Jazz, Pizazz and Vino

Bill and I attended a benefit concert for the School of Piano Technology for the Blind at Bethany Vineyards Sunday night. The school is located here in Vancouver and is the only school in the world that teaches the blind how to tune pianos and start their own businesses using the skills they learn there.

This and other programs for the blind have a special place in our hearts. A good friend of Bill's from his time at West Point is blind and was just accepted into a program in Little Rock, Arkansas that trains the blind to work for the IRS. We just said goodbye to her this week as she goes off on her adventure and wish her well.

We enjoyed spending time with some of our friends from Rotary, drinking Bethany wine, and listening to the music performed by Tom Grant and Nancy Curtin.

Happiness is a New Smile

Chris got his braces off last Monday. He was so happy to get them off. He had them on for just two weeks short of three years. It was funny because he came out of the office with a whole box full of Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Dots and all kinds of other sticky candy that he hasn't been able to eat for three years. His orthodontist and his office staff are such a fun group. He has been enjoying nuts and soda pop and all the other things he hasn't been able to eat too. I am happy because he got them off just in time for getting his senior portraits taken. We have an appointment in a few weeks to have them taken. Just the start of a busy last year in high school for him.

My First Post

I am finally taking the plunge and starting a blog. I have resisted for a long time. It has been a busy week. We celebrated Father's Day last weekend. I took Bill out for a fancy dinner Saturday night in downtown Portland with a gift certificate that I got for Jake's Grill. I got it for Christmas from my boss so thought it was probably time we took advantage of it. He very much enjoyed getting a steak--something I don't allow him to do very often. He has been so busy working that he didn't really have much time to enjoy his day with his sons but we did have dinner at Beverly's together. I found this quote on the internet that I thought was so appropriate for my boys with Tom turning 21 soon and Chris turning 18. They will both be adults soon but they have a great example to look up to in Bill.