The main thing is that I am happy. I think that says a lot about a person - how happy they are. I look at my life with a guarded disbelief. I find it interesting how life has been very good to me. I read in the newspaper and online about all these messed up people. At a local junior high, for example, there was a 12 year old boy who took down his pants and tried to get a girl to touch him. He's in the newspaper for sexual abuse. My daughter is 12! I can't imagine being in a situation where you have to talk to the police about your child's behavior. It's something I can't fathom.
We went to the Regina / Tipton game last night and, as expected, Regina won to improve to 6-0. Regina didn't play bad but it was a game that never felt like it had much of a rhythm to it. There were penalties on both sides. Tipton scored within the last 4 minutes to make it 27-7 and then tried an onside kick - those never work - to try to get the ball back. It was cold sitting in the stands but it was worth seeing the action. A Regina player leveled a Tipton player and laid him out. Tipton also had a 80 yard punt that they downed on the 1 yard line. Regina ended up scoring - if I recall correctly - on that drive.
Today is the MSU v. IA game. It's in Michigan and the Hawks desparately need a win to avoid being 0-2 in the Big Ten.
In Iowa, we are having friends come over ~5:30 and we're ordering pizza. I think the time between the end of the game and 5:30 will be spent cleaning up the house. We've identified some tasks - like cleaning up the bathroom closet and putting our ghosts out on the porch - as things that need to be done.
I took the van over to Linder Tire at 6 AM. I filled up the van with gas ($57), dropped it off, and walked home - it's about a mile. The issue with the van? The brakes squeal and Karen's not happy re: that.
I had the craziest dream and I don't know what brought it on. I dreamed that I went to my high school's first swim team practice in Cedar Rapids. I left my hosue @ 5 AM and got there @ 6 and had a talk with the coach. I talked about how I wanted to help coach and how I missed swimming and how I felt like I could contribute. In the dream, my former coach turned it into feeling guilty about my friend Lee's death and how it was just the grieving process that led me to practice. So then it was 7:15 and Alex - who mysterioudly showed up - had to be @ school in Iowa City - by 8 AM. And we had to take showers and get dressed before we could even leave. Then I had to turn around and get to work by 8. It was amazing how the circumstances of it all played out. I don't know what to really think of it all. I feel like I constantly think about Lee.
Lee was on the swim team with me all 4 years. He and Mike and I were the only 4 to go from freshmen to seniors. Lee and Mike were voted captains - I was not. Lee kind of took me under his wing. I remember - and the kids have heard this story - how he told me how to hold my fork. I don't really think anyone but Lee could have said "Hey, what are you doing?" and told me to not hold it in my fist. I chuckle when I think about him. I remember being in 10th grade geometry one day and he had a Sports Illustrated magazine. There was an article about Len Bias, a basketball player who had recently died from Marphan's Syndrome. His symptons were tall, skinny, big hands, and big feet. Lee proclaimed, "Hans, you have Marphan's Syndrome." I remember going as far as to send the article to my doctor at the time and ask what he thought. "No, you don't have Marphan's Syndrome."
Lee also used to kid me about how skinny I was. He said I was so skinny, I could go down the drain but my feet would prevent me from going all the way down. He also used to sing "I was born to love you / I was born to love you / I was born to love you / but you were born to love me first." It was paraphrasing "Caddyshack" : http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071030134508AAobb7X. I do miss Lee. Funny thing is that I doubt we would have even kept in contact after high school if he were still around. When he died in 1996, I went to the wake because of knowing him in high school and because I wanted to offer my sympathy to his parents and brothers and sister. It wasn't because we had been hanging out together. I know he's in a better place.
Work was crazy yesterday. I just got the 08V2R1 Mass Release out the door and had to turn around and start the 08V3R1 Early Release prep that has to go out Monday. I did take a moment to notice the following comic:
I got the biggest laugh when I removed "retail" in the final panel.
I also happened upon last Sunday's "Blondie" which I thought was very funny.
Finally, I used to contribute reviews to Jersey Beat. I still have them in my Favorites but it had been a while since I checked out their site. The last time I was there, the layout did not look *anything* like it does now. I like the design. I came across this review. I warn you - the writer uses the f bomb to make his point: http://www.jerseybeat.com/metallica_deathmagnetic.html. I also found Jim's blog: http://jerseybeat.blogspot.com/.
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