Finished Shopping, Santa

Well, I took the day off work. It was a justified reason, Glaciermom had a doctor's appointment, and I went so that she didn't have to worry about Glacierbaby during her visit. After the visit, we made sure to hit the mall so that Glacierbaby got to have his 1st picture with Santa taken. Much to our surprise, he was quite alert and not fussy at all. (You see, he had just woken up from his nap, which usually means a crying baby for a 5 minutes or so.)

I managed to finish most of my Christmas shopping last Sunday, but picked up one item for Glaciermom today. However, we finally finished the bulk of Glacierbaby's Christmas presents. Of course, he'll be getting a few after Christmas. I don't think he'll mind.

I know the posts are few and far between. I guess that is to somewhat expected. Both Glaciermom and I are finally getting into a routine. Have a safe and happy holiday's everyone. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a few holiday pictures during Christmas break.

Holiday Cheer!

As promised, here are a couple of pictures taken of our outdoor holiday decorations. Hopefully after Christmas, I'll be able to find some bargains for more decorations that I'll be able to put up next year!

Glacierbaby at 3 weeks (approximately)

Glacierbaby turned 3 weeks old last Sunday. Here are pictures around this time.

Glacierbaby and Santana

Glacierbaby and Santana are already well on their way to becoming good friends.

Tummy Time

Glacierbaby at about 3 weeks. It's tummy time!

New Name, Darn Cold

I've decided to change my name to fit me a little better. So instead of going by glacierman, I've decided to change it to, glacierdad. I know it is drastic, but hopefully people will not be confused.

On a different note, last night's overnight low was around -10 Fahrenheit. At about 7 pm yesterday, the thermometer read -14 Fahrenheit. Of course this was without factoring in the wind. Yesterday we we pretty still, but this morning I woke up to gusts of 40 mph, with wind speeds usually around 15 mph. Factor in the wind chill and you're looking at temperatures from -13 F to -39 F. Now that's cold.

Later I'm going to post glacierbaby pictures.

Glacierman need sleep, badly

Well, the Thanksgiving Holiday is over. Now it's time for Christmas. Last Friday, I managed to put up all our Christmas Decorations. I think I may have been the first one in town to do so. There was one other family that had their decorations up Friday, but I finish by 2 pm. I think the other family finished around 5 pm. I was very lucky, as to the fact that Friday, the daytime temperature was around 45 degrees. The next day, we had snow. Through previous experience, I know putting up decorations in snow is not fun.

Glacierbaby is doing quite well. I have yet to post pictures due to lack of sleep/time. We do have several pictures, I just haven't had time to get them off the camera. He is now almost 8 pounds, and over 20.5 inches. It is really neat to watch him develop a little more each day. He is smiling more, and a few of which are not nearly reflexive. We still can't get him to sleep in his crib or bassinet for more than 30 minutes, however he can spend up to 2 or 3 hours in his swing or car seat. If he could sleep in his crib, then glaciermom and I could actually sleep together. Instead I take the late night shift and glaciermom takes the early morning shift. This way, I get a some continuous sleep before going to work.

On a more fun note, I am totally getting into NBC's Heroes. Of course, I do love superhero movies and TV shows. It is of course fun to try to figure out who the bad guy is, how they got their powers, what it all means, etc. However, what initially drew me to the show was that it was about the genesis of superhero powers, and how the individuals learn to control and deal with them.

On a less fun note, I still haven't finished reading Robin Hobb's Assassin's Quest. I still only have 100 pages or so, but due to a lack of sleep, I just haven't had the energy to read. Hopefully I'll finish by Christmas.

Glacierbaby(boy) Arrives!

Yup, Glacierbaby arrived on Sunday, November 5th, 2006 ay 10:20 a.m.. He was 7 pounds and 19 1/2 inches long. All of us are doing well, albeit a little tired. I would write more, but obviously have other things to do. I will hopefully have more pictures in a week or so.

Sub plans, candy, cold, elk & loss

It's less than two weeks away from the anticipated due date for glacierbaby! We are both getting very, very excited. Staff members, family, and friends have all sent clothing or gift cards to help us out which we are very grateful for. Right now, both my wife and I are trying to get our "sub" plans for when we will be gone. She will be taking a full 3 months off, and I will be taking off 1 week at the beginning. The problem with my plans is that I have no idea when the sub will be needed. As a result, I can't just say "Lecture on Kinetic and Potential Energy". Most because in a rural area, the sub you get isn't qualified to teach most upper level classes. As a result, I've combed the video library (and purchased a few new ones) that the sub will show during my week absence.

I think now the hardest part is waiting. On the plus side, this has given me some time to try to finish my book.

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Yesterday we had approximately 35 trick-or-treaters come to our house. Very exciting. However none of them wanted to do a trick, and when they told me to do one, they didn't like my invisible guess the card trick. At least I tried to do a trick.

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It has been very cold these last few days. Yesterday and today it is only supposed to be in the mid 30's. On Sunday Night/Monday morning, the low was 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit. These last few nights, lows have been around 10 degrees. I guess winter is coming.

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We got some bad news last night after the kids stopped visiting. We received a phone call at about 9 pm last night that informed us our head custodian at school had had a heart attack and died. He and his family have been apart of our small community for quite some time. Obviously it came as quite a shock, and all of us are upset. He did die doing something he loved. At the time of the heart attack, he was skinning an elk he had just shot. He always talked about the elk that would "hang out" on his property. Last night, he saw an elk on his property, and proceeded to shoot it (out his kitchen window). Granted it took 10 shots and 3 guns, but he got it.

School has been tough today. Staff and students are upset. Trying to maintain a routine is tough, but we're getting through it. My wife being the counselor has been very busy the last two days. Yesterday she had to deal with a student that wanted to drop out of school and proceeded to be very difficult (and was quite angry when his mother showed up). I guess the school didn't want to give her a very easy last two weeks.

More Snow (and Mud!)

Well, it has been snowing for over a day now. I don't know what I think of the snow. It sure does look nice and all, but in 2 days, it is going to be 60 degrees again. You know what that means, mud. The puppy will get muddy, our shoes will be muddy, cars muddy, etc. The town we live in only has a few paved streets and our yards are pretty much dirt and weeds, so mud is inevitable.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a little more frequently, as today is the last day of the Junior High Volleyball Season. That means, I'm almost done coaching!!!!

Hopefully it quits snowing here really soon. My parents are coming for the upcoming Teacher Convention, and I really would like for them to have some decent roads. Plus, they are bringing their dog as well. I guess if he gets too muddy, he'll be staying in the garage. (He's a much bigger dog than our dog.)

Guess what, Volleyball is keeping me busy!

Well, I have only 3 practices left and 3 matches left in the current Junior High Volleyball season. My 5th/6th grade team has one 2 matches (out of 8). I'm quite pleased, because as I had stated earlier, they are playing 7th grade teams. The 7th/8th grade team now has 2 losses on the season (but 10 wins). They are playing quite well. In fact, the 8th grade girls want to challenge the High School C squad. I personally think they could beat the C squad. Hopefully we'll be able to get it into the schedule.

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It's about 4 weeks until glacierbaby arrives. In the mean time, I've started to get lesson plans ready for the time I will be taking off. I plan on taking off about 5 days or so during/after the baby is born. Right now, I've decided that both Biology and Advanced Biology will stop in the middle of what-ever chapter they are working on when we go into labor. During the "week" that I'll be gone, I've decided that both classes are going to study the human reproducitve biology chapter. Should be lots of fun (and embarassement!)

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They turned the boiler on the other day. Today, my classroom temperature has been hovering around 85 degrees, even with the window open. Hopefully it won't get much warmer!

