The Holidays are Over...On to Studying

It's been a nice holiday season, and it's hard to believe it's almost over. Every year I look forward to Christmas, and while I think December lingers on, it's literally over within days it seems. We didn't travel to Florida, and it was rather warm in Knoxville on December 25, but not as warm as Florida with highs in the 80s, a temperature David and I do not miss at this time of year.

We didn't have a traditional Christmas dinner. We prefer to have Italian instead since we both love this type of food. We made Gorgonzola meatball lasagna, and a tomato and mozzarella salad along with homemade bread. For New Year's Eve, we'll have homemade appetizers.

During the next month, I'll be studying at an intensive level for my comprehensive exams, which are based on all that I've (hopefully) learned during my coursework as a Ph.D. student. It will not be an easy task, so please say a prayer or just send a positive thought my way. I probably won't post entries on my blog until this process is over, unless I decide I need a distraction. :)



We hope 2008 was a great year and 2009 will be an even better one. Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!!!

Our cat, Dolly (who is on the left in the photo, and sister Sammie is on the right), writes an annual holiday letter that we send out to family and friends. She's asked me to post it here so everyone can read her wonderful and well-crafted account of our lives this past year and wish a happy holiday season to all. I wonder where she gets her writing abilities from?

December 2008

Hello, everyone! It’s Dolly Bouffard Beutke DeVito writing my annual holiday letter that you all know and love. By now, you should recognize me as the favorite (I still tell my sister Sammie she is adopted) feline daughter of Allyson and David. Due to the horrible state of the economy, my parents aren’t out shopping for our Christmas presents this year. How rude!

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Knoxville for three holiday seasons. No offense to our Floridian family and friends, but we don’t miss being in Florida in the 80-degree heat during the holidays. My parents are hoping for a white Christmas, but that means Sammie and I will have to go outside for photos!

Well, it’s finally happened! We have some exciting baby news to share. My parents……… bought a fish tank and some guppies in the spring. The female they bought, Athena, gave birth about six times to a dozen fish each time before going to that big toilet in the sky. (I had you thinking something else didn’t I.) But it appears that all the baby fish she had are males, so now there’s a tank full of fraternity brothers.

My dad has traveled a lot this year for his job as a postdoctoral research scientist at Oak Ridge National Lab. He went to Davis, California in April and then to Santa Rosa, California in October to check out really cool research stuff that he can’t even tell me about. He also went to his annual weeklong AVS conference in Boston during October. AVS used to stand for American Vacuum Society, but now it’s just AVS since I guess people thought they sold vacuum cleaners instead of doing vacuum science. The former name really sucked! (I don’t think I’m supposed to use that word.)

My mom is in her third year of the Ph.D. program in journalism and electronic media at the University of Tennessee. She has completed her coursework and will take comprehensive exams in January and then start writing this really long paper called a dissertation about media ethics, which she says some people think is an oxymoron.

Here’s a funny story about my dad’s dissertation. When he was working on it in Florida and had all his papers laid out on the table, I decided to try some of his cold coffee, so I dipped my precious little paw in his cup and realized it wasn’t water. Naturally, I did what any cat would do. I flung my paw full of coffee all over his papers. I still laugh about that to this day.

My mom loves teaching, but she’s still amazed about what her some of her students don’t know. She likes to give them news quizzes since they are future journalists, and in September she asked who presidential candidate Barack Obama had chosen as his running mate. She actually had some students write “John McCain.” (For Republicans who are still in denial about our country’s future, the correct answer is Joe Biden.) I obviously can’t vote, but I know it was a historic election. However, we’ve heard more about Obama’s family getting a dog than his economic stimulus plan and how he’s going to handle healthcare. Focus on the issues humans!

Sammie and I are concerned about the lack of a feline in the White House. Don’t they realize how much time a dog takes up and how messy and smelly they are! They’d be much better off with a cat. I’m not volunteering myself since my parents love me too much, but Sammie might make a good choice!

When gas prices were of course at their highest, my parents made four trips to Florida in seven months, and they’re sorry if they didn’t have a chance to see all of you who live there. All of the trips revolved around a family event, so it was difficult to make the rounds and just relax.

