Good-bye 2007, We Hardly Knew Ye. . .

This has been a good year for me, and, I hope, for you as well! Is it just my 40-year-old self or has this year flown by crazy fast? I can remember the end of last year. . . oh wait, I can't. I'm trying to think of what I did and I have no idea. It's not an alcohol situation. I haven't had an adult beverage in what, six months? Yep, that's about right.

Well, anyway, it's been a great year and 2008 will be better!

Happy new year to you all! Blessings to y'all and y'alls!

I'm planning on refining a few resolutions to post tomorrow.

Bob Newhart Is A Genius!

I watched this American Masters program on Bob Newhart. It's an hour and a half homage to a genius. I love him so much! I hadn't realized how much until they showed him. His stammering and silence are so pure. Why isn't he more appreciated? I guess because he's not out there screaming and laughing, just reacting, but brilliantly. I'm putting The Bob Newhart Show on my "want" list.

Walk Hard

Well, I rallied up the girlfriend troops and decided that we'd go see a lovely, uplifiting movie. We saw Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Oh, my word. It's VERY funny, but how inappropriate is it? Very. This should be a HUGE hit with the 15-year-old boy set. Tim Meadows formerly of Saturday Night Live fame is hilarious. I laughed until my stomach hurt. One of my girlfriends declared, "Well that was a complete waste of two hours!" I have to disagree. And I reminded her that I heard her laughing SEVERAL times. It's that kind of movie, you know, the kind you like and enjoy, but know deep down that it's really not a movie that a mature, well-educated adult person should be entertained by? It's by the same crew that brought us Knocked Up and Superbad, so inappropriate is par for the course.

I give the movie a thumbs up, if legally I can do that.

My Heart Is Full to the Point of Bursting!

Okay, I don't mean literally. This Christmas has been SO fun. The Child couldn't believe that Santa knew what all he wanted and that it needed to be delivered to Granny and Bubba, Sr.'s. By far and away the favorite item received was the Mac Truck (that carried Lightning McQueen in the movie Cars). If Santa had known, he could have saved a ton in elf-labor. There was the proverbial little red wagon, the wooden block (much more fun to knock down than to build with), ABC spongy things, some-such computer do-hickey, and an assortment of other wonders.

I got The War, the book that goes with the series I'm so hepped up about-- still. And, of course, money. That's always nice.

My teeth (or lack) seem to be doing okay. Mom is cooking the traditional sausage casserole. This day is just wonderful.

I am warm, my needs are met, and some of my wants. My family is safe and I have a nephew on the way, soon to join The Child. Wow, does it get any better? I think NOT!

Ow!

Okay, it's finally caught up with me. The trauma committed by the surgeon on my head has registered with my body. This morning, I looked in the mirror and saw a pretty good representation of a female Frankenstein monster. I even have some bluish bruises around my jawline. I'm good with the consequences, since the alternative was to have permanent headaches or explosions of goo in my head (Yes, that was the scientific description.) due to the pressure.

I've pretty much slept all day, on and off. It's not been very eventful. I've gotten up to eat and take meds. I am very thankful that I taped CBS News Sunday Morning. I just watched it. I got to see Michael Gill. Mrs. C. gave me the book and pretty much told me I'd have to read it. It is really a good read. It's a really good story of how someone who ostensibly had everything realized how he had virtually nothing. I highly recommend the book. Tom Hanks has acquired the rights to it, so expect him to be playing the guy who starts a new life by working at a Starbucks. Also, they did a feature on James Taylor. He just calms me down. His singing voice is so soothing as is his speaking voice. I am amazed that he seems to be such a simple man. He's clearly lived a lot, but he seems very unaffected though millions seem to bask in his gentleness. This is the link: CBS Sunday Morning 12/23/07. Check it out. There's also a bit on Dutch masters and separation of church and state and a fascinating document I'd never heard of before (though this isn't surprising).

I'm going to go now to watch some of The War.

