Merry Christmas from the Ridenours 2011

Dottie and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this year.  We spared no expense.  We spent a few days at Mt. Magazine State Park in Arkansas.  When I called the front desk to say I’ve gotta leak in my sink, the manager told me to go ahead.  I was surprised that the state drinking age is 32.  It seems they want to keep alcohol out of the high schools.

Baby David turned 50. There are numerous advantages to being 50.  Just ask any 80 year-old.  David will be married 25 years in January.  When David first asked his wife to marry him, she was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t speak for an hour.  It was the happiest hour of his life.

Dale turned 55 and he finally got a descent job.  He sings karaoke five nights a week.  He sings for cheese and wine.  And that’s what people do when they hear him sing.

A week before Dale turned 55, my parents celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. 

Both of my parents turned 75 this year.  They are healthy.  At 74, Mom finally retired from the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas in December of 2010.  An Episcopal is just a Baptist who did well financially.

Our cat Sweetie disappeared on September the 3rd.  We have coyotes in our area so we figured she was dead.  She came back home almost two months later.  She was skin and bones, anemic, and dehydrated.  It’s a miracle that she came home, is still alive, and has fully recovered.  Dang!  Why did she come back? I was enjoying not changing the cat litter.

I became “El Presidente” of my Sons of the American Revolution chapter.  I think the old geezers set me up as a puppet president.  I keep expecting to get impeached.  The year is not over yet.

I met some cousins in Arkansas for the first time this year.  Norma Pee’s mother was Adele Smith, who was adopted out of my family when she was age 4 in 1916. Adele was the youngest sister of my great grandmother.  No one in my family ever heard anything from Adele again.  Norma’s daughter-in-law found me via my Smith genealogy webpage.  Arkansas is a unique state. I found out recently that OJ Simpson moved there because all the DNA is the same.

Dottie and I took the Corvette to the Corvette Weekend in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  We hit a wild boar one night while driving through the countryside.  I called the local Highway Department to have them clean it up.  They told me that it would be $200.  I immediately hung up the phone. I was surprised two weeks later when I got a bill for $200.  I guess the pig squealed on me.

Paul and Dottie Ridenour - www.paulridenour.com


My parents in happier times


                           Dale                                                                            David


Sweetie before she disappeared             S
weetie after she back came home