19 September 2004: Big day yesterday for the Finlayson offspring (pix on the "Family Pix page)!! First off, Nook competed as #5 Varsity (out of 7) on the High School Girls Cross Country Team at the Nike-Holly High School Cross Country Invitational Meet held at Springfield Oaks County Park. The Girls Team did a FABULOUS job, bringing home the 3rd Place trophy for Division 1!!!

Then, Dad and Nook zoomed over to East Lansing to catch up with Veeper and the MSU Spartan Marching Band. They got scalper tickets (gulp!) and were on the North end of the field, right over the tunnel through which the SMB enters the field. Before the game, over to Adams Field to watch the SMB warm up, then Series to the Athletic Field!!

Unfortunately, for those of us who didn't make it to the game, ESPN failed miserably to show the Spartan Marching Band at all; they even TALKED over what we could hear of the SMB!! I understand the halftime show was "The Beatles", and I'm sure it was a fabulous show!! Congratulations to the SMB for another GREAT performance!!

21 September 2004: Trip to MSU with Ernie and Sam to visit Veeper, as well as take a few things over to her. Ernie was SO happy to see her that he could barely stand up!! Her room looked just like a dorm room [...obviously] that had been thru Hurricane Ivan. With a trombone laying in the middle of the floor. . .

Took V out to the Meijer for a new watch - mission accomplished!! Ernie sat on her lap both ways. . . and was extremely HAPPY about it, too!

V is going with the SMB to the Indiana game, leaving Friday, returning Saturday night. Pretty cool! She's gonna have a blast with that crew!!

22 September 2004: The GBHS Cross Country Team has a Tri-Meet today, Carman-Ainsworth & Swartz Creek the other two teams. Grand Blanc Girls won (sorry, don't know the score. . . ). Nook was #4 of the GB Varsity Girls to cross the finish line with a time of 22:52 - Good Job, Nook! Good Show GB!!

Heard from Veeps today - she's really geeked about the weekend starting Oct. 1. We're bringing her home so she can pick up some warmer clothes, plus she wants to go to the Home football game to see the high school Marching Band at halftime, then see them compete at Clarkston the next day.

23 September 2004: Warren today. . . the worst traffic I've seen yet on SB I-75 yet, sheesh!! Couple of fender-benders, one car totally stalled out in the center lane under an overpass (oh, that one was on the way home. . sorry - still surprised she didn't get rear-ended). Took almost 1.5 hours just to reach to parking lot. . . Makes me glad I work from home 4 days per week right now!!

Near-90 degree weather today. The Cross-Country Team and the SMB must've about melted!! Jackson Invitational for the GB XC Team on Saturday, so big ol' pasta supper tomorrow night. I swear, these runners just LIVE for the pre-meet pasta dinners!! Hopefully, Val can get an understanding of doing a "subroutine" in C++ before she leaves for IU with the SMB, so she can really enjoy the trip!!. LOVE her "away" msg for IM when she's programming!!

Ernie & Sam took "Mom & Dad" to Squirrel Park this evening. Sam's a little gimpy, but enjoyed himself, and let Ernie do all the squirrel chasing (gee, he's FAST!). Ernie is being sat-upon by Big Sis Nook on the couch - and lovin' every second.

25 September 2004: Lessee, today is Saturday. . . traditionally, a day to just kinda do "whatever", "whenever". . . right?? WRONG!

Got up at 5:30 or so. . . had to get Nook to the high school to meet up with the Cross-Country Team and their drivers (yep, no buses for Saturday events anymore - budget constraints. . . ) - the BIG Jackson Invitational Meet - lots of participants!! The Girls Team (Div I) competed at 10:00 a.m., the Guys (Div I) at 10:30 a.m. Our Team did very well! The Girls came in 6th overall, the Guys were 10th. Geena - our nationally-placed 800-m runner - came in 4th, Kelly 22nd, Erica 30th, Nook 51st. Nook got a PR of 22 min. FLAT (an 18-second improvement!!).

As for the Veeper, she's with the MSU Travel Band at the IU game in Bloomington - where, incidentally, MSU CREAMED IU (30-20)!!!! And, the SMB played a big part in that victory, leading the "Corner Blitz" in their cheers and providing overall spirit to the MSU gridiron! Too bad ESPN STILL cannot figure out that BANDS are a HUGE part of the football experience. In fact, according to "The Corner Blitz", the MSU Marching Band is the CENTRAL FOCUS of the game. . . IMHO, the football game is additional entertainment, with the Marching Bands as the primary focus. Can someone please explain how a group (i.e., the Band), where each member of that group is JUST AS IMPORTANT as every other member - plus, one has to march, play music from memory, and move to specific, unmarked locations AND maintain perfect formation ALL AT THE SAME TIME (AND. . . NO SUBSTITUTIONS MID-PERFORMANCE), could possibly be so totally ignored??? Whereas the football teams change players in-&-out constantly, screw up formations, DROP THE DANGED BALL, and are constantly flagged for bad moves - and get ALL the attention? Hmmmmmm?

