Reflection

I've been doing my best for the last two weeks to make time to reflect. I do this best by journaling. I've always been one to write down my feelings, even since elementary school. I remember the fond memories of my purple diary. I knew it was safe from my family because of the "sturdy" lock. It then evolved to a spiral-bound notebook. Over the years, the journal has come in different shapes and sizes, and the writing has changed just as much. Of course, there were the days that I spent doodling "N+___= LOVE" and "Mrs. So-and-So." However, my writing finally reached the point of being a time for quiet reflection on the trials and tribulations I face in life, and, how God is helping and guiding me. Just moments ago (yes, I am at school), I reached for my composition book to put it away. This is something I use for school. One of the magazine pictures on it says, "I always try to find time to be myself, to reflect on my achievements and where I'm headed." I don't know where I got that quote or even who said it. But now, more than ever, I think it's true. Do you ever take a quiet moment to reflect on who you are and have become?

Updates from Boise

I feel like one sick puppy. Yuck! Thursday, I could feel the sore throat coming on. Thursday evening, the headache started and would not stop. Friday, my nose felt like Niagra Falls. This morning is more of the same, but the headache has subsided at least. This is offically, the second cold I have had since the beginning of the school year. Are you surprised? I am not. I have a whole bottle of hand sanitizer on my desk. I better start using a lot more! On a positive note though, we completed the first quarter of school.

In other news, Brett had to go to a high school football game last night. They lost, badly, so football season should be done now. He is currently covering a rugby game. The last one was pretty exciting in terms of injuries. For his sake, I hope there are injuries, but really, I never want people to break any bones or have any serious damage during games. I'm torn!

I can't say that there is any other big news floating around here. Brett is busy at work. I began taking pilates a couple of weeks ago. We're trying to find a realtor and a house. Mostly, we're just taking things one day at a time. Oh, you want to know about Puckett? He contiues to run on the treadmill, but is actually calming down in his old age. Let's see...his is three months away from his third birthday!

**By the way, Fresno State plays in Boise at the end of this month. I truly hope you will all be rooting for the right team. Which team is the RIGHT team? Need you ask?! Everyone who is anyone will be wearing RED that night, including myself. Brett is clearly not happy about that. He calls me a "non-homer" now because I didn't like to root for any of the Washington teams (Mariners, Seahawks, UW) and I refuse to conform here in Boise (BSU). I'm exercising my right to choose what teams I root for. Isn't there something about that in the Bill of Rights? And speaking of the Bill of Rights, I hope you all vote or already did so. I won't ask who you're voting for, but make sure you vote. Please.

The Great Golf Game

I wouldn't exactly say that we'll be joinin the Tour soon, but our night of golf was fun anyway. This weekend, we are lucky enough to have our friend Sam staying with us. We met Sam while we were living in Wenatchee. She used to work at the clinic with Brett. Over time, Sam became one of our best friends. None of us are living in Wenatchee now though. Sam drove to Boise from Salt Lake City, which is where she is living now. What does this have to do with golf? Well, the three of us (Puckett excluded) played some miniature golf last night.

It started off with a little trash talking by all of us. Seriously. Here we are in our 20s ,with our college degrees, talking crap to each other about a miniature golf game. The game started off on a bad note. Brett started off with a hole-in-one. Mind you, he was the one saying he's so bad at golf. I think it was just a ploy. I couldn't really decide whether to golf left-handed or right-handed. I was equally terrible at both. Then there was Sam. She was consistent throughout, but hit a couple of rough spots on the course. Here are our wonderful photos:

Brett got a hole-in-one on the first hole!

Sam shoots for par! The guy behind us, was nice enough to take a blurry picture of us! Thanks guy!
And here is the WINNER,

the trash talker (that's a little harsh, guys),

and the LOSER.

To be quite honest, Brett took second place. But, it was such a lopsided score that he was really only competing with Sam. So sad!

Poker Night

Saturday night, we headed to Sacred Heart for an 8th grade fundraiser. After five hours of playing Texas Hold 'Em, Brett walked away with third place. He chose a basket that had a bunch of different beers (yes, it's a Catholic school), pretzels, rye bread, beer mugs, and summer sausage. Nice work, honey!!!

Puckett Exercises

If only I had a picture of what I'm about to tell the world...

