Another Tuesday morning

Lorelai: Heh, you know what I just realized? "Oy" is the funniest word in the entire world. 
Rory: Hmm. 
Lorelai: I mean think about it, you never hear the word "oy" and not smile. Impossible. Funny, funny word. 
Emily: Oh dear God. 
Lorelai: "Poodle" is another funny word. 
Emily: Please drink your drink, Lorelai. 
Lorelai: In fact, if you put "oy" and "poodle" together, in the same sentence, you'd have a great new catchphrase, you know? Like, "Oy with the poodles already." 
Rory: Hehe. 
Lorelai: So from now on, when the perfect circumstances arise, we will use our favorite new catchphrase: 
Rory: Oy with the poodles already. 
Lorelai: I'm telling you, it's knocking "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" right out of first place. 

June 17

"The people you love can surprise you every day. Maybe who we are isn't so much about what we do, but  rather what we're capable of when we least expect it."

Day 6

Its Friday. My first Friday living in Dallas. I spent it wondering around the bookstore looking for the book that for some odd reason I have started reading because it was sitting on the coffee table when I moved in with Erin. She is angry because I have read more than her and took the book to read on her flight to Amarillo today, mainly just so she doesn't lose. Not that it is a competition but then again what's not with Erin. I found the book. I felt lame reading a book on a Friday night in Dallas. Then again, I felt strangly small and unimportant. I'm in a huge city sitting in a one bedroom apartment reading a book...no one knows me here. Its strange. Then again, when do I ever read? I don't even know myself right now. But I am ahead of Erin. Point Keelie. 

Every morning this week I awake just to be reminded of how not grown up I am. Erin reminds me of that fact as she searches for dress pants to wear for work and then runs to the kitchen while brushing her teeth to make her sandwich and slams the door to chase the train which most likely she has already missed. Every morning this week I have been entertained. I wonder if I will ever have a job, be responsible, be grown up. I don't really want to grow up but Erin makes it seem fun. 

Speaking of being grown up, I got a kroger card this week and saved $9.75, I am now a valued customer. Speaking of not being a grown up, I stopped at the corner store and bought a large coke just so I could have the $.50 hot dog that you got with it. Best lunch all week. I have decided I would rather die young. Then again, am I already past the young mark? 

Does anyone else think Kobe Bryant is way too in love with himself? It drives me nuts. 

Happy weekend! 

Dallas

Yesterday I moved in with Erin. We went to a pool party. We met new friends. Everyone we met asked how we were friends and Erin explained to them that we had been friends since we were six. The more I thought about the crazier it sounded. We went to the pool again today and made some more friends and saw some old friends from yesterday. After getting stuck in a parking garage with a few guys you become good friends quickly. 

So here I am, living in a one bedroom apartment with Erin, my friend of 16 years....I'm old. And I'm surrounded by Harry Potter books, and there is not a clock in the apartment that has the right time. Its Erins way of conquering the world or some nonsense like that. Speaking of nonsense I am drinking out of an Aggie cup right now. 

I can't wait for everyone to come visit for a fun weekend in Dallas. Talk about the life of the party. Imagine the damage the whole group can do, me and Erin have done enough damage just between the two of us. 

He's like pizza. Even when he's bad he's good.

Albert Pujols is the Best Player in Baseball

"We're in this era where people want to judge other people," Pujols says. "And that's so sad." He would like to leave it with those three words—that's so sad—but then people might wonder.

So he continues: "But it's like I always say, 'Come and test me. Come and do whatever you want.' Because you know what? There is something more important to me—my relationship with Jesus Christ and caring about others. More than this baseball. This baseball is nothing to me."

He stops cold. He shakes his head. Those words don't do him any good either. This is more of the uncompromising math of 2009: The more he denies, the less people will believe him.

This is the uneasy state of the new baseball hero. Albert Pujols knows he cannot prove to people that he has never used steroids. He knows that there will always be doubters. "Let's say I retire 15 years from now," he says. "They're going to say, 'Well, he probably did it back then. He just didn't get caught.' I know that's what they're going to say. And you know what, man? It is sad, but at the same time, it doesn't matter. I know who I am. I don't care."

Well, this is one answer. He could not worry about any of it. Albert Pujols makes a lot of money. He is the most beloved figure in one of America's best baseball towns. He is putting up baseball numbers that bend the imagination. Yes, he could just go about his business, play ball and leave the hero business to someone else. There's only one problem with that.In 2001, playing four positions, Pujols had one of the greatest rookie seasons in history. He hit .329 with 47 doubles, 37 homers, 130 RBIs and 112 runs scored. No rookie had put up numbers like that since his Cardinals teammate Mark McGwire did with the Oakland A's more than a decade earlier.

