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.