angela's blog

Every year I like Christmas less. Leave it to corporate America to absolutely deface what Christmas actually is. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy the presents, I enjoy the spirit, I enjoy the fact that around this time of year people seem to get a little less selfish. However, I hate the overdone, redone Christmas carols that blare from the speakers in the department stores and radios. I listen to country music radio a lot but if I hear another rendition of Christmas in Dixie heads will fly. Trust Sabrina to come up with the idea to post gifts online, though. Smart one, that Sabrina girl. I'll hop on that bandwagon. So here they are ... along with my own personal editorials. The unrealistic presents: iPod with iTrip desktop computer so I can leave a computer at the office my own Tivo (Hey, I said it was unrealistic, okay?) The useful but still way to expensive one: the North Face fleece jacket from REI Trinkets and odds and ends, aka "Things I don't really need at all": Silver bangle bracelet with initials (Yes, I understand the potential of my initials changing at some point ... pick whichever I guess) Super Mario Sunshine for GameCube Madden NFL 2005 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Sex and the City DVD sets -- anything from season 3 on Duce Staley Steelers jersey Soft cover NIV study Bible Anything by C.S. Lewis (although I already own The Four Loves and Screwtape) the "Classic shirt" from Express in any color but pink, orange or yellow the "Essential trouser" from Old Navy in charcoal Curious George pajama pants from Target (it says it's a set but I'm pretty sure you can just get the pants ...) dumbbells in 5, 10, and 15 lb. increments Contents subject to change. I'm just kidding. But I know of at least 2 or 3 people that have sort of been asking or curious so here are at least some hints. Hope this is helpful.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/30/2004 03:53:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well we're back. Back in nice 50-something-degree triangle, back to newhope, back to UNC, back to our life. The trip to Wichita was good, but more and more as I go back to visit it becomes just that: a visit. My home is here. And I was ready to come home. I have roots here and people I care about. I'm glad God sent me here, for multiple reasons. With the trip to Wichita having gone well, I'm excited about the month of December. I really think that what awaits me is going to be quite grand.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/29/2004 03:36:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

UNC won the Maui Invitational earlier this week. Their returning starting line-up seems a little creaky out of the gates but I have all confidence that they're going to pick up the pace. Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Sean May, Jackie Manuel and Jawad Williams make up one of the most talented starting line-ups in NCAA hoops this year. At least I think so. Admittedly I was a little surprised that none of them entered the NBA draft last year but I was thrilled that they were sticking around. Keep your eye on them. They're going to do great things. Oh and that other team down the street? Yeah, so it seems as though there are at least some who think Duke's paradise days are over.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/26/2004 08:37:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well the last couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind. Wednesday morning I went to class, only to find that the professor didn't show up. There were only maybe 12 or 13 of the 30+ there and we actually had class. I left early, though, with the excuse of "I still have to finish packing for my trip home." Which was quite true. Wednesday afternoon around 3 Scott came over to JJ's where we were waiting. We got in Scott's pimp-mobile and headed off for RDU. I-40 was so backed up that it had taken me half an hour to get to JJ's when I headed over and the drive is usually no longer than 10-15 minutes. So we told Scott's handy-dandy navigation system to "minimize freeways" and the car got us to the airport in a highly reasonable period of time (about half an hour) by taking us straight through downtown Durham. I had no idea where we were, but hey, it worked. JJ and I got in line for electronic check-in and were told to "Call Delta Direct" because there was a problem with our flight. Turns out that our flight from RDU to Cincinnati was delayed almost 2 hours (1 hour 40 minutes) and as a result we would miss our connecting flight. After going through all the possible permutations the best thing we could come up with was to fly out the next day at 1:25 through Atlanta, getting to Wichita around 5:30. JJ called Scott. JJ: Dude, come pick us up. Scott: You're kidding. JJ: No. Really. Come pick us up. We waited around outside for Scott and suddenly I saw ... coming over the horizon (or pulling up in a Saab) ... Dan Arneman! He got dropped off for his flight and then we discovered that his flight was delayed, too. Dan hopped a ride with us back to Chapel Hill, the 4 of us (Dan, Scott, JJ and I) had dinner at Moe's and then all went back to our respective homes having to put off Thanksgiving for one more day. Thursday travel wasn't bad at all. I'm not the biggest fan of flying but this time it wasn't so bad. We got to Wichita last night without incident. Mom had made an enormous meal. We all ate way too much. And it was good. I was teasing Bryant about how now that JJ's around he can have an older guy teach him how to pick up chicks. Bryant looked at me, looked at JJ, looked back at me and said: Dude, I don't want to learn how to pick up chicks like YOU. Sadly, the kid has a point. Other details forthcoming. Oh, and Scott's our hero. Well, him and his pimp-mobile. But mostly Scott.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/26/2004 08:20:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

