Who Dat? Drew Breeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

So, the other day my mom and grandma went grocery shopping and lo and behold... There is Drew Brees! I got a text from my mom saying "Drew Brees is at Meijer". Totally not fair since I was in Indianapolis at a lame-o teaching convention. I tried to get Lee to go out and get an autographed copy of his book, but he wasn't interested. Am I the only Brees fan around here? Geesh. My mom's friend did send me this picture though. He looks a lot smaller than he does during the football season. He better get back to bulking up. Football season is almost here (thank goodness!).

SUPERbowl

*
2007: The Colts play the Bears in the Superbowl. As a Colts fan living in Chicago, this matchup was pretty much a dream come true. Most my family and friends from Lafayette are either Colts fans or Bears fans since Lafayette is pretty much smack dab in the middle of Chicago and Indy. I was ALL FOR the Colts though. I was just glad that if they were to lose, it would be to my 2nd favorite NFL team.

2010: ALL SEASON folks around here have been all atwitter about Drew Breeeeees (who dat?) and the possibility of a Saints-Colts matchup in the Superbowl. For it to finally be a reality is SO awesome! Another dream come true for a Boilermaker Colts fan.

My cup overfloweth.

Make no mistake though. I will be cheering for Drew Brees to have an amazing game... But I don't think I can cheer for him to win. My brother-in-law is just the opposite. He wants Brees to have a Superbowl win under his belt, especially since the Colts just got one 3 years ago.

At the end of the day, I'll be happy for the winner and a little sad for the loser. I just hope it doesn't turn into a game with TWO Purdue quarterbacks playing... Let's keep Curtis Painter on the bench!

Venting

*
Ugh, Purdue is just painful to watch this season. They have glimpses of good football, but then they tend to piss whatever lead they have down their leg.
Last weekend we tailgated and went to the game for most of the first half. When we left, we were feeling confident with a 21-3 lead. We spent the 2nd half of the game out by the RV and I didn't pay attention to the game... We ended up losing. LAME!

Everyone around town is talking about a return of the "Coletto years". I can't go through that again... NOoooooooo. Come back Tiller! But, I guess it is the way things go. Purdue is always either good at football OR basketball. Never both. And since their basketball team is improving, I guess it is time for the football team to start sucking.

Today while watching college football, I told Lee I am going to put my gold & black gear to good use and just start cheering for the Hawkeyes this season. They have offered up more excitement in the Penn State game then Purdue has offered in 5 games...

At least the Colts are keeping the football season interesting.

Controversial Cans

The big story around West Lafayette right now are these controversial Bud Light cans. Budweiser came out with these cans for college towns across the country. The can does not say anything about Purdue, but are merely black and gold cans. (Black & Gold + Bud Light = Awesome!)

Well, some anti-drinking-Nazi at Purdue got all pissy about them and wanted them pulled from the shelves! They claim that these black and gold cans promote underage drinking... Hello, it's a college campus... The underage kids already want to drink!

It is a big joke around campus because it is just so stupid. It is hard to believe that Anheiser Busch actually pulled them out of stores. I'm guessing they just didn't want to start a battle royale. If I were them, I would have told Purdue to kiss my gold and black can! They don't own those colors!

Here is a pic of Lee & I with the badass cans. Those cans... They just made me want to binge drink SO BAD!

Boiler Up!

Football season is here and Taryn finally gets to break out her Boiler gear! The first week, we pulled off a win, but lost a heartbreaker to Oregon last week.

"Boo IU!"

I had forgotten what it was like to live in West Lafayette during football season. It is crazy! There is Breakfast Club at the bars (bars open at 7am and everyone gets drunk dressed in costumes) and tailgating galore. There is traffic. And everyone is decked out in Black & Gold. The other day I was walking to my car after class and I was walking next to the marching band, complete with the World's Biggest Drum! (I texted Fubar.)

It's so good to be home!

Praxis II: Mathematics Content Knowledge

*
Today I had to take the Praxis II. It was at 7:30am on a Saturday. Lame!

The test was meant to cover all the math that is taught in high school. I didn't have much time at all to study for the test with my classwork this summer, so I was really banking on remembering things from high school.

Turns out I don't remember Geometry! Or a lot of Trig...

