The Pig

Grandpa Miller's pig was finally busted open today by Malcolm and Pamela, his grandchildren, which was his wish.  The pig contained over 400 dollars of spare change that he had collected over the years which got spilt between the grandchildren.  It was a fun day at the Miller house.

Bowling

We went bowling with Pam's Mom, Aunt, Uncle, Cousin Nicki, her husband, and kids.  We had a lot of fun.

German Village

Pamela and her Grandma Miller took me to German Village in downtown Columbus.  It was a very different part of town.  It is the largest privately owned restored area.

Bricks and more bricks both in the buildings and to make the streets.  Grandma Miller and I even discussed brick making over lunch, that Nauvoo tour really paid off.  We ate at one of the more famous restaurants in Columbus because of its good traditional German food.  I felt very tired and kind of out of it for the whole trip there, probably why I didn't take that many pictures.  My body has felt very off lately.  During the day I'm exhausted and at night I'm wide awake.

These are pictures of the restaurant that we had lunch in.  It was very good food and I can tell now why Pam was missing it so much.  I've learned that I am a fan of German food.

Conversations Late at Night

Pam and I called it a day pretty early tonight since we were both tired.  Unfortunately for me I have not been able to go to bed before three am at all this whole trip.  Pam's woken up a few times already tonight.
"What time is it?"
"10:30"
"10:30 in the morning?"
"No, its 10:30 PM."
"Oh Crap."

"I'm thirsty."
"What would you like?"
Mumbling
"Would you like a Diet Coke?"
"Uh huh."
"Okay I'll get you a Diet Coke."
"No I don't want that."
"What do you want, do you want milk?"
Mumbling
"Do you want milk?"
"Yes."
"I'll get you some milk then."
"No, I don't want that."
"What do you want then?"
"I've already told you."
"What did you tell me?"
"Milk."
"Okay, I'll get milk."
"No, it's okay, just stay here."

"REALLY!"
(Me thinking oh no what have I done now)
"They're trying to tell me to sleep on the floor, can you believe that?"
(Me wondering what's going on)
"I told them that THEY are going to sleep on the floor!  NOT me!"
(Me figuring out that she is talking about a dream or something.) "You tell them sweet heart."

All in all its been an interesting night, it's now past 12 Ohio time and Pam and I are now wide awake.  I'm wondering if I'm going to have anymore sleep conversations with my wife tonight, and I'm not sure what she's wondering.  I love my Pam.

I love to see the Temple in Columbus

It's hard to imagine that it was a year ago that we visited this very temple.  Pam had not yet been baptized.  She had met my father, but no one else in my family.  She had never been to a sacrament meeting outside of Pinon.  We were just newly engaged.  Her grandfather had just passed away.  So many things in just the course of one year.  And in June we are coming back to this temple to go inside of it.

I don't remember these statues of the Nativity from last year, but I was very impressed with their detail.  I look forward to the birth of my own son, grateful that in all probability it will not be in a stable.  I am very happy that Pam and I are creating this family together.  She is going to be a magnificent mother.  It will be a wonderful experience to be sealed together with Xander in the Logan Temple.

The skies over Columbus had been very dark up until our temple trip.  They cleared up as we were shooting pictures.  Going to the temple can make everything better.  The temple is an important part of our lives, I just wish we had one closer to us in Pinon.

I enjoyed the temple grounds from this viewpoint especially.  This is from a near by park area that is also owned by the church.  There is the temple, this recreation spot, and a church building all sharing the same parking lot.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the day, Pam with the temple.  She has been reading in the Book of Mormon as well as reading a book by Boyd K Packer about the temple.  She feels nervous about the whole experience, but then so was I when I was going through it.  She also read the teachers manual for the Temple Preparation Class.  Going through the temple with her will be wonderful.

This temple was the 60th temple in operation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It is wonderful that the church is growing the way that it is and bringing the light of the restored truth to all the world.  I am grateful that we were able to come back to the Columbus Temple again.  I am looking forward to being with Pam and my family in the temple in the coming month and then to going there with our little Xander and become one as a family for time and all eternity.

