Highlights for 2003 with
the cats (YES, we have SEVEN of them now!!!) was the addition of our little
outside kitten Scamp - and a mouser he is. Rodent prizes are on our doorstep
daily. A frantic meow greeted us from the woods one fall morning and there he
stood - a tiny furball with a HUGE appetite! Pat came
to his aid (of course!) with cans of cat food. He ate (warily) and ran though -
we didn't see him for weeks after that. Then he "moved in" to stay.
He and Breeze (we suspicion is "Dad") sleep in an upright smoker
barbeque on the front porch which has been converted to a cat condo - a plush warm cat cocoon has been placed in its
bottom. The small door designed for adding water and woodchips makes a nice catdoor. It is quite cute to see 4 green eyes amidst a
canvas of black and white furry faces decorated with whiskers staring out at us
each morning.
Holli was (can you guess???) a cheerleader this year.
Grades 4 thru 6 allow any girl that will attend practices, buy the suit, and
show up without fail at the games to be a cheerleader. 7th grade and above must
do tryouts and only a small few make the squad. So, since this was Holli's last chance as a 6th grader to make the open squad
- she went for it. It was actually fun attending all the popwarner
football games for 4th through 6th grades. Holli's
team went all the way to the championships and won!! They played against the
only team that had beat them all season (and has
knocked them out of the championship in the past) and this time - victory was
sweet - they crushed their opponent. (That's Pat's term - "crushed")
As for boys, oh yes, she's noticing them and her choice of boyfriend changes
like a kaleidoscope changes colors. Right now, though, she's been with the same
one since Dec. 5th! And that's like a record with her and all her friends!
Appearance is also major emphasis. Not just clothes, but now hair and nails. As
you can see, she's into the multi-hair color. Right now it is a redish-orange and blonde chunk stripes with a chunky layer
cut. For summer since the school doesn't allow non-natural hair colors, she
plans to have the colors changed to hot pink and black. (We'll be negotiating
on that....)
Me, well, I'm still doing what I always do - computing for a living. Since
March of this year, however, I no longer work in software support - not
officially anyway. I now work as a legal assistant for a downtown
And Pat, well, he's definitely still the Pat people know and love. A Marine all the way to his "Corps." (pardon the pun!). In fact, he's actually investigating
rejoining the Marine Corps.-Reserves to complete his retirement so he can be
eligible to apply for a JROTC instructor position in the high schools. That
will also set the stage for him to get back into coaching. Now, how long will
it take for that to come about? He doesn't know yet. He's still processing the
paperwork and getting details. And so, it's as they say - "Once a Marine,
Always a Marine". It will likely be after the new year
before he knows whether his application to re-enter will be accepted and all
the details but it's been indicated there is a great chance he will get back in
easily enough. (They just accepted a 55 yr old that left the Corps. in '91).
His "billet" has been represented will likely be the same one in OKC that
he had when he first came home in ‘94 - "Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in
Charge of OK Mobilization Station" and he'll resume service at the rank of
Gunny Sergeant. Anyway, we'll keep you posted on how that progresses. His
current job, which he will continue since the USMC will be one weekend a month
and 2 weeks in summer, is with a downtown
And that's pretty much the highlights on us Reeders,
Ms. Holli, and the Cats in 2003.
Hope you had a good year
too!
Love, Pam, Pat & Holli
