So the nation's birthday has come and gone. The fireworks we visited were just OK. Since it had rained, the fireworks were wet in Buffalo Grove, which delayed the start by over an hour. Apparently, the rain just centered around Buffalo Grove, since it seemed like the surrounding suburbs had no problems. Someone should call the National Weather Service or the Guinness Book of World Records, because this has to be some kind of phenomena. I mean, how the water can only physically affect the fireworks in Buffalo Grove is a miracle. Maybe the Pope should be called about this.

How'd you celebrate the 4th? Submit your answer on the poll to the right.

Until next time...

Dining Discourse blog

Missy and I have started a new blog called: Dining Discourse. It's a place where we can rate restaurants we visit.

I hope you will visit that blog as well.

www.diningdiscourse.blogspot.com

Until next time...

All I have to do is dream

Dreams are funky - Funky Cold Medina (always good to get a nostalgic Tone Loc reference for those of you in your 30s). I've always remembered the urban legend that said you can't die in your dreams, because if you died in your dreams you'd die in your sleep? I've never understood that one. Their proof to that statement was that nobody can ever remember dying in their dreams. Huh?? I always liked to use their same logic right back at them: their statement could never be proven because we could never verify if those people dreamt that they died, because you know, THEY'D BE DEAD.

I tend to have this reocurring dream that I keep moving in slow motion. Missy likes to think that dreams have some hidden meaning or are a message. I even bought here a couple of dream interpreting books a few years back. Personally, I think dream interpretations are like horoscopes. They're entertaining, can be interesting, but in the grand scheme of things, just a bunch of crap. Nobody tell Freud I feel this way.

Until next time...

Planning for death?

Purchasing life insurance can be overwhelming. It should probably be called "death" insurance, but then again, nobody asked me. As someone who is a pretty confident person (my wife would say arrogant at times) this just throws me for a loop. So many questions:

* term or whole life?
* how much coverage?
* what do all the different terms mean?
* how do you plan for a family when it's just Missy and me?

So many questions and I guess the best way to answer them is just to plod on through all the info and try to make an informed decision.

Until next time...

News and notes about Brazil vs. US

As you all know, I'm a soccer guy. As I was watching the final of the Confederations Cup I just kept wondering, has US Soccer turned the corner? Sure, we started off like complete crap and got a lot of help to get into the semis, but do two great results a strong national team make? Don't kid yourself, the 2-0 victory over Spain was no fluke. They were both great goals. The team worked hard on both sides of the ball and did a good job to get a clean sheet.

Against Brazil, what a start, huh? Two goals in the first 30 mins. Howard made some great saves and again, both were good goals. But, it's the race to 3 and the second half was a completely different story. I mean, really, giving up a goal 38 seconds into the half??!! That's stuff I expect from high school soccer, not elite, national level soccer.

Hopefully these last two games will provide the spark necessary for the US MNT to play well in qualifying for the World Cup and then springboards into success in South Africa next year.

Granted, I am biased, but I thought Spector played well in the tourney. Sure, Kaka got around him for the second goal, but other than that he played well. And there's no shame in letting the 2007 world footballer of the year get by you. In some distant way, I like to think I have a closer tie-in to the national team because of Spector. Him being a Viator guy and having met him a few times and him coming to Viator and playing a bit with the team, it's pretty cool that he's getting a lot of playing time with the US MNT and now that he's recovered from his injuries, hopefully he'll get some pt at West Ham too.

I feel the same way about Elise Weber, who plays for St. Louis Athletica in the WPS. Having seen Elise day in and day out in practice and playing now making it as a pro soccer player is pretty cool. It's a great feeling as a coach.

Well, I'm rambling now, so it means it's time to shut it down for a bit.

Until next time...

A night at the movies

Saw "The Hangover" last night, and man was it funny!! This is a definite watch if you're fans of "Old School" type of humor, which I am. The humor is subtle at times, but then also hits you like a middle linebacker crushing the wide receiver as he goes across the middle of the field, trying to get a first down. I don't purchase many DVDs (or Blu-Rays, now that we have a Blu-ray player) but this is a 100% purchase.

Until next time...

Trickle, trickle goes my stream of consciousness

The balance of coaching and getting my Ed.D, is there a compromise or are they mutually exclusive? Can I really work on my doctorate degree and still coach in the fall and spring? Maybe I'd only have to give up one season, if so I know which one I'd give up; that's easy. Knowing my luck I'd have to give up the one I'd prefer to keep.

Well, that' s not totally true. I have been a pretty lucky guy. Sure, I've hit some bad bumps and pitfalls along the way, but who hasn't? I've got an amazing wife, I love my job and career I've chosen, even my dog is pretty cool.

Q turned out to be alright. I probably should, no, I know I should do more to help out with him, and with my new motto, DBL, I plan to. Only my wife and I know what that motto means, and I plan on using it to make me an even better person in the one area of my life that I know is a great flaw of mine. Well, time to hit the links.

Until next time...

I don't know how much to put in here. I need to be careful, as being a teacher I need to make sure my image is kept in tact. I guess I am starting to get a glimpse as to how major celebrities feel. Keeping an internal filter is something I need to monitor. How much is too much? What private thoughts could hurt me professionally?

Until next time...

My 1st one...

Hey all. I've decided to dip my toe in the proverbial blogging pool. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading.