Nov 4 - Flickr slideshow

A slideshow from the flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjmans/

August 18 - Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager

You may have heard about YouTube. mostly midless stuff, but the Chad Vader video is pretty funny:

AZ in July?

Who goes to Arizona in the hottest month of the year? The Mansfields. That's who.

Our travels took us to tucson, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon and Sedona.

It was a great trip with a variety of climate and geography. A few days were hot, but usually was in the 80s. And we always found a pool to cool off. more photos available on the flickr site at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjmans

July 8, 2006 - Two years. But Who's Counting?

We marked the two year anniversary of Kathy's passing rather quietly this year. We continueed the tradition of going to the Missouri Botanical Garden for the day. This year was extra sepcial sunce the Chihuly exhibit was there.

Canoe - June 10th

Last weekend Alex and I went canoeing with the Boy Scouts.

After 5 hours on the river, we didn't stay up late at camp.

May 26 - Eye on the Prize

May has been a very hectic month. And this week especially frantic. We started off the week with a rather challenging caving outing with the scouts. 5 hours underground in dark, muddy water.

Monday night was a race to buy shoes and clothes, get haircuts and ensure all of the animals were fed. tuesday night was Boy Scout recognitions. Wednesday night was Alex's 5th grade graduation (3 hours ina gym without air). Thursday brought Aelx to an all-day field trip to IL to the Lincoln museum in Springfield and Jon to his 8th grade, Eye on the Prize, graduation. Finally, Friday Jon went to Jefferson City for the weekend for DeMolay.

This weekend we're resting.

High School and Middle School start in three months.

Monday, March 27 - Voices

After Kathleen died, I wrote a short essay for a Scleroderma support group that appeared on their website.

Unlike many of their other posts, it was written from a caretaker/spouse point of view.

I recently received a copy of this book and my essay was included. It's available from Amazon and a worthy read for anyone who has scleroderma or knows or is caring for someone who does.

The essay is still online at: Online Essay

California Dreamin', March 12

The last two weeks have been very hectic. I worked in Anaheim California for a week.

But the boys joined me at the end. Thanks Barb and MaryKay!

We were able to spend some time with family who joined us at Disney.

Oh, and yes I beat Jon at Buzz Lightyear with a score of over 749,000. That's a level SIX Star Ranger!

February 4, 2006 - Jon's Confirmation

This was a busy week around the house. Jon's confirmation was held Wednesday night and we had a party Saturday at our house. kathy's family came out in support of Jon. Kathy's sister Barb was his sponsor. Her brother Frank is his godfather as well.

Monday January 9 - What Type of Car Are You

I had really been dreading having to switch cars. The day Kathy went into the hospital, I stopped driving mine and switched to her minivan because 1) it was newer, 2) the air conditioning worked.
Well I parked mine in the garage. Surprising, after 9 months it refused to start.

But as time pass along, I became ready to put those vans---and what they represent---behind us.

but what to buy? So, for 6 months I looked. And I asked myself, "What type of car owner am I"? Should I really get that red, convertible mustang that I always wanted? Or be very practical with with a Volvo.

What I knew was that my days as a Minivan driver needed to go. kathy just loved them. And we bought 3 of them over 10 years. but they drove like a truck. And the Dodge's seemed to have this habit of breaking down in the 5th year and costing a lot of money.

So, I compromised a bit and bought a Honda Pilot. I owned a Honda before and was very happy with it.

But it's sad to see another milestone pass along as we move on with our lives.