Adventures in Animal Land

Today we went to take care of Josiah. It was practically a white out and we couldn't see the road. Thankfully TP gave us use of a 4-wheel truck otherwise we would have been in the ditch. So we went to pick up Josiah. She did well in the truck. BUT when she came into our house she was E-X-C-I-T-E-D!!! And I am not exaggerating. She ran inside the house jumping on the furniture like very little hyper dog. The cat eyes were huge like two moons. He was not happy!! The cat went into a bedroom then Josiah left a little "present" on the rug. UGH!! This was not going to work out at all.

Finally we put the dog's pet carrier in our laundry room, put the dog in the cage and closed the door. Since then we have talked to Josiah and walked her around our place. Daisy got her sniffs in as well and didn't mind if we had this new little animal with us. Josiah seemed "okay" with Daisy, I guess she wasn't going to tangle with the larger dog. This might have worked out a little better if we had a bigger laundry room area and/or if we didn't have a cat. Josiah calmed down and the snow has since quit. She will be going back home tonight. Guess we are not ready to take on 3 animals!!

No School, no bee, no work, 3rd animal

The phone woke me out of bed at 6:00 AM and naturally I can't get back to sleep. It was the school district with news that I half way suspected would happen yesterday. School is cancelled. So I ran out of bed and saw the thick, heavy sideway snow that had already came down. I immediately thought no spelling bee and no work. Then I thought, wait a minute we had our chance to bring Josiah home with us last night. She is stuck in her house with no one coming out to feed her or let her out of the house!

L cleared off our driveway the best we could and has to cancel an appointment as well. Then we have to see about getting Josiah. That is IF we can get her. Even with 4-wheel drive do we chance it? We need to call Josiah's parents and check with them on what to do. She is welcomed here but, we have a dog and a cat. The cat thinks he's king of the house. Thankfully the dog has a carrier. I just feel obligated on making sure the dog is okay. After all, she is the boss' dog. She is a nice, hyper little indoor dog. So I could imagine Sasha and Josiah mixing up with us being the referees.

But meanwhile I am up reading the AP news sports (I don't WANT to read it because of the loss), I hear a distant rumble of the freight train from the outdoors and hear the winds pick up. It'll be an interesting day. S on the computer (getting one more help for her homework), J playing his video games and studying (ha, dream on), and me finishing up a couple of books. We have plenty of milk so we will do fine.

Pray for the snow to end!

Darrell Arthur is mad at the officials after getting his fourth foul of the night. This is how J and S felt. Actually J felt way worse about the loss than S. The 24 year streak ended tonight. KU still has 20 wins but now one loss. :( KU loss to KSU 84-75. KU field goal percentage was better than KSU, but KState made a record number of 3 pointers. Another problem, was the poor calls by the refs. Mario Chalmers had 18 in the game, followed by Rush with 15, Darrell Arthur and Sherron Collins had 12 each, Darnell Jackson had 7, Russell Robinson, 6, and Sasha and Rod each at 2 points.

24 years ago, when the streak began, Dave Armstrong the ESPN announcer for Big 12 games, was a sportscaster at KSNW. I remember that!! 24 years ago, I was living in the same town as Armstrong. KU will be starting a new streak next year in Manhattan

KU will need to get past this loss. They need to go on and prepare for their next opponent on Saturday against Colorado. At least this wasn't the National Championship, the season will go on.

We, as KU fans, need to get over the loss too. We don't like it when we see KState storm the floor. We don't like it when KSU fans rub our noses in it. It's tough, but life does go on. I still love the 'Hawks and think Bill Self is doing a great job with the team. It's just one loss. Get over it.
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J is studying the spelling bee with his spelling bee coach S. She did really well making it fun for him. If he doesn't get nervous and get some good words then he will do alright. I will have to see him (weather permitting) tomorrow and most likely the county bee.

The Tradition Continues

The Spelling Bee at Harper Elementary is tomorrow (weather permitting). S was in it from 5th to 8th grade. Now she has passed the torch to her brother J. When I heard that the kids were qualifying for the bee I encouraged J. But J was dreading it. He is just so unmotivated. I told him that he would do his best or he would have to some other activity that he really didn't like. So he tried his hardest and I'm not sure if he was 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the class of 5th graders. It really doesn't matter. Because it just matters how you finish overall. S was never first in her class but yet in 6th grade she was 3rd in the county and 2nd in the county in 8th grade. That's where it really matters. We will need to "coach" J on how to spell during the bee because he just can't blurt out the spelling, he has to think it through. S had a trick she used. She would write on her hand and picture the spelling in her mind. We are just blessed J qualified. Then next week he will be at the County Bee at CHS since he wasn't an alternate. I just hope he does his best, that's all I ask of him and nothing more. I just need to get in there and motivate him tonight, after we watch the other tradition....The KU/KSU basketball game. Hopefully that tradition will continue for KU.
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Please pray for S as she has had a horrible toothache. She takes antibiotics and motrin for it and nothing seems to work. She went to the dentist and they couldn't see anything on the x-ray. I know this isn't some phatom pain, it is very real. So real that she was whinning in pain last night. It almost drove ME to take a Motrin too.
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S gets to take care of Josiah and Penny for a couple of days. I will "help" her out when she is at school. I always like going out there and admiring the "nature" out there.
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Let's pray for next to no snow tomorrow. I heard we could get 2--4 inches. Hopefully that prediction is for Hu town and NOT Har town. Hopefully it will melt off quickly too.
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We need to pray for the folks up at Whitewater, KS, as their Mennonite Church was burned to the ground on Monday night. I am sure that they will rebuild but in the meantime they will be holding church at Berean Academy. I watched video on TV seeing their church burn. All their tradtions, memories, and history were lost in that fire.

Happy 147th Birthday Kansas!