May your Christmas Eve be ever so magical!

Day Three Has Been Grand. . . So Far

I woke up at 5:30 and tried to decide whether to go back to bed or not. I decided that I'd read a little, until the meds got far enough down my gullet. Well, that turned into an hour. Then I decided I wanted to make my way to Hell*Mart before the droves arrived. It wasn't too bad, but I had to park further away than I wanted to. I bought everything soft. Pudding, 'minner cheese, spongy white bread, potatoes. Well, I can't open my mouth very wide at this point, and chewing can be painful, so I wanted to go a little soft. I have grits and 'meal, as The Child calls oatmeal.

After Hell*Mart, I decided that the carnivore in me had to be sated, so I went by Krystal at 8:00 a.m. and ordered up three cheese Krystals. I smashed the buns down and scarfed them. Delicious. I'd only had a little bacon at Mrs. Beth's the day of the surgery. And I do like my meat. Anyway, I also got Supermom a gift certificate from Krystal. She really has enjoyed it being here. Then I traveled to Mrs. C.'s to replace the hair dryer I destroyed yesterday. It was one of those old Vidal Sassoon dryers circa 1978. I had it on high while drying my hair it decided it wanted to power down to low. Then I smelled some burniness (not to be confused with truthiness). I then decided that my hair didn't need to be THAT dry. Well, Mr. C. made the comment that he had had the dryer for over 25 years and he wanted it replaced. So, I saw a small one this morning at Hell*Mart and took it over.

I shared some coffee with Mrs. C. and she gave me my Christmas gift, which was overwhelming. It makes me a little nervous to try to figure what I need to get to complete her gift! She got me a mondo addidas bag for the gym and a gym gift certificate. Oh, and also an i-pod sleeve-holder thingie. All so neato! She's already the bomb for letting me convalesce at her home.

Then I trekked over to the Walgreen's again. I needed to pick up some things I thought they'd have at Hell*Mart, but didn't. Then I found some Burt's Bees stuff that I thought that my sis-in-law might enjoy. The lady today was number one. Not like the girl who kept my ice cream yesterday. So, for the moment, Walgreen's has been redeemed. Thank you, nice lady.

Then I took the car to the service place I go to and had them check fluids, etc. I need to have my tires rotated and my transmission fluid flushed. The dude says it's foaming. He also said that I had a little much in the oil. He asked if I had added any. Ha! That's what they're there for, right?

So, I got home and made some CDs for Momma and Snoopy. The rest of the time I've been cutting up and watching my personal porn, The Food Network. Elie Krieger and Guy Fieri ROCK my face off! The crunch from the onion rings sent me to another dimension.

That's been my awesome morning/early afternoon. Hope your day is equally satisfying.

Day Two: The Wisdom Watch

Well, day two has been much better. I've been doing some reading on dry sockets and how to prevent them. I've eaten more ice cream in the past two days than I've had in the past year. The macaroni and cheese is in the oven and I'm weaning myself off the pain meds. I just lounged around Mrs. C.'s lovely estate/convalescent home. I slept, watched TV, and read. She gave me several books to read. I have it on good authority that I should read Lonesome Dove before reading anything else. I'm going to respect the eldest of my generation on my diddy's side. She informed me that it is the absolute BEST book ever.

I must watch some of the movies on the DVR as well. National Treasure is the first on my list because the second one looks VERY good.

I went to Walgreen's to stay out of the dreaded Wal*Mart. The service there, wow, muy horrible. She didn't give me my bags. Heifer. And it was the bag with the ice cream, so I HAD to go back. Thank God she's not a heart surgeon or something, I guess. They, of course, didn't have some of the stuff I need, so I'll be at Wal*Mart tomorrow morning. Early. Ugh.

