DJ Hits The Game-Winner - Right?

DJ drove inside and hit a short game-winning jumper with four seconds remaining…or did he? At least four people scored the game. To three of us it became apparent, long after the players and refs had left the court...there was a descreprency with the final score. Did Flight really win this game?

My scratchings showed:
Flight……….15…20…40…55
Kings Ridge…6…21…32…54
But how accurate was that?

The 7:30 game started early, after the Flight JV Girls beat Kings Ridge so bad that the game was stopped early. Will and I arrived in time to see the last few seconds of the Boy’s first quarter tick off. I passed behind Cathy Hoffer, in deep conversation with Mrs. Richards...so I didn’t bother them. I sat between Willis and Brett Smith, Connor’s dad. “Willis…where’s Becky?”, I asked. “Back there”, he pointed. It wasn’t Cathy after all...it was Becky! Long week.

Curiously, Flight started the second quarter with a quintet of DJ, Joe, Isaac, Brendan, and Joel. Soon Kevin replaced DJ, and it took the entire quarter for King’s Ridge to come back and take the lead. The subs played hard, but got off few shots. Joe had two steals and a rebound. Isaac scored all five of the second quarter points, and he also had a vicious block. Brendan and Kevin added two rebounds each. Later we heard the coaches had benched the starters due to a lackluster first quarter effort.

Normally this is a classic Flight tactic. Instead of blowing out a lesser team, the Flight coaches have an uncanny ability to know just when to pull starters, giving everyone playing time...and still winning the game. The Barons had blown out Kings Ridge, before losing to Flight. Flight burst ahead in the first few minutes of the third quarter. A full court press led to nine quick steals. In one sequence Keon had three straight rebounds, finally passing out to the top of the key to Chris, who nailed a three-pointer. Flight outscored Kings Ridge 20-11. Chris had seven points in the quarter, DJ five, and Connor four.

Funny moment: Connor went airborne chasing a loose ball near the baseline. To me, and at least one Kings Ridge player, it appeared he had stepped on the baseline. The entire gym heard the player shout “that’s out on him!” But no whistle, and Connor was able to save the ball…flipping to DJ for a basket.

Chatting with Willis and Brett, and having missed the first quarter, my note-taking and scorekeeping wasn’t spot on. Connor’s mom Carol was right in front of me, so I never noticed that she, as usual, was also keeping score. But as the fourth quarter began I checked the scoreboard. Flight led 40-32.

The Kings Ridge rims were unforgiving. Shot after shot bounced off the firm baskets. Late in the game the Kings Ridge players’ high, arching shots kept finding the mark...scoring nine straight to pull within a basket with 5:22 left. They went ahead 45-43 at the four minute mark.

The foul calls were mostly going against Flight. Kings Ridge went to the bonus with 6:46 left, and to the double-bonus with 3:37 left. Kings Ridge hit two threes, but DJ answered with a two and a three. Connor was fouled hard and made one of two free throws. Isaac passed inside to Connor for two more. Flight scored seven straight to retake the lead…50-45.

Kings Ridge climbed back, taking a 54-52 lead. Kevin drew a key charge, but the next Flight shot missed. 35 seconds left. Connor block on the other end. DJ was fouled with 13 seconds left, but only hit one foul shot. 54-53 Kings Ridge.

On the pass downcourt, DJ went to intercept. The foul call could’ve gone either way, but it went against DJ. Both Kings Ridge foul shots were missed. Rebound Flight. DJ brought the ball down, glancing at the clock. He drove left, taking the ball inside the foul line. Five seconds. DJ pulled up, taking a fadeaway…GOOD! 55-54…FLIGHT WINS!

In the excitement, I stopped taking notes. I always remember the rest…right? As we chatted about the game, the teams shook hands. Flight prayed at midcourt, then returned to the locker room. Later they emerged and chatted with friends. The crowd thinned. Brendan’s mom approached, carrying the scorebook. She had a question: did we show the same 55-54 score?

Carol and I checked our notes. Our sheets agreed with Mrs. Lively. In the fourth quarter: Isaac hit a free throw. DJ had ten of his 15 second-half points. Connor added three points. One + 10 + 3 = 14. Add 14 to the third quarter total of 40 and you get…54. Was it really a tie?

Across the court, Willis and I saw two people pouring over the Kings Ridge scorebook. Did they see the same thing we saw? I guess we’ll never know.

Busy Day

Busy day today…I went to a quick focus group this morning, came back and went right into a meeting that lasted til noon.