Today is Kansas Day. I always seem to remember this day. Not because it was drained into my head many, many school days ago being a native Kansan. But because I still remember when I was 5 going on 6 being in Topeka for the Centennial Birthday party. My uncle, who worked for a Topeka governmental agency, got us to come out to Topeka on a Sunday. All I remember is a birthday cake and a bunch of people's legs. I was little and couldn't see very much. My uncle, who had the same name as one of the Democratic candidates running for President and for one of the reasons why we named J the way we did, always was pretty active in government. When my brother was in junior high he got to be a page for the House of Representatives. He got to stay a whole week with our uncle and our aunt. (They didn't have any children). So I was hoping by the time I got into junior high I could do the same thing as my brother. But it didn't happen. My uncle died when I was 12. He was only 52 when he died of a massive heart attack. So whenever I think of Kansas Day and of seeing the Capitol dome in Topeka I think of him. He was my favorite uncle and I really liked his sense of humor.
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I don't like to talk politics much, however, if you check back on my profile about my favorite books, my favorite "author"/ politician, is going to be in Eldorado this afternoon. In Kansas, we do not get very many visits by the candidates. I can remember back in the 60's when Hubert Humphrey (the VP with Lyndon Johnson) stopped briefly in Kansas, and I think it was in my hometown, H town. True, more likely, he would have stopped in W town, but I have it in my mind it was H town. Other than that, politicians stop in Topeka/KC/and W town. Well, they MAY stop into a town (Greensburg) when the tornado completely destroyed that town. But not very often do they. Welcome Barack! :)
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Boy! What a difference a day makes! I was talking with my mom and she said it was snowing up north. I said, "Oh it's pretty light." We had heavy flurries and now thankfully it has stopped!! I am so not a fan of winter. I am ready for spring. That groundhog better not see his shadow! Like I actually buy into that, NOT!
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KU is playing K-State tomorrow. 25 years of winning over in Manhattan. I hope the streak continues. K-State's boastful rookie, Michael Beasley (or as I call him Beastly) says that his team can beat KU in Africa, Manhattan, and Lawrence. This must be like their big final 4 dream to beat KU. I liken it to how we would feel about playing Roy Williams' UNC team. Although, I really don't think the KU guys would boast about beating UNC like Beasley does about a victory over KU. This is just another game for the kids at KU. They just need to "keep their head in the game." ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!

Rambling down on Maize Road

After church today we went to Towne W to go shop. Well, actually S and her friend did most of the shopping. I was playing banker and body guard. We spent a great deal of time there and I found my calendar...at last! They were selling calendars at $4 a piece!! So I got a Welsh Corgi wall one and a basketball trivia one for J. So I was pretty pleased about that.

Then we traveled to Maize Road and went to the "Bulls eye" store picking up various products, mainly food. So we decided to go to that Italian restaurant nearby (OG). J was offered the kid menu and he rejected it. He wanted to see what to order on the regular menu. Well, he didn't find anything and we ended up getting the kid's menu, to which the waitress said, "Here you go sweetie," and handed him some colors to boot. He was embarrassed. We passed him off as 10 and under and he's nearing 12. So while we were sitting there I swear that the waitress asked us if we needed anything (this is before they served our food) at least 5 times. Then after we got our food served she was a "pest" too! I was eating my spaghetti and nearly chocked when she asked that for the 11th time. After she left I said, "Well, she could just look at our drinks and automatically get us some more." A minute passed, and there she was with MORE drinks!! We were finished eating and she wanted to know if we needed any bags, etc. So we said, "Sure." Then she brings the bags to us and she fills the bags and the food in the carry out stuff. WEIRD!!
THEN, I asked could we have some to go cups. (because of the extra drinks, I thought we should take that home). She comes back with the to-go cups and it has pop in the cups! We thought we were going to get empty cups to take the table drinks home with us. Whatever!! So L checks to make sure that she didn't add the extra drinks on to the total. I am guessing that refills are most definitely FREE! It was crazy!! I was nearly kidding when I asked for a to go cup!
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My friend, Flute, recommended that I read the author Karen Kingsbury. So I know Wally world carries these books, so I feel like I am on a mission to seek this author out. I know she said to read the redemption series first, but I couldn't find it. I flip through a couple of books and found this interesting one "Between Sundays." I've just started reading it and I am hooked. Thanks Flute for the suggestion! I have been looking for a good series to read. I really like the Nicholas Sparks books. And I have read some of John Grisham's novels, they are different. But what I like about Kingsbury is that she is a Christian writer. I have a book that I'm trying to put together and it's always nice to read within the same genre. This way I can improve my book/writing.
Thanks again Flute! :)

KU 20--0!!

KU won again over Nebraska by a score of 84--49!! Once again KU's passing looked great and they scored a bunch of 3 pointers. KU is still needing to practice free throw shooting. In the first half Nebraska was shooting a dismal 21% in Field Goals compared to KU's 58%! The half time score was 44--15. Darrell Arthur combined with Brandon Rush's first half scoring outscored Nebraska. Towards the end of the game Rodrick Stewart fell hard to the floor. A couple of Nebraska players went to check on him. I thought that was a nice gesture on their part after they fouled him. It's great to see good sportsmanship from the opposing players. Leading scorer was Darrell Arthur with 18, followed by Brandon Rush with 17, Darnell Jackson had 13, Sherron Collins, had 10, Russell Robinson, had 9, Sasha Kaun, scored 6. It seemed as though Mario Chalmers had an off game only scoring 3. Rodrick Stewart hit 2 free throws and coming off the bench was Matt Kleinmann who scored 2. Next up for KU is in-state rival the KSU Wildcats on Wednesday. We will have to hear the name Michael Beasley over and over. Hopefully KU will continue its winning streak.
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I've been found out! I came into the bleaches with my notebook and the coach's wife said, "So you're the one writing up the articles for the team." I smiled and said, "Yep. That's me." I am guessing they don't mind and rather like it as it is good press for the kids on the team. We had a double header today. The team played the A Heat team and the M.L. Indians. They won both games. Some kids still take wild shots and missing the basket completely, they truly know how to shoot an air ball. The shot will go completely up and not even get close to the rim. J took a shot and it looked good, but rimmed out so he didn't score. One parent told us that when he has been at practice he has seen J shoot and he knows he can shoot well. But when it comes to the game, the other boys play selfish ball. J gave it up to one of his teammates to shoot but he missed. He could have shot it in but he didn't. Then of course we have one kid who plays scrappy basketball and he hardly ever passes. When the team practices he goes off by himself and shoots...whatever. The air ball kid often throws the ball wildly out of the hands of his teammates. We all cringe when he gets the ball. Then there are the ones who have it together. Those are the teammates who don't have the big heads, who are going to be even better when they play middle school ball. The coach's son got yelled at today, basically because he fouled and the way he passed the ball back to the ref when he didn't agree with the call. Kids this age are very competitive. Well we will see next week how they play out of town! Look for an article in the Advo on Tuesday!

Arnie the Armadillo!