So I'm looking through my old LiveJournal archives today to see what my life was like a year ago and I stumbled upon I think what was my first ever conversation and memory of JJ. It's kind of funny because it's all in conjunction with helping to run tech for WAM (back when I definitely didn't know how to do a thing) and so I refer to JJ kind of coldly as "the sound guy." Take a read from Decemeber 7, 2003: This morning at newhope was PURE CHAOS. 7:30 am we get there and cart the stuff in. It's time for Christmas services which means lots of pretty decorations. But lots of pretty decorations means .... lots of extra work. And lots of extra work means ... things running behind etc. etc. But it turned out mostly pretty good. At about 9:50 (service starts at 10) we discovered two things 1) that Oz was apparently going to sing which meant that 2) we had no one to run lights. Guess who got to run lights on about 7 minutes notice? Me. Guess who has, up until this morning, never even TOUCHED a light board in her life? Me. Guess who, by the grace of God and J.J. talking me through the service, managed to not screw it up ... well, screw it up too badly anyway. Me. The feeling I had when the worship team started playing this morning was someone picking me up and tossing me into the fire. After my heartrate came down from lactate-set speed to about warm-up speed and I was breathing like a normal human being again I realized that the service this morning was nothing short of a miracle. God is GOOD. Awesome. Seriously, afterward J.J. (the sound guy) and I were talking and really without God, at 10 am this morning we would have been like "Um, yeah, we're not ready for the service yet - come back at 10:30." Wow. Two things about this entry. (1) I never ever refer to Steve as "Oz" anymore. I just call him Steve. He actually introduces himself to people as Oz, but I still call him Steve. He doesn't look like an "Oz" he looks like a "Steve." In my opinion. (2) I remember after this service I was totally frazzled and when I came down from the light booth I got a half a hug (you know the kind I'm talking about, the man-hug that's like half an arm, half a squeeze) from JJ. That was probably the first time I actually spoke to him as JJ and not as "that guy who runs the big piece of equipment down front." This was archived on December 7th. The next time I mention JJ is February 28th as I had my first sound training session with him on the 27th and the exact reference was "I did go to WAM rehearsal and learn cool stuff about running sound, which was also fun, and I got to hang out with JJ who taught me to run sound, and that was fun, and I got to hang out, albeit all too briefly, with Agora at BW3 for dinner, which was also fun." Did I really go 2 1/2 months without mentioning him at all? This sort of thing highly amuses me. It's a trip down very short memory lane.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/22/2004 04:36:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