At four I headed to Living Science for the reading of the skit. Some of the kids will have high expectations, since I had put together funny things on the last several retreats. The skit is a big deal…30 minutes or so for four nights. The headmaster hatches the idea and gave it to me. I took that and wrote twelve pages or so. She and her daughter (& my friend Cindy, who’s written every previous skit) took it and liked it. They re-wrote it with more/different ideas, and assigned roles…26 parts. Then I polished up that draft and wrote the last two days, based on their outline.

It’s fun to put the headmasters (husband & wife) into skits, but that’s been done several times. Their daughter & son-in-law are taking bigger teaching roles at the school…they’ve been portrayed in past skits as well. It was my idea to use the grandson instead. But then I had to write in the other three grandchildren. The re-write I got back included the headmasters and daughter/son-in-law. Not my original idea, but the students seemed to like it.

It turned out Joel Norman had the biggest role, but tonight he & Will were swapped. There are several main roles. The previous skits I’d written included Kyle playing superhero Dave Murphy…aka Krypto. Only today did I realize Krypto was not included in the script. .

My dad enjoys doing my taxes so much, but I don’t know how much longer he’ll be around. We won’t even get our W2’s until month end.

Die It

Tuesday night I worked out for the first time all year. I need to get going! I need to be under 200 by July 4th. If I stick to it, I should be at 195 then.

Thursday I’ve been invited to Will’s school, for the initial reading of the skit. It’s an exciting time for all the kids, seeing it for the first time. They find out what part they’ll play. Will thinks he’s ready for a major role…we’ll see. While I know most of the kids and have my favorites, but my co-producers better know what kind of students/studiers/actors they are…they chose the roles. DJ was the last senior boy without a discussed-about part, so I assigned him the coveted lead villain role. Most of the time I wrote the characters’ lines without thinking about the kid playing them, though I did try to give more lines to good actors. Remember the old Globetrotter confetti in the pail gag? It’s in there.

It is nice to have a run of good games to watch. I read where Whisenhunt went with a bland game plan against the Packers the week before, not showing them what he really had in mind for the Playoff game. He did experiment, showing the Pack several formations he intended to use, just to see how the defense reacted.

Another good article on the two Texas QB’s, and the night they had…how Colt wanted to return, but couldn’t throw the ball seven yards to his father. After that, he cried.

I have been scoring/taking notes on the high school games I go to, using Reid’s running score system, so I can tell which team is running off how many points in a row. I do it for my own enjoyment, and so I can write a game recap if I want. After one game some fans were saying the game was closer than it was, and I was able to verify what the lead was when the starters were pulled.

Too Cold

Thursday night M & A went outside to play in the snow while we watched the BCS. I almost emailed my boss, predicting my two team members would not show, and telling him to call if I needed to come in. Glad I didn’t. Only one didn’t show.

Arranged with my boss to take off Friday, before the weather turned out to be that bad. I was more productive at home than usual, cranking out the last two days of the skit…to the point where I sent it off in this morning. Though I didn’t write a good chunk of it, right now it’s 13,000 words / 36 pages. Usually two thousand words is long for me. Pretty funny, if I say so myself. We’ll see what the “editors” say about it.

Ceil went out once on both Friday and Saturday, but I stayed home. We all made it to church. That was about it for the last three days. I took Anna to Borders around 7:15 Sunday, and looked for you. All she does is read, school, ballet, and chat with friends.

Of course Tech beat Duke. Hard to say that’s anything but good…a confidence builder. But will they / can they play that hard / well against lesser teams? They haven’t so far. That’s what discourages me about basketball & football in general. Today’s athletes don’t play hard all the time…just when they want to. They let up against lesser teams, and it shows. Didn’t seem to happen as much in the old days. The seasons were shorter then. You can’t see the drop-off as much in baseball. Hard playing players…LeBron, MJ, Kobe, Bird, McCale, DJ, Ainge, Nash, Farve, Peyton, Matt Ryan…there are many who play hard, usually the elite athletes do so.

Watching the Hawks/Celtics Friday night, Hubie Brown talked about Mark Price for a while, who was sitting near the Hawks bench. He must not travel with the team…Reid saw him at the Duke game. Sunday I saw Price in the 9 am service. He’s not six feet tall.

Good piece in this week’s scorecard about the guy in charge of the BCS. He’s right…any changes made to the imperfect system wouldn’t perfect it. Even in the NCAA bball tourney, some bubble teams get left out.

Team of Rivals was good, but it was hard to keep in my head who was who, some of the time…perhaps because I was listening to it.

SI picked the Jets, Pats, Packers, and Cowboys…so they went 2-2.

Snow Day

Right now I like Bama to win tonight (written at noon Thursday). I’ll miss most of the first half.

I’m not excited about the snow. May take off tomorrow…to use up my last 2009 vacation day. The large retention pond outside my window has been frozen over all week…it’s the longest I’ve ever seen a “lake” frozen over.

