Christmas plans

We are going to San Antonio for Christmas - Dec. 22 to Dec. 28. Anyone else headed that way at that time?
Julia

Congrats!

The Astros shook off the Game 5 hangover, stifled the Cardinals' hitters, and head to Chicago for the team's first-ever World Series.
Both the Astros and White Sox have the best pitching rotations in the league, so look for a lot of fast, low-scoring games that will be reminiscent of baseball's glory days before steroids and juiced balls and bats.
Good Luck Astros!

Those Deja Vu Blues

I know there are a few Astros fans among us, so you must be feeling the agony of defeat this morning after that heartbreaking collapse in the 9th inning of Game 5 on Monday night. The Astros were ONE STRIKE AWAY from the World Series when the walls came tumbling down.
It's very reminiscent of the 1986 National League Championship Series when the Astros took a 3-0 lead into the 9th inning of Game 6 only to give up 3 runs to the Mets, go into extra innings, then lose 7 to 6 in 16 innings in what some baseball experts have called The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Fortunately, the Astros only need to one of the remaining two games to make it to the World Series.
Unfortunately, both of those games are in St. Louis and that devastating loss has got to be messing with their heads ala the Angels after that umpire screwup in Game 2 against the White Sox last week. White Sox swept the Angels after that shocking turn of events.
I haven't really watched much baseball this year, and I'm not really an Astros fan, but I am pulling for them. They are one of the few teams whose players have shown loyalty to the city by staying on to play for the Astros when they could have gone to other teams and made more money. Biggio, Berkman and Bagwell all stayed past their primes to win a championship in Houston, and Clemens and Pettitte took pay cuts to come back to their hometown to bring a World Series title to Houston. You don't see that too often in professional sports these days.
Go 'Stros!

Morning

On a cool October morning,
As the sun prepared to rise,
An orange light was scattered
Round the earth into my eyes.

The light had flown toward me
By the way of yonder cloud.
It sang to me a silent hymn,
but nearby noise was loud.

I stood beside my vehicle
Connected by a hose
To a pump that sucked my money
And blew fumes into my nose.

Behind my back the bright full moon
Approached the mountains west.
Before too long I turned to her
And chased her to her rest.

TV TALK SHOW HOST'S WET DREAM

"You can't play hide the salami, or whatever it's called. He's got to go out there and say something about this woman ... We deserve to know something about her."
--- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean talking to MSNBC'S Hardball host Chris Matthews about President Bush's Supreme Court Nominee Harriet Miers.

Thomas Meriwether Kennerly

Hey,
There's a new baby in town. Thomas made a dramatic entry on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. My advice to laboring women out there... don't get to comfy with the start of labor upstairs, because getting down the stairs can be a traumatic experience that speeds up labor remarkably. That can make getting to car an ordeal, and having the baby in the hospital parking lot a possibility (although not a reality for me, hurray!!) I can say that it is hard to sit in the wheelchair when the baby is already crowning, though.
For those that like the stats, he was 9 pounds 5.6 oz; 21.5 inches long; and a basic fireplug shape with head, chest, and abdomen each 14.5 inches around. Clare is pleased in general, but could do without all that crying.
Both army and air force people out here are great and have been bringing us food. Patrick's sister got here on Saturday and is helping, primarily with Clare. So, that's the latest from Ft. Leavenworth :)

POLITICS AS USUAL

"I am not a crook." - President Richard Nixon

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman." - President Bill Clinton

"I did nothing wrong." - U.S Rep. Tom DeLay