It was what Brad used to call an "ugly" win. One of those wins that happened because the team fought and scratched and pummeled for it. It was what the Steelers did this past Sunday. After handing it to the Patriots 34-20 and then turning around and rolling over the Eagles in high fashion 27-3 the Steelers kept their tempo up and beat the Browns last week 24-10. And then yesterday, they played the Bengals in Cincinnati and it was definitely a not-so-pretty win. Ben Roethlisberger, by the time it was all said and done, had been sacked 7 times. But he did complete 15 of 21 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. Sports critics are saying that he finally played like a rookie. I completely disagree. They expect Ben, after playing like he has, to be perfect. Well, guess what guys, he's not perfect. Like any human, Ben has his own performance capabilities which is often affected by what the opposing team can do on defense. He didn't play like a rookie, at least not in my opinion. He played like a quarterback against a Cincinnati team that was well-coached and seemed to have found a bit of a crack in the Pittsburgh offensive line. In the first half, Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior made a play that changed the entire momentum of the game. He intercepted a pass and returned it 14 yards for a Steelers touchdown. During the second half the Pittsburgh defense brought the house to Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer. He was forced to get rid of the ball on more than one account. One of them clinched the win for the Steelers. With 2:38 left on the game clock and the ball on the Cincinnati 2, the Pittsburgh defense blitzed and Palmer had nowhere to go, so he backpedaled. Right into his own endzone. He was brought down and then called for intentional grounding. The safety gave the Steelers 2 points and a score of 19-14 with just over 2 minutes to go. Out come Ben and his offense in the victory formation. Another win for the Steelers. During the course of the game Jerome Bettis passed Tony Dorsett and became the 5th all time leading rusher in NFL history. With Duce Staley still out with a hamstring injury (which is making me sad, by the way, I miss watching Duce play) Bettis has gotten the starting position and while he killed his yards:TDs ratio, he's definitely shown that he is still the Bus. Wide receiver Plaxico Burress went out in the first half with a hamstring injury. Keep your fingers crossed. This could change the Steelers' throwing game big time. It would, at the very least, probably take some time for the offense to get used to not having Plax around. A final note on the Steelers-Bengals game. What the Bengals managed to show yesterday, though, is that there appears to be a way through the Steelers' offensive line that has been, thus far, doing a phenomenal job of giving Big Ben the space and time he needs to completely plays. Ben was sacked seven times. Compare that to 9 total sacks in Ben's last 7 games combined. Either the Bengals are doing something right or the Steelers were having a little bit of an off day. Maybe both. I'm going to be interested to see whether something like this happens again. *A couple of asides * As a pretty avid sports fan (largely college basketball and now pro and college football) I've seen what people refer to as a "hot streak" or a "hot hand". I'm not sure I buy all that. I'll give writers and fan a little bit of leeway on the hot streak concept. If a team consistently plays well, with a few bumps here and there, a hot streak is probably legit. Take, for example, the New England Patriots. They are a very solid football team. They always play well. They definitely had a streak going there for awhile. But as a general rule regression towards the mean always takes place. People will regress towards their natural average performance rate. This means that to get to an average level of performance for that person (for example, Michael Jordan's free throw percentage average is ALWAYS going to be better than mine) there have to be some ups and downs along the way. Over time, as you accumulate a record of performance you'll see that it averages itself out. Why bother with this? Big Ben. I have no doubt, after watching him rally in the 2nd half of yesterday's game, that he is definitely an above average quarterback. He fights and doesn't take the sack easily. However, he, too, has a performance mean. He didn't play like a rookie yesterday -- he just played like Ben. But then again, what do I know? * We went to "Lunch out" with the church and arrived back at JJ's to find that his Tivo apparently has an override system. If the game shows on Sunday Ticket and on local network television and you set the Tivo to record both, NFL Sunday Ticket overrides network in terms of recording priority. The problem is ... if the game is being broadcast locally, it doesn't appear on NFL Sunday Ticket. I have to say that I'm thoroughly relieved that we had seen good chunks of the first half while we were at lunch out. Otherwise, this girl would have been running for dear life. But we did get to see the second half and even though I really was falling asleep, I couldn't fall asleep. Why? Because the game was so crazy close the whole way. Next week, Steelers-Redskins.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/22/2004 09:30:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