Guess who showed up at church this afternoon? This little Texas pest, Arnie the Armadillo. S and I were just driving up when I went, "Whaaat??" I thought for sure that once we got out of the car it would scamper away just like a squirrel would. It did not. S tried getting a picture on it with my cell phone and she was so nervous that she couldn't get it. So we called L from across the street. I was totally fascinated by the little critter. I was up on the steps, near the entrance and would have been practically mortified if that animal would have hopped up on the steps! Then, you would have heard some screams!

Arnie was digging in the dirt most likely looking for food or shelter. If anyone at the church should wonder if we have a gopher, we do not. It's Arnie! He's the one causing all of the holes.

It's seems strange that we would have an armadillo when it is this cold up "north." Then I remembered, that today is Pastor B's wife's birthday.

You don't suppose it was a present for L from B, do you? LOL!!! The last anyone saw of Arnie this evening he was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he is repenting his sins next door at Pastor B's house. Watch out B and L or Brad and Brenda, or Spike or Gloria, or even Scrapbook Granny be on the lookout for Arnie the Armadillo in your area, he's on the loose!

The Note

Today while I was cleaning in the church I was straightening up books in the sanctuary. No, I didn't find a bag full of water or a dead fish on the floor. I found a note. It was to me.
In it this person thanked me for my hard work. I was touched. You know, that note really made my day. I didn't know whether she was going to give this note to me later or for me to find in the book rack.

What if I didn't look in the rack? Would I have ever known? Eventually, I suspect.

So I pocketed the note and had to smile. My work at church was being appreciated. It was one of those "feel good moments." Thanks Scrapbook Granny!! :)

Happy Birthday Brady Morningstar! 19--0!!

KU won tonight over Iowa State by a score of 83--59. Today is Brady Morningstar's birthday, he turned 22 today! KU is looking so good!! Darnell Jackson was definitely player of the game. He had 21 points and 11 rebounds! Wow! He is a really nice guy too!! He has improved greatly since last year. Darrell Arthur scored 16 points followed by Brandon Rush and Russell Robinson both with 11 points. Russell Robinson showed his very athletic moves under the basket. Mario Chalmers scored 10 points, Sasha Kaun had 6 points off the bench, Sherron Collins, 4, and have 2 points a piece was Cole Aldrich and Jeremy Case.

I loved hearing the crowd cheering "Connor Teahan, Connor Teahan." Yes, and I always love the Rock Chalk Chant at the end of the game.

KU is doing well. I hope that they stay hungry for each win. The team needs to play aggressively. I know that Brandon Rush had a problem, at one time, and Bill was disappointed in his "style" of play. That was a wake up call for Rush and hopefully for the rest of the team. Stay hungry and play aggressive. Also, the big men, coached by Danny Manning are doing excellent. Danny will make a terrifc head coach in the near future! KU continues to improve at the free throw line. Whatever they are doing there, they need to continue to practice from the line. They are looking very solid.

The Hawks are playing the Huskers on Saturday. I hope I get to see some of the game. I have a Biddy Ball game to attend during that time. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!
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On the wellness front, I am feeling better every day. It's hard for me to wake up in the morning as I am thinking getting plenty of rest is helping me feel better. I've been working at night with L and try not to "overwork" or get "over tired." No more late nights. I've been trying to keep regular hours! Well, relatively regular. Hope that flute and the girls start to feel better. I know it's cruddy having the crud.

Tuesday Afternoon add ons

I am baking some "comfort" foods for the family. Tonight we are having beef and noodles (their favorite dish) and baking oatmeal cookies. This is a nice pleasant way to warm up the house on a sunny, cold day.
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I was checking on my "Facebook," friends and for some reason I dropped a friend! :( Most of my "friends" are my church family, with one exception as being my niece. The friend I dropped was a guy whom I went to college with. He's a pastor at a church in Win--field and his other job is over on B-98. Lyman, buddy, what did I do??
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Checking the little paper here, my write up on the 5th grade boys basketball team was included. Also I read the write up on the girls. It makes me wonder who does that one? One of the mom's or the coach (who is also one of the moms). As much as I put down about one of our kids on the team, they probably think it's HIS mom who writes (who is married to the coach). Nope. I just write it the way it is/or how I see it.
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If you notice that in the younger teams the parents coach their children. This can be good or bad depending how you look at it. The kids who's parents do not coach usually gets to sit on the bench. Okay, maybe that's not true. But that's how I see it. Take for instance, our team. Our starters consists of the coach's son, the assistant coach's son, the former coach's son, a wrestling coach (or assistant wrestling coach), and a mom who used to coach Volleyball at the junior high. Our bench players consists of J (parents don't coach), A (a first year kid), K (parents don't coach) and E (dad coached at another town).

During these games the coach gives them the plays and sometimes the kids have their own ideas. The coach's son was yelled out serverly during an exhibition game because he didn't listen to his dad. Another time, one of the starters was suppose to pass to a player (a bench sitter) and instead he drove it up the court, took a wild shot and missed the basket completely, while the bench sitter had a clear shot at it. I can usually expect J to be sitting on the bench the whole first quarter. I always thought of this kind of basketball as being a learning experience. I think if the coach would play his players more (aka the bench), teach them how to share the ball and set up plays then maybe these bench players would gain a little more confidence. Of course, you must realize I am not a coach, only an observer who finds it a little unfair that her son doesn't play as much as the other boys.

Looking at the write ups on the teams, it is usually the coach's children who scores the most points in a game. Another observation to think these kids are favored.

