Merry Christmas All Peoples!

Twas a blur of activity, all through the house.
Not a moment was quiet, which was tough for this souse.
Wrapping paper and ribbons shot through the air
And the usually uptight patriarch didn't give a care.

The children with glee, and stars in their eyes,
tore through the presents and uttered surprise.
"This is perfect!" they screamed in innocent delight,
as doll dresses and Legos appeared overnight.

A mere moment later the unwrapping was done,
as from behind hills first peaked out the sun.
The bacon was broiling and smoke filled the room,
while the cat struggled from beneath a wrapping paper tomb.

Now the kids have disappeared to play with their toys,
while adults enjoy a beverage and a break from the noise.
So with the recliner reclined, all that's left to be done,
is to wish Merry Christmas to you, and God bless everyone!

The Best Kind of School Day

Skiing makes people smile.

So do moose on the highway.

And getting lucky when you're in a horrible accident (not me, the truck driver. I saw the accident and was first on the scene, and I tell you that is one lucky dude).

Another great day of school in Montana.

Taking 1 (degree) for the Team

So cold today that Jacob and I got free tickets to the Griz playoff football game. So we went. And we froze. And we had fun even though we lost the game.

Almost Winter

Another Halloween come and gone, and the end of Fall is right behind. We had a nice cold front a few weeks ago that left some upper-elevation snow, followed by what I expect to be the last days of fairly nice (40-50 degree and sunny) weather that we'll get this year. I'm predicting a cold and snowy winter, beginning this Thursday.

Winter in Montana is a good thing. We like the snow, and the family is looking forward to ski season. We just got our skis back from the shop, all tuned up and ready to go, including new boots for Jacob's ever-growing feet, and a new ski set-up for the old man. Jacob in particular is looking forward to skiing, now that football is over. We went to his end-of-the-season party this Saturday and the coach had some nice things to say about Jacob's leadership on the field.

Now we are all just biding our time until opening day in early December. It's going to be pretty uneventful between now and then, since for the first time in a long time no one is coming for Thanksgiving. It'll just be us and maybe a few friends. Hopefully we'll be seeing family for Christmas.

In the meanwhile we hope everyone is doing well with school and jobs and retirement, and if any of you want to do some skiing in a place where the snow is deep and the lift tickets cheap, we've got a room you can stay in.

26 to 13

Way in the background of this horrible photo is a scoreboard. It reads 26 to 13, left to right. Unfortunately for Jacob and his team, their score is the one on the right. 

Jacob and his team, the Raiders, had a great season. They won 4 and lost 1, and then today, as the number 3 seed in the playoffs, they fell to the Chargers. It was a great game, but the other team had all the advantage: a quarterback who could really throw the football. Third and fourth grade kids can't much defend the pass, and the Chargers quarterback could put the ball on the numbers, downfield.

There's Jacob with his team (Jacob is #8). The coaches are telling them about how proud they are, but Jacob only wanted to win. Pride doesn't carry you very far in the playoffs. But his disappointment is giving way to normal kid happiness, aided tremendously by a big Kansas State football win today over West Virginia (Jacob and I watch all the K-State games together: he's learning some colorful language).

Don't feel bad though. Most of us only got to play 5 years of football. Jacob started in 4th grade. He has 8 more years of football, and I explained to him today how fortunate he is and how much he has to look forward to. I think he understood some of what I said.

And after all, what now? A whole winter season of skiing in Montana? That'll get you over a lot of heartbreak, especially as much as Jacob loves to ski. So tomorrow it's off to the ski shop for new boots (kids and their stupid growing feet) and something to look forward to. It was a big loss today but somehow I think that we'll all recover.

The Horror!!!

Some of you who are alive may have heard about the shutdown of the U.S. government. As a member of said government, I am one of the many, too many, federal employees who have been furloughed, which is a fancy American term for vacation time with retroactive pay.

But since at least one reader of our blog likes me (hi mom) I thought the least I could do is to update you on my travails.

Well...First I had to go to a stupid parade (Annie and buddy Krista skipping rope in U of MT Homecoming Parade):

Then I was forced to walk for miles (We live in the crotch of that valley yonder. I looked it up; valley crotch is the correct geographic term):

Oh My God, Boys and Cake! (Jacob's 10th. It was really loud. Like Metallica concert loud).

And then, just today, I had to paddle this watercraft around a small lake and catch countless fat, colorful Cutthroat trout. Annoying!

So please, pray for the federal government and all its many, many suffering employees. In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you filed your taxes early. I need a new canoe.

PS - Carrie's been too busy to keep up the blog. Why just last night she forgot to pick up a six pack on her way home! So I'm writing the blog until school-teaching-things settle and she can get back to it. If you want to reach her, shoot her an email her. If you appreciate my writing, buy me a beer.

PPS - I know there are federal employees who are suffering, and others who can't wait to go back to work. But really, it's all a giant farce, so please, NSA, don't deport me.

Happy Fall!

The weather in Montana has turned cold, wet, and windy with the arrival of Fall. Things have picked up since the start of school and we're all busy running from event to event. The kids have their sports and scouts and friends' birthday parties; Carrie has a lot of busy work as a new 4th grade teacher; and Brian just spent 16 days on the road for work.

We spend a lot of time running from Jacob's football practices three nights a week and to his game on the weekends. He loves football. He's playing right guard, which is a good position for this age because he gets to play all the offensive plays.

Annie is in soccer. Thankfully soccer is a lot more low key, so we don't need to run quite as much. She's enjoying the game, but I think most of the girls are there for the socializing with their friends.

Aunt Annie came up from Tempe for a visit this week. Us adults all went to a concert together (Citizen Cope) in downtown Missoula on Wednesday night. It was great to get out for a little nightlife, or as much as we could with kids and babysitters and work the next day.

That's it for here: just a quick update until something exciting comes along. Not that all of this isn't exciting enough for us.