For now I have nothing else to post ... I'm sure I'll post later.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/22/2004 08:16:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tonight I had a totally unexpected opportunity. I babysat for Kyra and Megan Mulder at the last moment (I was asked at around 3 pm today) because Rachel had had a rough day and Curtis was doing the very nice, very loving, very thoughtful husband thing and taking her out for the evening. Sabrina was the first one Curtis asked to sit and she asked me because she had previous plans. I felt kind of bad because I had to change some plans I already had but it all worked out in the end. We made cupcakes and for whatever reason they found my sound effects very amusing. I would do things like say, "Hmm ... I wonder where your mom keeps the forks ... doo doo doo de doo .... I have no idea" the little pseudo-musical interlude sent Megs into fits of laughter. They accidentally dribbled cake batter on my jeans. Fits of laughter. We sat down to watch Dora the Explorer and for reasons I can't remember Megs tried to get me to smell her feet. I have no idea why. But I kept trying to get her to stop and finally Kyra looks at me and goes, "Well, I'm being good." Megs is a goof; Kyra is the straight laced one. At least from what I saw tonight. After I had put them to bed I went up to check on them about half an hour later and found Kyra reading by night light. I told her to go to sleep, and when I checked on them later, she had. This reminded me of all the stories I had heard about JJ as a boy. He LOVED books. He still loves books. He reads more books than anyone I know. And he remembers the stuff he reads. It's a little unnerving how much stuff that man has in his brain. But when he was little his mom would have to stop him reading and make him go play with his friends. I could easily envision him reading by night light or flashlight after being sent to bed and when I told him the story when he called tonight, I was right. It was totally something he did. Some things that really amazed me about my Mulder girls experiences tonight: * Before the girls went to bed we all prayed together. Wow. How different would my life be, I wonder sometimes, if that was how I was sent to bed at night. * I can actually handle girls. I had always thought that I would have to have boys if I ever had kids just because I had no idea what to do with girls. I mostly have this fear that if I have a girl she's going to grow up to be a princess and I have so little tolerance for princess-ness that it would drive me nuts. Kyra and Megs proved that little girls can be little girls without being princesses. Good news for me. * Our pastors, or at least Benji and Curtis, have some of the most well-behaved children I've ever encountered. Or maybe they were just nice because I was new. Either way, it was fun. I hope Kyra and Megs thought it was fun, too. Oh, and Rachel already put up her Christmas tree. It's very pretty.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/18/2004 10:18:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

So yesterday I finally talked to a couple of the Wash U swimmers. And while yes, they did break 7 pool records on the way to winning the invitational at U. of Chicago last weekend, I was a little bit off in declaring the importance of their accomplishments. It's a brand new pool. They've only been using it this season. It's only November. Those records will be smashed over and over again. Conference is being held there this year. Those records will be shattered. When I saw it was U. Chicago and I looked at some of the times I sort of wondered about the actual impact of their performances and I admit I was a little skeptical but hey, pool records are pool records in some strange way. After talking to Jess and Sarah about the circumstances under which they swam that meet, I realized that there are things I miss and things I don't about the college swimming circuit. The meet in Chicago started at 10 am. That means roughly 8:30 warm-up. It's a 4 hour drive to Chicago. They didn't stay overnight. You do the math. Yup, the team left at 4 AM on Saturday, drove to Chicago, swam from 10-4, grabbed dinner, were back in St. Louis at 11 PM. The meet from HELL. And Sarah, my hero obviously, swam these events: 1650 (mile) free, 500 free, 400 IM, 4x200 free relay, 4x100 free relay. Toughest girl out there. Who DOES that? And lives to tell the tale? It's meets like these, where the team survives a freakishly difficult weekend, that make a season. I'm not saying it doesn't suck. These meets SUCK. But you look back and you go, "Wow, that sucked. But we made the best of it." And that's what the girls did. The last couple of weeks I've really come to miss the pool. I can't remember the last time I was out of the pool for this long. It's been months. Even before I started swimming high school, I still went and swam with a makeshift team 3 times a week. I never raced but I was in the water. At that point it wasn't something I loved, it was something I had to do. Once I got into high school, the racing got me hooked. I was an addict and chlorine was my fix. There's nothing like it. And I miss it. A lot. And then when I got to college and the team became my life, there was nothing like that, either. I miss that. A whole lot. There's something comforting, albeit insane, about knowing that every morning at 7 I have practice. There's something comforting about knowing that every night at 4 I have practice. There was always something crazily special about leaving the AC with the team for dinner. Knowing that Wednesday was lactate day ... knowing that Saturday was test set day (okay, so Saturdays were not fun). There was something about the fact that we all suffered together. And like idiots we all loved it. Otherwise we wouldn't have stuck it out so long. My girls, Jess, Bri and Sarah, are graduating this year. I hope they relish every second of their senior seasons: the ups, the downs, the pain, the insanity (Brad has become officially certifiable I think), but also the love and the work and the time that goes into all of it. I miss it all. I wish I could afford to swim around here. I wish I had the discipline to do what I did. Mostly I just wish for that feeling back ... the one where you're surrounded by your best friends, doing something you love, and nothing can stop you ... or maybe the one where you're standing behind the blocks and the starter says, "Ladies, step up ..." and your heart rate goes up, you shake yourself lose, and you climb onto the block ... or maybe the one where a split second before you turn and look at the clock you wonder what your time is going to be ... or the one where you nail a set in practice ... or the one where your teammates are cheering so loudly you know you swam well ... or the one where the coaches work with you because they know you can be a faster swimmer ... or how the smell of chlorine can excite you. The greatest gift to me right now ... time at a pool. I think I just miss the pool ... for me to look at it and have it go, "Come on in ... the water's fine."