Last December, they went to Uncle Jason’s UF graduation, where he gave a wonderful speech. In May, Uncle Jason married Aunt Kristen in Ormond, Florida. A few weeks later, Grandma and Grandpa Beutke celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary (June 1, 1968), so my parents and Uncle Jason and Aunt Kristen planned a surprise party in Alachua, Florida. Everyone who was in their wedding party was invited to a special dinner. In July, they went to Winter Haven, Florida for a surprise 50th birthday party for Grandma Muller. I’m actually almost as old as her in cat years.

They’ll head back to Florida in March when my dad’s sister, Aunt Allison, and Uncle Matt are married in Orlando. Congrats to Uncle Matt, another UF graduate, who earned his MBA this December! My parents can’t wait to meet the new cousins on my dad’s side, Kalynn and Jeannah. Also, a special shout out and thank you to Lisa, Holly and Paul for taking care of us whenever the parents are gone. I don’t know what we’d do without them except starve to death!

My parents also went to Chicago in August for my mom’s conference with a bunch of academic journalists. Talk about a group that’s rolling in the dough! A few days later they were off to Ohio for my dad’s research. During those two weeks they drove through Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, a first for both of them.

Our only visitors this year were Grandma and Grandpa Muller and Grandma Bouffard who came up in October. Mom and Dad took them to Cades Cove to see the fall colors. I hope it’s not Sammie’s bad breath that keeps other family members away. It’s really horrific. Please come visit us. We can always lock her in the garage.

During this holiday season, we hope your gas prices are low and your retirement savings are high. Remember, if you have pets, have them spayed or neutered. Sadly, I no longer watch “The Price is Right.” I’m sure Drew Carey is a nice guy, but he’s no Bob Barker.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Love,

Dolly, Sammie, David, and Allyson DeVito


P.S. You all know my true love for Florida football quarterback Tim Tebow. He is awesome, and I’d love to see him win another Heisman trophy. Maybe he can give me the second one to put on top of my litter box. The Gators rock and the Tennessee Volunteers are uh, um, well, good…in basketball (let’s hope!). Go Gators! Go Vols!

Congratulations Graduates!

Congratulations Glenn, Felicia, Jim, Alla, Steve, Sora, John, Emma, Charlie and Cheryl!

It was an inspiration for me to see my colleagues last Friday at UT's graduate hooding ceremony. When one earns a doctoral degree, his or her adviser "hoods" them, which literally means they put an academic hood over their head.

The College of Communication and Information had 10 Ph.D. students graduate, and 9 of them attended the ceremony. Most of them have left Knoxville for jobs in various states, so it was a reunion as well. Several of us served as graduate student ushers, so we were able to get some great photos thanks to Katerina who used my camera. I was stationed at the doors, greeting guests and telling them where to sit.

Hopefully, I won't be an usher at next December's hooding ceremony but a hooded graduate. I'm taking my comprehensive exams in January, so my winter break will be spent studying.

David's Birthday Brain

Yesterday was David's 31st birthday. We spent it relaxing at our house and relishing in the Gator's football victory Saturday night. They'll play against Oklahoma in the National Championship game on January 8.

On Friday we did some shopping, and David bought what I call a brain. It's a custard cake dessert, but as you can see below it looks like a small brain.







We had a delicious dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse, where they gave David a birthday dessert. He chose creme brulee. I'm not a dessert person, so David had the brulee and the brain to consume all by himself.



Happy Birthday honey. I love you!

Mr. and Mrs. David and Allyson DeVito

When David and I were married almost five years ago, I changed my last name to DeVito, dropped my original middle name of Ann and made Beutke my official middle name. It was hard at first since I'd always been Allyson A. Beutke, but now I'm used to signing Allyson Beutke DeVito. However, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people address cards and letters to us, and write "Mr. and Mrs. David DeVito" or even just to me as "Mrs. David DeVito."