I’m sure the Braves will be happy to accept donations from any fan who thinks the payroll should be higher…it’s easy to tell other people how to spend their money. It was nice back when we had one of the higher payrolls. As a mid-market team it makes every personnel decision more critical. Why did they sign that Hinske? With those stats, couldn’t they have used a minor leaguer with a bigger upside? Guess they wanted experience to pinch hit, and play good defense…and any decent minor leaguer needs to be playing every day. They have that ex-Dodger first baseman/LF slugger as well. Guess everyone they signed may not make the team…lots of jobs to be decided during spring training.

Will’s friends Abby and Christy (teacher Sandy’s daughter) went to see “The Princess & the Frog”…dressed as princesses! A little girl in line got her dad to take her picture with them.

Saw Amy Adams on Letterman…quite pregnant. Ceil also wants to see her new Leap Year movie. I didn’t realize she was in “Catch Me If You Can”.

Anna got a Snuggie™ for Christmas.

I was thinking about the old high tube socks when the guy in KidStuf wore some Sunday. Looked like he was in the movie Semi-Tough…Burt Reynolds & Kris Kristofferson wore red striped tube socks.

What Happened to My Chucks

The Chuck Taylors story…when we went to EC Presbyterian that Sunday after Christmas, I saw Joel Norman and complimented him on his black Chucks. They didn’t look new, and I asked where he got them. He and Will stammered, then said “uh, from you!” They were mine. Then Will had worn them a few times, and decided he didn’t want them…so I took them back. But Joel will wear them much more than me. Joel also wears a pair of New Balance shoes Will didn’t want…AND a pair of Pumas.

Will has been shooting lots of hoops outside in the cold the last few days, and hitting a little off the tee into his net. Sunday night he was chasing the ball down the hill, fell, and almost broke his arm. Last night he was out there for 30 minutes straight, around 11 pm…in his new white cords.

I didn’t have my hopes up about the GT/UGA basketball game, because Hewitt is so bad. Mark Bradley summed it up pretty good. David Norman went to the game. He facebooked “Paul Hewitt - worst coach ever.” I thought he said Paul Johnson, so I asked why. Then someone else pointed out that he said Hewitt…then I agreed.

Iowa was a good team. Their defense stuck to their assignments well. I was hoping Johnson would be able to make halftime adjustments, and he did…but it was too late. Down three points with one minute left, having missed a field goal, and only rushing for 33 first-half yards…that’s not too bad, considering Tech had the weak defense and a QB who can’t pass.

Sports Illustrated picked four key bowls, and got three of them wrong.

Books…I also want to hit them harder, remembering that article about JWBush and his buddy who read all the books. Currently I’m listening to a novel about a radio station in northern Canada, with a DaVinci Code-type book to follow. Just finished a “24” type novel, one of a series that I had read another installment. I do want to take Matthew’s iTouch (or Anna’s first iPod, that Ceil doesn’t use) and download books…that way I can be more selective about what I read.

Air & Space Museum…the one that’s part of the Smithsonian, that was in Night at the Museum 2? I enjoyed seeing that one…especially the older planes, since I was so familiar with the space capsules. Or the museum that’s out by the airport, that has the bigger aircraft? The Kennedy Space Center in Florida had a bunch of rockets, spacesuits, etc.

Walking around DC was fun. We need to get A & M up there…especially since we have those good friends in Fredericksburg.

Orange Bowl Notes

Thoughts & observations while watching the Orange Bowl, in chronological order...Typical Fox pregame show…topical subjects profiled…just not very deep. Nice into by Tech alum Jimmy Carter, though.Predictions…35-31 Iowa…Eddie George28-14 Tech…Jimmy Johnson

Appears Tech is wearing a new style jersey. Didn’t they learn last year when they wore different jerseys in the bowl game? New pants as well. As usual, Russell Athletics’ designs are years behind Nike. Iowa wins the best uniform prize, in their classic black and yellow. Whatever happened to Tech's gold pants?

The end result is all that matters…winning the game. But winning the war is made easier by winning the most battles. Like the previous two games, Tech’s weak defense means their offense and special teams will have to play an almost flawless game to win.

I like announcer Dick Stockton. Charles Davis provides good, timely analysis...BEFORE the play. Fox buys up all the BCS games, then has guys who haven’t called a college game all year. Give me the ABC/ESPN bunch…Brent, Kirk, Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, etc. Or Vern from CBS.

Coldest Orange Bowl ever…49 degrees at kickoff. Shouldn’t be a problem for either team. Coin toss is meaningless…Iowa would’ve taken the ball, Tech would’ve deferred. Kickoff was after 8:15 EST. Why? TV.

