Allie's Big Day

Today was a big day for Allison. Allow me to brag like hell!

Today was the Primary program at church. The chorister for primary wanted to do something special for the song "I Know that my Redeemer Lives" with some of the kids. Allison, and another little girl, Addison, were tapped to start the song with a duet. I thought it was kinda silly, since it's little kids. Those little kid singers on talent shows always drove me nuts, because almost all little kids sound EXACTLY the same when they sing. Boys, girls, to me, they all sound the same. Well, first off, Allie was having a blast on the stand waving to Rachel, Grandma Davis and me. She was so proud of herself sitting in the front row. (On a side note, Zach and Daniel couldn't have been more irreverant, if you want to know more, email me.) Well, it comes time for the song, Allison is standing in front of the microphone with Addison. Rachel and I were very nervous that Allie was going to freeze up once she saw everyone in the audience. Well, she was great. She was loud enough, and sang better than Addison. Now, I'm sure that Addison's parents were a little annoyed at that, since Addison was originally supposed to do this as a solo to begin her musical career. I'm not sure when it happened, but Allison was brought into the picture later. I looked over at Rachel, and she's bawling. So cute to see Allison perform well, and then see my wife get emotional over it. And to answer your question: even after this, I still think all kids sound the same when they sing, so I'm not biased now just because of Allie.

So, after sacrament meeting, since Rachel is now on strict bed rest, we went home. Allison didn't have to be at the soccer field until 2 PM, and we were responsible to bring half-time snack and after game snack too. We threw all that together, got everyone lunch, watched a few minutes of the 1 PM football games, and then went to the fields. Rachel was feeling fine, but I told her she had to stay home. I asked Zachary if he wanted to go or if he wanted to stay home. Football was on, so Zach didn't answer me, but continued to watch football. I got annoyed, and sent him to his room for "quiet time" along with Daniel, in whom I was still annoyed at his antics during the Primary program (like I said, if you really wanna know, email me.) So, Allie, Grandma Davis, and I set out for the soccer field. Now, there are eight kids on her soccer team, 3 girls and 5 boys. Of the eight, there are varying degrees of talent. Two of the boys are really good, and the rest are just "okay". Allie is on the younger side of the team, and the less talented. Now, being a parent, I'm always encouraging her to do her best. Last week, she was running up and down the field, flapping her arms because she says it makes her run faster. All I can do is laugh when she's not looking, and tell her that flapping arms only works for birds. Well, today was no different. Allie was running up and down the field, usually behind the ball and the kids, and trying to kick it when it came to her. Most of the time she stays out of the way, and is just happy to have a uniform on, running up and down on the field, and getting a snack after all is said and done. First half over, and we brought grapes for the team (we were snack parents this week). Second half, Allie was on the sidelines, but was brought in as a sub pretty quickly. The mob of kids were in one corner, kicking the ball around, when suddenly it squirted out to where Allie was standing, and without even thinking, she kicks the ball and buries it in the back of the net. It was her first sniff of a goal, and the first girl on her team to score one, too. I was so amazed. I couldn't believe that she scored. Her coach, who has been AMAZING with her, got a huge grin on his face, gave her a high five, and looked right at me with a thumbs up. She was so excited, but kinda calm too. She almost acted like she does it all the time, as she walked back to her team's side of the field to prepare for a kickoff. I walked right onto the field, and gave her a high-five and a head tussle. I don't care, I'm proud of my daughter. Sue me. After the game, the coach goes to each of the kids, and gives them a little talk to tell them what a great job they did. He came to Allie, and said how great she did in scoring her goal. Allison, in pure Allison form said, "Thanks" and went back to her juicebox. He then said to me, "I saw the ball come out, and then Allie sized it up and kicked it. It wasn't an accident, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. I'm so happy for her." My reply, "My wife is going to be PISSED that she missed this."

Allie started out the season rough, she came over to us on a few occasions crying that she didn't know what to do, and she was scared of the kids and coaches. She's come a long way since then, with our encouragement, but also with Coach Vince and Coach Chris' attention. That's also why Coach Vince was so happy for Allie, since it's usually two other kids on the team who score ALL the goals, game in and game out.

GOOD JOB ALLIE !!!!!!

Football Poll

I have to admit some disappointment in the fact that only 3 people voted in the latest poll. Punishments will follow.

Hail to the Redskins !!

Well, it's Wednesday, and I should have posted this yesterday. Congratulations to the Washington Redskins for starting their season 2 -0 after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. It was kind of nice having the 'Skins win one in Philly, as we usually end up getting pasted by Donovan McNabb. I watched the entire game, and only really got pissed at Jason Campbell twice. Once was his terrible interception, and the second was a missed touchdown pass to perhaps the best Redskin of all, Santana Moss. I'll admit it, when we traded Lavernaeus Coles to the Jets even up for Santana, I was a little annoyed. All I knew about him was that he was fast, but injured a lot. His first season with us, I was blown away. Just so fast, and such a quiet leader. He was nothing like I expected him to be, as I was really expecting a player who in losing by 40 points, still does a little dance when he gets a first down. I hate that type of player.