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/16/2004 09:47:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wash U women's swimming took the Maroon Invitational (University of Chicago) by storm this weekend. The girls set SEVEN pool records in both relay and individual events. Fast girls have good times. Heck yeah, they do. Way to go Bears!

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/15/2004 05:47:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

I feel like it's been ages since I posted. In reality, it's only been 4 days but time is flying isn't it? But let's see ... what happened in those 4 days? Friday night JJ and I went to Camp Iwilligoway being held by newhope to help with tech stuff. To get there we drove over an hour in what I think could be defined as a monsoon. It was pouring down rain. And when we got there, the ground was also soaking wet. Eeew. Once we got inside we set up and Curtis led worship. As he put it so eloquently, "There is nothing I love more than 50 screaming children in a brick mortar building." No. Kidding. Juggle Boy from Southpoint was there. JJ has a bit of an unhealthy fascination with Juggle Boy. It's really weird. But we had a good time and I got to see Dylan, the son of one of the women in my small group. One of the cutest kids ever. My favorite 3-year-old. And in case you're wondering how that works: Favorite 2-year old: Walker Cooper, favorite 3-year-old, Dylan Gibson, favorite 4-year-old, Genna Cooper, favorite 5-year-old Dylan Liu. Yup, I think I've got all my bases covered. Saturday we were going to go play outside but it was still a little squishy from the rain the day before. We opted to do dinner at the Loop, with Scott, Dan, and Fogle, and a movie afterwards. We watched Memento. Very good movie. Very surreal. Very tense. Very psychologically accurate. Highly recommend it. Sunday morning the service went about as smoothly as it could have. It was me, JJ and Sabrina running the service and other than the sub-arctic temperatures (well, okay, it probably wasn't really that bad but Sabrina and I were COLD but smart Sabrina ... she brought hot chocolate for us) it was stress-free and problem-free. Sunday afternoon was back to our old routine: watching the Steelers win football games. Final score: Steelers 34, Browns 10. I usually have this long post about stats and all but to be totally honest, this game was almost anti-climactic. They'd already beaten the Patriots and the Eagles ... and they'd already beaten the Browns once. I was happy they won. And the touchdowns were still exciting. But ... definitely a little anti-climactic. Sunday evening Jamie, JJ and I took Scott out for his birthday to Maggiano's and then to The Incredibles. Maggiano's. Mmmmmmm ... Maggiano's. The orders there are HUGE. I dug out about 1/4 of my leftovers and it made me a good size lunch. Yum. The movie was ... okay. I think that my expectations were maybe too high. I expected it to be side-splittingly funny like Shrek 2 and it wasn't. Plus, my stomach was full and I was comfortable and tired. It was hard to stay awake. Another weekend come and gone. And as Benji put it, "Christmas is right around the corner." When the heck did THAT happen????