Tuesday Ramblings

Yesterday I spent the day by my trusty space heater, reading, and sleeping. After that 4 pillow night I finally got my rest in. Today, I felt a little better. But when I got to church to work there was paint fumes that gave me a migraine. My poor old head can't stand the smell of paint, very high dust content (special kitty litter I cannot tolerate either), and certain glues on rugs. Might as well get out of the area than to feel like that! So I worked there for a little bit and came back home. UGH! I just wish that I could tolerate this stuff but I can't. I will have to bring in the reserves tonight to finish the work. That is IF I can stand the fumes! I'll have to miss Ryan, Randy, Paula, and Simon tonight.
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I've been reading the book by Tony Dungy, "Quiet Strength." It is put out by Tyndale Press. It's pretty good. He is definitely a man of God.
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I am getting so sick of these telemarketers. Often times I get calls from "Card Services," a 702 area code (out of Nevada) and an 866 number. They NEVER leave a message. Sometimes I get sick of them and we play "mind" games with them. But that doesn't seem to work, they still call. I've turned them into the "Do Not Call Registry," numerous times.
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I've been writing for our 5th grade Boys Biddy Ball Team, in H town, in our little paper. I like scoring the games and writing a brief story on them. Our team has been playing pretty good. A lot of "lucky" shots by a couple of players we observe. These lucky shots are usually from 3 point range and Biddy Ball doesn't recognize these shots, they are only worth 2 points. We will have a couple of early games the first part of February and we will have to leave the house by 6 AM to be in the visitors gym by 7:30 AM, with an 8 AM tipoff. It's too bad that they can't push that back by an hour as we have to travel so far.
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S's school next year will be changing their schedule. This year they are on a "block" schedule. Sort of similar as to college classes. One week they meet MWF and the other week TTH. Some classes are everyday. But next year the classes will meet everyday. This is the type of schedule that I am used to. "Old School," scheduling where your classes meet every day. S isn't sure about Spanish class mostly because they need a different teacher in there, a lot of the students don't care for the current teacher. Hear that Mr. Superintendent? It would be nice if they could get LZ in there to teach, she lives in town and was born in Bolivia. Maybe I should write a book "If I ran the school district." (based on "If I ran the zoo.") LOL!

A Four Pillow night

I caught what is going around currently in my little town. Immediately when I tried to sleep last night I couldn't breathe. I stuck the breathe right strip across the bridge of my nose to open up the sinuses, and stuck another pillow under my head. This brought the total to three pillows. I would turn on my side and couldn't breathe through my nose. Then I layed on my back and could breathe. It wasn't comfortable. My hips were in pain too so I had another pillow for my hips. That's the price you pay when you are in your 50's. You feel a little more pain than you did when you were in your twenties and thirties. Cold weather anymore is an annoyance. You start making plans for what you want to do when you retire.

You know, that's kind of scary thinking about retirement. I've always considered myself "young" but we are thirteen years or less from it. By that time I could be a grandmother! But then again I know of people my age who have grandchildren the same age as my youngest. I often think where are we going to live? I would want to be close to my kids, although they don't want us living in the same town. I can understand that but at least be in the same state or nearby. Do we remain in the same state that we currently live in or become residents of another state to get away from the cold of winter? When I was growing up we had neighbors who were winter Texans. I could see becoming a winter Texan or a winter Floridian myself. So many questions, but I have a little time to consider my options on that subject.

But until then I'll have to suffer with colds and having a four pillow/four blanket night!

Whew!

KU won again and it wasn't easy!! Mizzou was a tough opponent and their crowd was right there cheering them on.

That first half was just plain scary. KU had some quick fouls and did so-so from the free-throw line. They could have done a little better. The refs were pretty picky calling a lot of fouls and it looked like all the calls were going against the Hawks. Brandon Rush was "COLD" from the field. He would just have some lousy shots. He had many, many attempts but next to nothing in field goals. KU led in the half by just 2 points with a score of 38--36.

The second half for KU looked a little better. Cole Aldrich, coming off the bench played great defensively! He really will be an asset to the team in the next few years. The Hawks looked pretty good with 2 minutes left in the game. Looking at the numbers (because I scored it) the Hawks made 42 attempts at the free throw line and made 27. I really do believe that often times if you shoot well from the stripe then you will usually win games. KU was leading the nation in shooting well from the stripe, but tonight they shot 64%. Field goal percentage for the Hawks was 43%. Brandon Rush alone had a pretty poor night with a shooting percentage of 14% from the field. I guess tonight wasn't his night.

They did win and now they are 18--0. This is their best season since the 1997 season.

UNC (Roy Williams' team) lost to Maryland on their own court. So, now they won't be number 1. Memphis is currently, number 2, and are playing an easy team. Most likely they will be number 1 next week and KU will be number 2. I suppose, North Carolina will drop to a 3 or 4 because whoever votes on these polls they have a lot of "love" for the ACC. So I don't see them dropping out of the top five at all. Although, I could be wrong. Now, if KU would have lost tonight we would have dropped out of the top 10 completely as there is not a lot of "love" for KU.

Mario Chalmers had 18, followed by Darnell Jackson and Brandon Rush with 13. Brandon got most of his points at the free-throw line. Darrell Arthur scored 10, Sherron Collins had 9, Russell Robinson, 8, Sasha Kaun 3, and rounding out the scoring was Cole Aldrich with 2 points. Playing but not scoring was Rodrick Stewart and Jeremy Case.

The next game for the Hawks is Iowa State on Wednesday at 6 pm. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!

I am GLAD that I got ESPNU for this one game. They actually were better than ESPN because we didn't have to put up with any sappy interviews with that Holly Rowe person. It was good to be able to watch the game!

Trial Subscription

I had to do it. Well, at the urgency of my kids, I did it. I have satellite television and love it WAY over cable in this town.

KU is playing Mizzou tomorrow night. The only way we could see the game was to go to a sports bar as the game is on the subcription of ESPNU. I thought it over and just didn't want to picture seeing the Jayhawks play in my mind. I want to watch the game on TV. So no, we are not going to the local "sports bar," in my town. There is no such thing!! We ordered the channel on the satellite and have to keep it for one month. We not only get the U channel but we get the golf channel, an NBA channel, CSTV channel, a soccer channel. If you LOVE sports this is your subscription! Well, we will see if we keep it after February (I doubt it) .

Then after we are done with the U channel we will be either looking at going back to the Dish network or dealing with different programming through Direct. The package we have currently is no longer offered. Hmm!

I can't believe I did it. I could barely understand the person on the phone. I just wanted to ask her where she is stationed at because it certainly wasn't the USA. Her accent was thick!

I hope we enjoy the U. I know we will tomorrow night watching the Jayhawks! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!

Sasha and the Pastor

Well the Pastor finally caught up with us. The basketball game finished up early at the high school and J was done with his practice at the grade school. I talked with Pastor B about what was going on with our family. We work together, and we really don't "know" each other that well but I think this visit helped.

So while we were talking, out struts Mr. Sasha. The pastor said he looked "healthy" and I said, "Yeah, we know he's fat." He laughed. Then Sasha kept looking at Pastor B. He took his paws and rubbed his shoes and then he leaped up on his lap and sat there. We were shocked! This cat got along with the pastor better than he does with us! Maybe it was the pastor calm demeanor or something. WOW! Sasha just really liked Pastor B. I guess that really speaks volumes when the bipolar cat gets along with your Pastor.

