Good Start

So we had a nice little group watching the game at our house last night. We had a nice surprise in that Joyful's brother, Tom and his wife, Terri came through town and were able to stop by. They got in town towards the beginning of the 2nd quarter and Joyful went and got them.

Seems like it was a good start for the football team. I had really thought the game would've been closer...I was telling people 10 points, so 23 points was good. It was nice to see the defense play with passion and actually make some good plays...very refreshing after last year.

Also caught a little bit of the LSU/Appalachian State "game"...I was hoping that would be more like last year's Michigan/App State game, but alas...I saw a fair amount of Okie State beating up on Washington State...OSU was looking pretty good, I must say.

So, college football has started and all is well with the world...

Psalm 65:9

" 9 You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so."

It's been an interesting start to my day...I was woken up at 3:30 this morning by Honey barking to come in...certainly nothing new, it's pretty much a daily occurence...however, when I went to bring her in, I discovered she was barking because it was raining. Unfortunate, since yesterday we had the siding taken off our chimney and the plywood replaced in preparation for the stone veneer that's going to be put on this week. It was lightly raining, and when I got back up at 4:30 for work, it had stopped, so I wasn't too worried. I got off work early today so I could take advantage of the nice temperatures and go for a nice run...I got home, changed clothes and headed out...noticing that the sky was really cloudy, and not nice, fluffy clouds...mean, nasty clouds. I was about 2 miles in when the rain let loose. It was a downpour for about the next 3 or 4 miles and then it let up, but by then I was soaked...my feet squished with every step. I had planned on doing 13 miles today to get an idea of who I'll do in the Omaha half marathon next month, but by the time I got to where I was passing the street into my neighborhood (9 miles), I decided I should come home.

So now with the rain, our project is likely going to take even longer...it was supposed to get started last Thursday, but the job the mason was on was running long, so it got pushed back to yesterday...now it rained and we have to let the chimney dry out before they can wrap it in Tyvek...hopefully they can get some good work done on the other parts of the house while it dries out. When it's all said and done, I'll put a picture or 2 of our sweet looking house on here...

So close...

Only 1 week until the start of the College Football season!!!  Actually it's just under a week...there's some games on next Thursday night, but none of them interest me...we're having people over to watch the first Husker game next Saturday.  Mom's coming donw around noon to hang out for a while and a couple guys from Ted's are coming over, too.  Me, being the person that I am, looked up on the guide and typed up a list of all the games that are on TV on Saturday.  I'm sure that makes Joyful sad.  I wouldn't say she becomes a football widow during football season, but I do enjoy watching it.  With the wonders of the DVR, I can record some games and watch them at my leisure...but it's just not the same as watching it live.  Chances are good that by the time I watch the game I already know who won...Don't get me wrong...Joyful enjoys football, and sports in general...I just REALLY like football.  I'm really hoping we can make it to a game or two this year (Hey David...I know you read this from time to time..any games you and Cheryl don't want to go to...)

 

So next Saturday these are the games I'm looking forward to seeing (at least parts of them anyways).

• Nebraska Vs. Western Michigan - duh..
• Virginia Tech Vs East Carolina - we play V. Tech on Sept. 27th
• Oklahoma State Vs. Washington State - I tend to enjoy watching OSU play (thanks to Shane's influence)
• Appalachian State Vs. LSU - can Appalachian State upset LSU like they did Michigan last year?
• Illinois Vs. Missouri - probably won't see much of it as it starts at 7:30 and Nebraska starts at 6, but this should be a fantastic game.

My prediction for Nebraska this year is we'll have 9 wins counting a bowl game.  I think our offense will be good...the O-Line should be excellent, we're deep at running back, and if Ganz can sustain anything close to the performance he had in the final 3 games last year, our offense will be awesome.  Obviously defense is where all the questions are...we've got basically the same players as last year's horrible defense, so it's a matter of coaching and motivation...we'll see what kind of head coach Pellini can be, but it's well known what kind of motivator he is.  Should be exciting stuff.

Running the Big O

So as a training run for the KC Marathon that's only 2 months and a week away, I signed up for the Omaha Half Marathon on Sept. 28th. With the Omaha half only being 3 weeks before the KC full, it's not like 13 miles will be that far in comparison (hopefully it'll seem pretty easy since by then I should be up to 20+ mile runs), but it'll be good to run in race setting. Last year I did the Omaha half in 2hrs 14 min. This year I'm really hoping to get it done closer to 2 hours. 2 hours 4 min. would be a 9:30 pace, which would be good. I did 9 miles today at a 9:45 pace and felt really good. I felt like I was pushing it towards the end, but for the most part I felt like I could've gone faster.

Only 19 days until football starts...

What a nice day...

So kick off to Husker Football is but 25 days away...hooray for that! The Journal Star had a big 'ol story about the Huskers on the front page today since fall practice started yesterday...



So every time Joyful and I go to Target and make our lap around the store, we always glance in the electronics to see if, by some miracle, they actually have a Wii in stock. Of course, they never do. It's the top selling gaming console in the world, and nobody ever has one in stock! Of course, there are much more important things to spend our money on, but it's nice to dream. This morning I rode my bike to work at the vet...it wasn't opressively hot out like it's been lately, even at 4:45 in the morning, so I figured a nice 8 mile round trip bike ride was just what the doctor ordered. On my way home I figured I'd stop in at Target and make a lap around the store since it was on the way home and I do love Target...but what to my wondering eyes should appear? A Wii sitting in the case in the electronics department...were my eyes playing a trick on me? I took a second look, and it was still there. I called Joyful to tell her the glorious news. So we decided we could justify it if it's our Christmas present to ourselves, we're going to wrap it up and put it with all the other presents and open it at Christmas. Well, maybe a little early...we are hosting it this year after all, and I need to be able to beat Bryan at bowling.