Senior Night

Julie and I love sports. And we love spectating at sporting events; especially when our children or kids we are close to participate. When Hannah graduated from high school our 'last hope' was Brandon who plays for Archbishop Mitty. I think it would be fair to say that Julie and I adopted Mitty and have been faithful supporters (at least cheer-ers) for the last couple years. It's been exciting - because Mitty has had some great players and teams.. but the truth be known.. I'm pretty sure we would have cheered just as loudly and faithfully no matter the result. The great thing about supporting Mitty has been the opportunity it has given us to hang out with our friends whom we love.

You can imagine, the emotions surrounding Senior Night at Mitty. Soon, Brandon's high school basketball days will be over and he will be moving on to college. So, it will be a bit of a transition for Julie and I as we try to figure out what to do with ourselves during Winter! Not to mention for his parents!

Speaking of his parents.. here's some pictures from the big night. I definitely had my money on Eileen tearing up a bit during the parent introductions before the game. I think she held it together pretty well.. or did a good job hiding it.. but I know Randy and Eileen are very proud of the job that Brandon has done and were excited to join him at center court!



















The parents received flowers and a couple gifts including a special t-shirt the team made up! Here's Eileen showing off hers.



















The game itself - against Valley Christian (don't get me started!) was hard fought - as evidenced by the huge scratch Brandon experienced towards the end of the game.



















Here's a picture that tells you a lot about Brandon. I have been impressed throughout his high school playing days with his ability to lead and encourage on the court. But in this picture you see just how encouraging he is even when he isn't on the court.



















However, as with all perfect Senior Nights.. Mitty dominated at the end and went on to an easy 52-41 win. Near the end of the game the big moment came - when the coach pulls the seniors - allowing the fans one more chance to shout their praise! And then it was over. Here's the student section celebrating and singing the Mitty fight song with the players.















As it turns out - this won't be the last home game for Mitty.. so we're not quite done saying goodbye. So, this hug from Julie isn't the last. Mitty will play in the West Catholic league tournament at home this Tuesday. But, sadly, the end is ever too close.

You're Not Paranoid If They Really ARE Watching!

If you go down and check out the blog entry I posted on February 12th you'll notice that I mentioned the US Cabinet. The post itself was just a bit of a political spoof.

When I originally posted the entry I mentioned President Obama. I think I referred to 'President Obama's nominations' to the Cabinet or something of that nature. Later, because as a general rule I don't like to have full (first and last names) proper names on the blog to protect the privacy of family and friends.. I went back and changed the wording slightly to remove the reference to President Obama. Specifically, I changed the phrase to 'everyone recently nominated'.

Anyways... fast forward to the next day. I have some software attached to our blog that allows me to see how many people are checking out the blog and where the blog 'hits' originate from. For instance, I know that Lurinda connects to the internet using a service in Delton.. because that is where I get hits from (along with Plainwell) in southern Michigan.

Using that software, I noticed a huge increase in people checking out the blog on February 12th. So, I went to check out where they came from. I was shocked to see that I received hits from 22 countries and dozens of US states! Yes, 22 countries!

Here's the list:

Brazil, Canada, France, Colombia, Netherlands, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, Austria, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Poland!

Whoa!

Apparently, there are people around the world very interested in anything written about our President. I don't think they're going to get to much intelligence from this blog (beat you to that!).. but it appears they are watching.

Like I said - you're not paranoid if they really are watching!

Giving New Meaning to 'Wingmen'

Julie and I were watching some TV yesterday when we noticed a weird sound coming from the TV. So, we turned the sound down and low and behold the sound didn't go away. Instead, it was now more distinct! We raced to the door.. ran outside.. and looked up to see the following:















The sound we heard was hundreds of crows screaming as they were flying. We watched the huge pack of birds while trying to figure out what in the world was going on. They were clearly purposeful in their flight.. as they chased across the sky. However, we couldn't quite understand just exactly what they were up to.

Suddenly, we saw a hawk (we think) fly by with a crow in its talons. The victim's friends were all rallying to its aid - chasing the perpetrator all over the sky! At one point the hawk settled into the tree just behind our house (see below).. with all the crows circling and trying to aid their friend.















I'm not sure it did any good. But it was a very interesting sight to behold.

Crazy Idea

This is the kind of idea you come up with when you sit in meetings all day and wish you were elsewhere.

I got to thinking about the budget crisis and the stimulus plan and all. I know. I know. No one wants to think about that. I get it.

But - here's my unique plan to rescue the nation. So, listen up.

At the present time the US Cabinet has 16 members (the VP + 15 Department Heads). I say that is wayyyyy too few!

My logic? Note that pretty much everyone recently nominated to the Cabinet has a significant outstanding (past) tax liability. Further, they will likely be increasing their future tax payments now that they actually understand that they are expected (at least for the public's sake) to pay taxes.

Here's my idea.. increase the Cabinet size ... to say... 1 million people. By the time the vetting process completes.. they should have coughed up hundreds of billions of dollars of unpaid taxes; with the prospects of another few hundred billion in future (accurate) payments.

If you think that might be just a few too many... perhaps as an alternative... we could simply nominate the 1 million people to the still unfilled seats... let them catch up on their tax payments as they go through the vetting process.. then reject them.

Thus, the other 300 Million of us will be saved the drama.

Your thoughts? ... while I get back to work ;)

Wow! Wow! Wow!

This morning started out with incredible news from our talented daughter! Hannah recently applied to the Haas Undergraduate Business program at Cal. This is an intensive program and one of the most highly rated undergraduate business programs in the nation (#3 in one 2008 ranking... alas Michigan was #4).

