That camel joke really cracks me up

It was a ugly day for sports. The 7th grade football team lost their first game 22-0. It was a bit unfortunate because the team they played didn't have enough for an A-team and a B-team so we had to mix our A-team with B-team and the combination was not good. Drew normally plays tight end and defensive end but with the combination of the team he didn't play defensive end. Once the other team scored a couple quick touchdowns they put the A-players in on defense. Drew was happy to say, the other team didn't score once he was in on defense.

The volleyball team got swept big. It was probably the worst loss I have seen this year. They lost the first game 25-8, second game 25-12 and third 25-18. At least it was close to these scores, I am not exactly sure but it was something like that. Jess played well, as a matter of fact, as the teams shook hands at the end of the game, both opposing coaches came up to Jess and shook her hand and said, "Great game number 5". They didn't do that to any other player so that made Jess feel good about her play even though they lost.

Jess did a nice job at the net. She had 5 or 6 blocks and a couple of them were really big. They hit it hard and she blocked it back down on them for the score. She also had some good kills and even got to play in the back row a bit.

They play in a JV tournament Saturday. They have to be at the gym here in Perry at 6:30 am. The first game is in Waukee at 8:30. They should do pretty well. There are four girls on JV that start or play a bunch on varsity. They play JV because we have such a young team.

Jess is going to the Iowa State volleyball game in Ames tonight. The team is going. I think they have some type of a deal because we don't have to pay for a ticket. She wishes they were playing the Huskers so she could see Pavin but I think they are playing Kansas. Let's hope the mascot leaves her alone this year.

Drew has one more football game this season. Tuesday of next week they play in Dallas Center. It is kind of a shame it is ending, he loves football so much.

I have some pictures to post but I can't find the damn USB cord that goes from the camera to the computer. I will post them when I get ahold of the cable.

Well, the weather is going to be good today. It is Wednesday so that means early out for school and chicken, chicken, cripito for lunch.

They say a camel can roam the desert for weeks without water

It looks like we may be getting some rain today. Drew has a game tonight and the timing of the rain seems to be coinciding with game time.

Last night I helped Nancy paint her house. They still have a bunch of work to do but we got a great deal done yesterday. The weather was great but these little black bugs were all over. The little bastards kept biting me and they seemed to be everywhere. I hadn't been that swarmed with bugs since I was in Alaska out in the field. Just thinking about it makes me start itching.

There is a documentary on IPTV Sunday abot Perry. It is called "A Little Salsa on the Prairie". It is about the latino migration to Perry and the change in industry with the meat packing plant and the impact on commerce, education, etc. It sounds kind of cool and I know some of the teachers are going to tape it. I would like to watch it but I don't think I have that channel on DirecTv. I guess I will borrow someones tape sometime.

Work has been going pretty well lately. I have a few little issues but things are so much better than they were. We have our big state report due Oct. 15 and once that is off, everything else gets a bit better.

Jess and Drew both have games tonight. I am not sure if I am going to go to Drew's game yet or not. It starts at 4:15 and in out of town so it is a push for me to be able to leave work early enough to see it.

I am going to take the digital camera to the game tonight so I can get some pictures of Jess playing for the blog. If I go to Drew's game I will get photos of him as well. I try to take pictures on my phone but they are not good.

I will leave you today with my favorite joke:

Two camels are walking in the desert and one turns to the other and says "I don't care what anybody says, I'm thirsty!"..........hahahahaha

Have a great day today!

What is the latin word for "this sucks"?

I really hate Mondays!

Jess has a game tonight and a game tomorrow night. She is playing away tonight and at home tomorrow. Drew has a game tomorrow night away. There is a change of rain and severe weather tomorrow and I hope it holds off so Drew can get his game in. He really loves football and they only play 5 games in 7th grade so if this one gets rained out, it will be a shame.

The weekend went pretty well. Nancy painted their house so Friday night Jess, Drew and I helped a bit. Saturday Jess went to the Faith Fest and had a great time. Drew went to the birthday party and had a good time as well. The weekends seem to go so fast these days.

It has been pretty windy here lately. I'm not a big fan of the wind.

The leaves are starting to fall and that is a beginning of a Fall suckfest for me. I get sooo many leaves in my yard it take a lot of work to get it all cleaned up. I think I raked four times last year and the third time I had 18 leaf bags full of leaves! That was only one of the four times. In the past I have burned the leaves to get rid of them and it takes a couple of weekends at least and it is all day both weekend days to get them gone. It is much better if it is dry. Last year we has a frost and the leaves never really did dry out so the burning was difficult.