Out from Under It and then Back Under

Okay, had the wisdom teeth out. Pain was a present this Christmas. It came in the form of a nervous system-teeth cabal, but worse, the doctor's office told me I'd need to leave them about 600 reasons why they should cut me open. AWESOME. I didn't expect it to be free, but I had asked them if I could pay monthly. Well, if you make an igmonic move, as I did, please get the details in writing. I was expecting to pay $150 or $200. Grinchify me.

I am actually feeling pretty good. Ready for more sleep, but I think I can handle the rest.

Just wanted to give Al Gore's brainchild an update on my all-important tooth-apolooza.

Love you, mean it.

One Last Blog Before Going Under the Knife

Ah, to have my wisdom teeth out. Can you think of a better Christmas gift for yourself? Actually, with the pressure they're putting on my other teeth, it actually is pretty awesome. I am guessing that fewer headaches are in my future. The ones I've had have been dull aches, so no migraine-like situations, but it's been almost a daily thing. (P.S. If I write something crazy here, disclaimer: I've taken my meds already and they are soon to be coursing around my bloodstream.)

I saw The Child for the last time until Monday. Bwah! A day without him IS like a day without sunshine. He is SO funny. We've been viewing a lot of YouTube "ErnieBert" as he calls it. The old school Sesame Street clips are nothing short of AWESOME. Try this on Stevie Wonder early. And there's many more. I like the disco Grover and Cookie Monster doing Shaft. I don't know who enjoys them more, me or The Child. (Hint: Think older.)

Wow, I'm cloudy-headed all of a sudden. Don't think I should be blogging while intoxicated, so I'll sign out for now. I hope to let you know how things go later on this afternoon.

Finally, One Semester Down!

This is what a semester without a planning block results in! Dear Lord, please help this poor colleague of mine. BTW, this is Dude. He's the Goldilocks (in brunette form) of the math department. Oh, and the product he goes through in that hair, you wouldn't believe.

Yes, it's true. The semester is O-V-E-R. And the results of the EOCT (end-of-course test) are in. Not good. I don't know if it's just our school, but this crop of sophomores is underwhelming at best. They seem, as a group, to have little focus and even less desire to do work. It's really exasperating. I want more for them than they have. I try to let them know that choices made to make today easy make their collective future even more challenging.

I got my Christmas shopping done for the familials. I am SO happy. I only had to look at two people to get it done! Thank you Barnes and Noble and Lands' End! Love you SO much. Ever been in the overstocks section? Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Good quality at a low price. Also, I set up the same order at Barnes and Noble and amazon.com. I don't know if I'm just forever away, but they wanted an additional $20 for shipping. With the B&N discount card and free shipping, I was able to get the The Biggest Loser: The Workout - Power Sculpt in addition AND wound up about $11 up. No KY necessary. Thanks B&N.

Have you seen the Hillary Clinton pictures on the internet? Are these doctored or has being on the road aged her that much? I'm obviously NOT a Hill or Bill fan, but wow. I hope it's not taken that much of a toll on the Mrs. She looked like Lady Elaine Fairchild from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Bless her. Really. Alleged dirty tricks and all. Nobody deserves that. And all the pundits talking about how nobody wants to look at an old-lady president. Thanks for the lack of creativity right-wingers. Give me some substantive complaints.

Tomorrow is the last day for me and my 4 wisdom teeth. I'm slightly nervous, but I think I'll be okay. Mrs. C. is accompanying me to the surgery. Yikes!

Monday, sniffle

Well, I sit here with my hot green tea with honey watching the new show Duel. I am intoxicated by Mike Greenberg or "Greenie" as he's referred to on the ESPN Radio (and TV) show. It's a better class of game show, but still a little slow. Greenberg's hosting skills are pretty good, although it'd be nice for him not to say, "You're watching Duel on ABC," quite as much. To their credit, the questions are on a pretty good level, they're a little more than the average person would know, but not so difficult that people will not watch due to their difficulty. It's WAY better than NBC's I Am Greedy a.k.a. Deal or No Deal which has no intellectual aspect whatsoever. But why must ABC kill a show by having it on for six nights in a row? Ugh?!?

