Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Settling In

Well the Minnesota experience is off to an interesting start. Still no steady work, but Tommy has gotten into school and we have begun the process of meeting a whole new village of specialists for him. In some ways I feel like God is trying to get us a little more settled before He opens the door for me on the employment front. Which is fine by me in some ways, but a little aggravating too. I would much rather be working.

My poor blog has been neglected, but I am going to try and dedicate myself to writing a little something every night. Especially right now with so much going on. Things like Obama essentially telling the Church to F off, the primary races, life with Tommy and Matty.

Tommy seems to have made the adjustment to his new school quite well. His classmates all seem to like him and miss him when he has been absent. Unfortunately he has been absent a lot so far as he adjusts to new germs and getting into a rotation with this new team of doctors.

Gillette Children's has been amazing so far (1 visit in). We met with a physical medicine and rehab doctor who gave us several prescriptions to get to a local facility for more in home therapy. She also referred us to the sleep doctor at Gillette and just generally had at least an idea for where to go for every time she asked a question and we had a negative answer. I like that.

So we might be able to solve some of Tommy's sleep problems and maybe start getting a full night of sleep. Wow. It seems overwhelming but once we get established and fit into the routine I know we won't be missing so much school with him.

Plus we will have an actual craniofacial team at Gillette, not just Dr. Peterson. Don't misunderstand I love Dr. P and she did amazing work putting a face that was once three parts together, but really a whole team just for this, wow.

Tommy's other big deal is whether we decide to send him to kindergarten next year or keep him in preschool for a third year. Personally I tend to lean toward letting him keep up with his classmates currently in preschool, but Traci and I will have to talk it over and see what we think.

So far both of the boys have adjusted pretty well, and I am thankful for that. We got to see just how well Matty had adjusted to his new life last week when we went to New Mexico for a week. All week he kept looking for his baby and his aunt, so he clearly likes it here.  Had a great time visiting the family and gorging on quality Mexican food.

Speaking of Matty, that kid is going to be smarter than me very soon if he isn't already. He loves being read to and anticipates things in stories he knows well. He understands fairly complex sentences for an 18-month old. 

Mother Nature has been gentle on us this winter only two or three really bad days so far and they weren't too awful. Limited snowfall and reasonable temps I can deal with, even if it will get rough sometime this first winter has been a nice introduction.

I need to apologize for the sparse postings of the last couple months but it has been hectic and I haven't had much time to think let alone write.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 7 -- Forty Niner Friday....



A real deep quick takes here at the Musings. Seven things I love about being a 49er fan. Why not?
--- 1 ---

Joe Montana, the alpha and omega of my fandom. Someone I have only slightly ironically referred to as St. Joseph of the 2 minute drill. As a kid in Northern California in the middle-late 80's he was the leader of the best team around. Also didn't hurt he was exceedingly talented. Not going to lie to my readers I spent the rest of the day crying after the 1990 NFC Championship loss to the New York Giants. I have secretly been hoping that one of the Niner linebackers hits Eli as hard as Leonard Marshall hit Montana in that game. Without the intentional added breaking of his hand as he got dragged down. I see this game as payback time. I know this current team is a generation or two removed but come on.

Montana was invariably the athlete I most wanted to be when I grew up. Sadly I posses no athletic talent whatsoever.
--- 2 ---

Jerry Rice The GOAT. The greatest of all time. For my money, there has never been another football player better than Flash. He set so many records and did so many amazing things it is hard to comprehend the numbers he left behind. Even toward the end when it was getting a little sad to see him out there he was still playing every down harder than guys half his age.

I think he is the reason for the modern air it out warfare of the NFL. Teams all sought their own counterpart to his skill set.

