you all informed when I can. I don't see myself having a lot of free time this semester but I'll do my best. Love you all, Jen

News from Wilkesboro

We just got back from seeing 'Wordplay', a fascinating movie about crossword puzzles and the addicts who do them. One of the people in the film was Merle Reggle who does the Tampa puzzles Mother saves for us. Not only does he live in Tampa, they filmed him at 'First Watch' - a nice breakfast place up in Carrollwood. He's practically our neighbor!

We had a great time in Winston. I went to the big discount wine store, then we went to our favorite Indian restaurant, then to Borders for some books, then to the big Stephen's Center in downtown Winston. It is Winston's version of the Tampa Theatre but it is much grander. When we got back I had to take Leo for a walk he was so wild.

It's good to see that Jackie is now officially a member of the blog! Now we can expect something from her. Has anyone got any news about Jennifer? Laura and I both enjoyed looking at the pictures from St Louis. The wife of one of my new colleagues went there and loved it.

Blaine - yes, it is nice to have a wife who will do the driving when the weather gets bad. But that was mainly because I was virtually comatose and needed to nap. Something about aging.

Everybody take care.

Jenifer to Saint Louis

We made it back from Saint Louis last Sat. but all was not well as we lost our check books sometime on Sat. This meant a trip to the bank on Monday morning to cancel some blocks of check numbers.

Jenifer seems to be adjusting to the move alright. She has a nice old apartment that looks like something that Grand Daddy or his brothers might have built back in their days. Here are a few photos of it.

Washington University in Saint Louis is in the center of the metropolitan area and just West of Forest Park, one of the largest city parks in the U.S. at 193 acres. We drove through there one afternoon before we came back home and it was very nice. They had a worlds fair there in the early part of the 19th century.

The campus is very nice with large stone building simular to what I was used to at Va Tech. Jenifer took us around there for a walk one morning and Judy seemed to like it a lot. Unlike things in Florida there is some relief there and going down some steps between building we dropped from the third floor level to the first. Jenifer's school building for her dept. is on the East edge of the campus and her apartment is one long block east of the first street north of the campus.

Will post some more on the trip later with more photos.

Jackie's Invitation

I've sent Jackie an invitation from Blogger that should explain how to become a member of the blog team. Elizabeth or Marshall can show her how it works. In the meantime she can still write comments on any of these.

Hope everyone is well and happy and the Meghan and Elizabeth can take hot showers again. We wouldn't want too many excuses for sleepovers.

We're back in North Carlina

We made it back this afternoon about 4:30. It was another easy trip - of course I can say this because I was napping under my hat while Laura was driving and the heavy rain hit.

Leo says that his favorite rest stop is the Georgia welcome station just south of South Carolina on 301. It has a lovely (and interesting) doggy walk. Laura says the folks there are very nice, too.

We both had a good time while we were down there and we don't actually hold any of you personally responsible for the blazing heat. Glad we could help Mother celebrate her 75th birthday (I'm still trying to make up for the time I told her on her 60th that I'd been telling people she was 'around 60' for years). We enjoyed the tour of Jackie and Art's place. It had a lot more space than I expected.

I'll try to write some more about the trip on the Not Mayberry site in a day or two. We are still trying to settle back in and get ready for work tomorrow. Ben and Mosby came out from hiding right away. I think that means they are glad to see us. Well, two of us anyway.

Jen - if you read this - how about some updates on life in St Louis?
And Marshall - sorry we didn't get to take you and Diane out to dinner. Next time!

First Game Cheering

Well, Meghan and I have had our first experience cheering at a pee wee football game. I have come to the conclusion that these will not be my most enjoyable experiences but maybe they will grow on me as I get more experienced at them. The game was suppose to start at 3:00 and we were had to arrive at 2:00. The game didn't start until after 4:30 (I think - I really wasn't paying too much attention to the clock - maybe it was the heat). Needless to say we didn't get home very early because after the game (about 6:00 p.m.) we had to stop at the Dairy Queen because Jenna was stopping at the Dairy Queen (Meghan didn't even know what a Dairy Queen was but just knew we had to stop there). I'm posting a couple pictures from the game and I'll let you know how the next game goes - it starts at 8:30 a.m. and we are suppose to be there at 7:30 a.m.! At least maybe we won't be running late seeing as we will be the first game of the day!

Scott and Laura's vacation

Well, it looks like we missed Blaine and Judy before they got on the road. Glad we managed to have lunch with Jen -- and we expect a constant flow of posts here to update the whole family on what she is doing in St Louis!

As for us, we went to Mellow Mushroom with Joey and Emily - that was fun and you can read about it here.

We also went to see 'Pirates of the Carribean' but it didn't go the way we planned. There was a fire alarm right in the middle. You can read about it here.

For our trip to pick up Ana at the airport on the day of the terrorist plot, here. And for some opinions on a drive up Dale Mabry after we took the Mothers and Ana to the Indochinoise, here.

All that is probably much more than most of you want to know about the North Carolina branch of the Jessee clan, but pick and choose. We'll be seeing most of you today at Mothers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER!!!

We're here!

Laura and I made it in to Tampa this Monday afternoon. Lord, its hot down here. We had a good trip. Leo is a good traveler. He gets in the back seat and sleeps most of the way. Now he knows the whole drill: which motel we will stay at, which Wendy's we will stop at, and how to stay quiet in the car so that we will bring him a little piece of hamburger.

We will probably see everyone at some time this week. Mother says she is getting together with Jenifer for lunch tomorrow, and we might be able to make that.

See everyone soon.

Scott and Laura