Lots of little things

Grrrbear reported today on his blog that they had received some snow. Yesterday we had also gotten some snow, and it really made a mess of things. No, the snow didn't cause many accidents, power outages, etc. It really made a mess because most of our streets, parking lots, and yards are just dirt or gravel. Yup, lots and lots of mud yesterday.

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I have no idea what is going on with the cat. Last week I took him to the vet because I thought he had a urinary tract infection. I was right. So he's been on meds for the last week, and things were getting better. Then yesterday, he started acting odd again. This morning he puked 4 separate times. Funny thing about a cat puking, I can here it no matter where I am in the house.

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It looks like I'm a Detroit Tigers Fan now. After the Twins got the boot from the post-season, I've decided to root for Detroit. Although I'm not opposed to Billy Beane winning (in fact, I would like to see his team do well, it might shut up all those pundits that say he can't win in the post season), I just like Detroit better. Personally, I'm rooting for a Mets/Tigers World Series. Its not that I'm a big Mets fan, its just that I don't like the Cardinals at all (plus, my mother is a Padres fan.)

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The folks are showing up next week. It just so happens that all of us (folks, wife, me) are school employees (or retired school employees) and happen to be going to the MEA-MFT convention. It will give us an opportunity to hang out, and more importantly, stock up on Baby Gear. In fact, next Friday, the school where my wife and I work are going to hold a couples/baby shower for glacierbaby. Hopefully we snag some good loot.

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Well, Halloween is around the corner. Last weekend I finished putting up a few more lights. We purchased a really cool set from Target the other day. I really like the purple/orange/green combinaton for most Halloween light sets.

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I did purchase X-Men III: The Last Stand. Although entertaining, it was not nearly as good as the first 2 X-men movies. I thought they did a good job of casting Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McKoy (The Beast), but I would have loved to have seen many more of the mutants. I'm also not a big fan of what they did to some of the more prominant X-men (like kill them!)

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Only 300 pages or so until I finish Robin Hobb's last book in the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Quest.) So far, it is my favorite of the 3 books. Hopefully I can finish it before glacierbaby arrives!

Playoffs, Heroes, ramblings

I really can't believe it. The MN Twins have made the playoffs. They have played great baseball the last 4 months, but even more incredibly, the Chicago White Sox have caved more than Carlsbad Caverns. I guess that it wasn't to be unexpected, they barely hung on last year when the Cleveland Indians were trying to get into the playoffs (they too caved, but let's face it, we all knew they weren't going to make it.) The playoffs are less than a week away, and it seems as if we will be playing the Yankees. Time to get out my Yankees Toilet Paper!

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I'm told if your into TV shows like Lost, 24, the 4400, you would probably like NBC's Heroes. Well, I've watched a total of 2 Lost episodes, 4 or 6 24 episodes, and none of the 4400. However, I do love superheroes. So far, the pilot episode doesn't disappoint. Personally, my favorite is Hiro, and his new found ability to manipulate space/time. Very cool. The tempo was a bit slow, but basically, all they had time to do is introduce all the characters and set up a basic story line. (Scientist dies, son goes to NYC to find research, bunch of superheroes start showing up, bad guy involved.) Yup, pretty basic story. I almost think of this as X-men light.

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By the way X3: Last Stand is coming out next Tuesday. It was on my list to watch this summer, but we never got around to it. Anyway, it looked cool, and a bunch of my students loved it. (Some even saw it 4 times in the theatre.)

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The MN Vikings have come down to Earth and lost a game. No shocker. However, I really didn't think that the Chicago Bears are as good as they had been hyped.

More on Volleyball, Class Size, Homecoming

Well, my volleyball team is doing well. The little girls (grades 5 & 6) have been playing matches against 7th grade teams, and doing well. Granted, they haven't won a game yet, but they are not losing games by more than 10 points, and in many cases only lose by 2 or 4.

On the other hand, my 7th and 8th grade team is now 5-1, with our only loss coming in our 1st match. In fact, the 8th grade team has been cruising past opponents (that is, until I change things later this week.)

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Our sophomore class is too large. The rooms in this school were designed to hold 15 students (some times comfortably, sometimes not.) This class has 20. It makes teaching very difficult when we are all packed together like sardines.

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Homecoming is next week. The theme, Pirate Fiesta!

Cool Weather, Twins, Vikings, Books

Well, the weather has cooled off quite a bit. Last week at this time, we were near 90 degrees each day. Now, if we get to 60, it is quite the warm spell. On the plus side, the cooler weather (plus rain) has helped fight the wild fires. Now the debate is, do we turn on the heat?

Funny thing about the cooler weather is our driving conditions. Actually, in the morning we often have the heat on (not quite full blast), and on some days (like yesterday), we will have to put the A/C on for our return trip home.

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The MN Vikings have won their first two games. This weekend they will play the Chicago Bears. Personally, I think the first two games were a fluke. (In fact, we should have lost the game against Carolina, except they made a bonehead move, and we had to use trickery to get the ball in the end zone. Personally, I don't think that bodes well for upcoming games.) But despite the two wins, I'm still a Vikings Fan. Although I'm seriously thinking of becoming a Colts fan instead. They have my favorite head coach (Dungy) and favorite player (Peyton Manning.)

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Well, as of right now, the Twins are 1/2 game out of the Division Lead. And with the Tigers slumping (or at least the Tigers and White Sox beating each other up), we may be able to take the division lead. I've read somewhere that the Twins magic number is 8. I'm actually hoping that we do get the division, that way we don't have to play the Yankees first thing. (Plus, the A's are a much better team, and why not get the hard team out of the way first!)

The weird thing about last week's games is that our only starting pitcher not to get a win was Johan Santana. Of course, he did get a no decision. I must say that our rookie pitchers are definitely taking up the slack for the injured Liriano and Radke. Also, Silva has finally started pitching like he did last year. Last game we saw, his sinker ball was finally sinking, and he was getting ground ball outs. If, in his next start, I start seeing fly ball outs, I know he is going to get the loss.

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I haven't talked about books recently. Well, I'm in the last book of a trilogy written by Robin Hobb. If you are into well thought-out characters, fantasy, intrigue, deception, you would definitely like the Farseer Trilogy. The books are Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest. But be warned, the first book starts our really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really slow. In fact, almost all the action takes place in the final 100 pages (of a 500 page book.) If you get through the book, it is really worth it for the final two. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish the book before the baby is born. There are two more trilogies after this one, The Liveship Traders, and the Tawny Man Trilogy. Both of which I want to read.

After the baby is born, The next books on my agenda are Dan Simmons Ilium and Olympos. I really loved his Hyperion and Endymion series, and am hoping for another well thought out and written book.

Also on my list (and already in the my library as well) is L.E. Modesitt Jr's Ordermaster, the sequel to Wellspring of Chaos.

Wildfires - They make me sick!

O.k., so if you haven't heard, most of South-Central Montana is on fire.

Earlier this month, the Derby fire managed to burn over 200,000 acres. Now the Jungle Fire is up to 20,000 acres, and in danger of burning celebrities homes. (Of course, this made news!). Anyway, we have been getting ash and smoke for days. I think it is finally catching up with me. Basically it feels as if I'm having a bad allergy attack, which really sucks. My 24 hour medicine is working overload, and by noon, I really want to pop another pill. Of course, then I get distracted by work, and when I remember again, it's time for work.

Hopefully the cooler weather coming (it's supposed to be only 49 degrees on Saturday), will help with these fires! I really don't like feeling nauseous, stuffy, head-achey all the time.

Where hava all the diaper bags gone?

So, in our baby gear buying craze, one item we simply cannot find is the essential, diaper bag. You would think that they would be easy to find. We have walked all around several stores, and I simply think that diaper bags do not exist. Of course, we have found 1 (yes, just 1) in Wal-mart. And of course, it probably only holds 3 diapers, and a bottle (yup, it is really, really tiny.)