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/15/2004 02:07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday towards the end of the work day I stopped by fellow cognitive student and lab member Ilana's office and immediately noticed the very happy looking pictures over her desk. She had a number of herself and Tim (her boyfriend) and then a ton of her nieces. That got us talking about small children and the remarkability of language development. My favorite 4-year-old, Genna, and favorite 2-year-old, Walker, in the short time I got to spend with them left me with enough snippets and I've heard enough stories that I could hold my own talking with Ilana. When Ilana was back over fall break it was her niece, Isabel's, birthday so she brought her presents. Isabel was prompted, "What do you say to Aunt Ilana?" to which Isabel replied, "Meeees you!" which is what Isabel always says to Ilana over the phone. Ilana's brother will promp Isabel and she'll tell her Aunt Ilana how much she misses her. But that seems to be what Isabel's got in her head when asked, "What do you tell Aunt Ilana?" Cute. Genna is a remarkably verbal little girl. Before I ever met her I had heard that at one point she said to her mother, "Uncle JJ needs him a wife." She had somehow put together the following: I want cousins. To get cousins Uncle JJ needs to have kids. To have kids Uncle JJ needs to get married. Uncle JJ needs him a wife. Very smart that Genna. Then, on JJ's birthday Genna (Paula) called her Uncle JJ and JJ asked her, "Genna, how old do you think your Uncle JJ is?" Genna goes, "45!" (JJ's 32). Then Paula asked, "Genna, how old do you think Mommy is?" "40!" Oh, Genna. The thing is ... think about it. She got the age difference just about right. Still quite remarkable. Walker, on the other hand, is a man of few words. This might be because he's only 2 or because he walks around with a pacifier in his mouth. But he knew enough that when I was playing with him on a horse his grandparents have at their house to yell out, "Giddup!" And he can dance. And when we were in Perry, completely unprompted he turned to JJ and said, "I wuv you!" which was so cute. When we were leaving he asked, "I go with you?" which he, of course, couldn't do but he's pretty much the sweetest, most laid back kid you'll ever meet. Walker's one of those kids that you see him and want to have 3 just like him. We get to see Genna and Walker again at Christmas. Stay tuned for lots more stories and of course tons of photos on my photo site. Oh and by the way ... if you have suggestions for Christmas presents for my favorite little people, be sure to suggest them. I'm running out of ideas ... it seems as though everything I think of they already have!

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/11/2004 10:34:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

I teach a class of college juniors and seniors every Tuesday and Thursday. We recently did a study on the possibility of "fear modules." This is to say that it is possible that humans developed a "fear module" that allows us to process threatening stimuli, such as snakes, more quickly than we process non-threatening stimuli, such as flowers (Ohman, Flykt & Mineka 2001). The idea being that if the stimuli is threatening we recognize it more quickly ... and get out of the way. Well, I kid you not, I got the following explanation for the fear module in a paper: ... humans may have developed a fear module in order to avoid being eaten by predators or enemies such as dinosaurs. I have only one response to that ... not including the stifled laughter: Run, Forrest, run! Hee hee hee. New favorite band: By The Tree. Click on the link. Go listen to them. Now. They're going to be in Greensboro on Friday, Dec. 3. Concert anyone? It's going to be good.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/09/2004 09:09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

I guess I should post about my weekend, too. :-) Friday night JJ took me to 518 West in Raleigh for dinner to celebrate our 6 month anniversary. The only thing he would tell me on Thursday was that we were going to Raleigh and that I shouldn't wear jeans. His slip was that he sent me part of the menu to make sure I would find something I would like to eat which was very wise on his part. Angela can be picky. So knowing we were going to Raleigh I started searching around 10 pm Thursday night. Around 10:20 I called him with my discovery. I had figured out where we were going. So I, in part, ruined the surprised. But he bought me flowers -- beautiful, perfect, yellow roses. My favorites. Good surprise. He gave me a very sweet card with an even sweeter message. Excellent surprise. He also bought me a book which is really good. Good surprise. I was tired when the evening was over but ... he did good. The last 6 months, with both the good stuff and the bad stuff, and yes there's been some bad stuff, have been some of the best I can remember. I really do seem to have another half. I think that other half is JJ. He puts up with more of my crap than anyone I know. He makes me laugh. He makes me smile. He makes me happy. Even though he pries. Even though he's a bit of a hypochondriac (or a lot of one). Even though he's overprotective. But mostly just because he's JJ. Here's to 6 months, JJ.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/07/2004 08:47:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