Tech’s keys…Johnson’s play-calling and Nesbitt’s execution. If he has a good game passing, making his reads and good pitches, and protecting the ball, Tech’s offense will be unstoppable. I hope Johnson keeps the ball on the ground…especially on first down. Hard to have long drives when faced with second and tens.

FUMBLE…Tech ball! Penalty…looked like Dwyer would’ve broken that one. Nesbitt gains five…good start. First pass…Nesbitt only looked to one receiver, who was covered. Tony Barnhart said that whichever offense stayed away from the third and longs would fare the best.

Looks like Iowa is going to pick of Tech’s pass defense, with quick passes. Tech will need more big plays on defense...like an interception or two. IOWA BIG PLAY. Right now I'll take a tackle! Touchdown. No big deal, as long as Johnson doesn't panic and start throwing.

BTW…Fox jinxed Tech, talking about how Tech hadn’t punted the last 2 games / 22 possessions. Now two punts in two possessions. At least we’re sticking to our bread and butter…the running game. Time out…so we’ll have commercials, a punt, and more commercials. The two punt snaps sailed left. Hopefully Tech won’t have a special teams miss-step.

Penalty…holding on Tech. Tech struggles with teams who can pass and run. UGA’s running game set up the pass. Big gain! Iowa certainly looked at that game film. Completion. Tech’s offense has got to string together some first downs. Touchdown. Please no replay of last year’s bowl game!

Jim points out that Nesbitt has all the carries so far. Chop block penalty. Dwyer is stopped…third & 22. Josh is sacked. Punt number three. Poor punt, but a good roll. At some point soon, Tech’s got to stop Iowa, and get some first downs.

Interception...TOUCHDOWN! Pick six...just what we needed! 14-7 Iowa near the end of the first quarter. Two of the biggest Tech fans I know, Fred O and Wayne Price, are at the game. Both took their sons, I think. Tech defense holds...finally, a punt. Of course, it bounces out of bounds outside the ten. Third down, and again, Nesbitt panics when his primary receiver is covered. Punt number four. Don’t know what could be the problem…today I wore the same long-johns that I wore when Tech beat Miami in 2008.

No catch, in my book. The Iowa receiver had possession, but didn't take it to the ground. Analyst is correct. BLITZ...SACK! Defense holds again...another punt!

Commercials...Taco Bell employees don't look like that. Taco Bell CUSTOMERS don't look like that...present company excluded. And the drive-through diet? Guess it worked for Subway. The funniest commercials come from FedEx, the bowl sponsor. Loved the guy who came out of the long coma, to learn Pluto is no longer a planet...and the Culture Club broke up.

The teams swap punts. Nesbitt can't bring Tech back by himself. Another good roll on the Tech punt, after another snap wide left. That's gotta throw off Anderson's timing. Time out TECH? Iowa promptly reels off two first downs. Hope that doesn't bite us.

The offense AND defense aren't executing, but the play-calling has been good. Iowa is taking away the dive and pitch and making Nesbitt run the ball. Not Johnson's fault. Hard to nit-pick the sack to end the first quarter, but why can't Nesbitt take the hail mary snap from the shotgun? By the time he drops back the Iowa defenders are on him. Josh scrambled left, but the three receivers were on the other side of the field. It's not the zero first half completions/passing yards...but down seven, Tech doesn't need to pass much.

Halftime score still 14-7 Iowa. Kool & the Gang rock. Can Paul Johnson make enough halftime adjustments to turn the game around? Tech comes out and picks up a first down. They didn't run their patented quick pitch toss sweep the entire first half. Dwyer picks up 15. Nesbitt picks up the first down, and goes over 1000 yards. Another penalty.

I understand why Tech runs outside to the short side of the field (fewer defenders to block, for one), but they run out of room fast. I would've kicked the field goal as well. Scott Blair has been streaky, and in this game against a tough opponent, this miss can be a killer.

Stockton & Davis correctly point out how the Iowa line is dominating on both offense and defense. Iowa reels off large chunks of yards, but Tech holds on third down. The Iowa field goal puts the Hawkeyes up 17-7, late in the third quarter.

TOUCHDOWN! Tech trails 17-14 after a long drive, early in the 4th quarter. Good play calling.

Iowa answers, again driving into Tech territory. SACK! Tarrant fields the punt on the three, and slips on the ten. Davis correctly calls him out, for not letting the punt hit and bounce into the end zone. With less than ten minutes left, Tech won't have many more chances. Can they drive 90 yards?

No factor as a passer, says Stockton. Davis is correct, that all Nesbitt has to do is hit a couple of big plays. But the interception and roughing the passer penalty are nails in the coffin. Also the poor tackling, not just on this Iowa "drive", but the whole game. DBs duck their heads, allowing RBs to make a move past them.

