League City 49ers Football

Today the LC 49ers played the Manvel Ravens. We (the junior team) won 34-0! Cory scored 8 points, first he scored 2 on a 2 point conversion after a touchdown, then he scored 6 of his own, catching a pass and running it in for a touchdown! Yea Cory!

Next week we face the team that eliminated us from the playoffs last year, and I'll miss it because Lauren and I will be at Walt Disney World for our 'mommy and me' trip I planned for us months ago. I know we'll have a blast, but I don't know how I'll stand missing Cory play football!

First Day of School - Monday, August 25

Well, the first day of school was Monday. Lauren is an 8th grader and Cory is a 6th grader. Their school has a dress code, so that's why the kids are wearing khaki's and polo shirts... The school acts like the dress code makes things equal, like all the kids will be wearing the same thing and like it should be so easy to buy school clothes. It actually takes all the fun out of school clothes shopping. And, check Lauren out, the girls do whatever they can to accessorize (cami, jewrely, etc.). And, you can't tell from the picture, but they aren't wearing polos from Walmart, no, they're wearing Abercrombie polos. So much for easy and cheap - yeah right!

Cory had a great first day, Lauren wasn't so thrilled. Her best friends aren't in a lot of her classes, but she had a better day Tuesday. I can't get over the forms to complete, the course fees, the gym uniforms, Cory has a field trip permission slip already due this Friday, and they are starting a big fundraiser Friday - the first week of school! It's a little overwhelming!

First Football Game of the Year

Today the League City 49ers played the Santa Fe Braves at LC. Cory plays for the junior team, and we won! Cory had a really good game. He plays wide receiver and middle linebacker. He caught a pass at the beginning of the game and ran it about 15 yards, getting tackled on the one yard line! So close! We scored on that drive, and scored again. The final score of our game was 14-6. Cory has played wide receiver for a couple years, and let's just say other teams know him... You can hear the coaches on the other sideline screaming 'watch 18!, cover 18!' ha ha. It's good to hear, but as a result he's generally covered so well he doesn't get the ball as much as he'd like. He was awesome today on defense and had one very incredible block on offense that helped our tight end get our second touchdown. One funny thing happened, Cory has like 4 pair of cleats. Each year we get him two pair, so he has two from this year and two from last year. Last years are a little small, but he can wear them. The cleats he likes the best were wet today because he'd worn them to practice in the rain the other night. So today when he left he got a really old pair of Nike cleats. George asked him why he was wearing those? He said "they're comfy". George was like whatever, they aren't in very good shape. So, first quarter, I hear Cory yelling to the sideline, "Dad! Dad!" and George doesn't hear him. So I see him hobble over to mid-field and show a teammate his shoe - it was coming apart! So then I yell for George and point this out to him. I told him I'd run home and get another pair of cleats. So I came home as fast as I could and got the wet cleats (stinky!) and a pair of under armour cleats that I think are a too small pair and took them back to the game. I guess after I'd left a kid who lives down the street who plays on the senior team had let Cory wear his cleats! So at half-time I got those cleats off Cory and tracked them down to their owner. It was a mess! I learned a lesson, though, to always keep an extra pair of cleats in the car!

Football scrimmage

Tonight Cory had his football scrimmage. It was scheduled for last Saturday but got rained out (thunder and lightening) so we played tonight it the rain, instead. We scrimmaged a team that we always match well with. No score was kept officially, but it was 14-14. Cory scored one of our touchdowns (yea Cory!). Makes me excited for the real season to begin, starts this Saturday.

Big weekend - Kenny Chesney and Lauren's Birthday

Happy birthday, Lauren!

Let me start by saying I am completely exhausted. Good thing I had a B12 shot a couple weeks ago or I don't think I'd be able to make it.

August is without a doubt my busiest work month and on top of the regular business of the season I had someone quit and I have someone else out on extended sick leave, so work is wild for me. Last Thursday I worked from 8 am - 10 pm, in my office, then came home and worked from about 11:30pm - 1 am. My office closes at noon on Friday and believe me I was outa there last Friday at noon.

Friday afternoon we went out for lunch, because we had NO food in the house. Then, we did some shopping for Lauren's birthday. This was tax-free weekend in Texas, an annual event where back-to-school clothes and supplies are not taxed. This makes the stores very crowded, and it's hardly worth it, IMO.

Saturday was all about Kenny Chesney for me. Lori and I went to the concert and we left around 1:30. We went out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and had a good lunch, and a good margarita. Then, we headed over to Reliant Stadium and 'tailgated' for a bit. We went in around 4 and Luke Bryan was already playing. Next, Gary Allan, Leann Rimes, and Keith Urban played. They were all good, but the real show started to me when Kenny Chesney came out. I love him. I think I've been to like 9 or 10 Kenny concerts. There's just about no place else I'd rather be, seriously! Kenny played til 11pm so by the time we got back to the car and got through the traffic and got home it was 12:30 am. I was so tired!

The next day we did not make it to mass, we were all about the birthday party. We cleaned up the house and I wrapped Lauren's presents. At 1 pm the guests arrived and the party began. Lauren wanted to do presents first, and I thought what the heck, it's her birthday. After that Lauren wanted to go to Cici's. I hate Cici's, but again, what the heck. Then, we went to the skating rink, then to Dairy Queen. It was a full day. We got back home around 5:30 and the girls parents got them around 6. Then, we went to WalMart to get some things the kids still needed for school, like socks, school supplies, just dumb stuff (so I guess I fell for the tax free weekend after all). Then, I had to go grocery shopping. I got out of Kroger at 10:15 Sunday night. Then of course by the time I unloaded that mess and got everything put away it was late by the time I got to bed.

Today, August 18 is Lauren's actual birthday. I got home from work and made chicken alfredo, one of her favorites (I'll have to post the recipe - yummy) and I got an ice cream cake on my way home from Baskin Robbins.

Mom called a little bit ago and we were talking about 13 years ago tonight. Lauren was born in Kalamazoo, MI at 3:27 pm, and was so sick. I remember after I delivered her the dr. showed her to me quickly and said 'kiss her bye for now" and I did and they literally whisked her away. She was barely alive. The next time I saw her, a few hours later I could not believe the tubes and wires in that four pound baby. She was on a respirator and was hooked up to all kinds of wires. When I first saw her like that I was overcome with nausea. Thank God for the NICU nurses, they explained everything to me again and again and were just so nice. They are really special people to do that work. Back then I was so young and stupid I guess, that I thought preemies were just small. I had no concept of the health issues she'd face. We learned the next day that she had a hole in her heart and a pediatric cardiologist was paged to see her. She had to undergo a treatment to correct that, and fortunately it worked or she'd have had to have open heart surgery. When she was a few days old they removed the respirator and she did not breathe on her own. George and I had gone to eat lunch and when we got back she was blue and they were working on her. They got the tube back down her neck and hooked her up to the respirator and she 'pinked' back up. It was crazy. Her body fit in the palm of my hand, she was so delicate. She was born without a reflex to suck so feeding was a problem and she had a feeding tube until she came home, where it remained a challenge. She was jaundiced, too. We got so used to seeing our miniature baby that when we'd see a full-term newborn we thought they were gigantic! Lauren spent about a month in the hospital after she was born, and to see my beautiful teenage daughter you'd never know what a rough start she had.

Back to work tomorrow, it will be another busy day. Then, tomorrow night Cory has a football scrimmage. I don't see an end in site! But, I wouldn't have it any other way, either. I have been telling myself to take it all in, Lauren turning 13 has been a wake up call to me about how fast time flies...

Literati!

Years ago I started playing literati on yahoo games (like scrabble) and had a lot of fun with it, then lost interest. The other day it crossed my mind to play and I got Emily to play online with me. We've played online a few times this weekend and it's pretty fun! Doesn't take much to entertain me!

Otherwise having a pretty nice weekend. August is a hard work month for me, we're so busy getting ready for fall semester and my workload is crazy. So weekends are even better during August. It's a wild month because of work, Lauren's birthday, back to school, beginning of football... We go from pretty relaxed to pretty busy instantly. But it's all good.

George and Cory went to the Texans pre-season game tonight. I didn't care to go because I'm heading up next Saturday night for the Kenny Chesney concert. That's super exciting and I can't wait! Caught the game on tv though, and the Texans won - yay!

Much Ado about Nothing...

Well, TS Edouard has come and gone, and fortunately was no biggie. When we woke up this morning around 7 am, he had made landfall north / northeast of here, though we were still in his path. We had rain and wind, but nothing to be to concerned with. We stayed home all day, and everything was fine. We didn't lose power (that was my concern with the temperatures) and had a relaxing day at home - thanks Edouard!

