This year, we were able to get 8 season tickets for the Friendswood Mustangs football team. In years past, I've been told that people start lining up at 4:30am on the day tickets went on sale. Of those people, those who got in line at 5:30am or later, did not get tickets. They were already sold out. So, this year, we got in line at 4:15am. There were 15 people in line ahead of us, with the first people having gotten there at 10pm the night before. I figured that since this will be the first year with the new, expanded stadium, we would have our best chance of getting tickets.
Turns out, we didn't need to get up that early. I went back to the school later to see if the rumors I heard about the stadium were true. There was no answer on the rumors, but there were lots of seats still available. I saw our Athletic Director's Secretary at the new junior high's open campus Wednesday. There were still lots of season tickets available. I hope they are sold out soon, if not already. :)
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Preteen camp
This year, I went with our church to preteen camp from August 3 - August 7. Our church, FBCF, sent 92 people, 70 students and 22 adults. Drew Worsham was the camp pastor and the Chris Allen Band was the worship leaders at Pineywoods Baptist Encampment (Over The Edge preteen camp).
We had an amazing week. I was with the 5th and 6th grade girls in cabin Main 12 (15 students, 5 adults). We tied for 2nd in the clean cabin aware this year. I guess matching blankets, pillowcases and curtains aren't enough. Drew Worsham did some amazing magic and spent the week going through the book of Acts (our theme this year was iLead). Chris Allen lead some amazing songs, but unfortunately, they were out of my range, so I had a sore throat most of the week.
The black spot on the week, the week we chose to go to camp was the same week everyone else chose to go to camp. The first week of camp, there were approx. 350 people there. The week we were there 887 people paid to be there. That faciltity is simply not designed to handle that many people. It took 1.5 hours to move everyone through the meal lines 3 times each day. There was only 1 hour in the schedule for meals. The OTE bunch stalled by handing out prizes and rubber ducky awards. The problem - if you were still eating when your name was called, you never got your prize/award. Also, because of the number of people present, the pool was only open to the group who swam during designated rec for morning free time. Then, during afternoon designated rec, that same group went to the pool. So, you either swam 3 times per day, or not at all. Then, this year, 5th grade swim night had to be cancelled due to lightening. :( Hopefully next year, it will be better. Drew Worsham will be the camp pastor both weeks and Dennis Lee will be the main event speaker both weeks.
Part of the sponsor pledge is "I will only act like an adult when I have to. I realize I am not at the Hilton and I will not expect to be treated as if I were at the Hilton." Love it!
We are hoping to be at camp the first week next year, and we hope there will be fewer people there while we are there.
We had an amazing week. I was with the 5th and 6th grade girls in cabin Main 12 (15 students, 5 adults). We tied for 2nd in the clean cabin aware this year. I guess matching blankets, pillowcases and curtains aren't enough. Drew Worsham did some amazing magic and spent the week going through the book of Acts (our theme this year was iLead). Chris Allen lead some amazing songs, but unfortunately, they were out of my range, so I had a sore throat most of the week.
The black spot on the week, the week we chose to go to camp was the same week everyone else chose to go to camp. The first week of camp, there were approx. 350 people there. The week we were there 887 people paid to be there. That faciltity is simply not designed to handle that many people. It took 1.5 hours to move everyone through the meal lines 3 times each day. There was only 1 hour in the schedule for meals. The OTE bunch stalled by handing out prizes and rubber ducky awards. The problem - if you were still eating when your name was called, you never got your prize/award. Also, because of the number of people present, the pool was only open to the group who swam during designated rec for morning free time. Then, during afternoon designated rec, that same group went to the pool. So, you either swam 3 times per day, or not at all. Then, this year, 5th grade swim night had to be cancelled due to lightening. :( Hopefully next year, it will be better. Drew Worsham will be the camp pastor both weeks and Dennis Lee will be the main event speaker both weeks.
Part of the sponsor pledge is "I will only act like an adult when I have to. I realize I am not at the Hilton and I will not expect to be treated as if I were at the Hilton." Love it!
We are hoping to be at camp the first week next year, and we hope there will be fewer people there while we are there.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Summer
I just realized I haven't touched my blog since Christmas! Oops.
I do intend to finish my New Moon comparison and do one for Eclipse as well.
Right now, I'm working on making blankets and stuff for church camp. I wish I could blog from my blackberry. Then I would blog at camp. At least, I would try to. :)
I do intend to finish my New Moon comparison and do one for Eclipse as well.
