AAAHHHHHH! Eye lid study, a wonderful sport! Thanks, I needed that! I spent the week packing files but my brain went sooo dead! Add in the travel to and from St. Lawrence and I was a prime candidate for going to sleep in my recliner before finally moving to my bed. I probably did ten or eleven hours which is excessive for me!

Today is the first full day of the family reunion. Actually it started about seven fifteen this morning. The family golf tournament. They are playing Tanglewood today. Rian wanted me to go but I have not even seen my clubs in almost three years. That's the good thing about the way I play golf. I am very consistent! I don't have the problems with my swing that Tiger does but then I don't make that kind of money either. I am on the down side of mediocre but I never lose sight of the fact that for me it is just a game and when I forget that I need to find something else to do for recreation. Rian and I used to play just about every weekend until he grew up and moved away. I still play with wood woods, modern technology is o.k. but it doesn't live in my bag, and my philosophy in buying golf balls is the same as playing the stock market. Never invest money you cannot afford to lose! I told Rian if I was awake I would consider going and just riding the course with him. I slept in instead!

This reunion is pretty interesting. Different families host it each year. It is pretty much based in Abilene but has floated south to San Angelo and as far North as Amarillo (last year) and has been held in the metroplex area in the distant past. Family comes from all over Texas and from as far away as Albuquerque, New Mexico and Tempe, Arizona. The family is pretty much blue collar, Christian values, salt of the earth kind of people. I can remember growing up with this even being a one day event in McKenzie Park in Lubbock! I suppose that with age, distance, and absence, the heart grows fonder! About twenty years ago the event was changed to a full weekend event. Fund raisers were started, a family tree quilt was made and was raffled off. Everyone is supposed to bring two or three items for the auction and from time to time special items such as one of Grandpa Freeman's carpenter saws mounted in a glass case has been auctioned (for $1200). Each year a special item is raffled off. To make a long story short the proceeds from these fund raisers have made a perpetual reunion fund, paying for the meeting rooms and also for the main meals. It is an idea that has worked well!

Later this evening the annual 42 domino tournament will begin and go into the wee hours of the morning until a champion is crowned. Tomorrow we will have a family church service followed by a business meeting, the noon meal and then everyone scatters like quail for another year! Krl spent part of last evening (before I went to sleep) laying down the ground rules for her accompanying me! Go figure!

We got to see the little man yesterday! Reid's Dad forgot a belt and they came by the house to borrow one, so Meme got to go out and check Reidman out! I had seen Reid briefly when they came by the office earlier! They went to Perinni's with friends for dinner last evening!

Rian and Erica brought word that Aimee Harris was not doing well yesterday. The Doctor had been toying with the idea of letting her go home for a few days but blood tests showed a dip in blood cells so they were giving her platelets as fast as they could. I believe it will be the seventh of July before they know if the treatments are doing any good. At the present they have suspended treatments pending the upcoming test results.

FATHER, thank YOU for the restful night! FATHER, be with us this weekend as we attend this family reunion. Help me as I conduct their auction. Thank YOU for allowing us to spend time reminiscing about old memories and making new ones, Thank YOU for allowing our kids and grandkids to form bonds and gain a sense of larger family. FATHER, We continue to lift up Aimee Harris for YOUR miracle of healing. FATHER be with her, be with her family, guide her doctors as they treat her. Bless this day. For YOUR love FATHER!