Post bedlam thoughts

Man what a game that was last night. I have some thoughts afterwards and after the BCS fallout from today. First, the flip that Bradford did may have won him the Heisman. That play is a definite signature play and one that just made a statement about what he means to the team. Second, I hope the torn ligaments in Bradford's left hand do not affect him that much. Remember when Jason White won the Heisman and led us in destroying people all year only to be hampered by an injury in the last two games? I have an uneasy feeling about that. Third, who is ever going to want to play middle linebacker on defense for us again? It is almost an automatic knee injury this year. Fourth, I can not believe how many people (especially at ESPN) got on the Texas bandwagon against us. I can just see those same people really wanting to see us fall on our face vs. Missouri and our bowl game. I think it could help the team if they take on an "us against the world" mentality. Finally, man do the Cowboy fans hate us or what? I have seen some really bitter stuff coming out since the game and the BCS came out. I am not a fan of the Cowboys by any strech, but I do not think it comes close to hatred. Now Chase Daniel on the other hand...

A house is not a home...

I have uploaded some pictures to flickr of our house.  I would have put some on this post, but there are too many to choose from.  Recently, we have done some work (or had some work done, I should say) to our house.  Taking down wallpaper, painting, carpet, new furniture and decorations.  I am not a big fan of this type of thing because of the expense.  But, I sure do appreciate the results.  It feels more like "our home" now that we have put more of our stamp on and in it.  Amber picked out the carpet, furniture and paint styles and did a great job.  Alana and Janice picked out some furniture and the decorations.  They also put things in order for our thanksgiving gathering and had the house looking spectacular.  Our painters were top notch and we are much more at home now, and most importantly have an OU decorated bathroom!  Even though it is expensive to do this kind of thing, it is worth it.  I am very thankful for our home and family.

The pictures are here: http://flickr.com/photos/abbiesdaddy/sets/72157610298303532/

Happy Thanksgiving

We went to Mom and Dad's this past weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We had a good time and enjoyed some great food.  The kids were fun to watch and really enjoyed it when Amber read to them.  We really did not get to stay very long since I had to get back for a meeting.  It was good to see everyone, though.

A night of Thunder

I went to my first Thunder basketball game last night.  My brother-in-law has season tickets and was nice enough to ask my father-in-law and I if we would like to go to the game against the Rockets.  I enjoy watching sports, but I am not a fan of being in crowds of LOTS of people.  I have been to a few sporting events in my life.  Our family used to go to Kansas City and watch Royals games when I was younger.  I got to see George Brett and Bo Jackson hit home runs and Bo broke a bat over his knee.  I have only been to a couple of Sooner football games.  One at Norman and the Big 12 Championship in 2004 at Kansas City.  That being said, I think one of the best parts of going to the event is the crowd.  Yes, it is fun to watch the stars shine on their stage, but when the crowd gets into a good game, that is what I enjoy most.  There were some good crowds at Kansas City, but in an open park like that, it was not overpowering.  The big 12 championship was almost all Sooner fans and when AD ran for a touchdown to our endzone, it got pretty nuts.  I was hoping the crowd would be "electric" for the game last night and for the most part I was dissappointed.  Do not get me wrong, I really enjoyed the game, but the crowd seemed flat for the most part.  The team played a good 1st quarter and a decent 2nd quarter to trail at half 56-50.  I thought the 1st half was a good showing and more than I expected against a team as good as the Rockets.  The 3rd quarter was brutal.  The Thunder could not hit anything and by the time they started to score, they were down by about 15.  Through all this time it seemed to me the crowd was not as loud or excited as I had expected.  The 4th quarter was better and the Thunder looked like they could make a run.  I started to feel the crowd coming alive and there were critical points that could have turned the game.  First, early in the quarter, the Thunder trimmed the lead to 8 and had a chance to get it to 6.  After a steal, we had the ball and the crowd was into it.  The Rockets fouled us and called timeout before the free throws.  Our best player was still on the bench for his start of the 4th quarter rest.  The coach did not put him back in, we missed both free throws, Houston made a couple of buckets and in no time we were down by 12 instead of 6.  Then, later in the quarter the team started playing good defense and the crowd started to pick up.  THE play that could have "Blown the roof off the dump" was a breakaway after a Houston turnover.  We were pushing the ball up and I could see Kevin Durant (our best player) coming on the backside for an alleyoop that would have been HUGE.  But the pass was behind him and we turned the ball over and the crowd just fizzled.  I had a good time and I think the team can be good, they are just young.

I have returned...

Hi there.  I am sorry for the long hiatus, but it has been tough to find the time and I have not taken any new pictures recently.  I have any number of things to rant about.  Aggravations at work, the aggravating new dress code at work, the aggravating (if not scary) election results, and numerous other aggravations.  But, I choose to talk about the picture above.  This past weekend we went to Ada for a brief visit to celebrate Dad's birthday (belatedly).  Even though the stay was brief, it was a very enjoyable trip.  Mom had the idea to have a picnic style lunch at the park and it was a great idea.  The weather was pefect.  There was lots of sunshine and almost no wind.  We all ate some KFC (Abbie too, thank goodness), then played on the swing, jungle gym, and fed the ducks.  Abbie really took to leading mom and dad around and sort of "showing off" for them.  It was neat to watch.  I have not really seen Abbie be like that with mom and dad until now.  It made me smile inside and out.  When the ducks saw us coming, they made a beeline (or is that a duckline?) to us for what little bread we had.  They were honking up a storm and Abbie is not real fond of loud noises.  She went to dad for security and thats when I took this picture.  Again, it just makes me smile.  We missed Jami and her crew, hopefully the whole gang can get together for Mom's birthday, I am interested to see what kind of trouble Abbie and Rosie get into.  It is late so I will stop, but I will try to be on a little more often.  Have a good weekend.  

PS. This is for Jami, How did the kids like the candy?  You're welcome by the way.