Saving Money

I am an avid goal setter. I usually have a weekly to do list, sometimes daily, depending. I write letters to myself on my birthday, to be opened in a years time, five years, ten, etc. They not only include what I did that day and where I am in life, but also a list of goals I hope to accomplish by the specifed age. It's always fun to read them and see what I've done and what I haven't. Some things are a bit more of a wish than a goal, such as hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim, but this goal is still included in every letter. Wouldn't it be funny if I hiked GRCA the day before my 75th birthday so I knew I'd at least done one thing on my list? There might be snow on the north rim....but I digress.

One of my long term (ten-years) goal was finally realized Wednesday, September 16th. It was an exciting moment. I was in Bear's House (room in my folks house, long story), sitting on the couch, when my mom walks in and hands me a particular item, and says, "Arizona." I was thrilled beyond all reason.

Starting in 1999, when I was still in high school, I began collecting the state quarters. One week ago, I accomplished my goal of collecing all fifty, and the DC quarter. It was a grand and glorious moment when Arizona, the last state I needed, was placed in my hand.

The picture shows all the quarters. I know you can't really see them individually, but trust me, they are all there. In the same box where I keep my quarters, I also have other coins from different countries and my penny collection. Pennies, you might ask? I have a penny that was made in every year since I was born. I plan on having a total of 103 pennies to pass on to my children. Whenever Congress talks about doing away with the penny, I cringe. What would I save then?

Oh, and anyone interested in helping me accomplish my Grand Canyon goal?

Battle of the Aggies

Back in April I found out Texas A&M would be playing Utah State University in football. I have degrees from both schools. When people asked why I was going to A&M, I told them it was a conservation of mascots. While I attended many USU football games during my undergrad years, I was too poor, uninterested, and "skim" (less than 2%) when it came to Texas A&M and it's traditions. However, a battle of the Aggies... I couldn't resist. Plus, knowing some about previous playing abilities and team histories, I thought they'd be fairly evenly matched and it would be a grand game to attend. A star of a friend in College Station was able to swing two tickets and I looked forward to the weekend with more excitement than I usually deem proper for a football game.

The first order of business was the design and creation of a shirt. I decided to go half Aggie blue, half A&M maroon. However, there were no fabric paints that matched my desired colors so I opted for the acrylics and got a textile paint medium to mix with them. The picture below shows just how well the medium worked. The shirt was stiff as could be and could stand up on it's own power. Not only was it stiff, it no longer retained the lovely and necessary stretch cotton fabric has. I tried it on in this state and I couldn't move and rather felt I was wearing a suit of armor.
After washing it in the sink with a mixture of more paint medium and fabric softener, the shirt was run through the wash and put in the dryer with multiple dryer sheets. It came out much softer, and looking very warn and faded, but, at least it was more wearable than before. I used a fabric pen for my lettering and was ready for the game. I realized when I got home that I didn't take a picture of me in the shirt, so the floor shot will have to suffice for now. (I only wrote on the back of the shirt.)

I got up to College Station Friday afternoon and enjoyed seeing old friends. That night I was able to attend midnight yell, or yell practice, an Aggie tradition. Kind of silly, really. At midnight before a home game, any who are interested go to Kyle Field and go through the yells and listen to the yell leaders bash the opposing team. I was quite curious to see what would be said about USU, especially since my grad orientation warned us about going to midnight yell if our undergrad school was the opposing team. I found it harmless. (I would, however, be curious to see what happens at yell practice for the A&M v. UT game.) The game was Saturday and it was pretty spectacular, especially when USU scored the first touchdown. It was quite exciting. It was nerve-racking at times, and although USU lost 30-38, I thought both teams were well matched and I really enjoyed myself. Leaving the game, I ran into a kid with a USU shirt and we got to talking and realized we had been in the same church congregation as freshman at USU. Small world!

Here are some pictures from the game. I was in the student section, on the second deck, near the 20 yard line on the south of the stadium. I was close enough to recognize the white-haired mullet USU coach on the sideline that was coaching while I was at USU.

Half time and the marching band was quite impressive. I'd heard them practicing before in the wee hours of the morning, but had never seen them march. It was really cool to watch. It's a huge band, and they're all cadets and in uniform. They do this counter-step march where half the band is going one way and the other half are going the other and they look like they are falling on top of each other. Pretty spectacular. The picture doesn't do it justice.

To finish, they marched off the field in a "T" formation.

I was amazed at all the traditions and yells and actions and vocalizations that occur during a game. It would take a bit to learn it all. It was a wonderful weekend and I didn't want it to end.

A Stacked Deck, or Four

Ah, the life of the unemployed. I have officially applied for close to 30 different jobs, all over the country, received two "no thank yous" and am trying to continue to patiently wait. I have as of late taken up various and sundry hobbies. The latest has been card stacking. The below pictures show the creation of 1am this morning. (I have found insomnia to be a side effect of unemployment.)
This structure took four decks of cards and was three stories high. Thanks to the grandparents for being card players and my mother for being too sentimental and unable to part with the cards when we cleaned out their condo. The stack was built in the middle of the kitchen floor. As you can see from the pictures, I decided to employ the square/I-beam design as opposed to the triangle. It was an incredibly strong structure, as shown by my water bottle perched on the top in the picture below.

I basically mopped the kitchen floor sliding around working on the stack and then setting the timer on my camera and taking pictures with my creation. I was thrilled to see it withstood my father's early morning breakfast routine.

Now, if only my grandparents had been domino players....