February Posting...

Well, the biggest news of recent days is Brett Favre's decision to play again next year! WAHOO! The Packers finished the season very strong and have a majority of players returning next year, so I think we will most definitely see the Packers in the playoffs next year! And guess what - the Packers play Dallas next year...IN DALLAS! When the schedule comes out in April, we will be purchasing tickets to that game! We'd also love to go back to Green Bay again...yes, I said we...Jenn actually mentioned it, but it's not really a serious thought right now. Of course, the way my job has been going, with the mounting stress and insurmountable increasing workload, I've been fantasizing of running away with my family to Green Bay to teach math and coach high school football!! :)

Karissa went to the orthodontist yesterday for a checkup (expander) and he said she would probably be ready for braces this summer. WHAT?! If any of you readers out there (if anyone still keeps up with my sporadic postings) have knowledge or experience with this, please let us know. The plan would be to just put braces on the top as part of phase 1 of her orthodontics plan, which is the "restructuring of the mouth" phase. Phase 2 would begin around 12 years of age and be the "teeth straightening" phase. I have a lot of research/understanding to do, but my uneducated thoughts now lean more towards thinking it may be a little early for braces. She's 8! Even between now and when she is 12, she will grow a meaningful amount, so what will that do to the structure of her mouth?? I don't know...any thoughts?

In case some of you don't know, I am a nerd. Here's proof: I have been watching the tryouts to American Idol, and have compiled my prediction for the top 15. Here it is in just an approximate order:
1 Haley Scarnato (I think she could win)
2 Jory Steinburg (could also win)
3 Jason Sundance Head
4 Nicholas Pedro
5 Brandon Rogers
6 Jordan Sparks
7 Jenry Beranjo
8 Shyamali
9 Alaina Alexander
10 Sanjaya
11 Chris Sleigh
12 Paul Kim
13 Sarah Kreuger
14 Bailey Brown
15 Ebony
Last year, the very first time Taylor Hicks auditioned, I told Jenn that he is by far the most talented and should win, but I didn't think he would because people wouldn't understand him. Obviously, people DID understand him and made the right choice! So anyway, it has become a personal competition to try and pick the winner or top contestants just based on their very first audition. Hey, I have to do SOMETHING for entertainment while not working during the football offseason, right?

Caleb is becoming so much fun and I'm LOVING the dynamic of having a little boy in the mix of our brude of children. He's such a good natured boy. I look forward to the days when we can sword fight and shoot each other and play football and pee on trees and see who can spit the farthest and fix things (or learn together) and take Lambeau swimming in a lake and teach him how to be a man (I'm still learning) and all sorts of cool masculine things...but I'm also thoroughly enjoying the present.

I've been reading the biography of Vince Lombardi and absolutely love it! Jenn gets to occasionally hear something extremely boring to her that I find remarkable in the book. :) If you haven't read a biography, I encourage you to find a successful person in an area of interest to you and get their biography. This is the 2nd biography for me, and I'm starting to think I'll never need another fiction book in my life - I love biographies! It's so cool to read so much about a person's life - it's like finding hundreds of puzzle pieces about a person that you never could have even imagined existed. I find it very fascinating! I'm also being forced into reading the bible more as I go through this "learning" phase to co-lead a small group, as well as starting a very structured systematic theology class at church with weekly exams and everything! It is setup like a theology class and you are actually graded on your exams. It won't earn a PHD in Theology, but it will expand my theological knowledge greatly, and that is awesome! I learned a LOT tonight about how the bible was written, who wrote it, how it became the authority, the history of the old and new testaments separately, why each was translated from language to language over the years and the persucution that followed, along with a brief history lesson of the last 3500 years or so. Very interesting stuff!