Today went well. I told the kids that I was sick and medicated (OTC meds only) and that I might be a less-reliable-than-normal source. I sneezed and sanitized all day long. Some students took advantage of asking questions that will be on the final, while others did nothing. I figure they will reward or punish themselves with their own behavior. I gave each class the opportunity to replace up to five daily grades with extra credit. I believe that's MORE than charitable.

I'm going to finish watching Duel and maybe take a peek at the choir show.

May your evening and tomorrow be as awesome as you are equipped to handle!

More Ramblings

Can I tell you how much I love blogging and blogs? A lot! There is a very smart guy you can find here. I don't agree with very much of his political opinions. But I cannot hate someone so intelligent. Under normal circumstances, each of us would not even know that the other existed. Beyond that, we'd probably not have occasion to discuss anything. But I absolutely love reading his blog. I wanted to just write him off as a liberal-leaning college professor, BUT I CAN'T. He must not write for NPR because his work is well-reasoned and insightful. I don't think that FDR is awesome. I DO think that he had his good points. I do NOT think that GWB is the worst president ever. But Jason's explanation of things makes sense. It doesn't make me agree, but at least I can see how someone, with those ideas, can come to those conclusions.



I'm officially sick. I've drunk about a quart of orange juice, taken a garlic pellet (or whatever), and had a little hot cider. I think now is the time on Sprockets (video)when we nap.

Ramblings

I just listened to a great interview with Darlene Love. If you share my appreciation for her exceptional vocal talent, check this out after noon on Sunday (Time is according to the website.): Darlene Love on NPR. She is the singer from Phil Spector's Wall of Sound days. They were before his Yahoo Serious hairstyle days. Her voice is BOOMING. She also seems like a delightful person.

I am looking for something to give some of my colleagues at work. I have made cookies in the past, but I want to do something different this time. I may make Christmas CDs for them. It's kind of weird, but I don't want to force my Christmas deal on them. Some of these people are crazy-religious and others, not so much. I think my mix isn't too wildly religious or not. I don't know what I'll wind up doing. I may do what I did last year-- give nothing. My body is breaking down. I always get sick during holidays. I guess I do because I tell myself that I do. I am five Kleenexes in today, so I'm not exactly feeling like doing anything that's gonna require much work. I guess making CDs isn't very labor intensive, but I just want to lie down in the fetal position in my burgandy t-shirt sheets and groan.

I drank some green tea with honey. Is this the magic bullet? I'm hoping so.

Maybe I'll be back later today, or maybe I'll sleep?

Opinions, Everybody's Got One!

Bobby P., Whazzup Witcha?

Okay, this day has been a kind of a handle for me. Can I just say that if you don't want an opinion, WHY THE HELL DO YOU ASK ME A QUESTION? I am, to say the very least, opinionated. I try to not be one of the people who goes into the mode of "If you don't agree with me, you're an IDIOT." Notice, I say try because you obviously think your opinion is the correct one, or else you'd be one of the people in the "Don't know" category on the survey. That cracks me up. How can you not have an opinion? I guess some people don't care. Anyway, how third grade is it to ask a question, get an answer, and then get mad when the person doesn't share your opinion? (For example: Superman SO could kick Batman's butt! What are you crazy? Batman has no discernible superpowers, just nifty gadgets. How can you not see that?)

Well, I didn't work out yesterday and I'm not going today. I vacuumed the house yesterday and am all snotty. (Gross, I know, right?) See, I've got the house-deal on lock down, but have refused to grade papers that are in desperate need of attention. So, here I am again. I didn't turn in my lesson plans when I was supposed to, so I spent my planning block doing that. I HATE doing lesson plans. They were so generic, you could probably teach Spanish using them. We're either reviewing for the final or doing a little something which I'll give a final exam over since we've "completed" the end-of-course test.