Congratulations to Chris Cooley (my favorite Redskin) on his new contract, and the incredible catch he made for a touchdown. He's going to be a 'Skin for a few more years, and I couldn't be happier. I've been a big Cooley fan since he came into the league. First off, he's a Utah State alum (like Mom), he plays the game like it should be played on the field, and he's a colorful figure off the field too. The Philly press was trying to hammer him and Clinton Portis for making a scene at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City after the game, but I loved it. I also loved all the people who I work with giving me crap about how we were "lucky", and that the Eagles lost the game more than the 'Skins won it. I told them that in the end, the only stat that counts is the final score. I don't care how we won two games, we won them. Hopefully it continues, but if it doesn't ... that's fine as well. I love my Redskins through good, bad, ugly, and indifferent. I'm trying to find a Cooley jersey now on eBay, so wish me luck.

Sick Father + Two Children + Pair of Scissors =

This story is a perfect example of why moms should listen to their intuition. Last Thursday I had to take Zach and Daniel to soccer practice, because the Doctor had told me to take it as easy as possible I decided to see if Aaron would watch the girls while I went, rather than chase them around the soccer field. Aaron had been falling asleep on the couch off and on all afternoon, since he was after all sick. He assured me he would be fine and that the girls would be fine, he would stay awake. I told him, if wanted to sleep I would take the girls with me it would not be a problem. Well in the end I left the girls with him.

When I came home from practice I was so busy getting everyone ready for bed I did not even look at the girls very closely. Then as I was changing Ryleigh's diaper I noticed some of Allie's hair on the floor. I asked Aaron if he had given Allie a haircut, she did need one after all. He said no and that was that. I then looked at Allie alot closer, she had taken the scissors to her hair and given herself a new style. But apparently that was not enough, she decided to cut her sisters hair as well. Man......Aaron was laughing when I pointed it out to him. I was a little mad. He apparently had fallen asleep. He saw the girls over in the corner with the scissors. He asked Allie if she was cutting paper...her reply "No". So on Friday morning we went and got Allie's hair fixed. It is a lot shorter than I wanted it, but what do you do!!!

Ryleigh's we haven't fixed yet. Probably will see what happens with her hair. She doesn't seem to mind.

Moral of the story.....never leave your children home with a sick father who is half asleep any way...no matter what they say!!!!!

Patriot's Day

I didn't know that today was officially known as Patriot's Day. I don't know why I was unaware of it, I just thought it was more of an unofficial moniker. It would seem to me to be unnecessary to mark this day with any name, as I will never forget the events of that horrible day. I mean, is there a name attached to December 7th or November 22nd or even April 12th? (If you know what is important about these dates, I invite you to comment to this post.) I don't need a calendar date to remember those I consider Patriots to this country.

In any case, I digress. For those of you who don't know already, Rachel and I are guardians to our nephews while their parents are on active duty in the Army overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. We enrolled them in the local elementary school, and they seem to really like it. Well, seeing as Becky is stationed at one of the air bases in Iraq, she was able to get an American Flag for Zach and Daniel that had been flown on an F-16 fighter, and one that was flown on a Chinook helicopter as well. She also went the extra mile of getting another two flags for the elementary school that were also flown on the same aircraft. We made sure the administration got the flags, and accompanying certificates. Well, Rachel received a phone call last week from the principal of the school. Being that I am who I am, a call from the principal at home is never something you look forward to. In this case, I was fine ... no suspension for me this time for trying to look up the girls skirts. She said that they were having an assembly to recognize Patriot Day at the school, and wanted to present the flags to the student body on that day. They also wanted to honor Becky and Eric, and have the boys recognized for their parents efforts. She just wanted to make sure that it was okay if they did that, and for us to make every effort to be there for the assembly. I had a doctor's appointment today, Rachel dropped the girls off at a friends house, and we met for the assembly. The principal had invited the Pottstown Mercury newspaper to the event, and they decided to show. They interviewed Rachel and I, the boys, and took some pictures. The principal ran down the basic tentpoles of the assembly, and then she said she was going to be recognizing us as well as the boys and their parents. Rachel got nervous, because we would be sitting in front of the entire student body, and have to stand at some point.

So, the kids start to file in, and it's the normal rowdiness that precedes all elementary school assemblies. Nice to know that this didn't change from when I was their age, too. This time, though, it's Rachel and I sitting in front watching them, instead of me being in the audience wondering who the odd looking bald man was sitting next to the hot lady. It was a nice presentation, the boys told where their parents were stationed and what they did for the Army. The boys teachers from last year, and this year held the flags up for the students to see. The principal, true to her word, introduced Rachel and I as the boys guardians and as Patriots to the country as well for our service to the country. I almost teared up at this point, because I never thought of this being a big deal. Whenever someone would say to me, "You are making such a huge sacrifice" or "I don't know if I could do something that big, for anyone" my counter was always, it's family. You do what you have to for your family, because you love them. I am proud to do this, as it shows a huge level of trust in Rachel and I from Becky and Eric. I did it for those reasons, not to be lauded or recognized publicly. I did it because I was asked to. If someone wants to buy me a HD Big Screen Television now or replace my iPod that they lost, I won't complain. *giggles* Otherwise, this is Rachel's and my labor of love. Just nobody else better get any ideas, we gave at the office.

