Sunday, October 28, 2007

Movie

Shonda, Anna and I just got back from a movie, Dan, in Real Life. I usual don't say this but I think this one was worth the $5.75 we each paid for it. It was not as funny as Shonda thought it would be, It had its laugh out loud funny, and it had it's teary eyed touching, moments.

I forgot to mention in the last post that Charlie put his trail camera out, we checked it ou for pictures today and he got 39 pictures of weeds blowing in the breeze.

More later j

Technology Woes, Football woes. Movies and books

Not much happened this week. I spent most of the week trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer. I think it got some kind of virus, or spyware (I have McAfee anti- virus program and update it at least every week) but it was really really really slow. It took days to make sure I had everything backed up. then I had to run the recovery disk. It is finally working but It takes a while to get everything re-installed etc.

Friday night football, The Springport Spartans, played at Sand Creek in the first round (pre-districts) of the MHSAA Football playoffs.
The weather was pretty nice for Football, but the game was not so good. Final score Sand Creek 35-Springport 14. Sand Creek has some tall kids on that team, one of them was listed as 6' 10". Spirngport needs to learn how to tackle, not around the waist and shoulders - around the knees and feet guys. On one play a Sand Creek player made 5 yards with 3 Springport players hanging on him. If Springport wants to use a running game they better have some blockers clear some room for their runners.

Cross Country Regionals was Saturday- at Ann Arbor Huron. Anna came in 21st in a field of 85, not bad, but only the top 20 go on to State. Her time was not great 23 minutes or something, It was raining and cold and they had a huge sledding hill.

The Jensen Run is Monday afternoon, with a banquet for that on November 5th. The school fall sports awards is November 8th.

A couple of weeks ago we watched the DVD Wild Hogs, with Tim Allen, John Travolta, William H. Macy and I can't remember the other guy. Oh yeah, Martin Lawrence. Not bad, Charlie, Anna, and I watched the whole thing. It was one of those, where I said, OK, I'm glad I didn't pay $10 to see, (but it would take a lot for me to say it was worth $10 ) but it wasn't bad for $1.00 I paid at the library.

Charlie and Anna wanted to watch a video last night, and Charlie thought Anna would like to see The Gods must be Crazy. About an African Bushman, trying to return a soda bottle to the God's and all of the things going on around him that he doesn't understand. Charlie and Shonda thought that was the funniest movie when they first watched. it about 10 years ago. I watched it with them once, it was OK. I watched about 20 minutes last night and went back to working on the computer. Anna watched about half and decided to go to bed. We have a VHS Copy of that one and The Gods must be Crazy II if anybody wants to borrow them. I don't think you can rent them anymore.

I just finished reading (listening) to a book that Jackson has chosen for the "Big Read" Project in the Spring. Bless Me Ultiama- about a young Catholic, Hispanic boy in New Mexico right after World War II. I really didn't like it. It was about the clashing of cultures- speaking only Spanish at home- English at school, his catholic faith (his mother hoping he would be a priest) vs witch-craft, and paganism, changing cultures. For one thing I couldn't identify with any of it. It was dark, and I did not find it at all enjoyable or uplifting. Ed do you know anything about the story? If you want to try reading maybe you can get something out of it I didn't.

I didn't get any good pictures of fall color but there was an awesome sunset on Tuesday. Got some nice pictures, The sky was purple ( it didn't come out well in the photos) before it turned orange. A beautiful full moon this week too.
Keep on keeping on- JB

Monday, October 22, 2007

Week-end happenings.

I was a real slacker last week, and didn't write anything. and worse yet, I have no excuses, except that not much happened.

I can't even remember what we did last week-end. We did not go to the Springport Union City football game. They lost but only by one touch down. - Oh now I remember, we did one of my favorite things- we went shopping !!! Anna needed a new winter coat.

On Saturday Anna had a cross country meet in Constantine. Then she went to Grand Rapids and spent the night with a friend from Germany. I did laundry and grocery shopping- two of my other favorite things. On Sunday we drove half way to pick her up.

Monday Shonda, Anna and I went to meet baby Benjamin Murphy. What a cutie, even if he did sleep most of the time, except for the few minutes that Shonda feed him.

Tuesday, the 16th, Anna had a Cross Country meet at Homere, she has her best time at 22:40. but finished, I think 11th.

Sometime in there the computer started acting up, it is being really slow and takes for ever to get anything done.