Right now, I'm working on making blankets and stuff for church camp. I wish I could blog from my blackberry. Then I would blog at camp. At least, I would try to. :)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Would you like some cheese with that Whine?
Excuse me while I whine a bit . . .
When did the holidays become all about being busy? The reason for the season is Jesus, not endless parties, concerts, rehearsals, cleaning, cooking, shopping . . . .
But somehow, all of these things have become part of Christmas; overshadowing Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love to shop, to visit, to attend parties, to sing in concerts, etc. But at some point we have to say STOP!!!! ENOUGH!!!!! I can not cram one more minute's worth of stuff into December.
Is this why people have begun putting out the Christmas stuff in October? Is it so we can try to fit everything in? But who really is thinking of preparing for Christmas when we're still running around in shorts?
How big can everything get before the pendulum swings the other way? Or will it not swing like a pendulum? Will the event simply make a drastic change? Or, worse, will it continue to grow until the Christmas season starts at the beginning of October and goes through January?
Thank you for allowing me to rant and whine. You may continue with your over overly busy schedule.
When did the holidays become all about being busy? The reason for the season is Jesus, not endless parties, concerts, rehearsals, cleaning, cooking, shopping . . . .
But somehow, all of these things have become part of Christmas; overshadowing Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love to shop, to visit, to attend parties, to sing in concerts, etc. But at some point we have to say STOP!!!! ENOUGH!!!!! I can not cram one more minute's worth of stuff into December.
Is this why people have begun putting out the Christmas stuff in October? Is it so we can try to fit everything in? But who really is thinking of preparing for Christmas when we're still running around in shorts?
How big can everything get before the pendulum swings the other way? Or will it not swing like a pendulum? Will the event simply make a drastic change? Or, worse, will it continue to grow until the Christmas season starts at the beginning of October and goes through January?
Thank you for allowing me to rant and whine. You may continue with your over overly busy schedule.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friendswood Mustangs vs. Pearland Dawson Eagles - State Quarter Finals 12/5/09
Today at the Galena Park ISD Stadium, the Friendswood Mustangs took on the Pearland Dawson Eagles in the state Quarter Finals. It promised to be a good game. The last time Pearland Dawson lost a game, it was against Friendswood in the regular season (10/16/09). The last time Friendswood lost was the week before (in a nail biter against Santa Fe). Pearland Dawson came out looking for revenge against Friendswood. Friendswood was hoping for revenge next week against Austin Lake Travis. Unfortunately, Friendswood will have to wait another year for that revenge.
In my humble opinion, the Friendswood Mustang offense may have peaked last week during the first half of the game against Beaumont Central. During that half, our offense was unstoppable. They could do no wrong. This week, however . . . .
Even during the second half of last week's game, while our starters were still playing, we didn't look as good. I wondered at the time if the coaches had told the players to ease up and save it for next week. After all, the score at halftime last week was 30-10 Friendswood. The final score last week was 44-22. We scored 30 points in the first half and only 14 in the second. Our backups didn't start playing until the 4th quarter of that game.
Now, I think I was right last week. Our offense was just not "on" today. Quarterback Pete Maetzold usually had plenty of time to throw the ball, but few options on who to throw it to. Pearland's defense covered our receivers well. Even when they didn't intercept the ball, they did a good job of preventing us from catching. And then, even when the ball was thrown right into the hands of the receiver, they dropped it too many times. Sometimes, it was good that Maetzold's aim was off today, him under or over throwing his receivers prevented more interceptions.
Our defense did a GREAT job today and played most of the game. Those poor guys barely had enough time to catch their breath before they were back on the field again, sometimes they were only off the field for one play. Yes, they made a few mistakes, but who wouldn't if they had to play full out that long. One great bragging right, every interception Pearland Dawson's quarterback, Darian Lazard, has thrown this year, has been caught by a Friendswood Mustang. Pearland was able to move down the field very slowly (when the officials weren't giving the yards to them), and had very few break aways. The defense can lose a game, and they can win a game, but they can't win a game if they are on the field almost the whole time, and the offense doesn't score when it is on the field.