I love my husband and our last name, but I didn't change my first name to David when I married him. It's still Allyson. I realize this is a custom that my grandparents and probably their grandparents followed, but the feminist in me says it's past time to wake up and address both names in the relationship, not just the man.

The reason I bring this up is because I love receiving holiday cards in the mail, and I love sending them. They've started arriving in our mailbox, and I'm very appreciative of them, but it doesn't take that much extra time to write or type "Mr. and Mrs. David and Allyson DeVito," or better yet, make it shorter and just write "The DeVito Family."

OK, I'll get off my soap box now. I realize this is a small thing to complain it, but it really annoys me as David and my mother both know well. Now, back to addressing those Christmas cards the right way.

Heidi Experiences Winter Weather

Heidi had her first snow this morning as temperatures dropped below freezing, and the weekend's rain showers changed into snow showers. It wasn't much, but for a Florida girl, snow in December is always exciting. We park Heidi outside when it's cold, and Libby goes inside the garage since David usually leaves before me.



Heidi also experienced hail Sunday evening. We were watching television and heard a beating noise outside and realized it was hail falling, so we moved Heidi inside but not before some of the frozen pellets landed on her. There wasn't any damage, but I guess we're just overprotective parents.



Speaking of children, I was trying to take a good photo of Dolly and Sammie together to include on Dolly's annual holiday letter. They are sleeping on the bed next to each other a lot these days since it's colder. Sammie, however, likes to sometimes stick out her tongue when taking photos, as you can see below. Her appearance may resemble a gremlin, but fortunately her personality does not.

For those of you eagerly anticipating Dolly's annual Christmas letter, she's almost finished with it, and hopefully it will be in the mail next week. I'll also post it on here. Happy Holidays! Hope you're enjoying the weather wherever you are!

Merry Christmas! Wait!!! Aren't we celebrating that other holiday, what's it called again? Oh yeah, Thanksgiving! I meant to write Happy Thanksgiving!

I love this time of year as my family knows, but I'm growing more and more annoyed that Thanksgiving is literally put on the back burner in favor of Christmas. I can't believe people have their Christmas trees and lights up already, and they've been up since last week or even before.

I realize Christmas is a true commercial holiday, and even though I don't like it, I've finally accepted that stores will decorate for the holidays and sell Christmas decor and gifts starting in October for business reasons, but it's still hard for me to accept people in my neighborhood and others already decorating for Christmas. Can't we just enjoy Thanksgiving?

I'm partially guilty in my own right, although I don't think my actions are quite as guilty as others. Satellite radio has already added a holiday songs channel called "Holly" that I've started listening to, which has greatly annoyed my wonderful husband since I enjoy listening to it a lot...well possibly all the time. Christmas music puts me in a great mood, but today as I prepared for Thanksgiving and listened to the music, it felt more like Christmas Eve and not Thanksgiving Eve.

I asked my students on a quiz I gave yesterday about when and where the first Thanksgiving was celebrated. Most of them didn't know the answer, which is sad since it seems the reasons why we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas have both been forgotten.

I'm thankful for many things, and I'm still very thankful that we have Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm not going shopping Friday. I'll be taking down my Thanksgiving decorations and putting up the Christmas tree and lights.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!

Touring CNN in Atlanta and a Publix sighting in Tennessee!

Last Friday, one of the University of Tennessee journalism faculty members took a group of undergraduate students to CNN in Atlanta for a tour and the opportunity to meet with UT alumni working at CNN. I tagged along since I've never been. The standard CNN tour than anyone can go on was informative for people who've never worked in a newsroom. While Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer and Larry King do their shows out of New York, Washington and Los Angeles, CNN Headline news is based in Atlanta, and Atlanta is still the "mothership" of CNN.

The best part of the day was when one of the UT alums gave us a special tour where we had the chance to be on the newsroom floor and take photos behind the news desk. The students really enjoyed it. We also had a great talk with meteorologist Chad Myers, who took time out of his busy schedule to explain how things work and offer some great advice. Sometimes I still wish I'd been a meteorologist. I'm still annoyed we don't get "Local on the 8s" from The Weather Channel since we have Direct TV.