I found a new show on Discovery Channel that I like. It is called "The Truth About Food". It is a bunch of scientist and they do experiments on the effects of food on the human body. This weekend I learned:

• The"Detox Diet" is a sham and has no effect on the humand body.
• Eating small amounts of food throughout the day instead of three meals gives you more energy and makes your more productive.
• Eating oily fish such as salmon and tuna 4 times a week can really lower stress levels of the body.
• Cafeine only makes you productive if you are addicted to it. If you don't have any caffeine for a week, your productivity returns to the levels it was when you were on the caffeine highs. It takes a week without caffeine to "get clean". You will experience excruciating headaches during the withdrawl process.

There were some other ones but nothing that I want to go into here.

Other shows I watch on Discovery is Survivor Man, Man vs Wild, Dirty Jobs.

Insert Friday Here!

This has the potential to be a fantastic Friday. The weather is going to be good. I have work to do today but it is, at this point, nothing that is urgent or stressful. I am going to have Chinese food today for lunch, which is one of my favorites and last but not least the weather is going to be nice on Saturday so the weekend outlook is good.

The volleyball team lost last night 1-3. Jess played pretty well but they just don't have a complete team. They have two or three solid players and the rest are mediocre at best. They will do ok this year hopefully use the remainder of the year to develop players for next year. They have all but two players back. I am not a big fan of the coach. I think she is like most of the team, mediocre at best.

Drew is going to a friends birthday party this weekend and Jess is headed to the "Faith Fest". I am going to clean the house and try to make it livable by the end of the day Saturday. I also plan on watching some football and listening to the embattled Husker game on the Internet. I hope they beat Iowa State. It is a statement how far the program has fallen that a loss to Iowa State wouldn't be that big of a suprise. Thank you Mr. Pederson, Mr. Callahan and Mr. Cozgrove. Filthy Bastards!

I really am glad to have this week behind me. It has been a long one. It was filled with meetings, anxiety, frustration, some laughs and good productivity. I can feel the rythm of the workload slowing down and that is good.

My birthday is coming up and the kids keep asking me what I want. I really don't want them to get me anything. I don't want them to spend their money on me. They work hard for it and I want them to spend it on themselves. I would be happy if they just made me dinner and did the dishes after.

I have many things that I want but I hate to spend money on those things. It seems that if I can get by with what I have I would rather not spend the money on better stuff. I also worry about the other house we have and the tennants moving out at the end of October. Having to start that house payment again and take care of the place is not something I look forward to so it is a constant worry. I think I have the worst luck when it comes to trying to sell a home.

Well, I am off to start a good day in the great weather and hope to have a wonderful weekend.

Go Big Red!

Whoo-Hooo its Trash Day!

The weather is going to be very good today. It is supposed to be sunny and a high in the upper 70's. A nice fall day!

The day went pretty well yesterday. We are keeping very busy at work but it makes the days go fast. It seemed like yesterday I had a lot of visitors that want to come into my office and chat. They don't seem to realize that I have bunch of work to do and I have a hard time just telling them I am too busy to talk with them. It seems rather rude so they chat and I try to keep working while talking to them and I am not as productive as I could be while they are there. Nancy gets really grouchy about that by the way. She has no trouble telling people to get the hell out!

I seem to have so many meetings lately that my time to work is limited by that as well. Some meetings are necessary, others are just an exercise in keeping people happy and informed (I hate those meetings by the way.).

Jess has a volleyball game tonight. The JV team plays at 5:30 and the varsity starts at 7 or 7:30, I can't remember which. Friday, the football game is away and it is a long way away so I don't think the kids are going.

Drew has a birthday part to go to on Saturday. Jess is going to a "Faith Fest" with one of her friends. She is a neighbor girl, a junior at high school, and her dad is a minister. Jess has gone to other things with her in the past with their church and there are a bunch of kids from school that she knows that go to that church so she has fun. I told her she was going to a BIG O'L FAITH FEST. She thought I was being condescending and told me to stop.

So I was checking the kids grades yesterday and Drew has a C in COMPUTERS! He has had an A all year and he failed a computer terms test and the retest and now has a C. I told him it was a bit embarassing to have the Tech Directors son get a C in computers. I told him if he needed help with the terms I would be happy to help and know all the answers. He wasn't interested but said he would get the grade up. DREW!!!!

So far this year Jess has 2 B's and the rest A's. Drew has all A's and that damn C.