Brett has figured out a way to walk on the treadmill...WITH PUCKETT. Seriously. I just walked into the spare bedroom and there they were. Brett is holding the leash and they are walking side-by-side on the treadmill. So far, Puckett has walked .5 miles on the treadmill this evening. I'm not sure whether to laugh, cry, or just shake my head at this nonsense. I think I'll go with the latter because I often get in trouble when I open my mouth.

Friday Nights in Boise

During the last couple of days, we've experienced a cold front in Boise. (Yes, that's right, I'm now a meteorologist.) Plain and simple, it's been quite chilly around here. This morning it was a mere 34 degrees outside when I left the house at 7 AM. But, it wasn't until approximately 4:50 PM that the snow started to fall. Keep in mind that they were large flakes, but they didn't stick to the ground at all. It was enough to provide the slightest bit of slush and created a nice canvas for mud to attach to my car. That's not exactly the type of snow I welcome in October. For all you history buffs out there, today set the record for the earliest snow fall in the Treasure Valley (that's us).

What else happens on Friday's in Boise? Brett had to cover a high school football game. I'm still waiting to find out how that went. I'm sure it was a chilly one, but he said he was equipped with gloves, a jacket, and rain pants.

I chaperoned a junior high dance. Are you getting flashbacks of your favorite songs? I knew I wasn't that old when they started to play Michael Jackson's Thriller and a little Vanilla Ice. The funniest thing about the dances is that the students are required to have a little space between them when dancing. We call this "saving room for Jesus." You have to love Catholic schools!

I hope your Friday night is turning out just how you planned it! Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!

Officially NOT Homeowners

That's right! As of, Tuesday, September 30, we are no longer homeowners. (Sigh of relief!) We finally, finally, finally closed on our house in Wenatchee. It took exactly 6 months and two weeks to get rid of it. Better late than never, right? I'll spare you the sob story about how it's a little bit sad. We really enjoyed that house though.

We are currently trying to figure out how to find a good realtor here in Boise. I would even shoot for a decent realtor after our last two. We're not really sure when we plan to buy, but we are in a rental until March 2009. There are plenty of houses for sale in this area. We're trying to figure out what part of town to live in, and what we can get for our money. Thankfully, the market here is much cheaper than in Wenatchee. Our goal is to save some money to increase our down payment and get something we really like. We've tossed around a lot of ideas including, but not limited to:

• Some acreage (.5 acres would be nice)
• 3-car garage (we were spoiled in WA)
• 4 bedrooms (wishful thinking)
• Updated kitchen (a must)
• 2+ bathrooms
• Southeast, North Boise, or even the Bench (it's an older part of Boise)

Does it sound like I'm trying to find a realtor?? At least we have some time to look around at houses and for a realtor. Wish us luck!

An Old Irish Prayer

While I was looking for a new prayer for my classroom newsletter, I came across this old Irish prayer. I definitely thought it was worth sharing.

May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.

Limit 20 Items

I was at Super Walmart today picking up a couple of groceries. As I finished picking up the last item in the produce section, I headed toward the checkout lines. And this is really what happened: I saw the Express Line "Limit 20 Items." I took a quick glance down at my cart. I used the skills I learned in third grade and thought, "My estimate is that there are approximately 15 items in my cart...TOPS." I went to the line with the fewest people. One would think that the Express Line would be relatively quick. In fact, the word 'express' comes to mind. Not this one. As I stook patiently in line, I looked at the magazine rack to my right. Nothing good. I waited and waited. This is the Express Line for crying out loud! Then, as the customer in front of me placed item after item on the counter I began counting. C'mon, you would've, or have, done the same thing! I counted up to 23, that's right, and then stopped. Clearly this person, A) should have paid more attention in third grade, B) was extremely selfish, or C) cannot read. I'm going to go with 'B' and say this person just does not care about the signs in Walmart. Her negligence in the grocery store leads me to believe that this person may also disobey other signs in life (i.e., traffic signs). I know it's far-fetched, but I'm really angry about this. I wanted to reach out and say (or scream), "Clearly, this line is for people who have FEWER than 21 items. I can see that you have chosen to purchase more than that. Therefore, I think you should take your large behind and all of your items to the next line over. Thank you, and have a great day!"

