November 7, 2005

• It’s time for another chapter in the ongoing saga of the Sellers. Are we more interesting than this season of Lost? 

  Thursday night, Nathan and James went to a shooting presentation
  sponsored by Nathan’s 4-H shooting league. Most of his class was not
  there; it was just the official club. The Army Guy (some recruiter) and
  a local fellow who has gone to the Olympics in air rifle were the main
  presenters of the evening. After they talked for a long time, the
  Olympic Guy said, “Hey, I have three door prizes. Let’s have a 
  shoot off to see who wins them.”   Of course, this got the
  interest of all eleven kids in the room. 

  Now, Nathan has been shooting BB gun, not air rifle, but that night,
  they pulled out all air rifles (which have a different-sized target as
  well).  Nathan put his borrowed gun to his unadorned shoulder
  while down the line the 4-H members pulled out their arm-stiffening
  costumes, gun rests, and more. The advisor whispered to Nathan that the
  boy shooting next to him had over $4000 worth of equipment of his
  own!  (Yes, that was $4000!) 

  The shoot off was held thus: in the first round, everyone needed to
  shoot a six or better.  Nathan qualified with a six out of
  ten.  The second round, you needed to shoot an eight or better.
  Nathan nailed a ten.  The third round, a score of nine was needed.
  Nathan nailed another ten.   At this point, the shoot off was
  over since there were only three kids left. Due to his poor first shot,
  Nathan came in third place and scored a t-shirt. 

  After the shooting, James noticed the two 4-H advisors in the corner
  “giggling like kids at Christmas.” They called James over and said,
  “That kid is a *** **** good shot!” James had to unbutton his shirt to
  accommodate his swelled-with-pride chest.  Considering Nathan had
  never shot an air rifle of this type before and had no “extras” to
  improve his shooting, to come in third of eleven was great!

  But, I bet you are all on tenterhooks about the weekend.  Friday
  at noon, the Sellers and Wilsons left for New Jersey. (James and Rachel
  stayed for the CBF retreat where James was a speaker.)  First, of
  course, we had to make a one-hour layover in Harrisburg to get David’s
  birth certificate. It was a painless process, and we were on our way to
  New Jersey, the land of no decent restaurants.  We arrived at our
  hotel around  7:00 and tried to find a place to eat.  There
  are few, if any, “name brand” restaurants in NJ (above the level
  of  McDonald’s), so we were stumped. Fortunately, our new
  neighbors in PA lived in the area we were in for 17 years. A quick call
  to them gave us a place to go for supper. While The American Diner was
  cute, none of us really liked what we ordered. (Rare roast beef
  sandwich, salad loaded with green peppers, etc.)  We headed back
  to the hotel to meet the kids who rode the bus, watched the kids swim
  in the indoor pool, and loaded everyone off to bed.

  Saturday morning was a debacle where I threw a fit and refused to pay
  for the children’s breakfasts at the extremely expensive hotel
  restaurant. Kids 12 and under were to eat free with an adult purchase.
  I asked twice to confirm it and the price of the adult meal
  ($10).  But, since we were with a group, kids had to pay $7.95
  each.  I threw a fit!  (But politely) “Do you think I would
  have come to this restaurant to pay $7.95 for my kids to eat a bowl of
  Fruit Loops?  I would have gone to McDonald’s! etc…” Suffice it
  to say, I did not pay for the younger set, although my banana sat heavy
  in my stomach for a few hours after.

  The day was gorgeous for football, and the snack bar actually had good
  food. David was an emotional wreck and cried for about two hours off
  and on before the game started. He didn’t even know why he was so
  upset. But, thanks to a wise coach who put him in the game and had him
  carry the ball the first two plays, David was soon right as rain and
  smiling.  He scored two extra points and one touchdown and had
  some good passes and rushes.  The Bulldogs won 28 to 6, which
  means we get to do the whole thing again this weekend!

  We’ve booked our hotel with a free continental breakfast and indoor
  pool, James can come with us, and we are planning to have a great
  family time with the whole family together in Quakertown, PA.  We
  are only three wins away from having to spend December 4-10th in
  Orlando, which sounds nice until you have to pay for it. 

  I am so far behind in my AP work it doesn’t bear thinking of.
  Fortunately, when I take the car to the mechanic today (CD player fix,
  oil change, etc.), I’ll have an hour or so of cozy time with the laptop
  and some comparison/contrast essays.  I do seem to be on top of
  things in other ways, though, as I actually have scheduled my kids’
  Christmas pictures already.  I usually put it off until about
  mid-January.

  • 1:46 pm
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