Put One In The Win Column For The Colts

After losing about 5 games in a row the Colts finally put one in the Win Column!  Joe got to play the whole game. He played offensive guard and defensive Noseguard.  He made some really good tackles and just loved every minute of the game. Some might assume that he is just a gifted athlete.  Maybe.  But I think the fact that several of the players have been sick with Swine Flu every week during the game has a little bit to do with why Joe is getting so much playing time.

Edgar was actually the secret weapon on the team.  He would get the ball and run down the field and no one could catch him.  I think he made three touchdown.  At one point he was running down the field with a kid on his back.  The unknown Redskin finally fell off after about 10 yards.   

You know,  it is just good to win sometimes after the team practices and works so hard. 

Cattle Rancher's Daughter

Just one really big question, if vegetarians don't like meat,why are they always trying to make beans and vegetables taste like hamburgers?

As a cattle rancher's daughter I don't get why anyone wouldn't want to eat meat.  It is not as if cattle are any smarter than fish.  When we first started to build my father's herd I remember coming up with cute names for some of them. Who can resist a calf named Buttercup?  My father renamed our new found pets names like Dinner, T-bone, or Stewie.  My father told me, just as his cattle rancher and dairy farmer father told him, "If you want something to love on, go find a boyfriend or a girlfriend."  I learned very quickly the heirarchy of the food chain.  It is good to be on top.

Cattle exist in the numbers they do because we allow them to exist.  We guard them from wolves.  We grow hay so that they will have food.  We build ponds where there were none so that they will have water to drink.  We keep them worm free so that they will be healthy.  We provide male companionship so that they can breed and continue the species.  We buy dried corn to feed them to make their meat sweet tasting.  Then we sell some of the herd to the packers and the process continues.

I love beef stew, spagehetti with meat sauce, beef tacos and brisket sandwiches without guilt!  I have several leather purses, a really nice black leather jacket, and way too many pairs of leather shoes.  I even have leather seats in my car.  All of this, thanks to cattle ranchers like my father who know how to raise a really useful crop. 

But That's Not What My Teacher Said!

I have been tutoring Joe in 6th grade math.  It seems like the 6th grade math curriculum is an excersise in pre-algebra.  That is okay.  I can understand any sixth grade math thrown Joe's way.  I think my only problem is that I give more than what is required.  For example,  Joe was given a set of numbers and the question was to come up with a rule to find the next number.  This was the series:  13, 21, 29, 37...  It is pretty easy to see that the number increases by 8 each time.  But where did the 13 come from?  Of course I will ask that question.  I made the formula

5+n(8)    n=the number in the series...13 is the 1st number, 21 is the 2nd number...

because that was the algebraic expression of the number series.  Pretty simple, right?  Then I discovered that the teacher was assigning problems that had the answer in the back of the book so I checked out the answer that I, I mean Joe was supposed to come up with.  The answer was

add 8.

I looked at the question again.  You know, the book never asked for an algebraic expression to explain the sequence.  The questions was what do you do to get the next number in the series?  Using the newly discovered key, I corrected Joe's math assignment very quickly and had him make the needed changes.   Joe was pretty mad that I had looked at the answers.  He told me that was cheating.  I say it is smart.  It is not as if Joe hadn't done the work.  This was a chance for him to put his answers in the proper format so that he can get full credit for the work he has done.  Obviously, she is assigning the problems that have the answers in the back.  She wants someone to check them out.  I guess that someone will be me.   At least I will know when I am on the right track.

Voted In, Unopposed, In A Land-slide Election

Oh the life of a PTA president!  I am getting ready for the first general PTA meeting tomorrow night.  It is amazing how many details need to be attended to.  I  have the agenda set, the script for the meeting is typed up and sent to the secretary.  The Pizza has been ordered and the servers are ready to go.  We had to have the principal step in and negotiate a disagreement with the lunch lady who has become increasingly more territorial over the kitchen.  I have notified everyone except for the scouts who will lead the pledge about their part in the program.  Note to self...Contact the scout leaders today!  On top of that, I have been working on the calendar for the year, which I had to drop for a time as I worked through the hard drive crash. I promise that this meeting will start on time and I won't be fifteen minutes late as I try to print off the agenda, which is what happened at the first board meeting.  Wish me luck!

Football Report

Joe was struggling not to cry as we left his game on Saturday morning.  Not only had the Colts lost 40-0, but Joe was Singled out for not wearing his mouth guard during one of the plays so he will be running extra laps at Tuesday's practice.  Bummer, I know, but last year he got the team penalized at least 8 times for not wearing his mouth guard.  I hope he remembers in the future.  I hope the team can pull it together and do better in the future.  But I can honestly say that the team did not lose because of the mouth piece penalty. 

The Navy game was a good game.  Navy lost, but only by a few points.  The prediction was that Navy was going to lose by 50 points against Ohio.  I think the game showed just how well Navy can compete against the big guys.  Navy only has a student population of 4000.  I think Ohio State has 40,000.  And Navy was playing at Ohio.  John wanted to go, but there was no room on the boat to Columbus.  Since Megan and Chris are from Michigan they know all of the anti-Ohio State sayings.  We texted them to John during the game so that he would feel our solidarity with him.  Some of the appropriate sayings were, Fried Buckeyes taste Like Chicken! Ohio State fans can't read this text. There were some really inappropriate sayings coming out of Michigan. What insulting phrases rhyme with Buckeyes?  Put a 50,000 geniousy Michigan fans on that task and you can come up with the t-shirts you might see at the Big House.

Fortunately, Michigan creamed Western Michigan.  Maybe the Wolverines are crawling out of the hole they were in last season.

Bob, Chris and Joe were so happy about getting to go to the BYU-OU game.  What an incredible win!  Number 20 BYU defeating Number 3 OU.  No paper bags neccessary.  Cougar pride is alive.  I am glad I didn't sell those tickets so that Megan and I could have more to spend on our shopping trip.

I Dreamed a Dream When Hope was High

Today is a big Football Day and we are going to follow 4 games.  First Joe has a game in his Pee Wee League.  The Colts have had a rough off season.  The head coach quit, taking his son with him and about 5 of our best players to another league up north in Plano.  But Joe is actually playing better individually.  We also have a kid on the team who has been shaving for 6 months and is still in the 6th grade.  That game starts in 15 minutes.  Hope is high.

We are going to go to part of the Navy vs Ohio State game.  This is the game with probably the worst odds.  But Navy has Ricky Dobbs.  We are hoping for a miracle here.

Chris really wants to see the Michigan  vs Western Michigan game.  Michigan should win unless Western Michigan pulls an Appalacian State.

Then the Big one.  I bought tickets for Bob, Chris and Joe to go to the BYU vs OU game at the new Cowboys Stadium!  They are going early and are going to watch the Michigan game in a restaurant close to the stadium so they wont have to fight traffic.  The BYU game starts at 6:00 PM.  I have faith that BYU can win this game but will the faith of the BYU players be strong during the game?  I hope the Fireside fired them up last night.  We went to Hard 8 BBQ with Megan and Chris then to the RHS game.  RHS won!  We are hoping that all othe football experts are wrong and that BYU will pull the Appalacian State upset!  I will report on all 4 games tomorrow.