Blogging Break

Howdy,

This blog is going on break for a few weeks. I have too much to do at work this week. We're moving on Friday. We're moving into our house next week. Too much going on.

When I return, this blog will be updated less frequently and primarily focus on Junior updates. Most of the previous posts will be taken down due to my new position as a public employee and my tendency to say things that are not so "politically correct".

Thanks for reading and best wishes to all of you.

Pappa

Alltel Buyout

Looks like the Alltel deal has finally been consummated. Click me.

Since this deal was GOING to happen at some point, for whatever reason, this is the best case scenario for Alltel's employees. It is likely that Corp will remain in LR, at least that would be my opinion anyway.

Good for those of us with a pittance of Alltel stock as well. I won't complain about that.

Cleaning Up

The war zone chaotic apartment got cleaned up last night. Now it's less of a war zone chaotic apartment and more of a demilitarized zone humble, yet sparse place to live for the next week.

I feel a lot better. There was too much crap strewn everywhere. I couldn't handle it. We're at a point now where the movers could come and, minus one box of kitchen stuff, load up and go. Really. I think we're finally there.

I'm typically a pretty optimistic person. When we began the packing process I told Mamma that we really didn't have that much stuff to pack b/c that's just how I view things. I always see big projects as really not that big of a deal.

Well, in one sense I was right. Compared to most folks, we really didn't have that much stuff to pack. However, that doesn't mean that there wasn't a lot to do. Mamma worked hard over the span of a month or so to get it all done. I would step in on the weekends and evenings to help, but she did the vast majority of it.

Mamma is going to paint a few rooms in the house while she's home this week. I talked to her last night and she's "on the ball" on this one. This was her first time to see the house since we saw it the first time and she said that she still really likes it and feels comfortable there. That's a good thing!!!

The yard evidently needs some work and there is a fire ant mound in the back yard. WATCH OUT BAILEY!!!! We'll get those things taken care of post haste.

Adios,

Pappa

Mamma and Junior Made it to AR

Mamma and Junior made it home safe and sound. They were greeted at the airport by three very happy grandparents (no big surprise there, eh?).

Pappa (that would be me) ran 4 miles yesterday and then came home to the war zone apartment, fixed some chicken spaghetti, talked on the phone to Timbes for an hour or so, talked on the phone to Mamma for a while, did a little packing, then went to bed.

Oh, the glamourous life of a (temporary) bachelor. :-)

I'm losing my mind though. There was a clean shirt left out on the bed yesterday that I moved last night and now can't seem to find. Also, there was a travel size bottle of contact solution in the bathroom that now seems to have come up missing. I don't know what the hell I did with either of these.

Paging Mamma. Come in Mamma. Please report back home b/c I can't seem to pull my head out of my a$$ when you're gone.

Signed,

Lost in MI

Junior and Mamma Have Left the Building

Junior and Mamma just got on a plane for AR. It's kind of hard to believe, but Junior just left MI FOR GOOD! WOW! Lucky guy. :-)

Anyone going to the airport to meet Mamma, be forewarned. She didn't get much sleep last night b/c we stayed up late packing and the cat had her own kitty carnival last night with the various items of interest around our war zone apartment. This means she may not be in the best of moods. Good luck with that.

I, on the other hand, get to "batch it" for the week. Spaghetti for dinner every night after I run and some friends and I are going out on Friday for a "send off" party. Should be interesting, as always.

Mamma is heading home to prep the house for our big move in. The movers are coming here a week from Friday and our stuff should arrive some time that next week.

WE'RE READY!!!

Adios,

Pappa

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa V

The entire post today is dedicated to a special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa V for cutting our yard Sunday.

Thanks guys!!!!

Well, I'm a Bad Son/Grandson

I forgot to call my Mom/Grandmothers on Mother's Day!!!!! ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

Thankfully Mamma and I sent them all cards, I sent them an e-mail yesterday AM, and I put a post on here. However, after all of our Mother's Day activities up here, and with a late night packing, I forgot to call and wish all the Mothers a happy Mother's Day.

I apologized PROFUSELY to my mom this AM and am about to do the same to my Grandmothers.

I felt HORRIBLE when I realized my transgression this AM. Thankfully, I have an OUTSTANDING mom who was very understanding.

Love to all the moms out there. Know that you are very appreciated.

Best,

Pappa

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there. We all appreciate you!

Pappa

I'm Dreading Packing Up My Office

Picture this, you're not the most organized person in the world and you just spent the last 5 years accumulating thousands upon thousands of pages of articles, manuscripts, handouts from meetings, etc...

Now, you have to move. You have to organize these thousands of pages, put them in boxes, and then transport them home so that the movers can do their moving thing.

