Quiet in T-Town, but for how long?

It will not always be this way, one can count on that. but, the stillness which for the most part is relaxing, is nice. I can see that in the near future many deadlines and engagements, both in town and out. A wedding of the oldest sibiling in a little over a month. soccer season is at its core, and the games will stay pretty difficult most of the rest of the way out. i guess i am okay with that. the application process and scholarship opportunities will become available as well as pertinent within a few weeks, and i am not prepared. i strive to be as stress free as i possibly can, but that is only so successful as the conditions under which the effort is made. i have a good shot though.

well, my grandpa died a week ago yesterday. the funeral was last friday. for a funeral, it went well. but again, it was a funeral. all of my cousins, minus my engaged sister were together for the first time since my grandma died probably, which would have been 3 years ago. so that was nice, and then the burial was in a small town called Burdick, which is about 20 miles west of Council Grove, while i dont even know where that is, but anyway. We ate dinner in Council Grove at the Hays House, which was very good. so the older brothers were around for a few days, and it was nice to see Joel, and he got to see me play against emporia, and saw me score which would not have been possible unless things had happened the way they did.
Thanksgiving is looking, sounding, even SMELLING really good right now. i cannot wait. i love food! speaking of which, it should definitely be time for lunch.. right NOW! i digress, (sp?) there is ... almost 2 hours until lunch. ok, that is definitely pushing it. i will make the attempt, we will see how it goes.

After our game last night i was in more pain then i have been in a long time. i have 3 injured places, and all of which will effect play for a while. i had ice on my foot, and when it became too much, then i switched to the large contusion on the side of my calf. And, the sore joint at the base of my big toe on my left foot hurts alot too. im sure i wont practice today, and we will have to wait and see about the game tomorrow. we play lawrence so it shouldnt be a big deal. its still a pain (insert really bad pun here). oh, well. there is still a good chunk of the year left, so hopefully recovery will be quick and i can get back to playing. Craig, i have sent the JBU coach an email, and i am starting to get application stuff, but i didnt know if you knew ne thing about how they do athletic scholarships, or how easy it is to get financial aid. you probably didnt have to worry about it too much, seeing as you're a genius, but if you have any information that would be helpful i would love to hear it. i have sent emails to soccer coaches at UMKC, the only D-1 school i have contacted, MCC, Oklahoma Christian, and Bethel University. Bethel is very unlikely. i hate the cold. i think that is the only weather option they have there. ne way. that is where i am right now.

It sounds like things are going well with the collegians, thomas is a delinquent, but i guess when you live in Cali you can do that!? it could be a good thing. he might be home before christmas! and then thereafter if he isnt careful! lol, that would be the day. i would feel bad for him, AFTER i laugh at him alot. Doug, hopefully your trekking over thanksgiving bring you to see the 'rents, and the rest of us who are here. ben it's been good to see you recently, and nathan, havent see you in a while, but glad to hear you are staying busy.

so school pretty much sucks

..But what's new? im sure i could get a pretty solid consensus from my fellow high-schoolers, but i dont know how my collegian friends are doing. i should really try to update this a little bit more often huh? i will attempt to explain why i havent updated. i will try to keep it at least a little brief. i could go into gory detail about each of our games so far this year, but i will contain myself and give you the gist.

IF YOU DONT LIKE OR CARE ABOUT SOCCER OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT DONT READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!!

For starters, we are 4-1, with Centennial wins against Hayden and Topeka West. and Blue Valley tournament wins against O'Hara from MO, and Shawnee Mission East from KCK. the two tournament wins put us in the championship against Blue Valley North, who had knocked us out of State last year in the Quarterfinals. ok, back to the beginning. our first game was against Hayden, who.. sucked. there really isnt a better way to say it. they just didnt put up a fight at all, and it was a really positive way to start the season. we won 6-0 and i picked up an assist. we didnt know ne thing about O'Hara, and came in expecting a good game. no such luck. i dont know who would have won, but hayden would have given them a good run. it was another 6-0 game, and i accomplished something i have never done in my high school career. i scored 4 of those goals. i dont know how many of them i really deserved. at least 2, probably 3 though, but definitely not the last one. so then we played Shawnee Mission East, who is a good team. it was our first real test and we responded well. we had many chances, and dominated the shot line, but we didnt get a goal until 5:33 left in the game. it came on a corner and i headed it in. in the championship, blue valley north, who is #2 in the state, and #4 in the region were picked to beat us, but we were the ones who came out a lot stronger. i scored in the first 5 minutes, on my only "shot" of the game. it was a header that, if their goalie had been really paying attention he would have come out harder or not at all. we had our first goal against later in the half, and took the tie into halftime. midway into the second half i picked up a throw in and restarted before their defense got set, and threw it over their defense to blake who ran on and finished it. our defender misplayed a ball with 13:30 left, and it bounced toward our stopper who was on the touchline by our goal. he wanst paying attention and he turned toward the ball and it bounced up and hit his arm, inadverdently. there were no persons around but the ref still called a PK. they made it to tie up the game at 2. in the last 30 seconds their center mid came down the middle and played it to the forward at the top of the box. he took a touch past the defender who clipped him on the way by, and the forward fell down in the box. the ref, who was at mid field ran down and made another PK call with 18 seconds left. if the game had ended tied in regulation we would have gone straight to PK's anyway, but the ref decided he wanted to be the one in control instead of the players, and they made the shot to win. it was sad, but both teams knew who should have won. tuesday we played west, who hasnt been this good in a long time, if ever. they came out a lot more prepared then we were and caught us off guard. there was no score at halftime. we finally broke through with 1:55 left in the second half. i got the last touch on a shot by blake, and that should have been enough. our defense gave them too much time and space, thus giving them an open look from about 25 yards. it took a fortunate bounce, and regualtion ended in a deadlock. we went through one overtime with no goals, and then it went to a second 10 minute session. with 7:03 left, i got a through ball which the keeper came out on, he hit me right after i shot it from about 30 yards, and i thought i had hit it over, but i didnt. it went in, and the game was over. i was exhausted. it was a very emotional game and one we definitely needed to win. and, after a slow, sloppy game last night, during which we got 7 corners in the first 10 minutes, and only produced one goal. our whole team slacked off, and we played crappy and fortunately got a goal with 1:46 left in regualation when i took a shot off the inside of the right post which john stamm followed in. Asisst me! lol, so, production wise it has been a good year. i hope it continues, but i have given God my soccer career. it is a nice feeling.

