It's Christmastime in the City!

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, in my opinion. Most everything is good with life – school is out, family is in, and snow is coming!

School has made for an interesting first half of the year. The classes aren’t much harder than last year but the transition was a lot easier than the one from freshman to sophomore year. There’ve been a lot of complications between my friends and it’ll be good to get away from all the drama. And quite frankly, I’m just getting tired of school, so a break couldn’t have come at a better time!

I get to see the family for Christmas! Yay! It really is great though because I only get to see my family outside of Owensboro about once a year, so when that time comes, I really cherish it. We’ll get to catch up on everything that’s happened over the year, seen how everyone has grown and changed, etc. I love the get-togethers at Christmastime for this very reason.

I can’t tell you how ready I am to see some snow, and more importantly, a white Christmas! Just waking up on Christmas morning, looking out the window to a blanket of snow, and then rushing into the front room to open presents under the tree like a little kid all over again, it’s just wonderful.

I know this blog was pretty generic, but oh well! I’m so happy its Christmastime!

Professional Sports Players

In my history class about a month ago, we were talking about professional athletics and getting paid the big bucks to play a game that takes almost no intellect to play. Mr. Fuller’s view on this was that it is very unfair that people can get paid so much money just because they play a game well. I disagreed.

I explained that though it may not take much brains to play a sport, it is the physical talents of the players of these sports that makes them worth their while. They are, in a way, entertainers. If people worldwide didn’t want to see them show off their talents, they would all be out of jobs. But because so many people watch and enjoy sports, they are in business.

Mr. Fuller later brought up the fact that most professional players only go to college to put them on a preparatory pedestal for pro sports. He said this was wrong. But I took it a totally different way. First of all, they must have the credentials necessary to get into that college to get into that college. Second, just in case their professional career (their talent) doesn’t work out, they have a backup plan in the college education they received.

I can see both sides but obviously, I think I’m right. =P

Finals

Finals are about the worst thing I think I have ever had to endure during my high school career. I mean, a whole week dedicated to making students remember every little thing they’ve learned in each class all year long? That’s crazy! I guess getting exemptions helps, but it’s still a rigorous week. Thankfully, finals went well for me this year.

My first final was orchestra. I went to the band room but it wasn’t open, so I went to the chorus room instead. When class started, we immediately put in a movie because Mrs. Elliot said that Mrs. Yonts would be late. Later we found out that Mrs. Yonts wasn’t coming at all because her baby was sick because she was teething. That was wonderful – one final down.

My second final was English. I got into the room, studied vocabulary for about ten minutes, then goofed off the rest of the time until time to take the final. I blew through the final and again goofed off the rest of the time. I got a 97%! Halfway there!

My third final was anatomy. I was thinking this one was going to be harder than it really was. I studied pretty much the entire review period and got the test and again blew through it. I got a 93%. Almost out of the woods!

My fourth final was math. This one was going to be my hardest, I was sure. I reviewed a bit and then just tried to relax. I was given the test and immediately thought it was going to be hard. I worked my way through it, and it actually wasn’t that bad. And I checked my grade later on Infinite Campus – 99% baby! I was elated!

Thanksgiving Break

My Thanksgiving break was pretty much great. It was just what I needed after a long bout of school. I was getting awfully tired of everything and just needed to get away for a little bit. And get away is what I did.

Wednesday was sort of a relax day and then the Thanksgiving was on. My dad picked me and my sister up on Thursday morning and together we drove to my cousins’ house in Louisville. When we arrived, I immediately began playing basketball in the freezing drizzle that was the weather that day. After about an hour and a half of that, I came inside and, with my family, said grace and began eating a seemingly small Thanksgiving dinner (not small as in small, but small for our usual dinner). Don’t get me wrong. It was grrrrreat! But I just wasn’t really that hungry, which was sort of a downer for both me and my aunt, haha.

About two hours after dinner, my whole family decided to go see “The Blind Side.” We arrived at one movie theater, walked up to the ticket booth, and found out their next showing was sold out and the earliest one was almost two hours later. Needless to say, we drove to another theater. This one also entailed a wait, but not as bad – only about an hour. In their theaters there are bars and grills and restaurants! Is this not crazy? Anyway, I played a few arcade games with my cousin and sister and then went and found my seat in the movie. This movie was amazing. I won’t ruin it for those who haven’t seen it, but a definite recommended watch. After the movie, I stayed up till about two in the morning shooting some pool and the bull.

