Category Archives: sports

Ten days in

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warm and dry – courtesy of The Chicago Tribune

Today is the tenth day of summer and it feels like the tenth day of summer. The weather yesterday was warm and dry. We need rain, the forecast yesterday called for rain however, the rain went either north or south but it completely avoided us.

There are things I would like to avoid, like interruptions, distractions, and lack of focus. However, that is what and who I am. I can distract myself like no one else. I can also be very productive or incredibly unproductive, like I was yesterday. I got nothing done and except for the annual physical – required for scout camp and because I am of a certain age. I did not learn anything I didn’t already know or suspect; I need to lose weight, I need to exercise, and I need to start now. Every summer, I get started and I lose a little bit of weight and exercise more than during the school year, but once school starts, I fall back to my old ways of doing things and eating. From what I heard yesterday, I need to start and make it happen AND stick with it. Continue reading Ten days in →

Saturday morning, late April

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It’s been a loonnnnnggg time. This morning, I woke up on the couch. It’s where I fell asleep in the middle of the night when Ivy began to bark, yowl, and whine. She wanted out, so I crawled out of bed and went downstairs only to fall asleep on the couch after I let her in. I decided it was easier to stay downstairs than go back up and covered up with Ivy snuggling in a ball at my feet. Hours later, as night slid into early morning, the pitter-patter of rain woke me and I heard a rumble of thunder. It was time to get up and get going, and Ivy wanted out. Continue reading Saturday morning, late April →

Olivia’s Dad, WOW, what a week

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All dressed up and ready to go!

I can hardly believe that the week has passed me by. It was a busy week full of activity and teaching. However, the best part, or parts, was sharing it with Olivia. A normal week, depending on the season, can be spent at basketball games, scout meetings, outings, church, managing homework, and having dinner together. But, this week was different. Our week began with the Super Bowl where I was out numbered 3-1 in favor of the Giants and ended with the Daddy-Daughter Dance Friday night. There was a lot in between. Continue reading Olivia’s Dad, WOW, what a week →

Super Bowl Sunday

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Go Pats!

I remember my first super bowl – or the first I remember watching. It was Super Bowl 4 – the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Baltimore Colts. I didn’t know much about football then, but being from Houston I was rooting for the Colts. The team I rooted for didn’t make it and never would. The Houston Oilers aren’t around anymore. Continue reading Super Bowl Sunday →

Going back to school and the climax

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It is Monday and some things never seem to change, like the feeling on Monday morning. It was a busy weekend we jammed in high school football, chores, leaf cleanup, church, cooking, and spending time together. Beth got home from Ohio Sunday night and the kids were excited to greet her, having momma home is the best. Continue reading Going back to school and the climax →

Saturday, update – Falling ahead

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The kids and the Pink lady apples - a bright, sunny, and beautiful afternoon

It has been a while, too long a while. But, I’m back. Over the past two weeks, I’ve had so many ideas to write, but so little time. I know that almost sounds like a whine, and it is. I really enjoy the time to sit, think, and create. When I started writing MtDC in May 2010, I had no idea where it would take me or what it would teach me; all I knew was that I wanted to be a better teacher and that if I was going to teach writing, I had better get good at it. I really wanted to write about Making the Days Count and I think I have, though at times it is more diary than other blogs and chronicles how the days count to me and the people and things I care most about.   Continue reading Saturday, update – Falling ahead →

Knee jerk leads to what a jerk!

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Mr. Grumpy - courtesy of http://www.mrmen.com

It’s Saturday morning and I should’ve been writing for over an hour, but I’m just starting right now. I have successfully distracted myself with various interesting, but not necessarily important tasks this morning. It has been a crazy week and I should have done the smart thing last night and simply gone home, gone downstairs to the basement to my incredibly messy work area and tried to work before going to bed on a Friday night at a sensible time, say nine o’clock. But, I didn’t and I ended up making an idiot of myself and staying up far too late.

As I mentioned it has been a doozy of a week. Overall, it has been good and I can count several successes along the way. I have wanted to write several posts Continue reading Knee jerk leads to what a jerk! →

Sunday morning…

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'77' is for Red Grange a Wheaton alum and NFL Hall of Famer

It’s the first weekend of the school year and it felt good to sleep past four. Though it is almost over, it was packed full of activities and appointments and I am finally sitting down to think and reflect back over the first week and look ahead to the second week and our first break – Labor Day. It seems unfair that we get started with two full weeks; then interrupt it with a four-day holiday for the kids and a three-day break for the teachers – the day after Labor Day is a teacher in-service day.

The next five days will go quickly with all sorts of activities in the classroom and skill and content learning will begin. The first few days of school are for introducing the class, beginning routines, and getting to know the students and allowing them to know me. I teach honestly and from the heart sharing my experiences as a student and a parent. Having ‘lived seventh grade’ last year, I know what happens at home. I’ll get to ‘live seventh grade’ once more, when Olivia gets there and I’ll see it from a female perspective.  Continue reading Sunday morning… →

First Day New Month

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the last sunset in July, for this year

August the first sounds bad, it really does. It sounds like the end of summer vacation and the return to serious things like school, work, and responsibility. I read the quote in my Franklin Planner this morning and it read,

“There shall be Eternal summer in the grateful heart.” Celia Thaxter.

I had never heard of her so, I let my fingers do the walking and discovered she was an American poet and author in the nineteenth century. Her father was a lighthouse keeper and ran an inn and she lived her entire life in New England. In addition, she is known for running her father’s summer inn, which attracted America’s literary elite in the late 1800s, and hence she lived a summer-like existence, year-round. I suppose summer does live on in our hearts and minds. It is the motivation when the mornings are dreary, the workload enormous, or the chores unpleasant. Whatever is coming in a few weeks when school resumes will not be as much fun as summer has been.   Continue reading First Day New Month →

Reality is overrated!

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Two friends, waiting on the tube

It is getting down to the nitty gritty. I have had 48 days for fun (rest, relaxation, rejuvenation) and I know have 22 days to wrap up all of the things that I wanted to do, needed to do, and absolutely had to do before another school year begins, again. Somehow, I think I have failed, again but in hindsight, I have made progress.

I woke Sunday morning without the benefit of an alarm I just got up and started the day. Evidently, I had set my alarm for 6:00 PM, not AM, and the alarm did not go off for obvious reasons. This is really the best part of the day, I know I sound selfish and I am. I think we all are, to a certain extent. I started to write Sunday morning and did not finish. Continue reading Reality is overrated! →