Rest in Peace



photo credit

 "They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach."

Joe, you made Penn State a better university in so many ways.  Thank you for never forgetting that your players were students first, and athletes second.  And thank you for your personal contributions to the university.  Your memory will live forever, both as a football legend and as a great Penn Stater.

Doing Something

Both the PSU and 'Bama games start at 8:00 tonight, so Scott and I are going to leave the house today and do something. We just haven't decided what. We're both a little sore from our little furniture moving party* so I'm not sure I'm up for anything that involves walking a million miles in the heat.

Movie? Mall? IKEA? I know for sure we're going grocery shopping, but we haven't made any plans beyond that.

I hear my stand mixer going... I guess I should go find out what's for breakfast. My money is on biscuits.

* Our one-year house warranty expires this month, so we brought up a laundry list of little broken things that needed to be fixed. The sink faucet in the upstairs guest bath now has full pressure, the cosmetic cracks have been caulked, there are baseboards on the landings of the staircase that weren't there before, and the painter who did the baseboards was nice enough to run around with a bucket of paint and touch up some scratches and dings.

Last but not least, the horribly squeaky floors in our hallway, master bedroom, office, and stairs have been eliminated (again) (for now). But in order for us to make that happen, we had to move all of the bedroom and office furniture into the cats' room and move the cat box into the bathroom (and then the hallway). It was actually fun in a weird way, and now that everything is put back together, the upstairs is actually neat and tidy.

Silver Lining

Well, Penn State lost. By a lot. But I went in expecting Alabama to score way more than 24 points. I'll take the moral victory! Not every cloud has a silver lining, but some have rainbows. I won't complain.

Elphie won't complain, either. She's had a great day of sunbeams and cuddling and trying to kill her brothers. No matter how big she gets, she'll always be my tiny baby girl.

1-0 and 1-0

Coming off of wins for both Penn State and Alabama yesterday, Scott and I have one week to bask in our undefeated seasons.

One week only.

Next Saturday is Footballageddon as Penn State travels to Alabama. Two teams enter, one team leaves.

Too many movie references? Sorry. For now, I'm high on a win and enjoying it while I still can.

Thanks for Asking

We are, in fact, ready for some football!


More on the NCAA Football 2010 season tomorrow.

Halftime

I'm watching the Super Bowl. OK, I'm mostly watching the commercials, but it's turned into a pretty good game. I decided that I most certainly did not need to watch The Who perform during halftime, mostly because I knew I needed to put something up here.

I have a great weather-related bird picture to share, but not until I have more time to edit and upload it. Maybe after the game?

If you're looking for me in the next two hours, I'll be that lump between the sofa and the green fuzzy blanket.

She Believes She Can Fly

Note: Five minutes after I left the living room, Alabama scored their first touchdown of the game. I fear this means I won't be allowed back in front of the TV for the rest of the NCAA Football season. Also? Go Penn State!

We tried to clean out the kitchen pantry/closet combo today. It didn't go nearly as well as our previous unless-you-need-it-or-REALLY-want-it-you-throw-it-away cleaning sessions. The small pantry was full of things that we need, or that we want to attempt to sell or give away, and it really felt like we pulled it all out and then put it all back in. I did manage to wrap a box full of glasses in newspaper. So hey - one box packed!

The larger closet is the Home of Christmas, which basically made it my mess to clean up. On the bright side, we finally got all of Christmas put away (shameful secret: up until this morning, our Christmas wreath and my Advent calendar were still hanging on the walls). I also did some cathartic throwing away - Christmas ornaments that had been purged from my Dad's collection by the WSM and "gifted" to me. Every time I saw the boxes, I got angry. And now I'll never see them again. Somehow that works for me.

While I was sitting in the midst of piles of boxes, Elphie was doing her manic run around the apartment, jumping on as many boxes as possible. At one point, her little flying squirrel trick fell short of her aim. How short? Well, one of her back feet landed on my left forearm. I ended up with two scratches - one superficial scratch about 3" long, and another that was about 2" long and much deeper. And I had one of those moments, looking down at a little mock-up of the Grand Canyon on my arm and knowing it was about to fill with blood. And it did. Yes, I washed it. Yes, I used soap. Yes, I slathered it with Neosporin and covered it with one of those giant knee-sized bandages.

After that (and the previously unmentioned broken thumbnail on the same side), my cleaning mojo was gone. We did what we set out to do, but it just wasn't as fun this time. Next week we both have two days off - the same days even! - so we'll have a day for fun and a day for gutting work. And maybe some more actual packing. I enjoy that part too.

Welcome to 2009

It's a good thing I didn't make a New Year's Resolution to do a blog post every day, huh?

I took yesterday off from work so that I could watch Penn State play in the Rose Bowl. And yes, we lost, but the 4th quarter was great. Had our team woken up in perhaps the 3rd quarter, they could have pulled out an upset. Either way, I did have fun watching the game. I also enjoyed watching the Rose Parade in the morning.

About halfway through watching the game, I realized that I wasn't feeling too well. And what started as a stuffy nose had quickly morphed into post-nasal drip and a sore throat.

This morning, after about 10 hours of sleep, I awoke with post-nasal drip and an extremely sore throat. It hurt to swallow. Now that I'm awake and have gargled some hot shower water, I'm feeling slightly more human. I'm not talking, though I'm pretty sure I could if I had to. I haven't decided which combination of drugs I should take to get me through the day, since calling in would cause me to lose my holiday pay.

So that's how I ushered in the new year - 1 1/2 DVDs of West Wing season 1, a parade, some football, and some feeling sorry for myself. Anyone else have a better story?