Our Attempt at Saturday Evening Mass

This evening, we attempted to go to church. That's right, we attempted. We normally frequent the 11 o'clock mass on Sunday's. Brett has a conflict tomorrow, so we decided to go this evening. I looked it up on the Internet, and it said mass was as 6pm. It takes about 15 minutes to get there. So, we got in the car (pouring rain and all) and drove over to Sacred Heart. We arrived at approximately 5:45pm to find the parking lot was pretty full. Now everyone who is Catholic would think the same thing at this point. "What's going on? No one shows up this early for chuch. EVER." I always like to be there early though, like most places. On Sunday's at 10:59am, the chuch is bustling with families trying to find a seat. The pews get really crowded at 11:03am. We even get a couple of stragglers during the first reading. You all know exactly what I mean, right?! I guess it's the Catholic Way. Anyway, it turns out that I remember there is a dinner at the parish hall that begins at 6pm. Mass was moved to 5pm today. So really, we just enjoyed the 30 minutes of quality time together in the car. We'll try again tomorrow and hope it turns out a little better. At least we didn't get as far as walking in and taking a seat, right?

We're Brewin Up Trouble

Last year for Brett's birthday, I bought him an at-home beer brewing kit. And yes, we are just now getting around to using it! We started last Sunday with sterilizing and mixing. This evening, Brett began bottling. It sure does smell like a bad party in our house right now! Brett will have to let you know how it turns out. We have to wait about two weeks before trying it. I forgot to take pictures while we were working hard, but here's what the kit looks like. It's not the exact one that we have, but I couldn't find the website.

Another week down, many more to go. Brett had a busy week with work and recreation. He spent two days covering soccer and football for one of the high schools, played frisbee down town one evening, and we went to a dinner last night. I had two away volleyball games and practice, but that's it. Needless to say, we're not seeing each other all that much. Sound familiar, Suzanne and Ian? And poor, poor Puckett. What a sad life he lives these days...

Oh, so you want to know what happened at school this week? Wait, are you assuming that some crazy things happened with my Catholic junior high kids? You assumed right! I had four 7th graders that got caught cheating. I also had one student who broke an ink pen on his hand. On his way to wash his hands in the bathroom, he wrote on the wall, "Daniel was here." His name is not Daniel. So yes, he was caught and suspended. Good job guys. I think we may need to go to confession next week.

It's Saturday!! Big games today - Notre Dame vs. Michigan, Fresno State vs. Wisconsin, USC vs. Ohio State. Brett is also leaving tonight and going to sit in the new sky box at the Boise State game. I guess that's cool if you like BSU. :o)

We are...N-D!

The second Saturday of the college football season brings us the season opener of Notre Dame football. There wasn't a question about what I would be doing today. After last year's season, a dismal record with only a couple of wins, I can't say my enthusiasm is where it normally would be at this time. But, as a faithful Notre Dame fan and a true Catholic (ha!), I had to get fired up and get my ND gear out.

Unfortunately, the Irish struggled through three quarters of football against San Diego State. Who would've thought? (A rhetorical question.) Thankfully though, Jimmy Clausen has found a way to get a couple of TD's on the board. And to think that Michigan is going to be in South Bend next week! They better get it together mighty quickly.

I would like to say that I hope your favorite college football does well this year. I would be lying though. My heart belongs to Notre Dame, and I always root for Fresno too. Go Irish!

Grandpa Seaver Needs You

Some of you may know or have heard of my grandfather in the Seaver family. He has been diagnosed with severe Alzheimer's disease, but is currently living at home with my grandma. As of late, he has thrown his dentures into the toilet, much to the dismay of my grandmother. Things are getting frustrating and it's something that cannot be controlled. I ask you, my friends and family, to keep Grandma and Grandpa Seaver in your prayers.

All in a day's work

This has been an extremely hectic and busy week for us. Monday was the only evening that we've actually seen each other before dinnertime. No lie. Brett has been busy with covering events (soccer and football) and ultimate frisbee. I have been swamped with volleyball games, school, and Parent Night.

There were a couple of mishaps at school I wanted to share. Yesterday, while I was consoling a crying 8th grader (think Mean Girls), one of my 8th grade boys dislocated his knee cap and tore his miniscus. Of course it was me who was on yard duty that day! Today, while I was teaching 7th graders with the door open, and 8th grade boy puked right outside the door. I guess this is the stuff they just don't prepare you for in college, right?

All in all, I think we're having fun. I wouldn't exactly say we see a lot of each other these days, but I know it will all work out.