Anyway, we DO know which group really counts. . . the football team went over to the Band and paid homage to Band Gods by singing the MSU Fight Song at the end of the game!!

26 September 2004: Heard from Veeper. She had a BLAST at the IU game yesterday. The SMB had a chance to meet with the IU Marching Band at the reception after the game, plus it was "Band Day" - so there were a bunch of High School Marchers there, too, that the SMB was able to briefly meet!! What a fabulous opportunity for all of them!!

The SMB pulled in to the MSU Campus about 10:45 last night - all were happy and very tired!! Veeps didn't get up today until about 11:00!! Needed her rest, that's fer-shure! Spent the day recovering and doing homework (I guess).

Sounds like Veeps is zeroing in on declaring a major. . .

27 September 2004: Sigh. . . Nook is a little bit sick - still the same crud that she managed to get a PR on Saturday with anyway. . . Coach C-los told her after today's practice that she is NOT to come to practice tomorrow (that she IS to sleep, eat, rest, whatever to try to feel better for Wednesday's meet in Davison). . . even though Nook wasn't feeling all that good, she was still heart-broken about having to miss!!

At least we KNOW that she's NOT on her death-bed. . . she devoured supper after practice. . . then, here it is, about 9:00 p.m., and she's just made herself a "Dagwood" sandwich. That'll probably be GONE in about 3 minutes. ;-)

Uh-oh, Ol' Sammer's "talking", definitely trying to send me a message. Ah-ha! The Cookie Jar (for only the umpteenth time today). Half a cookie for Sammer, the other half for the Nernie. . . ohboy, more "Talking", this time with the nose going over to the back door, both of The Boyz want out. Nothing like The Boyz working in tandem. The "Ol' Man" has mentored "The Kid" quite well over the past 10 months!! The Nern has gone from a cute teeny snuggly ball of black/brindle/white fur that Sammer quickly house-broke for us, to the Crown Prince of the Beach (Sammer remains King Emeritus). The crown was passed on with the last trip to the Cabin before it was closed for the season. . . Squirrel Chasing (oh, OK, leg-lifting, too. . . sigh). The day before the trip, Ernie would chase Sam as Sam went after the squirrels. The first day back (just a few days later), the change was evident: Ernie was the brindle lightning bolt after the squirrels, while Sam contentedly trotted after, to take pride in the squirrels Ernie treed so well!! In fact, Ernie's so fast, he actually GAINS on the squirrels!! (Hopefully, Sam has also educated Ernie about SKUNKS)

BTW. . . anybody seen a red ball around anywhere? Sez "KONG" right on it. . . Last seen somewhere in our yard. . .

Next project. . . to start going through our bazillion paperback books, find some suitable plastic containers, categorizing and loading into said containers, and taking up to The Cabin as the basis of a "Beach Library" of sorts. . . Good reading material - eclectic collection - makes great Cabin Books!!

29 September 2004:

30 September 2004: Interesting day, today.

Warren, with stop at CES in Auburn Hills to drop off their laptop (that I've used since February), that started acting as if it were going to puke its hard drive. Nice, brief chat with my recruiter, we'll see what's next on the horizon after the Warren gig wraps up.

Nook home before I got there this p.m. She pulled together a list, we picked up stuff for our contribution to the Cross Country Pasta Supper (co-hosted with Saathoff's and another runner's family), plus stuff to feed Valdemort when she gets home for a short visit from Moo-U. Crockpot special, since I have to work from home, and don't want to spend much time (but still produce a nummy homemade supper). So, "Thai Chicken" it is!!

No Cross Country practice today - dunno why. Tomorrow should be light practice, as Saturday is the Midland Invitational (Janet is not running this one - she's resting up from a sore IT band from Wed's meet).

Valdemort is pretty fired up about coming home tomorrow. Must've called me about 5 different times, "just to chat"! Love it! She's happy, just needs a break, have a chance to be "owned" by Ernie for a few hours and hug Sam (can't blame her one bit). Can't wait to see ya, Veeps!!