Is Anybody Out There?

Well - it's been months (as our family keeps telling us) since we added to our blog.

Would you like to know why? Because my little sister has this tremendous blog that she updates practically hourly with these amazing pictures and pithy comments ... **sigh** and we know we can't complete ;-)

It's not as if we don't have anything interesting going on in our lives. Granted, our days are fairly routine (morning coffee, hang with the dog, go to work, home to workout, Gret goes to play rehearsal, Leon goes to meetings) but I guess we could be more inclined to keep you all abreast of our daily grind.

It's fall in Missouri - usually this means that Leon is coaching football, but not this fall. Instead, Gretchen has taken on the play at Lutheran High School. We are producing Barefoot in the Park, and it is a great experience to work with such a small cast. Makes things infinitely more manageable.

Leon is getting ready to leave Sunday for his annual trip with the LHS Senior class for their fall retreat; Mom will be along as a class chaperone - and Dad and I will be working to harvest Norton grapes out at the vineyard. I have been traveling like a crazy person these past few weeks and am finally home for a spell - this makes me happy and inclined to hunker down and really enjoy Fall - make pumpkin related foods, hearty soups, read great books - you know.

We'll see how that all goes ... hope life is happy and whole for all of you ...

Sautrday Afternoons and Whatnot ...

Nothing beats a Saturday afternoon spent relaxing. Up to nothing in particular, Leon and I are camped out in the living room (yes, enjoying the new carpeting!) And while he works on his Powerhouse message for tomorrow night, I am sipping my favorite new coffee and paging through the newest edition of REAL SIMPLE (I love that magazine!) Bailey is napping - having recently celebrated his 6th birthday; he is fully embracing life as a middle-aged golden retriever.

It's a terribly chilly day for spring in Missouri - the heater is chugging away! After spending three days again this week in Florida, we are ready for warmer temperatures.

Leon's team had its first tennis match this week - with some wins and some defeats - generally a good experience. And the spring play continues to roll along with tremendous success. The script is rich with meaning (we are doing You Can't Take It With You - and if you haven't read it, you must!) and the students are digging into the layers and creating meaning for the message of the show in their own context. We have had some powerful interpretative moments already! Join us the first week of May to see a great show!

I am headed for the costumer's to dig through their 1930s collection - and then, wonder of wonders - Leon and I may head for the movie theater ... a deep review of "Failure to Launch" is forthcoming ~ or maybe we will just stay in and enjoy ultimate nacho night (should I share our recipe?) and catch up on Tivo. Ah, what a day.

All in all - life is strong. We hope it is for you wherever you are this Saturday as well.

Gret & Leon

Sometimes Life Is Just Too Busy - But It's A Wonderful Life

Spring means busy-ness for the Jamesons!

With Leon coaching LHS's first-ever tennis season and Gret again taking the reigns of the Spring play - we just don't see each other! Which, admittedly, is obnoxious.

The good in this is that we are both engaged in activities we truly love. That's what we have come to realize about these involvements. Some folks garden, or scrapbook, or ... I don't know collect stamps. For Leon and I, hobbies are these: coaching! We love it.

Leon is loving tennis. Since this is the first season at LHS, it is combined guy/girl this spring. He had really been missing coaching (as you might remember; he was assitant to our good buddy Paul Kollmorgen up north at Martin Luther). He has a good team - solid players and some really talented guys, actually.

He's "enjoying" seeing how sports parents have evolved. With football, which he has coached for three years, he is the JV head coach and then assists with Varisty - so the brunt of suburban Moms and Dads involvement is directed at the head coach. Now, he gets them. It creates some ... fun stories to tell.

The play is terrific. We are producing, You Can't Take It With You, and if you haven't read it - read it. It's a wonderful piece of art - and for a play to contain tremendous truths for 2006 - when it was written in 1936 ... well, that's saying something. It's a really large cast - so rehearsals are full of verve, loud teens, life and energy. I love it.

Onward and Upward +

the Jamesons