Of course, we could order one off Amazon. But, I would rather actually handle the diaper bag before purchasing it. Seeing all the cool little pockets and accessories.

Also, I had read somewhere that Dad's should have their own diaper bag for the kid (Supposedly to encourage the dad to help, but I think it really is so that the Dad's don't mess up the mom's bag). So, looking at various bags on the Internet, I think I want a backpack style bag, much like this one. It looks very cool, and its got Velcro pockets. Is it practical and useful. I doubt it. But it sure looks cool.

Keeping busy with volleyball

Well, volleyball again seems to be eating my spare time. I do enjoy the sport, and working the girls, however it just eats up time. In fact, all of Friday afternoon, all I did was volleyball work. Even though I was supposed to be "teaching", I infact had to get ready for games. (O.k., so I only had to give a test, and supervise a study hall, but if I did indeed have to teach, it might not have been done with the best quality instruction.

Well, so far my volleyball team is doing well. We had a triangular this past weekend and kicked some tooshie. My 7th/8th grade team played two 8th grade teams. When playing just my 8th graders, we really kicked butt. When playing primarily 7th graders, we still won, although it was a bit harder. At the same time the 7th/8th graders were playing, I also had a team of 5th/6th graders playing teams of 7th graders. Although my younger athletes lost, the didn't lose by more than 10 points, and almost beat the host school (they lost by 2 in the final game.)

School continues to go well. Today we had a big set back in Physics. It seems that my Juniors and Seniors have difficulty writing the equation for a straight line. Yup, they couldn't figure out the slope, or put it in y-intercept form. (y=mx+b). I was absolutely appalled. So tomorrow we are going to go over today's assignment in class. Hopefully this doesn't happen all year in physics.

Baby Stuff, Discussion of a division title, crushing dreams

Well, we are less than 2 months away from the baby's arrival. As a result we've been in the mood of acquiring baby gear. So far, we've purchased the crib, the changing table, and the stroller/car seat. Just yesterday, we took an "emergency" trip into town to purchase more items. Yup, target had a baby sale. And since one of the items was a big ticket item (i.e., no rain check) we decided to head into town and get them. So we picked up a "play yard", and one other item.

The actual reason for the trip was to pick up a breast pump. Taking j-vo's and several lactation consultant's advice we went with the Medela New Pump In Style Original Breast Pump. Great part was that it was over 10% off!

I must say, I really do like going into town and buying baby gear. (In actuality, my favorite part is putting all the stuff together.)

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I must hand it to the MN Twins. I thought for sure that they would not even be in the Playoff Race. Then they started doing better and next thing you know, they are leading the wild card race. But after this 4 game series with Detroit, they are only 2 games back of the division title. considering they had the crappiest of all starts. (O.k., not the crappiest, but really, really bad.) Am I too optimistic in thinking we actually have a chance at the division title. Considering that Detroit might actually be having one of the biggest collapses in recent sports history, I think a division title IS possible.

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So, tonight is the night for football. Yup, the Vikings play tonight. I say tonight is the football night because tonight, is when my Superbowl dreams for the Vikings will be crushed. Oh, the Vikings might win tonight and give me false hope that this season will be different, but I know better. Yup, win or lose, the Vikings will toy with being great, but ultimately succumb to sub-par play. Or the Vikings will show the world how mediocre they are, but then have a second half rally, only to come up short again. And if they do happen to make the playoffs, I know for certain it will be one and done.

At least I can still have fun during football season rooting for Peyton Manning, and enjoying all those Peyton Manning commercials.

I beta watch out

Ok, so the title is a really, really bad pun. Anyway, I've "upgraded" to the new Blogger, which is of course in Beta. So hopefully this won't crash, screw up my blogs, or anything of that nature.

I'm very tired right now. Work has me stressed. I probably lost 2 hours of sleep just dreaming about volleyball.

Anyway, its now September. That means only one more month of baseball this year. And with the MN Twins surprising people by actually being in the wild card race, September could be quite interesting. Of course, after this weekend, they may not be in the race anymore (Yup, we are visiting Yankee Stadium).

The weather has cooled off considerably. On Wednesday, it was well over 95 degrees. Now, we might not even make 70. I woke up this morning and the temperature was 39.1 degrees. Brrrr.... But don't fret, by Monday, we will be in the mid-80's again.

Of course, this is labor day weekend, so we have a few things planned. Tomorrow, we are going to go into town. I think we will purchase a few groceries. However, the main goal will be to buy mrs. glacierman some more work clothes. If we have time, we may look at some vehicles as well.

Well, I need to get my stuff together for tonight's volleyball game. Just one last thing ...

Go Twins!!!!!!

Volleyball

So, I think I'm feeling a bit stressed. Hopefully, I'll get the hang of this volleyball think soon. I wouldn't have thought that having taken a year off, I would have been this disorganized. (Of course, I could have been this disorganized, and just not have realized it.)

Anyway, we play our first game of the season later today. And with only 3 practices under our belt, I'm pretty sure we ....

There are 24 girls in Junior High Volleyball this year, the most I've ever had. Only one coach (me), no managers, and no other adults (except for the bus driver for away games). I don't know about you, but working with 24 girls, ages 10 to 15, can be extremely challenging if you don't have back-up. At least for this trip, I've asked another teacher to help. Hopefully, she'll be able to watch some of the girls, when I'm not able to. (Not to mention, check the locker room!)

Well, I do think I'm ready. I have rosters, line-ups, parental sign out sheets, lists, bus lists, uniforms for girls that forgot them the other day, kneepads, money, etc. Of course, I haven't done much school-work today. That's the problem, I either spend my all my time with coaching duties, or I actually teach. Can't really do both at the same time.

Classes, Volleyball, NHS & NJHS

Well, it's Monday! And guess what that means. Yup, first day of junior high volleyball practice. I've been told that I will have approximately 25 girls in volleyball this year. (I've also been told that if there are a lot of girls, they will hire an assistant coach to help me. Only 4 years too late!)

Today's classes are mainly going to have notes. Although Life Science (7th grade), had a class meeting (the sponsor is my wife) to elect officers. Biology (10th grade, the class I sponsor) will also have a class meeting to elect officer and discuss fundraising activities. Notes however have been much easier since I purchased a new mouse for the computer. The computer and projector are at the back of the room, and I really don't like lecturing to the back of heads. The mouse, Logitech V200 in red, is really sweet. It has a range of 30 feet which is more than enough, and it fits in the palm of my hand. Hopefully this will help with notes.

Wednesday is Honor Society Inductions. Hopefully it will go ok.

Start of a New (School) Year, baseball update, baby update

Yes, as reported on the other site, the new school year has started. Actually, as I teacher, I had to start last Friday (Aug. 18), but today was the first day for students.

It was a fun day, but man am I tired now!

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Baseball update: MN Twins make ground in AL Wildcard race. Woo hoo!!!! Can the twins make the playoffs. Personally, I don't think so, although I would love to see it happen. With Liriano out, I don't know if the starting rotation will be able to keep pace with the White Sox (if they even can hold together themselves.) Radke has basically got a bum throwing arm, Santana apparently has blisters on the throwing hand, who knows what is going on with Silva, etc. If they start gettting too banged up, I would hope they don't do something stupid just to make the wild card.

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Baby Update: I purchased glacierbaby's first big items last thursday (yup, the day before school started). I purchased the crib, changing table, and stroller/car seat. Plus, I got them all put together on the same day. I must say, putting the stroller together was more difficult than I had originally thought it would be. The easiest to put together was the crib. Anyway, there is now a layer of aluminum foil on the crib mattress (in the crib). I had read somewhere that the foil is a pretty good deterent for cats. The jump in, but don't like the sound/texture/etc. of the foil and never jump in again. Who knows if it works?