Anyway, we talked about how church was going. We told him about our Sunday School class and how much we like that class of people. That we really have a great time with them. Then of course we discussed other things.

It was really nice to have him over. It was like having an old friend visit with us. He's welcomed to come back any time. The cat sure will miss him until the next visit! :)

Guess who's coming to the house?

Yep I am getting a pastoral visit in the next half hour. I cleaned the house and made food this evening thinking that only one kid was going to be gone. Ha! Plans change, don't they?

So S announced that she was going to the basketball game at the high school. At first I said no, but then I found out who was playing. I said, "Oh maybe you'll see your cousins at the game."
She says, "What I have cousins my age around here?" Well, the school is like 60 miles to the east of us where Arkalalah is held. So I found out that her girl cousin is on the girls team (only they aren't playing) and her boy cousin is on the boy's team (freshman team). So I wondered if they would even be over at the game. I said, "Go." So maybe I'll get a report that they took freshman or they didn't. Any rate, he may be playing in the tourney next year. It would be interesting to see him since we never have met. I haven't seen the boy and girl cousin because I haven't seen their dad since I was in high school when his dad died (my uncle). So we pretty much have nothing to do with that side, and it is sad. Not by my fault. I've tried.

Pastor B is coming out at 7:30 and so L will pick up J from practice, and S may be calling from the high school to get picked up. So we will be here but not really. This will be one disjointed visit! Hope he understands.

I haven't had a pastor over at the house since 1994. I don't know why I'm nervous, because I work with the pastor. I guess having him over at my place just seems weird. When he made the appointment I was like, "Oh....(dead air) did we do anything wrong?" He explained he was talking to everyone. "Oh...(dead air)...(breath)...okay."

I don't have very many people coming over to my house, except S's friends. I guess I'm just a little nervous. I'll have to blog (if it's blogworthy) later.

Peace out, Bob.

Burning the Midnight Oil

I am not as young as I used to be, I have discovered these past few days. I can remember when I thought it was "cool" to stay up all night long. HA, not so cool, I found out when I was sixteen. I felt horrible the next day. Then when I went to college, we would studying and pull some "all nighters." Oh, I remember those days! Most everyone would be sleeping and my friends and I would be working on some project in the basement of the dorm. We would listen to the radio to keep us up. Then the next day, we would either drink a lot of caffeine or some would take no-doze. But the no-doze made everyone jittery. We were young, it didn't matter. Other times when I was up all night (besides being sick) was when I was dating L and driving back to W town way after midnight. I can't believe I used to do this! I wouldn't think of doing that now.

Now, here I am staying up again. Typing recipes into a cookbook projects. I am so lucky that the program that I am using has spell check otherwise I would have A LOT of misspellings or not catch others misspellings. One night this week I stayed up until 2 AM and got up at 7:44AM that morning. UGH!! It looks like I'm burning the midnight oil once again tonight.

The cookbook project is a lot of work. Deciding on which font to use, what type of photography and pictures to use; going with a certain type of cookbook (soft cover or 3-ring binder). The contributors have really made this cookbook great. We have nearly 400 recipes. I am VERY IMPRESSED! I think that the contributors will be very pleased with the product once we get it finalized and shipped. Thanks to Flute and VR for their help and guidance. I am totally in the dark about the contract and are very happy to be working with them.

Well...I think I will check on the project before I close the computer down for the night. I'm just not as young as I used to be and pulling an all-nighter or a half-nighter isn't feasible. YAWN.....ZZZZZZZ!!!!

I Have Seen It All Now!

This morning while I was cleaning at church I usually pick up bulletins in the pews and pick up any trash that was left there from Sunday. I have seen people leave water bottles, candy wrappers, chocolate milk cartons (no joke!), kleenex (pretty common), abc gum (abc....already been chewed), cups of water (paper or plastic cups) and crayons (which I leave if I know who sits in that particular pew).

Well today while I was straightening the hymnals in the pew I ran onto the weirdest thing that someone left behind. It was a plastic ziplock bag half full of water!!! I know who was sitting back there. I wonder why would anyone would have had their child bring in water in a plastic bag? Were they going to drink it during church? I know that Pastor Bob was talking about the Baptism of Jesus for his sermon, but did they have to take him so literal as to bring in water in a ziplock bag and actually preform a baptism in the back row??

Then I thought did one of the Sunday school teacher's decided to give a ziplock bag of water complete with a fish in it?

So if anyone sees a little dead goldfish on the floor... then I can truly say, "I have seen it all!"

KU: 17--0!!

KU won again over the Oklahoma Sooners. The free throws that the 'Hawks shot was awesome!! They were nearly perfect. They hit 17 out of 18 from the line. I have seen some games where they couldn't even hit anything from the line. I guess the coach's and the players have been practicing on that particular part of the game. Way to go! KU won 85--55 over OU Sooners.

Leading scorer tonight was Darnell Jackson with 17 points. It was nice that ESPN showed his mom on TV. Darnell's family has been going through a lot the past two years. His grandmother died, and he was closed to her. Then his mom has been going through some surgeries. He is a very nice young man and always smiles at everyone when he is doing autographs. I wish the best for him in the future. Brandon Rush had 16 points and shot four 3 pointers. WOW! I think he is intensifying his game finally. Darrell Arthur had 14 points, followed by Mario Chalmers with 13, Sherron Collins with 9 points, Cole Aldrich, had a particular great game tonight with 6 points. Then Russell Robinson, had many assists and he plays a lot of unselfish ball he scored 4 as did Sasha Kaun. Rounding out the scoring was Rodrick Stewart with 2 points.

I loved watching it on ESPN, although I do wish I had an HDTV to watch this one. Of course, I wish that I had ESPNU to watch the next game at Missouri. I'll have to imagine this one and listen to the talents of Bob Davis and Chris Piper. Bob Davis is so excellent in calling the games. He gets excited and tells it like it is. Where are those guys whom I used to work with at Juco who told me NOT to get excited during a basketball game? I wonder how they like listening to KU radio broadcasts. You can definitely tell that Bob and Chris like the team, are not impartial, and really root for KU. I love hearing Bob Davis saying, "SWISH!!" You just want to be there, or you feel like you are there at the game.