What was helpful to our group of students was meeting with hiring managers who coordinate internships and entry-level positions. It's a competitive business, and a common way for someone to get his or her foot in the door at CNN is to start off a Video Journalist or VJ. I know several friends from UF who did this after graduating. The starting salary is $24,000, and when I told this to my class yesterday, a series of shocked and horrified gasps befell the classroom. Honestly, the salary isn't that bad in Atlanta for a journalism job. I have friends who've moved to New York City and have taken a job for the same amount or less! I try to tell my students each semester that you don't become a journalist to become rich. There's a huge salary gap between what most journalists make and what Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Barbara Walters bring home.

Several of the UT alumni talked about why they continue to be journalists despite the long hours, giving up holidays with family and friends and considerably lower pay than other professions. Passion is the reason. They said they love their jobs and don't see them as jobs, and they have a passion for what they're doing. I wonder how many of my students have this passion. Making a living is important, but for many of them a paycheck outweighs their passion. People could ask me the same thing since I'm not a practicing journalist, but I do miss it...at times. At this point in my life, my passion is teaching, but how to instill passion in my students about being a journalist isn't easy these days.

The tour was a great experience for them and for me. A highlight on the way back home was seeing a brand new Publix grocery store just built off the interstate close to Chattanooga. I kind of squealed when I saw it, which probably made all the students on the van wonder what in the world I was doing, but Publix is one of the few things I miss about Florida (besides our families and friends :)) This Publix is about one hour and 15 minutes from our house, but I hope it's a sign that Publix is inching closer to Knoxville since there are many stores in the Nashville area.

Whenever I say "Publix," I swear that most people, automatically say, "I love Publix subs!" I have to agree with them. Publix, please find a home near Knoxville. It's truly "where shopping is a pleasure."

Remembering Aunt Yvonne

Aunt Yvonne (left) and family cousin Katherine at our wedding reception in 2004.

It's been a tough few weeks for my family with the passing of Uncle H.D. in October, and this past week, my mom's aunt, my great aunt, Yvonne Emery died suddenly. She turned 73 last Monday, Nov. 10, and on Tuesday afternoon, her heart simply stopped beating while she was at home talking on the telephone. Her passing is still a shock to all of us.

Aunt Yvonne and her husband, Uncle Paul, used to live near my parent's house in Alachua. One of my fondest memories of her and Uncle Paul is when they helped save our Christmas one year. During the days leading up to Christmas in 1989, a snow and ice storm delved all the way down to Florida. I was 12 years old and had never seen snow. What we experienced was more ice than snow, and it created more havoc than happiness. Churches canceled Christmas services. The mall and other stores closed early because no one could drive on the icy roads.

Our family Christmas gathering was also canceled, and it was something my younger brother and I look forward to since we saw all our cousins and exchanged presents. While the snow and ice were exciting, we were kind of trapped in our house with no place to go. Aunt Yvonne invited us over for supper one night. My dad had to use an ice pick to break the ice from his truck's door handle, so we could open the door and all pile in the truck and drive about 1/8 of a mile on the icy road to their house. I think it took us about 10 minutes to drive what usually would have been a 2 minute drive.

She made delicious Brunswick Stew, which we'd never had before. My mom still uses her recipe when she makes it. It might seem like a small gesture, but it meant the world to us.

Aunt Yvonne leaves behind her husband of 51 years, three sons and six grandchildren. She was the true rock of her family, and I know it's going to hard for them during this holiday season. At least heaven will enjoy some delicious Brunswick Stew. We love you, and we'll miss you Aunt Yvonne.

Climbing Clingman's Dome

On Saturday, we visited Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The leaves have already changed color and are starting to fall off the trees in the mountains, but it's still a beautiful site to see. It was a clear day with hardly a cloud in the sky, so we decided to drive up to the highest point in the Smokies, Clingman's Dome.

We then climbed the steep half-mile walk to the observation tower and were able to see more than 100 miles in each direction because of how clear it was, which is rare since it's often quite cloudy at 6,643 feet. It was the perfect day for such an experience.