Quote of the Day

(from espn.com)

On Tuesday's Big Ten media call, Paterno gave a rare acknowledgment of his age.

"I know nobody's immortal, but I thought I was the exception," said the coach, attributing the quote to Tennessee Williams. The reference sailed past his audience of sportswriters, many of whom wracked their brains to recall if Williams coached at Tennessee or merely played there.

Coming Up Roses

Penn State is the 2008 Big Ten Champ and Rose Bowl Bound. That's nice... makes me happy.

Penn State is one last-second field goal from having a perfect season. That's pretty darn good.

Unfortunately, we lost that game to an unranked team. (shakes fist skyward and bellows, "damn you, Iowa!")

And so, we finish our regular season ranked #6 in the AP Poll, #6 is the USA Today/Coaches Poll, and even #7 in the ESPN Fan Poll. Can someone please explain to me why we are #8 in the BCS?

Oh well, let's focus on the positive. And let's send good thoughts to Joe Paterno, who had a hip replacement yesterday. Hopefully next year he'll be back coaching on the field instead of the press box. (side note: who has a scheduled surgery on a Sunday? Paterno does!)

Why? Why? Why?

Here's a screenshot of part of my computer this evening during my lunch break at work. Let's play a guessing game. Who can guess why Jamie might be annoyed (or shocked, disgusted, disgruntled... take your pick) with CNN.com?

If you guessed because the LEAD STORY on the main page is about ticket scalpers dashing the hopes of 10-year-old girls who want to see Hannah Montana (a fictional Disney Channel character) in concert, YOU WIN! What's the matter? Has actual news stopped happening?

Also, I'm quite sad to report that also on the main page is a link to this story, about how my favorite PSU football player has been accused of rape. Please, let it not be so.

(by the way, that story is still the lead on cnn.com as of right now. sheesh!)

Poor Mrs. Bush...

Her husband couldn't even take one day off from ruining - oops, I mean running - the country to be with her while she had surgery.

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And in completely unrelated football news, I was sad to see that Notre Dame scored during Penn State's first possession this afternoon. However, that was the only TD that ND scored, and PSU totally killed them 31-10.

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And in completely unrelated work news, batch #4 of caramel corn has been chocolate drizzled (except where the ziploc bag busted and the chocolate plopped out - there it's pretty much smothered) and is setting up on the stove. I'm looking forward to my contribution to the pot luck.

College Football

I just went to the AOL Sports site to check on Penn State's day yesterday (it's hard for me to track them when they're not in the top 25) and I noticed something very disturbing. Coming into yesterday's games, Rutgers is ranked #16. Rutgers! They were the fluff team Penn State would play every couple of years. Seriously. Rutgers?

Penn State started out pretty dreary, much like the season (don't quote me on this -- I'm not a religious follower of the NCAA -- it's more anecdotal) two years ago when we lost to the fluff teams at the beginning of the season and then beat all the big boys at the end. The boys in blue are 6-3 and I think they'll be able to pull out wins over the next three weeks. Wisconsin is ranked #16, so they'll be a challenge, but after that there's Temple, who is 1-8 and then Michigan State, who is 4-5.

I'm still baffled by the whole Rutgers thing. Who would've thought there would come a day when PSU, FSU, MSU, and Miami were shut out of the Top 25 in favor of Rutgers, West Vigrinia, and Boise State?!? It's a world gone mad, folks!

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Programming Note: My next post will be #300 in this particular incarnation of my blog. Look for something special when I have time to put it together.

Exhaustion

Triple overtime? Who plays a bowl game that lasts into triple overtime? So in case you missed it, Penn State beat Florida State in triple overtime in the Orange Bowl. It was the battle of the insufficient kickers, and ultimately Penn State's kicker got lucky and scored. Of course, there would've been no OT in the first place if FSU's kicker hadn't missed an extra point... or if FSU hadn't given 2 points to Penn State in the form of a safety... or if Penn State's kicker hadn't missed an end-of-regulation FG attempt.

If I leave the house tomorrow, I'll be wearing my Penn State t-shirt with pride.
Note to self: leave house!!!

Anyway, it was a really tight game (obviously), and it lasted for 5 hours. The crazy face-and-body-painted kids in the stands had paint dripping off of them. The bandies all looked sick of the songs. The players really looked like the least tired people in the stadium. I know they'll probably all be sore tomorrow. And although they barely eaked out a win against #22, I'm so glad that they did. Otherwise, it would be hard to show my face at work on Thursday.

Go State!!!

Rose Parade

I'm starting to get the impression that WFTV in Orlando is wanting to end its affiliation with ABC. They declined to show the WDW Christmas Parade this year, opting instead to air it on their independent "sister station" at 5pm Christmas evening. And this morning I woke up to watch the Rose Parade, and I was rather confused because all of the floats were covered with oranges. Yep - they're showing the Citrus Parade (or Capital One Parade...I don't even know what they call it now that it's no longer the Citrus Bowl). And so I am forced to watch the Rose Parade on NBC, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't being hosted by Al Roker.

Apparently I wouldn't be watching the parade at all if Scott were home. The BAMA game (otherwise known as the Cotton Ball...erm Bowl) is on right now at Alabama is actually winning 7-3. And on the subject of football, the Orange Bowl kicks off tomorrow night at 8pm. Any guesses where I'll be? It's Penn State vs Florida State (which roughly translates to me vs my co-workers) -- the battle of the old man coaches -- and Penn State better pull off a great one!