I used to work at my college radio station, as I've written before. I was BAD at calling football games and got too excited for basketball according to the teacher and the broadcasting guys. But how can you NOT get excited when you were in class with the players? (I'm shaking my head here). Whatever. I gave up my dreams of ever being in broadcasting (particular sports) and writing for sports. I was a pretty shy person back when I was a young nineteen year old. But fast-forward now, thirty four years later and I LOVE to write about the team, or my son's team. I LOVE to score the game. I always like to see if I can be quicker than the television announcers with my stats too. S is bored when she scores but I always want to know who is the leading scorer, etc. I learned how to score thanks to a sportswriter in my town, whom I interviewed in high school for my junior theme. Her name was Barbara Caywood. Her son is the sports editor at the Topeka Capital Journal. She has since retired but she was a very nice person to talk with and learn from. My junior theme was how to become a sportswriter.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!
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I am keeping busy getting recipes for the church cookbook. I think I have my 300 recipes or I am off by one. I really hope we can get as many as possible. The deadline is Wednesday and I got a feeling that I will be deluged by recipes. So I am wanting 300 plus recipes that would be quite nice. The other church where we went to had a cookbook out and I can remember how they would go on and on about collecting recipes. They had around 400 plus. I'm not sure if they were doing a fundraiser, but we are. All the profits will be going to help the building fund. Our kitchen is in need for an extreme makeover. We are needing new cabinets, counter tops, ovens, and dishwashers. The kitchen was built in 1963 (when the church was) and it is in need of some serious updating. Then the foyer will be looking much better too and hopefully we won't be putting up with those flies and wasps once this is finished.
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One last thought...we had a birthday party for TP on Sunday. He is turning the big 5-0!!! It was a pretty fun evening. I loved talking with everyone and getting to know everyone a little better. L is still pretty quite and didn't really talk much. I like to socialize and have fun. We played some Pictionary and the big hit of the evening besides the cake, ice cream, cards/gifts to TP was calling PS and ES over in London. It was 9 pm our time BUT it was 3 AM over there. It was great talking on speaker phone to PS as E didn't come to the phone. It was fun for a bunch of 50 plus year olds acting like a bunch of rowdy kids! Oh it's great being 50, isn't it?

KU wins 79--58 over Nebraska

Brandon Rush came out to play tough basketball tonight after the coach told him and the press that he wasn't playing aggressively enough. Tonight Brandon was on fire as he score 19 points and 16 of those points came in the first half.

We enjoy watching the Jayhawks play on TV but ESPN wass constantly interrupting the broadcast by interviewing the Athletic Director of Nebraska. That Holly Rowe person kept droning on and on and even asked him about politics. Sheesh!! Meanwhile, I'm straining to see the teeny weeny picture that ESPN is broadcasting to see which KU player scored, etc. AND THEN, they had a huge interview with the new Nebraska Football coach. ESPN does the same thing again! They split the screen, minimizing the KU/NU game, a big closeup on the new coach and ESPN logos (about 3 all over the screen). It made it difficult to see what was going on with the game. When they finally got back to the basketball game, the team of Ron and Fran kept commenting that KU was getting away with a walk or something. How do they know? They weren't even watching the game. They were too busy interviewing the football coach and athletic director. Can they interview them at another time?

The officiating was pretty picky as well. Coach Self didn't care for a few calls that were made during the game.

KU will be facing OU on Big Monday. Hopefully the Hawks can continue along it's winning ways.
So far they have a 16--0 record, this is the best start that they've had since the 1996 season!
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I have been getting recipes together for our church's cookbook. I am really happy when the contributors can add their information online. It makes it easier for them and me. Otherwise, I am typing in a BUNCH of recipes! I am currently typing some tonight and will have to finish up tomorrow. Our deadline for the cookbook is this Wednesday. There will be no more deadlines as I am hoping that we will have a meeting and get this into motion. I am hoping we will be able to put the book out by Easter. So no more shameless plugs in my blog. LOL!

The Breakfast Club

J had a couple of basketball games today. So we woke up early on a Saturday morning. This is the only morning that we get to "sleep in," unless we are on "vacation." So the alarm clock goes off and I started to stretch my legs.

OW, OW OW!! I lean over and say, "That should wake everyone up." I get a blasted leg cramp. I don't know what's going on with me and cramps lately! We made it over to A town bright and early. The boys played their game and J actually scored a bucket!! He played a little more in this first game. We beat A town 41--20. I scored our team and we shoot 36% in Field goals. Our top score was SW with 17 points. I watched the other parents and BD's parents were taking pictures. We all ought to get together and put a story together along with pictures and send it into the local rag. I love to write up on basketball, but probably no one knows this.

We drove home and we were back on the court a half hour later. This time we played Stafford. They sure drove a long way out here. J made a mistake in the second half, he was the 6th man. Ooops! Our Zebra caught it (jk, Jerry). With only 41 seconds they couldn't let J stay in the game, whatever. J didn't get to play as much as this was a much tighter game. We won 24-18. We had two kids tie for leading scorer, SW and TW. TW plays unselfish ball and I like the way he plays. We had one injury our big center tweaked his ankle. This time the team's field goal percentage went up to 37%.

We had one kid who wasn't playing in the first game but was there for the second game. The reason why he wasn't there was because he had Saturday School (the Breakfast Club). So the coach told them if any of them had Saturday School he will not play them. Good job! I like our coach. So this way our boys are good students/players all around.

Writer's Strike and other ramblings

I just read on Yahoo News that there will be no new episodes of our favorite primetime shows until the writer's strike is settled. I hope that they settle soon. I miss not seeing "The Office" and "Desperate Housewives," my two favorite shows. We all need some joy and laughter in our lives and it's too bad whatever the holdup/holdouts are over the strike that something can't be settled. I had a job back in the 80's and can remember going out on strike. People always talk bad about unions, but they are really good. They watch out for the "peons" and keep management at bay. They fight for good benefits that otherwise the workers would never get. I had a friend, who didn't believe in the union, and so she crossed the picket lines to work her shift. A lot of people didn't like her for that, as they used to call these people "scabs." My dad also worked for the same company as I did too and he would walk the lines, never crossing. Also my grandfather believed in the unions too. So I have only good things to say about the union. Management can be ruthless. At least the company that I used to work for. Maybe SOME management is good, but those companies are rare to find. At any rate, I do wish this strike was over. It would be a win-win situation if it would end now and the writers get their demands met.
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Ramblings of a janitor continue....people still cannot read or choose not to read when it comes to changing trash bags. I have 4 gallon, 13 gallon, and 30 gallon bags. I have put instructions in my closet on how these bags should be placed. I think maybe I should take a picture of each receptacle and maybe people would get a clue. You can't put a 4 gallon bag in a 13 gallon container. I think people get in a hurry and they just don't read the instructions and don't really give a care. Whatever.

