It has been a very busy week around our house beginning with last weekend. As I've mentioned in the past, I used to be a very active wedding photographer until I retired a few years ago. The daughter of the people I used to work for is getting married in June and I've come out of retirement to do her wedding.

I've watched Rhonda grow up and I'm very honored that she asked me to shoot the wedding. Some of her friends threw a shower for her on Saturday. Terry and I attended to cover the event. After the shower, we went to get my eyes checked and new glasses. What should have been a "glasses in one hour" event turned into three. That pretty much did in Saturday. Bright and early Sunday morning (and I mean bright and early!) Terry, Rhonda, Kurt, the groom to be, and myself met at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth to shoot their engagement pictures. We ended up the morning at Le Peep for a mid-morning breakfast.

Do you think that is all? Well it's not! Sunday evening we were invited to a gathering over at my brother-in-law and sister's home for a graduation party for my nephew. It was really neat. My sister invited 30 or so of my nephew's teachers to a cookout to thank them for the outstanding influence and guidance that they have provided Jason in his junior high and high school years. I don't know many 17 year olds that would have been as comfortable as Jason was in the presence of all of those teachers. But he is a very unusual individual. He is a sheer joy to be around! He and I have a very special bond. Terry and I are very proud of him and all of his accomplishments.

As I write this on Tuesday evening Terry and I have just returned from our first meeting of the "Lone Star Dragon Club." You ask what the heck is Chuck and Terry getting involved with now? We are serious collectors of "Pocket Dragons." We have close to 60 pieces now and more on the way this year. What's a "Pocket Dragon?" Read on and you'll find out. We'll even provide a link to our favorite "Pocket Dragon" retailer, "The Wishing Well."

One more bit of information and we'll get on with the column. For those of you that have been following the "trials and tribulations" of Terry's first quilt, the classes are finally over and she has put the project down for a while. She is going to finish the one block that she has started quilting, but finishing the whole quilt will be a long process that will take more than a few months. She really enjoyed the classes and the quilt will be very beautiful when she does get it finished.

Terry and I are sort of a strange couple. We don't have any human children (we do have our three precious feline children, though) but we own every Disney Cartoon Classic that has been released on video. We also are big fans of the Mr. Peppermint Show that is a legend here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. One Saturday morning, a segment caught our eye. It was about a local artist that has created a line of figurines that depict cute little dragons and a few other creatures. Each and every one of the figurines has a story behind it. Most of them are based on the antics of the artist's beloved dogs and cats. After seeing the segment, Terry and I were hooked and we set out to find where in the world we could purchase these "Pocket Dragons." Terry finally called the Channel 8 studios and talked to Mr. Peppermint's producer, Vern Daily. He gave us the artist's home phone number. Terry had an ulterior motive. On the show they had shown a lithograph that the artist had done called "The Computer Wizard." Christmas time was right around the corner, so she figured it would be a perfect gift for me, since I was heavily involved in computers.

Terry gave Real and Muff a call, (yes, that is their real names), to ask where she could purchase the print we had seen on Mr. Peppermint. She also asked them who handled the figurines locally. They pointed us towards "The Wishing Well" and the rest is history. With a growing collection of close to 60 of these mischievous dragons, they are about to take over the house. It has become a major task just to dust them.

You could not meet a nicer bunch of folks than the family that runs "The Wishing Well" in Fort Worth. Their business, located in the heart of the Fort Worth Cultural District, has been serving the collecting community since 1969. They handle some 30 major lines of collectibles, but Terry's and my favorite is "The Whimsical World of Pocket Dragons." There are some other lines that I personally would like to start collecting, but Terry has put her foot down and refused until we get a larger house. Back in December, I helped the owners understand what the Internet and the World Wide Web was about and how it could enhance their already well established business, so I am pretty proud that the site has turned out so well and they've already received some orders. The owner has a couple of very talented grand children who have done a marvelous job designing their beautifully laid out opening page.

The site is still under construction but you really need to check it out to see what lines they do carry and how much inventory they have on hand of each figurine. When I last checked all they had activated was the Pocket Dragon line, but I am sure as soon as finals are over, they will be hard at work to get the other inventories online where you can access them. To get to one of Terry's and my favorite all-time spots, point your browser to:

http://ww-collectibles.com

With the arrest of the alleged Unabomber, the war crimes in Bosnia, and the Oklahoma City tragedy in the news, forensics plays a major part in the tracking down and arrest of the real criminals. You can learn all about forensics and how science helps to solve crimes.

In another section of the page, they also cover the behind the scenes aspects of "mad cow" disease. The site has great graphics and is really educational to boot. You can find "The Why Files" at:

http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/