Israeli Folk Dancing

Pamela took me Israeli Folk Dancing on Tuesday night.  It happens every Tuesday from 8 to 11 at the Hillel on the Ohio State Campus.

Pam had been informed that her adopted Jewish family had not yet met me or approved of me.  I danced the night away with them and participated in almost every dance, not shying away from the difficult ones that I could not even hope to do.  They were impressed with me in that I had no fear and they could tell that I really love Pam.

It is always exciting to experience new things.  Too many people let their own shyness or nervousness get in the way of living.  I also got to learn a few things.  There are many Jewish Folk Dance styles out there.  The Israeli style has over 6000 different dances.  The reason for the vast variation is because there are so many Jews in so many different areas of the world.  The Israeli style itself is a collection of dances that have made their way back to Israel after WWII.  One of the main steps is called the Yemenite because it is from Yemen.  We also did a dance that was called the Turkish something or other.

My kids back in Pinon didn't believe me when I said that Jews are white.  After a while I almost asked them if they had even seen a Jew outside of a television.  There are so many things that I look forward to experiencing, especially with cultures.  I am seriously considering Anthropology as a masters.

My Pam's masters seems to be going well, she has an A in all of her classes and she is continuing to progress toward her goals.  I am very proud of her and all that she has accomplished.  I love you Pam.

Otterbein Memories

Pam took me to her old college the other day.  I got to meet Dr.s Underwood, Bates, Yoni, Walker, and Goodman.  It made me miss USU, professors really are some of the coolest people.  I also got to meet several of Pam's old friends who are still at the college.

We also met up with Emma's brother, who looks like he could be her twin.  These are pictures of where Pam says she lived for three years, the music buildings.

Replacement Ring

Unfortunately I lost my wedding ring.  I have to take it off for wrestling practice.  I had a special place where I put it in my backpack.  After practice it was gone and the zipper was open.  I question whether I forgot to close the pack and it just fell out or if someone opened it.  There were tons of kids in the office that day both from the High School and the Middle School.  There really is no way of knowing exactly what happened.

I went back to the place where I had changed just to be sure, but it wasn't there either.  Pam and I are kind of bummed out by it but she got me a temporary cheap replacement yesterday that I think is kind of cool.  It has the Celtic Family knot.

A Great Day with Mom in Law

Pam went to activation night and Mom took me to Baby's R US and Toy R Us to look around at all the toys.  They are bringing He-man toys back!  He-man vs DC Comics!  It was one of those moments that you wish you could be under ten again for a few moments since you're already acting like it.

I bought a monkey pillow for Xander and a picture frame for my mother in law.  We then went and saw Happy Feet 2, which is so much better than the original.  Yes, it is full of environmental issues like the first one but there are far fewer sexual comments and songs made.  The movie is much more appropriate for younger children than the first one.  One young penguin steals the show with a broadway like performance.  When I looked up the actress I was surprised that she really is only about 10 at the most.

We then went to the house to wait for Pam and put in 10 Commandments.  We didn't make it all the way through the classic film but I saw more of it that day than I had ever seen of it before.  Pam showed up and we had a nice meal with her mother, aunt and uncle.  We returned to our hotel and watched Mars Needs Moms and Alpha and Omega.

Halloween and Days of the Dead

Halloween is a really fun holiday that I enjoy maybe a little too much.  It's also a wonderful time since it is about when Pam and I got engaged.  Pam and I made our famous Chicken Jalapeno Chili for the Halloween Trunk or Treat which was a lot of fun.

Later back at school Pam's Seniors decided that they wanted to throw together a Haunted House at the last minute.  I was made an attraction in the house, I think I had a little too much fun.  They put a skull in the cell with me along with several smaller skulls.  Here are a few of the things I howled out in creepy voices.

(Holding the skull) Don't worry he's the crazy one, I'm perfectly normal.

(Singing) I've got a lovely bunch of shrunken heads, come and join the murderous pile

I don't belong here, I've only killed 20 people, well, um, 21 counting you, but please let me out!

There is no escape!

(Holding an ankle) Let me have a nibble, all I need is a bite, I'm so hungry!

