Stories from the Past

Have you ever gone right up to a telephone pole and looked at it closely? You know how there's a little circular metal thingy on them? It's about an inch across?

Well the next time you're passing a telephone pole, go look. They certainly were there on the telephone poles around where I grew up.

And when I was a young impressionable child, my big brother told me that if I ever touched that little metal thingy, I would be electrocuted and DIE.

I think I was in college before I finally screwed up the courage to close my eyes and touch one of the things. And while I did survive, to this day those things scare the bejeesus out of me.

Home Improvement, Part I

So we've been talking about it for a while, but the other day I came home to this scene in my living room:

Yep, the wife stripped the ugly 1960s wallpaper off the wall, which means its time to do some interior decorating. I should say I've lived with this wallpaper for the past ten years, so clearly nothing was going to happen until I was forced to make a change. Force happens.

My real worry was the spot by the front door, where we had water damage from a past history of ice dams. Clearly we are not the only ones to fight this, since when Brenna pulled down the wallpaper there was plenty of evidence for past wall repairs:


So we did massive prep work. Tried to smooth out that wall damage, and repaired other areas (both ceiling and wall) which had issues. At this point, those repairs are done, and we've primed the walls and repainted the ceiling. As we get the rest of the living room painted, I'll post pictures, and then we move on to the dining room. Stay tuned.

Of course, the member of the household made happiest by the renovation is Healy, who suddenly had a means to lord over the rest of us:

This is my ladder. You are my lowly subjects. These aren't the droids you're looking for.


What a cat. OK, updates as we get things finished....

Weekend Schedule

Here's my weekend:

Thursday night: lay on couch, watch Titans @ Steelers
Friday morning: teach class (gotta earn my salary somehow)
Friday afternoon: drive to Michigan
Friday night: attend high school football game
Saturday morning: tailgate @ Michigan Stadium
Saturday 3:30pm: attend Michigan - Notre Dame
Saturday night: lay on couch, watch USC @ Ohio State
Sunday morning: drive to Cleveland
Sunday 1pm: lay on couch, watch Vikings @ Browns
Sunday 4pm: lay on couch, watch Redskins @ Giants
Sunday 8pm: lay on couch, watch Bears @ Packers

God, I love football season!

Top 10 Football Moments

A few friends have been posting their top ten football moments, and in honor of the kickoff of football season, I thought I'd post mine. These will be top ten moments involving games I've actually been to in person, so not surprisingly most of them involve Michigan football.

Since the joy of the game is as much about who you are with and where you are, I've also included the people I was with and the stadium we were at.

So here we go (note that the ranking is only approximate. For example #1 and #2 are actually #1a and #1b):

1. 1983: Super Bowl XVII. John Riggins breaks away on fourth and one to score the game winning touchdown for the Redskins over the Miami Dolphins. (Dad; Rose Bowl)
   
2. 1997: #1 ranked Michigan beats #4 Ohio State 20-14 on their way to a perfect season. Charles Woodson's punt return for a touchdown happened right in front of me (as did Brian Griese's fumble, which was probably the longest 2 seconds in my life until he fell on the ball). (Mark; Michigan Stadium)
   
3. 2005: Michigan beats #8 Penn State 27-25 on a pass from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham as time expires. (Mark, Matt, Hans; Michigan Stadium)
   
4. 2003: #5 Michigan beats #4 OSU 35-21 in the 100th game of the rivalry. (Mark, Matt, Anne, Stacy, Rodney; Michigan Stadium)
5. early-mid 1970s: Redskins-Eagles. I don't remember exactly the game, but it was snowing and Roman Gabriel was QB'ing for the Eagles. I'm guessing it was the Dec 21, 1975 game which the Redskins lost 26-3. Anyway, it was my first live football game, and it obviously made a big impression. (Dad, RFK Stadium)
6. 2001: #11 Michigan beats Wisconsin 20-17 in a game where Michigan blocked two punts and also recovered a muffed punt in the final minutes which allowed them to kick the game winning FG with seconds left. (Mark, Rodney, Brenna, Abra [in utero]; Camp Randall Stadium)
7. 2000: #10 Michigan beats #19 Illinois 35-31 after staging a furious rally to score 21 points in the fourth quarter. (Mark, Walt, Brenna, Rodney; Memorial Stadium)
8. 2002: #15 Michigan beats Michigan State 49-3 as payback for the cheatenous win the Sparties stole the previous year in East Lansing. Michigan State coach Bobby Williams was fired the next day. aka "The Woodshed Game" (Mark, Matt, Stacy; Michigan Stadium)
9. 2003: #5 Michigan beats down #15 Notre Dame 38-0. ND QB Carlyle Holiday had a total of 1 yard passing at half time. (Mark, Matt; Michigan Stadium)
10. 2008: Redskins Art Monk and Darrell Green get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. (Dave, Mike, Mark; Fawcett Stadium)

School Starts!

Last week the girls both started school. Yay!

On Tuesday, Abra started second grade. The first day of school starts with a little ceremony for kids and families, so we all went. Here's Abra hanging out with her friends beforehand:


And then the school principal, Mr. Brown welcomed everyone to school. Here's Mr. Brown and his bullhorn:

(While some parents are not wild about Mr. Brown's authoritarian style, I have no problem with it, and particularly dig the bullhorn. I'm thinking I might get one for myself to use around the house.)

Anyway, the next day Thalia started kindergarten. Her teacher is Mrs. Murphy, who was also Abra's kindergarten teacher. Since Brenna often helped out at school with Abra's kindergarten events, and typically had Thalia in tow, Thalia and Mrs. Murphy had gotten to know each other pretty well, and so having her as a teacher I think really helped Thalia's transition to kindergarten. Here's Thalia getting her nametag from Mrs. Murphy:



And here's Thalia in class:


Then on Friday, after two years of waving goodbye to Lily and Abra at the bus stop, it was finally Thalia's first chance to ride the bus herself. She had no hesitation whatsoever, and just marched on board:


So there you go. Both kids are in school. And there was much rejoicing!