This is a not so veiled reference to my current state of affairs in my office.

I was lucky enough this year to have an office to myself. My office mate for my first four years took a job (ahem...ON TIME...unlike some others we know who will go un-named) and left at the end of last summer. I began this year with a new office mate who, two weeks into the Fall semester, decided to quit the program. He was a new student majoring in Operations and, knowing some new students have some fear and trepidation about joining the program, I decided to ask him if he had any concerns that I could help him with.

He posed the following question to me, "So, does this whole Ph.D. thing require a lot of work?"

To begin, that's absolutely the worst question I've ever heard. If you're entering into this deal wondering about how much work you're going to have to do, that's a bad sign.

I tried to respond in a measured fashion and told him that some months are busier than others. The Spring semester is usually easier than the Fall. Etc....

He went to classes for the first two weeks. Didn't turn in an assignment on time for one of his classes. Expectedly, he got his a$$ chewed for doing so. He then went to the first class where he was assigned gobs of reading, and quit.

Anyway, long story short, I've had the office to myself for almost the entire year. This means I've had room to spread out and haven't had to stay organized so that someone else could share a small space with me. This means my job in the next two weeks is to try to get all my crap together in an organized fashion and move it.

Not going to be fun, I can promise you!!!

What makes it worse is that you never know what is OK to throw away and not to throw away. It's funny that you won't need a certain article or manuscript for YEARS and then one day you'll be doing something and say, "I wrote/read an article on that and think I have it somewhere." This begins the search process which usually results in finding said article. Case in point, you have to keep almost EVERYTHING. Geez.

Wish me luck!

Best,

Pappa

Good Words of Wisdom

I was running tonight and came up with a couple of gems. First, I know I'm getting in better shape b/c I'm thinking of sayings during my last mile of a run as opposed to wondering how many of my limbs are going to fall off after I'm done.

Second, the first of these is mildly x-rated. If you're easily offended, stop reading now and save yourself from being pissed off. I don't personally care if you get pissed off, b/c I probably won't see you for a few weeks and you'll be over it by then, but those around you might appreciate if you would refrain from pissed off-edness.

OK, here we go. I'll provide a little context here. When training for a marathon, you want to be able to stay out on the road a LONG time. This ability is more important than the ability to move fast. Leading to:

Saying #1: Marathons and marathon training are a lot like sex. It's better to be long and slow than short and fast.

See, you want to move slow and stay out there a long time as opposed to moving fast and only lasting a few miles. OK...onward and upward.

Saying #2 doesn't need much set-up but pertains to the two most important things I learned in the Ph.D. program.

Saying #2: The two most important things I learned while earning my Ph.D. are 1) how to look intelligent even when I don't know what the hell someone is talking about and 2) how to teach myself what the hell they were talking about.

There. Now go forth and spread wisdom among the masses.

Best,

Pappa

Running Bleachers, Shake and Bake, and American Idol

I decided to do something different from my normal training yesterday. So, I left work a little early, drove down to the track on campus, and ran some bleachers. Surprisingly I'm not sore today. I figured I would be given that you use some muscles running bleachers that you don't use as much just running.

Mamma and I had shake and bake chicken last night. I don't think I've ever had that stuff but it was finger lickin'. I was hungry and Mamma never eats all of her meal, so I figured I would just take 1/3 of her chicken breast (this could be part of the reason that Mamma is slim and trim and me...well..not so much).

That was a mistake. Mamma was none too pleased I had stolen her shake and bake. She got over it though.

We watched American Idol last night. I know. I know. I like the show, OK. It's kind of one of those things that you don't want to admit to many people but I guess I just did.

Anyway, Barry Gibb of Bee Gee's fame was the celebrity host last night. He looks like a monkey. You know how monkeys have a round snout? His upper lip is abnormally white and looks round. Plus, he talks with some kind of lisp. That coupled with an Australian accent (I think he's Australian..too lazy to look it up) and he was derned hard to understand.

Back to work.

Pappa

Weird Coincidence

See, some days you tune into Rooting in Snow and get 2 posts for the price of one.

Mamma and I figured out a weird coincidence last night while going through some old files.

On our first date I got really industrious and rented a limo. For some unknown reason, I saved the receipt from this purchase.

It turns out that our first date was December 9th, 2000. Guess when Junior was born? That's right, he was born 6 years later to the day: December 9th, 2006.

How 'bout that for being coinkee-dinkee? What're the odds?

Packing and Other Assorted Happenings

I think I'd rather dig ditches than to move. Don't get me wrong, this is the best case scenario when it comes to moving, but I hate the actual act of moving. You pack up all your belongings, which is a pain in the a$$. These belongings sit in boxes cluttering up your house for an un-Godly amount of time, turning your entire residence into a mine field.

