Misc.

There was an article in the Des Moines Register that I had to share. There is a high school outside of Des Moines called Prairie City/Monroe (like a lot of schools in Iowa, it is two towns that share a school building). This past week, they were playing a team from Albia, if I remember correctly. It was late in the fourth quarter and PCM was up 38-0. One of the PCM players was injured, so the game was stopped to take care of him. The coach's for PCM and Albia were discussing just stopping the game, seeing as there was no chance for the outcome to change. Someone, and I really can't remember who, but I believe it was the PCM team, came up with the idea to let the special needs kid on Albia's team score a touchdown. The quarterback for PCM agreed to fumble the next ball and both teams would allow this player to pick it up and run it back for a touchdown. It was the coolest thing I had read in a long time. They interviewed the quarterback after the game and he talked about how cool it was to see how excited that kid was after running into the endzone. It was so nice to see that a bunch of high school kids wanted someone else feel so good. They gave up a shut out, something a team strives for, for the good of another. (Me, wiping away a tear)

I took the day off the other day, and worked harder than I have in a long time. I'll give you a short run down, just so I can brag it up a little:

1. I started by delivering Max to preschool at 9am. He had cried every time we had dropped him off, so I was working him pretty hard to not cry. Marcy gave me the info that she would bring him a surprise if he didn't cry when I dropped him off. It worked and we had our first tear free drop off. We'll see if that carries through until Monday.
2. I then went to Lowes to pick up paint brushes, for use later.
3. I went to the WDM library to renew my library card so I can return to checking out books. I then save a book that I have been wanting to read so I can get it when it is returned. I found another book to read in the meantime.
4. I returned home and sealed 4 more windows that I had previously stained. I received 20 windows, free, from the manufacturer because the windows in the house were rotting and under warranty. I had all ready installed 2, stained and sealed 2 more and these 4 left 14 windows left in their boxes.
5. I took those said 14 windows and carried them up an extension ladder into my attic for winter storage. I had to build some storage areas in the attic, to make storage easier.
6. I then cleaned the garage to get it closer to allowing a second car to enter. It is getting closer to winter and I don't want to be scraping windows all winter long.
7. I fixed a retaining wall block in my flower garden that had sunken down. I had to pry it up and jam dirt under it to level it out.
8. I had built a retaining wall to build a garden behind, but I had never finished it by packing dirt behind it to stabilize it. We'll, that was my next job. I also leveled part of the dirt in the garden.
9. While all of this was going on, I did 5 loads of laundry (washed, dried and put away) and a load of dishes.
10. I took the cloth vertical blinds down from the back sliding glass door, washed them, then had to iron them because they curled up, and re-installed.
11. I learned how to wire my outlets in the basement, so I hooked up 8 of them and flipped the switch for 5, and they all worked. The others will be hooked up in the morning.

That was my day, and I hope it sounds as busy as it was. I was so sore the next day from lifting the windows into the attic, I thought I would have to take a day off to recover from my day off.

Today, we had a food day at work and I ate until I was sick. Everyone brought food that was so yummy, and I'm not one to pass on free food, especially now with me economic status as it is. The office also wore their favorite team (Iowa or Iowa State) apparel, since the interstate rivalry is this weekend. I like both, but root for ISU when it comes to the head to head match up. There was a group of Iowa fans that were very vocal around my cube and they had an Iowa blanket thrown over a chair. I decide to play a trick and rolled a brownie into the shape of a turd, and left it on the blanket. I know, it's juvenile, but it was funny as hell when they finally saw it and tried to decide if it was a turd or not. They finally figured out it was a brownie, although I don't know how, possible the sniff test, I'll ask on Monday. I couldn't help but laugh at what I had done. Sometimes I amuse myself and I don't care if anyone else thinks it's funny or not.

Pray that my material in the Houston warehouses doesn't float away. I'm not, by any means, suggesting that plastic is more important than people and homes, but prayers for them should happen without asking, it should be the first thought you have, so I don't need to mention it, right?