Bowling Green vs Idaho

We were at Al and Sarah's house watching the Bowling Green/Idaho game when Dan and Sarah decided to bet. Dan took Bowling Green; Sarah took Idaho. Loser gives winner a foot massage. With 20 some seconds left BG took the lead. It seemed like Dan had the win in the bag-so much so-that Sarah began collecting the needed supplies: tongs from the kitchen, cheese grater, gloves, etc. But with 4 seconds left Idaho scored and decided to go for two to win the game. Dan should know better than to bet against Sarah. He NEVER comes out a winner. Notice in the pictures the gloves on Sarah's hands and the kitchen utensils next to Dan

Random memories

Here are some random things I remember from being a little girl around the holidays.

Looking for the first star so we could go to Grandma Ozog's house

Eating so much on Christmas Eve that I got sick that night - sorry Mom and Dad

Going to Midnight Mass at St. Florians and feeling special because we had reserved seats.

Making sure I ate an odd number of dishes

Thinking that other families were odd because they ate meat on Christmas Eve.

Singing Christmas Carols in Polish while my cousin played the accordion

Driving to Utica on Christmas Day and thinking it was on an other planet

Having 7 layer cake that was made just for me

Going house-to-house and not driving with my parents to any houses

Eating so many Oplatki that the corners of my mouth would bleed

Having Grandma Roden spend the night and wondering how she slept with all those bobbie pins in her hair

Leaving a shot and a beer for Santa

Waiting in the car on Christmas Eve, for Mom and Dad, and pretending we were driving to Florida

Looking at all the Christmas cards on my Grandma's kitchen wall and thinking how cool it was that they always had one from the Governor

Going to get my ears pierced at the office in the midst of a snow storm-thanks Mom

Having an ice rink in the yard

Pics from Thanksgiving

Time has gotten away from me. Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving. FYI-the chocolate cake actually weighs 7 lbs.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well the countdown has begun. Tomorrow is our last day of school for the year, the boys are home,the Christmas cards are in the mail and the tree is up. I guess it really is almost Christmas.

As I was putting the tree up Dan and I both realized that we have a kid tree. Most of our ornaments are little boy ornaments. While one part of me is ready for a more sophisticated tree there is another part that wants to keep the kid tree. We'll see which side wins out.

How can you not like this? Thanks Mom

Walking around in a daze

Well, it's the week of Thanksgiving and that means stocking up for the boys. I went to the grocery store yesterday to get some provisions for the invasion of my men. I felt totally inept. I walked around the store not knowing what to get. Matt is very particular about what he eats; Nate is again needing to put weight on. I ended up with a full cart, knowing full well I will have to go back tonight or tomorrow to finish getting foodstuff for the weekend.

Blast from the Past

I read a book this weekend and there was a reference to the chicken fat song. Since then I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Interesting the things you remember.

Lumberjack Dan

A few weeks ago we had a "flucation". What that means is that our school was closed for three days because of the flu. During that three day shut down the weather was beautiful enough for Dan to do some tree trimming. Yes,Allen he did wear protective gear.

The Chargers live to play another week

This weekend the Hillsdale Chargers, along with almost every parent and two buses of students, traveled to Mankato MN to watch one heck of a ball game. The Chargers won out in overtime over the Mavericks of Minnesota State 27-24. It was a great game!! I will say that the venue was probably the worst I've been in, but with the sun shining and the football gods on our side it was a wonderful weekend

The Charger Mascot is Nate's roommate.

Next week Nate and the Chargers travel to Allendale to face Grand Valley again. Earlier this year the Chargers beat the Lakers; lets hope history can repeat itself.

Hillsdale Chargers in the Playoffs-Minnesota bound

The Chargers live to see another game next Saturday. At the football banquet the team found out that they did, in fact, make it into the playoffs for Division II. The team travels to Minnesota State, which is located in Mankato, Minnesota. I have no more particulars other than the game starts at noon. One of the parents is looking into chartering a bus for parents. I believe the team is flying out.

And yes if you're thinking, I've heard of Minnesota State before, you're probably remembering the TV show called Coach. I believe that team was called the Screaming Eagles, while this Minnesota team is called Mavericks.

8 weeks away

The 4 of us leave for Jamaica 8 weeks from today. It sounds so close, but feels so far away!!