I have no words. I wasn't born yet the last time the Steelers looked like this. Or so I've been told because, well, I wasn't born yet. Steelers 27, Eagles 3. EAGLES THREE??? THREE??? The only undefeated team in the NFL kicked a field goal against the Steelers today late in the 2nd quarter and at that point the Steelers were already up 14-0. These guys are now arguably, or maybe not so arguably, the best team in the league. As JJ pointed out, I walked in at a great time to be a new Steelers fan. Well ... yeah. They're winning games! Lots of them! Big plays and big stats from today: Hines Ward: 16 yard run, touchdown. Jerome Bettis: 33 carries, 149 yards and for the first time in awhile, no TDs. Big Ben: 11 of 18 for 183 yards and 2 TD passes. End of the first half: Steelers 21, Eagles 3. Final score: Steelers 27, Eagles 3. I just ... don't have any more words. Click here for final game stats. Next week Steelers at Cleveland.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/07/2004 07:26:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

OK Sunday hurry up already. The more I read the antsier I get about this Steelers-Eagles game. Come on Sunday where ARE you??

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/05/2004 01:27:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last night Josh and Mamie had their very own private screening of Troy in HD. Our friend Troy was recently the featured sportsman on Carolina Outdoor Journal thanks to his prowess as a bass fishing guide. Steve, Sabrina, Fogle, JJ, Troy and I joined the Halls for a little showing party. We watched Troy catch lots and lots of fish. It made me want to go fishing. I'm serious. I haven't been fishing since I was maybe 8 or 9, or maybe a little older, with my dad and my brother. And there's a difference between sitting on the edge of a dock or on the edge of a floating piece of dock and hoping you catch something and then going out on a boat and fishing. At least it looks like it. I used to hate fishing because it was boring but now I feel like I can take a book and sit there, as long as it's not too hot, and with Troy it seems like I'll at least catch something. Or, to rephrase it properly, watching Troy on TV made it seem like I'll catch something. Now, granted, JJ has been out on that boat with Troy probably 4 or 5 times and he's caught very little. But no one ELSE seems to have that problem. Anyway, check out Troy's website. It's neat. And go fishing with Troy. I bet it's fun. If I get to go sometime, I'll let ya know.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/04/2004 07:19:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Oops. So I guess between the election and the Steelers-Eagles game on Sunday there's one more noteworthy event. Today marks the 6 month anniversary of when JJ and I started dating. Everyone have their warm fuzzy moment. Tomorrow then marks the 6 month anniversary of Curtis Mulder's arrival to newhope. How do I know this? Because for the longest time I didn't know the date of our (JJ's and my) anniversary. I just had never bothered to look. Pretty much all I could remember was that the day after JJ and I started dating we went over to Curtis' and helped him move in. Actually, I helped him move in (along with many many others). JJ showed up later and helped set up the girls' beds. Anyway, one day in church Benji asked Curtis when he got here and Curtis said, "May 5th." At which point JJ and I look at each other and are like, "OK, remember that." And now we remember. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/04/2004 10:01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

With the election over the next big thing is this: Steelers vs. Eagles this Sunday at 1 pm. I'm not kidding when I say the nation's going to be watching. Thanks to rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger, a solid running game, a strong(er) secondary, and of course the blitz, the Steelers are turning heads nationwide these days. And this weekend, they take on the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL. The anticipation is killing me and it's only Wednesday. Just think though:

