Vote for the Auburn Band!

Ok, avid readers, the Auburn University Marching Band needs your help! Below is a little blurb I wrote at work about the situation for the Auburn Report, AU's faculty/staff newsletter. So visit this Web site and vote now and vote often and be sure to share this with all your AU friends! We are currently getting slaughtered by LSU and while it is too late to rally for football, we've still got a chance to beat those "wrong kind of tigers" and their "Golden Band from Tigerland" in this contest!

Here's the scoop:

ESPN and Paramount Pictures selected Auburn's marching band as one of the top 8 marching bands in the country. As a result, a production crew was on campus Sept. 12 to film the band as it performed the famous theme song from the Indiana Jones movie series. Taking the field in the shape of a skull, the band played the song over and over again while cameras were repositioned to film at various angles. The taped performance will be put online Sept. 29 and fans will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite college marching band. The promotion coincides with the DVD release of the latest movie in the Indiana Jones franchise: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The other bands selected include Louisiana State University, Clemson University, and the universities of Georgia, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Southern California. Each university represented will receive $5,000 for being selected and the winner of the online voting contest will receive $25,000 for a first-place finish.

Now stop reading this and go vote!

War Eagle, Hey!

On the eve of another Auburn football game, I thought I'd post these pictures of Margie Grace from last week's AU vs. LSU pep rally. She had a great time (and had a great view from her Poppy's shoulders!) but seemed to get a little overwhelmed at the size of the crowd and all the incessant cheering. We stood near the band and she really enjoyed watching Uncle John play his drum. She even got to play it herself when the pep rally was over. War Eagle!

Blowing Bubbles

One of Margie Grace's favorite things to do outside is blow bubbles. Until recently she has been pretty content to let me blow them and her chase and pop them. But now that she possesses the independent spirit of a toddler, she wants to do it herself -- or in her words "Margie do it." One night this week we went out on the deck because Margie Grace had asked about bubbles. And of course, she insisted that she do it herself! Here are some pictures from that episode. She ended up with wet pants, an empty bubble container (from lots of spills) and more bubbles on her mouth than anywhere else but she had a great time doing it!

"Mr. Needle"

Three weeks ago Neil and I prayerfully answered the call to help teach 4-year-old Mission Friends at our church. Another couple that we know, Jeb and Lacy Jones, had signed up to teach the class and discovered they were going to need extra help when 24 kids showed up on the first night. We've been working with them ever since. (Anyone that has ever been outnumbered by preschoolers knows what an impossible job this would have been. Our presence has cut the ratio to approximately 6:1 so it is somewhat manageable. Still, each week Neil says he feels like Gulliver being overrun by Lilliputians!)

We have a lot of fun and are really enjoying getting to know all the little ones. Our first night teaching, "Mrs. Lacy" (as the kids call her) played a little game to help the kids learn all of our names: Mrs. Lacy, Mrs. Katie, Mr. Jeb and Mr. Neil. In my opinion, these are four relatively easy names to pronounce but for some reason, these little southern children like to draw Neil's name out into two syllables with a strong emphasis on the long "e" sound. (Mr. Neeeee-uhl) I have been surprised how well they have remembered our names from week to week. (It is taking us a little longer, however, to remember all of their names!) Tonight at Mission Friends each of us was manning a table during craft time and assisting with their projects when suddenly I heard a little guy at Neil's table say something about "Mr. Needle." I had no idea what he was talking about and then I realized he was referring to Neil! "Can you help me Mr. Needle?" "Can you tape this for me Mr. Needle?" "I don't know how to do this Mr. Needle!" It was such a hoot and Lacy and I started chuckling. But Neil didn't miss a beat -- he kept right on coloring and taping and cutting. So next time you see Neil, ask him how Mr. Needle is doing!

Adding Insult to Injury

Long story short: Saturday was not Neil's day. He possesses a deep abiding love for all things Auburn, including Auburn football. So it was beyond disappointing for him that our team lost a heartbreaker of a game to LSU. But that was only part of his troubles. The day began to take a turn for the worse for Neil when he stepped awkwardly off a curb while tailgating on campus before the ballgame. His misstep resulted in a severely swollen and probably sprained left ankle. It was bad enough that the foot was hurting, but we exacerbated his injury by walking what seemed like several miles (ok, maybe just a mile or so but it seemed like more!) from our parked car to the stadium and back again. By the time we were within sight of our car after the game, Neil was shuffling like Harvey Corman. I offered to carry him for the duration but he said we wouldn't get very far. (He's right.) Neil woke up Sunday morning with what looked like a giant flesh-colored tennis ball attached to the side of his foot (see photo above). Let me tell you -- the thing was huge! Neil is such a good sport and really didn't complain much, although I know how badly he was hurting (flashback to Katie's sprained ankle incident of 04!). A good barometer for how Neil is really feeling is how much he lets something like an injury or illness slow him down. He is not one to sit idly but he spent pretty much all Sunday on the couch, which is truly rare. The swelling has gone down a bit but as of Tuesday night, the ankle still looks pretty bad. However, Neil is pushing through and at this point isn't letting it get in his way. Hopefully, he'll be healed in time for Saturday when the Tigers have an opportunity to redeem themselves against Tennessee. I know another loss would surely make Neil forget about his pain but let's not go there!

My Brief Brush with "Fame"

For posterity's sake, I thought I'd put this picture on the blog, although I e-mailed it around last week to most everyone who reads this anyway. This past Friday, on the eve of the AU vs. LSU football game, my colleagues at work and I ran into ESPN Gameday's Lee Corso at AU's new Student Center. ESPN was broadcasting the game and had set up their headquarters in an office suite on campus. Corso was in the hallway talking on his cell phone and when we all emerged from the stairwell and turned a corner, my friend Kevin immediately spotted him. Corso's not really a big deal to me -- sure he's on TV and all but so is Rich Thomas the local weather guy -- so I kept walking. Not my male colleagues. They thought we'd run into Elvis back from the grave! And so they hatched a plan to pull a little stalkerazzi move so they could get their picture made with him (these are grown adult men -- wow, football is a powerful thing!). Deciding it would be worth it to wait for the right opportunity, they loitered around the corner in earshot of the man. Once he was off the phone, Kevin "casually" approached him about taking a picture. Corso was very cordial and accomodating and agreed right away. I snapped a picture of the guys and then decided since I'd gone to the effort to wait, I'd have one taken as well. So there you have it -- my most recent brush with "fame."

Pictured from left: Matt Laney, me, Corso, Brock Parker and Kevin Fichtner

(You can't tell very well from the picture but Corso actually had on an orange and blue tie!)

The Power of Cheese

Saturday morning, while in the middle of fixing breakfast, Margie Grace was insistant on getting into the refrigerator (isn't she always?). I explained to her that I was making her something to eat but that wasn't good enough. "No, no, momma," she kept saying as she was tugging on the refrigerator door. With my leg strategically placed so she couldn't open the door, she became more and more frustrated with me and we reached the brink of a breakdown. So I asked her, rather rhetorically, "What do you possibly need from the refrigerator?" I was quite surprised when she emphatically answered, "I need cheese!!!"

That statement was all it took -- I laughed so hard and quickly stepped aside so the little lady could have her cheese!