The countdown begins

Matt came home yesterday to get the truck. He starts finals this week, and will be home on Friday. Nate, upon hearing that Matt was coming home, decided to come home to do some laundry. Dan and I are always happy to have the boys home, so we cooked a big rib dinner - or as Nate likes to call them-dead pig.

They are so funny, we do nothing but laught at dinner. It's obvious by looking at how the two of them interact with one another, they really are best friends. but I'm sure if you asked them if they were each other's best friend they would both deny it.

Nate did inform us that he met with a nutritionist to help him put weight on (I wish I had that problem. This person gave Nate tons of stuff to help him gain wait properly and safely. Is goal is to eat 4200 calories a day when he comes home. Dan and I are used to eating less than half that, shopping for him should pove interesting.

Gina Relays

The Gina Relays are a huge track and field event at Hillsdale College. This was the first time this season that Nate has been able to throw, due to football. He did not compete in the shot put. He has a sore thumb-from what Dan tells me a very common injury for linebackers. This injury prevents him from holding the shot properly so Nate's only event was the Discus. He did pretty well considering he only had 3 days worth of practice. He ended up with a throw of 44.17 meters. This translates to just under 145 feet-which was Nate's goal. So, all in all, he was happy with that.

Dan had a blast. There were a lot of his old high school athletes competing. Anna throws for Hope College and threw before Nate so we were able to watch her. She graduates next week so this is one of the final meets of her career. Brandon threw the Javelin. While Brandon is generally a sprinter, he is learning and loving the Jav. I was able to watch him throw a few in practice-I don't know what I'm looking for, but I was impressed. Andrew and Kyle stopped by to watch Nate throw.

I loved watching Dan interact with these wonderful young men and women. It is obvious that they respect all the time he put into their athletic training. They definately consider him more than a coach; they consider him a friend. It was very heartwarming to see, especially the part of the day when they were all looking for tutles in the swampy grass. Boys will be boys, no matter how old they are.

I found this really cool photo editing program called photoscape. That's how I was able to merge so many pics together. Just what I need-something else to waste time on.

End of Spring Ball

Nate ended spring ball this past Sunday afternoon. It was such a beautiful day on Saturday, yet so dissapointing on Sunday when we sat there in winter coats. For the most part Nate stayed injury free: a sprained ankle, tendanitis in his elbow, and a messed up thumb. You may be thinking - that's not injury free.

Well, one of Nate's friend was taken to the hospital because he fractured both bones in his shin. He had surgery on Monday and again on Thursday. They're saying he will be good to go in the fall. As he was laying on the field after the injury his shin was at a right angle. It was so gross to look at. For those of you who can't picture what this looks like look up Joe Theisman fracture on UTube.

What's in a name

One of my friends at work sent me a link to a newspaper article entitled if the name fits. I think my name fits-Mrs. English teaches English. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't asked to be part of the article. Here is a list of people who have jobs that fit their names

ZOE HAMBURGER the McDonald's account handler
TANNER the leather worker
FROM THE FILES OF I.M. SHY
GOLDMAN the jeweler
ART the artist
CAROL MOELLER the dental hygienist
SONG the music teacher
DR. HERTZ the pain manager

Sick of taking classes

I am finishing up a class-19th century British Lit. I have one last paper due this Wednesday. I'm comparing the writings of Charles Dickens' Hard Times with American writers of the same time period. I find books that deal with the struggles of the common man during the Industrial Revolution fascinating. This is definitely my favorite time period/topic to study. I need to get a 8-10 page paper out of it. The research is done; I just need to put pen to paper.

I'm not taking any classes this summer. With the two classes I took last summer and the classes I've taken this school year, I'm ready for a break. I'm actually looking forward to being at home with Dan. This will be the first summer in a long time that he will not have to run off to cover the weight room in the morning or go to football meetings during the day.


He has already tilled the garden in preparation for planting. Not only are we doing the normal stuff: tomatoes, peppers, beans, and carrots, Dan has tilled an area for corn. I guess 23 years in the country is starting to rub off on us. We are now starting to grow our own food; who knows maybe eventually we will be raising and killing our own meat.

Easter weekend

We had a very busy weekend. Of course, we did not work on Friday, but we had to shop, clean and cook for the holiday weekend. On Saturday we went to Dan's mom's house. Not a very big crowd-only around 15 people. It was very relaxing.


On Sunday my family came out. Norm and Joan, Al, Sarah and the girls, Patty and Bill. And the boys, of course. We started the day as we usually do, finding eggs that Busia and Papa brought. Matt and Nate hid the eggs for the girls outside, while Busia hid our eggs inside. I don't understand how we could all be in the house when she hides the eggs and it still take us forever to find them. I guess we like to talk too much.


Even Butch got an Easter treat. He got one of the leftover bones from the ham that we cooked. That kept him busy most of the day.

For dinner we had to eat in two separate areas. Grown-ups were at the dining room table and the kids were in the basement. Matt and Nate were troopers eating with the girls downstairs. They thought it was so cool that their big cousins would actually spend time with them.


After dinner we broke out the cards. There was a card game going in the dining room and the Masters going on in the living room.

Patty made a very flattering comment. She said, "Isn't it great when you can get together with people who like to laugh and have fun." We did have fun, and we do like to laugh.

I think everyone had a good time. No one went home hungry. And as my mother always says. If they go home hungry it's their own fault.

April Showers-snow showers that is

Today was suppose to be our first day back to school-following spring break. We awoke at 5:00 am to 7 inches of snow. Needless to say we have no school today, thus extending our spring break.

As I looked out the window I saw a strange sight. A duck waddling around in the the front yard. Dan has seen the duck before; he thinks that maybe there is a nest somewhere in the tall grass. I just thought it was funny to see a duck walking around in the snow.

Rockwell Exhibit

Again, since we didn't go away for spring break we're trying to find interesting things to do. We ventured to Detroit today, and went to the Norman Rockwell Exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The morning started out with a meeting at Siena Heights with my professor. NBD.

After that we went to Busia and Papa's for lunch. Nothing tastes better than a free lunch that I didn't have to prepare.


Then we went downtown to the exhibit. It was wonderful. To see so many of Norman Rockwell's works in one place, really put it into perspective how committed to his craft he was. My favorite picture is the family going on an outing and then returning from the outing. I love how their facial expressions say it all.
Dan's favorite is the couple applying for a marriage license. Matter of fact, before we were married he actually bought me this print.

It was a bit disappointing however. The DIA closed at 4:00. I never thought to look at the hours - but 4:00 come on. We really didn't have as much time as we would have liked. But it was still a very enjoyable day.