Hillsdale College 45-Wayne State 14

I found this website called photofunia-sweet! These are a cuople pics from Saturday's game

Sitting around on a Sunday night

It's Sunday night and we're not getting ready for the beginning of another week-a very weird feeling. I thought I would post an update on Daisy. We have had her for two months now. For the most part she is doing great. There is the occasional accident though.

Dan loves watching The Dog Whisperer on TV and ordered his newest book on how to train a puppy. One of the things that Cesar does to wear a puppy out is to put a stuffed animal on the end of a string so that the pup can chase it. Dan rigged this up to an old fishing pole. Since bulldogs were used to bait bulls Daisy's natural instincts really kick in when she gets to chase the monkey. It is very funny to watch.She usually goes really fast,although on this video clip she looks a bit tired. I was so amused watching her it didn't dawn on me to get the camera until about 20 minutes into her playing, and by that time she was wore out.

TGITh

We have had a crazy couple of weeks at school. The MEAP started last week and one of the requirements of the test is that 90% of the student population has to take it. Well to coincide with that we have been hit by illness in Hillsdale. This week we are averaging 100 students absent per day. This does not make for the best testing environment. To hopefully get over the hump we are closing tomorrow (Friday) and remaining closed through Tuesday. So we have a 5 day weekend. Hopefully after this we can get back to normal.

Chargers are #24 in the D2 rankings!!

Fall color tour

Pictures of Lake Superior-breathtaking!!


This weekend the Hillsdale Chargers played at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. Dan and I took Friday off of work and traveled the 8 hours to the UP. We spent Friday night in Marquette-went to the game on Saturday-and then spent Saturday night in Bay Harbor at the Inn at Bay Harbor. It was a beautiful weekend. The fall color change was fabulous. We ate at a restaurant called the Chop House and had a wonderful meal with exceptional service.


The Superior Dome from the across the bay and Nate and Mark after the game

We enjoyed walking around Lake Superior before Nate's game. We also enjoyed the game at the Superior Dome. Thankfully the Superior Dome is an indoor stadium so we were toasty warm. The Chargers pulled out another win against a ranked team.

After the game we headed back over the bridge towards Bay Harbor. I have always wanted to stay at the Inn at Bay Harbor, so this was a perfect opportunity to do so. I was telling all the other football parents that we were going to act rich for the night. It is definitely not a Motel 6. What I loved about it was the personal service we got. The desk clerk and waiter called us by name throughout our stay. Since Dan's birthday is on Tuesday we were taking a sort of Happy Birthday to you mini-vacation. At dinner the waiter asked us if we were celebrating anything special and I mentioned that it was Dan's birthday. After dinner he brought over a card with a $25.00 gift certificate to the spa-with no expiration. And since we are definitely planning on going back one of us will use the spa treat.


The Inn at Bay Harbor and Dan walking along Lake Michigan


One of the more tense moments for me came when we were crossing over the bridge to the UP. I happened to be driving at the time. And for those of you who know me you know that bridges and I do not really get along. Holy Cow was I nervous. I was squeezing the steering wheel so tight I thought my knuckles were going to break through my skin. At one point I was wishing I was a horse so I could have one of those side blinder things on. Well after what felt like an eternity I successfully made it.

Who's #1??

Yesterday Hillsdale College took on Grand Valley State (#1 team in the Country)for their homecoming game. I will admit I was not confident that Hillsdale could win. Grand Valley has not lost a league game in over 5 years, and coming off a very disappointing loss last week, it didn't look good for the Chargers. Boy was I wrong. Hillsdale dominated the game-winning 27-24.

While the game was GREAT the company was even better. Al and Sara and the girls came, along with Matt and his friends. To top it off Dan's brother Mike and his wife Judy also made it to the game. The only regulars not in attendance was Busia and Papa. We tailgated before and after the game. One of the other parents set up an awesome sound system so we were rockin' and rollin' to some awesome tunes.



Nate did not play on defense, but he dominated on special teams. He feels he more than contributed to the teams win. I have seen a lot of football games in my tenure as a football mom, but none can compare to this: beautiful weather, wonderful friends and family, and a win that words cannot describe

Rickyisms

The boys got us hooked on this show called Trailer Park Boys. It's a show out of Canada. Very funny. The main character Ricky is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He is always mixing up expressions. For example instead of killing two birds with one stone Ricky would say getting two birds stoned at once. Well, this expression has become common place in the English house. Today I "got two birds stoned at once" when I rode the exercise bike while checking papers.


via videosift.com

The short two minute video is very funny-beware the language is colorful to say the least.

