[No Time To Stop For Sunsets]
9.27.08
Through the door, and past the window
Behind the screen and above the floor
Around the world and up the street
Click, click through the day
Send, receive, repeat
Ring, beep, ring, take notes
You'll probably miss it all anyway
Down the stairs, on the sidewalk
Drive by the river for the fastest way
Don't forget to remember this is everyday
Wash, scrub, sweep and mop
Walk, dust and reply-to-all some more
Plan, post-it and track
Remember the dollar that it's all for
Keep going, keep driving, pedal push
Run the yellow light so it won't slow you down
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go
There is no time to stop for sunsets.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Communicating and Connecting
Date 3 of 10 Dates Before You Say I Do...all about how to communicate best with your partner. I think me and Jason have this down already, we talk more than you could imagine about our "feelings." Let's just get married, dangit. :)
I have a busy couple of weeks coming up, but all fun things. LSU game, 2 concerts, BBQ, New Orleans trip, and so on and so on.
It's nice to have things to look forward to lately. More than just "oh hey, that report is due tomorrow" or clocking in over 30 hours of overtime in the last few weeks. Coffee shops and fall nights remind me that I am still fun and carefree at heart, even if I wear heels and sport a day planner during the day.
I have also fallen in love with Corporate Express, office supplies heaven!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Crazy Loco!
From SI.com:
AUBURN, Ala. -- Gary Crowton looked at the clock late Saturday night and figured he could call one more pass. Sure, the LSU offensive coordinator could have kept feeding tailback Charles Scott, could have kept the ball in the middle of the field, could have kicked a nice, safe field goal and beaten a top-10 opponent in its own house. Instead, he chose to beat that top-10 opponent and post a warning sign big enough for the defensive coordinators at Georgia, Florida and Alabama to see.
With a little more than 70 seconds on the clock, Crowton ordered Jarrett Lee -- the tosser of one crippling interception already -- to look for Brandon LaFell in the flat. Auburn bunched tight, waiting for the inevitable Scott burst up the middle. It never came. Lee hit LaFell, who boogied into the end zone and ripped out Auburns' still-beating heart. Doubtless, Willie Martinez, Charlie Strong and Kevin Steele, the aforementioned coordinators, took note. "The next time we get in that situation," Crowton said with a sly grin, "they're going to have to play more defense."
Translation: In a tight clash of SEC heavyweights, be prepared for anything, because LSU is loco.
We really didn't need Saturday's 26-21 heart-attack inducer to figure that out. Last year's win against Auburn, when LSU, down one, declined a reasonable field-goal attempt for a shot at the end zone that easily could have sapped the remainder of the clock, told us all we need to know about Crowton and his boss, Les Miles. No, Saturday taught us more about the beast of a conference Crowton and Miles hope to slay. That lesson is this. The meek shall inherit the earth, but they will not win the SEC.
Saturday began with five SEC teams in The Associated Press top 10. Now that No. 6 LSU has dispatched No. 10 Auburn, that number will drop to four. Now, pull out your day planners and get ready for some viewing recommendations.
Sept. 27: Alabama at Georgia, Oct. 11: LSU at Florida, Oct. 25: Georgia at LSU, Nov. 1: Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville, Nov. 8: Alabama at LSU.
This is going to be an absolute bloodbath. We should expect no less from a conference that embraces the spectacle of a War Eagle flying into a stadium, landing at the 50-yard line and gobbling two live mice while 87,541 people go berserk. The SEC is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. The tree- and mouse-huggers can stay over in the Pac-10.
First-year Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin should know this. He once coached at Kentucky, which occasionally played against the league's power teams. But when Auburn got the ball with a 21-20 lead and 5:32 remaining Saturday, Franklin played it safe. Auburn needed to move the ball down the field and drain the clock. If Auburn couldn't score again, it at least needed to bury LSU so deep on its own end of the field that the Bayou Bengals could hear the hiss with every shake of the blue-and-orange pom-poms Auburn fans receive at birth. Franklin called handoff, safe (albeit incomplete) pass, handoff. After a shanked punt, the defending national champs had the ball on its own 46 with four minutes to play.