The real difference in this game was the officials. I have never seen that many blown calls (and that says something, since I've been following high school football since I was three years old.). I'm sure that even the Dawson fans would agree with me that the officials made several mistakes. I'm sure that affected the mental aspect of the game. When officials are moving the ball/line of scrimmage, in favor of the other team, refusing to call penalties against one team, and making up penalties against the other team, it has to effect the players. Usually, that kind of thing makes our players play harder -makes them want to win in spite of the officials, but today, when it was so blatant, obvious and wrong . . . .
For example, did anyone else notice that the play clock would only start after Dawson's offense was on the line of scrimmage and set. Only twice did I see it move before hand, and one of those times, Dawson called a timeout when it appeared that the play clock was at zero. This was not true for Friendswood. The play clock was always ticking when we were on offense. Here's another one. The last time I checked, the horse collar was around the neck, not the waist. So why did we get a horse collar penalty when we tackled the player around the waist. OR when our player was tackled after he caught the ball, but it was ruled an incomplete pass. And what's even worse for that call, the receiver was facing our stands when he caught it. Oh, and did I mention the fact that they ignored Dawson's players grabbing the hands of our receiver? Isn't that pass interference?
My husband wondered aloud if Dawson was the refs' ride home after the game. It appeared to be that way. During the second half, the officials kept the yellow flags in their pockets more, but then they just weren't really calling anything. Pearland was able to get away with everything. Of course, we got away with a few things, too.
It reminds me alot of a game we played early in the season (I'll have to look it up to see exactly which game it was). The refs threw yellow flags all over the field in the first half of that game, always against us. But let almost anything go in the second half. I wonder if it was the same refs. If I remember correctly, that was a pre-season game against a 5A team, but don't hold me to that. Is there a set of refs that doesn't like Friendswood for some reason.
All that being said, Pearland Dawson really did play better this afternoon than they did in October. I'm looking forward to reading the write up in The Galveston County Daily News (www.galvnews.com) to see all stats for the game and the season.
I would like to see UIL do a better job of holding officials accountable. This game MIGHT have had a different outcome if the officials had been FAIR. I really don't think it's too much to ask for to have fair officials. Do you?
In my humble opinion, the Friendswood Mustang offense may have peaked last week during the first half of the game against Beaumont Central. During that half, our offense was unstoppable. They could do no wrong. This week, however . . . .
Even during the second half of last week's game, while our starters were still playing, we didn't look as good. I wondered at the time if the coaches had told the players to ease up and save it for next week. After all, the score at halftime last week was 30-10 Friendswood. The final score last week was 44-22. We scored 30 points in the first half and only 14 in the second. Our backups didn't start playing until the 4th quarter of that game.
Now, I think I was right last week. Our offense was just not "on" today. Quarterback Pete Maetzold usually had plenty of time to throw the ball, but few options on who to throw it to. Pearland's defense covered our receivers well. Even when they didn't intercept the ball, they did a good job of preventing us from catching. And then, even when the ball was thrown right into the hands of the receiver, they dropped it too many times. Sometimes, it was good that Maetzold's aim was off today, him under or over throwing his receivers prevented more interceptions.
Our defense did a GREAT job today and played most of the game. Those poor guys barely had enough time to catch their breath before they were back on the field again, sometimes they were only off the field for one play. Yes, they made a few mistakes, but who wouldn't if they had to play full out that long. One great bragging right, every interception Pearland Dawson's quarterback, Darian Lazard, has thrown this year, has been caught by a Friendswood Mustang. Pearland was able to move down the field very slowly (when the officials weren't giving the yards to them), and had very few break aways. The defense can lose a game, and they can win a game, but they can't win a game if they are on the field almost the whole time, and the offense doesn't score when it is on the field.
The real difference in this game was the officials. I have never seen that many blown calls (and that says something, since I've been following high school football since I was three years old.). I'm sure that even the Dawson fans would agree with me that the officials made several mistakes. I'm sure that affected the mental aspect of the game. When officials are moving the ball/line of scrimmage, in favor of the other team, refusing to call penalties against one team, and making up penalties against the other team, it has to effect the players. Usually, that kind of thing makes our players play harder -makes them want to win in spite of the officials, but today, when it was so blatant, obvious and wrong . . . .
For example, did anyone else notice that the play clock would only start after Dawson's offense was on the line of scrimmage and set. Only twice did I see it move before hand, and one of those times, Dawson called a timeout when it appeared that the play clock was at zero. This was not true for Friendswood. The play clock was always ticking when we were on offense. Here's another one. The last time I checked, the horse collar was around the neck, not the waist. So why did we get a horse collar penalty when we tackled the player around the waist. OR when our player was tackled after he caught the ball, but it was ruled an incomplete pass. And what's even worse for that call, the receiver was facing our stands when he caught it. Oh, and did I mention the fact that they ignored Dawson's players grabbing the hands of our receiver? Isn't that pass interference?