Tech foils the fake field goal, so the INT yields no damage. Is the Iowa kicker hurt? Paul Johnson teams win...but usually they are ugly wins. As Tech fans, we can take this. Speaking of ugly, Dwyer loses eleven, and almost causes a safety. Dwyer is great, but runs standing up. Unfortunately for us Tech fans, it's in his best interest to head on to the NFL.

Dropped pass, and another so-so punt with a great roll. Can the defense hold Iowa one more time? Iowa first down. Clock ticks...under three minutes. Time out, Tech. Long run...another nail in the coffin. 2:03 left...basically Tech's only chance is to hold right now.

Down three to a strong team, you've got to be proud of the Jackets. As I type, Wegher breaks away for the game-clinching touchdown. 24-17.

Wait til next year? Tech needs a much stronger defense to be able to compete on the national stage. Can the offense be as potent without Dwyer and WR Thomas? Paul Johnson's offense will really be hard to stop when they get a QB who can pass. Nesbitt is a warrior who should take his place amount the all-time Tech greats, but a passer he ain't.

Game ends at 11:39 pm...much too late. Will has been outside shooting baskets for the last 30 minutes, in 25 degree weather...in his new white cords. I love the Yellow Jackets, how 'bout you?

New Years Eve

One New Year’s party was cancelled, so we went straight to other, in south Cherokee…at the home of Will’s friend/classmate/co-Sunday School teacher Kevin. I was apprehensive, not knowing who would be there…plus, we were missing out on a third party, where we picked Will up last year. That one had been fun, and packed with good people.

I drove slow, so we’d arrive as fashionably late as possible. Still, we were basically the first to arrive. Turned out to be small but fun. One family came, then left around 9:30. I knew them, and that was enough time to catch up with them. I didn’t know Kevin’s parents that well, but turned out his dad graduated from Tech the same year as me. Sandy, Will’s English teacher, was there…she’s always lots of fun. Several other teens were there, including Kara, Lucy, and Caleb. The only other family there were the Hurts, so David and I had the entire evening to chat. No hugs or kisses at midnight.

Watched football Friday, especially the Sugar Bowl. W & A went ice skating. Didn’t do much else, besides laundry and writing the skit, which is becoming the fiasco I knew it could be.

Went to Macon Saturday. Left my parents at 6:15 coming back, but we stopped at Wal-Mart. Traffic was heavy but not brutal, but an interstate sign warned of heavier traffic ahead. I got off at exit 198 and headed to Jackson, & took 23 to Stockbridge and 675. A pleasant speed limit drive, but Matthew missed the McDonough Moes. Didn’t find a Moes until we got back to East Cobb.

Think Favors will still turn pro? He probably needs to stay at least another year, but he probably has his mind made up that he’s leaving. They’d rather get paid to sit on a bench than actually learn how to play basketball. You’d think they’d have a longer career (& make more money) if they learned to play. Sure, they might get hurt. The bad thing is that most spend all their money as they earn it. Friday’s Duke game could be ugly.

All this cold weather is driving me crazy…and it’s just starting. Hope it doesn’t snow! I’m getting a slow start on exercising, due to the cold, carpools, and skitwriting.

Leach and Craig James…it was probably bound to happen.

Drove by a Lifetime Fitness at 6 pm January 4th, and that huge parking lot was full. Picked up Will at BP…they have some tall, lean boys on the team, so perhaps they’ll be ok.

Orange Bowl: Iowa was undefeated with Stanzi the QB, in a tough conference. With GT’s weak defense, the offense and special teams will have to play another near-perfect game to win. CPJ usually passes on the first play of the game. I wish he’s call a running play.

FIRE!

Last night Ceil took Anna to a friends, then hit Trader Joes while I watched the game. Will was cooking chicken wings. He usually cooks them outside on the grille, but we were out of gas. He had them crackling in the frying pan, then put them on the rack in the oven…without a pan underneath. He didn’t have the fan on, and smoke filled the house. He opened the oven to see flames coming up from the bottom. We had to open the outside doors, so we were freezing.

I have experience with children being spoiled by grandparents. Ceil’s parents do so much, and love it. Saturday it was nice that her dad took Will up to play golf. He’s starting to see how much help Will is, when he’s there.

Will’s teacher liked the skit I submitted, which is a relief. I still have a lot to do, but her encouragement will help me keep going. Thirty minutes for four nights is a big chunk, and I knew it would challenge me going in. Hopefully I can involve some of the guys, especially developing a big opening song. Bryan Coley was surprised I was writing it, when I told him.

It would do me good to write down ten goals, which I’ll try to do. After digressing for a few years, I had a better 2009 than 2008, but I need to have a better 2010. Sunday at ECPC we saw the two young couples in our marriage group, as well as the newlyweds who dropped out. Saw the leader’s wife, but leader Jeff stayed home.