Thursday, I took Anna-Lena and Christina to Charlotte, to shop (yeah) for Charlie's Birthday gifts, one of the first things they stopped to look at was make-up, I had to remind them that we were there looking for something for Charlie. The weather was terrible on the way home. I apparently missed the worst of the storm, the tornado siren went off in Springport about midnight (Friday somebody said it is the first time they remember it going off in 40 years.) I never heard a thing.

Friday, the 19th we went to Bellvue, actually Olivet for the Bellvue-Springport football game. I was afraid we were going to get really wet, but it wasn't too bad. Springport won 31 -10. They played much better than they have the last several weeks and got, what seemed to me, like many fewer fouls. Which means they made it to the play-offs for the second year in a row.

If anybody from Gobles in reading this, Do we have any "Gilberts" on the football team this year? Cecilia says Hi to your exchange student.

Saturday-another Cross Country meet, at Whitmore Lake, Anna- didn't do as well, time wise, but she did finish in the top third and got a medal. Charlie went to a horse clinic up the road, learned a little about who to "de-sensitize" horses, in other words get them to be less afraid of new things and distractions.
We went up to MSU to the Draft horse show on Saturday evening, Saw some awesome looking teams of 6 and 8 huge horses pulling their wagons. How cool. I told Charlie I'd ride in the wagon with him if he ever wanted to compete in that kind of show. (I will try to post some pictures later)

Shonda and Brian came over on Sunday and we had Charlie's Birthday dinner. They bought him a trail cam for his birthday so maybe I will have some deer pictures to post if I ever get the computer to work properly. (I am posting this from work, by the way-shhh!!)

Next week is regionals, I think ours is at Ann-Arbor Huron, not sure if it is Friday or Saturday. Football at Sand Creek Friday at 7:00. I know we used to have some relatives that went to school there, but I don't know if we still do or not.

Leaves are finally getting some nice color, maybe I can get out and get some pictures of those too.

That's all for now -

Ciao, J.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Catching up- Odds and Ends

Photos
I took this first picture- on the left, on the way to Jonesville one evening, couple of weeks ago, The one on the left, I took on the way to work, while waiting at a stop light on airport road.

Football
Springport lost their football game last night, really lost- 44-0.
There was a nice article about the freshman quarter back in the Jackson Paper on Thursday, I was going to put the link in but I can’t find it at Mlive.com, The regular QB got a concussion, his second, and hurt his shoulder in the second game of the season, they brought up a freshman, to replace him instead of taking a couple of the other kids who were doing well in their current positions and leaving holes where they would have been. Nic was doing well.

This was a big game– a chance for the league championship, the first time since 1973- Springport’s record 5-1 overall, 5-0 in the conference. Reading 4-1 in the conference, and Union City 5-0 in the conference. We knew it was going to be a tough came, but this was really really ugly, after Reading’s second touchdown, it was like they just gave up.
The poor quarter back, the whole team was having a terrible night.
Anna-Lena said that one of the kids was so mad about it he pounded something and went home, instead of hitting somebody, but the rest of the team had an Oh, well attitude.
There was a big article in the Citizen Patriot Yesterday (Saturday) too.

They have win at least one of their next games (Union City and Bellevue to make it to the playoffs.)

Cross Country
Anna had a meet on Tuesday at Jonesville and finished well, with a time of 23:15 At the meet this morning in Bellevue, she finished 8th in 23:30 her goal is to finish in under 21. They have I think 6 more meets, and it should be a little cooler so she still has a chance to make it.

She is at a horse show in Delton, this afternoon and tomorrow I’ll let you know how that goes.

Tom, Kathy and Michelle, came to the meet to watch cheer Anna-Lena, Michelle is still very pregnant, but it could be anytime. I was rooting for yesterday, (October 6, Mom's birthday,) but I guess not.

Christoph
We got an e-mail from Christoph, he says he has been busy with school, but now as a break or a vacation for 3 weeks. He also says he is trying out for a football team in November, American Football.

Shonda
Still attending JCC, working 3 days a week for Spartan Motors in Charlotte. Between that and her boyfriend, we don't see much of her, but that's what happens at 20 years old.

Don't we lead an exciting life?

Oh I have written a couple of book reviews for the Jackson District Library Webpage Blog, not because the books were so great or because I am an expert, but because we needed to put some new stuff on our webpage. So far, I have reviewd The Nanny Diaries, The Earth, My Butt and Ohter Big Round Things, and Playing for Pizza.
If you would like to read them, the reviews, not the books, look on the left hand side of the page, click on the ones, with book review in the title.