I am not sure if the paper is going to run this story or not, it's really up to them. If you want to check out the website, it might be on there: http://www.pottsmerc.com/ also available at your local WaWa or Turkey Hill.

I hate ....

There are few things in this world I hate, although many that I don't like. I don't like seeing pro athletes, famous actors, musicians, etc. in commercials toting the wares of jeans, sodas, delivery companies, also etc. It's just annoying, like I am going to buy NFL Sunday ticket because Peyton, Eli, and Archie Manning told me to. I just figure, stop spending the money on their exhorbitant sponsorship fee, and maybe my bill will go down.

DirecTV is a scam, by the way. They recently switched over to the Dish Network business model of leasing their equipment to their customers, all without really notifying their customers. Last year, our Tivo (TM) DirecTV receiver died. We went to buy another one from Best Buy (TM) because that's what always was done in the past. Rachel even worked at their call center in Utah for a time, and the customers always purchased the equipment from whatever store they wanted to, and then called to have it activated. Well, once our Tivo died, we called DirecTV customer service who told us we could lease one from them for $99 bucks one time fee, and then $5 a month leasing fee. Or we could buy it outright for $499 and not pay a leasing fee. Hah !!! We went to a few different stores, and finally ended up talking to a guy at Best Buy who assured us that once we bought the equipment, it was ours, and no leasing fees involved. We bought the machine, took home and hooked up. We called DirecTV to have the receiver activated, and all was well. Until New Years Eve. Rachel and I looked at our bills, and noticed that our bill for TV was higher than usual. Upon further inspection, there it is ---- an effing LEASING FEE. Rachel called that night, to see what the heck was going on. Between the two of us, we spoke to a few different people, all who told us the same thing: DirecTV now leases their equipment, just like Dish Network. What our lovely foreign call center person (notice I didn't use any slurs in the sentence) who activated our receiver in the first place didn't tell us was that by activating this new DVR, we were agreeing to the Leasing Fee AND were now signed up for a two year contract with them.

WTH ??????????

The one supervisor that Rachel talked to even told us that there was no entry in our account that said we were told of the new policy DirecTV had taken towards hardware. We weren't told any of these things, they admitted it, and they still said we were locked in. Sure, if we wanted to cancel our service, that was fine, but we'd be receiving a bill from them for the entire two years of subscription fees we would have incurred on our account in addition to the early termination fee of $149 (or some amount like this). He said that there was nothing he could do, and I think Rachel even talked to this supervisor's boss that night, who told us the same thing, "Sorry." They gave us the address of the legal department, and we would have to take it up with them if we felt we were illegally dealt with. What a crock ! So, we talked about it and decided it really wasn't going to be worth the time and effort to try and wrangle with a bunch of effing lawyers over a TV bill. (BTW- this is what they count on with their customers.)

Fast forward another few months, and we decide to downgrade our package with DirecTV to help save us some money. Rachel calls, and gets the package lowered to the next lowest tier. A few days later, we get a letter from DirecTV stating that since we lowered our package, that we were in breach of the contract we had with them upon activating our DVR. Oh, I was PISSED !!! Rachel ended up calling customer service before I got home, or else my colorful metaphors to whomever I got on the line might have gotten me into trouble. They said that everything was fine, and showed nothing on our account that would be a breach of contract. So, it's been quiet now, and our contract is almost up with them. I think it's in October .... I already have a picture of my rear end to send in with my last payment, along with an invoice of my new service with Dish Network. Screw them for screwing me over.

One last thing - this post originally started as a vehicle for me to say how much I hate the Dallas Cowboys. So, I hate the Dallas Cowboys.

UPDATE: After Rachel read my post, she was afraid to tell me that we actually have a 3 year contract with DirecTV once we activated that DVR. Looks like I'll have to save that picture for next year.

Potter #1!!

Looks like Harry Potter and the OOTP is the number one movie among Palmer family and friends who partook in the polling !! Congrats to J.K. Rowling, yet another accolade to throw on the collective pile.

Under the Weather

Being sick sucks. I hate being sick. I woke up on Wednesday morning, with my throat very, very sore, and just knew a doozy of a cold was coming. You know how that is, right? I mean, once you've lived in your body long enough, you know when something isn't right. My tell for sickness is the sore throat. So, Wednesday I knew all day what was coming. I sucked on hard candy, and gargled with salt water, which I knew wouldn't work, but sometimes old wives tales turn out to be true. Thursday, I awoke and was just miserable. My head hurt, coughing my head off, achy, and just altogether a mess. I worked that day, and just knew it was a mistake. By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. We got dinner and the kids squared away. Friday morning came, and I was still just out of it, but this time I called out to work. I don't call off from work unless I am a danger to drive, and in my condition, I just didn't feel safe behind the wheel. Saturday, I'm in a little better shape, but still sick. I was supposed to go to a training meeting at the Stake Center, but blew it off so I could rest. I'm sure Dave is going to be pleased with me. So, this is a short one .... take care of your bodies, all !!