DeRosa signs with SF…big deal?

UGA had it easy last night. Can’t believe that A&M QB set a record for passes without an INT. He had a great arm, but his mechanics were terrible. I think UGA would’ve still won had the A&M special teams not been so bad. UGA would’ve had the ball more, and would’ve had more drives for TD’s & FG’s.

TB shouldn’t be favored this Sunday. Maybe they’re figuring RB Turner’s injury, QB Ryan’s foot, and both kicker’s injuries. Hopefully TB will look at the line, and still be fat and happy from beating NO last week…and the Falcons can get their elusive 9th win. Fun watching that big lineman kick off last week.

Plenty of loose ends to tie up here at work, but the pace isn’t bad.

One Too Few Stops

Last Wednesday I took off work. Ceil went on one last shopping trip, & we left for SC shortly after six. Will thought he was going to drive, so he took a large glass of iced tea and a travel mug of coffee. C nixed his driving, so W had to stop in Covington to go to the bathroom around 7:30. Around eleven, as we neared our destination, A and M discovered that W had peed in his taco bell cup. Great decision…it wasn’t like we couldn’t have stopped again.

Thursday I took M on a drive, north to Charlotte. Traffic was worse headed south, and we never found a store to stop at. He wasn’t hungry, so we didn’t eat. He was asking deep questions, I’m now forgetting about what. Once we were talking about college and majors and studying, then about the different bills you have to pay as an adult. Never had such conversations with A and W, really. Since he was getting a guitar for Christmas, we stopped at Guitar Center…something I don’t know much about.

Poured rain on Christmas Day, canceling the football game (many played on Thursday, while I was gone). Learned one of Ceil’s cousins is a high school umpire…something I never knew. Saturday Will played nine holes with Ceil’s brother, since W’s cousin played with his friends. Anna went shopping in Florence with her three cousins…one of whom got THREE pair of different colored Chuck Taylors to go with the ones she had. We left around four & got home about 10:15, after stopping in Augusta to eat.

Sunday we went to East Cobb Presbyterian, where we know lots of people. Afterwards Ceil went to Decatur, and I took M and A to eat at Barberitos…I wasn’t crazy about the chips or salsa, which were plain. The burrito was OK, but not better than Moes or Willies.

Spent a decent chunk of my time writing the expedition skit…I’m up to twelve pages so far. This morning I submitted it to Will’s teacher for approval. We’ll see what she thinks.

Yesterday M asked what Fantasy Football was. We talked about it for a long while, and we may play some fantasy basketball. I created a league at ESPN.com and sent out invitations, but got the email address wrong.

Anna heard “Cloudy With A Chance for Meatballs” was good, so perhaps we’ll go see that before we see “Where the Wild Things Are.”

The Vasquez Trade

Though DOB repeatedly reminded everyone we’d get little for Lowe or Vasquez, the Braves needed to move them to free up salary to sign a hitter. Fans think it’s a bad trade, forgetting Vasquez had a career year, and is now in his walk year. The minor league righty could become the next Smoltz, but the blog posters are only thinking about Melky.

The infielder they signed didn’t cause a stir, but I hope he can field, cause his batting stats didn’t look good at all.

During the first Nativity scene Alyssa was supposed to be in the back with the other shepherds, but she found herself out of place, so she sat out the scene instead of walking in front of Mary & Joseph. Then in the second Nativity she was holding baby Jesus. When does a shepherd hold the baby?

Moes>Willies>Barberitos>Willies

Nuevo Laredo Cantina>Jaliscos>El Porton>Tijuana Joes

Another Busy Weekend

After staying out past two last Thursday, Ceil stayed out til 11:30 Friday night. She needed to swing by some other night-owls on the way home from the Living Science party, which was fun but long. David Hurt, Willis Norman, and I were in the back making Will and Margaret Hurt smile during the nativity scene / song.

Saturday Ceil and I went over to the Coleys to pick up bookcases for Anna’s room. It was the first time I’d seen Bryan in over a year. He’s doing good, except things are real slow financially. Says he reads the blog. Houston and Haviland were funny, singing and drawing. Still not used to Susan’s hair being so long. That night we went with Matthew’s class to the homeless church. Quite a contrast to NP, though some performances were even more heartfelt.

Sunday I got a good chunk of the skit written. There are still plenty of details and dialog to fill in, but at least now the ideas are really starting to flow. I sent to send a draft to Mrs. D. Will apparently had a “date” with a classmate Ceil says has been interested in him. After church he went to eat with her family, then they went to a movie.

Last night I thought I could work on the skit, but some an ex-neighbor said she was coming over. She dropped off the kids, but spent the evening across the street. We spent two hours cleaning, then she never came in.