Miles, whose team won a few of these games en route to the title last year, never had a doubt. "Our guys play in tight quarters," he said. "That's this league. That's how we were raised."
Lee, the redshirt freshman quarterback, was raised rooting for John Elway. Now he'll always be remembered for a Drive of his own. But before we get to that flat pass to LaFell, let's revisit the first time Lee threw into the flat Saturday. Trailing 7-3 in the second quarter on a night when it seemed the first team to double-digits would win, Lee called for the snap quickly before the defense could get set. He'd expected Auburn to unleash hell, because, well, this is the SEC and that's what SEC defenses do. Instead, most of the men in blue dropped back. Lee looked downfield, but he never saw defensive end Gabe McKenzie peel away from his blocker and retreat. Lee threw a pass that should have been slathered in orange sauce. "I guess it was just little butterflies," Lee said. "I was a little anxious." McKenzie thrust a paw into the air and speared the ball, returning it 24 yards for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
Starter Andrew Hatch returned immediately. LSU coaches would say later that they fully intended to bring back Lee at some point, but it didn't seem that way when the third quarter began. It looked as if LSU would pin its comeback hopes on a defense full of genetically freakish former seven-star recruits and an offense led by Hatch, a Harvard transfer whose last start on the road came against Yale. Yale's JV, that is. But Hatch didn't get the chance to make the Ivy League proud. Midway through the third, Auburn cornerback Jerraud Powers rang Hatch's bell after a 5-yard run. Any comeback would have to be led by Lee. "The great thing about competitive people is that it's not about the last play," Miles said of Lee. "It's about the next play."
On Lee's next play following the interception, he fired a 16-yard dart to Richard Dickson to convert a third-and-4. Three plays later, Lee stood tall as Auburn linebacker Spencer Pybus targeted him. Lee couldn't see Pybus, but he certainly could feel the impending crunch. Still, Lee waited. Finally, a fraction of a second before Pybus tattooed him, Lee lofted a 39-yard touchdown pass to Chris Mitchell to cut the deficit to 14-10. Minutes later, Lee flicked an option pitch to back Keiland Williams, who stopped and tossed a rainbow into the waiting hands of Demetrius Byrd to give LSU a 17-14 lead.
Down 20-14, Franklin's spread offense -- which is available to high school coaches for the low, low price of $3,495 -- began to look like something worth buying. Auburn had managed to exploit LSU's aggressiveness a few times in the first three quarters, but never more than once in a possession. That finally changed midway through the fourth quarter. As quarterback Chris Todd ran for his life on the drive's first play, LSU's defensive backs relaxed, confident they'd just assisted in a coverage sack. They never saw Auburn receiver Tim Hawthorne drift beyond them until after Todd ducked a tackle and fired for a 58-yard gain. Two plays later, Todd's fade pass dropped over the shoulder of safety Danny McCray and into the hands of Robert Dunn for a 15-yard touchdown that gave Auburn a 21-20 lead with 6:40 remaining.
As Auburn fans filed out of the stadium, several complained at high volume about the chances of Franklin's offense succeeding in the SEC. They should relax a bit. The same offense that produced a whopping three points in a pitcher's duel win last week at Mississippi State scored two touchdowns and gained 320 yards Saturday against the nation's most athletic defense. That's quite a one-week improvement. "We took a major step forward," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said.
If Auburn's offense continues to get better, the Tigers could make life miserable for the rest of the teams on their schedule. In fact, by the time Auburn goes to Tuscaloosa for the Iron Bowl on Nov. 29, the Tigers may be back in the top 10. That's something else LSU taught us last year. Though SEC teams throw haymakers at one another, the league is not a knockout pool. One loss is not the end.
But in this series, it does leave the losing team with a considerable climb. Since 2000, the LSU-Auburn winner also has won the SEC west title six times. Want some more history? LSU's Scott, who finished Saturday with 132 yards on 21 carries, is the first LSU player to ever rush for 100 yards at Auburn. "Right now, I'm thinking it was the hardest 100 yards of my life," Scott said. "They have a great defense."
