June 13, 2001 - well, this last weekend was a killer.  Tropical Storm Allison visited from the Gulf of Mexico and decided to dump a couple feet worth of rain on our fair city.  I almost got caught in flooding Thursday evening leaving a meeting downtown.  It rained that night and all of next day, but no big deal.  A little light flooding around town.  I took some pictures that night (Tropical Storm Allison) and went to bed thinking it was nothing special.  The next morning, I got dressed for work and walked out the door.  I was talking to Emily and looking backward, so on my third step, I was in water and new something was very, very, wrong.  Long story short, we were lucky. Water came within 10 feet of the house.  We lost the flashing on our chimney and incurred water damage in two walls and carpet etc. in two rooms.  Nothing compared to thousands of other folks in this city.  I made it in to work at about 9:00 on Saturday and worked 16 hrs, then a 12 hour shift on Sunday.  Devastation in some areas was massive.  Water was over 10 feet deep in some intersections.  Our 911 system, phones, cell phones... you name it, it went out.  I have some flood pictures and will put those up shortly.  I am studying for Lt's test on Junes 28, so must get back to it.  Best to all!!!   Cya,  Jay

May/June 2001 - School is over, but May was a pretty forgettable month.  Every weekend seemed to be rained out for soccer, then every one in the family got "fifth's disease"  Each kid got to miss about a week of school... all at different times of course :(  Christopher probably was the sickest, but is quickly mending.  Anyway, now school is out.  Nicholas spent first two weeks at St. Thomas for drumming camp.  Christopher is in Summer School at Klein.  Valerie and the girls are hacking around the house.  

April 2001 - Everyone but the boys (who had soccer games later) ran the Bellaire Trolley run.  This was Valerie's first ever road race!!  She and the girls ran the mile and Jay ran the 5k.  We won't talk about times...finishing was cool enough!!!  I (Jay) finally got the Salado pics and the Scottish Festival Pics up on both OFOTO and their own select pages.  During Easter Break, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts , Arboretum (Pictures), Moody Gardens (Pictures), and Museum of Natural Science.  Quite an educating vacation :) Also... put the latest joke up here.  Also posted more soccer pictures for both Christopher and Nicholas,

March 2001 - Valerie was a hit in her play "You Can't Take It With You".  They played for three performances.  I taped all three and took about 600 digital pictures.  The winners are on the OFOTO page.  I will make our own page up with the "best of" soon.  Nicholas has been studying hard for his performance in the summit.  His girlfriend will be coming to see him !!! :) We will be going to the cast party on the 31st and then to see the Albatross dance that evening.  Whoo hoo... what a month.  Oh.. did I mention that Christopher carried a 98 average for pre-cal this last six weeks???  Emily made honor roll as did Katherine.  Nicholas did well, with hiccups in conduct.  Emily had her friend Susan over one weekend night and Katherine spent the night at a friends house the weekend of the play..  We are just tooo tooo busy these days.  The crack kitty is now gone... the house has returned to a dull tedium (at least during the night :).

Feb 2001 - Still waiting for Ms. Y and the Albatross to relieve us of the black crack kitty!!!!   Christopher seems to have a flame, Leah.  She is a good influence on him... he is actually doing homework these days!!!!  We have a freezer full of deer and hog, so meals are pretty much pre-planned now ;).  Went to the race track with Spisaks and did well enough to pay our way.. what more can one ask for?  I got cleared by the department for my dog shooting back in October.  Nicholas is back playing indoor soccer as well as outdoor with St. Thomas.  He has also made the "C" band and will perform in the summit on March 30th!!!  Girls are doing well in school.  Both made honor roll.  Valerie will move from the office to teaching French as of March 1st. Life is good.  More Pictures (including Leah) on Ofoto page.

Jan 4-7 - Christopher and Jay went hunting out in West Texas (South Fork Ranch) with Gil and Ron.  Had a great time.  The wx reached low 20's at night and nearly 70 in the day... needless to say, we are both suffering from colds :)  But it was definitely worth it.  We are going to try and go back in October for a pig an exotic hunt... any of you interested??