At any rate, the test went better than I was expecting. I am also fortunate that I only need to get a 136 out of 200. Woohoo for Indiana's low math standards! I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed for the next 4 weeks. If the actuarial exams taught me anything it is to never be confident that you passed!

My Man Mitch

On Friday, I headed down to Indy for lunch with the governor, Mitch Daniels. It was basically just a chance for everyone to pat themselves on their backs for giving us money to become teachers. The lunch was in a gym/lunchroom and the accoustics were SO bad we couldn't understand a thing that the governor or anyone else said. We just kind of laughed when everyone else laughed and clapped when everyone else clapped. The most interesting part of the day for me was realizing one thing about our governor... HE IS SHORT!

Pic above is the Woodrow Wilson Fellows of Purdue with shorty Governor Mitch Daniels.

Amish

*
For my "multicultural education" class, we have to do a project on a group of people. My group chose to do the Amish. I wanted to do nudists, but my group members turned bright red at the mention of a nudist, so that was a no go...

Last Friday, we headed up to Amish Acres in Nappanee, IN. It was a little hot and a little boring. No rollercoasters or anything. Although, they do apparently have AWESOME food. This is the place that sold the meat & cheese.

Taryn... Not impressed with the Amish.

Apparently, Amish people don't like having their picture taken. So, Lee and I sat in our car "inconspicuously" snapping pics as they went by in the horse & carriage. It took us awhile to get this sweet shot! Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics of the Amish people on their bikes!

Oh What a Week!

*
My masters degree program decided to really break us in quick during our first week of classes! We had a 5-day class for one credit hour on top of the 3-hour class that takes 4 weeks to complete, plus they threw in a couple of evening events and homework. Not to mention finding time to buy things that we need for class. Oh, and my 4 week old baby at home... To sum it up. UUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH! I was ultra stressed and sleep deprived. I am so relieved that week is over!

For the next 3 weeks, I only have class Mon/Tues/Wed from 1-3:50pm. Yes, I am going to be loving my 4-day weekends!!

There are 18 people in my program. We vary in age from 22 up to about 50 so I'm not even close to being one of the old ones! We are all science, technology, engineering and math people. So, I am far from the nerdiest one there too. Haha!

Oh, one funny story. On Monday they had a reception to welcome us. There was someone there from the govorner's office and stuff. We walked in and there is Jamie! She was taking pictures for the newspaper that she works at. It was pretty fun to see what she does. And, it gave Lee & I some entertainment in an otherwise DULL reception.

Well, I need to stop blogging and get to my TWO papers that are due tomorrow while Taryn is still asleep!

Back to School

Tomorrow morning I go back to school.

It is really sinking in now.

I am excited to head back to Purdue and be a Boiler again. But, I have to admit, I'm a little nervous this time! Lee thinks I'm crazy to be nervous. But, things are quite different this time around.

* I haven't been in school for 6.5 years.
* I have a newborn.
* I am going to be taking a lot of education classes (eek!). This means more paper writing and opinions and fewer math problems and definite answers.

The good things about this go around...

* Being an actuary, I haven't had a break from studying in the last 6.5 years.
* I am starting out slow with 7 hours this summer.
* They are keeping us "Woodrow Wilson Fellows" together, which means I'll be in class with other science and math nerds.
* I already know my way around campus.

Tomorrow I start Multicultural Education and a Transition to Teaching seminar. Later in the summer I wrap things up with Advanced Educational Psychology.

I will keep ya'all posted on my transition to teaching over the next 15 months. Wish me luck! And wish my mom & Lee luck as they watch Taryn while I am in class!!

Random thoughts...

*
So, I really don't have enough to say about anything for a full blown post, so this is another bullet-point post.

* Are bullet point posts like clip shows on tv?
* Both today and yesterday the weather has been saying it is going to storm. Yesterday we were under a severe t-storm warning all day and got nothing. Today, supposedly more storms, but it's sunny out! WTF? These weather people don't know what they're talking about.
* We have a house showing tomorrow. It falls when Lee is at class, so it is going to be interesting getting the house spotless and Taryn & I outta here on my own... Wish me luck. And send good house vibes!!
* Lee is currently working on a 5-10 page paper. He is in Liberal Studies right now and they have had some really tough essay topics. Like "Is art necessary?" and "How do you know something is true?" and "What makes mankind different from all other species?" Ouch. Fortunately, he got to pick his topic for this essay, so he is doing Lynyrd Skynyrd's song "Simple Man" and how it is kind of his life motto.
* I start classes a week from Monday. It is really hard to believe... Exciting for so many reasons, but scary for others. Actually, I think I'm most scared of telling my job! I keep realizing things though, like "Hey, I have to buy books... Weird."
* Little babies create SO much laundry! It is unbelievable. Everyone told us we would need tons of burp rags and receiving blankets. I was suspicious. But, we are definitely using all 30 of our burp rags and I totally need to get the rest of her blankets out of the closet.
* I also just had to post this pic because I think it is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Fellow

*
I always wondered if I'd ever make it to be a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries...

