We had a very full day. First thing was the Men’s Breakfast, which featured Preston Dennard as the speaker. Mr. Dennard is a graduate of UNM and played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills. During his career he was the top rated NFL Wide Receiver, voted most outstanding Wide Receiver, and twice nominated NFL Man of the Year. He was inducted into the NM Hall of Honor in 2000 and the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. Laurie noticed his Superbowl ring, so he took it off and handed it to her so she could get a closer look. He told stories of his life, his faith, his coaching (kids’ soccer), and his inspirational speaking. He has five boys aged 6 to 33. The oldest boy is also a professional football player. He was a very good and entertaining speaker. One thing that impressed me during his talk is how much he talked about his father, and how important his father was in his life and success. His dad was in so many of his stories that I started to wonder if something happened to his mom. He eventually mentioned mom and dad near the end of his talk.  With so many single moms, and various youth services and ministries emphasizing the need for men to volunteer and mentor young men, I wondered if he made a point to emphasize his dad. I didn’t get to ask him because he had to run off to soccer practice.

After the breakfast, we ran to Costo and Sprouts (formerly Sunflower) to get ingredients for Book Group dinner tomorrow night (Laurie is hosting). After we unloaded the car, we had to go right back into town to go to the 8th Air Force luncheon. The luncheon was at the Marriott at I-40 and Louisiana, and we made good time until we passed San Mateo on I-40 and both lanes for the Louisiana exit were at a standstill. I finally got out of the exit lane and got off at Wyoming, and snaked my way back to the Marriott. There didn’t seem to be any accidents, so all we could figure was the back up was for the NM State Fair.  We sat with a couple who were from Czechoslovakia and came to the US in the early 1970’s. We asked if there was anything they missed from Czechoslovakia and they both replied “NO! Not a thing!” The speaker was Norman Schipper,s who was the crew chief on the B-17 Liberty Belle, which had been restored, toured the world and then burned up in a cornfield after an emergency landing a couple of years ago.

After we got home in the early afternoon, I finished the cabinet in the bathroom enough to install the countertop and sinks. Now I need to build the doors for the cabinets, install a backsplash and new medicine cabinets. Then I’ll start working on the ceiling and lights. The bathroom remodel is slowly coming together.

Stretch was trying to be a sweet kitty by getting on the sugar the minute Laurie put in on the counter when she was preparing to bake the spongecake for a tres leches cake she’s making for desert tomorrow.