Someone may break his records some day, but it will take a long time to do it. He had that same hypercompetitive drive Michael Jordan had.
--- 3 ---

Spending half my life being called a bandwagon fan, the other half a die hard. People called me a bandwagoner especially after we left California and I was still rocking my Niners gear. I was like how am I bandwagoning this is my team, the first football games I remember watching are Niner games, I have always loved that team. Then in the last decade or so seeing looks of pity when I had my Niners stuff. Looks like, really they suck pick a new team, but I don't roll that way. Paying off now, but I guess soon I will hear how I am a bandwagon fan all over again.

--- 4 ---

Ronnie Freakin Lott. Dude was pure scary. Made the Pro Bowl from every position in the defensive backfield hit like a truck, ran like a gazelle. Once had a doctor lop off half his pinky so he wouldn't miss a game during the season.
--- 5 ---

Possibly the NFL's worst stadium, but a tough place to play. Candlestick Park. I hated when the team sold the naming rights for awhile I never stopped calling it Candlestick. Place is a dump has been a dump for years and they are finally getting some new digs in Santa Clara, hopefully a winning season or two before the move will help the atmosphere at the new park.

--- 6 ---

Bill Walsh the brains behind it all. The only man to ever deserve to be called a genius who made his living as an NFL coach. Also the most completely unassuming man alive. Funny true story here: When I was at the U of Oregon, Stanford was hosting the wrestling championship matches. At the time Walsh was their athletic director, when we got in I asked the wrestling media director if Mr. Walsh might be around during the weekend. "Oh he might stop in Sunday during the finals."

Awesome, I might have a chance to meet a hero. Sure enough during the action Sunday he shows up. He was up on the stage area where all us media/sports. info types were. So now I am within a few feet of one my all-time heroes. I stand up to stretch/improve my vantage for the next match as it involves one of my guys.

Walsh and the person he was with saunter to about 18 inches from me and get engrossed in what was a great match. I find an opening politely inject myself in the conversation and discuss my wrestler with the two of them for the last few minutes.

Never once did I have the courage to say anything to him about the 49ers and what those teams meant to me. I chickened out. He passed away the day before Tommy was born. I thought about trying to get Traci to change the baby's name to William Walsh Morris, but I don't think she would have gone for it.

--- 7 ---
San Francisco in general. I don't know if it is my love for the team that caused my passion for the city or what. But The City by the Bay is my all-time favorite city. To be fair I have never left the North American continent and only seen about half the US, but still.
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 6 -- Minnesota Winter Edition



--- 1 ---

Winter finally arrived in Minnesota after the first two months of our new life here with temps in the 30's and 40's the last few days have been in the teen's with subzero wind-chills. Fun times, but hey it's giving me a chance to break in my new Carhartt Flannel shirt that I got for Christmas.

--- 2 ---

The NFL Playoffs are in full swing. I will refrain from predicting any outcomes, because they would smack of rampant homerism and over exuberance owing to my 49ers being involved for the first time in a decade.
--- 3 ---

Found a great church here in Minnesota that I like. I walked in and the Tabernacle is front and center right behind the altar, confessionals on either side of the church, very pre-conciliar architecture. Makes me even more interested in hearing a Latin Mass sometime. Seems like they have a bunch of churches here that offer it at least once a month, perhaps I will have to check one out.

--- 4 ---

Watched Footloose today, the original. Kevin Bacon was so young and looked even younger than he was. One of my favorite movies from my childhood. I railed and railed about the idea that they remade it, but I will probably watch it at some point.
--- 5 ---

Going home in a week. It'll be awesome to be in New Mexico for a solid week, just getting to spend the time with the family and enjoying some good Mexican food. Yes, please.
--- 6 ---

The wife and my sister-in-law are both after my brother-in-law and I to read the Hunger Games books with them. Traci has finished all three of them and keeps bugging me to read them. I'd rather read the Millennium Trilogy (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, etc.) books. In fact I started that one tonight.

--- 7 ---
Ok, fine I'll make predictions for this weekend's games:

New England - 44
Denver - 23

B'More - 38
Houston -7

S.F. - 24
New Orleans - 20
(Yes that is a homer pick, but it's a possibility)

Upset Special:
New York - 33
Green Bay 31
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!