Are we having roller coaster weather or what! The poor kids at school are beginning to think winter will never go away. We hardly get to go out these days! Tennis is a challenge. We are still not into full tennis practice as our boys are involved in district play. Coach Rogers is extremely proud of his District Champions. Have you seen the new shirts? They took orders for the district championship tee shirt. They are really neat. I know everyone is excited about this successful season.

I had a call from Dell this week. She has been suffering through a series of home break ins. She said she’s made allowances for people cleaning out her pantry, taking her towels and whatever else they seem to fancy, but she is really steamed up about the violation of her mother’s home. It seems someone, or should I say several people, stole the meat slicer that belonged to her father. This is not a little slicer. This is a commercial cutter that would have taken several people to lift and move. It was bequeathed to her son, who is serving in Iraq. She would like to have that returned as soon as possible. She’s finding it hard to believe someone would steal from a soldier who is fighting for his country. It does appear to be a rather low thing to do. She has requested that I address this issue in the column. She doesn’t care who took it, she just wants to have it back for her son. The sheriff’s department has been notified. I suggested that she contact the Texas Rangers while there is still forensics to be gathered. The best thing would be for someone to call Dell, and leave a message stating where the machine can be picked up. As to the person or persons who keep violating her home, may I suggest that you get a job, and leave other people and their stuff alone. You can leave a message at the school for me if you would like to let me know where the missing property can be recovered. Don’t steal from the men who are protecting this country.

I have been enjoying the Olympics every evening. If one of my teams loses, I just switch to something else. So far I haven’t had to chose between the US and Canada. I hate it when either team loses to other countries. Strangely enough, Russ and I have taken to curling. We haven’t had too many reasons to shout about either US team, but we have learned quite a bit about this strange sport. The stones they use are made in Scotland. Perhaps my great-grandfather curled on his off days? It seems so sad to see these young athletes training for years, only to have their dreams dashed. You have to admire them for their dedication, even if they don’t medal. My poor native country has had a hard time with the weather. It seems they have sent all the cold down here, and left nothing for the Olympics! Mind you Vancouver does not get snow very often on the coast. The mountains yes, the coast no.

I’m watching my favorite show, The Amazing Race. I love to see the different countries and climates. It is one of the reality shows that you don’t have to worry about people getting a little too cozy. The human interactions under stress are very revealing. I hated to see the grandma get eliminated tonight.

Just in case I didn’t mention anything during the Super Bowl, I want to say the commercials for the products stank! I’ve never seen such a sorry use of money in my entire life. So many of the commercials were demeaning and foolish. To think, someone paid an ad agency millions of dollars to produce those pieces of trivial trash.

Kathy Brockman went home with a relapse of this stupid crud. It just never seems to completely go away. I feel better, but I have this little nagging cough. That tells me that the crud monster is lurking somewhere in my body waiting to lay me low again. I think if I could get a few days of warm sunny weather, I might get better. Wayne Powell was leading the singing tonight and complaining he couldn’t get rid of his little cough. Get better soon everyone.

I just spoke with Tana Lusty. She was on her way back from the stock show, and Hutton had some questions about homework that was due. The shows are great experience, but school work still has to be done. Tana has some great kids, and they will get their work done. There are several more shows to complete. Kay McKee is waiting anxiously for her hubby’s travels to be at an end. It seems there are some 50 goats getting reading to kid. The idea of all that fun without Gerald around is not amusing! They are so very cute once they are safely delivered.

Spring break is just around the corner, but first comes the writing TAKS for 4th and 7th. I think most of our kids will do just fine. You just never know. Sometimes the topic doesn’t strike a chord in a student, and they just hit a blank. I’m praying for topics that will just let these kids run and succeed. I have to admit that some of what I teach is not very interesting to kids. They really don’t care if they’re writing a noun or adjective, they just want to write and get done.

The Olympics are calling to me, so I will close off for the week. Please pray for the sick in our community, the families of folks called home, our President, our government, and our super wonderful service people and their families. They are our heroes. Please return Dell’s meat slicer. Have a great week.