My husband wondered aloud if Dawson was the refs' ride home after the game. It appeared to be that way. During the second half, the officials kept the yellow flags in their pockets more, but then they just weren't really calling anything. Pearland was able to get away with everything. Of course, we got away with a few things, too.
It reminds me alot of a game we played early in the season (I'll have to look it up to see exactly which game it was). The refs threw yellow flags all over the field in the first half of that game, always against us. But let almost anything go in the second half. I wonder if it was the same refs. If I remember correctly, that was a pre-season game against a 5A team, but don't hold me to that. Is there a set of refs that doesn't like Friendswood for some reason.
All that being said, Pearland Dawson really did play better this afternoon than they did in October. I'm looking forward to reading the write up in The Galveston County Daily News (www.galvnews.com) to see all stats for the game and the season.
I would like to see UIL do a better job of holding officials accountable. This game MIGHT have had a different outcome if the officials had been FAIR. I really don't think it's too much to ask for to have fair officials. Do you?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Differences between New Moon, the movie and New Moon, the Book Chapter Three: The End
Chapter Three is the pivotal chapter which sets up the rest of The Twilight Saga. This is when Edward leaves Bella. Every Twi-Hard knows this scene, probably by heart, and the actors, producers,crew, and everyone else involves in making this movie, knew they had to get this scene right.
I would have preferred to have seen this scene lifted directly from the pages of the book and displayed on the screen. While the movie version is very close, it's not exactly the same.
Here are the differences I found between the book and the movie for chapter three.
1. In the book, chapter three begins with the morning after the birthday party. Edward had spent the night with Bella. She comments that his face was smooth and remote as he kissed her forehead before ducking out her window. In the movie, he goes home after driving her home from the birthday party and doesn't spend the night.
2. In the book, Edward stays for three days after the party, never skipping school. Bella grows more and more concerned as Edward becomes more remote with each passing day/hour. In the movie, Edward ditches school the day after the party, and leaves that day after school.
3. In the book, Bella has used an entire roll of film between the time she receives the camera and the day before Edward leaves. By his last day, she as developed the pictures, placed them in her scrap book and put the duplicates in an envelope to mail to Renee. In the movie, we see her print one picture of her and Edward (on the printer in her room - which doesn't exist in the book) from the party and put it in the scrap book.
4. In the book, Bella's camera has film that must be developed. In the movie, she has a digital camera.
5. In the book, Edward has, at some point, snuck into Bella's room and hidden everything that might remind her of him. In the movie, we see him in her room, while he's ditching school (again, not in the book), and looking at the photo in the scrap book. Later, if you look at the background in Bella's room, you can see that the pictures of Edward are missing.
6. During the days that Edward is brooding, he tells Bella - only when she asks - that Alice has left with Jasper. This is left out of the movie (again, three days shortened into one).
7. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I'll mention it again. In the book, Bella has a part time job at Newton's. In the movie, she doesn't.
8. The scene with Edward and Charlie watching SportsCenter and then Bella/Charlie/Edward taking pictures in the living room is missing from the movie.
9. The break-up scene is shortened. The movie does a good job of portraying this scene, but of course, the book is better. It's longer, and more heart-wrenching.
10. The scene where people are searching for Bella in the woods is shortened. In the book, she hears other's searching for her, but is too stunned to respond. In the movie, the first thing we see after she falls is Sam in wolf form.
11. The conversation between Sam and Charlie when Sam brings Bella to Charlie is left out of the movie.
12. In the book, Billy and Jacob Black are not present when Bella is found. Charlie calls Billy later to ask about the bonfires.
13. The bonfires, and the phone calls about the bonfires, are left out of the movie.
14. In the book, there is a scene in the Swan living room after Bella is found. Bella is awake, but mostly out of it for this. Paul and Jared are there with Sam. Dr. Gerandy is there, along with Mr. Newton and his son Mike Newton. Mr. Weber is also there. Dr. Gerandy looks Bella over, and ascertains that she is physically unharmed. There are conversations here about why she was in the woods.