Getting up to pee at night is like trying to sneak from East Berlin to West. You tipee toe through some parts. You scurry though others (probably because you just tripped and for some reason the natural reaction to tripping is to move faster).

The dog hates it too. She's a pleaser and tries to stay out of the way. The only problem is that due to all the boxes, there's only so many "alleys" she can go to and these alleys are narrow. Meaning, if she's someplace we're trying to get to, she has to run THROUGH us to get out of the way. This is mildly troublesome when you're carrying a 50 lb box.

The cat LOVES it. Hiding places galore. In boxes. Behind boxes. It's heaven for a cat.

Junior doesn't care. He just wants his twice daily dose of gruel. He had it in his hair this morning, by the way. I told him that was a God given gift.

Mamma is handling it well. She's the neat person around our house and normally doesn't react too well to chaos, but she's taking everything in stride.

We got some of our packed boxes moved into a corner last night and that helped substantially. The cat doesn't understand why we did this but she can stick it.

On another note, our yard in Conway is evidently growing. Before leaving Conway, when we closed on our house, I had thought about the yard but there's just so much going on that I hadn't gotten around to hiring someone to take care of it in our absence. Thankfully, Grandpa and Grandma V are going to take care of it for us. Evidently grass in AR grows before June. Who'da thunk it?

Things are going well up here. I got an article from my dissertation submitted to the top journal in my discipline last Friday. We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of my dissertation, I went to the binder last Friday to get several copies of that tome bound. Several of you might be getting a dissertation for Christmas b/c that crap aint cheap! When you get it, just say "thank you" because you can rest assured that it is more expensive than the cheese tray or sweater you would have gotten otherwise. :-)

I also finished the first draft of another aritcle yesterday and sent it to the co-authors. I have one more article to complete and a couple of ancillary things then my work up here is complete. There's more work, related to my work up here, to do when I move but that will get done as well.

Anyway, now you know the "rest of the story".

Best,

Pappa

Summer on College Campuses

If there were no other reason to be a college professor, and there are MANY other reasons, summer time on college campuses is a great one.

Not that college campuses are stressful (relatively) during the school year. They're really not. They are "bustling" though, for lack of a better word. Sidewalks are generally pretty crowded. Students are ALWAYS on cell phones and not watching where they're going (speaking of...how did folks of my age and older ever make it without a cell phone constantly glued to our ear when we were in college? I got by just fine. Why do these kids have to ALWAYS talk on those infernal contraptions?). Hallways are fairly packed. Professors are normally seen around the office at least once a day. It's hard to find a parking place unless you show up before 9 AM, which is not a problem for my no sleep getting butt. Lines are formed at restaurants. It's hard to get a table outside when the weather is nice. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

The summertime, ohhhhhhhh sweet summertime, is vastly different. There's NO traffic. There're few students around. Professors are seen infrequently, if at all. You can get a table outside whenever you want. You don't have to wait to cross the street because there are almost no cars. Trees are in bloom. Girls don't wear clothes (really, girls wear next to NOTHING these days. I guess it's a style, but I'm not complaining). You can get a parking spot anytime. The list goes on and on.

Summertime on a college campus is reason enough for a career as a college professor and summertime at MSU starts today. No traffic on the way to work. The halls are quiet. Life is good.

Some folks spend their summer working. I almost always have, partially by necessity. The only exception to this was my first (or was it second?) summer up here. I took about 6 weeks off and did NOTHING but work out, sit around the house, run errands, do projects around the house, etc... Man, that was GREAT for about 4 weeks. The problem is that I ran out of projects. I wondered if that is what it's like to be retired. Do you retire, get everything done you had been putting off for years, and then realize that you've got the rest of your life to get a project done every now and then spending the rest of the time bored off your a$$?

I ran out of things to do? I was bored beyond words. So, I decided to go back to work, but there was a problem with that. I couldn't get motivated to go back! I was stuck in a spot where I had nothing to do at home but didn't want to go back to work. It wasn't so fun.

I finally went back to work but had a hard time getting readjusted. I finally did and life as we know it recommenced.

Anyway, summer is here. After a LONG winter in MI, summer is finally here! 3 cheers for summer and a career where you can actually enjoy it!!!!!!

Junior Met Jimmy Buffett Today....

Well, not really, but he did sit quietly while his Mamma and Pappa ate at Jimmy Buffett's restaurant, "Cheeseburger in Paradise."

I got out this morning (after Mamma woke me up) and ran 6 miles. No worries there. Ran the whole thing and it felt good. I started off at a measured pace and finished up at the same measured pace. It is AWESOME when it feels that way: run a long distance and do it at a comfortable, conversational, easy pace.

