Semester Over

I took my last final today. It was an essay test, but I was pretty well prepared. We'll see if Dr. Ware thinks the same way.

I suppose now I can start working on my January Term stuff. I'll be taking a four day course on the Psalms. It should be pretty good and interesting. We'll see how it goes.

Christmas is coming....

Found this gem online today

(note: edited for content)

For those people who thought cart mccoy could be considered for the heisman... (yes, I have heard it from some sips).

Passing
McGee 2118 yards this year
McCoy 2262

Rushing
McGee 635
McCoy 167

Receiving
McGee 1 (completed a pass to himself)
McCoy 0

Total
McGee 2765
McCoy 2429

Punting
McGee 2 punts for 57 yards, 1 touchback and one pin inside the 1 yard line.
McCoy 0 punts 0 yards

Cries like a little baby on television
McGee 0
McCoy 2 (1 on national TV)

tu Bingo

I've almost got a bingo... what about you?

Here are the Fall Leaves Pics Brett Promised

Our First Snow

We woke up to this a few mornings ago... we're not in Texas anymore...



man, I should be a hand model. Maybe I'll give George Costanza a ring.

READ MY SIGN...

The Adventure of the Leaning Christmas Tree

Today we woke up around 9 and went to Lowe's to buy a Christmas tree. We don't have room in our house to store a fake one, so we have to buy live. Plus, Helen really likes the smell of a live tree. I do too, but Helen really does.

Anyway, we get to Lowe's and look around for the perfect tree. It was cold and there were tons of trees. We were looking through the $20 price range, and we found a great one.

We carried it to the people who worked there and they trimmed and baled it. The only problem is they cut it too short, which would cause problems later.

We put it in the truck, and instead of tying it down well, I decided I'd drive really slow. After an uneventful trip home (no flying trees or anything) we dragged the baled tree to the top of our stairs.

Once we got it inside, we set it up in the stand. As it turns out, the guys at Lowe's trimmed the bottom too short, and it wouldn't sit all the way down in the stand. So we had a leaning problem.

So very patiently and intelligently, we decided to use our bolt cutters to trim the bottom of the tree. You see, the branches at the bottom were thick, and we had nothing else. So we trimmed and trimmed and trimmed. But the tree just wouldn't sit right. So I got out the pliers and tightened those bolts down, hoping that the tree would finally give in to our persistence.

Eventually we won the struggle and the tree sits in our living room.

The next thing we had to was decorate it. It didn't take long, seeing as we don't have many ornaments. (Don't worry, this wasn't something we were disappointed about. Remember, the more you put on, the more you have to take off.) So we decorated the tree and prepared ourselves to watch the aggies BTHO tu.

Wouldn't you know it? during the game, the tree begins to lean... and not slighlty. So what did I do? I got out my pliers and tightened that bad boy down even more. The tree hasn't fallen yet, and the aggies prevailed against the dark side, 12-7.

Thanksgiving Feast picture

This was our first Thanksgiving together. Let's see...
It was our first time to cook a turkey, it didn't turn out too bad. I made a ton of mashed potatoes (which Brett has already almost finished off), some green bean casserole, corn, gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. And Brett bought some sparkling grape juice and brought out our chalices from our wedding. :-)
And, for the first time we used our fancy napkins that we got for our wedding!
Later that day the Bethancourts came over to hang out and eat some leftovers with us. It was a pretty good day. But, I agree with Brett, it definitely wasn't the same as being around our family! We're looking forward to Christmas for that reason.

Thanksgiving

Helen and I stayed in Louisville for Thanksgiving. We had a couple of invitations to eat with some people, but we chose to stay home and have our own Thanksgiving. Helen made a delicious Turkey Feast... with my favorite, mashed potatoes. We watched a movie or two, played cards, and watched the Cowboys massacre Tampa Bay. It has been a good day.