As a result, this is an extremely competitive program. Essentially, you have to get into Berkeley (although some transfer students are admitted). Then, you study for a year and a half in preparation for applying. You apply as a sophomore - for admission as a junior - to the program. So, in essense you have to get into Berkeley (a tough gig).. study hard and demonstrate your leadership skills.. apply.. with about 2,000 other people.. then get selected. Only 350 students are admitted each year.

We have known for awhile that February 11th was the 'big day' for hearing back and I woke up this morning in anticipation. You know when Hannah calls before 9:00 AM.. that it is either really good news.. or really bad ;) She called at 8:27 AM!

I am so proud to tell you that the folks over at Haas (pictured below) had the incredibly good sense to admit Hannah. Yeah! Lucky for then, because her backup plan if not admitted was to get a different degree.. take over the world.. and then remove the administrators from Haas - one by one. Way to dodge that bullet people!

In all seriousness - this is an astounding achievement and one that I am so proud to share with you. Hannah has worked diligently on developing her intellect, leadership and interpersonal relationship skills and this acknowledgement from Haas is well deserved (IMHO). We love you Hannah and will continue to pray for and support you as you take on this wonderful new challenge.

P.S. Congratulations to Calvin as well - who was also accepted!

Surprise!

Yesterday we surprised our friend Tim with a 60th birthday party. Yes, we are old enough to have friends that are 60 ;) Hard to believe.

So, the plan was to bring him directly from the Standford vs Washington game to Armadillo Willy's - a great barbeque place. We had arranged for a number of his friends (and ours) to meet there and surprise him when he arrived. A bit of a problem occurred. The game went really fast! So, we were stuck trying to figure out how to stall for an hour.

Thankfully, we were in luck. Tim had been out of town attending a wedding and was to arrive, go home and clean up, and go to the game with Auntie and I. However, his plane was delayed.. and he arrived just in time for us to scoop him up at the airport and get to the game. We literally sat down as the tip-off occurred.

So, he had already had a long day and was interested in going home and taking a shower. So - we let him do that.. and then were off to Willy's.

Okay.. you know you have an OLD friend.. when he gets to Willy's... sees several of his friends and just thinks it's all an amazing coincidence. HELLO!!!! It's a surprise birthday party Tim!

We had a great BBQ dinner and then headed back to our house - which had been decorated for the celebration. We did the cake thing (Tim's fav - Mint Chip ice cream cake).. and presents and just had fun enjoying time with Tim.

Tim's actual birth date is February 11th.. so technically he's still just 59.99.... so Tim enjoy your last few days of pre-geezer!

At Long Last!

Sunday afternoon I had the opportunity to go to the Stanford vs. Washington men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion on the Stanford campus. Tim received the tickets from Julie L.'s boyfriend, Evan (a Stanford student), for Christmas and has been anticipating this game for weeks. For some reason.. he decided to take me along which was awesome.

Washington's been doing amazingly well in the Pac-10 this year and is looking at a definite NCAA tournament invitation. However, they've lost for 15 consecutive years at Maples despite some incredible efforts. In fact, last year Tim and I went and witnessed a heartbreaking last minute defeat at the hands of Stanford.

However, we were hopeful as we returned this year.. with Auntie joining us. And it was a great afternoon to witness Washington finally defeat the curse and crush Stanford in Palo Alto!

One of the heros leading the Washington victory was guard Isaiah Thomas (yes, named the same as the NBA hall of famer and former Indiana star and Detroit Piston). Here he is going inside. He made the basket.. but somehow the refs didn't see enough contact to call a foul!















And here's Jon Brockman - Washington's star senior forward scoring two of his 13 points (with his 12 rebounds!). Brockman is only 6'-7" but plays much taller. He is a tremendous inspiration to watch because he is a guy who never stops. He never slows down. And he never gives up. I have seen him play tons of games against bigger, taller, better basketball players. But, I've never seen him outplayed. Not once. He is, in every sense of the words, a basketball player.















The Stanford band and mascot are always a lot of fun and high energy. Stanford has a very unusual mascot; The Tree. The Tree has quite a history - having previously been banned at least twice by the NCAA. But it hasn't diminished The Tree's enjoyment. It loves to dance during timeouts! Also note the student section. If you look close you'll see some 'Beat Cal' t-shirts. They wish ;)
































Ahhhhh... 15 years of frustration come to an end!





























And finally, here's Tim and Auntie sucking in the joy outside the stadium!

More Eagle Pictures!

Wow... another strong entry in the Foreign Picture category!

These pictures are from Lori - my sister's friend. They once again went to Illinois to shoot eagles over the weekend. With a camera that is. And these are some sweet pictures.

Let's hear it for the photographer!

19-Mitty!!!!

You know how when a team has won, say, 3 games and has lost 2 they say the team's record is '3-2' or '3 and 2'?

Well... St. Francis' record this year in basketball is now 19-Mitty! We just came from the most amazing high school basketball game we've seen in a very long time! Mitty, featuring our favorite high school basketball player.. Brandon (pictured playing this Summer on his AAU team).. just laid down the first blemish on the St. Francis schedule (until tonight they were 19-0). Final score 68-66.

Mitty played an intense game. Their defense was stellar. And then there was Brandon's offensive display! Yeah, he totally PWNED SF. He had two amazing dunks and 30 points in leading Mitty to victory.

I just hope the headline writers at the SJ Mercury News splash it in bold letters across the Sports Page:

St. Francis: 19-Mitty!

Russian beauties are waiting..

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