Stuck in Detroit

Yes, you read correctly. Gina and I get to wrap up our eventful Thanksgiving by getting stuck in Detroit until tomorrow. We were actually on the plane waiting to fly to Charlottesville when the flight attendant told us the flight was cancelled due to poor weather in C'ville. So, here I am updating my blog from the Ramada Inn. Not exactly ideal, but it could be worse. We could be sleeping on the floor in the airport.

Regarding Thanksgiving break, Gina and I had a great time in Dallas. We were able to see many family members and friends, and of course every event seemed to involve food. On Monday, we celebrated our second wedding anniversary, which we spent at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant in north Dallas. I never thought we could get so stuffed just by eating bits of bread and meat. It was a lot of fun, and we are hoping to go back really soon. On Tuesday, Don, Tommy and I got to see the Mavericks play the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. That is by far the best arena I've ever been to, and the Mavericks won making it a great night. Wednesday, Gina's cousin Shane and Beth, his wife, arrived in Dallas and we ate dinner at the Johnson house and watched basketball all night. On Thanksgiving Day, Don and I ran the Turkey Trot 5K race in downtown Dallas with 25,000 of our closest friends. That was the first race I had run in awhile, but I had a pretty good time. I actually saw another UVA student while I was running. Go Hoos! On Friday, we went to Tommy's house to have lunch with Matt and Kara's family, along with Gina's other cousins Jean, John and his girlfriend Carrie. It was so much fun watching the little cousins play together for the weekend! Saturday we attended a Gooch family gathering at the family farm. We got to see my uncle's ponies, watch the kids play together, eat wonderful BBQ, and shoot skeet in the pasture. My shoulder still hurts from that one. As you can imagine, I am not the gun type, but it was still pretty fun. On Sunday, we met our friends Sherri and Desmond for breakfast, then went to see my Uncle Clay and his family for dinner. That pretty much brings us to today.

Well, Gina and I are about to hit the hay so we can be up to catch our flight in the morning. If this is the last you hear of the Detroit debacle, then you can assume that no news is good news. Take care, and check in next week!

Howdy from the Lone Star

Gina and I are spending the Thanksgiving break in Dallas this year, so for this week only the "Virginia" label doesn't actually apply. Gina flew in last Wednesday, and I got here yesterday. We have already had a great time so far, getting to see many people and there is more fun to be had before we head back to the grind.

Last night we got to attend a wedding reception for a friend of ours, Charmaine (Hill) Poteet. There were several other friends of ours whom we had not seen in a long time, and we were some of the last folks to leave. It's just like Gina and I to be the last people to leave a party. The reception was at the Fort Worth Stockyards, which is a really cool place. I used to go there now and again when I lived in Grapevine. She had a live band and lots of BBQ. I actually thought about grabbing a guitar and busting loose with a rendition of "Number Man," but I really hate to humiliate the professional musicians.

Today, we went with Tommy, Carol, Kierra, Zachary and Kendall to see a movie. Carol and Kendall went to see Chicken Little, while the rest of us watched the newest Harry Potter installment. I haven't read the books, which explains why the whole Harry Potter fascination is a mystery to me. It was a pretty entertaining movie, but many people have explained to me that I need to read the books in order to fully appreciate the movies. Sorry, Harry, but you will have to remain a mystery for now. After the movie we went to Chuck E. Cheese's pizza joint. You may not be able to tell, but I have had enough sugar and visual stimulation to increase my heart rate to that of a hummingbird. I used to love that place when I was a kid, but this time it seemed more like a loud, chaotic germ fest. But the kids loved it, and we had a great time watching them feed tokens into those silly games. It made a great memory.

I haven't decided if I am going to post again next Sunday or wait until we are back in Virginia. I am still driving myself crazy with a few papers, and there is still a stack of work to grade. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and I wish you God's protection if you dare go to the mall or Wal-Mart next Friday. If I have my way, I will stay indoors and avoid all retail establishments at any cost. So, take care and enjoy your time with friends and family.

