Trav's Weekend

We had a pretty quiet weekend here. It was so nice. The big deal was that Moe's had a promotion with all burritos all day, only 99 cents. Trav and I went for lunch and Trav took the girls for dinner. It was packed! Everyone was very thrilled about 99 cent burritos. That was the highlight. I moved my scrapbook stuff back upstairs. I embroidered a few t-shirts for a school football program. It was so wonderful to sleep in both mornings. October is shaping up to be a busy month, so this past weekend's respite was relished.

Since nothing big happened this week, I'll finish reporting last weekend. While Morgan and I were off to Tallahassee, Travis escorted Roz and Maddie to Orlando for a youth temple trip. Our youth program is pretty small at this point, but they had a really nice time. Travis enjoyed the moment with the girls.

The week before the game, Travis got an email from an old friend, Al Call. Al and a friend were planning a trip to Florida for the BYU game and got a hotel Saturday night in Jacksonville for the sole purpose of seeing Travis. My dear, sweet "10 o'clock Charlie" broke his mold and went out to meet up with Al at 10pm. He didn't get home until 2am but claimed it was well worth it. Trav hasn't seen Al in about 18 years or so. They were best friends growing up in Minnesota. I'm glad they had a chance to meet up and that Travis made that sacrifice!!

One of my most difficult students came by to see me on Friday. I had him when I first came in on my job mid-year and he was a senior. He made me earn my money, but he passed his state testing and graduated. He is now a Shoe Carnival manager (he worked there in high school) and I'm so proud of him. He sat there and told me about a bunch of other students making comments like, "_____ is finally getting it together and has a stable job." It was a sweet moment. And it all happened in front of my junior class and was a good lesson for them. Sometimes I get a really nice pat on the back for a job well done. In this case it was a couple of big hugs.

Rozzie goes to the dermatologist tomorrow to finally get something serious done about "Hank," her plantar wart that has grown out of control. She wants it gone, but is very nervous about the pain that might be involved!

Animal update: Florence knocked on the back door yesterday. She was out of water and nearly out of cat food. I feel so silly.

Battle Royal here in Florida

The Cougars of Brigham Young were in town yesterday for a showdown on the gridiron. Too bad it was more of a lie-d0wn. Morgan and I were there anyway to show our support for the team. There were a lot of people there in the blue and white. I had never been to Hallytassee, Tallyhoochie, Whatchamacallee, so I followed our friends (Brad and Donna) and we made it there safe and sound. We went to the BYU party and the girls were all over getting their picture with Cosmo. Morgan and Cosmo are pictured here with friends Chloe and Hannah. They were the oldest kids in line for pictures.

We ran into Linda and Patrick with their family and got along just fine, even though they are wearing the wrong colors!!

Comments are always made about the opposing team fans and the things they wear, etc, etc. I really try to reserve my judgements, but I'll confess this one. I saw the guy with the mohawk and assumed he was with FSU because of obvious reasons. Then I saw the shirt. He and his wife were there rooting for BYU. See what I mean? Never judge!! Lesson learned, again.

Morgan and I had such a fun day together. It was 95 degrees at kick off (3:30pm). Don't they know that this is Florida? Haven't they figured that out yet? But the heat didn't get us down. Heck, even the score didn't get us down. Morgan made the comment that she thinks she was the only person in the stadium who was applying to both of the schools right now. She is a BYU fan, though. All I can say is that we had such a great day together. The drive was about 3 hours and we got home at 10 pm. It was sure worth it. I won't have too many more opportunities to do this with her.

On our way out of the stadium, Brad noticed his former BYU coach, LaVell Edwards, exiting the stadium. They stopped and talked and asked me to take a picture. I felt that I could ask for a picture, too. I knew that this would make Travis' day!! Morgan asked me who he was and I explained that he was Brad's coach at BYU when Brad was on the team and they won a National championship (1984). I also told her that the BYU stadium is named after this man and he is one of the top 5 winningest coaches in the NCAA. Morgan said, "So he's kindof a big deal." Yes, Morgan, he is.

So why wasn't Trav at the game? You'll have to stay tuned for another blog post!

The Little Game!!