The road to Clingman's Dome is closed Dec. 1-March 31 due to the winter weather. It was a cool 35 degrees up there Saturday afternoon, and we saw ice and some snow since it had rained the night before.











The above photo shows Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge down in the valley. Look for the small white structures, and those are the towns, which tells you how high up we are!












This is what Gatlinburg looks like from a bit closer. We stopped at an overlook on the Gatlinburg by-pass on our way back home.








The shots below were taken while driving through the park.






Just another reason why we LOVE living in this gorgeous area!

Happy Halloween!

Don't have too much fun out there tonight! Have a spooky and safe weekend!

Happy Birthday Aljosha!

My friend Katerina's little boy, Aljosha, is one today! I can't believe how fast this year has flown by in all our lives. In an earlier post, I talked about how I was in the delivery room for Aljosha's birth. What a wonderful experience! Happy Birthday Aljosha! Below are some recent photos of Aljosha and his wonderful family.

Updates

I'm happy to report that my college friend Natasha and her family had some good news this week. After the first round of chemo, baby Austin (pictured above in the hospital with his big brother Hunter) is in remission and doesn't have any cancer cells in his body. The doctors determined this after a bone marrow biopsy. He'll still needs four more rounds of chemo, but the Allen family is very happy. They continue to need prayers and support since they'll probably be at Shands Hospital until March.



Another Gator is moving to Knoxville! University of Tennessee President John Petersen selected Dr. Jimmy Cheek, UF's Senior Vice President for Agricultural and Natural Resources, as UT-Knoxville's next chancellor. The UT Board of Trustees approved the recommendation Friday, and Cheek starts Feb. 1, 2009. I should probably warn him about all the orange and white he's going to encounter. Go Gators! Go Vols!

Saying Good-Bye to Uncle H.D.

A wonderful family friend who's been my dad's neighbor since my dad was born almost 70 years ago died over the weekend. H.D. (H.D. stood for Homer Deihl, but he always went by H.D.) Burnett, or as my brother and I affectionately called him, Uncle H.D., died outside his workshop some time Saturday afternoon. He grew up and lived a field away from the house my dad was born in and next to his son Tim, daughter-in-law Judith and two granddaughters, Sierra and Cheyenne.

It's still a shock to all of us who knew him. He was 76 but hadn't been ill and would spend hours each day working in his shop, restoring antique tractors and wood working. He served in the Korean War, worked for a Ford motor company in Alachua, Florida and then was a rural post office carrier before finally retiring and enjoying what he loved most, restoring those antiques and spending time with his family.

My dad would visit him almost every day, and they would talk about tractors, life, the weather, people they knew, etc. I know my dad is going to miss him a lot. I remember my mom telling me one time that my dad hadn't been over to visit in a few days because he was busy with other things, so one morning, Uncle H.D. called my parent's house and asked my mom, "Is Amos OK?" My mom replied, "Well, yes." Uncle H.D. then said, "Well I was just wondering since he hasn't been over here in a few days."

My first memory of Uncle H.D. was probably when I was about 4 or 5 years old. Uncle H.D. had restored my dad's father's old John Deere tractor, which we named Putt-Putt. My dad reminded me of this last night when he said they had a photo slide show at the funeral home during visitation, and there was a photo of me and Uncle H.D. in the slide show with Putt-Putt. Dad gave me a box of my old photos when I was in Florida this summer, and I found the same photo last night. (By the way, I still have those cowboy boots, which were my first pair.)



The restored Putt-Putt and me.


Uncle H.D. worked for years at Enneis Motor Company in Alachua, and he checked out my first car, a used 1988 Ford Escort, before we bought it. When my wonderful but problem-plagued Plymouth Neon had issue after issue, he look at it several times and diagnosed the multiple problems.

When we moved to Tennessee two years ago, I wanted to take the antique bedroom set that belonged to my dad's parents and had been in a barn for way too long. It wasn't in good shape since the termites had made it their dinner. He and his daughter-in-law restored it to its original condition, and it's beautiful. He refused to let me pay him.



A photo of the restored dresser is above.