Bobby Petrino, what is your deal? Bless you. You signed 15-year's worth of contracts in around six months for a total of $49.5 million. What in the world?!? I know that the NFL is, as I heard a guy say on ESPN radio, NFE (not for everybody). But why would you leave in the middle of they season unless you are, say, Miami's coach? You're entitled to lose a ton, since your quarterback did whatever you want to call what Michael Vick did. Wow, how the players have struck back. They are straight up hatin' on poor ol' Bobby P. I agree with Marcellus ___________ (Sorry, I don't know his last name.) who subbed for Mike Golic this morning on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning. How is he gonna get mad if the Arkansas kids ask him if he's gonna be there when they get through running sprints?

Well, I think I've rambled enough. I'm tired and I feel better. Grading, here I come!

I Am Almost this Strong.

Okay, not really, but I am seriously working on my upper body. And my lower body and all the voluminous stuff in between. Actually, Oxygen (For those who don't know, this has NOTHING to do with the cable channel. It's a really cool fitness magazine. Well, I'm not really down with the competition section, but as my mom says, "Everybody to their own kick.") In their February 2008 issue (Don't ask; it's publishing.), there is an intriguing program I'm going to try. You do a push routine on Monday, cardio on Tuesday, pull/abs/cardio on Wednesday, cardio on Thursday, lower body on Friday and rest on Saturday and what they call active rest/abs on Sunday. I think I may monkey around with what is on what days, but I like this plan. And judging by the first workout, it seems pretty convincing.

I'll try to keep you up to date with how it's going.

Oh, school was good. We went over conic sections in Algebra II. I LOVE that stuff! The focus of my students who took the end-of-course test was amazing. We are going over stuff they'll see on the graduation test that they've not seen since about seventh grade. And guess what? They have listened (most of them). May this week continue thusly!

Thoughts. . .

Okay, if you don't know, I'm conservative. Actually, ultra-so. So all these thoughts are colored by that.

First, would you people downing Oprah (Can you hear me Mr. Edwards?) STOP? Just because she's gonna get more people to listen to him, why must you hate on her? I'm really outraged at whomever the pinhead was who said that Oprah shouldn't be building schools in South Africa, but in South Carolina? What, are you kidding me? Obviously, I don't agree with Obama, but there have been any number of people of notoriety who have done the political thing for the Clintons. Are they afraid of Oprah's impact on the campaign? They should be. I don't totally agree with Oprah, but she wouldn't be out stomping for someone if she weren't convinced of his abilities and qualifications. I don't agree with a lot of Obama's views, but there are other Oprah-ites out there who will check him out because of her. There will be many who move from Hilary's camp to Obama's. It will be interesting to see this play out.

I don't know who I'm going to support amongst the Republican candidates, if anyone. I may go independent. Or I may go Democratic for my primary vote. I've done this before, but mostly in state elections. In Georgia, you have to declare which party you want to vote for. Then you can only vote for folks of that party. In the general election, you can vote for whomever you decide.

Do you see the two gals in the picture? After seeing Not for Ourselves Alone by Ken Burns, I cannot in good conscience NOT go vote. I was thinking about not going to a not-very-important primary in which I could only vote for one or two people. It was spitting rain outside and I was tired. I then got this picture in my head of Susan B. Anthony (the one on the left) looking at me. Although she was a Quaker, I think she might have kicked my ass for not going to vote. I'm not talking about just a roughing-up. I believe she would've gone medieval on me. She worked so hard and never got a chance to vote. Every time I go vote, I think of her and actually appreciate that I am allowed at the polling place and get to voice my opinion. Because of her, I have made myself a promise to be aware of what and whom I will be voting for and to make informed decisions. (The other lady in the picture is Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was the motherly one. You can see what they brought to the project just by looking at them.) I explained this recently to a friend and she remarked that it was very noble, etc. She also laughed and said that my vote only counted as much as some nimrod who knew nothing and just went in there and voted for the first person in each category! Funny.

Also, check this out (from Edison Media Research).