Stayed up for the news, as Channel 11 ran the story of Margaret Hurt getting her Make-A-Wish horse. Mary was interviewed, and there were shots of Matthew and me in the background, and the Living Science choir singing at a nursing home.

Tomorrow I’m taking a vacation day. We’ll go to SC late Wednesday or early Thursday, and it sounds like we’re coming back late Saturday.

At least Wren got a starter and a pitching prospect for Vasquez. We knew getting anything for Lowe would be tough…guess the deal with the Angels never materialized.

Night Owl

Thursday night Ceil hung out with an old friend Susan, at third friend's house. Yesterday afternoon Ceil was tired, and I reminded her that nights out with Susan usually went late. I let Matthew stay up too late, but the four of us went to bed around eleven. I woke up and thought I was reading the clock wrong, and checked again. No, it was 1:30 am! I called Ceil, and they were wrapping up. She didn't walk in until 2:11 am.

Taking off this afternoon, to use up vacation. Not much good work news going into Christmas...

The Ogre told us how they're bringing in more people early next year to hopefully increase transactional business, including a new product line. Had my team member not quit one probably would've been laid off, and a second salesperson was also laid off last week. Today I found out me and my office-mate Brad would have to move to smaller, less-concealed spaces. We'll be closer to fellow team members, which is good...but in a higher traffic / high "chit-chat" area.

This means I'll be less productive, and co-workers will try and pawn more of their work off on me. I'll be bringing this up with the Ogre soon. As the work of the former employee was distributed, some employees were all too protective, saying they already had too much of a workload. Meanwhile it's clear to management that that's not exactly the case.

And I still am saddened by how the former employee did not get along with me at all. She would only speak to me if I asked her a question. She would give short answers in emails, but even quit answering me her last couple of days. Hope she's happier at her new job. I don't need one hand the count the relationships like that my entire life, though I am not as nice a guy as I used to be.

Though I doubt we'll get a bonus, the Ogre says the company 401K match will be reinstated early next year.

Interesting to see what the Braves do with their most recent free agent signee, the ex-Dodger.

Will this be the year DRad removes the "auto-extend" portion of Hewitt's contract?

Hanging at the Property

Subbed for Ceil all day yesterday answering phones and helping out at Living Science. Monday night C and A were up late working on a science project, so I got to see the class presentations. The kids have to dress up.

One American History class had to dress up in Civil War attire…including Marshal, Christine, Caleb, and Pierce. Marshal looks much broader and taller than he did in October. His mom Allison confirmed that he was eating like a horse. She ought to know…she’s a horse-doctor!

Will wore a tie for Monday night caroling and the Tuesday presentations (he and Kara help out in Anna’s class). Friday night Will plays Joseph in the Nativity scene for the second time in three years. He missed last year because of basketball. Will is in the running with two other boys to replace Kyle as a two-week Expedition Leader, so I’ve been telling him he needs to be clean-shaven every day he goes up to school. But if he’s playing Joseph, perhaps he doesn’t need to shave.

Had a long chat with Lucy’s mom, as well as Alyssa’s mom, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. D. Receptionist Shirley has been keeping up with me on Facebook, which is nice. Like Mrs. Kellar, she is a big football fan. DJ said it was “bring your favorite chaperone” day.

“Help” in the kitchen…Ceil is way more patient with stuff like that than me. When they were younger I was good at letting the kids help washing the car or raking leaves, or laundry.

We finally got our tree finished, but the boxes need to at least be put upstairs.

Pretty good memory, to remember Velma’s Diner from 2002. Now I’m remembering how the Elvis impersonators played the Wise Men…we three kings. Andy made a big deal about being on time next week. I wonder if the last installment of Velma’s Diner will be live on stage. In 2002 that last week was such a huge production.

Barbarinos Southwest Grille opened catty-cornered across from the Chipotle in Roswell…in the shopping center across from Dreamland on Alpharetta Highway and the Counter on Mansell. Some guys at work liked the Barbarinos out in Athens, so hopefully I can get Ceil to try it out soon.

Drivin & Cryin

Anna has ballet eleven straight days, and 17 of 18 days. Friday night all the dancers did not make it on stage before the song & dance started…something that had not been rehearsed beforehand. The children in the previous scene thought it was more important they get offstage first, and they filed off two and three wide (instead of single-file) so the dancers could come on stage at the same time. No adult intervened until after the Friday show, but they never got it exactly right. Afterward Anna and especially her dramatic friend Molly were “livid” so I tried to downplay the event. One of the things they were embarrassed about was that an older teen they knew was watching from the front row.