I was right to wonder.

But, at least now I can be a different kind of fellow.

See anyone you know?

I sound super cool... I'd want to be my friend.

(Think this is an appropriate follow-up to my last post? Hahahaha!)

Triple XXX Makes CNN!

It sounds like an "adult" film store...

But it's really one of the best places to go to breakfast in West Lafayette. It is kind of the "Diner Grill" of Purdue University.

And it is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

Triple XXX opened in 1929. And I don't think the decor has changed since. I started going there in the early 80's. My favorite thing to get was french toast and a vanilla malt. They seriously have the best malts ever!

Triple XXX also is a great place to go after the bars close. Nothing prevents a hangover like the breakfast special at 3:30am. Barry & Reuter got to try this out firsthand when they came down to Purdue with Clint & I one weekend. (Although, I'm not sure if they remember how it tastes. Reuter ended up sleeping on a cement floor that night.)

Hopefully Triple XXX will be around for another 80 years! And I'll still be getting their malts. YUM!

BIG 10 CHAMPS!

*

Last week Lee's mom called to offer us tickets to the Big 10 Championship game down in Indy on Sunday. Going to this game is a bit of a gamble... Purdue might have gotten beat, and then we would be driving all the way down to Indy to watch two teams we don't give a crap about. But, Lee & I took the gamble and it paid off!

*

Purdue beat Penn State and Illinois to get into the championship game! This was the first time that Purdue had made it to the Big 10 Championship game since they started having the tournament in 1998.

*

AND, we were happy to have Ohio State beat Michigan State to join Purdue in the finals!

*

The first half of the game was not pretty. Purdue wasn't down by a ton, but they were playing pretty crappy. Going into halftime, I was really dreading watching a Boilermaker loss...

But, a different team came out of the lockeroom after halftime. Boilers turned the game around and ended up winning 65-61. Boiler UP!

Now we are onto the #5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully Purdue can keep their momentum from the Big 10 Tourney!!! Go Boilers!

Put another P on the ol' Oaken Bucket!

The Oaken Bucket game was an Oaken Blowout this year!

Lee and I went down to Lafayette to tailgate for the game. We had offers of tickets to go inside, but it was pretty cold, and I liked having the option of going into a house to warm up!

At the beginning of the day, a kid at the tailgate predicted a Purdue win 55 to nothing. We all laughed... And then the game started and it looked like a distinct possibility!

The Boilers ended up destroying the Hoosiers 62 to 10. Ouch! But, what a great way for Joe Tiller to end his Purdue/IU rivalry.

Lee and I hit two different tailgates. I tore up the beer pong table. Don't worry, I was drinking root beer. (Although I kept saying it was Guinness.) It turns out I'm a better beer pong player sober. I never would have known that before... My reflexes were much better than when I am usually playing! The 2nd game that we played, someone filled up the cups with all normal beer, so my partner Andrew stepped up and drank for both of us. It kind of balanced things out. One sober teammate and one really drunk one!

It was a fun day, but chilly!

Then on Sunday, yummy Thanksgiving at the Plothow residence. Mmmmm. I'm so ready for two more Thanksgivings!

They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot!!

While I hate that song, it appears to be true:

"Digitalized aerial surveys taken in 2005 were used to calculate the total area devoted to parking lots in Indiana's Tippecanoe County and revealed the paved lots covered an area larger than 1,000 football fields and that there were three times as many parking spaces as drivers who lived in the county, said study leader Bryan Pijanowski of Purdue University."

It really doesn't surprise me. The county has three Wal-Mart's!!

At least now I have a way to describe where I'm from other than "You know, where Purdue University is..." Now I can just say "That huge parking lot northwest of Indianapolis."