Costume Ideas

Just a quick post before I go to bed. I just caught up on all the blogs I read and thought I'd pose a question to all you bloggers out there in blogland. In my last post, I requested ideas for my Halloween costume for my office party. However, I received no responses. So, I will list a few ideas and ask you to give your opinion on what I should do.

1)Money Launderer - Get a large mesh laundry bag that I can cut holes for arms and legs and then fill it up with fake money.

2)Dead (or severely injured) Hockey Player - I have a complete uniform, but also attach half of a puck to my forehead with a lot of fake blood and cuts and bruises, etc.

3)Peeping Tom - Put a cardboard box on my head, cut out a window and make some little curtains, and then wear a trenchcoat with a name tag that says "Tom".

4)Holy Cow - Buy a cow costume and then wear a halo and wings with it.

5)Smartass - Dress up like a donkey and wear a graduation cap and carry a diploma.

6)Wear blue scrubs with cotton attached to look like clouds and carry a water gun. When asked what I am, respond "partly cloudy with a chance of showers" and squirt the person with the water gun

7)Proctologist - Wear scrubs and a stethoscope, smear chocolate pudding on the shirt and let it dry. Wear a nametag that says "Dr. Ben Dover, Proctologist". Just had another thought - I could wear a dreadlock wig and be Pokemon - a Jamaican Proctologist!!

What do you think? There are prizes, and everyone is dressing up, so I want to be creative and make it fun! Luckily, I'm losing my voice, so I won't have to karaoke!!

I'm getting excited about next weekend! I'm going to the NASCAR races!! I have tickets for the entire weekend, but I will probably just go to the Truck races and Busch practice Friday night, and then the Nextel race on Sunday. I'd like to see the Nextel qualifying on Saturday, but that might be a bit too much time away from home for one weekend. :) I'd really like to see Carl Edwards win it all, but I think I'll just be happy if Tony Stewart doesn't win. Jeff, are you going??

Conglomeration of Updates

It's been 17 days since my last post, and I am finally updating. I'll just start off with a brief rundown of my day, and I'll try to stay away from economics and sports today. I was running late this morning so I left for work (after taking Karissa to school and coming back home to finish getting ready) without eating breakfast. Jenn picked me up at noonish and we went to Bennigan's. It took them 15 minutes and 37 seconds to bring us our food, so we got it for free. They have this program now where they start a stopwatch after they take your order and if it takes longer than 15 minutes, lunch is on them. We felt a little bad for our waitress and offered to still pay since she was real close, but she insisted that it was free, so we thanked her and left a nice tip. Back at the office a broker from Ohio arrives, but I lucked out and go to miss out on all the afternoon meetings, aside from a quick little 15 minute exchange regarding his portfolios' performance numbers. Just as I'm finally starting to get some things accomplished, Jenn calls to see if I'll be able to leave at 5pm so I can make it to Math Night at Karissa's school. Realizing it was already 5pm, I start winding down and finally get out of there in time to pick up a pizza on the way home, scarf 2 pieces down, and then off to Math Night. Aside from being very unorganized, confusing, crowded, and extremely silly, it was an ok thing, mostly because the kids probably enjoyed it. I guess. They just went from table to table working out math problems while the parent helped them. I still don't understand the reason for having it, but I wanted to support Karissa and her school activities, so I went and didn't complain until I got home and told Jenn how silly the whole thing was. We put the kids to bed and then started Survivor. Half way through, our electricity goes out. This just happened a month or two ago and it stayed out until around 10am the next morning!! I drove around in the van and discovered that half of Saginaw was without power due to a fallen power line. I was thrilled about this, since everything I veg out to/with is electronic. However, it did allow Jenn and I to spend some time talking about stuff, so it wasn't all bad. Finally around 11pm, the electricity came back on, just as I had resigned to the idea that once again, I'd be taking a cold shower in the dark tomorrow morning.

I had some terrible news last night. A good friend of mine just pled guilty to an embezzlement charge and now will most likely face prison time. I won't go into detail here, but it has made Jenn and I both sick to our stomachs all day thinking about it. This guy is one of the last guys on earth you'd expect something like this from.

We have a very diverse group of people at work, in terms of spiritual beliefs/disbeliefs. We have me, the self-proclaimed "knowledge SEEKER", the agnostic college student, the 7th Day Adventist, a northerner whom is Catholic and democratic :), and the new, gung-ho, cliche-dropping, christian buzzword dropping, gullible believer who has not yet come up with his own thoughts on anything. Not that I'm judgmental or critical! HA! I admit, I struggle with that, and I'm not proud of it. Anyway, I had a brief conversation today with the agnostic and the new christian. It was an interesting struggle, trying to tame the grandiose cliches and buzzwords from the new christian and respect the agnostic's views while also putting in my two cents occasionally. The new christian couldn't understand how someone could NOT believe God exists. While I sincerely hope the agnostic finds faith, I found myself defending him against the new christian's onslaught of church phrases attempting to convert the agnostic right then and there. HA! The new christian had the bible and faith as his basis, but I had to explain to him as politely as I could that he is assuming the bible is a credible book, and he is assuming there is a God to have faith in. Neither of these assumptions are true to the agnostic's beliefs, so the new christian, therefore, has no meaningful evidence to provide to the agnostic. I personally don't think there's any way to "logically" prove the existence of God on strictly a cerebral level - the only thing that makes it logical and believable is faith. Without an inkling of faith, I don't think anyone can ever be convinced there is a God, definitely. Anyway, it was a very interesting conversation.

I can't wait for the weather to get cool enough to use our fireplace! I need to buy some firewood and a rack to store it on outside. Do you think it would be ok to store next to an external brick wall? I don't want to get termites!!

At work we are about to acquire up to $200million in assets. I think $100-125million is more likely, so it will almost DOUBLE our assets under management!! This will be a HUGE undertaking and we are looking over resumes now to hire 4 more people to assist us in the acquisition. I have never interviewd people before, so I'm actually looking forward to that a little. I'm hoping that with my increased responsibility, additional monetary compensation will follow. :) There's also a chance I may go up to Philadelphia for a few days, where the company is located that we are buying assets from. That would be fun!

I only have about 35 pages remaining in the Biography of John Nash and then I can start my book on the theological explanation of evil. I also had a friend give me a book titled "Raising A Modern Day Knight". It looks pretty good. Have any of you fathers out there read it? It's about a father's role in leading his son to authentic manhood.

Next Friday night we have the office Halloween party. I'm not sure what I want to dress up as...do you have any costume ideas?? Well, hopefully it won't be 17 days until my next novel, I mean post. I do enjoy reading your comments, so please leave me one! ?

A Tribute To My Hero, Brett Favre

I sit here in my recliner, heartbroken and dejected after yet another dramatic and painful Brett Favre comeback that falls short by one play. Tonight, the Green Bay Packers traveled to Carolina for a Monday Night Football matchup. Going in to the game, I had the feeling that we may see some Favre-magic tonight. If you've seen him play then you know what magic I'm referring to. The Packers were 0-3 going in to the game against a 1-2 team whom many bandwagoners predicted to go to the Super Bowl this year. Favre always performs well on MNF and he is hungry for a win like never before. Never in his career (which he has not missed a game since 1992) has he started out 0-3. After a rough first half full of Green Bay injuries, the Panthers were up 23-7, and then went up 26-7 midway through the 3rd quarter. Then something happened. Something a defensive player should never do. A defensive lineman got to Favre right after he unleashed a pass, and tweaked Favre's ankle enough to make him cringe and limp. Those who weren't familiar with Favre would have thought he'd gingerly limp to the sideline for at least a play or two. I knew better. I immediately made the comment to my wife - "He's about to throw a touchdown, watch this." Favre didn't go to the sideline, he gathered his team back up for another huddle and gave them their instructions for the next play. The pocket collapsed behind him and a huge hole opened up, and on his freshly twisted ankle, Favre scrambled 12 yards for a first down. Three plays later, he hit Donald Driver in the end zone for a 26 yard TD pass! It was no surprise to me, but just like Favre does when he scores, I couldn't help get giddy, and I couldn't help but smirk at the Panthers, knowing full well what was probably about to happen.

