January 2014

End of January

So, it's been awhile since I've written in the blog. Its been a busy month with much going on and I'll hopefully capture the mood of the month.
I'm much like my father in law Willis Romspert, he was a gadget person and so am I. As a matter of fact, so is my son a gadget collector. I've just purchased a Zagg keyboard for my Ipad and I'm using it for the first time here in this Blog. Kathryn has one and I used it last week for a few minutes and really liked it. Last year while n Germany with Jeff I used his ipad and the keyboard he has. I dont know the name of it, it was cumbersom and the feel was not something I enjoyed. The Zagg is a great fit for me. Thanks for the introduction Kathryn.

Where in the World is Jeff Berthiaume?

Jeff at this moment is in a Connex box sleeping on top of the sand in the Middle East. Either Jordan or Iraq is where I suspect he is.

Today 01/30/14, Jeff escaped the fridgid temps here on Delmarva. At his house in Allen, Kathy, Abby and Mia got to awake to 47 deg. temp inside the house. It seems their propane company forgot to do their automatic scheduled delivery. They even had some pipes freeze up on the north side of the house. Happily I can report the tanks are full, the house is warm and the pipes are flowing with H2O. All is well! See you next week Jeff.

U.S. Embassy, Amman Jorden

                  

On January 14 I headed west via Soutwest to Las Vegas to meet meet for two days at the Shot Show. The flights out and back and the weather were the best. The show and people were something to behold. http://shotshow.org

                   

As you entered the show there was a fitting tribute to the man behind the AK-46 who died recently.

             

Our first night there was a meet and greet with http://www.itstactical.com
A few months back Matt spent a week out in the woods with this crew down in Texas. It was quite a neat gathering and I got to meet the entire staff of ITS.  By the time the night ended, 0400 EST and we got back to our hotel . http://treasureisland.com

Wednesday saw us head to the floor of the Sands Conference center and start walking the 12.5 mles necessary to view all the booths in attendance. We started at 1000 hrs, I was done in by 1300 hrs and returned to the hotel for nap time. I was still trying to make up for that 0400 to bed time the night prior.
Matt remained on the floor, walking and conducting some business here and there. By 1700 he was back in the hotel and took a long ninety minute nap prior to dinner.

We did dinner with a close friend of Matt's from Georgia http://hardcasesurvival and called it a night by 2200 hrs.

On Thursday we were up and out by 0830 and off to breakfast. After breakfast we were on the floor of the convention center by 1000 and spent the entire day on the floor going booth to booth. Matt had a meeting with the Bonowi group from Mainz, Germany http://bonowi.com Matt has been doing some consulting work with the company. I got to be a fly on the wall at the meeting. It was great learning a little bit of Matt''s other world.

Guns, Gear, Sights, Ammo and vehicles of every description imaginable were available. Truly an awe inspiring event.

            
The remainder of the afternoon was spent wandering the miles of booths and seeing more and more toys that I know I'd never be able to afford. For some reason I just could not justify a 50 Cal. to Mary Agnes.

We ended the day around 1700, went do dinner and called it a night around 2200.
It was up early on Friday, off to the airport and South West it back to MD & CT respectively.
I can only say how great it was to spend four days with my son in his world. Not many fathers in this day, at my age get such an opportunity. It was an adventure I'll cherish for ever.

Oh, did I mention I lost $59.85 on the slots.

The Month of January (Reportedly the coldest January in 100 years)

New Years Day saw the Fiddlers, Berthiumes & Palmers dine with our good friends on the Wicomico River, the Wojciehowskis. Their new neighbors, Sid & Judith were there also. Pork roast was the main dish with more sides than man needs. A great dessert of Lemon Squares finished off the meal.

We also learned that Sam, Zed and Mia had arrived safely back in Columbus, MS after a great visit here with us over Christmas.

January 2 brought some snow in and the temperature started off at 40 deg. early and quickly plummeted to 13f. M.A. & I settled down in the evening and watched the old movie, “The Thomas Crown Affair.
We wound up with 1-3” of the white stuff. The chickens stayed in, we dined at the Berthiume's for Beef Stew and played Mexican Train Domino's.

On January 4 we awoke to frozen water pipes, our first experience in 25 years of living in MD. After a visit from the Plumber we had our water back @ 1530 and it was time to watch the NFL. My Eagles proved to be one and done but it was a promising year for the future.

On 01/07, another bitter cold day for the Eastern Shore, we saw a high of 18 deg. In Salisbury at Sara's condo they saw a waterfall. One condo, unoccupied, had it's sprinkler system freeze and break and the water cascaded down through the other condos for five floors down to the ground. Fortunately the break was on the opposite side of the building from Sarah and she sustained no damage. They did have to evacuate for several hours and had no water for the night.

Through all the cold weather this month it's been a bit of a challenge taking care of the chickens. Even with the heat lamp above their water, freezing has still occurred. I've been rotating waters almost daily to keep it fresh and unfrozen. The girls are still blessing us with eggs and yesterday they got to get out of the Hutch and roam the pen for the first time since Monday.