Any rational coordinator would, out of respect for that defense, have told Scott to keep running the ball between the hash marks. But this is LSU, and Crowton would have drawn the ire of an entire team had he played it safe. On the sideline during that final offensive possession, LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson watched and waited. Asked later if he'd hoped his team would just kick the field goal and hand the defense the lead, Jackson was emphatic. "No way," he said. Jackson wanted Crowton to go for the jugular. And so, with an eye toward a future that he hopes will include a shot at a second consecutive national title, Crowton told Lee to look for LaFell in the flat.
"It was just pitch-and-catch from there," Lee said.
AUBURN, Ala. -- Gary Crowton looked at the clock late Saturday night and figured he could call one more pass. Sure, the LSU offensive coordinator could have kept feeding tailback Charles Scott, could have kept the ball in the middle of the field, could have kicked a nice, safe field goal and beaten a top-10 opponent in its own house. Instead, he chose to beat that top-10 opponent and post a warning sign big enough for the defensive coordinators at Georgia, Florida and Alabama to see.
With a little more than 70 seconds on the clock, Crowton ordered Jarrett Lee -- the tosser of one crippling interception already -- to look for Brandon LaFell in the flat. Auburn bunched tight, waiting for the inevitable Scott burst up the middle. It never came. Lee hit LaFell, who boogied into the end zone and ripped out Auburns' still-beating heart. Doubtless, Willie Martinez, Charlie Strong and Kevin Steele, the aforementioned coordinators, took note. "The next time we get in that situation," Crowton said with a sly grin, "they're going to have to play more defense."
Translation: In a tight clash of SEC heavyweights, be prepared for anything, because LSU is loco.
We really didn't need Saturday's 26-21 heart-attack inducer to figure that out. Last year's win against Auburn, when LSU, down one, declined a reasonable field-goal attempt for a shot at the end zone that easily could have sapped the remainder of the clock, told us all we need to know about Crowton and his boss, Les Miles. No, Saturday taught us more about the beast of a conference Crowton and Miles hope to slay. That lesson is this. The meek shall inherit the earth, but they will not win the SEC.
Saturday began with five SEC teams in The Associated Press top 10. Now that No. 6 LSU has dispatched No. 10 Auburn, that number will drop to four. Now, pull out your day planners and get ready for some viewing recommendations.
Sept. 27: Alabama at Georgia, Oct. 11: LSU at Florida, Oct. 25: Georgia at LSU, Nov. 1: Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville, Nov. 8: Alabama at LSU.
This is going to be an absolute bloodbath. We should expect no less from a conference that embraces the spectacle of a War Eagle flying into a stadium, landing at the 50-yard line and gobbling two live mice while 87,541 people go berserk. The SEC is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. The tree- and mouse-huggers can stay over in the Pac-10.
First-year Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin should know this. He once coached at Kentucky, which occasionally played against the league's power teams. But when Auburn got the ball with a 21-20 lead and 5:32 remaining Saturday, Franklin played it safe. Auburn needed to move the ball down the field and drain the clock. If Auburn couldn't score again, it at least needed to bury LSU so deep on its own end of the field that the Bayou Bengals could hear the hiss with every shake of the blue-and-orange pom-poms Auburn fans receive at birth. Franklin called handoff, safe (albeit incomplete) pass, handoff. After a shanked punt, the defending national champs had the ball on its own 46 with four minutes to play.
Miles, whose team won a few of these games en route to the title last year, never had a doubt. "Our guys play in tight quarters," he said. "That's this league. That's how we were raised."
