Last post of 07 - How the time flies

So Molly has decided that she likes sleeping with me at night. Here's the rub: SHE IS A BED HOG!!!!!

The weekend seemed to go by relatively slowly. I really didn't do anything that is worth talking about but I will review anyway.

Jess and I took down the Christmas stuff and cleaned the house. I did the dishes three times yesterday. I also made Drew's birthday dinner last night. The menu was shrimp alfredo with salad and garlic bread (Which I kind of burned). We also had an alfredo dipping sauce for the bread. It turned out pretty good. I am toying with the idea of making homeade noodles sometime to see how they turn out. If that happens, I will let you know.

It is New Years Eve today and Drew is having his birthday party. I think there are 7 kids coming over tonight. They were supposed to go to Dawn's parents house but for some reason they are all coming here instead. I am not thrilled about it but I told Drew to make sure it doesn't get too crazy loud. At least they can just play in the basement. I told Dawn to pick up about 5 Papa John's pizzas for tonight. I haven't tried that kind of pizza before and I hear it is really good. They make it and you bring it home and bake it. It is less expensive than Pizza Hut or Breadeaux and about the same price as Casey's.

Jess is going to three New Years Eve parties tonight. She has a friend Cole Brant that is having a get together so her and Katlyn are starting there. After that one they are headed to the FCA party and then to another party. The last one is an all girls party and the basketball team will all be there so that is where they are really spending NYE. They are just making appearances at the other two. Oh, the busy life of a high school student.

The sports activities pick up pretty rapidly this week. Jess has a scrimage here in Perry this morning. Both kids have games Friday night and both are away. I am not sure if I am going to Drew's game becuase it starts so early and I will wait to see about Jess's game. Saturday Jess has a game here in Perry and Sunday she plays in her first volleyball tournament.

I have an orientation for DMACC instructors on Saturday from 8-3 but should be back in time for the game. The volleyball tournament is a couple of hours away so we are driving up Sunday morning. They play at 9 so it shouldn't be a problem.

The break is winding down and school will be back in session before you know it. I am going to enjoy today and not think about that until Wednesday.

I hope you all have a good and SAFE new year.

More next year.

Foot wine makes me want to gag! I assume every wine I drink was crushed by a machine.

As each day passes I seem to be feeling a little better. Last night I ate dinner for the first time in three days and I didn't even crap in my pants afterwards, which is a dramatic and welcome improvement. I know, too much information but I had to put it in there because it made me laugh to read it.

Whatever I had, seems to have moved to my chest and lungs. I have a tightness and an ache when I breath. I cough and I feel it in my lungs.

Enough of the poor me stuff for now. I do however, reserve the right to wine in future postings. Like I said, I ate dinner last night. I made grilled chicken breasts for the kids and I had a steak. It was the first time I have tried one of the Flat Iron steaks mom gave me and I can honestly say that may have been the best steak I have ever eaten. I am not kidding either. We also have buttery rice and green beans.

Jess had her three hour practice yesterday and they practiced hard the whole time. She was completely wiped out yesterday. After practice she came home, took a bath, ate lunch and laid in bed the rest of the day. When I got home at 5 she we sleeping. She woke up to eat dinner and then laid on the couch the rest of the night. She was tired! They have a scrimmage this morning at Ft. Dodge and need to be at the school by 8.

Drew has practice today at 1. He got a call from the coach last night with the good news. I think he is happy to have practice. Sitting at home is ok but I think they get tired of it quickly when they can't play outside much. Drew's friends that he played with everyday, moved last week so he doesn't have anyone to hang out with in the neighborhood anymore. The main person he played with was a girl and he won't admit it but they were kind of boy friend-girl friend. As soon as he would get home from practice, she would be at the door wanting him to come out and hang out. Drew could have been in a dead sleep and if she came to the door, he would be outside in a minute to hang out with her.

It is Friday but I don't have the same enthusiasm I normally do for the end of the week. Break is great and the end of the week is almost a reminder that we are getting close to the end. School doesn't start back up again until Thursday but I can see the darkness of the tunnel approaching.

I need to note that something has happened to my brain over the last few days. With feeling terrible it seems that I have also gotten dumber. My brain isn't functioning correctly. Whatever wit, humor, and modest intuitive grasp of concepts I previously had has now seem to evaported. I was trying to do some simple calculations in my head yesterday and had to break out the calculator. I was working with vendors yesterday and they would ask as question that I normally would just snap off an answer and I had to think and then I am not even sure I gave them the right answer or even really an answer at all. I hope I snap out of this soon. If not, I will have someone take a picture of my stupid ass, eyes wide and a clueless expression on my face; maybe even my finger in my nose. I do take some solice in that fact that I notice this is happening.

I am not sure what the plans are for the weekend. I really need to get to the grocery store and I probably need to find a way to get the ice off of my driveway. It is really slick!

Off to start my day and weekend. More Monday!

It just doesn't seem right that the lue has seen more content than my stomach!!!

I am feeling a little better today. I have a touch of a sore throat and spent too much time in the bathroom, it you know what I mean, and my stomach is still a bit upset but I seem to have a touch more energy this morning. Don't get me wrong, I am not up for a marathon or even a long walk to the fridge but it is better than yesterday.

Jess has practice today. The coach told them they will be practicing for three hours this morning. 8-11. Practice for two hours and shooting for the last hour. Jess is thrilled..lol

Work went pretty well yesterday. Progress on all the projects is going well and I hope to have a majority of everything done by the end of the day today. Life just doesn't stand still does it.

I haven't eaten much over the last couple of days but suprisingly, I am not hungry. I guess if there is a positive spin to feeling like hell, it is a great way to lose a little weight.

It is Thursday but is seems more like Tuesday because of Christmas. It is not so exciting to see the weekend around the corner while we are on break. I like having the building kind of quiet and not having to worry about people bothering me. Before I know it, the break will be over and the long part of winter will be upon us.

I hope I get my appetite back. I kind of miss eating and the joy of eating.

More tomorrow.

Shiver me timbers!

Woe is me! Yesterday I was sick and sick in a bad, bad way. My stomach was bad and I had a persistent headache. I was achy all over and had big temperature issues. In the morning I was so cold I was almost shivering. I checked my temp and either the thermometer doesn't work or I didn't have a temp. What I do know was that I was freezing. I finally warmed up but then I was sweating. Took some ibuprofen and that helped but during the night I had the same thing. Woke up FREEZING even though I had three blankets and a sheet on. I was also wearing pajama bottoms, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. When my alarm went off, I was sweating.

I hope I am done with this because I have a bunch to do at work this week. I have vendors in and a few projects that need to be done by Friday. Yesterday was miserable.

The kids had a good Christmas. Drew got a PS2 and Jess go Guitar Hero. It is a fun game. I played it Monday and a bit yesterday morning before I started feeling like hell. They played it most of the day.

I don't really feel like going into all the things everyone got and all that but it was a good Christmas. I will mention that Mom got me a case of Flat Iron Steaks. I was going to eat one yesterday but as I mentioned above, it was a bad day. I had chicken noodle soup and a bowl of ceral for the day.

I feel like I should have a bunch more to say today but I must not be feeling well yet because it seems like effort to even type the blog today. I seem to feel ok but I am tired and don't have any energy. I will keep on the ibuprofen today and hopefully am on the downward slid of this.

Drew turned 13 yesterday as well. He wanted a certain type of game but they didn't have it out yet so we game him a $100 visa so he could buy whatever he wants. He can save it and use it to buy the game when it comes out or use it on whatever. He said he has enough in gift cards now to buy a Wii. We will see if that is what he does with his money.

I am going to get started on my day. I am hoping a shower and shave helps me feel more human than I do now.

Off to start the day.

It's 40 below but I don't give a "bleep" got a heater in my truck and I'm off to the rodeo.......

We seem to have made it to Christmas break! No school today! Jess has practice this morning from 8:00 - 9:30 but will be done for a week after that.

The girls lost last night in overtime. It was a bit of a dissapointment because they played pretty well. They were tied with a little over a minute left in overtime and a girl from the other team hit a three pointer. That did it. Three points was a lot for our team to overcome in just a minute or so. We pressed and they broke it and ended up winning by 8 or so.

Jess had a good game. She scored 14 point in the first half but didn't get any points in the second half. She was the team high scorer but she only shot the ball twice in the whole second half and missed both. She did shoot a third time but it was blocked and she was fouled pretty good but there was no call.

I talked to her a bit after the game and she was dissapointed. The team is getting better and have finally found a point guard that can play pretty well. We are stuggling on the inside and our older kids are throwing the ball away quite a bit. Still looking for win number one.

I played in the student vs staff basketball game yesterday. It was fun. I scored pretty regularly but am so out of shape I could only play for about 4 minutes at a time. Drew score 7 points. Two normal field goals and a three pointer. He was the only one on his team to score against us. It should be noted that I wasn't guarding him when he scored. That would have been tragic. We played a 2-3 zone and he was shooting from the other side from where I played.

After the first half of the basketball game last night I had a teacher come up to me and say, "The Nichols family is really on tonight. You were on fire in the staff game and so was Drew and now Jess has 14 in the first half. What did you guys eat for breakfast?". Kind of funny.

Today should be a pretty good day. No students, no staff and a relaxed atmosphere. The first day of a break is always great. Towards the end of break, I start thinking about what I have to do after break and the stress of what is to come starts to creep back in but NOT TODAY! Today is party central.

So I found out the national title football game is Monday night, January 7th. The same night I start teaching my class. It is a good thing the huskers weren't good this year. I am not sure what I would have done if they were playing in the national title game. That would have completely sucked. I guess there is a bright side to the huskers sucking this year.

Today I party at work. Tomorrow we make gingerbread houses and Sunday off to Nebraska for a big Christmas celebration. Life it pretty good right now.