Christmas - Very quiet affair... Chantal was in France and Sandi could not make it down.  Jay and kids went up to Dallas to see Sandi, then Larry.  Got to eat out several times in a row and see 'Erin Brockovich" and 'Road to Eldorado".  What more could you ask for out of a road trip.

12-3-00 - Christopher's club team played in the southwest regional finals.  They were beaten yesterday by Klein, who had not lost all season.  The weather was cold, windy and all around miserable.  Their coach had done wonders with the team and they were just happy to be in the finals at all. Somehow, the team put together a miracle game, the likes of which I have never seen.  One of the West U strikers scored on a fluke penalty... the other goalie decided to just use one hand to push the ball out, and the wind caught it and sent it right through his hand.... talk about a look of surprise on his face.  The Klein kids took it to us for the next fifty minutes... I have no idea how many shots Christopher stopped, but it was enough to earn him Most Valuable Player of the tournament!!!!  Better than any $100.00 a seat pro game!

Weekend after Thanksgiving - Jay went hunting with Mr. Spisak.  Got a ten pt. buck and pigs... whoo hoo!!!  Valerie is just ecstatic with all of the game meat she gets to figure out how to cook... (Hey... killing it is my job.. cooking is hers :)

Thanksgiving 00 - Jay had to work and there was a shooting at the end of the shift.  Caught the bad guys which was a lot of excitement, but meant missing most of Turkey dinner.... sigh!  Everyone stayed a little later to watch him eat though... so that was cool.  A good time was had by all.  Gaston and Stephanie came as well as Chantal and Monica.

11/08/00 - Been off of web stuff for a while... lots of computer problems.  Now back on and trying to tear time away from Diablo II to work on the website and put some pictures up :).  Everyone is well, Emily has her first dancing competition this weekend.  Jay will go with her to Salado while Valerie does the soccer thing.  The following are a bit late.

October - Jay was involved in a shooting... of a dog.  Two pitbulls tore up a neighborhood, putting three people in the hospital and killing at leat seven animals..  During the investigation, one of the dogs attacked and was subsequently shot.  The news coverage was pretty extensive due to the amount of carnage. News Coverage B

Sometime in September - Stephanie is now Mrs. Gaston Arguelles... pictures to come soon.  The wedding was wonderful.  Made lots of new friends.

Christopher and Nicholas are taking fencing camp this week.  They seem to enjoy it and the instructors are gushing about their "athletic ability".  Whoo hoo!  The girls are going to their old babysitter, so they are as happy as if they were at camp - go figure.

 

5-01-00 The old ISP never would renew my account, so I lost the website and all the info.  Will start working on the new one as time permits.  Work goes well.  There is talk that the promotional test will be delayed while they try to settle the race discrimination lawsuit, which currently has us under court order.  So for now, no ideas what the plans are for the summer.

2/26/00 - Jay and Christopher spent Saturday at Huntsville judging a Hostage Negotiation competition for Explorer students.  It was a very good experience.  Some of the kids were excellent.  Everyone seemed to learn from the experience, even the actors!!

Grandpa Larry came to visit while working on a bid for his company.  He got to see me (Jay) play goalie in an indoor game for the first time.  He asked me if I really enjoy this kind of abuse... of course I do!!!!  Emily enjoyed the visit cuz we got to take pictures of her fish!!

1/21/00 - Grandpa John came to visit.  Went to the racetrack and had a great time... didn't win much money though... sigh :)

1/01/00 - made it through last night with no glitches, terrorist acts, etc.. whoo hoo!!

1999

12-25 - Christmas... Jay worked... Dinner after 3pm.  Stephanie and Gaston announced their engagement!!! Christmas Pictures

12-23 - Got back from Dallas area where we visited with Grandma Sandi and Grandpa Larry.  Had a really good time... Grandpa Larry showed off his new digital camera.  Click the camera to see the results.  He got the camera I am thinking about getting. Sigh....  :) 

Put up the "Christmas Card" website... hope everyone got the link via e-mail...

12-21 - Several friends of Christopher's were on the bus that wrecked coming back from Colorado.   Three people died in that accident. We grieve for their families and friends , and pray that those who were injured make complete and speedy recoveries.  One of Christopher's best friends, Faber, was on board, but escaped with only a concussion and broken finger.