Lee, the redshirt freshman quarterback, was raised rooting for John Elway. Now he'll always be remembered for a Drive of his own. But before we get to that flat pass to LaFell, let's revisit the first time Lee threw into the flat Saturday. Trailing 7-3 in the second quarter on a night when it seemed the first team to double-digits would win, Lee called for the snap quickly before the defense could get set. He'd expected Auburn to unleash hell, because, well, this is the SEC and that's what SEC defenses do. Instead, most of the men in blue dropped back. Lee looked downfield, but he never saw defensive end Gabe McKenzie peel away from his blocker and retreat. Lee threw a pass that should have been slathered in orange sauce. "I guess it was just little butterflies," Lee said. "I was a little anxious." McKenzie thrust a paw into the air and speared the ball, returning it 24 yards for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
Starter Andrew Hatch returned immediately. LSU coaches would say later that they fully intended to bring back Lee at some point, but it didn't seem that way when the third quarter began. It looked as if LSU would pin its comeback hopes on a defense full of genetically freakish former seven-star recruits and an offense led by Hatch, a Harvard transfer whose last start on the road came against Yale. Yale's JV, that is. But Hatch didn't get the chance to make the Ivy League proud. Midway through the third, Auburn cornerback Jerraud Powers rang Hatch's bell after a 5-yard run. Any comeback would have to be led by Lee. "The great thing about competitive people is that it's not about the last play," Miles said of Lee. "It's about the next play."
On Lee's next play following the interception, he fired a 16-yard dart to Richard Dickson to convert a third-and-4. Three plays later, Lee stood tall as Auburn linebacker Spencer Pybus targeted him. Lee couldn't see Pybus, but he certainly could feel the impending crunch. Still, Lee waited. Finally, a fraction of a second before Pybus tattooed him, Lee lofted a 39-yard touchdown pass to Chris Mitchell to cut the deficit to 14-10. Minutes later, Lee flicked an option pitch to back Keiland Williams, who stopped and tossed a rainbow into the waiting hands of Demetrius Byrd to give LSU a 17-14 lead.
Down 20-14, Franklin's spread offense -- which is available to high school coaches for the low, low price of $3,495 -- began to look like something worth buying. Auburn had managed to exploit LSU's aggressiveness a few times in the first three quarters, but never more than once in a possession. That finally changed midway through the fourth quarter. As quarterback Chris Todd ran for his life on the drive's first play, LSU's defensive backs relaxed, confident they'd just assisted in a coverage sack. They never saw Auburn receiver Tim Hawthorne drift beyond them until after Todd ducked a tackle and fired for a 58-yard gain. Two plays later, Todd's fade pass dropped over the shoulder of safety Danny McCray and into the hands of Robert Dunn for a 15-yard touchdown that gave Auburn a 21-20 lead with 6:40 remaining.
As Auburn fans filed out of the stadium, several complained at high volume about the chances of Franklin's offense succeeding in the SEC. They should relax a bit. The same offense that produced a whopping three points in a pitcher's duel win last week at Mississippi State scored two touchdowns and gained 320 yards Saturday against the nation's most athletic defense. That's quite a one-week improvement. "We took a major step forward," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said.
If Auburn's offense continues to get better, the Tigers could make life miserable for the rest of the teams on their schedule. In fact, by the time Auburn goes to Tuscaloosa for the Iron Bowl on Nov. 29, the Tigers may be back in the top 10. That's something else LSU taught us last year. Though SEC teams throw haymakers at one another, the league is not a knockout pool. One loss is not the end.
But in this series, it does leave the losing team with a considerable climb. Since 2000, the LSU-Auburn winner also has won the SEC west title six times. Want some more history? LSU's Scott, who finished Saturday with 132 yards on 21 carries, is the first LSU player to ever rush for 100 yards at Auburn. "Right now, I'm thinking it was the hardest 100 yards of my life," Scott said. "They have a great defense."
Any rational coordinator would, out of respect for that defense, have told Scott to keep running the ball between the hash marks. But this is LSU, and Crowton would have drawn the ire of an entire team had he played it safe. On the sideline during that final offensive possession, LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson watched and waited. Asked later if he'd hoped his team would just kick the field goal and hand the defense the lead, Jackson was emphatic. "No way," he said. Jackson wanted Crowton to go for the jugular. And so, with an eye toward a future that he hopes will include a shot at a second consecutive national title, Crowton told Lee to look for LaFell in the flat.
"It was just pitch-and-catch from there," Lee said.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
He Brings Peace to Our Madness
I found this link today on 2theadvocate.com about the Cinderella Project, which is an initiative to collect "gently used" prom and formal dresses to donate to girls who can't afford a prom dress.