Hillsdale County Fair

Tomorrow is a very big holiday in Hillsdale County -it's Fair Day. Fair Day you ask - well it's the opening day of the Hillsdale County Fair. It's such an important day that all the schools are closed. There is a parade through town that officially opens the parade with bands and fire trucks and farm equipment. You may think this is funny, but for people living in Hillsdale, fair week is sacred.

Dan and I try to go at least once. We usually get dinner, walk around and check out student exhibits - generally animals. We even walk around the midway so that we can see all our students -not doing their homework. It's definitely an experience.

A big win for the Chargers

The Hillsdale Chargers traveled to Ashland University (in Ohio) yesterday. Ashland is ranked 13th in the nation. Hillsdale has not done well on the road the past few years. Well, they went into Ashland's brand new stadium and owned it. Nate was able to play a limited amount on special teams-which was good.

He made the comment last week that this is the first time EVER (since 7th grade)that he has missed playing in a game - with the exception of being red shirted last year. Pretty good for 8 years of football

The final score was Hillsdale 38 Ashland 19. This is a huge win for the Chargers who face another ranked team next week (Findley) and then the #1 ranked team the week after that (Grand Valley).

Thank you Honyack Construction

We were able to save A LOT of money with Dan and Nate doing the roof project this summer. Because of that we have been able to afford some long awaited purchases-all new kitchen appliances. I feel like I've just won The Price is Right.




You will notice on the picture of the stove I did not include the microwave. That's because I did not get a new microwave. Ours is still good and I couldn't see spending the money to get a new one. Well now that all the new appliances match, the microwave looks out of place. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we break down to buy one that matches. Even Dan agrees that we should upgrade, and he generally never cares about looks.

Things I love about fall

It generally takes me a bit to actually like fall. For about 2 weeks after we cover the pool, I miss summer. Well after this weekend I now love fall. Here are some of the reasons why...

Flannel sheets
Cooking with the crock pot
Jeans and sweatshirts
Mums on the front porch
Football
Closed toe shoes-don't have to be as diligent about the pedicures
Turning on the fireplace with my morning coffee

reality check

I have a poem on my desk with a line that reads, "Who is closer to 40 than 30." this is from a poem I wrote when I started teaching. Today a student read the poem and questioned, "Are you really closer to 40?" I had to sadly say that I am now closer to 50 than 40.

They were still very nice and said I looked good for my age. I'm sure some of them only say that because they think it will help their grade.

I thought I was organized

For the last-I don't know how many years-I have been busy with multiple levels of football. This year with Dan not coaching and Matt not playing I thought it would be a little easier. I was wrong.

On Friday I planned to work out, get dinner made, cut the grass, and go shopping for the ONE tailgate on Saturday. Out of that list of things I got two done: ate dinner-which I picked up and I went to the grocery store-at 9:00 at night.

How come last year I could go to the Friday night high school game and have everything ready for two college football games on Saturday?

Puppy update

We've had Daisy about a week and a half. Things are going well.
Butch is tolerating her.
She has figured out that it's in her best interest to leave Butch alone.
She's not getting up on her hind legs to try to get on the furniture
She stopped trying to bite our toes.
She likes being in her crate to sleep.

Those are the positives. The negatives are:
She still likes to pee on the rug
She doesn't like wet grass, so in the morning it's very difficult to get her to take care of business.
She's a very light sleeper, so any noise wakes her up.

A birthday of ups and downs

Nate's birthday started out great. Lots of family came to Hillsdale to watch him play. He was doing great until the middle of the second quarter. On a play Nate got hit and went down wrong on his ankle.

I knew it must be bad when he didn't get up right away. When they finally got him to the sidelines and Dan and I got close enough to talk to him and the trainer-he told us it felt like his foot was detached from the rest of his body.

Earlier this year one if his teammates actually did have a break in his leg that detached his lower calf and foot from the rest of his body. And for all football players and football parents, that is one of the biggest fears.

At half time Nate went into the locker room to be evaluated by the team doctor. When he returned for the second half he was wearing a walking boot to help keep the swelling down. After the game (a BIG win for the Chargers) Dan took Nate to the hospital for an X-ray.

We had big plans for a "Happy Birthday To You" for Nate after the game. After a while everyone did get back into the festive mood and we had a lovely afternoon and evening.