Merry Christmas everyone! I will see you soon.

FYI for you devoted readers of the blog. I will not post again until Wednesday the 26th of December. I might even have some Christmas pictures to post.

I don't care what anybody says, I'm thirsty!

Wednesday came and went with the blink of an eye. We are finally at the last day of school before Christmas break. Whoo-hooo!!!

I am playing in a "Students vs Staff" basketball game today. It is the middle school staff against the middle school students. I am playing becuase Drew is playing. I really could care less about this but I thought it would be fun to talk trash to Drew this week and explain to him how I am going to SLAM DUNK over the top of him today! I think there are 20 staff members playing so we will all probably get about 2 minutes of playing time each. I am in terrible shape so it is probably a good thing.

Jess has a game tonight in Jefferson. She said he brought a couple of the younger players up to the "Blue" practice squad, which is the varsity playing group. There is a chance that she will have a few new faces joining her on the floor today. As poorly as the team has been playing, it sure couldn't hurt.

On a different note: A couple things in the news yesterday caught my attention. The first is the honey bee population is dying off. The honey bees account for the pollenation of 1/3 of our food supply and the word is that if they die off, the human population is in trouble. The second thing was 3 or 4 southern states held a joint conference to discuss their need for drinking water. The drought in the south has caused some major problems with states being able to provide enough water to sustain the population. They feel this situation will get much worse in the future.

Kind of troublesome stuff. As the climate changes there is a chain reaction in many areas. The coming years are sure to bring a variety of challenges we have never been forced to deal with before. I hope we are up to the challenge.

I started working on some of my college class stuff. I have been going through the text books and thinking of assignements and assesments. It is going to be a bit time consuming going through it all but I read that the instructors edition has presentations that cover every chapter in the book. That is good news because the content is all things I know well but putting together the instruction is very time consuming. These premade presentation will be a huge help. I hope I get my instructors material soon.

It doesn't seem like Christmas to me. It is almost unbelievable that I will be in Nebraska Sunday for the Griswald, I mean Nichols family Christmas. We haven't really gotten into the Christmas spirit here. Jess was complaining last night that the Christmas tree looks sad because there aren't many presents under it yet. We have the gifts, they just haven't been wrapped yet. I will spend some time tomorrow night getting gifts wrapped and making things a bit more holiday like. The kids and I are going to make Gingerbread houses this weekend.

Have you ever "re-gifted" a present you have recieved? I have never done that but am thinking it may not be such a bad idea sometimes. There are times you get a gift from someone that you really don't care for but you know someone who may love it. Is it so wrong to re-gift it? Seems kind of cheap and ungrateful so I don't know if I will ever be able to do it. I don't blame people for doing it though. At least they don't have a cabinet full of stuff they don't want.

I am keeping a close eye on the weather for the weekend. We are flirting with a snow and ice storm on Saturday that could impact travel on Sunday, when I am supposed to go to Lincoln. Right now it looks like we are going to be ok and the worst of it will be to the south of us. I really don't want weather to put a damper on my trip.

Today is Trash Day as you know it is a sore subject. I think I am going to be irritated every Thursday as I take my trash to the curb.

At least today is the gateway to the break.

More tomorrow.

Christmas wish #1 - A little common sense in our local government!

There is a nice ring to the sound of Wednesday this week. Two days left until break and it seems like I am running in sand towards the finish line. I am not sure why this week has seemed so long but it is dragging. One thing bad about heading into a break is I have a tendency to just put things off. I tell myself, after break I will take a look at that. If a teacher needs someting that isn't an emegency, I say, "Give me a call after break and I will come and take a look.". The procrastinator in me comes out BIG TIME. Once January comes, I am depressed about being back and I have a boat load of work to do.

Oh well, I'll worry about that in January...lol

Both of the kids teams lost last night. Drew had 2 points in a ten point loss and Jess has 4 points in a 30 something point loss. Both of them are ready for the Christmas break. I feel bad for the girls. They work really hard and just can't get a win or even be competitive. They should get their first win Thursday. We play a 2A school that isn't very strong. I hope we win, it will be nice to go into Christmas on a high note.

I attended the DMACC orientation last night and found out I have a lot of work to do. My instructor books aren't in yet but they at least gave me student versions. I have two huge textbooks to work with. There is a list of competencies the students should possess after taking my course so I have to develop a class using that as a reference. I have decide my grade scale, setup my class rules and policies, create assignments and tests, and develop a lesson plan to use for the instruction during class. There are a couple of people that also teach DMACC classes that work at our high school so I am going to ask them what they do for some of this. It seems like I have a bunch to do prior to the 7th.

Wednesday is early out at school. It is also known as Chicken, Chicken, Cripito day. They have the same lunch on Wedneday - A spicy chicken sandwich, a normal chicken sandwish or a cripito. It is the same every Wednesday. FYI - I have no idea what a cripito is. I don't eat the school lunch because I think they rip people off and are not good to the kids. I would rather go hungry than give them any more money than I have to.

I hinted a few days back that the garbage people are wanting thing to be easier for them. Well, the city council, the mayor and the city manager, in their infinite wisdom has deemed it necessary for all the citizens of Perry to put their garbage out with the following stipulations:

• No garbage cans of any kind can be put at the curb
• All garbage is to be put in no larger than 40 gallon bags
• These bags are to be tied and left on the curb the morning of pickup
• A limit of 4 bags per household will be picked up.

The reasoning behind this is they have had a bunch of workman comp claims and they are trying to limit the physical demands on the garbage men in an attempt to limit the injuries.

WARNING: IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOOD TO LISTEN TO A RANT DO NOT CONTINUE READING THIS BLOG - HAVE A GREAT DAY AND I WILL HAVE MORE TOMORROW!

What the hell is that all about! Garbage men worried about the physical nature of their jobs! THAT IS THEIR JOBS! IT IS PHYSICAL - YOU LIFT GARBAGE ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. Get over it or find a new job! To me it is like me going to my boss and saying the work is too TECHNICAL, we need to find a way to DUMB IT DOWN a bit. My brain just can't take all the technology!

I am disgusted on two fronts. 1- The lazy, crying, wimpy garbage men that are crying like a bunch of babies about how hard their jobs are. GET OVER IT. LIFE IS HARD! GABAGE MEN SHOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE A CITY JOB WITH GOOD BENEFITS! BE GRATEFUL! 2 - The city council need their asses kicked to go along with such nonsense. When has this community decided the citizens work for the city instead of the other way around. They need to get a clue and get a handle on how to make the city work for the citizens not the other way around. The council contantly complains about people not wanting to move to Perry! Well maybe if we didn't have the tail wagging the dog, people would come!

Ok, sorry about all that but it needed to be said. You know, I actually feel a little better.

Off to start my day.

There is a great deal of apathy in the world and I don't care.

I will be happy when the Iowa caucus is over. The campaigns are just really in a frenzy right now. I get calls every night from the various candidates and it is getting old very fast. Well, I am not getting calls from the candidates themselves; it is someone from the "insert name here" campaign. Blah Blah Blah.

It is important to also note that I am not a fan of the caucus system. It seems to be a bit of a pain in the butt. For those of you unfamiliar with the process here in Iowa, let me share. Each precinct has a meeting area. I think mine is at the high school. Anyway, all the Democrats, since that is what pertains to me, meet at this location. There is some talk and a few speeches, then they say, "Everyone who supports "insert name here", go the that corner. They do this for each candidate, seperating everyone into areas of the room by candidate. The people who don't have very many are talked into joining one of the larger groups. In the end, the number of electorals are divide among the groups remaining. There is some other stuff that goes on after that but I will leave at this point.

Doesn't that seem a bit much? I would much rather stop by a voting area, cast my vote and be done with it. I know people like to hold on to tradition and such but it seems to me that the more unpleasant it is, and this to me is unpleasant, the less people will participate. I think if they truly want people to turn out, they hold a normal primary.

Both kids have games tonight. I have my orientation at 4:30 in West Des Moines so I will miss both games. Jess will have a game of Thursday in Jefferson that I will be able to attend.

One of the girls on the basketball team, quit last night. There is another one on the fence and is waiting to see how much playing time they get tonight to decide if they are going to quit or not. They are both seniors but won't be much of an impact on the team.

One of Jess's friend's, mother passed away unexpectedly the other day. The boy is in Jess's class and in FCA with her and is with the group of kids she hangs out with. She went with one of her friends to visitation last night and they sat and talked with him for about an hour. It was hard for her but she said he was very happy they came. She thought he just needed some people there to talk with. He is holding up ok but she said she knows it has to be really hard for him. His mom was 55 and his dad came home and she was laying on the couch, not breathing. They aren't sure what the cause of death was.

We are continuing the countdown to Christmas break. Three days left and I think the teachers are kind of just passing time until Friday. Drew said they are watching movies today in class and tomorrow they are going to the rec center and the museum here in town. Thurday they have an assembly. This is all good news to me because it doesn't sound like they are doing anything that requires technology support.

JoDee - if you are reading this, know that I have been thinking about you and love you.

Frankly, I don't think you know what you are talking about!

The start of the week is once again upon us. This week is a short week, however; so that seems to make today more bearable.

We start Christmas break on Friday. There is no school that day and the teachers will all be gone. It is a great day in a couple of ways. For one, there is no school. Two, the teachers are gone; and three, it is a Friday. Kind of like the perfect storm but in a good way.

Update on Friday. It was a bad night again for the girls basketball team. They lost by 15 and it was a team the probably should beat. The coach went ballistic and is going to shake things up for the remainder of the season. He didn't even hold practice this weekend. He told the girls he didn't even want to see them.

The Christmas party was fun. We had some very good wine and food. The gifts were wonderul and it was a very nice night to relax and get together as a department without having to talk about work stuff. I wouldn't want to do it every week but it really is nice once in awhile.

