Big Scott News and Flat Stanley's Adventures

My little sister called tonight with very big news, she's having another baby! This is #3 for her and her husband, Michael, so congratulations to all of them and especially Ashleigh and Ryan who will be big siblings. Yea! The only bummer for me is, Val and Mike always wait until the baby's born to find out the sex of the baby and I am not that patient! I respect their willpower though.

We took Flat Stanley out on the town today and even went for a hike with him. I had to carry him in my backpack, so it's a good thing he's made out of paper. We also took him to the university and got a photo of him in front of the LDS Temple...to outsiders it looks like a castle from Disney World, maybe to insiders too, I don't know.

Have You Seen This Family?

A bit on the dark side here, but I'm hoping that someone who reads this blog will be able to identify this cute family! There are 2.5 members missing from the photo, but that makes it even more fun...surprise Brooke!

The bike rodeo (where this pic was taken) was a lot of fun. Sophie pretended to be a car to make it more challenging at our station.

We had soccer this weekend, a visit from Steve's parents and movie night at Adams. A busy, but really fun, weekend. Oh, and Steve and I went on a date and about 5 minutes into it I was hit with a stomach thing and we made it as far as Steve's work where we camped out until I was able to muster enough strength to go to Borders for coffee. That lasted all of 5 minutes, so we came back, I hit the sack and I'm thinking it must've been something I ate, because now I'm fine!!

Coach

I agreed to coach Sophie's soccer team after I was told nobody else would do it...nothing like a little pressure to persuade me. Our first game was last Wednesday and I had no idea what I was doing, but we won, 2-1. Our second game was Saturday and I knew a bit more, but we lost, 6-3. Maybe Orwell was right, "Ignorance is bliss."

As I tell my girls on the team, the most important thing is to have fun, though when I ask them, "What is the most important thing?" they still respond, "To pass!" or "To kick the ball!" I am definitely having fun and learning a lot, such as I will probably lose my voice after every game because I'm a screamer...I'm not yelling at the girls, I'm just really excited. I really don't like sports, in general, but I found myself calling out all kinds of sports terms during the last game and I'm feeling like I'm discovering a new side to myself, the coach side.

This is the side of me that runs up and down the field along with my girls, energized and motivated by their efforts. This is also the side of me that believes good sportsmanship is more important than a higher score, but who also likes getting the higher score. This is the side of me that is focused on the game, which is unbelievable since my attention span with sports usually wanes after 15 minutes.

I'm even setting up drills and jotting things down for tomorrow's practice, ready to focus on some areas that were tough during our last game. What is this thing going on? I hate sports! And yet, I can't help myself, it's really, really fun.

Sunny Days

We got back in Logan just in time to enjoy beautiful weather. I actually got a sunburn from being outside yesterday, which makes it look like I went somewhere exotic for our spring break, ha!

Sophie, her friend and I went for a bike ride to campus yesterday where the girls played in a shady spot and I sat out in the sun, not smart on my part. My friend, Natalie, was out walking so headed over to where we were and it was absolutely wonderful hanging out with her. She's very down-to-earth and has a refreshing perspective on things. We differ in a lot of ways, which makes our friendship even cooler, I think. Natalie's the best!

Today we had soccer and afterward, Soph, her friends and I headed to the playground adjacent to the school. A couple of students were there and we got into a long Pokemon discussion. One boy said he wants to go to Colorado, where I learned to play. I think he imagines it as a type of Disney World, but with all Pokemon stuff. He kept asking, "What state was that where you got to play Pokemon?" Funny how kids perceive things.

Oh, on our bike ride to campus I overheard Sophie say to her friend, "I love the time we get to spend together," and I am in awe. I don't think I ever felt comfortable enough to express myself that way to a friend until, well, recently! Sad, but true and how cool to witness my own daughter's open display of affection.

Home

We just got home from a wonderful trip to Craig, Colorado, where Steve's parents live. We relaxed, read, played Pokemon, watched movies and took a daytrip to Steamboat Springs.

Here is a photo of me with Bosco, a fabulous dog we met in Steamboat Springs. I walked into a shoe store and there he was, lounging on the floor. He is the absolute best dog ever! He's the kind of dog you lean back against while reading a great book.

The second photo is a shot from the balcony in the Albee's house, a shot of Steve, Sophie and Grandma playing Pokemon. Soph spent quite a bit of time teaching Grandma and me Pokemon, and oy, I'm thinking if the child can keep up with all the rules of that game, she's ready for calculus! Crazy.

T-shirts, Books and a Movie

My sister, Teresa, has more t-shirts coming my way, from Northeastern University and Boston Conservatory...cool! My sister is definitely an advocate for higher education and she has a lot of resources that I don't. I wore my Brandeis University shirt last Friday and everyone I ran into needed help with the pronunciation. It's Bran-dice.

I read "Swallow the Ocean," by Laura Flynn and it was really good. It's a memoir of her experiences growing up in the 70s with a mother who has schizophrenia. Flynn's mom was a loving, attentive mother until her disease took over and their lives became chaotic and even violent.

I'm now reading Sudhir Venkatesh's "Gang Leader for a Day" and it's very compelling. Excerpts from his study were in "Freakonomics," which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I'm hoping to see Juno over the break, it's playing at the "cheap theater" in town (movies for $3!). I've heard great things about it and would like to see it before it's put on DVD. I watched "Patch Adams" last night, got it at the library, and liked it, but kept wondering how Robin Williams can have so much energy! I have a cold right now that is knocking me off my socks and the only energy I can muster is in bursts of 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. I feel a 10 minutes burst coming on, so I'll attempt to do the dishes!

The Great Coffee Conundrum

I brought a coffee maker to work and in less than 2 hours of being on, I was asked to turn it off. I won't go into the cultural components of it here, if you're interested, you can look up information about typical Utah beliefs and whatnot, but, there is a great article on WebMD listing the benefits of coffee: http://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food.

I am worried about raising Sophie in Utah and keeping her informed of what is normal in the world outside of Utah, but I also feel strongly that there are enough people in Utah who need us to speak out for them. What makes this all so silly really, is that coffee should not be something that causes this much controversy, and I'd love to know how many public schools in America have a coffee maker in their faculty lounge. Really.

College Support Update

Today I received a box of items from M.I.T.: 2 water bottles, a bundle of pens, postcards, booklets and a t-shirt. I am so excited about sharing these items with my students and appreciate the generosity of the school.

I have received 9 t-shirts in all, from: Southern Connecticut State University, Brandeis University, Florida Atlantic University, Rowan University, Keene State College, New Mexico State University, Muhlenberg, Vassar and M.I.T. and a pennant from Brown. Oh, and from Dr. Keith Pecor, a t-shirt from The College of New Jersey! I'll need to extend school to get them all worn by the end of the year.

It's nice to know there is support out there for us "little people."