Friday, November 21, 2008

Dogs to Kids

I was riding up in the elevator this morning and overheard a conversation between two 20 something guys. The one guy was carrying a stack of papers and starting talking to the other guy about his dog and how he got all of this information last night from the vet on separation anxiety. He was talking about how they were probably going to enroll their dog in one of the doggie daycares a few days a week to help ease the dogs anxiety. The other guy told him that they did that with their dog. He goes three days per week. As he said, "This way, on the other two days when my wife leaves, he (the dog) must feel like he knows he'll get to go somewhere too the next day."

Interestingly enough, our deceased dog was like that too, but we never considered a doggie daycare back then. We just got another dog and they entertained each other. It struck me as funny listening to this conversation. It made me think back to the time before we had kids and how we treated our pets as our children. That's what these guys and their wives are doing. Before we had kids, our dogs and cat were our lives. We bought them Christmas presents. We gave them special food on Thanksgiving, Christmas and their birthdays. We took them to the park. We took them on trips to PetsMart...

Now, we have two kids. Our remaining dog and cat are just that, a dog and a cat. They are pets, animals, nothing more. I am not saying they are neglected, but they aren't coddled in the same way they once were. In fact, this morning, I noticed our dog really needs his nails trimmed, needs a good brushing and probably a bath too. Back in the day, I probably would have done all of that myself. Now, I think, if it gets done this weekend, I'll be dropping him off at PetsMart and getting it done. When would I have the time to do it??

I so badly wanted to speak up in the elevator today and say something like, I remember those days... But, figured I would sound like an old fuddy duddy. Then, I realized, I am old compared to them! Probably almost ten years older! Wow, where does time go. I don't feel that old?

So, to my current dog and cat (and my deceased dog), I am sorry. I am sure you miss the good 'ole days when I spent lots of time with you. I hope you understand.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Last Game

The last football of the season was this past Saturday. It was a bright sunny day, by the time we got there, but it was cold and windy. We sat facing the sun, so it was hard to see. With the wind blowing, it was hard to keep my hands out to take any pictures. So, here's what you get. A whole whopping two shots. Remember PM is #66.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Bowl Game

Last Saturday, PM's team played in their first of two Bowl Games for Tiny Mite football. They played their little hearts out. Here is PM taking down an opponent:
Look at the determination on this one of our players faces:
Look at this play by our players:
DQ cheered, but they were freezing! Good thing their nice warm jackets arrived that day, and they were nice enough to get them passed out quickly!
In the end, they were disappointed that they lost to this team again. This is the only team they have lost to all season.
There was a trophy ceremony at the end. Being Tiny Mite football, both teams received a trophy.
After the trophy ceremony, it was nice because both teams came together as one and prayed together. Then, our boys got together for some pictures!
The trophy was a big draw:
And, each player got a chance to hold it:
Of course, PM wanted to know who got to take it home. Here he is leaving the field. One more game to go, this weekend. We play the same team. One more chance to beat them. They outweigh us, on average, 20 lbs per player. That's a lot for our little guys to overcome, but they will dig deep and play hard!!
GO RAIDERS!!

Friday, November 07, 2008

Football Helmet Cookies

Here are the results of my football helmet cookies. What do you think?

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Cheerleading Cookies

Two nights ago, I cut out and baked sugar cookies in both pennant and helmet shapes. Last night, I got to frosting, only I had a setback. I am out of my good red dye that I usually use around the holidays, so I tried to make due. Unfortunately, they ended up dark pink. I frosted all of the pennants, but decided to hold off on the helmets. Actually, BD requested I hold off and get some red dye to do those with. He was adamant that we don't hand out pink helmets to the football players.

So, here they are. I opted not to write each girls name on a cookie, as some of the names were L-O-N-G! Savannah, Alexandra, etc...

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

The Rally

Yesterday, I got the once in a lifetime opportunity to go to a presidential rally and see the candidate himself. I have been reflecting on the experience all morning and am trying to find the words to describe the day. If I had to pick just one word, I would say, amazing.

A co-worked has been working with the democratic party and invited me to the rally. I jumped at the opportunity and got BD to pick up the kids and shuttle them around. We left work around 1:45 and I followed him to a shopping center parking lot, where we left my minivan. From there, we traveled to another shopping center across from the event where we attempted to park, but were turned away and told to go park at the amphitheater. We did so and hopped on a bus to take us to the UNCC campus. Our bus driver got lost. Can you believe that? He wasted about 20 minutes getting us there, so we were further back in line, but that didn't dampen our mood. We were awed at the amount of people in line in front of us when we arrived. We later learned how much longer the line had become (for those familiar, we were told it went all the way out to 49 and on 49 to WT Harris, this is standing people, not cars).

While waiting in line, we met many people. One lady, who lived in Greensboro, told us of her travels to see Obama at various locations throughout the campaign. I was simply amazed at the dedication of people. At one point, the cross-country team for UNCC ran by. Most had McCain stickers on their half naked bodies, but one held a sign:

At one point, a worker told me I may not be able to take my camera in because my zoom may be too great on my lens. I was worried. But, when we finally got up to the security area, it wasn't a problem. We got in and headed to the stage area. This was my initial view:
As we stood, towards the front of the crowd, things filled in behind us:
There was a special set of seats for those that had worked that actual day for the campaign. Lucky people!
It poured down rain for quite a while. They erected a canopy over the podium and some of the local democrats and others spoke. After that, it miraculously stopped raining. The canopy was removed and Obama arrived. What a time. There were cell phones and cameras everywhere.
There was this one darn light right in our faces, the entire time!
And it was a little foggy too.
Afterwards, as we walked back to meet my co-workers wife, who is a professor at the university, we saw lots of things. Everything from Secret Service Police with binoculars bigger than any I had ever seen before to news media. Here is a shot inside a news van:
It was an amazing experience that I soon will not forget. I found out this morning that both kids voted in class yesterday, and both voted for Obama. I guess my influence has gone far. They went with me to vote this morning, as they wanted to see how it all worked. My district had a paper ballot and they watched me fill in the bubbles. When through, all three of us got an "I Voted" sticker.

I can't wait to find out the results!