Jess wanted to go to the gym this weekend and shoot baskets. Drew, Jess and I went to the gym and played for about an hour. She beat me in a couple of one on one games because I am terribly out of shape. I did beat her in "horse" though. I have to admit she has a very quick "first step" in basketball.

This week, both kids have games on Tuesday and Jess also has a game on Thursday. Drew's game is here in town but I will miss Jess's game Tuesday night. I have to go to the DMACC mentor/mentee orientation from 6:30 to 8:30.

I got my Christmas shopping pretty much done this weekend. Drew and I went out and spent the day together. We had a good time. The shopping kind of sucked but the time with Drew was good.

I am not sure what this week will bring but if I were to guess, I would say it will be pretty slow. Most people are going to just want to get through the week so I would imagine they won't want to be bothering me too much.

Off to start.

Is "Going Postal" still a term or has enough time passed that it has lost its meaning?

A colleague told me yesterday that he looks himself in the mirror every Friday and says "Nothing is going to happen today to ruin my weekend".

Our group is doing a book study about the impact of a positive attitude. This was his form of self assurance that Friday won't be the day from hell, and even if it is, he won't let it ruin his weekend. Probably not a bad thing. He says it works.

Mine would probably go more like this: "I won't let anything happen today that will push me over the edge and go postal on all the bastards that are stupid or simply suck."

The theme of the day is "Friday Good!".

Jess has a game tonight but I will be at my Christmas party so I will miss it. I am also going to miss her game next Tuesday because I have my orientation class. I guess I will see her play again after the first of the year.

January is going to be a busy month. I start teaching class, Jess has a bunch of games and at least one volleyball tournament, Drew has games and January typically has some horrible weather. Whoo-hoo!

One week until Christmas break. It is going to be good to have the time without staff and students in the buildings. I am really looking forward to it.

This weekend, I have to finish my Christmas shopping and go over the the house of first street to put in some lightbulbs and get the house back in order. I also need to take a look at the garage doors. One of them won't open at all and I need to try to get that working.

I was thinking about how it is going to kind of suck to be out in the garage working in the cold but this year has really been a crappy weather year. All I can really remember was REALLY HOT AND HUMID or REALLY COLD AND WINDY! A couple years ago I remember having a bunch of days just sitting out on lawn chairs enjoying the weekends. I don't think I did that more than a couple times last summer. Well we are only a few weeks away from a new year so maybe things will be better.

It is the time of year that we can start thinking about New Year resolutions. The one that comes to the top of everyones mind right away is LOSE WEIGHT. Not sure if that is going to happen but as of December 14th, it is still an option.

Ok, lets get through Christmas first.

More Monday!

I would drink to cope but I hate the hangover.

It is good to be at Thursday already. The week has moved along rather quickly and I can see the weekend on the horizon.

The weather is still cold. There is ice everywhere and I don't think the weather is going to get any better in the foreseeable future.

Drew has an early morning practice today. He is up and about and I will walk him over at 6. There is JV girls basketball game today. I have no idea if it is here or away. Jess has a game Friday in Adel.

I have an early morning meeting this morning so I will be heading out around 7. Tomorrow we have to go to an "Open House" at the school administration center - I hate those things. I feel obligated to go because last year I blew it off and the Superintendant asked my why I wasn't there. This year I will go and in the infamous words of my father, I will be thinking "Let's get this shit over with!".

Friday we have our department Christmas party. One of the ladys that works for me has a vineyard so we go to her house and have a wine tasting party. We all bring appetizers and sit around; drinking, eating and laughing. It was fun last year. We are scheduled to get a bit of snow on Friday but I don't think it will be too much of an issue.

I did the walk through with my tenant last night on at the house on first street. They have 4 broken windows and owe me for rent for December. I think the deposit will cover it all but we will have to wait and see. I am glad they are out. He forgot the keys to the house so he is dropping them by the office today.

Off to start the chilly day called Thusday!

Oh! I made some homeade Kalua the other day. It turned out great and is much cheaper than the real deal.

Christmas shopping and doing the Robot!

The ice yesterday was pretty bad. Everything has a nice coat of ice on it. If you take a look at it from a neutral perspective it is actually very pretty. The ice coated trees have a silver shine to them and the light reflecting off is one of the beautiful sights of nature in the winter.

On the bad side it took me 20 minutes to scrape the ice off of the windows of my car and the doors were frozen shut.

The day was relatively uneventful. The kids stayed home. Drew played outside in the snow. Jess had a "Optional" basketball practice at the rec center at 2 and then volleyball practice in Ankeny at 6. Drew and I took her to practice in Ankeny and did a little Christmas shopping. The roads were pretty good by then. The only problem I had was my windshield kept getting dirty and my washer fluid didn't work, so it was tough to see at times.

I was going to take a day off this week to go shopping but I got enough done last night that I should be able to finish up this weekend. I had to get gifts for my staff, we have our Christmas party Friday night. The rest of the gifts I don't have to have for another week or so.

School seems to be on schedule today. The roads are in pretty good shape. My guess is the biggest danger of the day is when you get to the school parking lot.

The school has a blood drive today. Nancy and I are regular donors and we have our appointment between 7:45 and 8:00. The student counsel sets this up. They close the gym and have the blood drive people come in and setup. They probably get between 300 and 400 people donating between all the teachers and the students that are eligible. It is nice because it is at work and I just have to walk down the hall to do a good thing. Jess isn't able to donate. She doesn't weigh enough and the coach would have a fit if they couln't run at practice. Heaven forbid they have an easy practice to help save some lives!

It was kind of nice not having school last night. It really broke up the week and now it is Wednesday and I feel pretty good. I also had a good time with the kids last night. Drew and I were in Super Target and listening to music on these cool headphones and I started "busting a move". He about had a fit. I was told that I can "do that ridiculous stuff at home, but PLEASE do not do it in public."

This kind of started the other night when Drew and I were watching TV and I got up and started doing the ROBOT. He said my version was lame so I had him show me his version. I must admit, his version was better and it reminded me of the "My Name is Earl" version. It was very funny. So anyway, I bust out the Robot for him now and again but apparently, in public is not appropriate.

Early out today and both kid have practice after school.

The only place I want ICE is in my drink!

Well the weather outside is frightful but inside its so delightful. ICE-SLEET-SNOW, oh my!

School has been cancelled today. The kids are more than overjoyed about it. I tried to tell them that tears of sadness should be streaming down their faces because they won't be able to learn today. They were having any of that.

I was planning on going Christmas shopping today but since the weather is so bad, I will have to postpone it until tomorrow or Thursday. I do have an early morning meeting on Thursday so if I take that day off, I will either have to leave after the meeting or miss it.

Drew and Jess were both scheduled to have games today. I would imagine they will reschedule the hs game but not sure about the 7th grade game. I am going to miss Jess's next two games. Friday she playes in Adel and we are having our department Christmas party that night. The following Tuesday she plays in Dallas Center and I have an orientation for DMACC that night.

Speaking of DMACC, I have 10 students enrolled in my class so far. I am pretty excited about this opportunity but a little nervous at the same time. The instruction part doesn't concern me at all. I can teach the content in my sleep. It is the management part. Four hours of class as a time and doing a grade book, following the course work from a book - you know a bunch of it will be a snoozefest! It will be a life experience for sure.

So the Superintentant calls me yesterday and wants me to do a presentation for the school board in January. The same night as my first DMACC class. I told him of the conflict and he asked if I could just give the class a 15 minute break and I could stop in and give my presentation. The classes I teach are right across the hall from where they have the board meetings. I said I would do it. Whatever! I just wish it wasn't the very first night of class.

Not much else for today. It has been kind of slow, event wise, lately. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Lifes highs and lows are the spices of life but I am not up for a low so non-eventful is fine with me right now.

Off to build the igloo!

Brother Odd speaks words of wisdom

Two weeks until Christmas break. It seems like such a long time away yet when I look at all I have to do before then, it doesn't seem like enough time.

It is cold today, 12 degrees, and we are supposed to get ice and snow tomorrow. It is kind of a shame because it the weather pans out as the lying bastards predict, we will most likely not have school or have an early out. This means more game cancellations and Drew will have his second game in a row cancelled.

The girls got killed on Friday night. They lost by 35. I think the score was 65-30. Jess played well. I think she only got about 30 seconds of rest for the whole game. She was very tired by the end. She defends the other teams point guard and has to play full court defense on her all night. That really wears her down by the end of the game.

Drew is up this morning for his early practice. He really is good about getting up. Jess will probably be a bit tougher to get up. She had volleyball practice from 8:30 to 10:30 last night so it is a short night for her. She also went to the middle school gym and shot baskets while I was at volleyball. I shot around with her after volleyball and she beat me twice in PIG. That is a first! She was really hitting the three pointers.

Well, the Husker volleyball team got swept out of the regional playoffs Saturday. They lost to Cal and honestly they played like crap. It was on ESPNU and Jess and I watched it. It was a good lesson for Jess because she got to see what can happen to a team, even if they have the best talent in the nation, if they don't stay focused.

I have to get my Christmas shopping done this week and I am not sure when I will take the day off to get it done. I was planning on tomorrow but the weather is going to be crappy so I may have to change my plans. Maybe Wed or Thursday. I guess I will have to see how the weather goes.

For some reason, I have just been tired for about a month. I am tired all the time and I can't get rid of my cough. Yesterday, I slept in until 7, went and shoveled the driveway at the other house, when I came home, I went to bed, around 11:30 and slept until 2. Felt tired and like crap all day and went to bed by 9:30. I just feel wasted all the time and can't shake it. I am sure it will pass but I hope sooner than later.

Oprah and Barak Obama had a big shin-dig in Des Moines this weekend. I got a call on Saturday from one of the peopl in Perry that works with the campaing and he had a ticket for me to go if I wanted. I passed on the offer but it was nice to be invited.