First Day of School

Well today is the first day of school!!!!!

The students are pretty excited. I'm excited. Still trying to get mentally organized though.

It is supposed to get to 97 degrees today, so school will be warm.

Only negative, the superintendent was supposed to go through the handbook with the students in our morning assembly. Instead, he made the teacher's go through it, which screwed up my plans for first period.

Anyway, its good to be back at school.

Glacierbaby

Well, I know some of you out there have been expecting these pictures for awhile now. I didn't get them scanned until a few days ago ... but here there are. Yup, the most recent Ultrasound pictures of glacierbaby (formerly "squirmy"). I've also included the 3-d picture, even though it is a bit difficult to see the baby! Remember to click on the picture for a larger version. Enjoy!

80 at 8

It's going to be a hot one today. At 8 o'clock this morning it was already 80 degrees. Supposedly it is going to get into the mid-90's today. However, I don't buy it because they said the same thing yesterday, and we registered 102 degrees. Somehow I don't think 102 is mid-90's.

View from the new place!

As the title states, this is the view from the front of the duplex. From the front we can see probably three-fourths of the town (Although, you can only see about 1/2 of the town from this picture!) If you look carefully, you can see a house we almost purchased, it's the dark blue one! Kinda like a "Green Acre's" scenario, except without the pig.

Duplex - Bedrooms

These two pictures are of the master bedroom (the one with the large window), and the second bedroom. One thing we like about this "new" place is the over-abundance of closets. Our current living situation has only 1 closet in the entire house. The duplex has at least 5 closet/pantries that I can think of. (Each closet is of a good size too!)

More pictures - Inside the Duplex

So, now for inside pictures. Pictured here are the living area, kitchen, and dining area. Note the lovely carpeting!

It's official, we're moving!

Yup, you heard it. We are moving sometime next month. With my wife getting a job in the same school that I work in, we no longer need to live half-way between our two (previous) jobs. We had been looking for either a house to buy or a place to rent in the same town (or neighboring town 15 miles away) so that we would not need to commute 1 hour each way. This weekend we found a small rental duplex that we will be moving into. Pictures on this post are of the front and back. Also is included is a picture from a distance. Click the picture for a bigger view.

20 weeks yesterday

Yesterday was the half way point of the pregnancy! So, I've decided to post a picture of the progress! Time flies when you're pregnant.

Now this is progress!

So, this is where the state of the office is presently. Compared to how we started, this is real progress. The rug has been cleaned 3 times (and could probably be cleaned 2 more times). The particle board has been taken off the inside windows, and there is a fresh coat of paint. So, now we can start putting sorted stuff back in.

Oh no! Even more crap!

O.k., so the following pictures are just of us sorting the college catalogs and admissions material. Sadly I snapped the pictures too late for we had already sorted (and purged) all of the Montana post-secondary school info. We probably have only kept 1/3 of the material that we brought into my classroom. It took nearly 1/2 an hour to move just the already sorted college stuff into my room.

But wait, there's more

Yup, the previous pictures are of the mostly empty office! The pictures of this post are of the "crap" we pulled out of the office. Most of the "junk" in the hallway is of videos, curricula, counseling files, junk, office equipment, and more junk. Not picture are the 11 (yup, eleven) telephone books that were stashed away in the desk! It took us nearly 2 5 hour days just to pack out the office. Just some other fun tid-bits found:

1. Motivational video feature Walter Payton.
2. Don't do drugs video feature Magic Johnson and Arsenio Hall
3. 20 mostly full pads of sticky notes (at least 5 of which were not opened)
4. 10 unused hall pass packages
5. 1 Arizona State License Plate
6. 1 Key to our vault (which he claimed he did not have)
7. 3 full boxes of paper clips
8. 2 unknown keys on key ring
9. 1 pair orange velour shorts/hot pants
10. 1 hoochie shirt
11. 10 to 20 floppy disks (and I mean floppy, those 5 1/4 inch disks)
12. 1 curriculum he told a teacher he didn't have
13. 15 to 20 bookends (I think they were breeding in the dark recesses of the office)
14. All new college catalogs were in filing cabinets (as opposed to the 10 year old college catalogs that were on the shelves.)

The Last 2 Weeks

Obviously, there have been no posts the last two weeks or so. Well, with my wife's new job (which doesn't officially start until mid-August), there came a price. The price, cleaning the horribly messy office that the previous guidance counselor had. For your viewing pleasure, I've posted pictures of the messy office.

No School, FIFA

Sorry about the lack of updates lately. School ended about one week after the last update, so that week was spent trying to get grades done. After that, I've been spending quite a bit of time in the classroom cleaning it.

Well it is finally World Cup time again. Although I don't follow soccer much, I do love the World Cup. Hopefully a few of my favorite teams will do well this go around. As far as my teams, I would like to see the following teams do well (in preferential order):

1. U.S.A
2. Mexico
3. Argentina
4. Costa Rica
5. Ecuador
6. Paraguay
7. Spain

For all your FIFA World Cup action, try their website. I've found that the website is somewhat easy to navigate. Of interest may be the group standings and points. Only the top 2 teams from each group will make it to elimination play. The United States is in a very difficult group with the Czech Republic, Italy, and Ghana. Mexico's group is slightly less difficult. Group D (Mexico's group) consists of Mexico, Iran, Angola, and Portugal.

Of course, if you're like me, you don't know who the heck is on your favorite team. The FIFA World Cup site has a listing of all the teams participating. If you go here, click on your favorite team to take to your team's website. The rosters are listed under Squad (Or if your team is one of my teams, click on my team above.)

I certainly will enjoy this month. Of course all the matches will be good, but here are the matches I'm looking forward to:

• Monday June 12th - USA vs. Czech Republic (Should be a great game. USA is Ranked 5th in the world by FIFA and the Czech Republic has a world ranking of 2nd.)
• Friday June 16th - Mexico vs. Angola
• Friday June 16th - Argentina vs Serbia & Montengro
• Saturday June 15th - Italy vs USA
• Wednesday June 21st - Portugal vs. Mexico (#7 in the World vs. #4 Mexico)
• Wednesday June 21st - Netherlands vs Argentina
• Thursday June 22nd - Ghana vs USA

Enjoy!

(By the way, the picture is of Mexico's second and deciding goal in today's match vs. Iran. Again, found on the official FIFA World Cup website.)

Boffo on Boof

I haven't blogged about the Twins recently, for good reason. Yup, this is the year we start rebuilding. We just haven't been competitive with teams in our division. Granted, our off-season acquisitions are doing what we expected them to (hit the ball), but our vaunted pitching staff has been struggling. There have been a few good pitching outings, but not many.

Earlier this week Carlos Silva was moved to the bullpen and feisty Francisco Liriano was moved into the rotation. Liriano has been very impressive in his relief appearances. I'm not quite sure of the numbers, but he has pitched around 10 to 20 innings, with a statistical 2 K's per inning. Very impressive.

More recently, with Kyle Loshe pitching badly in his last upteen outings, Gardy had to do something. With the Tigers and White Sox increasing their lead, it has been noted that the Twins cannot afford to have below average pitching. Currently our starting rotation ERA ranks dead last in all of the Majors. As a result of poor pitching, Loshe is casualty number 2 in the pitching rotation. With there being no room in the bullpen for Kyle, Gardy sent him down to AAA Rochester. The move opened up a spot on the starting rotation which will be filled by AAA call-up Boof Bonser. (I believe Boof will be filling in, until he starts to suck. Then I believe his job will go to Matt Guerrier.) Boof was one of the acquisitions made for the A.J. Pierszinski (you know that catcher for the ChiSox).