(Holding the skull) Would you like to be like my friend here?  He's going to be with me forever!

Apparently I really scared some people and there were quite a few people who didn't recognize me.  Pam called me a dork and said she thought I had too much fun.

In Spanish and History I had my classes do projects about Days of the Dead celebrations from around the world.  The kids had a lot of fun with it.

Coaching

Since  I started coaching wrestling I have lost ten pounds.  I've started eating the way I want the students to eat and I do several of the workouts with the team.  I'm also in much better moods than before, probably because of the exercise.

Coaching is hard though.  I don't remember all of the moves since it was a long time ago, Feburary 2002, that I stopped wreslting.  The moves I do remember my body just does in the situation and I have a hard time describing exactly what it is that I'm doing.  I have experineced team members show a lot of the moves and have the team do drills.  I think it is a good way to have them take ownership and learn leadership.

Jeff Fowles is a great assistant coach, I had no idea coaching involved so much paperwork.  His job is the paperwork.  I work out the team and he does the paperwork.  Also, I have Brandon Stevens, the ISS teacher helping out with stretches.  As a trained EMS and a martial artist he is familiar with the types of strains that the wrestlers will have.

Coaching has its share of frustrations.  I'm not the old coach and I will never be the old coach.  In fact I would probably consider it an insult if someone compared me to him.  Everyone who takes over a position of authority suffers through this.  Last year I wasn't Mrs. Morgan and this year I'm not Coach Teague.  Next year if I take the Cross Country job, which I've been thinking about, I won't be Coach Mann. (CC is a major maybe though, we'll see how this year goes with wrestling before I decide anything with Pam)  I really appreciate the students who have helped me out with the team and have worked to make the transition work and be easier.

My other frustration has a name, it is eligibility.  It's an eye opening experience when you have almost 20 people and someone tells you that only 6 or so will be able to participate on the team because of low grades or failure to turn in specific paperwork.

I love what I'm doing though and I consider this year to be an important learning experience in how to be a coach and how to work with students in different roles.  I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to do this.  I am also very grateful for the love and support that Pam gives me.

846 Dollars Later

This trip to Ohio is turning out to be a lot more expensive than we anticipated, but we are just thankful at this point that things are working out and we are finally about to take off.  The dog kennel that was going to care for our animals didn't stay open the way they had promised to, which meant that we had to wait till they opened to put our animals in.

This meant that we had to change our plane tickets.  Instead of landing in Ohio at 4 we are now going to get there at 10, but at least we are still getting there.  I was prepared to talk about the pet resort in a very negative light due to the expense of changing our tickets which resulted from their broken promises.  I was thinking of even going to the Better Business Bureau and printing off fliers talking about how promises and customer service aren't priorities at that business.

I do appreciate though that they were very apologetic and very professional with us when we got there.  We aren't happy with them but at least I've cancelled my vendetta against them, for now, those dogs better be in great shape when we get back.  They seem like great people and I understand the reasons why they couldn't stay open, but honestly another 5 to 10 minutes, that they had promised to give us anyway wouldn't have killed them.

Luckily the hotel we stayed at in Flagstaff allowed pets with a 20 dollar fee.  I got to walk the dogs last night and this morning, which is something I haven't been able to do as often since I started coaching.

Pam and I also got to eat a nice meal at Buffalo Wild Wings, which is always a treat.

Life without Pam for a week

Pam went away for school this week.  Last time she did that I lived on Pop tarts, so people were pretty convinced that I was going to starve.  Nope, this time my diet was mainly Pork Chops and Potatoes.  Not really much else.
A student invited me to her birthday party in teacher housing where I was given a lot of Philippino food, which I absolutely loved!  I felt a little guilty for all the egg rolls I ate but they insisted that I eat more and more.  I was well feed that night.
The Huxhold's also had me over on Wednesday for dinner along with the missionaries.  They fed me rolls, corn, and pasta.  It was very filling.  I wasn't expecting this but they had me give a spiritual thought along with the missionaries.
I am very happy to have my wife back home with me.  After this we are going to a baby appointment today which is always exciting to see how little Xander is progressing toward birthdom.