Drew went to a birthday party this weekend. He stayed overnight Saturday and was home by lunchtime on Sunday. They love to stay up all night at these things so he came home and went to sleep. He slept until about 7. The life of a little boy!

I plan on taking my car to the shop today to get the radiator looked at. I decided to not take it last week when the weather was so bad.


Off to start my day.

The garbage men want us to make their life easier. I say, shut the hell up and pick up the garbage!

There is snow headed our way today. The forecast, lying bastards, calls for 3 to 6 inches of snow this afternoon. It is supposed to start falling a little after lunch time and then an inch an hour for awhile.

The girls basketball coach is having practice this morning at 6:30 just in case we have an early out today. Once school is called off, they are not allowed to have any school events, which includes practice. He told them if school doesn't get called off they will just have two practices today.

Drew is supposed to have a game today but we will wait to see what the weather brings.

The Christmas season is rushing upon me. It is only a couple weeks until we are out for the break and I really haven't given Christmas a thought. No gifts purchased as of yet, no plans on what I am going to buy for people. I am way behind. Go figure, right?

I need to take my car to the shop today. My radiator is leaking and I need to get it checked. I can't wait until too long becuase I will be traveling pretty soon and need to make sure my car is in good enough shape to make it.

I figure God has an exceptionally cruel sense of humor or karma has a bad way of sneaking up on a person. When you don't have money issues, life just seems to hum right along. Your car runs well and the house doesn't need repair and things just seem to be fine. Have a month or two where money is tight; the car breaks down, the house needs repairs, the weather changes so utility bills go up. Kind of like giving you a nice kick when you are down.

I sometimes wonder what the wealthy have to worry about. Maybe the little problems life brings, maybe the fear of losing it all. Maybe I am so far removed from that type of life that I just can't comprehend the crisis life could bring that couldn't be soothed by a trip to the old beach house. I am sure they suffer from disease and deaths, but no more than the rest of us poor slobs.

I have been reading a book about poverty and how people in different classes have different "rules" for living. Most of the book focuses on the difference between poverty and middle class, not much is said about the wealthy. Probably because they rarely have "Real" life issues.

Maybe one day, I will be sitting at the beach house, wonder how the other half could possible live without "this view".

Off to start my day!

If the polar ice caps are melting, they are re-freezing here in Iowa

The weather was actually pretty decent yesterday. The usually lying weather people were right and it was warm enough to melt some of the ice away. That was the good news.

Today, cold as a bastard and a wind that is an arctic blast from the north. Tomorrow, SNOW! This weekend, SNOW and ICE! Simply put, we are in for a suckfest!

The real estate agent called yesterday and they have someone interested in renting the house. That is very good news so we will wait and see how it pans out. They were going to look at it last night or today, not sure which and then fill out an application. We will review the application and decide if we want to rent to them. If they have the means to consistently pay the rent, we'll take em! I don't care if they raise chickens in the back yard for some sort of voodoo sacrifice, as long as they keep the place clean and take care of the yard and PAY, they can do whatever.

Jess had a game last night and it was another ugly night for the Jayettes. The good news was that Jess was the high scorer on the team with 10 points. The bad news, they lost by 25. The team shooting percentage is pretty poor so the coach is now having shooting pratice every morning at 7:00 am.

Drew had practice in the mornings at 6:15 so now I have both kids getting up early and cutting into my morning Rich time. Drew up at 5:30 and Jess up at 5:45.

Just as I thought the political parade could not get any worse. Just a month away for the Iowa Caucuses, the political machines are sounding off as loud as ever. Phone calls for surveys, every dang commercial is a political one and candidates are everywhere. I will be glad when this is over.

For some reason, I keep thinking today is Thursday. How does that happen? Several times this morning I thought about it being either Trash Day, or what was on TV Thursday night or do I have any meeting for Thursday? Hello! Rich, IT'S WEDNESDAY!!!!

One meeting today and a few items still on my list of things to do. Yesterday was pretty productive so it seems we are on the downward swing of tasks. Let's hope nothing big happens between now and Christmas break.

That damn smell is back!

I am not sure what I would do in the morning without a cup of coffee. I hope I never have to find out!

The last two mornings I have been waking up at 4:30 or so. It is about 25 minutes before I normally get up so the dilemma begins. Do I get up at 4:30 when I feel a little bit awake or do I try to get that extra 25 minutes and run the risk of waking up in the middle of a dream, which makes me really tired and not want to get up? So far, I have thought about it long enough that I just get up. It isnt so bad missing out on a half hour of sleep from time to time, it is a heck of a lot better than having insomnia. If you have ever had insomnia, you know what I am talking about.

The school was a mess yesterday. The sidewalk and parking lots were sheets of ice. The building and grounds director, who is a friend of mine, most likely got his butt chewed out. It was ridiculous and he deserved the butt chewing. I am not sure if anyone got hurt but I heard that several people fell. I could go into a tirade about lazy workers and how that is the norm and how, for the most part, people are able to slide but there are times you actually have to do your job; but I am going to refrain from that and move on.

We are busy as beavers at work. It seems that we are riding on a wave of work but at the same time, I feel that once we get over the hump here, we should see a slow down until after the Christmas break. I am hoping that by the middle or end of next week, we should be in pretty good shape.

The JV team played last night. Jess wasn't part of the JV team. I was curious if they were going to have her play any JV this year but apparently they aren't. I went and watched the first half and then came home and watched "Chuck". I am not sure how the game ended up, I forgot to ask Jess when she got home. The girls have a game tonight but it is away and an hour away at that so I am not going. Drew had an early morning practice again today so he is already gone for the day.

Drew has a game Thursday and Jess has a game Friday. The girls play the #1 ranked team in the state so it will probably get ugly.

I have to decide decide when I am going to do my Christmas shopping. I really am not looking forward to it this year. My tendency is more on the side of the grinch this year than of of St. Nick.

My tenants are supposed to be out of the house today. The realtor called and said they have another family that may be interested in renting it. I hope to do a walk through today and then get a showing in tonight or tomorrow. That house is an anchor around my neck! I am concerned with the condition of the house. The current tennants were slobs and negligent of the property. More crap to worry about.

In all of my haste, I have forgotten to note the hiring of Bo Pelini by the University of Nebraska. I think it is a good hire and I think we will see an impact next year. The talent is there, I think we now have a coach that can get it going. I hope that he keeps Watson on the offensive side of the ball. I think he would be a great offensive coordinator.

I just saw that the lying weather bastards are predicting a high of 40 today. It kind of made me happy but I hate to take them at their word. The lying bastards have gotten my hopes up many times only to play out as a collosal dissapointment. If they are right, which is RARE, maybe the ice will melt a bit.

Ok, off to start my day.

Don't talk to me, it's Monday

It's Monday and 9 degrees outside. What a way to start a week.

We had a pretty good ice storm on Saturday. The state was in pretty much of a do not travel mode. The kids and I stayed in all day. We cooked and watched TV. It was actually pretty nice even though the kids said they were board.

The beauty of a day like that is I did some work around the house in the morning but when I went to take a nap; I really had no guilt. Usually, I feel guilty that I should be doing something else and taking a nap makes me feel lazy. I should note at this point that the guilt rarely stops me from taking naps but I do feel guilty about it. No such concern on Saturday.

Friday night, Jess had a game and they lost by two. It was kind of a shame because they played a pretty good game. They have way to many turn overs and not a lot of defensive tenacity. They were down by two with 10 seconds left. The coach calls a timeout and draws up the play. The come out of the timeout. Jess is throwing the ball in bounds to the point guard. They are supposed to get it in, set a pick for the shooter, make the pass and get a shot up. So Jess gets the ball in, the point guard takes two steps, picks up the ball, and then dribbles again. DOUBLE DRIBBLE, game over! The girl is a senior and should not have made that kind of mistake.

I got a letter in the mail Saturday from Des Moines Area Community College, and they are inviting me to a metor-mentee meeting on the 18th that is required for all new instructors!! I got the job! It looks like I will be teaching college classes in January. How cool is that?

Since the weather was marginal all weekend I watched a lot of tv. I guess I normally watch a lot of TV on the weekends regardless of the weather it just made me feel better to justify it this weekend. Anyway, it was kind of a unexplained tv theme. I watched a few episodes of "A Haunting" and a show on the History channel called "Monster Hunters". They were looking for Big Foot. I got to thinking that it is easy for people to believe in dark or scary things but people tend to me more sceptical of good or positive things. Here is an example: If I told people that I had a ghost in my house the was a demon or something, there would be a pretty good number of people who would believe it. Now if I said I had and Angel talking to me, that was helping me through life, people would think I was a nut! I think people tend to believe things that scare us more than things that do not.

I told Drew I like this sort of thing and like to believe because it makes life a bit more interesting. Life with Big Foot, the Lochness Monster, Spirits and UFO's makes this an iteresting place. As long as you don't go overboard and become obsessed with these things, what's the harm?

Hey mom, I am reading Dean Koontz, "Brother Odd". An Odd Thomas story. It is funny that his is haunted by Elvis' spirit.

Not sure of the game schedule for this kids this week. I think they both have games Tuesday but not sure where. I know there is a girls JV game tonight. I am not sure if the coach will have Jess play. It would be good for her to get to play but I doubt he lets her.

More tomorrow.

Friday - Like walking into a neighborhood pub

Every week my mood is a bit better on a Friday. This week is no different! It has been a long and difficult week but it has come to an end. I have noticed that a week typically has a trend. If it starts off well it typically goes pretty well. If it starts off rough, get ready for a long week.

Weather is still cold and we have a chance of getting some icky weather on Saturday and Sunday. I have the snow blower in the garage but I need to get my gas can filled so I am ready for the winter.

Drew's team lost last night but he had a good game. He made two shots from way outside and got a few rebounds. He was two for three on the night for four points.