Hey mom, isn't it funny how I get on the kids about grades when I was a slacker in high school?...lol

Time to get ready for my day.

More tomorrow.

You might be a stupid ass if...........

So, Monday night there was an academic awards ceremony at the high school. We had received a letter a few days prior saying that Jessica would be receiving an award so we should attend. Well, I really didn't want to go and I figured she was just going to get an honor roll award, so when she got home on Monday and said "Do we have to go? I have a headache." I said "No, I think it is just an honor roll award and it would kind of suck to sit through an hour and a half ceremony to get your honor roll certificate." So we didn't go.

Yesterday, I was asked why we didn't go because Jessica won a bunch of awards. I ABOUT CRAPPED IN MY PANTS! So I found out what she won.

* A plaque for Outstanding English Student of the Year
* A trophy for Student of the Year for Physical Education
- She broke some 9th grade records in PE
* Certificate for Outstanding Achievement in Algebra
* Certificate for three consective trimesters on Honor Roll
* Academic Letter

She ended up being, if not the most, close to the most recognized girl in the school.

Don't I feel like a horses ass!

One of the teachers at the school chastized her a bit for not being present and told her the teachers would think twice about giving her awards in the future. I ended up writing a apology letter to the principal. It is bad enough not going as a staff member but not going when she was recongized so much and it was very obvious we weren't there. It would be one thing to get your name read once and not be there but to get what she got and for the Outstanding Student of the year in English, it was her and a boy in her class and they were supposed to stand up there for a picture for the yearbook. UGH!

Note to self: Don't be a stupid ass!

The games didn't go well last night. Drew's team tied! Why they let a football game end in a tie is beyond me but they did. It was fortunate I guess because we fumbled the ball three times in our own territory.

The volleyball team lost, I think. Dawn called to talk to Drew during the volleyball game and said they lost the first game badly and they were down 7-2 in the second so I assume they lost. I was asleep when they got home so I am not sure of the outcome but I am thinking they lost. The JV team lost as well and that is their first loss of the year.

Nothing big going on today. Jess has a home volleyball game tomorrow night. Drew only has two more football games left and they are both away.

In closing, a couple in Indiana, named their new born son, Wrigley. Mr. and Mrs. Fields now are the proud parents of Wrigley Fields. No lie. Did I mention they are Chicago Cubs fans?

A little rain into each life must fall

I have found it to be interesting livinging in Iowa for many reasons but one of the things that occurs every four years is the Iowa Caucus. This is the first primary type event for the presidential election and with Iowa being the first, we get every politician all the time. Since the first of the year, we have had visits from every candidate and commercials like it was an election year. I mean we are a year away from the election and they have been campaigning here for a long time. We even get candidates here in Perry.

I had an Internet outage yesterday so I was unable to make my weekday post. I hate it when that happens! Last night I still had some trouble so until I got my connection fixed I found another connection in the neighborhood and hopped on it for about 30 minutes. Isn't wireless great?

Both kids have games tonight. Drew has a home game at 4:15 and Jess has a game in Carroll. Jess also has a game here on Thursday. There may be something this weekend as well but I am not sure. It is either this weekend or next.

I am disgusted with the Huskers! I look forward to football season and they play like this? Cosgrove must go. As "they" always say, "Defense wins championships". It looks to be a long season.

So I mentioned state pride on Friday. I think Texas probably has the most state pride. Call it arrogance or being simple but Texans seem to think Texas is the only place on earth. Like the old story goes: "A guy walks into a bar in Austin and orders a drink. The guy next to him say, "Where ya from, stranger?" The guy says "New Jersey", the first guy says, "What part of Texas is that?"

I told you all a story about the farter man at the grocery store. Well I saw the stinky bastard again this weekend. I almost went up to him to see if he was still farting through life or if it was just a case of bad beans that day but my better judgement got the best of me and I stayed clear. For the rest of his and my life, I will always remember him for that one moment at the store where he farted in line and acted like nothing happened. I mean c'mon you fart loud and proud and pretend it was someone else or that nobody noticed? Give me a break. He is now and forever "the farter man".

As I was typing that it kind of came to me that we have little names for people at work and we really don't think about it when we call them those names. I mean, we don't call them the names to their faces but when we talk about them we refer to them with the little names that we find matches their personalities or physical traits. Here are a few of the people we know:

Skinny woman
Gravy
Wild Bill
Regular Bill
Boobs
BV

There are some others but I would rather not post them on the web.

More tomorrow - unless my connection is out.