We miss home. I missed being made fun of for using ketchup with my turkey. (Helen's used to it by now. In fact, I think I've brought her over to the dark side.) I missed seeing all of my family act goofy. It wasn't the same this year. I suppose that's part of getting older. Not everything can stay the same all the time. Being away makes you appreciate things so much more, and it makes you realize how much you love your family. We're thankful for them, that's for sure.

Pictures are coming of our feast. (yes, we took pictures of our first thanksgiving.)

And one more day until the Aggies beat the ever livin, ever lovin, compound, complex, fightin' texas aggie 12th man, fightin' texas aggie stephen mcgee, fightin' texas aggie class of 2005 hell out of tu!!!!

brett

Job Hunt

I've been looking for a new job the last couple of weeks. FBC did some restructuring of staff, and decided my position would be a part of another full time position for which they've already called someone (or are about to call them). So, I need another part time job.

I've dropped some resumes, and honestly I'm realizing what a good job I've had the last few months. I've not found anything to match the hours and the pay and the actual job description.

I've looked into secular jobs as well. Tutoring, childcare, etc. I refuse to give in to the UPS machine here, though it seems like that might be the easiest route. I'd rather not have to choose between school, sleep, and time with Helen. So that's a no to UPS.

I've had an interview or two, and what churches are looking for are a more traditional worship leader. Not only is that something I don't want to do, it's also something I can't do. I don't know the first thing about leading a choir.

If you have any ideas or tips, send 'em my way! I have until December 31 at my current job, and then after that... yikes! The good news is that the Lord has always provided for me, and He's never given me a reason to worry about that. I've gone through about 3 years of money being tight and having to find the perfect job. It's always worked out fine.

Praise to the Lord who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth
Shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth
Hast thou not seen how thy desire e'er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Insults flying from Austin to College Station

this classy article can be found here
let me know what you think...

COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO

Hullabaloo, kaboom kaboom: Aggie president takes over Defense Department

Sunday, November 12, 2006

If you hear a lot of bleating in the distance coming from the east, it's because the sheep in Iraq are nervous today. Why? Because President Bush has picked an Aggie big shot to serve as this nation's Defense secretary.

If asked to step into that ticklish position, most normal people would have told Bush to go chase himself. But Aggies aren't normal people. Aggies are the kind of folks who rise to the challenge. Only an Aggie would be, uh, foolhardy enough to accept this unpopular and difficult job.

So you've got to admire the guts of Robert Gates, who expects to step down as Texas A&M president to take over for Donald Rumsfeld, whose main duty had become traveling about the country so that people could holler insults at him from across the room. What was Gates thinking? Boy, is he in for it. If he thought the Army game was tough, wait till he has to deal with the Mahdi Army.

On the other hand, Corps of Cadets, Abu Ghraib: What's the difference?

Not that I'm saying Gates getting the head Defense job is a bad thing. Aggies and defense go hand and hand. Before Dennis Franchione came along, A&M had one.

Gates served as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency before he moved to Bryan-College Station in 2002 to become the head of the, uh, Central Unintelligence Agency.

Some people think that the way to handle the Iraq problem would be to divide up the country and give equal chunks of land to the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites. With an Aggie running the show, the fix might be to build a large bonfire and stick an outhouse on top.

Now, many may wonder if an Aggie leader is intellectually capable of dealing with the Iraqi situation, since most A&M graduates think Kurd has something to do with cheese. And, let's face it, putting an Aggie in charge of the war in Iraq could lead to the stockpiling of pitchforks and cloning the occasional companion animal.

But the job is a natural fit for Gates. Basically, A&M president and Defense secretary are the same darned position. When you're the head honcho at A&M, you're dealing with guys in burr haircuts, men who march and dudes who can really shine the heck out of a pair of shoes. When you're the boss at the Defense Department, you're dealing with guys in burr haircuts, men who march and dudes who can really shine the heck out of a pair of shoes. Plus, either job is a good one if you get the itch to make somebody drop and give you 20.