Jess plays tonight and tomorrow in the Perry Jayette Classic. Two of the three teams coming are ranked so it may be a couple long games. We play the weakest team tonight and then match up with one of the ranked teams tomorrow. I hope they play well even if we lose.

The high school boys team played Wednesday night at Wells Fargo arena in Des Moines. We have a semi-pro team in Iowa and the boys had a game in that arena before the pro game. We got hammered. I think the score was 83-30. We lost by 53! Jess said it was Karma because the boys bailed on the girls game when they started to lose.

I bought some turkey gravy and heated it up with some chopped up turkey. I poured that over rice and that is what we had for dinner last night. It was a very simple meal but it was good and the kids liked it.

It may be a good weekend to make Chili. I think I have all the ingredience I need and it has been awhile since I have made a good batch. I like to have a bit of corn bread with it so I will have to check to see if I have a mix.

A few weeks until Christmas. I have all of my shopping to do yet and should probably look at the calendar to see which day I want to take off to get it done. Every year I take a vacation day to get my Christmas shopping done. It is kind of nice because I can get it done on a weekday when it isn't so frantic and I can typically get it all done in a day. There are few things I will buy online but almost all of it is done in one day.

Off to start my weekend. More Monday!

I think it is a two dog night!

The cold weather is setting in and it looks like we are either going to get snow or ice over the weekend. This is not sometime I am looking forward too.

Yesterday was a bit of a frantic day in the office. We found out the problem with the grade book and now are working like beavers to get it fixed. It is a long tedious process that has a tendency to make one grouchy. Such is life!

The tech office right now has an attitude. We are getting a bit tired of the problems and the complaining and the poor treatment and are in desperate need of a break. Yesterday Nancy told me we both should find different jobs and get the hell out of here because this sucks! Those are truly words of wisdom.

I have a bunch of turkey left over so I made creamed turkey over mashed potatos for dinner last night. The kids like it and this was the last night this week we will all be here for dinner. Tonight Drew has a game in Adel and tomorrow Jess starts her BB tournament. Jess told me last night that her basketball coach took her aside last night and asked her how many shot she shot in the game on Tuesday. She said "one". He told her she needs to shoot at least 10 times a game or she isn't doing her job. He also told her she is going to be a great player for him and he wants to work on her shot after practice some days so she needed to let him know when she can.

I have to make note of this before I forget. Sometimes I come home from work, like last night, and just feel about done. I mean the day is long and I am tired and a bit grouchy and to say my mood is down is a bit of an understatment. The one thing that has consistently made me feel better is little Molly. She is sooo happy to see me and just sits with me and keeps me company. Just petting her and having her on my lap seems to be calming. She can't take away my worries but she can help take the edge off. Dogs unconditionally love and it really helps with the anxiety. I gave her a bath last night.

When the kids were little we used to read this book about a guy who had a bunch of dogs and they would sleep with him. On warmer nights he would only have one dog sleep with him but as the weather got colder, the dogs would all sleep on the bed to keep him warm. Each night he would say, based on the weather, how many dogs would sleep with him. On the coldest of nights it would be a five dog night. Kind of a fun memory of reading to the kids.

With Wednesday behind us, the weekend is in clear sight.

More tomorrow.

I keep washing but I can't get the responsibility off!

The weather is cold again today and staying cold for the rest of the week. I have hear a little about a snow storm coming on Saturday. Not sure of the details of that one but apparently something is coming our way.

Drew's basketball team won last night. They actually played pretty well. He scored four points and had a couple of rebounds. It was nice for them to get a win.

The girls got killed last night. They lost by 20 points or so and it was a pretty poor perfomance. Jess did ok but she got in foul trouble early, she had three in the first quarter, so she sat most of the first half and she never seemed to get back into the groove in the second half. I think she was more worried about NOT fouling than playing good basketball.

Oh well. It may be a long season but they are young and should get better. This group is mostly Juniors and Sophmores so they are more like a JV team than a Varsity team. Only time will tell.

So I have had an uneasy feeling this week at work like there is sometime big about to happen. I don't really have anything on the radar so I am not sure what is causing the uneasyness. I don't like it.

So far this week, my plan to stay in my office hasn't gone well. I have been out handling problems and have two meetings today. We are having some grade book issues and I have to talk to the staff at the middle school today.

It seems that everyone came back from Thanksgiving break a little pissed off. Not sure why but everyone has seemed very grouchy and short. Whatever! At least I have Nancy as a partner in pain. Couldn't make it without her (she does all the work...:)

I heard from DMACC yesterday. They needed me to scan my transcripts and email them. They ones I faxed weren't legible. It seems that I am good to go on the instructor gig but don't want to jinx it so I am not counting on it. I think it will be cool to teach college classes.

Hillary Clinton was in Perry on Saturday. She came to the high school and nobody really new about it. The superintendent didn't know. I didn't know. Our buildings and grounds director found out through the rumor mill and happend to track down the CIA people as they were walking the grounds on Wednesday. It was very odd that our AD, who is also our facilites director, didn't bother to let anyone in the school know she was coming. Most of us found out by watching the news on Sunday. How wierd is that?

There aren't any games tonight. Drew has a game tomorrow in Adel and Jess has a tournament here in Perry on Friday night and Saturday.

I am looking down the highway and still don't see Friday!

The cold winds of winter are blowing and we aren't even to December yet. It is 22 degrees outside and this is going to be as good as it gets today. For some reason the turning of the weather isn't bothering me too much. I have a good coat and the cold air is sometime refreshing if you take a chance to appreciate it. Most days we hurry from building to car, car to building to get out of the cold. If you take the time to look around and appreciate this time of year, you might be suprised.

Yes, it is cold but the air is clean and fresh, the sky is typically very blue and clear when it is cold and the sun shines just as bright as it does in the summer but doesn't seem so harsh. The wind is the problem. It is hard to appreciate the cold Fall days when the wind is kicking you in the face.

Both kids have games tonight. Drew plays at 4:15 and Jess at 7 or 7:30. It depends on the JV game. There has been a bit of a shake up on the varsity team last night. A couple of the girls that started the varsity game last week are suiting JV tonight. Jess is still starting on the varsity team so it will be a chance for me to get to see her play. I hope they do well.

We have been getting information from Jess's volleyball club that they are going to Denver in March. The rooms have to be booked this week so it is kind of a flurry of information and deadlines. The teams have booked 60 rooms and need to know who is going and get them reserved so they aren't stuck with unused rooms. I think they are looking into taking a charter bus to Denver. I hope they do so it saves on the cost of the trip. It is already three days in a hotel plus food and travel.

I am not sure if I am going to put up Christmas lights this year. If there is a good weather day on a weekend I might get it done but if the weather is cold and icky, I don't think I will bother. It actually is kind of fun putting up lights and I do enjoy them but it is kind of depressing taking them down. The Christmas season is an rollercoaster of emotions anyway. The eager anticipation of the holidays. The music, the festivities, the food, the presents. Is a fun and pleasant time. Then comes the crash! The holidays end, the food is gone, you have to go back to the daily grind of work feeling broke and fat! You have the damn tree and lights to take down.

It is kind of like saying, "Alright, party time over. Get this mess cleaned up and get back to life!". Ugh!

There should be some kind of holiday at the end of January. Something to look forward too after the holidays. Super bowl Sunday doesn't count. Still a Sunday and not a day offf work! We need a holiday that would be a distraction from the cold and the Christmas hangover. In Alaska they had 4th of July fireworks in January. Since July in Alaska did not have night, they can't shoot off firework so they shoot them off in January and have a winter celebration. It was kind of a cool thing. Ice scuplture contests, ice bowling, games kind of like a carnival, and of course the fireworks.

Enough rambling. Off to start my day.

One last thing. I am not sure why God thought is would be funny to have hair grow in a mans ear when they get older. The top of my head is a baren wasteland in which hair just cannot grow. My ears on the other hand seem to be a great for new growth.

Monday is wearing a steel tipped boot as it kicks me in the face!

Well, we are back at it. MONDAY! du-du-du.....(Sinister music playing)

The holiday weekend was good but as I look at the calendar it is four full weeks until Christmas break! Dang, Thankgiving came early this year. I notice November 1st was on a Thursday so that pushed the fourth Thursday in November a bit early. Now it is the long four weeks until the next break.

I guess you can tell I have been working at a school for too long when I seem desperate for a break like Chistmas. In reality, I still work every day of the break except Christmas and New Years day but when everyone else is gone, it is like a break. I am tired of people.

On that note, I think I will stay in my office as much as possible the next four weeks. I am going to not schedule meetings unless they are absolutely necessary. Kind of a work hibernation. Still working hard but staying away from the masses.

Ok, the break went pretty well. The kids enjoyed their trip to Nebraska. It is always a whirlwind when you have to push it all into a 24 hour turn around trip. It was good to see everyone.

The kids had a busy weekend. Jess had practice Friday and Saturday. She also had a volleyball scrimmage on Sunday night. Drew spent the night at a friends house Friday night and they both went to the lights parade downtown.

Yesterday I ran cable tv into Drew's room. He is now able to watch all of his favorite shows in the comfort of his bedroom. He has to change channels out in the living room but not that big of a deal.

I ran into a snag trying to run the cable line. I got a scredriver stuck in the wall and it was stuck good. It took be about 45 minutes to get the dam screwdrive out. By the end, the screwdriver was broken and I was damn worn out. Anyway, the cable got run.

I also hung up a towel rack in the kids bathroom.

The husker season is over, Callahan has been fired and the search for a new coach begins. I read that Bo Pelini was interviewed, Turner Gill will be interviewed and even Barry Alverez would be interested in a head coach/AD role. I guess we wait and see how it all turns out.

Both kids have games here in Perry on Tuesday. Drew also has a game Thursday in Adel and Jess has a home tournament Friday night and Saturday.