We are a magnet for the small game out in the wild. A duck has taken to our abode. We have named her Florence. She eats the cat food. She loves the water. She comes running all excitedly when we come out. She acts just like a "Florence" should act. We think Spunky had something to do with this.
Last week's game was HUGE!! This week's game was not. However, we were still there with rings on our fingers and bells on our toes and tubas on our shoulders. Here comes the band!

Rozzie danced and helped to increase school spirit.

This week was the annual performance of the Eaglets - the Golden Girls' summer camp! Maddie participated again this year. She likes doing it. Here she is with a friend from church!

Here are the two dancers ready to perform. My camera was on the wrong setting, so the pictures of the dance aren't very good. You are spared!!

I fixed the setting and got a few decent pictures of Morgan out on the field. I didn't label the photo, but she is the short sousaphone!

And with that, we are one month into school. I posted interim grades yesterday so that means that we are roughly half way through the first quarter of the school year. We were really busy this week and had a couple late nights. Everyone is adjusting to new schedules. I think I may spend today (Saturday) in bed, even though I have floors and a bathroom to clean. Oh, and there is laundry to do.

The Big Game: Fleming Island vs. Clay

Hooray, hooray, and "go team." There was a lot of hype and hysteria leading up to Friday night's game. I'll start out by throwing my pom-pons in the air because we won. It was glorious.

We were winning 14-0 for the first half and then all of a sudden there were 2 minutes left in the game and we were down 17-14. What happened? There was no way I thought our boys could do it. Rozzie reported that she was already thinking about skipping church because she had spoken brashly to the Clay kids and now she had to eat her words. But, lo and behold, our boys marched down the field and scored with 25 seconds left. One of my students caught the winning pass. The crowd went berserk and then Clay had two more plays before we intercepted and it was over. YAY!!

As far as rivalries go, Clay is a big one. Before there was Fleming Island High School, there was Orange Park and Clay. Now we sit right in the middle of the two and they are our sworn enemies of the Galactic something or other. Always big games. The stands were full, the track was full, people were everywhere! I had to sell tickets for the first half, so I was unable to work the crowd like I normally do!! After the first half, I was able to hang up my apron and go see the half-time show along with the rest of the game.

In preparation for the big night, we had a pep rally - also referred to by some as the "pepper alley." The band played the fight song and the cheerleaders cheered. The thing we were most excited for (in our family) was the Golden Girls dancing!! They did such a great job. Morgan said it was really fun to watch Rozzie do her thing out there. They really worked hard the past week to bring in on! I'll admit, I got a little choked up watching her out there. I get choked up when I watch the band when they bring out the big, gold flags. Now I'm just so gosh darn proud of Rozzie (and nervous for her). It brings back some really great memories. Here is one formation where you can see Rozzie, a little.

Our gym can only hold half the student body at a time, so they do two rallies. In bewteen the two, I caught Morgan with some of her band friends chillaxin on the bleachers. There were only a few, but when Morgan rolled her eyes at a mother with a camera, I announced that Morgan wanted all her friends in the picture, so everyone jumped in!! Children beware: I am a mother with a camera, and I will use it!! Morgan has had such a great time being involved with the band and they are some really fun kids!

Now it's game time and while I sold tickets, all the important people took to the field. "Swoop" and "Soar" are escorted on by Rozzie (to the right). We thougth this was kindof funny.

Now for half-time! The band played the first section of their show. I hope that next week we'll get to see the whole thing. Morgan said they have it down and they ahve 5 more hours of practice before the next game. I know, these pictures are COMPLETELY different looking from the ones last year, and the year before, and the year before that. Thank you for not complaining and being interested! (Yes, I figured a way to label my kids, although it isn't as creative and cute as Sara's technique. And, Sara, see all that black background? That is where the ticks are.)

There is a photographer who comes and takes a ton of pictures of the games, the crowd, the performers, etc. Then she posts the pictures of facebook and allows us to use them on the internet. She caught this one of the Golden Girls and it is a really cute shot of Rozzie on the right!!

And last, but not least, how about a nice kick!! Rozzie is on the back row as she is a lowly freshman. As she gets older, she will move in the ranks towards the front of the triangle.

And the most wonderful shot of the night: