Home Again

To sum up the weekend, there were some ups and downs!

Saturday, we woke up and went over to campus...some great sights, sounds and smells as all the dorms had either had decorations up for the game, music (the bagpipers) and most had some sort of food to sell. We then headed over to the Bond Hall for the "Concert on the Steps" by the Band of the Fighting Irish! We then walked over to the stadium to get our tickets. Pretty good tickets - Thanks Paul! We were on the 25 yard line near the tunnel. We got to see the players warm-up (after all it was about 30 degrees) and the band march in. As for the game - well, that was heart breaking. It's pretty bad when you have the ball in the "red zone" 5 times and only walk away with 6 points. Oh well! After the game we got to go down on the field and wait for Paul to come out. He didn't look like he wanted to be there - kinda shell shocked. I took some pictures; I'll get them up later. Saturday night, we went out to dinner with Paul, his girlfriend Corey and her brother Kevin. I think everyone had a good time.

We took off from snowy South Bend around 8:30 am and got back into Columbus around 1. Pretty good time - it usually takes around 5-5 1/2 hours. I contracted a rash of some sort so I loaded myself up with Benadryl and slept for most of the day.

This morning I had to be at work early to have a mock code at 0700. I love these things...we take a dummy (Dead Fred) and put him in a room and turn the call light on. You should see the look on people's faces when they arrive for a code and see that it's a drill. They soon find out, however, that we aren't fooling around and they need to participate and take it seriously. The drill this morning actually went pretty well. These mock codes make for good teaching moments with the residents and nurses. Back to the grind!

Later....

Winter Wonderland

Thursday night, dinner was so much fun with the boys! The Sherman men (Mitchell and Marshall) and Paul Kuppich joined us for dinner at Papa Vino's. Papa Vino's is a great place to take college athletes...they have good food and plenty of it! Marshall and Mitchell arrived first and we waited for Paul to get there after practice. All of the boys looked and sounded really good! They have a great sense of humor and the evening was spent with good conversation and laughter! We all said good night around 9:30.
Yesterday, we awoke and I found out what "lake effect snow" is really all about. We had (have) about 10-12 inches of beautiful white fluffy stuff! We decided that we would hike over to ND for the football luncheon. Here's some pictures:

Outside Inn at St. Mary's - The woods just north of the campus
The guys you see are "scalpers" - they are on that corner every time we come here!

Gary walking down the railroad tracks to the campus
Look how deep the snow is!

Walking the path through the woods - very pretty!

The snowy Grotto

The luncheon was pretty good. The meal was OK, but the conversation was fantastic. Two gentlemen that sat with us were great for stories. Apparently, one of the guys was a high school football coach in his younger days. He was the guy who told Mike Krzyzewski, that he should stick with basketball. He was also praised by Coach Holtz at he statue dedication at ND a few weekends ago. Very interesting lunch.

We headed back to the Inn and then around 4:30 we drove (good choice) back over to campus to see the Sherman's swim at the Rolf. Needless to say, there is a reason why OSU is ranked 11 and ND isn't. It was good to see the boys swim, however, and the crowd was pretty supportive.

About 6 we went next door (actually one gate over at the JAC) to the pep rally - Thanks for the tickets Little Paul! It was very exciting and we had a good time. It was dark but I did get a couple of pictures of Paul and his dad on the floor for senior introductions.

Little Paul & Paul getting their picture taken

Paul on the big screen

Here's an article in the Observer on Paul: http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2008/11/21/IrishInsider/Paul-Kuppich.Tight.End.Joins.Squad.After.Transferring.From.Columbia-3557429.shtml

When it was over, we ran out of the JAC just in time to see the team load up on the buses and take off.

We had a serious choice to make: Go over to Alumni Field and watch the #1 Women's Soccer team take on Minnesota in the NCAA tourney (it was about 20 degrees outside) or head back into the Joyce to watch the #5 Men's Hockey team take on Bowling Green. We decided on the hockey team - it was a good choice. Great Game - Great Win (5 to 1)! By the way the women remain undefeated and advanced in the tourney with a penalty kick win!

We are heading back over to campus around 12 today for the band step off and the game. Hope Little Paul gets in but we'll see.

Later...

We made it!

First let me give you a piece of advice...don't rent anything from Thrifty! On Tuesday, Gary and I went over to Thrifty at the airport to get an SUV for our trip. Now, we probably rent a vehicle from Thrifty every other month (it's pathetic that we have basically 3 two seat cars). When Gary got to the counter he was rudely waited on by a lazy employee. He was told that they didn't have ANY cars! As he was strolling down to Hertz, an employee (who had helped us on a previous visit) yelled at him that they had a Jeep just come in and it was his if he wanted it. So he signed the paperwork and drove it home. He pulls into the driveway and goes around the back of the car and notices that the license expired 10/08. He comes in, calls Thrifty right away. First he was told that the sticker was probably in the glove box and he should just put it on the license. Of course there wasn't a sticker in the glove box...so he called Thrifty back, he was eventually transferred to the desk at the airport. By this time it was almost 11 pm, they told him to either bring the car back or stop in tomorrow (Wednesday) and there would be a sticker or plate at the desk. Wednesday, about 2 pm he arrives at Thrifty and finds out that 1. there wasn't a sticker and 2. that Jeep shouldn't have been rented because it was due for some kind of service. By the way, the 2 people that were at the desk were even lazier than the night before! Of course he didn't drive the car over to the airport (he was worried that he would be pulled over and sighted for a late registration). He comes home and picks up the Jeep and drives it back to the airport. Thrifty still doesn't have any cars! When he looks at the bill, there is a charge of $113 on the bill. When he questioned it, he was told that it was for the 1 day of use that he had (remember, it stayed in our driveway because of the expired plates). He explained that to now the manager that he has been trying to rectify this problem since last night and if the guy would check the mileage on the car, he would see that it had about 41 miles on it (the amount of mileage from that airport to home and back again). The dude actually said "I took $50 off the bill, what more do you want!" With that, Gary told him to put his $113 in a particular orifice! He walked down the way to Hertz and rented a Highlander. He got home and called Thrifty again to complain about the charge on his bill and the rudeness of their employees. He was told that the manager should review it - by this time, Gary was through with Thrifty and basically told the woman that she could assist the manager with the placement of the $113! Needless to say, for $113 Thrifty has lost a good customer and again, I would strongly suggest that you don't rent from Thrifty (or its parent company Dollar).

So we took off from Columbus and went cross country (route 33) to South Bend. We first went to the bookstore and checked out stuff. We then walked around campus - what a beautiful place! I love this place - the students a really friendly and I'm not nervous about walking on campus. The tradition and sites here are great - the Grotto is pretty and as we drove up Notre Dame Ave., we saw Our lady gleaming on the Administration building (The Dome). You must realize that it's 31 degrees (21 with the wind chill) and we are under a Lake Effect Snow Warning! So we are going to get some heavy snow - GREAT! The stadium will be rock and rolling on Saturday, there is nothing like freezing temperatures to get the Irish fans going!

We are heading over to Papa Vino's for dinner with the boys tonight. It should be a good time!

See Ya Later....

Going to South Bend

That's right! Gary and I are heading to South Bend tonight for the weekend. We'll go out to dinner with the boys tomorrow night. Friday night it's a swim meet (Go Mitchell and Marshall beat the Bucks), the pep rally (which is always a great time) and then a hockey game against Bowling Green. Saturday, we'll go to the game against Syracuse. It's gonna be a busy weekend. GO IRISH!

Jesus Jam Update

I was blown away by Justin Fatica last night! The theme of the night was "Radial Discipleship." Justin's message was that we live in a culture where the youth and young adults are tempted more than ever before. He preached that they need a strong relationship with the Lord and the support of the Church. So your thinking...."NO DUH!"

Well, let me tell you how he got this message out. He did a prayer workout where 12 or so participants volunteered to exercise and pray while others wrote out prayer requests - if you can't do it for yourself - do it for someone else. He called out people who had a poor self image (mostly ladies) and gentlemen who thought they didn't "measure up." They (and the audience) prayed for them and then he told them to go to reconciliation (the priests were all ready for them) - All of them went. His style vacillated from "in your face" to tear-jerking. His message was about loving all people no matter who they are or what they have been through.

The best part of the night was holding Leah! I had her most of the night - Thanks Monica! About 8:15 her daddy started to sing and BAM! She was out like a light! Daddy stopped singing about 8:30 and BAM! Wide awake! I was so busy with her that I didn't get a recent picture, but this is from last month:

Yes, her eyes are that big...she's not surprised!

That's all for now

Later.....

Another Jesus Jam

The 3rd Sunday of the month...that means another Jesus Jam at St. Cathrine's. I have to be over there at 4 pm, so this entry will be short. I'm a little nervous about tonight's speaker...Justin Fatica. He is with Hard As Nails Ministry. This is the web site: www.hanm.org/home.html It should be an interesting night. I'll let you know

Later....

And the Winner Is....

Here is the picture of Thomas Haufe and Coach Wierzbicki. Thomas is the 2008 honoree of the Sean P. Reed Memorial Team Player Award. He had shoulder surgery from an injury he sustained in the Sandusky game (he dislocated his shoulder....OUCH!) As we talked to him tonight, he's not sure where he is going to college but the big players are Miami, Dayton and Xavier (which made alum Gary very happy). Congratulations Thomas! Thanks for your hard work and dedication to SC Football!

SC Time ....Again

Today we head over to St. Charles for the Fall Sports Banquet. It is a fun time where we get to see the players and their families one more time. The coach will also present the "Sean P. Reed Memorial Team Player Award." It is an award, chosen by the coaching staff, to a senior, non-starting player, who contributed to the success of the team. It's a person who exemplifies "Facta non Verba" (deeds not words) the theme of the school. We know who the winner is, but have been sworn to secrecy. I'll post a picture later of the winner. Here's a drawing of the medal:





Mom, Sue and Guinness got home from Florida yesterday. I went over to help get a chair in from the car and to trim Guinness' nails. Both were a success! Got some bad news, though, Reverend Bill Raper died on Thursday. He and his family live next to Mom. He had been ill for a while and I hadn't seen him in quite some time. He was a very nice man and he'll be missed.

Later!

Like you could forget.....

Remember to vote tomorrow. I couldn't forget, I've been reminded a couple of dozen times tonight.

Ah Sunday....I love the laid back day of the week

Friday night went well for the Trick or Treaters. We gave out about 60 hot dogs. Here's how it usually went:

1. Most kids initially obeyed their parents telling them not to eat while trick or treating - "there are bad people out there who will put stuff into your candy - I HAVE to inspect it first!" Sooo... they were reluctant to take a freshly grilled hot dog from a strange lady. If they had a little one with them (let's say around 3 or 4), the tike wanted a dog right away. The older ones would wait for the younger one to be a "taste tester" and if they didn't drop over dead, they would take one too.


2. Or the funniest one of the night...A group of about 15 kids came down the street with a van following them. We live at the end of a col-de-sac, so the van just sat in front of our house while the treaters hit the other houses. They then came to ours....as they were standing in front of me, we heard from the van..."Hey, get me one with mustard!" I guess driving around causes hunger!

Next year, I going to use our big grill! Our little grill did a good job but I was bent over cooking and my back is KILLING me!

Yesterday, I was at PetSmart on Sawmill with a little Black and Tan bunny named Rosie from the Capital Area Humane Society. We are at this pet store the first Saturday of every month from 10 until 2. Yesterday, we were outside because there wasn't a "good" spot for us inside. Rosie was great giving it her all (including binkees at the appropriate times) trying to find a forever home. There was one person that was really interested in her and after talking to her, I was interested in adopting Rosie to her. I hope she either sends me an e-mail or comes to the shelter to take her home.

Rabbits are really hard to place in a good home. People need to have done some thorough investigation of rabbits as pets or have had them before (or currently) for me to have a good feeling about placing them. We have had a few returned back to the shelter in the past year...usually because the owner doesn't have time for them (they need attention) or they moved and their new landlord doesn't allow pets (why would you move there????). I've been very lucky, I have placed 7 buns in the past 2 1/2 years and none have been returned.

The game plan for this week is to get through work without a major problem. Jim comes back to work on the 10th - YIPEEE!