Today’s 44 was one of those super easy ones so that I don’t mess up my goal of a daily move!!!  I  held a squat position and pulsed 44 times.  (no pictures)

Today I’m sharing our annual newsletter – Chris writes this every year and it is always entertaining!!!

2013 Recap

The best way to start a yearly family activity summary is to thank the person that collects the information – Kim documents just about everything we do on our yearly calendar. Yeah, mobile me dot com friends out there that sync family calendars real-time & print schedules wirelessly, just place me in the TRS-80 BASIC programmer category as preferring to manually etch the fruits reaped from a half-dry blue Papermate Medium Ballpoint pen to quasi-plan the month (don’t mistake the pen preference to lack of mad computer skills though – just finished a program I wrote for NORAD, think it will be big, call it the WOPR, even added a backdoor using the name “Joshua” – don’t tell anyone, but hid some code for game simulations in there, my fav is Global Thermonuclear War). WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ THE REST…

January – March

As Atticus Finch explained to Scout, “you really never know a man until you stand in their shoes and walk around in them.” Kim purposely picks calendars with spaces for names and lines associated to each name by week. Red writing denotes Birthdays, Blue – appointments or events, and circled dates are school early release or something special. Kim complains about the invisible ink I use to mark when I have a plan that affects all of us – not sure why though. So now you have “walked” in our shoes – on with the info! After a fun New Years Eve Festival at the Turner Home (and yes – we have this every year – feel free to join in on the fun!), the new year brought Kim some substitute teaching endeavors, Hunter continued Cello events, and Jordan participated in paging at the Capital & History Day. Kim spent some time providing tutoring sessions – some may not know, but she possesses some skills in the high school algebra/chemistry/calculus/theoretical physics/advanced thermodynamics (whoops, got on a roll, maybe the last couple were a stretch). Sadly, Aunt May passed away & the extended family saw each other again to celebrate her life (we need to see each other on other occasions!).

April – June

Looks like the end of school year brought some basketball games for Hunter. Kim closed out the school year with more Substitute teaching jobs & ran her half-age of 22 miles. Jordan had a music festival and starting driving – gulp – can’t… believe… he (I) is (am) old (old) enough to drive (just old). Ahh, kidding, still feel like an 18 year old, albeit with grey hair. Speaking of hair, you know the age thing catches up when a guy closes his eyes while the barber trims the eyebrows but flinches cause the trimmer detours down to the nose hairs. In niece Isabel’s playful voice tone – Awkward! I did a bit of traveling to Pacific locations not to be named (since Kim did NOT get to go this year).

Jul & Aug

July began with a bang with our annual July 4th event. Pretty sure we will only have guests again if we build a retaining wall to separate the explosive material from bystanders. Hate to admit the second year of “close calls” with errant lit incendiary devices nearly delivering one of us to the ER. The highlight might have to be Hunter’s 8000 round firecracker display that ended in a small mushroom cloud suitable for the Bikini Atoll. The family loaded up the Flex and drove 22 hours to Florida (on a 3 to 1 vote no less) to visit the Pages and celebrate Daryl’s retirement from active duty. While I wanted to fly – Kim and the boys wanted to enjoy the sites and take their time wheeling the roads less traveled (oh wait, no Kim wanted to fly… got that backwards). Sand, sun, family, friends, fun (geez – almost sounds Haiku), sunsets, and 2 trips to Dr. office for 2 of us equated to a great vacation only to be eclipsed by the 22 hour ride home… Post R&R did not occur though, the day after we returned Jordan’s Band Camp began and we enrolled the boys in school. Soon after – Kim had a Bling Bash with Brian and Tracy T. stopping in & hanging with us again – always great to see them!

Kim departed on a fast trip to Texas to pay respects for the passing of a true man of God, Jack Hancock, Kim’s Poppa and Hunter Jack’s namesake. Kim routinely relished nostalgic memoirs from the time she spent with Jack and Keva. She would tell you that her fondest childhood memories originated with Mema and Poppa. Jack once regaled a story as a young Navy Lt in the Pacific Ocean near the end of WWII. During live-fire exercises, some seasoned sailors taunted Jack to shoot coffee cans as they tossed them in the air, challenging his Texas roots. (About this time Jack would casually mention that he probably had shot a 22 rifle just a couple times in his life and was by no means an expert marksman). Armed with a .45 caliber Colt and a quick prayer, Jack sat the military issue weapon on the ship rail until a sailor catapulted the can. With a single motion, he grasped his sidearm, fired a single round, and sent the can careening out to sea from the direct hit. Mouths agape, respect earned, he wily stated “That’s how we do it in Texas.” With a wink and chuckle, he closed the story admitting the unlikely ability to repeat such a lucky shot. Well, that’s the impact Jack’s life had with all of us, unrepeatable and truly memorable.

Sep to Present

As a Freshman, Jordan enjoys all band activities – especially marching band, likes Debate and started Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp. Hunter tries everything in 7th grade; cross country & wrestling, Cello group and Topeka Youth Philharmonics. Kim ran her age again (44) and continues her blog www.day-with-kt.com pursuing another year of Daily 44 workouts. We loved hosting Sam, Stacy, Isabel and Hays for Thanksgiving. Oh, and before I forget – we bought a business. A 1901 Victorian in historic Topeka used as a wedding, reception, and event venue – Governor’s Row House. Kim does pretty much all the work and excels at everything she touches! Sorry I can’t fit everything on one page – always too much to write. You know the drill – our doors are always open & feel free to drop by, send a note, or call!

Love – Chris Kim Jordan and Hunter.