Wednesday - I am thankful for Drew and Jessica

This is a great Wednesday! School is closed and there will be very few of us that have to work today. Mostly just me, Nancy and the janitors. I used to call them custodians but they piss me off so now they are back to janitors. For some reason, janitor seems more derogatory so that is the title I choose to use. The bastards!

Both Perry basketball teams got their asses kicked last night. Drew's team lost 60 something to 9 and Jessica's team lost 54-20. Drew's team is going to get hammered a lot this season. They are slow, don't know the offense well and just don't have a point gaurd to get the ball down the court and challenge a defense.

Jess started varsity last night and actually had more playing time than any other girl on the team. She came out twice for about a minute each time. She scored 5 points and had a nice drive from the top of the key for a left handed layup. Not bad scoring 5 points when the team only had 20. On the bright side, the team they lost to last night had 9 returning seniors and 8 juniors and are projected to go to state in their conference. Turnovers killed the girls last night. They had 20 some. The game was broadcast on the Internet so I was able to listen.

I haven't talked to Jess yet but there is a note here saying she needs up by 6:45 so I am guessing they are having an early morning practice. The three things that they will have to work on to be competitive is rebounding, I am not sure if they got more than a few offensive rebounds, protecting the ball - way too many turnovers, and getting agressive offensively. They need a scorer. I don't think Jess can be the big scorer on the team yet. She may be good for 8 -12 points a game but I don't think she is quite developed enough to be the main offensive threat. They have 4 seniors, three juniors and her as the main players. We will see how the season goes.

It is kind of cool she started and played so much. Ten to one, when I wake her up this morning she is in a foul mood. A big loss and an early morning practice on a day off from school. I will take a helmet and body armor with me when I wake her.

Drew played well last night. He played as much as anyone and I am glad the coach is putting everyone in for playing time. They probably wont be very competitive this year so they might as well get experience.

I don't have much on the agenda at work today. I have some work to do on our student infomation system but it is the end of the trimester and they are going to run report cards this weekend so the teachers are entering grades. Not a good time to down the system.

I do have a bit to do for state reporting but I am not sure anyone will be around to get me the info I need. Oh well, it will be nice to have a slow day.

The kids are excited to go to Nebraska tomorrow. I got the oil changed in my car and will fill up with gas today. The heater doesn't seem to be working right and that may be an issue. Better bring plenty of blankets...lol

Off to start my day. I won't have a post again until after the break so I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Be safe!

More on Monday.

Tuesday - I am thankful for the sheets on my bed

I love this time of year. It is Tuesday but the last day of school this week so it seems like Friday or at the very worst Thursday. Tomorrow I have to work but there isn't any school so it is like a day off anyway.

I don't have any meeting scheduled today and it is typically pretty slow in the office the day before a break. The one possible snag is this: Teachers are just as lazy as anyone else and they get the break fever maybe worse than the kids. That being known, I would guess every teacher in the district is going to want to take kids to the computer labs today to "research". It is just a way for them to not have to teach the day before a break. The teacher sits at the front of the room, go to ESPN, or EBAY or wherever and just let the kids do whatever they want.

This can cause some issues for my department with kids not knowing passwords or getting into trouble and whatnot. I will just tell the teachers to email me the kids names for a password change and they can use a guest account for today.

I need to run out and get my oil changed today but am not that worried about it. I am not even sure if I am due. It just seems like awhile since it has been changed. I will get the car cleaned out and my window taped up good for the trip to Nebraska. I am sure Jessica will want to drive most of the way so I want to make sure everything is in proper working order. My biggest fear is that we are rolling down the highway at 75 and a front tire blows while Jess is at the wheel! Knocking on wood again.

Both kid have games tonight. Jess came home last night and told me the coach told her she is not playing JV. I wonder if she is going to start for varsity. There are three other girls that play varsity on JV and the only other one that gets playing time at varsity is still playing JV but is limited to 2 quarters. I was thinking that if she wasn't going to start varsity she could have played 2 quarters of JV as well. It would be kind of cool for her to start varsity but we will have to wait and see.

I am going to Drew's game tonight. I am really looking forward to it. He is on the "A" team but doesn't start. He will get plenty of playing time so it should be fun for him. Middle School games start at 4:15.

Ok, here is some stupid stuff that I do. I watch this show called "Chuck". It is kind of a long story to explain and I'm sure if I tried it would sound stupid, so just believe me when I say it is a good show. Anyway, Chuck has this girl, a CIA agent, that he works with, sort of, and they kind of have a little thing. Well the writers set it up so you want them to date but there is always something stopping it, the bastards! So I am like caught up in the show were I get a bit sad when things don't work out. How crazy is that? It is just a show but it somehow can impact my mood. Maybe I will turn out like one of those crazy people that think TV is real and those people are really doing the things on the show.

It is a toss up between Chuck and the Office to what my favorite show is. The writers strike is putting a damper on the season. The Office doesn't have any new episodes as a result of the strike. Once again, The Bastards!

Off to start my Friday - I mean Tuesday!

Monday - I am thankful for Codeine

Back to the Monday cycle. The weekend was not good. I was sick most of it. I have had this dang cold for about 3 1/2 weeks now and this weekend it got really bad. I was coughing, had a head ache, upset stomache, diariah and completely exhausted. I stayed in bed all day yesterday and probably slept for 18 hours between saturday night and this morning.

I feel a bit better today so I hope I am over the worst of it. I got some cough syrup with codiene in it and that seemed to do the trick.

Drew has practice this morning so he is up and an about. Both kids have games tomorrow night. Drew's game is here in Perry and Jess's game is away. I am going to Drew's game. It is his first basketball game as a Bluejay so I don't want to miss it.

There is only two days of school this week. The kids have Wednesday off. I still work but with nobody around it really isn't too much like work.

The weather is supposed to be pretty good until Wed. We are supposed to get up to two inches of snow Wednesday night and I hope it is done snowing for my trip back to Nebraska, Thursday morning. My plans at this point are to go up on Thursday morning early, like 6 or 7 and then come back home on Friday. The huskers play at 11 and jess has practice at 3 so I am going to have to head out in time to watch the game. I figure if we leave by 7 we will make it back in plenty of time. Probably not the best but at least we will get to come back.

I am hoping that today and tomorrow are slow at work. I have decided to postpone all the meetings I have schedule for today and tomorrow to sometime after the Thanksgiving break. I will make those calls today.

I am looking forward to the kids games starting up again. It seems like it has been awhile between seasons so it will be good to see them play again.

The codiene really works wonders. Yesterday I was coughing like crazy and I have been up an hour already and not even a little cough.

Ok, I just walked Drew over to the school and starting a little coughing. I guess I will have to take some of the codeine potion again before I go to work. The stuff does make my mouth dry and have a funny taste.

Oh yeah, my chest hurt so bad this weekend I though I might be having a heart attack. I'm a nut!

Short week begins!

If this is a dream will somebody wake me up?

Every week, I curse Monday and praise Friday. WELL THIS WEEK IS NO DIFFERENT-----WHOOOO HOOOOO FRIDAY!!!!!!!!

Little Drew, who actually isn't so little anymore, doesn't have a morning practice today. He has practice after school and there is a parents meeting at 5:15 in the gym. The coaches are required to have a parents meeting at the beginning of each season. They aren't really worthwhile if you have the same coach each year but for new kids and parents, it probably a good thing. I will go to Drew's but when Jess has one, I am skipping, I know what they have to say.

Speaking of Jess, she was part of the Academic Decathalon last night. It is a two night committment and they finished up last night with the big competition. She was VERY grouchy when she got home from practice becuase the coach didn't let them out until 6:15 and they had to be back for the Decathalon by 6:30. She had to come home, clean up and get dressed up. She kind of blew in, bitched for 5 minutes, and blew back out...lol

When she got home from the decathalon, she was in much better humor. She did well and had a good time. She said she got her two questions correct and one of them was a chemistry question. She said one of the boys from another team stood up and said "Jessica Nichols! How did you get that right, you haven't taken chemisty." She said she smiled and said, "I guessed".

Both kids have practice tonight. Jess has a scrimmage in some town tomorrow, not sure where and they both have games on Tuesday.

Three more days until Thanksgiving break and I couldn't be more thankful for that!

The huskers don't play this weekend so I won't be obligated to watch games or stick by the radio. This leaves the weekend a bit open and I am not sure what I am going to do. Maybe a little work around the house. I have a sink that is dripping and a few other things that I can work on.

Off to start the weekend!

Thursday wishin it was Friday!!!

Thursday, trash day, blah blah blah. Same old routine is running its course today. Actually, I am glad it is Thursday but wish it were Friday. The weather is chilly today but the outlook for the next few days and the weekend seems pretty good.

So we are being flooded, I mean flooded, with political commercials here in Iowa. As I sit here and type this, I have seen 4 in a row and I bet before I get done, I will have seen 20. Each evening there are more political commecials than anything else. It is getting a bit tiresome but I have to say, some of the commercials make me laugh.

I have been on a bit of cruise control at work. This yeas has been so full of changes and additions, I am just tired of it and am taking it easy for a bit. It is still hectic, answering phones, configuring systems, ect. but I am not taking on anything new for awhile. I guess you could say I am a bit burned out and need some downtime to get my battery re-charged. Thanksgiving break will be good and Christmas break will be even better.

Drew has morning practice again today. He enjoys it because he has his after school time free. Jess had practice yesteday and I had mentioned before that they only had 14 girls left on the team. They had some injuries and other girls quit. Well, last night two more girls went down with injuries. Both are varsity players and one is there three point shooter. The coach ended up calling practice off early for fears of more injuries. Just sent them home!

Hopefully Jess will stay healthy (I am knocking on wood).

One meeting today and then I am looking forward to the weekend.