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/03/2004 04:31:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well that's over. Kerry called and conceded the election to George W. Bush at 11:46 am EST this morning. Couple of things: It was a lot less dramatic than I thought it was going to be. I really thought it was going to be this whole affair that would last for several days. It was cleaner than I thought it was going to be. I will say this: I don't know what's going to happen over the next 4 years. I am pretty moderate, with slightly liberal leanings, in most of my political views so I went back and forth between the two major candidates until roughly the moment I voted. There are things about our returning president I don't like. On the other hand, there were things about the challenger I didn't like either. Ask me in 4 years what I think about this election. I might have an answer then. In other news, one of my top 3 favorite places to eat in the Chapel Hill/Durham area is gone. Closed for good! Waaaah! Big Bowl appeared to have never recovered from its hepatitis scare back in August and as a result has closed its doors permanently. I discovered this highly unpleasant fact on Monday night when JJ and I were going to have dinner at Big Bowl ... and couldn't. That leaves me with Macaroni Grill and Moe's. I gotta find me a new number 3.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/03/2004 12:19:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Kiss me. I voted. And I think I just fell out of Sean Cooper's good graces. We'll see what happens.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/02/2004 01:12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Now the last time this happened I was living in Dauten 44 on the Wash U campus with Laura and Laurel and 3 other girls. I think I went to bed around 1:30 or 2 that morning and didn't know about the whole Florida mess until the next day. I had practice at 6:30. I needed at least 4 hours to survive the day. I have class tomorrow morning at 9. I have to be up at 7:30 or so. Maybe we'll know who the president is before I just fall asleep. Otherwise someone's going to be given the job of waking me up to tell me. Oh and by the way ... I really liked Curt Schilling until he turned into a political expert overnight. Gotta give him some slack ... he wasn't rude, he was just voicing an opinion. But I agree at least somewhat with SI.com writer Phil Taylor here. This is a shameless use of his celebrity status. Not that the other guys aren't doing it too, though. But come on ... a World Series champion does not (necessarily) a political expert make.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/02/2004 08:49:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

This morning while I was showering I was going over in my head what it will be like when JJ comes to Wichita in a few weeks. We're looking at around 3 weeks from now he's going to be in my hometown. I wonder how my friends will take to him, and I wonder how my family will enjoy having him in our house for almost 3 days. And while I was thinking about this, I suddenly remembered one of my cousins. One of my least favorite cousins, to be exact. Her Chinese name means "moon flower" but I think her American name is Heather. She and I have always had an interesting relationship. For one thing, since I was about 12 she would start our conversations or greet me with, "So, how much do you weigh now?" As a 12-14 year old I was seriously chunky. I'm seriously chunky now. But between the ages of 14-21 I swam like a mad crazy woman so I wasn't so much chunky as I was very compact and dense. And at that point when she would ask I would say something like, "Probably still less than you." For another, she was loud and would point at me in a crowd and say something like, "Oh wow, she's really smart!" if she asked me what classes I was taking and I told her I was taking high school bio as a 7th grader or calculus as a sophomore. Or it would be, "Did you hear that? She went to a dance last weekend!" if she asked me how school was going. This sort of thing drove me INSANE. My last encounter with Heather was the summer of 2002. I had just started "dating" Charlie and so when she asked me (as she did after I started college), "So do you have a boyfriend now?" and I said, "Yes, his name is Charlie," true to form she pointed and said at the top of her voice, "You hear that? She has a boyfriend!" but this time, the conversation took an interesting turn. We were with some other cousins and she proceeded to keep talking, "Man, you're 20 and you have a boyfriend. I didn't have a boyfriend until I was 27!" to which one of my cousins replied, "Well, yeah. That's because you're ugly." Dude. My brother and I (he doesn't like her much either) stared at each other. We scored and didn't even have to fire a shot. I haven't seen Heather for awhile but I thought of her this morning because I don't so much wonder what she would think of JJ. I'm sure she'd say something like, "Oh, so you're dating Angela??" at the top of her voice if they end up meeting. But I wonder what she'll think of the fact that her cousin, who's almost 23, not only has a boyfriend but has a boyfriend who's as great as JJ is. Heather might have mortified and embarrassed me for the last 10 years but this time around ... well, I think I've got the one up on her.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 11/01/2004 10:36:00 AM | Permalink | Comments