MOST LOVED CHRISTMAS SONGS

1. Nat King Cole/The Christmas Song

2. Bing Crosby/White Christmas

3. Johnny Mathis/Do You Hear What I Hear

4. Burl Ives/A Holly Jolly Christmas

5. Harry Simeone Chorale/Little Drummer Boy

MOST HATED CHRISTMAS SONGS

1. Singing Dogs/Jingle Bells

2. Cartman/O Holy Night

3. Elmo & Patsy/Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (the only one that can be called polarized, not just hated)

4. Jackson 5/Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

5. Barbra Streisand/Jingle Bells

Well, I have to say that Nat King Cole's "Christmas Song" IS the harbinger of Christmas to me. I can't wait until I actually hear it played on the radio. And I've always loved Bing Crosby. When I watched Holiday Inn and saw this in context, I have to say that it was even better. Even later, when I learned how Irving Berlin came to write the song, I was even more in love with the song. Check this out for a brief account of how he allegedly did it:

http://arizona-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/dreaming_of_a_white_christmas.

What's really funny is that my parents had a five or six record collection from Reader's Digest that included all, and I mean all, of the best Christmas songs. I think that all of the loved songs were on there. Anyway, I used to start playing those albums on my record player on the day after Thanksgiving from the time I was about seven or eight. I learned what now seem to be pretty obscure songs. One of my favorites is "The Holly and the Ivy" which sounds really English to me. On the album it was sung by a boys' choir. Also, not as obscure, but not as played as I believe it should be is "Good King Wenceslas" which I believe was the Bing Crosby version. "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is another good one which doesn't get as good PR as it should. I downloaded an Elvis version that I put on my Christmas 2007 CD. What else made my cut? Well. . .

1. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day -- Elvis Presley

2. Mary's Prayer -- Bebo Norman (This is an INCREDIBLE CD.)

3. White Christmas -- Bing Crosby

4. Hard Candy Christmas -- Dolly Parton

5. I'll Be Home for Christmas -- Josh Groban (This is a cool CD too. Hey, I bought it before I knew Oprah recommended it!)

6. Merry Christmas Darling -- Carpenters

7. Celebrate Me Home -- Kenny Loggins (Yes, I am a total GOOBER for liking this, but I do. Mock me at your whim.)

8. Christmastime Is Here -- The Peanuts Kids (Vince Guaraldi)

9. Christmas Canon -- Trans-Siberian Orchestra

10. All I Want for Christmas Is You -- Vince Vance and the Valiants

11. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree -- Brenda Lee (How do I love this? Let me count the ways. . . )

12. Please Come Home for Christmas -- Eagles

13. Jingle Bell Rock -- Bobby Helms

14. Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) -- Darlene Love (Thanks, David Letterman, for introducing me to this magnificent song and singer!)

15. Grown-Up Christmas List -- Michael Buble (This one is new, not the Amy Grant one, obviously, but I really like it.)

16. Thankful -- Josh Groban (I would kinda love to see a Celebrity Death Match between Josh & Michael Buble, but I do like both.)

17. The Christmas Waltz -- Carpenters

18. Christmas in Dixie -- Alabama (I also wanted Tender Tennessee Christmas, but it wasn't available on i-tunes.)

19. Do You Hear What I Hear? -- Perry Como & the Ray Charles Singers

20. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer -- Gene Autry

Well, I'm tired of writing, so I'll go away for awhile.

Happy for It to Be Saturday

I'm happy for it to be Saturday. You probably gathered that from the title of my entry. Y'all are just quick like that.

Last night, the basketball games were with our big rival. I spent the time from about 4 yesterday afternoon until 9 last night getting popcorn, hot dogs, AirHeads, etc. to people at the game. Walking on concrete for five hours tends not to be good for an overweight forty-year-old. I wore the appropriate shoes, but wow, that floor is hard. I've had to postpone my workout to try to see if my leg is gonna feel better.

