Thursday, April 22, 2010

Three Homeruns and We Missed Them All!

It has been a crazy, busy week! Tuesday I took off of work early so that we could head out to Atlanta. Jordan and the Albertville High School Marching Band had a wonderful opportunity to play their half-time show in the outfield before the Braves game. It was all part of their fundraising efforts to support their trip to Pasadena at the end of the year for the Tournament of Roses parade. Here's a picture of them getting ready to play.
We were having a bite to eat at the time, so I could only get a picture from the back, but it is still pretty awesome, don't you think?  If you look to the far left, Jordan is the second person standing there.  He is dressed in all black, and he has his legs spread out. He said that walking out on that field was an awesome experience.  They weren't allowed to move around in their formations, but that didn't matter.  They sounded great!  The president of the Tournament of Roses parade accompanied the band to Atlanta, and he was honored to get to throw out the first pitch. 

The game lacked a lot of action, and the Braves were losing 3-0 against the Philadelphia Phillies.  During the bottom of the 9th inning, we decided to begin making our way down to the bottom and towards the car.  Unfortunately for us, we missed seeing 3 Braves homeruns and seeing them get he win.  Just our luck.  But, I'm glad that they were able to win it.  I guess we had jinxed them sitting there watching.  That's what I keep telling myself, anyway!  My boys were almost sick about it, because we could hear the commotion each time there was a homerun, but we just didn't get to SEE it!  So, maybe we will get another opportunity to go back soon. 

I'm still recovering from that late night out.  We got home around 12:15 a.m., and I went to work the next day.  I've been going full-speed ever since.  I'm hoping I can get rested up soon, but it's looking like a busy weekend, as well.  So now, I leave you with one last picture of the band performing. 

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Cancer: Such an Ugly Word

It's a beautiful Saturday morning in Northeast Alabama. I love Saturdays.  They just give me a chance to catch my breath after a busy week at work.  Yesterday, our school kicked off the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life fundraiser.  There was a balloon release, a fun run, and one of our assistant principals had to kiss a pig!  It's too bad that they cheated by kissing a cute little baby pig.  I would've kiss that little darling!  We raised a lot of money for the cure for cancer. 

Cancer has affected so many lives and families.  It seems that you hear about someone almost everyday that you know that has cancer.  It's good, though, that cancer is not the all-condemning word that it once was.  There are so many survivors now, and that is due to research that our contributions make to these wonderful organizations.  I have had two very close members of my family that have had to fight cancer, recently.  First, there was my mom.  About 3 years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was scary when she first told me.  The reality really stuck me.  Even though you hear about people you know who have been diagnosed, it really hits home when it is someone so close to you.  Fortunately, a mastectomy and 2 years later, my mom is still cancer free.  She never had to go through chemo.  That is another thing that hits hard.  Going through chemo is often so hard on a person.  I saw this when my father-in-law was diagnosed with bladder cancer about a year and a half ago.  He was a real trooper, and most days, he acted like it didn't even bother him.  But, you could tell how tired it made him.  He ended his treatment with a few rounds of radiation.  Just last year he got the wonderful news that he was cancer free! 

I'm so glad that my mom and my father-in-law are among the survivors of cancer.  There are so many who have not survived.  I have not had to experience that first-hand like so many others have.  I have heard their stories, and it is an awful experience to have to endure, just to watch a loved one lose their battle with cancer.  It is often a slow, cruel ending. 

So, today I would like to dedicate this post to all those who have fought the battle of cancer and won, but even more so, to those who fought and lost their battle, and to those who didn't have the strength to fight.

God bless you all...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

She's Growing Up

Millie was 5 months old on 4/10!  Can you believe it?  I never dreamed there could be such a sweet little thing as she.  I get to see her about once a week.  She smiles a lot, laughs sometimes, and makes little noises like she's trying to talk.  Justin said the other day that she was whining, and it sounded just like she said "Grannnnnnda".  I know she's still a bit young for that, but we can pretend, right?

Friday, April 9, 2010

Things His Kids Will Never Know #1 - Rainbows

My oldest son, Justin, (yes, Millie's daddy) has been on a mission to make sure that things that he remembers does not become obsolete.  He occasionally writes "notes" in his Facebook profile titled, "Things My Kid Will Never Know."  Well, I have decided to post some of those notes on here so that you can see the humor and creativity of Justin.  Please forgive any curse words.  I will edit any that may be too offensive, but most of the posts are just funny.  Some were written before his marriage and the baby, such as the one that follows. So, here we go.  The first one is titled...

Things My Kids Will Never Know #1 - Rainbows
by Justin Rowell
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 10:26pm


Alright, so...

In my childhood, rainbows totally kicked a#% cause they were easy to draw/color and they looked neat-o when you did it. It was always an awesome thing when you're riding in the car with your parents and they were like "Hey look, a rainbow!" and you'd look out the window and be all like "WOW! How's that work! It's awesome!" And then [depending on your religious faith] your parents would tell you that the rainbow was God's promise to never flood the Earth again...or something like that.

Nowadays it's different. Somewhere, some dumb-a, either gay or straight figured "Hey, rainbows would be cool to symbolize gay people!" If I EVER run across the a-hole who came up with that idea, I'll probably kick his free-thinking a#%.

I mean get this, a thing we thought was awesome in childhood now symbolizes something that we don't really want our kids to be exposed to. And it's not that I'm against gay people, it's just that my kid will never know what a rainbow used to stand for. :( But as a one-day-in-the-future parent, I'm going to chronicle these things and teach my child the truth.

And thus begins my "Things My Kid Will Never Know" expose. There's quite a few things my kid won't know, but I'll only be discussing the ones that are super significant; such as how the Doritos logo changed, and how apparently dinosaurs had feathers. It's gonna be a tough road to follow, but somebody's gotta do it...might as well be me.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

A Yellow Story

Pollen!  I know it's important.  I watched A Bee Story.  But, dang!  Does it have to be so hard on us humans?!  This time of the year use to not bother me, but I can tell I'm getting older.  It seems that I have developed some allergies to all the yellow particles floating through the air.  I had not had a cold all winter.  (I can say that now because it's already Spring. I didn't want to jinx myself before.)  Now I have the itchy throat and runny nose that comes with the season.  I have heard that if one eats honey that was produced locally, one can tame the allergic reations to pollen.  So, I'm on a quest to find some of this "magic" honey...either that or Zyrtek, I've heard, works especially well.  But, oh!  How I love Spring!  I've been waiting so long for these gorgeous days that we've been having.  It has been just beautiful.
So, now I leave you with a great picture. Happy Spring!