His kindness and generosity extended well beyond family and close friends. He would often fix things at Brown's restaurant in Alachua, and the owners would reward him with a warm meal and friendly conversation. He had breakfast at Brown's the day he died with Judith and the girls. My dad told me the other day that he built a set-up on his property for a friend with his RV camper to come and stay with a water and sewage hook-up.




We held a 40th wedding anniversary party for my parents in June, and invited their wedding party. Uncle H.D. and my dad's sister, Aunt Naomi, are in the photo above probably sharing a funny story or joke with each other, something they are both known for. H.D. was my dad's best man at his wedding. My parent's anniversary dinner was the last time I saw Uncle H.D. It's hard to believe he's gone, and I know so many people will miss him. I guess God must have some tractors or antique furniture that needs restoring up there in heaven. We'll miss you Uncle H.D.

The 90-minute "Minute Clinic"

After having a nice lunch today with my friend Jessica, I decided to get my annual flu shot. I've been getting a flu shot since I was a freshman in college, and it's worked so far. A nurse told me that being in a college setting is a high risk area since I'm in constant contact with hundreds of students each day, touching the same door handles, computer keyboards, bathroom fixtures, etc., and as a whole college students don't take care of themselves.

I decided to go to the CVS Minute Clinic, but it took many minutes, almost 90 to be exact. Based on the television commercial, I thought the Minute Clinic only handled flu shots. I was wrong. It's an actual clinic where people who are sick go to be diagnosed, hence the long wait. When I arrived around 2:30 p.m., there were four people in front of me, and three of them weren't there to get a flu shot. They were sick, and the nurse practitioner spent about 25 minutes with each of them. I'm glad they were treated for their various illnesses because it gave me the chance to meet a very interesting woman.

A 69-year-old pawn shop owner walked in for her flu shot a few minutes after I did. We all had to use a touch-screen computer system to register for a flu shot or list another reason we were there. She immediately told me she didn't know how to use computers, so I helped her log on. It took a few minutes since she didn't always hit the correct key, but we finally got her registered. She then proceeded to rummage through her purse searching for a business card to give me. As I mentioned she owns a pawn shop and wrote on the back of the card that I can receive a 35 percent discount on any item not on sale, and I can use layaway. She also didn't include an expiration date.

She couldn't find her cell phone, so she drove back to her pawn shop to get it. When she returned 20 minutes later, we were all still waiting. She told myself and another young woman sitting next to me that she was going to do some shopping. A few minutes later she returned with a Brazilian bikini wax kit and asked if either of us had used one. We both told her no. She informed us of her trip next week to Miami with her 79-year-old husband and how she didn't have time to go to a beauty shop for a bikini wax. Then, she proceeded to open up the wax kit and read the entire instruction guide out loud for all to hear. If you've never read a bikini wax guide out loud, please don't start now. She also made several other comments I will not write here, but I'll leave to your imagination.

Fortunately, it was my turn next to have a flu shot, but I enjoyed meeting this very nice woman, and I appreciate the discount card. To be almost 70 and buying a bikini wax kit...I can only hope.

Fun Family Fall Visit

Last weekend, David's family visited us. His mom, Jean-Paul and Grandma made the long journey from hot and humid Winter Haven, Florida to the mountains of East Tennessee. It was unseasonably warm here though with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s.

On Saturday, we joined hundreds of other tourists at a popular driving site during the fall and all year round, Cades Cove.



It's probably the most popular spot in the Great Smoky Mountains. The leaves are starting to change to bright red, yellow and orange colors, but they definitely haven't hit their peak, which will probably be at the end of October.





Bumper to bumper traffic. If you're driving through any part of the the Smokies during the fall, be prepared to go slow and stop often.



Views from the sunroof!




We saw quite a few deer during the drive, and they were very close to the road. Most of the photos I took were blurry since we were moving, but I promise there's a deer in this one. I just can't find it!



We didn't see any bears, but it was a lot of fun though to ride through the one-way 11-mile loop, which I haven't done since I was a child. Just another reason we love living in this part of the country.