I checked the sanctuary too and a couple of hymnals were mauled. One little book had pages ripped out and another the spine was nearly ripped off. I find it appalling when people do not even have the common courtesy of respecting others property. I know that these people are "just kids," but somewhere, someone needs to teach them respect as well as finding their way through life.

Just my humble opinion!

KU' s Record 15--0!/other ramblings

That must have been some punchline!! Brandon Rush is cracking his teammates up. If I laughed that hard, I (well, never mind...it's one of those TMI things)! KU beat Loyola of Maryland 90--60 tonight. They started off pretty sluggish but then things started to pick up the last part of the first half. Mario Chalmers didn't play as he suffered an injury, but Sherron Collins stepped up and had one of his best games so far this season. Also have one of their best games of the season was Sasha Kaun who scored 14 points. They had an outstanding play in the first half where Roddrick Stewart did a two handed pass to Collins (I think, and he looked like he bobbled it, but didn't) and he threw it over to Sasha in for a close dunk!! It was quick!! That was pretty exciting stuff. So now KU is going to play Nebraska opening up Big 12 season play this next Saturday at 8:00. Thankfully it is at night as I have to see a double-header in Biddy Ball this Saturday morning.
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Tomorrow I get to see my dentist. I will tell the dental assistant and dentist the pain that I get on my back teeth, wondering if I have TMJ pain or is it a cracked tooth. I know that I have another tooth that is needing a crown but haven't had any problem with that one. Like they say, if it ain't broke don't fix it. So I want them to fix the one that gives me pain first. I would have done something earlier but I had this operation that was a little more important. So whatever it is I just hope it won't be expensive, painful, or taste bad. (I hate things that have an awful taste or an awful smell. I'm very sensitive in those areas).
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Been recovering from a bout of laryngitis for about a week. My voice is coming back and I have to watch cheering too much or singing with my mp3 player or it could go out again.
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Hoping that the weather gets warmer again as I love to shoot hoops on my driveway. :)

People are Watching/God is Watching

It's true what they say, people are watching and God is too. While waiting in line for autographs from the basketball team or watching the game, you develop quick friendships. You start to watch how others treat you and vice versa, but more importantly how other people treat other people.

While standing in line for autographs we were put down in a hallway off the main concourse. We were thinking no one would come our way to sign our yearbook or take pictures. We were wrong.

We were parked in line next to a young girl, probably in her late teens to early twenties, in a wheelchair with her mom. Her mom and I started talking when one of the "bench players," came down the line. I told her which one of the guys had just signed her daughter's clipboard. Each player who came down by them to sign her clipboard and take a picture with her obliged to the request. The girl was obviously thrilled when they got down next to her as her mother snapped the picture. Some of the basketball players would talk to the mom and the daughter.

When Sasha Kaun came to take a picture with the daughter, Matt Kleimann, who was making his way down the crowd, saw the girl and immediately went next to her. He did this act of kindness without even being asked! I was impressed! Matt is a very nice person. Other guys, who impressed me were Darnell Jackson. The mother asked him to pose for a picture and he grinned. He is such a nice guy! Tyrel Reed talked to everyone too. I felt that for the most part, you could see that these guys were truly nice, perhaps getting a glimpse of their good hearts.

When coming to the game someone in line said that they saw Brandon Rush. He took a picture with their son and they were mighty impressed by his kindness.

We saw the camaraderie between the guys before the game. Brady Morningstar walked in followed by Sherron Collins who threw a snowball at him. Also when Mario was signing autographs, Darnell Jackson got behind him putting two fingers up while pictures were being taken. The crowd laughed.

These guys are just kids but handling the fame quite well. People are watching not only their performance on the court but off the court and I give them an A plus!

Teamwork

I love to watch KU play and they won today playing Boston College. I wished that I could have seen the first half on TV but I was at J's Biddy Ball scrimmage. I could have told him that I wanted to watch KU instead, but this is my job as a parent to support my kid's activities and be at every one of their sporting events, music, or academic events.

I chose the above picture because it represents "teamwork." Here are the Jayhawks in a huddle discussing, together what they will do on the next possession. Unfortunate for Biddy Ball (J's team anyway) this doesn't happen.

We have three starters who play nothing but ball hog. If they get the ball in a rebound, then they bring it down the court, and attempt a shot. They forget that they are one of five people out there. There is no such thing as setting up the shot and passing it off to their teammates so one of them can get inside the paint and really dump in a bucket. No. They shoot from 3 point range and throw up an air ball. Even when the coach tells one of the bench players to wait under the basket because he has set up a play, the "ball hog boys," completely disregards what the coach has in mind and takes it in himself (and not necessarily making a good decision by missing the basket completely). There is one boy who is a team player. He passes the ball off to his teammates. Then the other starter is just in there because he's big, not tall, but a big boy. The bench, meanwhile, waits their turn to come into the game. They listen to their coach and the remaining starters do their own thing.

There is no such thing as "teamwork," or "team play." It's sad and disappointing if you kid is a bench warmer. You must put up with these things because your parents don't coach or you have marginal athletic ability. Kids at this age need to know what the coach says goes and should be benched for not following the coaches rules, until they get it right.

Once J got the ball in his hand and his "teammates," (the ball hog boys) yells, "Shoot it." WHY? He is from way out there is no way a shot would go in. They need to set up their plays, passing to each teammate, playing unselfishly and going for the "points in the paint." Often times the ball hog boys will pass, but the teammate has to be their best buddy.

Hopefully as they age, the style of play will change. They will have coaches who will tell them pass it off to your teammate because they will be closer to the basket. Or listen to the coach that's why they are the coach. Or if you don't listen to the coach you sit on the bench until you are ready to play team ball.

But until then we as parents, or bench players will have to endure this type of play until high school or college. Some kids just need to know what teamwork really means, unfortunately J is not on such a team.

We had J using ear plugs today as the sound of the buzzer makes him jump and plug his ears. We have seen high school refs laugh at him and his "teammates" make fun of him. So today he wore the plugs and he didn't jump or plug his ears. It was great! :) Then the big boy asks J why is he wearing ear plugs. (I thought of a question for him, but didn't think it was appropriate for me to ask him why he doesn't have a clue). Some people just don't get it.