On the 01/18 Kathy & Abby headed to Baltimore to Meet Sam & Mia. Sam was bringing Mia up for an extended stay while Sam was being deployed to an Air Force school for ten weeks. Sam handed over Mia and reluctantly made a u-turn back to Montgomery, AL and the drive home alone to Columbus, MS. A separation of family is a sacrifice made for the defense of us all. God bless you Sam, Zed & all our uniformed men and women past and present for all you do.

So Jeff, Kathy, Abby, Mary Agnes & I are surrogate parents until 02/15 when Kathy and Mary Agnes will fly to Boise, ID and hand Mia off to Zed's parents for the second half of Sams deployment. This effort does not just take a village, it takes a cross country venture.

On Thursday 01/30, Kathy, Abby and Mia showed up on our doorstep around 0630, seems there was no heat at their house. Upon checking, kathy found there was no Propane in the tank. After a phone call Kathy learned that their usual automatic delivery had not taken place. The propane company just forgot them. By early afternoon propane had been delivered and the house was warm again. The recorded low in Salisbury for that day was unheard of -6 deg.
                                
The month of January has certainly been an interesting one. With the coming of Mia, the cold, and my trip to Las Vegas, the month has flown by.
I can not begin to think what February shall bring. Tomorrow it's Groundhog Day, I shall pray for spring and hope winter, at least January, is a thing of the past.

Lastly, Kathy has done an update on Mia from her perspective and I'll include it here.

Hello all lovers of everything Mia!

It was quite the week for Ms. Davies of Columbus, Mississippi.  As she dove into week two visiting her grandparents, the Berthiaume’s, so did the ice cold weather.  Week two of her cross country journey brought temperatures at -9 with wind chills much below that.  Across the state pipes froze, the Chesapeake Bay needed ice cutters, and Mia got more comfortable with her new bedroom.  Week two also brought 2 new teeth up top.  There was drool, drool drool as she tried to eat on everything around, books, plasticware, even the dog’s bone!  She was restless at night from all that teething, but alas…. this too shall pass.

Tuesday brought a winter storm that dumped 6 inches of snow for the Eastern Shore!  Mia got to touch snow for the first time… She was a little afraid, and not until we put it in a cup for her would she touch it!

Her Great Granny Fiddler watched her in the daytime while her Grandmother worked.  They played patty cake, went to Walmart, visited Miss Jan, a neighbor down the street and had a wonderful time.  Mia’s new BFF is Libby, her grandparents dog.  Libby follows Mia everywhere in hopes of a scrap, a morsel, anything that might drop from her clothes or hands.  It does make for easy clean up around the house!

With the frigid temperatures the need for propane was great.  Apparently the propane company didn’t realize this, for Wednesday morning we woke up at 0400 to a house temperature of 42 degrees and the pipes downstairs were frozen solid!  Grand mom whisked Mia and Aunt Abby over to her grandparents for some heat while Grand mom returned home to wait for the propane delivery.  God Bless Great Grandparents!  With many apologies the propane truck deliver 300 gallons of propane and slowly the heat returned and pipes reopened…. 

One of the struggles with icy cold weather is the dry weather in the house.  The change in weather really bothered Mia.  She came to Maryland with a minor case of eczema which, with teething and excessively cold temperatures outside and the dry heat inside turned into a terrible case of eczema.  Luckily, Pop Pop Fiddler called a pediatric dermatologist who saw her Wednesday, prescribed a special cream for morning and night, recommended daily bathing with lots and lots of Aquaphor throughout the day….  Mia gets to visit her again in 2 weeks so she is all set to travel out to Oregon.  Within 24 hours of getting some nice cream all over her and a bit of anti itch medicine at night, Mia Davies was a new woman…. Sleeping well, eating better and beautifully clear skin!

She has enjoyed a plethora of foods, Cheerios are a great staple snack that she always has at the ready.  She loves peaches, pears, applesauce, pork, turnkey, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.  Yesterday she has macaroni and cheese, home made by Great Granny.  She is starting to walk everywhere (preferably holding someone’s hand) but gets better and better each day.

Mia growing by leaps and bounds.  She fits well in 12 months clothes, weight 9 KG at the doctors (19.8 pounds) and will surely be up to 20 pounds by her birthday.  She loves to climb on everything! She has learned Patty Cake and Itsy-Bitsy spider.  She loves to dance.  Yesterday she and Aunt Sarah spent some quality time dancing to the music of Queen!  She is also very excited to learn she will have a new sister this summer.  She cannot wait to share her food, her raisins, cheerios and drool!

Today we got up at 6:30, took a long walk up the street, ate a great country breakfast, and it is now kitchen playtime.  Libby is standing by to pick up, lest Mia drop a crumb.  Mia misses you all and cannot wait to see everyone.  FaceTime us when you can. She loves to see everyone!