Whether or not Kyle returns to the Majors in Twins uniform will be determined by his performance in AAA. Personally, I'm now more than certain he will be traded by the deadline. He is making far too much money, and not producing. That can't be sitting well with Gardy and Terry Ryan.

If the losing trend continues, we've also probably seen the last of Torii Hunter in a Twins uniform. If the Twins stay in the division hunt, there is no possible way they can let go of Torii. But if we fall further behind, Terry Ryan has shown that he will trade major talent for prospects. Personally, unless our rotation gets much better, Torii won't be a Twins after this season. He may even be playing in another uniform by the end of the season.

On a more positive note, Michael Cuddyer has solidified his hold of right field by playing decent defense. More importantly though, Cuddyer has finally started to produce consistently at the plate. As long as this continues, he will be our everyday right fielder. Also on a positive note, Rondell White has finally had some better luck at the plate the last week or so. Because I haven't seen many of the games, I don't know what has changed about his plate appearances. I doubt he has done anything as drastic as changed his batting stance, but maybe he has changed his position in the batter's box.

Schedule

Today I took a sneak peak at next year's schedule. Unless something changes, this is what my schedule will be:

1st Period - 7th Grade Life Science
2nd Period - 11th/12th Grade Advanced Biology
3rd Period - 8th Grade Physical Science
4th Period - 11th/12th Grade Physics
5th Period - 10th Grade Biology
Lunch
6th Period - 9th Grade Earth Science
7th Period - Prep
8th Period - Study Hall

Overall not to bad. There is one problem though, I don't like having 7th Period Prep. At our school, we don't have 7th period on Fridays, thus I'm being "shorted" one prep period a week. (Actually, 7th Period is 11 minutes longer than every other period, thus it adds up to the same number of minutes through out the week.)

T1 to T2, TV finales

If the due date holds true, today is the last day of the First Trimester. Tomorrow we start on the Second Trimester. I know my wife is hoping that the nausea subsides a lot this trimester. Very exciting. We are one third of the way through the pregnancy!!!!

So, what sort's of things are happening to little Squirmy. Well mom-to-be claims she's feeling some of Squirmy's movements (flutters). And since we haven't had spicy food, I would reaffirm that it probably is Squirmy moving. Also, according to books and websites, Squirmy is going to be looking more normal. Apparently Squirmy is moving out of the "Alien Stage" into the "little human stage."

On to my reality TV update.

First off, Aras won survivor and rightly so after Terry failed to get immunity on the final challenge. Any reasonable person could guess that Terry was gone if he didn't get immunity. I know I wouldn't take Terry to the Final Two. He dominated the competition, and my Vote would be for Terry. I don't think I've seen a survivor competition in which one player dominated the physical aspect of survivor like Terry did. Congrats to him for the dominating show. Really though, he should have been the winner.

American Idol is back on track after Elliot got the boot yesterday. I know the guy can sing, but there is just something I don't get about the guy. I do know what turns me off though, Paula Abul crying her guts out after every contestant gets voted off. Personally, I think the woman is just nuts (or on drugs or something.) I'm definitely getting tired of her. So the finals will consist of Taylor and Katharine, of which Taylor is by far my favorite. After Chris was voted off last week, Taylor definitely became my favorite. Katharine has a good voice, and holds the stage well, however I see her more on Broadway than making a good pop/idol record.

The season finale of the Amazing Race was well, amazing! The hippies won! Frat boys lost. As I saw it, it was a colossal battle between good (Hippies) and evil (Frat Boys). The final task was well suited for the Race. The contestants had to place the flags of the countries they visited in the order they visited them. Of course, going into the final challenge, the Frat boys were in the lead, but somehow couldn't remember the order of the countries in which they visited. (I also laughed when they were trying to figure out what the flags for the various countries were, and would often look at the Hippies, to see what flags they had selected.) I only wish Ray and Yolanda had a better last leg of the Race. They just couldn't keep up with the two other teams.

Two finales I'm waiting for are Top Chef (on Bravo) and the American Inventor (on ABC). I think I may have missed the Top Chef finale, but I know Bravo will repeat the episode at least a bizillion times. Tonight might be the Finale of American Inventor. The finale four contestants/inventors really have done some neat things. My personal favorite is the man that made a new type of baby seat, that appears to be safer than the more traditional safety seat. The young kid that made a new type of bicycle also deserves some recognition. Although I like the guy that made the new game for learning spelling, somehow I don't see that as new invention. Finally, the guy that developed a new training system to teach kids how to catch a football has a great device, but the market is extremely limited. One thing that my wife and I both noticed is that the final four inventors are minorities. The only thing that would have been better would be seeing a woman in the final four.

It's official, mostly

Unless some unforeseen event happens, I will be the Junior High Volleyball coach next year. I have already told a few girls, and they seem to be excited to have me coach. Right now I'm excited, but I know this will be my LAST time I coach Junior High Volleyball (of course, I said that last year when I turned down the position.) But this time I mean it!

1 Day left for Seniors, Juniors that think they are Seniors, Volleyball

Well, there is just one day left for seniors after today. However, this may not be a good thing as I will be failing one senior for the semester if he does not turn in any "make-up" work. Presently he has earned a whopping 37% in Chemistry. This is the first time in my 6.5 years of teaching here that I have had to give a senior failing marks.

On to the Juniors. Apparently they think they have graduated already. Their homework has mysteriously disappeared (they haven't turned it in), and they have decided they don't need to do well on their tests. All this probably shouldn't surprise me because their attitude the whole year has been like this. If it continues, I wonder how many will have to take a 5th year of high school.

Now on to the more interesting news. Our Superintendent came to me today and said he "needed to talk to me". Uh Oh! Well, it turns out that our present Junior High Volleyball coach (who has only had the position for one season), accepted another volleyball coaching position. Previous to the current coach, I held the position for 5 years. Well, it turns out they want me to fill the position again. I'm definitely going to have to think about it. Part of me really wants to take it (the competitive part and the part that enjoyed teaching the kids volleyball) and part doesn't want the job (all the rest of me.) There is another person that has expressed interest in the position, however she has never played or coached volleyball.

Minor Change to Site

Got rid of the cool little baseball clock. The javascript was slowing down the loading of this site on both my home computer and school computer. Now the home computer is pretty understandable, seeing as how I purchased it in 1997 (not to mention that it is a PII, 233MHz, w/ 128 RAM). And yes, the home computer is our main computer we use when not at work.

Battle Robots & Food-Eating Battle Monkeys

O.k., so is this lame or what? But I found two more "Battle" sites. Try your best, but you can't defeat my Robot or my Rock Eating Laboratory Monkey.

glacierman is a Large Robot that walks on Three Spindly Legs, fires Six-Inch Nails, has a 'Ramming Speed' setting, runs on a Single Watch Battery, and is Here To Protect You. Force: 10 Handling: 5 Weaponry: 2 To see if your Battle Robot can defeat glacierman, enter your name and choose an attack: fights glacierman using Force Handling Weaponry

glacierman is a Rock-Eating Laboratory Monkey ...with a Battle Rating of 7.2 To see if your Food-Eating Battle Monkey can defeat glacierman, enter your name:

Unproductive

Today is the High School District Track meet. As a result, half the high school students are absent.

I have been totally unproductive today from about 11:00 on. One reason, it is well over 80 degrees in the classroom with the windows open.

So, not only am I behind on my lessons (for this time of year), but I also don't have the get-up-and-go to get everything done. Boy am I looking forward to the end of school (both today's school day, and the school year.)

100th post

Wow, this happens to be my official 100th post. As far as quality posts, it is probably just number 10 or so though. So, in honor of this post, try battling me. (Yup, grrrbear found yet another interesting site.) Just so everyone know's, I kicked grrrbear's little arse using "agility". In real-life though, put your money on grrrbear.