I got home, showered, and then Junior, Mamma, and I drove to Cheeseburger in Paradise. Great music there. Not all Buffett. They throw in some "Dock of the Bay" and others of that ilk. Junior got to hear his first Buffett and some other good tunes. His Mamma and Pappa ordered some cheeseburgers. Decent burgers there. Some of the best I've had in Lansing, but that ain't saying much.

We then began our drive to Sams to pick up moving supplies. Mamma and Junior promptly conked out. I drove around for 45 minutes b/c I didn't want to wake them up. They finally woke up, we went to Sams (got the obligatory ICEE, of course), and came home.

Junior didn't utter a peep the whole time. He's a great kid.

I fell asleep when we got home.

I suppose we should so some packing now, but Junior's asleep. We all need to get on the same schedule.

Pappa

Junior Update

Forgot to post yesterday. Sorry.

Here's a Junior update though.

I got home yesterday and sat with Mamma and Junior in the nursery. We had a big time.

Evidently, Junior find the word "peekaboo" HI-LARIOUS. I'd cover his eyes with my hand, remove my hand, and say "PEEKABOO". Hilarity ensued. Junior just found that whole thing funny as hell and it's hard not to laugh when a baby laughs. Therefore, Mamma and I laughed when he did.

However, what he found funny had nothing to do with the placement of my hand. He just really likes the word "peekaboo". I stopped putting my hand in front of his face and just said the word. Again, hilarity ensued.

So I said "peekaboo" over and over and over again and did it faster and faster and faster. This through Junior into a state of hysterical laughter. He leaned his head back with his mouth wide open and laughed for about a solid minute or more. I tell you, it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen! I laughed until I had tears rolling down my face.

Unfortunately, Junior shares his daddy's love (or lack thereof) for cameras b/c Mamma and I tried to film him laughing and - once again - he completely shuts off when the camera is turned on. Not that it would have really mattered. Mamma and I suck at filming. We reviewed the tape we did have and we didn't get his face in the picture anyway. Ugh.

Everyone have a great weekend!!!!!

Pappa

Speed Training

I got out yesterday and worked on my speed a little. Did a mile in 8:15. Couldn't do more than one mile that fast but that's good enough for me. Finished the rest at about 11-12 minute miles. Back to plodding. Speed is for the birds....literally and figuratively.

I'm Back!!!!

Forgot to post yesterday. Sorry!

Had a great week in AR last week. To begin, we closed on our house last Friday with no problems. I spent some time in the house Friday afternoon and Saturday and it looks great. The sellers were great people. I actually got to meet them. They planted a bunch of flowers around the house before they moved. Not that I really care about flowers, because I really don't, but it was very nice of them to do so and exemplifies the type of people they are (they didn't have to do it) and how much they cared for the house.

It is the closest thing to spotless that a 5 year old house can be. Sure, there are a couple of spots on the walls you could look at and say, "I might touch that up" but those are VERY minor and, truth be told, you could move into the house and not do anything to it and feel good about showing it off.

I was very pleased.

Got to spend a lot of time with friends while I was there. Between staying up late with my cousin and her new husband on Monday, staying up late with Chad and Paul on Tuesday, driving to Fayetteville on Wednesday to have lunch with an old professor of mine and then "commisserating" with another old professor and Steven, I was so dadgum tired driving home I had to stop in Alma and spend the night. I'm getting old, but that was $50 well spent.

I also got to eat some good food and see family. On Monday, Grandparents V and C, my aunt, cousin, and grandmother all ate BBQ at Whole Hog Cafe. Good stuff!! Friday night I got to see friends of my parents who helped raise me and ate at Buffalo Grill. I considered getting a cheeseburger but settled on a chicken sandwich. Gotta watch my weight for the marathon training, you know? I probably should have been a little more disciplined those nights I stayed up late as well, but you know how that goes.

Speaking of marathon training, I didn't run all week. This is not TOO much of a problem as it was a "rest" week (i.e. 3 miles a day for 4 days) but I ran 5 on Sunday when I got back and felt good. The schedule has now progressed into a couple of weeks where I run 5 days. Gotta do 3 today, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I need to work on my speed some as I have been averaging about 12-13 minute miles. Clay called me on Sunday and said he just completed 9 miles (HE'S AHEAD OF SCHEDULE...THE CHEATER!!!) and ran some of them at 8 - 8.5 minute miles. So, I'm going to spend these next few 3 mile days trying to run as fast as I can. Should be fun (sarcasm). I'm known for a few things, but speed is not one of them.

Anyway, no hiccups in the closing process. Got to see a lot of good friends. Have to get back to running. We're ready to move home. I am having a hard time getting motivated to work but have a lot to do. That's it in a nutshell.

Pappa