Favre is THE ULTIMATE competitor. You see, when Brett is hurt, mad, or emotionally distressed, something from deep within gives him the ability to overcome physical and emotional pain and he becomes a maniac on the field. Looking back just over the last year and a half alone, we see this time after time. Literally the day after his father passes away, he goes crazy on MNF and leads his team to victory, completing some 4-5 TDs and throwing for some 400 yards, give or take. A short time later, his brother-in-law was tragically killed in an ATV accident, and a week after that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. How did Favre respond? He turned a 1-4 Packer team into division champions and playoff contenders. Most recently, his parents' house was completely washed up in the aftermath of Katrina. So far this year, 6 points is all that separates them from being 3-1 instead of 0-4.

Tonight, after the third quarter Donald Driver TD mentioned above (which gave me my 4th win in fantasy football!), that started a comeback, down from 19 points. However, with a minute left to play in the game, Panthers only leading 32-29, Donald Driver misses a short pass that would convert a 4th down around the Carolina 35 yard line. Worst case scenario, with that first down, they could kick a field goal and send it to overtime. But, no such luck. My stomach is still sick from this defeat. They have lost the last 3 games by 3pts, 1pt, and 2pts, respectively.

Even the naysayers said before preseason that offseason player movements made Green Bay a weaker team, but I sure didn't jump on that bandwagon. Sure, they lost a few good players, but you can never take anything away from that Favre-magic. Even with the loss of his primary receiver, Javon Walker, and the 4 key players that were injured tonight, even with the makeshift line and backup players, he still lead his team to a near comeback win over the team that so many have proclaimed to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this year. But, I know it makes his job a lot more difficult, and admittedly, a weaker team, but I will never count the ol' beat up Packers out of any game. Bring on Indianapolis, San Diego, Pittsburgh...because with Favre, truly anything can happen.

I know you people who don't care about football or Favre just think this is another boring ol' blog by Kirk, but at least it's not about economics or work, right? I know you may think I'm just fantasizing about some football character whom I over-sensationalize...but ask me if I care. HA! Everybody should have a hero, and Brett Favre is mine. After the game tonight, there were more Panthers (including the Panther coach) than Packers that hugged Favre and congratulated him on his performance and professionalism, and unbelievable determination to not give up, almost winning what would have been one of his greatest comebacks ever. I have never talked to anyone who didn't like Brett Favre. You just have to like him. When his wife was going through chemo treatment, he shaved his head to be like her. You can see it in his eyes that he loves what he does, and you can see it in his team and opponents how much everyone respects him. I recall one game several years ago that he got tackled and dislocated his finger. He ran to the sidelines, gave his hand to the medical staff and turned his head while they yanked his finger back into place - and then he immediately went back in the game and played the rest of the game! Last year he suffered a concussion and the coach took him out, not knowing he had a concussion yet. A few plays later, Favre convinced his coach that he was ok and he went back in the game and immediately threw a touchdown. Unbelievable.

I will wrap this tribute to Brett Favre up now. I just have to voice my feelings after such a dramatic loss. Favre, you still rock! The silver lining is that Green Bay happens to be in a weak division, and even at 0-4, they're only 1 game behind the division leader! HA! I'm not giving up on Favre and the Packers.

Brett Favre. Resilient. Focused. Family-centered. God Loving. Determined. Persevering. Self-confident. Uplifting. Encouraging. Competitor. Winner. Champion. My hero.