now that i think of it, i'm not all that fond of the gold top in more than three of its nine combos — all gold, blue helmet/blue pants and white helmet/white pants.
notice how the helmets match the pants. the proof could be in the actual wearing, though. i know i like the all gold; not sure i've seen the other two. would like to see it just to be sure.
of course, if we should beat the wildcats for the first time since 1931 (and the first time in big 12 play), i'll insist we wear it every year we play them at home.
my boy got his first snub this weekend when he didn't get invited to a classmate's birthday party.
he doesn't know this yet, as it happened saturday. he might hear about it monday at school; i hope he doesn't. and if he does, i hope and pray he takes it ok.
it was bound to happen some time. and as much as i'd like to, i know i'll never be able to protect him from life's little social stings. i hope it doesn't hurt too badly.
it's a part of growing up, like crushes and heartbreaks. but this will be his first ding and, if he feels it, then my little boy won't be as much a little boy anymore.
came home to this, which couldn't be bothered to stop lolling on the back of the couch.
grown-up work.
then we got a headstart on halloween with some pumpkin carving. i suspect these guys will be looking kind of rough come the 31st of october.
(mommy didn't want her picture taken. or at least not on the facebooks.)
the kids seemed to have fun, even though they seemed to have different feelings about sticking their hands into the guts of their respective gourds.
exhibit a:
eww. guts.
exhibit b, on the other hand ...
eww. guts.
definitely at that gross-out age.
meantime, visited neighbor, whose tree crashed into her shed this week. i'd call it miraculous it didn't hit either her house or the house next door.
rotted.
as much as i love these things, wow, that's some scary stuff.
thick.
tons of living thing right there.
daredevil and cat.
returned from visit to this display. not bad, mommy.
all in all, a nice intro to fall. can't recall if i've ever been more glad to get out of summer than i have this year. very much looking forward to entering a boring season of dormancy. please, Lord, and thank you.
pepperoni, green pepper, black olive, by pizza al's.
dinner was two-thirds of a pepperoni, green pepper and black olive pizza from pizza al's, a yuengling light, a bowl of potato chips, and three scoops of lactose-free chocolate ice cream with maple quinoa chia seed granola sprinkled on top. sounds like the last meal of a death row inmate instead of a dude interviewing for a writing job. hope i packed enough antacid. God be with us.
long week. got to spend it writing — just writing — one, count 'em, one story. there were no managerial fires to put out. no design conundrums to untangle. no computer system snafus to solve. just one thing. it was weird.
(ok, i lie. i had to write a letter of appreciation for our on-site nurse, who was shipping out. that was about an hour.)
otherwise, it was a bunch of interviews, chasing down sources and hammering out a narrative. it felt all right.
finally got the in-person job interview lined up, which was a huge source of relief to me and kris, so we're hoping and praying this is the last hurdle in this event of our faith olympics. (i promise i'll be much less cryptic about the past couple of months on the employment front.)
so how did i reward myself? a post-dinner nap, a double feature movie night — iron man and the hunt for red october — annnd ... finishing off not only a container of chocolate ice cream slathered with peanut butter, but the remains of a bag of kettle chips and half a red stripe beer.
i slept pretty well. i'll call it an oddly rewarding end to a pretty good week. i think that deserves an amen. amen! thank you, Lord.
not being in a newsroom anymore leaves me more reactive to events, current and otherwise. i'm not having to keep my ear to the ground for a good story.
so while i knew sept. 11 was coming up, i was long past counting back the years or dwelling on where i was the day the terrorists struck.
fifteen is one of those multipliers of five that folks look for past a first anniversary for commemorations and reflections of memorable dates; it was no different at the paper.
still, while i was surprised at how much time had passed and looked back at how the world had changed, i pretty much sidestepped any special coverage related to the attacks.
these days, my 9/11 thoughts almost always bypass new york city and go to flight 93, the one that crashed in pennsylvania.
i get misty-eyed and choked up thinking about the doomed courage of the passengers who took it upon themselves to end the threat they knew was being delivered.
these thoughts came to mind at mass today, where the recessional hymn was "america the beautiful."
through two verses, "for spacious skies" and "for pilgrim feet," i sang, resolute and earnest. when "for heroes proved" in verse three came along, i had to stop because i began quietly sobbing.
all i could think of were the final words from the flight — "let's roll" — before the presumed attack on the attackers and i was moved, as i always am, at their selflessness and bravery.
this is my last, lingering feeling from the events of that morning, a narrative i wouldn't learn about until long after the towers fell.
without diminishing my regard for the first responders in new york or the workers in d.c., i remain in awe of this group because they knew what was happening and that there was probably only one way this was going to end.
(i happened upon this song via social media tonight. i don't think i was aware that it even existed. i'd planned to write about my experience today anyway; the post may have convinced me to make sure i did.)