Family, Friends and Football

This weekend we had a great time of fellowship, food and football with many great friends and family. I think I met my alliteration quota for the month with that sentence. Gina and I have been busy with assignments and projects, but we took some time off to hang out with good people and eat some great food.

On Friday we had dinner with our friends, the Perez family, as well as some new friends, Alan and Emily Wang. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving together since everyone is going to be traveling to other places during the holiday. In case you didn't know, Gina and I are going to Texas for Thanksgiving. Anyway, we also got to dote on Alan and Emily's new baby, Vivian. What a cutie!

Saturday, Katie and Joe came down from Alexandria to see Joe's sister Jenny and her family as they visited Charlottesville to watch the Cavaliers play the Yellowjackets from Georgia Tech. Jenny is a UVA alumnus, and she was very eager to come back to C'ville and see her alma mater again. Her kids, Robbie and Megan, were all decked out in their Cav gear, which for Robbie was a bright orange wig! They even got filmed and projected onto the big Jumbotron screen in the student section of the stadium. After the game we went to The Hardware Store, a restaurant on the Downtown Mall. Some people in the group tried their hand at a half meter, which if you don't know what that is you can look on my Flickr site for pictures. The evening ended with the Moskowitz's going back to their hotel, while Katie and Gina easily handled Joe and I in a game of Spades. We're already planning our strategy for the rematch.

Overall, I can speak for both of us when I say we are ready for a short break from school. I still have a lot of work to do over the holiday, so it won't exactly be a vacation. But, it will be nice to take some time to spend with family and eat plenty of turkey and dressing. Also, Gina and I will celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary while we are in Texas. With all there is to be thankful for at this point in our lives, we are most thankful for each other and God, who brought us together.

Steppin' Out

Gina and I got to do one of our favorite things this weekend ... listen to live music. We went to see a band called Clumsy Lovers, and they were pretty excellent. I would describe their music as modern bluegrass or folk. They have an unbelievable banjo player who pretty much stole the show. Of course, the best part is that they are from Vancouver, B.C., which is where Gina and I spent our honeymoon. It made us want to drop everything and go back there again. It's after going to a show like that I wish I was able to practice more on the guitar and get to be as good as those folks. But the reality is, if I was going to be that good I'd be that good already. We had a lot of fun hanging out with one of Gina's classmates, Erika, and her friend. This was one of the few nights out on the town we've had this semester and it was a welcome break.

I had another pleasant surprise this week as I got to see my students present their digital stories. For these projects they used Movie Maker to combine their voice with pictures and music to tell a story to the rest of the class. This is the sort of thing I love, and I was probably more excited to see their projects than there were to share them. Anyway, there were several students from the two sections of my class who took the opportunity to tell, through their stories, about the wonderful things God is doing in their lives. It is always refreshing to hear other people talk about their faith and the difference knowing God has made in their lives. I am not so sure that I would have been so bold as a first or second year college student. But these students, having the choice to tell any story they wanted, told the great story of God's love for us and the hope He offers.

The Virginia Cavaliers hosted the Temple Owls this weekend in football. Now, before I give any more details I think it is important to tell you that this is the first year Temple has played Division I-A football. Anytime a school makes the move from AA to A, they are usually met with pretty grim results. This being said, Temple did manage to score 3 points against the Cavs. This would be a good thing if they were playing soccer or hockey, but in football your best chance of winning when you only score 3 points is if the other team lets the Glee Club suit up for a game. So, the fact that the Cavs scored 51 points (48 of them before Temple scored their 3) made for a long day for the Owls. You might even say Temple is having a long season, as they have yet to win a game. They are looking to run the table during their first season of big boy football. Next week they are hosting the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets. Katie and Joe, as well as Joe's sister (who went to UVA) and brother-in-law are coming down for the game. We are hoping for the same outcome as the Florida State game.

Well, I think that is all we have to share this week. Next week I will be able to share results from the men's soccer ACC tournament, which should be pretty good. Take care, and write us when you get a chance.