I'm watching Bunnytown with my nephew, so I'll go now.

Okay, Wow!

I feel pretty good, although I need to be in bed right now. I went to the gym, did a big 35 minutes on the elliptical and then did a strength workout. It cracks me up. I am so dialed in on the exercise portion of my life right now. However, the nutrition, work, and sleep portions are suffering greatly.

It's been really good to meet Mrs. C. at the gym routinely. I took a nap after dinner, which would've extended to all night if I hadn't told Mrs. C. that I'd be at the elliptical area. Really though, my goal is to lean up a bit during the Christmas holidays. Mrs. C. and I haven't lost an ounce, really. I can tell a difference in my pants (Hey, that's not what I mean!), but Mrs. C. says she can't tell a thing. Oh well, I suppose that if we stick with it, we have to get benefits soon.

Gotta scat!

Less than Stellar

Well, the varsity ballgames were NOT GOOD. I can take solace, however, in the fact that our junior varsity girls did win, pretty handily. I am tired, so I'm going to bed.

My workout today was in the concession stand. I walked and walked and walked and walked. I also ate a hotdog, a hamburger, and had a Reese cup.

Could be worse? Yeah, it could.

I'm sitting here watching The Biggest Loser. What an inspiration! I will be in the gym tomorrow night!

Peace!

Getting on the Hamster Wheel

Okay, I am already exhausted and it's just Monday. It was a crazy day. I'm not sure why, but this week is ARRGGHHH! End-of-Course Tests begin this week. My people are SO not ready. It's really depressing. It's as if they don't understand the impact the test will have on their grade-- and it's not for a lack of my telling them. Why do my students think that they need only pay attention for two or three days a week? How can I make somebody do something? Better yet, how can I encourage someone to want to do something?

Well, tomorrow is basketball. That means CONCESSION STAND. That means FUN. I love working the concession stand. People are happy. They're even happier when they have a hotdog, a Coke, and a Reese cup.

Wednesday is a catch-my-breath day. Thursday is doing the book for C-team basketball. And Friday is another ballgame.

See ya back here on Saturday morning!

Good Walk/Run

Just wanted to give a quick word on my good walk/run. The local school has built a fitness trail. It is 1.07 miles. The trail that they had was 0.61 and was fine, but there's something about knowing that I had five circuits to run that was a little overwhelming. Three times 1.07 is even more, but seems like less somehow, since I only have three times to go around. I've also started a new bribe to ensure my workouts. I can only listen to Rick and Bubba when I'm working out. That's my new incentive and it's worked out pretty well for about the last week.

A good week is what I wish for all!

Gone Baby Gone

Okay, Snoopy and I declared that a movie must be watched this weekend. Since we'd seen the previews, we were pretty geeked about seeing This Christmas. We will, but for some reason, the theater which is great at pandering to idiots and 14-year-old boys, had Gone Baby Gone again. It was there for about five minutes when it came out, or maybe a week later. I'm sure that it was due to a clerical error or something of that nature.

This movie was heavily hawked on ESPN radio, my one true love. Incidentally, it means that I absolutely MUST see No Country for Old Men, which has been advertised SO often that I've memorized the commercial.

Can I just say that I always thought that Matt Damon was the brains behind the Good Will Hunting? I am wrong. Ben Affleck goes political so often and rants unintelligently (IMNSHO) that I am absolutely gobsmacked by how awesomely this movie was made. Some things I really appreciated were the fact that often, during really intense scenes, instead of having deafening music or sounds of some sort, there was just silence. I was loving that. I really miss that, which I guess is why I enjoy older movies. They let the dialog and characters build the mood rather than manipulating you with music.

Casey Affleck, yes, he's Ben's brother, and the other star, Michelle Monaghan were excellent as a young couple who were hired by a family member to investigate the disappearance of a little girl. I need not tell you that Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris were fantastic. But the guy I remember from Some Kind of Wonderful as the hard-working dad Keith disappoints by spending his savings on earrings for a girl. Snoopy also added that he was Judge Reinhold's partner in Beverly Hills Cop. His name is John Ashton and he was good also.