sorry that portion of my post was so disporportional, but that is alot of what has been going on in my life. i realize how pathetic that may be, but im ok with that. last week at our football game there was some "tailgating" going on, which i was excited about, not thinking twice about what all that may encompass, so when i get there, i shouldnt have been surprised but i was shocked that there was alcohol being passed around (in a figurative more then a literal sense). our all school president and vice president were involved. the vice-president more then the president, in such a way that she was falling all over the place and was literally out of control. it was ridiculous as well as being maddening for me. alot of people went into the game intoxicated, but those two were somehow singled out, and got into pretty big trouble. each received 2 week suspensions, and were removed from office. what does that mean... ? i dont know. there has not been an official announcement to the students, and they are obviously still suspended, which may be the reason for the delay in official recognition. i have been asked numous times whether susanna and i will run again if in fact there is a reelection, to which i answer i dont know. its tough. something i am definitely going ot have to think and pray about. i would appreciate the support.
well, there is another game tonight, and jacqueline has XC tomorrow morning, (Good luck babe) which i hope to make it to, and i will prolly mow tomorrow. the weather couldnt be more perfect right now. honestly it couldnt. i envy nobody at this point. well, i will let you guys get back to your lives. if in fact you took the time to make it this far anyway. have an awesome week, and i cant wait to see everyone.

Soccer! School.. living on!

I know i have been doing a really poor job of keeping my blog updated, and the excuses are endless. all i can say is that i will try harder. well, the first soccer game has come and gone. it was a great way to start the season. we beat a hayden team who had, less then a week before, tied a SH team that many thought would win or be a power city team this year. and, it was a hayden team who had their best player go out for football! who is surprised. ne way, we won 6-0, and i had an assist. it was one of those games where you would love to pad the stats, but they were pretty balanced for the most part. we have never played that well together, and to do it in the game was awesome. next game-- tuesday, 3:30, Blue Valley North Complex, KCK. (in case anyone cared) we will get some good competition too. there are at least 2 state teams from last year, including the one that beat us 3-2 in DO. it would be really nice to beat them for the championship. WaRu is in the tournament too. two teams i would love more then anything to beat. (love in the soccer sense)

any week where we dont have to go for 5 days is a good week for me. Kayla (my sister) and her fiancee and their friends from florida got in late friday night and just left this morning. they were a lot of fun to be around. we went to the washburn football game on saturday. then saturday night we had dinner here with all of them and also my brother matt and his wife and jacqueline made an appearance also. we had a good time. sunday we went to church, then went to softball, which was fun until i like broke my thumb. i am going to feel really dumb if it messes up soccer for me. it wouldnt have been worth it at all. last night we had our last night with our guests and we just hung out and talked and some of us watched The Longest Yard. it was ok. it wasnt that good. not one that i would necessarily recommend.

SCHOOL!!! That is, in the exhaustive sense. it has gotten old really fast, but i guess that is how senior year is supposed to be. life is sad. whether we recognize it as being such, we are let down and disappointed every day. it is sad. but really, it only becomes unbearable when we let our attitude be controlled by our circumstances. thus, depression has a nesting place. psychology lesson #1. sorry, that's just how i work. no, but seriously, letting life get to you is one of the easiest ways to have a crappy life. sorry to break it to you, but its true. ne way, there is so much that happens that we just have to let go, and let God.

This was a poem i wrote spur of the moment. i just realized the power of words when used in honesty and sincerity.

Thank You

What more can be said
To someone who is admiring you,
Be that for ability, service,
or showed affection?

Is there anything more powerful
then the two words, that
spoken with the utmost sincerity
can make the day of whom you are speaking?

Simpole, but carrying so much meaning.
Complex, in the thoughts and emotions.
Confirming, of value and pleasure towards.
Perfect, in every way, for any occasion.