Nothing Like Being Silent!

Yep, I got it again. Laryngitis! Once again I can't speak. Only can nod my head and say things in short choppy sentences. I take a deep breath so I can talk to the family and end up doing the mime thing...today I am Marcel Marceau (or Harpo Marx). Sometimes I WISH I had a horn to honk to say what I am REALLY thinking! LOL!

No, I didn't get it by yelling at the TV last night while the Hawks were playing. I felt that it was about to leave before that, like a couple of days before that. But I had more of a voice during the game than I currently do.

So I been trying to drinking cold stuff and rest my voice. (That's very hard to do, if you know me well). I can't hardly write my note, in long hand, and finish my thought process. It's frustrating. I tell someone one thing and another someone wants a repeat of what I said. Sigh! I hate to repeat what I just said. It was hard enough to say it the first time! I just want to say, "I'm not saying this twice, you'd better listen and understand it the first time." But of course, that would be too much to say. SO by the second time I am whispering and nearly sounding angry. I'm not mad. It just sounds that way. It just feels like some little gremlin is holding my voice cord tight!

When I lost my voice when I had a full time job, as an operator, that was bad. They wanted me to work and yet I had no voice. They were pretty unfair. How can you purposely lose your voice? You can't. Anyrate, I can't. It just happens. I get a cold, it goes in my throat and coats my throat and bam! It's gone. I get this stuff usually once a year. But back at my former job, I was soooo close of getting disability. I was out for a whole week (it was great) and I should have just taken disability. But me, being the honest person I am, didn't. It was back to the "grind." Sigh.

I expect I won't be singing in church this next Sunday, or participating in discussion, I may not even be there for that. I'll just be sitting there in Sunday services listening and next to no conversation.

Tomorrow, J has a scrimmage at C town (south of Beefton). So I imagine that I won't be yelling at his basketball game. I think J will be fine with that!! :) Sometimes it is good when mom isn't screaming at him.

KU are the CHAMPIONS!

Sing the old Queen song here, "We are the Champions, my friend. And we'll keep on fighting till the end. We are the champions, we are the champions, we are the champions, of the ORANGE BOWL!!!" It would have been great to see Lawrence last night and see everyone throw a party on Mass street. I hope that a parade in Lawrence will be thrown in their honor.

KU WINS ORANGE BOWL!!!!

WOW!!!! KU proved everyone was wrong. After KU was chosen to participate in the Orange Bowl over Mizzery everyone was crying on TV and didn't think that they were deserving of being in this bowl. Well, apparently they didn't know that KU had heart, Reesing, Talib and Mangino.

KU didn't look like a bad team tonight. Sure, a couple of plays didn't look great and they did get into more penalties than they have all season. But they didn't choke. They played smart ball. They faked a punt and got a first down, leaving the coach at Virginia Tech scratching his head. There were key interceptions during the game for KU. The defense was amazing.

Aqib Talib got the MVP award and he said that they finally played someone who was really good. Now maybe these naysayers should take note. Virginia Tech had an 12-1 record and was rated number 3 in the nation. It was great to see KU with an 11-1 record (with their only loss to Mizzery) rated number 8 in the nation, beat these Hokies.

Move over K-State, KU is the new football power in Kansas!! Way to go Talib, Reesing, Briscoe, McAnderson, and company! Thanks Coach Mangino! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!

Orange Bowl Game tonight!

KU is playing in the Orange Bowl tonight against Virginia Tech. The last time that they play was in 1969. 39 years ago!!

What was the world like 39 years ago? Were you around? Flute wasn't here yet. I was 13 going on 14. In the year previous, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. 1968 was a a turbulent year.

During KU's last appearance at the Orange Bowl they could have beaten Penn State but they had too many players on the field and they lost the game 15-14.

This year, I am hoping for a win for KU. Mark Mangino and Todd Reesing and company will do their best. I hope that KU can do it.

I'll be cheering tonight for them!! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!!

Still Looking

Today I went to little W town and thought I could secure a new calendar there. Ha! I guess when it hits January 1st the wally world store at little w town throws out their calendars. That or they sold out all of their stuff. Which I can't hardly believe. I even checked the Kroger store too. Nada. Guess I'll be looking inside my bank tomorrow to see if they are handing out some "cheap" calendars. Last year's calendar was really cool. It was black and white photography and was old pictures of like 1880's or something. I would say it was cool because of my History background. So I am hoping they have this type of calendar this year.
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While at the KU game this past Saturday I was informed that other people from the H town was in attendance too. I wish that they could have told us they were going to be there so we could talk after the game or at half time. L's boss (TP) and son (DP) were at the game. They said they were looking for us. Last year we were just lucky to see KoB as she was in the student section. Next time when people from H town are coming please let us know ahead of time so we can phone you. It would have been nice to talk with them during halftime or after the game. It's pretty hard to search for someone when there are 16,300 people in attendance. Hope that they enjoyed the game! :)

Wanted! A New Calendar!

Happy New Year 2008!! Hope that everyone celebrated responsibly last night. We did. We had the pizza and the potato skins along with the sparkling grape juice. Yum! Staying up until midnight (and then some) toasting with our glasses in the New Year. I pulled some "party poppers" off, cracking the backdoor slightly and celebrating the New Year. We stayed up watching "The Beverly Hillbillies," really old stuff (about 45 years old) and that was it.

Every year I look forward to putting up a new calendar. Well, this year I just couldn't find what I wanted. I should have bought what I did find back in November when they had it. I wanted to get another "Office" calendar but the family was getting tired of it. Then I wanted a "KU Basketball" calendar, and that was pretty old none of the current juniors or sophomores were on there. Then I thought I could get a "Coca Cola" calendar, but didn't like the price of it. I should have just just bought it. Now I look around and there are dog and cat calendars, still nothing that just grabs me as I have to be looking at this all year long. Somewhere I have a calendar from my Alumni school but I really don't want to look at this all year either. So now I have my USD school calendar. It's plain. It has school stuff written on it. This is just temporary until I get what I want, or what I'll settle for. I usually like to write all my families birthdays on it and say, "Wow, they will be THAT old," or "It's been 20 years since our wedding." It's been 20 years since KU won the National Championship.

Let me know what kind of calendar you guys use. I am just looking for the "perfect" calendar that I can stare at the next 12 months while blogging. I think I'm not going to find "perfect," oh well.