15. There is a second scene that takes place in the Swan living room that is left out of the movie. In this scene, only Charlie and Bella are present. They discuss how Charlie knew to look for Bella in the woods, and where the Cullens had told everyone they were going. This is when Bella runs to her room to find that everything that might remind her of Edward appears to be gone. She believes that he took it all.
Of course, simply saying that scenes were shortened is an understatement. each scene was so well written in the book that leaving anything out alters the scene.
Watching the movie, you might not notice that scenes are missing. But anyone who's read the book will wonder why we jumped over them. As I have said before, many things were cut in order to get the movie to two hours. In my humble opinion, the movie was too short. When it ended, I was surprised that I had been sitting for 2 hours, and was not ready for the movie to be over. Most of the people I've talked to have felt the same way, though I don't know of anyone besides me who is willing to sit through a six hour New Moon movie. If you are out there, please let me know.
Until next time.......
I would have preferred to have seen this scene lifted directly from the pages of the book and displayed on the screen. While the movie version is very close, it's not exactly the same.
Here are the differences I found between the book and the movie for chapter three.
1. In the book, chapter three begins with the morning after the birthday party. Edward had spent the night with Bella. She comments that his face was smooth and remote as he kissed her forehead before ducking out her window. In the movie, he goes home after driving her home from the birthday party and doesn't spend the night.
2. In the book, Edward stays for three days after the party, never skipping school. Bella grows more and more concerned as Edward becomes more remote with each passing day/hour. In the movie, Edward ditches school the day after the party, and leaves that day after school.
3. In the book, Bella has used an entire roll of film between the time she receives the camera and the day before Edward leaves. By his last day, she as developed the pictures, placed them in her scrap book and put the duplicates in an envelope to mail to Renee. In the movie, we see her print one picture of her and Edward (on the printer in her room - which doesn't exist in the book) from the party and put it in the scrap book.
4. In the book, Bella's camera has film that must be developed. In the movie, she has a digital camera.
5. In the book, Edward has, at some point, snuck into Bella's room and hidden everything that might remind her of him. In the movie, we see him in her room, while he's ditching school (again, not in the book), and looking at the photo in the scrap book. Later, if you look at the background in Bella's room, you can see that the pictures of Edward are missing.
6. During the days that Edward is brooding, he tells Bella - only when she asks - that Alice has left with Jasper. This is left out of the movie (again, three days shortened into one).
7. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I'll mention it again. In the book, Bella has a part time job at Newton's. In the movie, she doesn't.
8. The scene with Edward and Charlie watching SportsCenter and then Bella/Charlie/Edward taking pictures in the living room is missing from the movie.
9. The break-up scene is shortened. The movie does a good job of portraying this scene, but of course, the book is better. It's longer, and more heart-wrenching.
10. The scene where people are searching for Bella in the woods is shortened. In the book, she hears other's searching for her, but is too stunned to respond. In the movie, the first thing we see after she falls is Sam in wolf form.
11. The conversation between Sam and Charlie when Sam brings Bella to Charlie is left out of the movie.
12. In the book, Billy and Jacob Black are not present when Bella is found. Charlie calls Billy later to ask about the bonfires.
13. The bonfires, and the phone calls about the bonfires, are left out of the movie.
14. In the book, there is a scene in the Swan living room after Bella is found. Bella is awake, but mostly out of it for this. Paul and Jared are there with Sam. Dr. Gerandy is there, along with Mr. Newton and his son Mike Newton. Mr. Weber is also there. Dr. Gerandy looks Bella over, and ascertains that she is physically unharmed. There are conversations here about why she was in the woods.
15. There is a second scene that takes place in the Swan living room that is left out of the movie. In this scene, only Charlie and Bella are present. They discuss how Charlie knew to look for Bella in the woods, and where the Cullens had told everyone they were going. This is when Bella runs to her room to find that everything that might remind her of Edward appears to be gone. She believes that he took it all.
Of course, simply saying that scenes were shortened is an understatement. each scene was so well written in the book that leaving anything out alters the scene.
Watching the movie, you might not notice that scenes are missing. But anyone who's read the book will wonder why we jumped over them. As I have said before, many things were cut in order to get the movie to two hours. In my humble opinion, the movie was too short. When it ended, I was surprised that I had been sitting for 2 hours, and was not ready for the movie to be over. Most of the people I've talked to have felt the same way, though I don't know of anyone besides me who is willing to sit through a six hour New Moon movie. If you are out there, please let me know.
Until next time.......
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