To battle me, just type your name in the box below, choose your method of attack, and click "battle". Let the chaos begin!!!

glacierman is a Giant Dragon that has an Extra Head and a Swirly Hypnotic Gaze, and can Leap Great Distances. Strength: 9 Agility: 8 Intelligence: 11 To see if your Giant Battle Monster can defeat glacierman, enter your name and choose an attack: fights glacierman using Strength Agility Intelligence

3 x 10^6, 4, 10, & X

Man, has it really been 2,592,000 seconds since my last post. I swear, I thought I just posted to this blog the other day.

Well, the seniors have 4 days left of school this year. Hopefully, that will be enough time to finish our current Chemistry chapter.

As for the other students, they have about 10 days of school left. Which leads me to one giant conclusion. I am really behind in some classes. Not only am I behind in what I should be teaching, I am behind in grading. I've had a biology test that I need to grade sitting on my desk for the last 5 days.

As far as I'm concerned though, I have probably about another 3 weeks of school, at least. After most teachers check out, I will still be cleaning my room/lab and doing inventory. I have much more equipment than most other teachers, which makes both cleanup and inventory longer.

My other school project will probably take all summer. I have "volunteered" to redesign the school website. The redesign will make it more parent friendly and just plain update it. (Some of the information on the website is for classes that were taught 2 to 3 years ago.)

Hopefully I will get a new post or two in before school lets out. (I can almost guarantee that one post will be about our new school counselor we will have next year.)

New Design

I have decided this blog (and it's sister blog) both needed a face lift. We'll see how long it lasts until I get tired of it (or until I'm tired of reader complaints.)

6x10^5, Jobs and Moving, TV

Ahhh... End of School Year fatigue. Yup, that is the excuse I'm going to use for not posting except once every 604,800 seconds.

Update: My wife recently accepted a position within the school I teach in. Yup, she is going to be the new school counselor. I know she's very excited (as am I.) That definitely makes life a little less stressful with Squirmy on the way. New problem though. We have to move.

So we are in search of a place to stay somewhere in the town where we will be working (or in the neighboring town 14 miles away). The biggest problem is though, the towns we are looking at range in population from 200 people to 100 people. As a result, there really aren't a lot of possibilities to either rent or own. We'll just see what happens.

O.k., so I must comment on American Idol. Chris got the boot yesterday. My wife definitely said this week might produce some shocking results, and it did. Apparently, Chris was NOT everyone's favorite to win.

Now on to my favorite show, The Amazing Race. Finally, MoJo lost. I really, really, really didn't like them. On a plus side, my favorite team B.J. & Tyler (a.k.a., the Hippies) managed to win, and look like they could possibly win the race. I must admit though, everytime I see them, I fully expect them to whip out a Frisbee and start playing some ultimate, folf, or just tossing the 'bee around.

Now, if school just won't hurry up and get done.

Another excuse for the lack of updates

Real Life.

With there being only a few weeks of school left, I've found that I don't have much time for updates.

Nothing really exciting going on. Latest tests show that Squirmy is doing well.

Darn real life (i.e, work)

Squirmy

Yesterday, my wife and I had our first Ultrasound for the upcoming arrival. It was quite exciting. What made it even more neat, was that baby "squirmy" actually cooperated and was in a very good position for viewing. We got a good view of the head, body, legs, heart, brain, nasal bone, fingers, toes, etc. Very, very exciting. So, to share in my excitement, I scanned the ultrasound picture!! Enjoy.

I have dubbed the little one "Squirmy", because when we first saw the picture, both my wife and I got excited. Presumably a shot of adrenaline ran through both of us. And of course, as the adrenaline hit Squirmy, Squirmy began to, well ... , Squirm. In fact, as the nurse was trying to get a good image of the head region, Squirmy's arm/hand moved into view. The arm/hand blocked a good view of the head for a few seconds. Afterwards, we got the prerequisite picture.

Personally, I'm just amazed at what we saw during the ultrasound. Just amazing!

Dad to be stuff ...

Well, I've started telling students and staff at school that I'm a dad-to-be. It has been lots of fun. Some of the students are very, very, very excited. Others do a double or triple take before it sets in. In the mean time, I have some more questions ...

1. When is it too early to by a MN Twins jumper and bib set. Granted, the little one isn't expected until November, so maybe I'll wait to buy the World Series MN Twins merchandise.
2. When they are old enough, what MN Twins jersey do I get them? Joe Mauer seems like a good smart kid. Or do I go for some AAA prospect. Or go customized, with their name on the back. Oh the choices.
   
3. I can't seem to find any, but do they make strollers and baby equipment that has lots of cool gadgets for dad. I know you can get strollers that have music playing in them, but what about ones where you can plug in an IPOD? I really would like one, so I figure if I get a stroller that can accomodate one ...
4. Who thinks minivans are sexy? Looks like I'll be getting one soon. Our vehicles, although in good shape, definitely do not have enough room for us, baby, baby equipment, dog, and dog equipment.
5. How about MN Vikings jumper and bib? It will be November, so the Vikings should be in mid-season form for disappointing us. No sense in trying to protect the little one from that fact. Being a Vikings fan is tough. The MN Vikings will always find a new way to disappoint you.
6. What are the essential baby items needed? Is a swing needed? How about a baby wipes warmer?
7. When can I start buying baby toys?

Oh well, I could probably go on and on and on and on ...

Short Week, Academic Olympics, Quiz Bowl

Yup, the start of another, really messed up week. Of course, the week is shorter by a day and a half, because we get out of school on Thursday, shortly after lunch. But, to top it all off, our school is host a high school academic olympics for area schools. The guy in charge at our school has done a great job of organizing it. He has asked me to help with the quiz bowl. Hmm... I've never really participated in quiz bowl, and another school is supposed to bring all the questions, equipment, etc. So I have no Idea what I'm really to do. Anyway, because space is limited, and we will need the elementary classrooms for events, all elementary and middle school students will be going to the Museum of the Rockies today. Very cool. I wish I were going with them. I love that place.

Looking at Baby Gear

Since finding out that I'm going to be a new dad, I've totally been scouring the 'net looking at all the baby products. Wow! There are a lot of different items out there, some of which I didn't even know existed. (Who would have guessed that they make a warming dispenser for Baby Wipes, and do we need one?)

However, I can't find a good, free, non-biased site that reviews baby products. Oh sure, I've gone to Amazon.com and (similar sites) and looked at user reviews, but we all know about some of those reviews. Now, some of the reviews have been quite handy. For instance, one of the stroller reviews, many many people stated the stroller was much heavier than other models. Ok, good to know, but since I haven't tried out the stroller, I don't know if its too heavy.

Which reminds me, I can't wait to try out most of the cool baby equipment before buying it. Granted, even before we found out we were pregnant, I could be found in the kids/baby department pushing buttons on every piece of equipment I could find, just to see if it really does vibrate or What type of music does it play? But now I have a reason to try the baby equipment!

Problem is, what are the essential items that dads need for the new baby. I've already got new computer and 52" plasma tv on the list, but does anyone know what else I'll need? (Somehow, I don't think anyone will actually buy those two items for me, even if they are on the registry.)

Well, I've spent too much time typing this, which is cutting into my internet browsing/shopping time for baby gear.

Health Update

Well, the doctor confirmed it. I have Couvade Syndrome.

That would explain my fatigue, slight nausea, and other symptoms.

I just want to reassure everyone though, it is not contagious, and definitely not life-threatening.

Hopefully with proper "treatment", most symptoms will disappear by November.

Music Festival, ITBS, Junior High Academic Olympics

What a messed up week.

