Coffee, Beer, Tequila, Diet Pepsi and sometimes Water

Have you ever seen a movie or tv show where a guy or girl is rock climbing and they are at a spot they are kind of stuck and they have to jump out and grab a ledge that they can pull themselves up on and continue on?

Well, that is me and this weekend. I am the rock climber and I am leaping in desperation for the weekend. There hasn't been a great deal of stress but it has been just kind of sucky! One of those weeks that is grinding and long and full of stupid people and irritating situations. The tech office goes through cycles and this is one cycle I will be glad to get out of.

Football Friday today. The HS boys play in Carroll tonight. Both kids are going. Jess is going up with some of her friends. One of the girls mom is driving. Drew is going up after practice with some of his friends. Dawn is driving them up.

Drew got his school pictures back yesterday and he was disgusted becuase he said he hair looked funny. I told him that is the way it ALWAYS looks and he needs a dang haircut. Last time he got his hair cut his mom took him and she just had them trim it up. I told him he needed a haircut when he walked through the door after his haircut. Now he is convinced and wants to get it cut ASAP.

Jess has been drama-ing things up over the last couple of days. She goes through little cycles too and lately has been on edge and little things seem to be a big deal to her. She tried to keep it under wraps because she knows I don't take it well but it slips out and I make her tell me the issue and typically it isn't that big of a deal, she just over analyzes things (Women!)

Oktoberfest starts today. There is a celebration in Des Moines that start this morning and at 3:00 they have "The tapping of the golden keg!" FREE BEER!!!! All kinds of activities and festivities are going on. It would be fun to go to something like that but I wouldn't want to drive to Des Moines to do it. I think it is kind of fun to have the German style beer and the ethnic food and music. It is a nice celebration of culture. I like stuff like that.

A side note to the free beer deal. When I was in college we used to say our favorite kind of beer was "Free Beer". Our second kind of beer was "Free and Cold Beer".

Question to ponder over the weekend:

If you asked people in general, "What state's residence have the most state pride?", what state do you think people would guess? I think there is something good about state pride. People should be proud of where they live.

By the way, the Iowa - Iowa State football game was a shocker and in some cases the fans were very poor. For the most part it is all good fun but others take a bit too far and make it nasty. I can see why the didn't allow them to play eachother for awhile. It can really divide people as much as religion and politics.

Have a great weekend.

Can a blogger have writers block?

We had 70 MPH winds on Tuesday night so my Internet connection was down yesterday. It really throws a kink into my morning routine when I am unable to get on the web and post my blog. Well, we are back in business now so here we go.

Drew and Jess both had games on Tuesday and the both won. Drew's football team won big, it was 40 something to zero. The volleyball team won pretty easily but dropped one game in which they played like crap. It took four games for them to win the match. They play best out of 5 and they won the first, third and fourth games.

It was a very rainy and windy night Tuesday night. The games were about 45 minutes away and the drive home was very difficult. The rain was coming down in sheets and it was hard to see. Of course, I had to stop and get gas. Nothing like needing to fill up with rain pouring down.

It has been a pretty quick week. It is Thursday, trash day, already. Tomorrow the high school football game is away and the kids are going. It is about an hour away and I don't plan on attending.

I feel like the post for today is kind of lame but I will try to do better tomorrow. Sometimes life is just dull and uneventful and thus is reflected in the blog. I would imagine I will look back at all my posts one day and read through them and reflect on what life was like when the words were written. I don't think this post will conjure up memories of much of anything.

Hopefully my creative juices will be flowing tomorrow.

Would life be easier if I were wealthy?

Drew and Jess both have game today in Saydel. I plan on going but as I look at my calendar I have a meeting at 3:30. Drew's game starts at 4:15 and Saydel is about 45 minutes away. I am going to see if I can move the meeting up and get out in time to see the game.

You know, I really hate meetings! I know they are, for the most part, productive but you never know that going in. It is like seeing what is behind door number 3. Crap shoot. This meeting today is an important one. The district is considering purchasing a laptop for a special needs student. There are a whole list of concerns I have and logistic problems that I see with how they want to use it.

I think, at times in education, people see things on paper or think things should work a certain way, in theory. With what I do, there is very little "theory". If it doesn't work, people know! If it should work but doesn't, I can look like an idiot! In other areas of education that is not the case. They can implement a program that requires many resources with little or no follow up to the real impact. There is no plan if it fails becuase there is no solid definition of FAIL for such programs. I think that is why I have conflict with the principals at times. I have to deal with fact - it work or it doesn't - I succeeded or I failed. There is no "theoretical victory". The principals live in that kind of world.

We could spend years on a new staff development program for teachers. Did it have an impact? Maybe. Do we see scores increase? Maybe or maybe not but can we tie that to the change in staff development? Not necessarily. Ugh!

Enough of my rants!

The weather today is warm. Currently in the 70's and I think we are supposed to get rain and storms this afternoon into this evening. It may be a rainy football game.

I am still ticked off at the huskers for Saturday! Cosgrove - Smosgrove!

So in the title today I wonder if I would have an easier life if I was wealthy. I am not sure it would be easier but if you had the money to have a house on the beach and a yacht to go sailing on the ocean or money to go to the carribean, I think the other stuff can become less consuming. Sometime I think we all just want to get away, far away, from our troubles. Money could make that possible.

I need to start playing lotto!

More tomorrow.

Jiff Peanut butter, bananas and chocolate milk.

This is going to be a busy morning. I have three meetings before 9:00 am. My first is at 7:40 then I have another at 8:00 then a third at 8:30. Now that is a way to start a Monday morning!
It would be nice if they were all in the same building.

Want to lay odds that I am late for at least one of them?

Nancy's dad is going to have surgery today so she wont be in. I know it has been a hard time for her dad and his family. To go through the things he has had to endure is definitely a sign of strength. My thoughts will be with them today.

Homecoming went well. Jessica's date dumped her 30 minutes before the dance! She was actually relieved and went anyway. She had a good time with her friends. The guy she was supposed to go with didn't even go to the dance.

The weekend was nice. The huskers got their butts kicked by USC. They were just more powerful up front on both sides of the ball. Our defensive coordinator needs his ass kicked. I haven't been a fan of his since he arrived!

It is a whopping 65 degrees this morning. A much different feel than it was last week when it was 38 in the mornings. It is going to be 86 today and in the 80's most of the week.

Jess and Drew both have games tomorrow and they are in the same town. They play Saydel at Saydel and Drew's game is at 4:15 and Jess' game is at 5:30 and 7:00. I usually don't go to the away games but since they are both playing in the same town it is easy for me to go.

I need to get ready so I am not late for my first meeting. Man, if I were late for that one, I would definitely be late for the rest.

Have a great day today!