Saturday, September 15, 2007

News Update

Well, we broke a temperature record here last night. The old record was 36, and we hit 32. Brrrrr! Oh, and our high school football team won their game last night, 21-17. Go Bobcats!

Speaking of football - Iowa State beat Iowa 15 - 13 today. Everyone expected Iowa to win because they were 2-0 and ISU was 0-2, but I guess the Hawkeyes left their A-game at home. Oh well. Too bad for them. Go Cyclones!

And since football is the subject, I'll tangent a little bit to soccer and tell you that Mary had her first game of the fall season today. I missed it because I had a long standing appointment to get my hair done (how lame does that sound?) but the good news is that Mary made the first goal for her team today!!! Her game has improved so much. I'm really proud of her, and I'm looking forward to going to the rest of her games this season. Her team is called The Heartbreakers (no, we haven't see Tom Petty around here) so Go Heartbreakers!

That is all the news for the moment. You may now return to your regularly scheduled life.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Frost On The Pumpkin

Tonight's weather is supposed to be record-breakingly cold. Carl covered our tomatoes with blankets, and I turned on the heat in my truck tonight coming home from the football game. We didn't stay for the whole game: we saw the second half of the freshman game (they tied) and part of the first half of the varsity game, and then we (meaning me, Hannah and Mary) came home because Mary has a soccer game first thing in the morning and she's a pain to get out of bed. (BTW, Carl has a cold so he stayed home.)

So, why were we at only part of a football game? Because between the freshman and varsity games, Mary participated in the Junior Cheerleaders thing they do every year. Last Saturday she went to the "camp" and tonight she cheered. Hannah went along, too, which was kind of a surprise. Even more surprising was the fact that she chose to sit with the rest of the middle schoolers instead of with Mom. My little wallflower is slowly but surely blossoming. (Also, she keeps talking about this freshman boy in the band, and I noticed she was sitting at the end of the bleachers so she could watch him as he sat in the band bleachers. Hmmmmm...)

Anyway. I love fall, when the air gets nippy and you need to wear a jacket with your hoodie. Tonight I even had to go back to my truck and fetch the blankets. Unfortunately, this is also the time of year that I miss my parents' farm the most. (Sorry, Mom) I miss the maple leaves on the ground and the apple trees and especially the smell in the air - clean and crispy with that dusty, earthy smell you get when the farmers are out combining. Harvest time has its own fragrance, and while I can get a little of that here (living across the street from a farm field) it's not quite the same as having fields all around you and that aroma permeating the air. I also miss the bonfires that Dad used to build, so tomorrow I'm going to get stuff for s'mores and make a fire in the fire pit.

While I like the cooler weather, I really hope this freeze warning we're under (for tonight) doesn't mean an early or prolonged winter. I like icy as long as I don't have to drive on it! I hope any snowstorms we get come on the weekends when we don't have to go anywhere. And by the way, it was dang cold out there tonight. Global warming? Yeah, right.

So I'm pretty much done for this evening. I'm going to put the cats in the basement, shut down the computer, turn off the lights, and go to bed. If I remember, and if I have time, tomorrow I'll blog about our record breaking cold temperature, if we actually get one.

Gute Nacht!