That Friday we said goodbye to our gracious hosts and I drove my sister and my dad back home. From then until Sunday, I pretty much just got some well deserved rest, and watched the ‘Cats get their hearts ripped out in Commonwealth by Tennessee.

Sunday, my mom came early to pick up my sister and I because my dad had to drive to Michigan for work that night. I came home, and went straight to Hannah’s house to film my Spanish project with her and Nick. That was pretty cool I guess. Then I came home, and realized I had homework, and the school cycle began again.

Dakota

Pet Peeves of Christmas (I Love Christmas, Just Not These Parts of It)

I love the holidays. I’ll be the first to say that Christmastime is, along with Thanksgiving and Easter, the best time of the year. Everyone is so merry and you get to be with your family and all is good. But there are some things about the preparation for Christmas that I don’t understand, and quite frankly, tend to annoy me.

One of these things is putting up a Christmas tree in your house before Thanksgiving. This seems a bit excessive to me. I mean, I could understand if it were putting up your Christmas lights and you wanted to get it done before it got cold out, but seriously, the tree? You’re the only one who sees it, and you haven’t even celebrated Turkey Day yet. You can lay off for a little bit, I’m sure.

Another thing that tends to annoy me is when my mother insists that I go with her to see the Christmas lights around town and at Panther Creek Park. Mommy, the lights were pretty the first ten times I saw them. I know you enjoy looking at the same lights every Christmas, but it’s just not for me. And the Christmas parade – seriously? I’ve seen it every year of my life, and watching 200 floats move by at 5 mph just gets so monotonous for a child like me. I hope you can understand.

Also, why do some people call this time of the year the holiday season? If you don’t think that it should be called Christmastime or you don’t celebrate Christmas, then what holiday are you talking about? I suppose this is the Christian in me – I swear I don’t mean to offend anyone, I’m just curious to know.

Dakota

NFL Season Half Way Over

This blog is pretty much going to be one of the most random blogs I’ve written (or typed). Basically, the NFL season is over half way over and I felt that I needed to tell all of those people who don’t know or care about football the highlights of the pro football season thus far.

First, let’s start with individual accomplishments. Peyton Manning of the Colts is, as he is annually, in the running for MVP. Drew Brees has reached the pinnacle of his career and is also very much in that race. The unsung, most unthinkable man who is in contention for this award, however, was playing pro football before some of the players that wear that same Viking purple were even born. Mr. Old Man himself, Brett Favre has compiled a 9-1 record with the Vike’s and has thrown 24 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions. This is unheard of for a man of 40 years. Heck, anyone who isn’t a kicker that’s still playing in the NFL at age 40 is pretty unheard of.

Team wise, there are some good teams with good records but only two that have yet to have been blemished by a loss. These teams are the Saints and my beloved Colts! The Saints are 10-0 and play this weekend against the crazy-good Patriots, and the Colts just beat the Texans in a comeback win to move to 11-0. Honestly, I don’t think the Colts are as good as their record shows though. Their running game is almost nonexistent and with very young wide receivers and a rookie coach, they have everything to lose and everything working against them. But that number 18 who lines up behind the center, he just turns away all doubts. Mr. Manning, where would the Colts be without you?

Fantasy Update: I’m first in my division and tied for first in the league. I’m going to lose this week to fall into a tie for first in my division however… Can I make the tournament? I sure hope so!

Finally, shout out the Bobby Bowden. The coach of Florida State’s football team for 34 seasons, Bowden is stepping down at age 80. You will never be forgotten.

Intramural Sports

So I’ve been participating in about every intramural activity we’ve had here at Apollo this year outside of bowling. Let’s get a rundown via your favorite narrator of all time, Dakota!

I first played intramural dodge ball. The first night, there weren’t so many people but I still didn’t figure my team stood much of a chance against the competition. I was, in part, wrong. We lost almost every preliminary game we played, but come tournament time, we were beast. We won every single tournament game to win the first night. Unfortunately, we weren’t awarded anything for winning, which wouldn’t have been a problem, but you’ll see why I was a little peeved.

The second night there was a ton of people there. This night we didn’t do so hot. We won about half of our preliminary games but were immediately knocked out of the tournament. I stayed to watch the final game and found out that the winning team won T-shirts…

The second intramural activity was volleyball. Basically, my friend Jeff assembled a very hodgepodge group of people to play on our team, and we played. Badly. We only won one game, and we obviously didn’t make tournament, but it was sooooo fun. I had a blast that night.

Intramural basketball is coming up soon, and I’m definitely doing that. I hope it will be even more fun than volleyball!

Dakota