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Well, It's been a long time since I've written anything; but I think that, in this case, no news is good news, as I am doing well and keeping busy. Much has happened since my last column, and I ended this week at my parents' anniversary/house warming party on "The Hill."

Butch is moving to New Orleans at the end of the month, and I'm going along for the ride. I was very surprised when Butch took Audy's job offer seriously, and next thing I knew, Audy and his wife, Tab, were here interviewing him for the job; now I'm looking at a six-day jaunt to The Big Easy, beginning with a road-trip in a Ryder truck with butch, and I'll be returning by train and bus. I asked Butch if he had the route figured out yet, he answered glibly: "South." If I survive the trip, I think I'll have a story to tell -- I just hope I can find (make) the time to write about it.

I've had a great summer -- the best in years -- even though the band wasn't as active as I had hope it would be. Right now Kontra is in limbo, while we look for a new drummer, but I'll let you know when we get back to playing around. At least I don't have to worry about getting away for the weekend, but either way, I'm not bored.

I'm also back in school, but I'm only taking one class, and I'll only miss one hour of class time while off on my extended weekend. I was planning on two classes this semester, but the Advanced Visual BASIC class was cancelled due to insufficient enrollment. I did, however, get a new computer and a copy of Visual BASIC, and I'm playing around with a project for Audy -- another reason for making the trek south. Plus, I'll have plenty of time to read Braille on the way back from New Orleans -- I've got it down to about 10 minutes per page now.

But getting back to that party on The Hill: Dad got to show off his latest building project as he and Mom celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a couple hundred of their closest friends and family. Complete with a dance hall -- they cleaned out the garage now that they have a house in which to live -- and a DJ, canvas tent roofs providing shade from the afternnoon sun (and shelter from the rain which didn't threaten), a bon fire big enough to take the sun's place when it set, fireworks after dark and, of course -- a beer wagon! I think it's safe to say, we soundly showed Phelps that the Roggemans really know how to party!

I am fortunate to be blessed with good friends, including Julie, who escorted me to my parents' shindig; I'll try to set aside time to write something to take up a little space here each week, but if I miss a week or two, it's not because I'm lonely.