So Gates should love his new gig. And, you know, the restaurants in the Green Zone can't be a lot worse than the dining options in Bryan-College Station. Although I doubt if the Green Zone has a Dixie Chicken.

There are a lot of intellectual reasons why it's a good idea to have an Aggie in a spot that could reshape world history. A university where lofty thoughts are commonplace, A&M is the place where cutting-edge vegetable scientists developed the maroon carrot.

Plus, Aggies understand tribal hatred. I think most of them feel about the Teasips the way the Sunnis feel about the Shiites. So Robert Gates, get after it. You da man. Gig 'em.

John Kelso's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 445-3606 or jkelso@statesman.com.

Which Bowl game?

So which bowl game will A&M end up in?

The Gator Bowl is looking to steal the top non-BCS Big XII team. Usually that team goes to the Cotton Bowl, and the last five seasons it has been a Big XII south team.

This year, the Gator Bowl is looking to step in and steal one. So here's my prediction on bowl games...

Fiesta-- tu
Gator-- ou
Cotton-- nebraska
Holiday-- Texas A&M
Alamo -- Mizzou
Insight -- texas tech
Texas -- oklahoma state
Independence -- kansas state

personally i think the holiday bowl would be huge for us, especially if we win. we'd probably end up with Cal or USC, and a win there would be huge.

What do you think?

If College Football Teams Were Simpsons Characters...

I found this blog today. If you pay attention to college football and are familiar with the Simpsons, this will definitely make you laugh.

Click here to read the blog.

Enjoy!

Why We Can't Fault the Big East

On the way to work on Mondays and Wednesdays, I listen to a sports talk show on ESPN radio. I think it's called The Big Easy, but I'm not too sure. Anyway, these homers from louisville call in and talk about not getting respect and how they deserve it and blah blah blah. Then, these other homers from Lexington (UK) or other places call and say that Louisville is awful and the Big East is terrible, and blah blah blah. It's a never ending discussion that has dominated this show for the last four weeks. Frankly, how much can you beat a dead horse? Is there nothing else to talk about in the world of sports? But that's not where I'm going with this.

Here's my perspective on the situation. Yes, the Big East seems to be a weak conference. And we'll never know how good these teams are until they actually play a talented team outside their conference. (This is why bowl games are so good.) The truth of the matter is this: we cannot trash louisville or the big east. It is not their fault that the BCS is a joke. I believe the adage is 'don't hate the player, hate the game.' The BCS system is a complete joke, and it makes very little sense that we depend on computers to determine who should play in the national championship game. Here's an idea... PLAYOFFS. (Cue Jim Mora... Playoffs? Are you kidding me? Playoffs?) I won't elaborate on this because I don't want to follow the example of the Big Easy and beat a dead horse. It's been talked about already. Let's just say the current college football postseason is a joke, and it's not the fault of Louisville or the Big East. Unless you want to blame them for just being terrible...

Another Friday, another post

Helen is out of town right now. She left Thursday morning at around 6 am to go to a teacher's conference thing in Dayton, Ohio. So I've been on my own since then. She should be back around 5 pm today, and it can't come soon enough.

I have a week left of classes, and really it's a shell of a week. Some of my classes aren't even meeting, so I can tie up loose ends and those things before the semester runs out. Then we have Thanksgiving week, which means no classes and tons of studying for me. I have two finals the week after Thanksgiving, but I have a week to prepare, so I should be ok.

After finals, I have to start working on the Cooperative Program class that I've put off. I'll have a week or two to read a book, write a summary, watch some lectures, and then take some quizzes. It shouldn't be too difficult, especially since I have no other school responsibilities.

We can't wait for Christmas. In less than a month and a half we'll be on our way back to Texas. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Well, enough posting. I need to read and also watch Walker Texas Ranger. If you haven't checked out my previous post, you have to.

Brett