I think it's a great idea! I have a ton of dresses that I could give away, they are only collecting dust in my closet, so why not give it to someone who would appreciate it a lot more?
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/28605389.html
I think it's a great idea! I have a ton of dresses that I could give away, they are only collecting dust in my closet, so why not give it to someone who would appreciate it a lot more?
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/28605389.html
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Along the Way
I took my first deep breath of Fall last night. There is always a moment when the seasons change to cooler weather that you can take a very big deep breath and feel the air changing. It was so great!
I have been cleaning out my closet, finally. I accumulate so many things over the year that I don't need and it feels nice to get it all out of there. I don't have much space to work with in my apartment anyway, so the less junk the better.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Only Get Worse
There's a distinct feeling in the air. The hurricane winds, so different than normal wind, are still blowing through the hot, sticky September air. You drive down historic roads, and see tree after tree twisted to the ground. Hanging power lines and four-way stops litter the traffic-filled roads. Hurricanes used to be fun. There was a type of adventure associated with them. No school! No worries! Just watch it rain, and wait for the go-ahead to get back to normal life. The mystery is gone. Now, hurricanes only mean long lines at the gas station, waiting your turn at the blinking traffic light and stress about what if I get caught where I can't get away?
I guess this is part of how life turns from fantasy to reality. Hurricanes are just one roaring way that life reminds you that it's sometimes unforgiving. Just as the wind is unforgiving to shallow roots, so is life unforgiving to fragile hearts.
But God is faithful, and he will plant more trees and return the rabbits to the small forest area by my apartment. He will also watch as the wind whips the storm-weary trees, and he will watch over me as I take it day by day, work hour by work hour until I find His plan for my life. Who knows, maybe hurricanes are another way he reminds us that he is control. He is in control of even the scary things like hurricanes, not making the rent payments and facing another day in a place that quiets your creativity.
God is faithful, and you can almost hear His voice in the distinct rush of hurricane winds.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Shouldn't Have Worn That Dress
How cool is this!? RENT has closed on Broadway, but they filmed it and it is showing in movie theaters all over the country -- including film from the closing night!
Such a great idea -- who wants to come with?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Gustav, Going, Gone!
So Hurricane Gustav, the long lost bastard brother of Katrina descended upon Louisiana in full force and left us scratching our heads (in the dark) about why the heck we still choose to live here.
Well, so many answers come to mind with that question. And it all boils down to, there is no where in this world that someone can go from a packed 92,000-fan LSU football game to a contraflow evacuation within hours -- and that's a pretty cool thing. Plus, the food is pretty amazing too.
Louisiana has been hit again, but we'll bounce right back up, just as we always do. It has been an interesting past week, working out of make-shift offices, driving between here and home, surviving on a generator. But, it does make you grateful for things we do have and the joy that can fill our lives if we let everything around us be still for just a moment, and we actually listen the people we love.
Stephanie's Top 5 Things to Do this Week:
5. Push Hurricane Ike away from Louisiana
4. See Hamlet 2
3. Run the air conditioner on 50 degrees to forget how hot it has been with no electricity
2. Buy Jason the best birthday present ever
1. Celebrate Jason's big 24!
Well, so many answers come to mind with that question. And it all boils down to, there is no where in this world that someone can go from a packed 92,000-fan LSU football game to a contraflow evacuation within hours -- and that's a pretty cool thing. Plus, the food is pretty amazing too.
Louisiana has been hit again, but we'll bounce right back up, just as we always do. It has been an interesting past week, working out of make-shift offices, driving between here and home, surviving on a generator. But, it does make you grateful for things we do have and the joy that can fill our lives if we let everything around us be still for just a moment, and we actually listen the people we love.
Stephanie's Top 5 Things to Do this Week:
5. Push Hurricane Ike away from Louisiana
4. See Hamlet 2
3. Run the air conditioner on 50 degrees to forget how hot it has been with no electricity
2. Buy Jason the best birthday present ever
1. Celebrate Jason's big 24!
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