Nate goes for injury check later today and will hopefully have some information about his injury. One of the bad things about having a child 21 is that you are no longer the "go to" person when it comes to their personal health and welfare-they are. I'm sure if Nate's injury was anything more serious than a sprain the trainer would have already called him.

Interesting Fact:
Allen wrote in Nate's card that he was 21 when Nate was born. We started calculating about how old people will be when so and so is 21. Here's a good one. Nate will be 40 when Neil is 21!!!

From Vertical to Horizontal

Tomorrow is the day that every 20 year old looks forward to-the day they turn 21. Today in the mail Nate got his new license. Tomorrow he goes from the vertical license for those drivers under 21 to the horizontal license for those drivers over 21. Eventhough he is a grown a** man, he's still my baby.

Hometown boys

This photo is from one of the other mom's camera. She takes way better pictures than I do-even if I would have remembered my camera. In this pic you can see #99-Drew Berebe. Next to him is #52-Nate. And to the very right is #1-Joe Vear. All three of these young men went to Hillsdale High School and played football together. What are the odds that they would be playing on the same college team and be on the field at the same time? Pretty impressive I think.

If you want to see more Charger photos - click here

What a nice day for a football game

The weather was a bit on the cool side, but with the sun shining in the sky the breeze was manageable. Now that Nate is a junior, (sophomore status in football) he knows it time to prove himself. He did a very nice job yesterday. A few weeks ago he was moved to the middle linebacker, and so far is sharing the duties with with his friend David Baker. His stats looked good. He was credited with three tackies one TFL (tackle for a loss). On one play the ball was tipped by another Hillsdale player and Nate ALMOST intercepted the ball.

At the end of the game the final score was Hillsdale 37-St. Joseph 7.

After the game Nate was able to come over to the tailgate and sing Sto Lat to Ben. Brian did take lots of pictures, but I forgot my camera. So if you want to see pictures from the game go to Brian and Heather's blog. I was able to find a video of the Charger fight song. You can see and hear Nate #52

Find more videos like this on Chargerblue Space

Next weeks game is a home game and Nate's birthday. Gametime is 12:00.

End of summer

Well, summer is officially over. Dan and I return to work on Tuesday and this weekend is the first weekend of football. We leave tonight for Rensselaer Indiana to watch Nate's team play tomorrow. We are very excited about doing the parent thing. For years high school football has come first; now that Dan is not coaching we can be like all the other parents.

Busia and Papa, Brian and Ben, and Megan are coming to watch the Chargers play St. Joes. Good luck to the Hornets tonight and good luck to the Chargers tomorrow afternoon.

Newest addition to the family

I'm sure that title got your attention. No we are not adding a child to the family. We added another dog. For as long as I have known Dan he has always wanted a Bulldog. We weren't looking to add another dog, but a situation similar to when we got Butch(rescue)presented itself.

Daisy is the newest member of the English family. She is 14 weeks old. So far in the 3 hours that she has been here things are going well. Dan is in heaven.

We have known for about a week that we were getting this dog. When we told the boys of the newest addition Nathan thought we were adopting a baby. I'm sure you can imagine his relief when he found out he was getting a puppy sister and not a baby sister.

Our dog is Nuts!!

Dan has been reading up on dogs this past week. One of the things he read was how dogs shouldn't be fed from plastic bowls because the plastic taste can penetrate into the food. Being the good dog owners that we are, we went to the pet store and bought two new aluminum bowls, throwing the plastic ones in the trash cans.

This morning when Dan got up with Butch he put the dog food in the shiny new bowl and then came back to bed. As we were lying there (at 5:00 am) we heard something coming from the garage. Dan went out and found Butch standing there staring at his food bowl. Not wanting the dog to get the better of us, he came in the house, leaving Butch to figure out that the food is the same, the bowl is just different.

As soon as the garage door shut, Butch started barking. Then the barking turned to whining, then the whining turned into crying. And yes, Dan did go outside and fish the plastic bowl out of the garbage. Once the food was transferred to the "bad" bowl Butch was a happy dog again.

As of today these are a few of Butch's quirks:
Hides under the bed when there is thunder or lightning

Won't walk on the kitchen floor

Runs away when I get baking sheets out of the cupboard

Jumps when the phone rings

Won't walk across the basement floor by himself - if he is in the TV room he'll stay there until we walk him safely across the basement