There were twists and turns. Snoopy figured it out right at the end. I don't even try to figure these things out. I enjoy being surprised.

If it is near you at a discount cinema, you'll want to see it. And renting it is a total no-brainer. You'll like it.

Encounters with the Answer to a Prayer

Okay, I had the weirdest set of circumstances happen to me on Wednesday. This is convoluted and long, but stick with me, it's a good story.

Fiona's husband called my room at school and asked if I would make a deposit for him. I had planned on going to meet Mrs. C. at the gym, but she had cancelled, so I decided that I'd help him out. I was tutoring a student who had his nose re-broken and wasn't able to be at school for a few days. After regaling the student on the awesomeness that is rational exponents, I left the school.

When I got to the middle of town, I realized that I'd left the deposit that Fiona's husband, Shrek, had left in my box, so back to the school. Well, I rolled on past the interstate back to my town. Once I got into town a man started making strange motions and honking his horn. He seemed to be pointing towards my passenger-side front tire. After analyzing whether or not he was mentally stable, I decided that my tire could be blowing up, unbeknownst to me. At that juncture, stopping to check it out seemed to be the smartest thing to do. I pulled in to a parking lot where there was no one. There was also no light. When I got out and saw that my tire was fine, I thought, "What the ?"

In a matter of seconds, the same man drove up and before I knew it, he was underneath my car, doing something to maybe the tie-rod end. He was a small, wiry man. He asked me if I'd heard any loud noises and I told him no, but that there was no guarantee something hadn't happened, because being a high-school teacher, I tend to ignore weird sounds. He laughed. I told him that a street I travel on to school is riddled with pot holes. He, after fixing the passenger side problem, proceeded to roll up under my driver-side front tire. He couldn't see. Then he asked me to move the car, carefully, to the Waffle House. Since it was more populated and it had more light, I was 90% sure he was legit.

When I got in my car, I did call my friend, Dude, and told him if he didn't hear from me in ten minutes, to alert the authorities. This greasy, wiry man went under my car and found that the bushing was totally destroyed. He demanded to go to the auto parts store and get this part and replace it. I was slightly wary until he told me that that was just how his daddy raised him. Plus, he said, if his daughter or wife were out having the same problem, he'd want someone to help them. He said that the bushing would be $28.

I suggested that I just have my friend come pick me up, make the deposit that brought me this way, and then run by the ATM to get dude his money. This seemed satisfactory to him, so off he went. Then Dude came, picked me up, and took me to the ATM. It all went off without a hitch.

Again, he agiley dodged under the wheel and replaced the bushing. He told me that he and his wife had been together since they were 15 and 16. He has two sons who are grown and an 11-year-old daughter who is very smart and has him wrapped tightly around her little finger. What a nice guy!

I was a little wigged out the entire time this was happening. But I just was amazed at how this thing fell together and got slightly less weirded out as it progressed.

When I got home, I began thinking about the events that had to be aligned for this to work out as perfectly as it was. Had Mrs. C. not cancelled the workout meeting, had Shrek not asked me to make a deposit for him, had I not forgotten the deposit upon my initial leaving, and had I not had trouble with my hubcaps and taken them all off, the greasy guardian angel wouldn't have been there at the time and been able to see what was going on inside where my tire was.

I am so thankful that God orchestrated the set of circumstances necessary to let all of this happen. Don't tell me that miracles don't occur. Don't tell me that God is watching us from a distance, as the song says and isn't concerned with even the smallest things in our daily lives. If it's important to us, it's important to God. Oh yeah, did I tell you that my helper told me if I'd hit a pot-hole or something just right, it would have sheared off the bolt and my wheel would have come off. That couldn't have ended well. But it did. Thanks to my mechanically-inclined guardian angel!