Pujols has been at least as good every year since. He says he judges himself not by his best seasons, but by his worst. The thing is, it's almost impossible to pick Pujols's worst season out of a lineup. Pick any season you want. It's fair to say that Pujols's worst big league season, repeated over an entire career, would get him elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot. He's like pizza: Even when he's bad, he's good.Nobody in the sport works harder than Albert Pujols. But, again, playing baseball hasn't been the difficult part.

"I don't want to sound cocky or arrogant, but I was always great at this game," Pujols says. "I was a little disappointed that I got drafted in the 13th round and all that. They can say what they want now, but I always put up the numbers. It doesn't matter. It made me hungry. Everything happens in God's time."IN ST. LOUIS, they still call Stan Musial the Man. Musial signed every autograph. He went to opposing clubhouses to visit pitchers he'd hit with line drives. He helped even opposing hitters with their batting troubles. He smoked under stairwells so kids would not see him (and then, realizing that there were kids under stairwells too, he quit smoking). He was and is, in every way, the Man.

In St. Louis they now call Albert Pujols El Hombre. That translates to the Man.

"Of course, Stan and Albert are a lot alike," says Musial's longtime friend and Hall of Fame second baseman Red Schoendienst. "The great ones are all a lot alike. They both love to hit. And they both are good people on and off the field. That matters."He did not drink. He would not even be in the same room as a smoker. He did not get tattoos. He never wore an earring. He wasn't interested in going out with the boys. He played baseball, and he went to church, and that seemed about all that interested him.

"You know how I want people to remember me?" Pujols asks. "I don't want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. That's the guy I want to be remembered as when I'm done wearing this uniform. That's from the bottom of my heart."

So what happened? What do you think happened? First inning, Albert Pujols hit another home run for another child on another Buddy Day. Of course he did. He has now hit six home runs for children. That has to be a big league record. There are things we do not know about Pujols, things we cannot know, but the question really is this: How much fun is it if you cannot believe?

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1153053/1/index.htm

So red shirt is DJ: the kid that kicked me on day because I took his umbrella away from him, mainly because he was stabbing people with it. But he's a great kid. Next to him in the yellow shirt is Julian: his dad is fighting in Iraq, his favorite subject is math and he hates writing, drawing and coloring. So cute. Next to him is Antonio, had the biggest crush on me. Got in a fight the first week of school he was the one with a busted head, he also was the one who got stabbed in the head with a pencil in my class one day when my teacher wasn't there. 

Far left is JoeL, should be a 2nd grader but is so ADD he had to be held back. So funny and smart just can't concentrate. And so hyper. The one white kid I had is Bryson. Hilarious. Tommy boy hilarious. Doesn't have a clue. But says the greatest things. Next is Joe. He has one ear. And he usually only uses one side of his face because the muscles on the other side of his face are so weak. He is getting his new ear rebuilt though and I am so excited to go back and see it. 

The 80 year old sub was trying to take our picture...I think all 5 of them look about this blurry. Its amazing they are all standing there together and looking in the same direction. 

Joel and Julian. So cute.

And this is Jayden. I would adopt this kid if I could. Him and Antonio, I guess you could say I always get along with the troublemakers of the class. Jayden was probably my favorite. His ears just stick out and he has these eyes that when he wanted something he would always get it because I couldn't say no. His mom and dad were separated at the time but were trying to work things out. He was really upset one day and I wanted to bring him home. This picture was on crazy hat day. He wore a tiny sombrero, in case you couldn't tell. I called him amigo all day.

YAY a girl. Tamara had gold teeth. She was so quiet and cute. She had the best smile. This one isn't one of her best but she was adorable. There's Antonio again in the middle. Needing attention from me and my camera. And Joe. 

Juilan. Isn't he just the cutest. You just want to pick him up and squeeze him. 

Marc is muscle man. He was a mess but he was one of the smartest kids in the class. Bryson back there yelling. He just has little outbursts where he will just scream and laugh. I usually laughed at him as well. Issach in the gray shirt, in first grade for the second time. And there's Antonio again! What do ya know? 

GO TECH!

Last weekend I went to college gameday. What a way to start off the day. Then I stood in line all day just to see the most amazing game in college history! I'm still excited about it.

You should have seen Lubbock Texas after the game. People were standing on top of cars driving down University street. People were out honking and screaming and yelling until about 4 am. It was so cool. It did look like a riot had broken out though. We are used to choking under pressure, not pulling off the upset. 

I am planning on packing my bags and moving to Canada or Mexico, due to the recent election. I'm not sure how much I like the idea of a scary man as president. 

My third graders are so much fun. I enjoy seeing them everyday. It is like being on vacation after being in total chaos for 7 weeks. They are just so excited about school and I enjoy listening to their stories and seeing them smile. Their comments about the president were hilarious. 

I am headed to the championship flag football game tonight for a repeat. Go SHELLACK!