Friday I drove to work, then to Lawrenceville and back at lunch. Drove home & ate at Willys, then picked up Anna & Molly at Eastside Baptist. Got on 75 at the South Loop & took 285 to PIB, up past the Forum. Dropped them off at a sleepover, then drove home.

Rented the Star Trek movie…Ceil and I both enjoyed it.

Saturday I picked up Anna at eleven & returned home. That afternoon Ceil & I drove separately up 400 to McFarland for Margaret Hurt’s Make-A-Wish surprise party. Margaret was presented with her own horse. Many Living Science students and parents were there, as well as Comcast UGA announcer Matt Stewart…he vaguely remembered meeting me from over a year ago. Jerry Carnes from channel 11 was there, as was a reporter from somewhere. Traffic on Mansell going was terrible, but not bad on the way back.

Took Anna back to Eastside. Police had the road blocked, so she walked the last quarter-mile in a drizzle. Ceil was shopping and Will at a basketball game, so I took Matthew to Moes, then home. Drove BACK & picked up Anna & took her to Willys.

Sunday was just as busy. We’re enjoying the Diner videos. Now that I think about it, they acted out this same script several years ago. Makes sense to make a video now, with all the campuses and services. After the 11 am service, the two funny guys who make videos (like the “turn off your cell phone” video) recruited Will to be in a video about offering etiquette.

During the second service I ate at CiCis and looked at Old Navy, then returned to NP to pick up the boys…Ceil had a lunch in Dunwoody.

At home I got cranking on laundry, then drove way over to Johns Creek, several miles east of Ptree Parkway on Medlock Bridge, to pick up Anna from a SS party. On the way back I found Will’s present at the Forum Old Navy. Last night Ceil had to grocery shop, so she took Anna while I kept laundering.

Tomorrow I’m taking off and hanging out at Living Science all day.

“Pushing buttons” was the main topic of last week’s marriage group.

Luckily there was no crying in this post.

Friday

Busy weekend. I’ll try to take off this afternoon, but haven’t been given the OK yet.

Anna performs tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday in the Eastside Baptist Christmas pageant, which is eight miles west of our house. After tonight’s performance I have to take her 21 miles to Peachtree Corners for a sleepover party, then tomorrow do the same thing in reverse.

After Sunday morning’s performance we have to go over to North Point, as Anna has a Sunday School Christmas party.

Met a guy whose grandfather was coaching third for the Pirates when Maz hit his Series-winning home run…and an uncle quarterbacked the Bengals early on.

Much FanFare

Friday night I took Matthew down to the SEC FanFare. It was almost 7:45 when we got there, and we only stayed just past nine. Had a good time, filmed a video. Matthew threw a baseball 37 MPH, and I could only register a 42. He won a ChickFilA calendar, but he most prized a PEZ dispenser he won. Walked thru CNN and the park (tons of ice-skaters), then over to MARTA.

Saturday: Nice ACC win by Tech. I knew they had to play perfect on offense and special teams to win, and that’s what happened…no punts or turnovers. Tech scored every time they had the ball, except the one time they were stopped on 4th down. The two Clemson interceptions were the difference in the game.

I love Tebow, but the tears were a bit much. Not surprised that Spiller was not in the top five.

Strained a muscle in my back Sunday afternoon, lifting the Christmas tree box. Was pretty bad Monday, a little better today. Maybe I can exercise next week.

Our 23 year old furnace died Monday night, so we’re getting a new one put in today. My Christmas present.

Took off Tuesday afternoon to play chauffeur, taking Will to a meeting and get fitted for baseball, then Anna to ballet. Then took Will went to the big Flight Crown rivalry basketball game. Leading the varsity, DJ, Conner, and Danielle all played well. Spent lunchtime writing a recap.

Got to discuss the writing of the skit with Mrs. Switzer, the previous skit-writer, and a couple of seniors. Was invited to the senior leader’s retreat in late February, where the skit will be rehearsed. Don’t know if I can go, due to money and work, etc.

At the game I sat next to Becky Norman. Catherine is coming home from her Memphis teaching job for Christmas. In a meeting to discuss several teachers quitting, the principal commented that no one else could quit. Catherine thought to herself “We’ll see about that!”.

Lots of news…Soriano stays. Will be interesting to see when/if they trade him. Nice to have some bullpen insurance in case someone is hurt, or ineffective early. They’ll probably get as much production for less money by releasing Church. Sure would be nice to trade Lowe, though DOB warns we shouldn’t expect much in return…for him or Soriano, since we’re trying to dump their salary, which will free up money for OF & 1B. In the end, it makes the Francoeur trade for Soriano, which looks pretty good.

That Tiger strayed didn’t knock me over surprise-wise, but everything that’s coming out now does. Heard a radio caller say that his father often cheated.