Football

So I just posted about something I don't like - tropical storms / hurricanes, so I thought I'd balance by adding a post about something I do like - FOOTBALL!

First, I should say that we are serious football fanatics each fall. Cory plays football for the League City 49ers, we follow college football until I'd consider it an addiction (GO BUCKS) and since we moved to Houston the Texan's first year in the NFL we've fallen in love with them, too!

Cory's football team started practice Saturday. Tonight's practice was canceled due to the tropical storm and he was so disappointed. He plays wide receiver and had a really good year last year. Overall the team went 7-3. This year he's moved up a level, and I really hope he can still excel, time will tell. Last year, his highlight was scoring a game winning touchdown during the 3rd overtime of a playoff game! Another mom had video taped the game and sent us the clip, which is now online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omriAM-yMdI George coached his team last year, and is the first coach you see in the video "congratulating" him. Cory loves the game so much, and it's such a joy to watch him play. He's a very 'coachable' kid and he really gives it his all. We're so proud of him and really hope he has another great season.

Then, as I alluded to earlier, we're crazy about the Buckeyes. You know, Buckeye born, buckeye bred, when we die, we'll be buckeye dead... When we were considering our move to Texas one of the considerations, seriously, was whether or not we could still watch the Buckeyes every Saturday. Thanks to Dish Network and the Game Plan we have been successful! I even dream about the Buckeyes sometimes. Last night I dreamed they were playing Muskingum College (me and George's alma mater) and I actually dreamed I was an Ohio State linebacker once! With Cory playing on Saturday, we sometimes have to DVR the games. It's a good Saturday when we watch Cory and he wins, we go pick up WingStop and Bud Light, and come home to watch the Buckeyes and they win. I'm just crazy about them! Can't wait for the season to start.

Then, we have the Texans. Last year they finally went 8-8 and that was their best season yet! But we love them! We have season tickets and have a fun group we tailgate with on Sundays before the games. It's a blast! The first pre-season game is this weekend, Aug. 9. Not sure who's going (we have 2 tickets so it's usually George / Cory or George / me, and once in a great while me / Cory.) It's really a great weekend when Cory's team wins, the Buckeyes win, and the Texans win! I just keep hoping the Texans make a run for the playoffs - our year has to be coming! We'll keep cheering them on either way! Their games are soooooo fun! Love the environment at Reliant!

The last bit of football talk is George's coaching. As I said, last year he coached Cory's team and plans to this year. But today, he had a workshop over at school, and while he was there, the head coach came to him and asked him to coach high school ball. In Texas, high school football is huge (e.g. Friday Night Lights - oh, I love that show!). He is definitely interested in the coaching job but his teaching schedule would have to be re-arranged and he's not sure the administration will be willing to make those changes at this date. So, time will tell, but I really hope it works out for him!

That's it for tonight, going to 'hunker down' from Edouard now... Hopefully I can have more Ohio State dreams tonight!

Tropical Storm Edouard

Here's what I don't like - hurricanes / tropical storms. We're batten down the hatches in preparation of Edouard's landfall. The storm is headed right for us. Still, its only a tropical storm, and they're saying the worst case scenario is a category 1 hurricane. So it shouldn't cause too much trouble...

My work closed at 3 pm today and is closed tomorrow, of course. I hate to overreact but we did do some hurricane prep - filled the car with gas, bought some non-perishables at the store, got batteries for the boom box, etc. I am not really scared right now about storm damage, but we could certainly loose electricity which with the temperatures this time of year would be miserable. In anticipation, we got 4 bags of ice and some Bud Light! So at least we'll have cold beer! LOL!

We're getting ready to carry the patio furniture and grill into the garage, once the wind gets blowing that stuff could fly into our windows.

None of this is any fun, but as of now, I still wouldn't trade coastal living for the occasional tropical storm! Of course my opinion could change within the next few hours! Galveston looks so nice on T.V. tonight. We've lived here for six years now and so far we haven't seen anything to be too worried about. Of course, we could be in the path of the 'big one' and that could change everything one day... Hurricanes are serious business.

Enough rambling about Edouard for now. Hopefully, I'll have electricity and internet and can post about it tomorrow night!