I just took Drew over to practice. DAMN! It is cold and windy!!!!

I take Molly with us when I walk Drew over to the school. It is her favorite part of the day. She gets so excited and just loves that little walk to and from the school.

Ok, off to start my day!

Nobody wants a goiter!!!

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving break is when the count down begins. We don't have school next Wednesday so 5 school days until they get 5 days off.

Jess have a basketball game last night. Well, I am not sure you could call it a game. They had several teams at North Polk and they all just played 2 - eight minute quarters. It was varsity only but on the bright side, Jessica got to start both quarters. I am not sure if she will start in the regular season varsity games but she was in the starting lineup last night. That is kind of cool.

Drew is back to having a morning practice today. He is up at 5:30 and I will take him over at 6. I am writing this in between the times so I may have to stop in the middle to take him over. His first game is Tuesday so it will be a good way to kick off the Thanksgiving break.

Work has been lame as of late. We don't really have any big projects going on and there is a bunch of little stuff that is just irritating. Report cards are being generated at the elementary school and it is ridiculous how paticular they are with the most insignificant stuff. That is one thing that I would say about working in the district. There is a big difference between the personalities of the staff in the buildings.

The High School staff has some people that just don't get it but for the most part the problems they have a "real" and are school driven. The Elementary School is the exact opposite. They complain about the most insignificant things you could imagine. An example of this: A few years back the Middle school didn't have air conditioning. The classrooms in August and September could get really, really hot. So hot at times we would close school. The elementary has air conditioning and even the ability to set the temp in each individual room. The buildings and ground director set it so they could only change the digital thermostat in their rooms between 68 and 72. You should have heard the complaining about not being able to make it cooler than 68. You would have swore they were being kept as indentured servants and the world was coming to an end. How could they teach in this terrible environment. Yet, across town, the middel school staff was sitting in 95 degree classrooms or hotter and not complaining at all.

There are many, many, many stories I could go on about. One other one, a teacher that taught at the elementary was moved to the middle school. The cord to hook her computer to the network was 15 feet long, she moved her computer 15 1/2 feet from the jack and wanted a longer cord. We told her to move her table over 6 inches and she would be fine. She went nuts, saying she would have to change her whole teaching style if she moved her computer!!!!

I could go on and on but you get the drift.

I think the rest of the week is pretty open. One meeting this afternoon and I think a tech directory meeting on Thursday but other than that it is a pretty clean schedule. Things will start to pickup again after Thanksgiving with all of the activities getting in full swing.

Nancy Sawyers son is ok. Has two broken legs, one a compound fracture with a lot of tissue and muscle damage, bleeding spleen that they aren't too worried about, cracked skull with a little bleeding but they aren't overly concerned with, a fractured bone in his neck and a bunch of scrapes and bruises. I am not sure how long she will be gone but we will have to rotate going over to that building for tech coverage a couple times a week.

That Christmas tree is blocking my view of the Thanksgiving turkey

Tuesday is here and it is significate to note that this may be the turning point of the fall weather. It is going to be in the upper 60's today and this is going to be a last hurrah from what the lying weather people say. Highs are going to be in the 40's and the shift towards winter will begin.

I always have mixed emotions about this time of year. Common sense tells me to use this last bit of good weather to get my Christmas lights out. On the other hand (You can picture me talking to myself like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof) I hate to get Christmas in front of Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving and feel it cheapens it a bit by doing Christmas early.

Jessica had her club volleyball meeting last night. We were late of course. The HS basketball practice ran long and then he wanted to hand out their uniforms last night so it pushed us even later. It only take about 30 minutes to get to Ankeny so it wasn't too bad. We were 45 minutes late but Jess met the other girls and they talked about the season. The coach is really nice and she us very understanding of what Jess has to go through with the other sports she plays. They start practicing after Thanksgiving.

There are two girls on the team that live about an hour from Ankeny so they drive a long way to practice. Another girl lives almost an hour and a half away so she is really driving a long way.

They ended up forming two teams. A maroon and a white squad. The maroon is the "A" team and the white is the "B" team. Jess is on the maroon team. It was kind of wierd seeing her in maroon colors. It reminded me of the good old Exeter Eagles days.

Drew is now back to afternoon practices. He made the "A" team for the 7th grad basketball team. There are three teams, A, B, and C. They play against other town's A, B, and C teams. Drew is happy to be on the A team. I am not sure if he starts or not but they have a game next week at home so I will find out then.

Jess has a game tonight and it is away. It is in a town called Alleman, I have no idea where that is. I think the basketball team is going to be weak this year. The one thing about basktball that is different than the other sports is that you have girls that only play basketball and they think they are just awesome and there are a lot of egos. The one thing about our girls right now is they have talent but the reason the are bad is they don't have chemistry. A bunch of individuals not a team.

The tech support person that works for me at the elmentary, Nancy Sawyer, her son was hit by a car last night while he was out jogging. She rushed to KC last night to see him in the hospital. He has two broken legs and his spleen is bleeding. Doesn't sound good but I am sure she will let me know when she finds out more. I am not sure how long she will be gone but I would think it would be the rest of the week.

Things like this remind me of how life can change with the blink of an eye. Knock on wood we are all safe as the holiday season approaches.

Oh! I made casadillas last night for dinner. They were wonderful!

Off to start my day.

Is there a self help book for Monday!

Today, yet again, reinforces how much I hate Mondays!!! I am not sure what the deal is but Mondays just are the worst for me. Some may like them, a new start of a week and all, but from the alarm going off to the start of another work week, I think it stinks!

The weekends was pretty good. Jess was name to the Second Team All conference team for volleyball. She was the only Perry girl that made the team. We had a couple girls get honorable mention but she was the only one to make a team. We found out because it was in the paper. Her coach called and said it wasn't supposed to be in the paper yet and she was mad because she wanted to be the one to tell Jess.

Drew is on the front page of the sports section in this weeks paper. They showed the 7th and 8th grade team photos and talked about thier seasons.

The huskers and broncos both won this weekend which was a pleasant change. The huskers finally put a game together and the defense didn't lose the game for them. Too late for Callahan but good for the seniors and the remaining players. I have mixed emotions about a bowl. I want it for those kids but I would maybe just rather have the season overs so we can get a new coach and get the changes underway.

Jess played in a basketball scrimmage on Saturday morning. I think there were 5 teams and they kind of had a round robin scrimmage. It is an opportunity for teams to get some games in before the "Real games" start. She has practice and then we have to go to Ankeny for her club volleyball meeting. I am hoping the basketball coach doesn't have a long practice tonight because we are supposed to be in Ankeny at 6:30. We will be late for sure but I don't want to be an hour late. It takes about 30-40 minutes to get there.

Yesterday day we spent the afternoon raking and bagging leaves. That is a sucky job but the kids didn't complain too much. It helps to have the three of us out there. We did the back and the front but left on of the sides. There is a tree over there that still has a bunch of leaves on it so we will get that another time, unless it snows! I think we had 18 leaf bags full when we stopped. It was day outside and we were able to play a little basketball after we finished. Nancy had her grandkids over and they came over and played. Jess and Drew love those kids and really like it when they are around.

I am not sure what the week ahead will hold. I would imagine Jess will start club volleball practices this week. Drew has morning practices again this week. The team likes them better so they are going to go mornings. Drew likes the morning practices too so it all works out.

I can't believe how dark it gets and how early it is when it gets dark. I swear 6 pm seems like 8 or 9.

The coffee is good this morning and it is making me feel better about the day. I am not sure what I would do without the comfort of a hot cup of coffee to start my day.

Off to start my week. More tomorrow.

A little boy came into my office yesterday and farted!

I have made it to Friday. The weather is supposed to be good and it should be a pretty good day.

Tomorrow I need to get some yard work done. The Huskers play on TV 11:30ish so I will try to get to after the game. It is the last home game for the under achieving group and as we count down the last couple games of the season it is kind of like watching a suffering patient slip into eternal rest. Sad, but in a way a relief!

The practice rotation continues today. Drew getting up early and going to practice at 6 AM and Jess having practice and not getting home until almost 7 PM. The coach loves the long practices. They didn't have many girls go out this year to begin with and we aren't even through the first week of practice and they are down to 15 girls. That is everyone, Freshman, JV and Varsity combined is a total of 15 girls. The numbers are down so low that the AD has cancelled all Freshmen games and are going to try to play 5 or 6 quarters of JV. It is a sad sign of the times here in Perry.

On the other hand, Drew said there were 27 boys out for 7th grade boys basketball. That is a pretty big group. There are quite a few athletic boys in the 7th and 8th grade right now so the boys program should do pretty well in the future. I guess we will see if they stay out.

One of the benefits of working at the school is that I get into all the games free. I was also given a conference pass from our AD so I get into all the away games free as well. It really saves a lot of money because I think it is $5 per person to get into games now. In basketball alone they have around 20 games so if Dawn and I both went to each game and had to pay it would be a couple hundred dollars, without any concession expenses. Over the course of a year, with volleyball, basketball, track and softball, we probably save over $500 by me working at the school.

The cost of kids in sports is expensive. You go to a game, so you have gas cost. You have admission cost and you have concessions even if it is just a drink. I suppose you could cut out the concessions if you had to but to go to a game, you could easily spend $15 or more. Multiply that by the number of games in a season for all sports and WOW! Not to mention sports shoes, and water and snacks for the kids when they are playing. They leave right after school and don't get home until after 9 most times so they need something to eat and they have to have water for the game. Add it all up and it is a wonder I feel like there is a hole in my wallet.

It seems like I have been complaining a lot lately and I am now done with that. Starting.......(imagine me with my finger in the air and dropping it down) ....NOW!

Life is too short to focus on the negatives. Time to be positive and happy. It is a nice Friday after all.

Have a great weekend.

GBR (For those of you who don't know, that means GO BIG RED!)