To start things off, we had Monday off. I guess it was our spring break (or something like that.) Anyway, Tuesday, was district Music Festival, and let me count the number of students present during the day:

• Earth Science: 1 out 18
• Chemistry: 6 out of 14
• Life Science: 8 out 15
• Physical Science: 5 out of 11
• Biology: 2 out of 12
• Study Hall: 9 out of 19
• Advanced Biology: 3 out of 4

So as you can gather, not much got accomplished that day.

So, now on to Wednesday. Wednesday we started taking the ITBS (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills). All morning I was testing 9th graders. So no actual classroom work done. In the afternoon, I just had study hall, and Advanced Biology.

Today, we are finishing ITBS tests and will have a "normal" schedule in the afternoon. By normal, we are going to have the first three periods. So, for the past 2 days I will not be teaching ANY physical science to 8th graders, and the past 3 days there will be no biology.

BUT WAIT ... IT GETS BETTER

You see, tomorrow is Junior High Academic Olympics, and all 7th and 8th grade students will be participating. Essentially, that means another day with no 8th grade students.

So, how much educating have I done this week, well not much. I really can't introduce too much new material, and trying to find enough review material to fill in the next two weeks will be difficult.

Next Week's Schedule:

• Monday: Normal Day (if that really exists)
• Tuesday: No Junior High or Elementary Students Present due to High School Academic Olympics (no teaching that day)
• Wednesday: Normal Day
• Thursday: Early Out for Easter Vacation.

Next Week is almost as messed up as this week.

And now for something completely different

Monkeys with snowballs!!!!

I should be grading papers ... but I'm so far behind

It's Friday, and I'm exhausted. I've had a fairly productive day, up until about 11:15 or so. That's when I just lost steam. So, instead of grading papers or doing something else productive (cleaning lab), I've just been sitting at the desk, thinking about all the ways I could be productive, without actually being productive.

Classes have actually been going well. However, now that 4th quarter is upon us, I'm starting to freak out a bit. Yup, I haven't covered nearly enough material the past three quarters. So, now I'm trying to figure out how to get "caught-up", but without going to fast. About the only class that is actually on track is Earth Science, and I think I'm actually ahead of schedule.

So here's what we are presently studying in my classes, and what I still need to cover, in 9 weeks. (And because of track, Easter, and other activities, it's more like 7 1/2 weeks.)

Earth Science

• Currently studying

Chapter 9 - The Atmosphere.

• Still Need Cover

Chapter 10 - Weather
Astronomy

(So this isn't that bad. I think I can spend 6 weeks talking covering astronomy. I will probably need 2 weeks alone just to cover the planets.)

Chemistry

• Currently Studying

Chapter 13 - Molecular Structure (Which we finished today.)

• Still Need To Cover

Chapter 14 - Polar Molecules
Chapter 21 - Solutions
Chapter 24 - Acids, Bases, & Salts
Chapter 30 - Classes of Organic Compounds

(Not quite too bad. Although I probably won't have time to cover chapter 30, I should have enough time to get through acids and bases.)

Life Science

• Currently Studying

Chapter 11 - Simple Animals

• Still Need to Cover

Chapter 12 - Complex Invertebrates
Chapter 13 - Vertebrates
Chapter 14 - Heredity
Chapter 15 - Animal Behavior

(Well, I still have about 1/3 of simple animals to cover. Animal behavior will definitely not happen this year, unless I really rush through vertebrates.)

Physical Science

• Currently Studying

Chapter 11 - Chemical Bonds

• Still Need to Cover

Chapter 12 - Elements & Their Properties
Chapter 13 - Organic & Biological Compounds
Chapter 18 - Waves & Sound
Chapter 19 - Light
Chapter 20 - Mirrors & Lenses

(Well, it looks like I'm going to have to eliminate chapters 12 and 13 this year so that I have enough time to get through waves and light. I guess if there is enough time at the end of the year, I can go back to chapter 12. Perhaps I'll just assign a group of elements to a student and they will have to do a powerpoint on it. Only if there is time ...)

Biology

• Currently Studying

Chapter 30 - Arthropods

• Still Need to Cover

Chapter 31 - Chordates
Chapter 32 - Fish
Chapter 33 - Amphibians
Chapter 9 - Basis of Heredity
Chapter 10 - Chromosomes & Genes
Chapter 11 - Human Inheritance
Chapter 12 - Applications of Genetics

(Crap that looks like a lot to cover. Well, it looks like Fish are OUT. I'll have to cover Chordates in about a week. Then I'll cover Chapter 9 in detail. After that, I'll combine chapters 10, 11, and 12 into one. Hmmm... I guess that would be the condensed version.)

Advanced Biology

• Currently Studying

Chapter 15 - The Intestines and Other Digestive Organs

• Still Need to Cover

Chapter 20 - Blood
Fetal Pig Dissection

(Overall, not too bad of shape. Past years have showen that the pig dissection takes about 4 weeks to do properly. So, it looks like I'll have enough time.)

WBC, Idol, Race, Trump

You know, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday could be my favorite days of Television.

I managed to watch the first 5 innings of the WBC championship game between Cuba and Japan. After watching, I realized that I am a big fan of Japanese baseball. I love the way the approach the game. Very disciplined. While hitting, they just try to put the ball in play. The Cuban/American style is much more of a power game, that for me, is not just that interesting. So, why the heck am I an AL fan, where the power game is stressed (by using a DH)? Anyway, Ichiro is still my favorite player in the MLB.

Right now my favorite on winning American Idol is Chris. I actually agree with Simon most of the time in his assessment of Chris. Almost every Chris performance you could "hear" on the radio. Mandeesa (sp?), is a close second in my book. Last night she just belted out her song, and may have been the best won of the evening. After that, I just don't know. I do like Taylor a lot, but I don't think he'll make it into the top 2, maybe top 5 though. I just wish "Chicken Little" would get voted off.

Well, the Amazing Race is now in Germany. I must say, those two hippie/surfer guys are really growing on me. They not only are having fun, but also are helping out other teams.

As far as the Apprentice, no one candidate has stuck out as one I like. Yes, a few are real pains, but I can't see any one of those people working for Trump. I must admit though, I'm having lots of fun watching Lenny argue with his team.

Science Expo, 4th Quarter

Today is the start of the 4th quarter. So, you know what that means, Grades are due on Wednesday. Luckily for me, I'm pretty much caught up on all my grading (pretty much responsible for my lack of posts the last 2 weeks or so).

Since the quarter has started, I feel I need a change. I think that one of these afternoons this week, I'm going to rearrange my classroom. I think the students would appreciate a change.

Last Friday was the Billings Deaconess Research Clinic Science Expo. Essentially it is the Eastern Montana Regional Science Fair. Anyway, I took 5 students from the school, 3 6th graders and 2 7th graders. I believe they had lots of fun. They didn't win any awards, but I do hope they enjoyed themselves. The highlight of the fair had to have been the full size T-Rex skeleton. I'm assuming it was not the real thing (too valuable), but a casting or a replica of some sort.

Lastly, there is another ski trip scheduled. Yup one week from today (March 27th). I don't think the students need 2 ski trips in a school year.

Yet another quick post

Quick post. Yes, I'm still alive, but boy am I tired.

Last week turned out to be busier than I thought it would be. I didn't have nearly the time at work or home to post as much as I wanted. My wife has been battling some nasty cough, which has just zapped her strength. As a result, most of the household duties had fallen to me when she couldn't help out.

Just a couple quick thoughts:

Boy, those national broadcasters (you know who they are), that thought the mid-major conferences didn't belong in the tournament, sure were wrong. Missouri Valley Conference has 2 in the sweet 16, and the big 10, none. I love it when the "experts" are wrong.

Montana won their first NCAA tournament game in 31 years! Yup, they beat the Nevada Wolfpack. It sure was a great game to listen to on the radio. To bad the game against Boston College didn't have the same outcome. However, the Grizzlies did play well. Good job Griz!!!

