My Mom

I decided to dedicate this post to my mom, who btw is amazing. Sadly I didn't always feel this way growing up. I was grounded, didn't always get everything I wanted, etc. etc. However, one of the things that will remain with me forever is how my parents (especially my dad) attended every sporting event I had. Anyway here is the real reason for my post....

I traveled to my old elementary/middle/high school last week to help my mom with her Annual Thanksgiving Feast. I used to help out with these in high school as a way to get out of class. There were some perks of having your mom teach where you went to school. The last one I attend was sometime in college over 8 years ago. I had mixed emotions walking into the school grounds that I had once dominated. About 50% of things were the same like the murals we painted Junior year, our Spanish teacher Mr. Hall who now teaches Spanish for the entire school K-12, and the dress code.

My mom has been teaching at TG for 18 years now. This year she is teaching kindergarten. My mom has only taught kindergarten twice in the past 18 years, so I was curious to see her in action. I've always been amazed at the amount of patience my mom has and how consistent she is with the kids. They don't get away with too much, but they also love her at the same time. Sometime after the Feast when the kids were working on blends (phonics for those public school taught kids) I sat back in amazement at the way she worked with the children. I've seen my mom teach before, but this was different. I had a new found respect for my mom and teachers in general. They have so much responsibility in shaping a child's future. I can now understand how schools have gotten so competitive.

The thing that amazes me the most about my mom, is her endurance and spirit. One time during spring break we were at my soccer game and my mom broke her ankle. She didn't let that stop her from going back to school and climbing the three flights of stairs to her room everyday or the time she had eye surgery and only took two weeks off. These kids are the light of her life. She was definitely born for this role.

Thanks mom for all you do!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is in three days and it's the first time I've been home for Thanksgiving in 6 years! David and I always stayed in DC for Thanksgiving and opted to travel for Christmas instead.

I've taken the week off (use it or lose it PTO) in order to relax, catch up with family, and see old friends. And I must say it's nice to be home, with no agenda, however, my week is quickly picking up. Tomorrow I will head back to my old stomping grounds (TG) and help my mom with her annual Thanksgiving Feast. I remember when I was in high school and would help out with these programs. I'm hoping to catch up with some old friends too while working a couple hours here and there. Next stop Thanksgiving, then a day with Black Friday shopping! My mom, sis, and I always used to get up early and hit the sales. I'm so excited to to spend time with them doing our favorite thing. I'm also planning to run a turkey trot too. It's my new Thanksgiving tradition.

Halloween

I've always enjoyed Halloween. Every year that I could I've dressed up and gone trick or treating and attended some type of "Harvest Festival". In high school my friends would spend the night at my house and we would dress up and go trick or treating. At that time digital cameras weren't mainstream yet, thus all my photos are plastered in my scrapbooks. In college, I always attended the BSU's trick or treat for canned goods. College kids have really creative ideas for costumes.

Since I married and moved away, I haven't participated in Halloween as much except for dressing up as a "burrito" and going to Chipotle. That will never get old for me. This year instead of giving away free burritos, they will be selling them for $2 if you come dressed up a horrifying processed food. Not as easy as a burrito, but still fun.

Last year my cousin celebrated her wedding reception on Halloween. It was so much fun. I was in Chicago for work and rode to Cinncinati with my sister, Jon, and David. We met up with my parents and brother's family. It was the first time I remember purchasing a costume for halloween, a beer wench. We always made costumes growing up. One year my family dressed up as coach potatoes, with box couches and everything.

This year, we've been invited to a law school friend's party. David is feeling ill, but I'm forcing encouraging him to take me. I really want to wear my costume again.

What was your favorite halloween costume?

Epic Weekend!

If you haven't heard of the Missouri Tigers' win over the Oklahoma Sooners, you're living in the dark ages. While I wasn't able to attend the game, I was at a family baby shower, I did enjoy watching the game with my family who are also alumni of MIZZOU. I knew it was our game after the kick off return for a touchdown on the first play of the game. However, my beloved Tigers have thrown games away when they've had the early lead.

The perfect day started when ESPN's Game Day broadcasted live from the Quad. Forecasts called for rain the entire day, but the sky stayed blue until late evening. 18,000 students showed up on the Quad for the Universities first Game Day appearance. There's a good chance they'll be heading our way in the future with that kind of turnout. Following Game Day, fans, students, families, and the public headed downtown for the Annual Homecoming Day Parade. The Grand Marshall was Russ Mitchell, a 1982 graduate of the school of journalism.

The big game against Oklahoma was broadcast on ABC for the nation. Every Missouri fan was on pins and needles the entire game. Our offense performed, but I think our defense is why we won the game. I tried to contact so many different people who were at the game in hopes that they could secure my a piece of the goal post. Both goalpost were taken down and walked to Harpos where it was disseminated to those who could get their hands on a piece.

This win for us is huge in many different ways. One it solidifies the program as solid, it was Gary Pinkel's first win over Oklahoma and the first win in the last 20 meetings, and it shoots us to the leader of the Big 12 North. Did anyone see who is the leader of the Big 12 S? Baylor!!!

If we continue to play like we did last week and beat Nebraska this Saturday, we will have a good chance of getting a BCS bowl game. We were robbed of our chance in 2007 when Kansas went over us.

Here are a couple of my favorite shots



Want more on the Tigers win? Click here to read the Columbia Tribune's article.

Next year is the 100 anniversary of the start of homecoming. That's right, you can thank MU for the grand tradition. My family is already making plans to attend.

One last thing, vote for Gary Pinkel to win Coach of the Year.

I'm back

It's been several weeks since my last post. I've been to Florida twice and Wisconsin in that time. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I've enjoyed traveling and having company in town, but I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend to myself, err with David.

The weather is projected to be gorgeous here. I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on my reading. I have two over due books from the library that I must finish this weekend. Why is it that all the books I want to read come in at the same time? Here's my list of reads..Mini Shopaholic (it was ok. I love SK, but I didn't love this book. I haven't enjoyed her books since she started publishing novels under her other name), Safe Haven (pretty good by NS. I didn't get into until page 100), the girl who kicked the hornets nest (still have 100 pages to go, but decent), Flyaway home (just started reading), Last Night at Chateau Marmont: A Novel (in the hopper) and Heart of the Matter (also in the hopper). After I finish these I'll be back to where I was several months ago with nothing to read.

On another note, David was offered internships from several law firms in Houston, Dallas, and San Diego. Oddly enough none in Missouri. We finally made a decision and we chose to go with the San Diego firm. If he receives an offer from them at the end of next summer we'll be moving to California in 2012. Crazy.