I tried to throw in the towel but some bastard stole it!

I think the weather is going to be a bit warmer today. I really don't care. I have kind of a case of the ass today for no apparent reason. It is Thursday and it is getting close to the weekend and I should be pretty happy. Should and are seem light years apart sometimes don' t they?

The blog tends to be a bit theraputic but there is a limit. The limit is that this is a public forum and some of my thoughts just can't be shown here. I think the blog is a great way to share what is going on in the Nichols family here in Perry and keep everyone current on what we are doing and how things are going. Being away is always hard and this is a window into our daily lives.

For me it has been kind of like the Costanza Christmas (from Seinfeld). "We start with the airing of grievences!" It has been a place for me to let go of some of my little dramas and get them out of my system. It makes me feel better to get it out and let it go. The little troubles seem a bit smaller when I get get them OUT. The problem is I also write this for myself. A way for "future Rich" to look back on what was going on in life "back when".

I am sure everyone can relate that you just can't put real hard problems on the web. You just can't. There are a couple reasons. First, you don't want people to know those issues and second, most people really don't want to hear them. Life is too short, ya know? We all have issues and if they were all public, life would be one big drama fest, where everyone needed a hug. Puke!

I am not sure why I wrote all of this but I think maybe it is for "Future Rich". So when I do go back and read these posts, maybe I will remember what I was really thinking and going through. I bet "future Rich" is bald....lol

Ok, Drew is getting ready to go to practice this morning. He enjoys the morning practice. I have mixed emotions. I think it is nice to have him home in the afternoon when I get home but it really cuts into my "morning time". Usually, I have an hour and a half to myself each morning to have a little coffee, read about the Huskers, check our servers at school, and just surf the web or play games. It is just kind of a nice time. With Drew having morning practice it is kind of broken up.

Both kids are practicing like crazy and Jess has a scrimmage this weekend at Fr. Dodge. The HS season games start next week and as I looked at the schedule there are a bunch of games. I think she will play JV and get playing time at Varsity. They can only play so many quarters in a year so I guess we will see how it plays out.

I have an early morning meeting this morning, it is trash day and my case of the ass remains.

I am sure Friday will be much better.

Going green doesn't mean eating moldy bread!

For some reason I have felt like there is not enough time in the day to get things done. It isn't that I don't take ten minutes here and there to kind of slack off and do nothing but it seems like there once was a time when I was just looking for something to do. I remember writing to this blog one time about needing a hobby. Well those day are over.

Jess had another long practice last night and then called and said she had Academic Decathelon last night. Why in the heck she keeps signing up for stuff when she is already very busy, I will never understand. Anyway, she didn't get home until about 8. I have to give her credit, her mood is good and she had homework and didn't even seem to be grouchy about it. I guess I will let her keep doing what she does as long as she keeps smiling and her grades don't fall.

She told me there was a kid at school yesterday with a knife. A big knife like a scalpal type of thing. He had in class and the teacher didn't notice. Jess and a friend both saw it and he knows they saw it so she was afraid to tell anyone because she thinks he would know it was one of them that told. She says he is in a gang and is worried that someone will get stabbed. I am going to talk to the principal today and let him know. I told her that if she sees stuff she should go to the counselor.

Drew is adapting to the morning practices. He is fine getting up and was up and smiling this morning but the toll is paid at night. When I get home at 5 I can already see the sleepyness in his eyes and he in to bed by 8 or 8:30. He is much more reserved about what his days or like so I have to keep asking for info.

I ended up calling the vendor I had a meeting with yesterday and telling him I was too busy to come. I am glad I did, I really did have a bunch of stuff come up at work yesterday.

It looks like we are having the Nichols family Christmas on the 23 this year, a Sunday. It works for everyone so it should be a good time. I look forward to seeing everyone. Thanksgiving is up first though and I hope everyone makes it to Jon's restraunt for the, what has become, decorating of the restraunt party. I had fun last year and hope to get back again this year.

Pretty much a boring blog today but once again, the life of a simple man!

At least it is Hump Day.

Like running in a tar pit

It is a chilly Tuesday morning. 29 degrees with a nice stiff breeze. Drew had his morning practice so I walked over with him and let him in the school awhile ago. He was not as chipper this morning as he was yesterday. One day of getting up early is ok but as the week goes on I bet his attitude gets less and less sunny. He is not one to get too grouchy about having to get up so it won't be too bad. He also likes to be be able to come home right after school.

Jess had two tests and a long practice yesterday. The bastetball practice started at 3:45 and she didn't get home until 6:50! She said they did a lot of conditioning and a bunch of drills. They have some freshmen and a few older girls that are terrible so the coaches yell most of the time, at least according to her.

She was in a pretty good mood last night even though the day was tough. We talked about the volleyball club team and I called the coach and talked with her a bit. The schedule doesn't ahv any conflicts at this point. I told the coach the high school sports have to come first and she said that is kind of the standard for most of the girls and wouldn't be a problem. We are going to find out about the money portion today or tomorrow. They have payment plans so we are looking at what that looks like. I told Jess if the money is an issue we will just have to skip this year. She was ok with that. I think she is a bit nervous about the whole prospect. We have until the end of the week to make a decision one way or another.

I am supposed to go to Des Moines today to meet with a vendor and a couple of Microsoft engineer big wigs. I have a state report that needs to get done. It didn't pan out yesterday, so I am not sure if I am going to be able to go. It won't break my heart any if I have to stay here in Perry and work.

Dawn leaves for San Antonio today for work. She will be gone until Thursday night.

Off to start my cold day.

If I had nothing to worry about, that would worry me!

Well, we are back at Monday! Like getting hit in the face with a brick, here it is.

The weekend went pretty well except for the Huskers. Man do they stink this year! I can't believe Callahan still has a job after losing to Kansas 76-39. What a mess!

Jess had her volleyball tryouts yesterday and got an offer to join a team. She was one of 8 girls selected to play on the Sports University Volleyball Club team. She was offered the spot right after the tryout and the coach called last night to let us know they really want her. She also said they are flexible with the high school sports so if she needed to miss practices and such for HS competitions it would be ok.

The second team she tried out for didn't call last night so it is kind of up in the air with them. They seemed interested at tryouts but I am not sure if they have made a decision on her yet. This team went to nationals last year so I am sure all the girls on that team are back on so she would have to bump someone off of the team from last year to get on. They said to call if we haven't heard from them in a few days.

The first team seemed to be a bit of a better fit for us. They were very friendly and seemed to have a desire to get to know the girls and help them. The second one was more like a volleyball factory. Get em in and get em out, If one doesn't seem to work, throw another one it. I worry that the second team would not be as willing to work with the girls on conflicts with HS sports.

All in all it was a good experience for Jess. She met some girls and learned a lot. I am at a bit of a crossroads on this deal. I have always wanted her to play all the sports and be well rounded. She wants to play volleyball in college and this is her ticket to do it. I really don't want to sacrifice her other HS sports in the process. The cost to be on the team is a little over $1,000, so it isn't something you just try and quit if it doesn't work out. You have to commit. We have some talking to do.

Drew has practice this morning at 6:15. I woke him up at 5:30 and he is walking around, ready to go now. He is a pretty good morning person so he won't complain about morning practices. He also like basketball and the coach so he is happy to go, whenever they have it.

Work is going to be busy today. I have to work with the state report we were supposed to submit last week. We have some data to fix so the focus of my day will be spent getting that going.

Off to another week. Thankgiving is just a couple weeks away. How wierd is that?

The mother of all migraines!

Every morning while I write my blog. Molly sits beside me on the bench seat of the booth and sleeps. I put a little blanket down and she jumps up and sleeps beside me while I write. Today, she is preversly licking herself and I keep smacking her to stop. She must love it becuase I have smacked her like 4 times and after a few minutes she is back to going to town on herself. Whatever!

Last night we had Volleyball awards and pot luck. It was ok. Jess got recognized for breaking two school records and blah, blah, blah. I am not a big fan of those things and even though Jess got her props it is still a long drawn out event. Once again - Whatever!

I worked on the teachers computer last night as well. It took forever and we didn't get much accomplished. She can now get out on a wired connection but her wireless still doesn't work. It really is ridiculous. I have worked on network stuff for about 15 years and I couldn't get it to work. How is someone who has zero knowledge supposed to know what to do? I have setup wireless network stuff before and it is pretty cut and dry. The one she has is a NetGear that she bought through Dell and it SUCKS! Honestly, I think there might be an incombatibility issue with her cable modem and that wireless router. I told her to call their support and see if they can help her. I really feel bad for her but there is only so much I can do.

So I am headed off to bed last night and the moment I lay my head on the pillow I am hit with a migraine. I took some medicine and slept until about 12:30. I woke up to the return of the migraine, took some more medicine and have been up since. My headache has finally gotten better. I still have the residue of the headache but it isn't killing me. I watched a lot of crappy tv during the night.

Drew forgot about the pot luck so when I got home from helping with the teacher's computer he tells me he is hungry. Well, Hell. It is almost 8 o'clock and night and he still hadn't eaten. I asked him what he wanted and he said, hot chocolate and toast. Easy enough, so that is what he had. He and I sat out in the front living room and watched "The Office". He must have had a hard basketball practice because he went to bed almost as soon as it was over.

I am glad it is Friday and the coffee is really tasting good this morning. It is a big chilly, upper 30's but is supposed to be nice today. My legs were cramping up last night as I layed in bed as well. MAN, I'M A MESS!

Ok, off to start my day. The weekend is full of events. I am taking Jess to the gym Saturday to practice her hitting for her volleyball tryout. Huskers play at 11:30ish. I am formatting computers here because they run like crap and need restored. Sunday we have tryouts. The first one is from 8-10, the second 12-2 and the last is 4-6. It should be a fully day for me and the goose. I will let you know how it went Monday.