As my wife has told me many times (and now I'm telling you), the people that went and saw some of the opening round games were treated to some awesome ones. Granted there were some blowouts, but most of the games were competitive. Many of the games even came down to the last few seconds.

Switching gears, when is Chicken Little (don't remember his actual name), going to get the boot on American Idol. Not my favorite (That would have to be Chris and Taylor!)

How 'bout them hippie/surfer guys on the Amazing Race. They're kinda growing on me.

Lastly, there is a new episode of "How I met your mother" on CBS tonight. Boy I can't wait!!!

The day before Pi Day!

Just an interesting tidbit of information. My mother and mother-in-law have the same birthday. Yup, today is their birthday!!!!!


Happy Birthday to my very special mothers!

Winter Time?

Ok, so after a week that started out in the mid to upper 50's, today it's snowing and probably won't be above 32 degrees. Gotta love it! Let's hope the Tulips are going to do ok.

Spring Time?

I can't believe it. The Tulips are coming up!!!!!! It's not even the March 15th yet. This is just freaky.

Twins Infield

Wow! Two posts in two days.

As promised, here is my rundown of the infield this year.

Catcher
Coming off a good year last year, Joe Mauer should be just as good, if not better this year. Offensively, he hasn't shown us the power that most have expected, but I anticipate that in the upcoming seasons that will improve. He is a very good hitter, often working the pitch count to his advantage. Most believe that he will still hit in the #3 slot, and unless he forgets how to hit, this is where I would anticipate him to be all season. Defensively he is very solid. The only question mark, still, are his knees. Gardy will keep him fresh behind the plate by giving him an occasional break by allowing him to DH. Also, after one full season, I believe he will have even better chemistry with the starting pitching and relievers. (Although to be fair, I thought he had great chemistry with them last season.)

Redmond will again be backing up Joe this year. Not quite the hitter that Mauer is, he is solid behind the plate. His experience in the majors should also help, as he may continue to play a "mentoring" role for Joe.

1st Base
No surprise here, but Justin Morneau will be our starting 1st baseman this year again. Last year was disappointing, mainly because offensively he couldn't get on track. The lack of offensive productivity from Justin was probably due to the fact that in the off season he suffered many ailments. With a much healthier off season, his numbers should improve. Most experts have him batting in the 6th slot. Defensively he is not quite at the level of his predecessor at first base (Doug Meintkiewicz), but his skills have been improving greatly.

2nd Base
In the off season, the Twins traded for Marlins 2nd Baseman, Luis Castillo. A multiple gold glove winner, defensively the Twins improved greatly at 2nd base. Last year, you might never know who would be playing 2nd base. The season started with Luis Rivas, then Punto, the failed experiment with Bret Boone, Cuddyer, Luis Rodriguez, etc. Offensively, Castillo is slated to hit in the 2nd slot initially. This may seem a little uncharacteristic for someone that is a genuine base stealer, but Shannon Stewart's OBP and ability to have long, productive at-bats will keep Castillo in that 2nd slot. The only concern about Castillo is that he has had some injury problems that past few seasons.

Short Stop
Jason Bartlett will again resume the role when the season begins. In his rookie season, Bartlett showed many that he could play at the Major league level, and at the same time, was a rookie. With one season under his belt, Bartlett should be much improved defensively, which is exactly what the Twins expect of him. Offensively, what ever numbers he produces will be considered a bonus for the Twins. Last year he showed at times a great eye, but overall was impatient. His offense (and defense) improved after a brief move down to AAA. This year he will be hitting in the 8 or 9 slot.

3rd Base
Michael Cuddyer will no longer be playing 3rd base this season. The Twin's 1 year experiment with him at 3rd could be considered a failure. In the off season, the Twins acquired Tony Batista. Batista, after a season in Japan, has returned to the Major League in a Twins uniform. Defensively he is solid at 3rd, although not spectacular. No one is quite sure of his conditioning, and that combined with his age could mean a less mobile body playing at 3rd. However, his experience should negate any affects of his aging body (or playing Cuddyer) at 3rd. Reports out of spring training though have Batista reporting in 20 lbs. over his ideal playing weight, reinforcing many people's belief that he is not Major League shape, yet. I'm not quite sold on Batista at 3rd, but I will admit that he is a major improvement from last year's experiment.

Overall thought of the infield
The Twins should be improved this year in the infield, however there are questions. 1) Will Batista be in Major League shape at the start of the season? 2) Will Bartlett be improved this season? 3) Can Morneau regain his offensive capabilities that he showed off in his rookie season (2004)? 4) Will Castillo stay healthy? 5) Mauer's Knees?

The Twins are improved in the infield, but is it enough to play ball with the ChiSox and Cleveland?

Twins Rotation

What has it been, like 4 to 6 weeks since I've posted. Shame on me. I wish I had some exciting excuse, but sadly no. Just work and real life taking time away from blogging. Oh well.

So, in honor of the late Kirby Puckett, I'm going to preview the 2006 MN Twins for you. (For a bit of what we've all been feeling about losing Mr. Puckett, check out grrrbear's post. His post about sums it up.

Rotation:

The Twins probably have one of the best rotations in baseball. #1, #2, and #3 could all easily be an opening day starter on any competitive team. This year the unquestioned #1 is Johan Santana. Last year, he followed up his Cy Young performance by being every bit as dominant. He did have a few problems early in the season as the pitching coaches were mucking with his mechanics. Why change his mechanics? Well, apparently some hitters thought he was tipping his pitches.

Brad Radke will be the number 2 guy. Hopefully his should is better, and with better run support should easily win 5 to 10 more games than last year. Although his velocity is stellar, it is good. However, when talking about Radke, you must mention control. The man can pitch to any part of the plate almost any time. With Radke it's just a matter of stamina (for the season) and not getting hurt. Oh, at individual at bats, it helps if he gets ahead of the batter. Of course, he only throws something like 90% first strike pitches.

#3 this year will still be Carlos Silva. Silva has probably been the best acquisition the Twins have made in recent years. Last year, he averaged something like .9 walks per 9 innings pitched, which is unbelievable. Again, he was injured last year, and hopefully should improve.

Kyle Loshe will continue to pitch in the 4th spot, until he is traded. Yup, you heard it here. I think Loshey will be traded. He and Gardy have had their run-ins, and frankly, after the 2002 season, he just hasn't performed like the Twins have wanted him to. However last year was an improvement. He lowered his ERA by 1.5 to a career low, and with more run support would have won 15 or more games. Why the turn around in ERA? Well, the pitching coaches had Kyle focus on 3 pitches. Prior to the 2005 season, Kyle was trying to perfect 5 different pitches. The most noticable loss was his 4 seam fast ball. By focusing on fewer pitches, they have been able to get Loshey to work the plate more. Although he is one of my favorites, he won't be playing in a Twins uniform at season's end.

Now the Number 5 spot. So, the Twins did not resign Joe Mays. Mays had a less than stellar return from Tommy John's surgery. Hopefully he'll do well for the Royals (at least, that's where I think he went.) With the 5 spot open, I predict it will go to the young Scott Baker. Many have their money on the exciting lefty, Francisco Liriano. I think Liriano still needs to improve a bit before being given the 5th spot. Baker on the other hand proved to me (and many others) that he can pitch at the Major League level. In his starts, he always was composed, even when teams where getting hits off him. Should Liriano be on the opening day roster, I would envision his role as that of a reliever. Many compare him to Santana, so I wouldn't think it out of the ordinary if they used the methods on Liriano as they did with Santana. Start in the bullpen, then move in as a starter.

Well, the next post I'll focus on the much different (can I say it, improved?) infield.