I Have A Problem

"Come back - Veranda is not the same without you guarding the entrance..."
-@GiselieMo- (via twitter)

"You know, when you think about it, all bands are local, somewhere..."
-102.1 The Edge/Dallas-

"Trying to phone a person who lives in San Marcos before noon is a complete waste of time.  Wake up friends..." -Stefanie Adams Pyle- (via facebook)

"So, as excited as I am about hearing of Dez Bryant's dominance this offseason in OTA's and 1-on-1's, it creates a cause of concern to me about Claiborne's inability to play him.  Is this a legitimate cause for concern or can I chalk it up to Bryant just being that good?" -James Needham- (via facebook - my friend's question is currently on the front page of dallascowboys.com)



Good morning everyone.  Let's start off with my fantasy baseball standings this morning, and then we'll get to the funny stuff (yeah, I know, NOTHING is more humorous than my fantasy baseball performance...)


League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place/125, 2nd place/25)

1)  DraftDodgers                                         75.00 (clinging to 1st place)
2)  Neshanic                                              72.00 (solid hold on 2nd)
3)  Pappys Boyz                                        59.00 (jumps back into 3rd)
8)  The View From Bikini Hill                       46.50 (was actually in 7th place yesterday)


League 2 (40 entry fee - 1st place/300, 2nd place/50)
                                     
1)  Breaking Bats                                        82.00 (commanding lead at the moment)
2)  4troublemakers                                      67.50 (has some distance from the logjam)
3)  Loons XXIV                                            60.50 (starting to make a move)
6)  The Bikini Hill Bobcats                            50.50 (there's some potential here)


League 3 (40 entry fee - 1st place/300, 2nd place/50)

1)  Nappy Heads                                          69.00 (leading a hotly contested league)
2)  Mad Men                                                65.00 (could win an Emmy and this contest)
2)  jonnylove7                                              65.00 (right in the dogfight)
3)  Pittsburg Crawfords                                 63.50 (same as above)
5)  The Bikini Hill Nine                                  58.00 (things are getting interesting)


We're still a few weeks from the MLB All-Star Break and the Bikini Hill brand is starting to look a little bit better.  Despite having EIGHT players on the DL, the blog's old namesake is hanging around in the cheap league.  In that second league, the Bobcats are starting to hit, which might keep me moving up in the standings.  In League 3, you really get a good idea of how competitive that race is going to be, looking at the top 5 teams today.  As the season draws closer to finishing, I will let you know who some of the key players are for each of our teams, so that you can keep up with the race for the money...


Okay, now for a slow lead-in which gets us to the title of today's entry, and then we'll give you a funny story to start your week off with.  My weight-loss efforts are going well, with about ten pounds being shed so far.  I'll give you my next specific update when I get it down to 225 pounds, which will hopefully be sometime in the first week of July (yes, sometime next week).  I reached my new high in situps last night (350), and I've decided that I'm going to try to bump each set up from 50 to 60 now, so that I can get them done in less time.  I think at the end of the month I'll give you a total that I completed for June.  Anyway, I wanted to get into some sort of shape (in addition to getting my sleep straight - which is almost there now) before getting too far into the job hunt.  As I've told a few of my friends, I don't want to go into job interviews looking like Humpty Dumpty, or a Weeble (Weeble's wobble, but they don't fall down - anyone old enough to remember that?)...

Anyway, with all that I just said above, I can also tell that I'm closer to getting my freshly inspired life back together by what I did last night.  Forever, and I mean FOREVER, I was using planners (those little calendar books) and making lists to keep my life in order.  When I was in college, and when I was teaching and coaching, this was ESSENTIAL because I was so busy.  I had not bought a planner yet for this year, and I decided that it was time to last night.  I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into Walmart and discovered that they were selling planners which spanned from July 2013 through the end of 2014 - WORKS... FOR... ME...  They were selling one type of Mead planner for just under $10.00 which looks to be the same size as an 8 1/2" x 11" notebook (plenty of room to write).  They were also selling big desk calendars (also a Mead product) that spanned from July 2013 through the end of 2014 (these are what I have basically been using to keep my life in order without a planner, but they aren't very "mobile")...  Something came up recently that made me wish that I had a 2014 calendar already, so there you go...  My free advertising for Mead gets us to this:  that last quote at the top of today's entry, about my friend who sent his question to the official website of the Dallas Cowboys..., well..., in the process of chatting with him yesterday, I told him that it was kind of early to be talking about football, because it would get me all amped up, with so long to wait.  I told James that I had seen Phil Steele's College Football Preview magazine in the store yesterday morning, but had not bought it (I had not even thought about it again until I read James' facebook status with the Cowboys question).  WELL, when I returned to Walmart last night, I NOT ONLY picked up a copy of Phil Steele'e magazine, but I ALSO bought the Athlon Sports Pro Football 2013 Preview issue...  Yes my friends, I do realize that today is only June 23rd, and I admit that I have a problem (that's the first step, right?)...  :)  I would highly recommend the Phil Steele magazine, the Athlon Sports magazine, and the Mead products (maybe I'll be a paid endorser someday)...  ;)  While we're talking football, let me hit you with a few interesting notes before we move on to my crazy friend Megan.  I had previously told you that the Texas Longhorns and the Texas State Bobcats do not share a common home date this season (they don't).  Looking at the UT schedule more closely last night, I realized that after a September 21st home game, the Longhorns will not play another game in Austin until November 2nd.  In that timespan, the Bobcats will host 4 games in 5 weeks in San Marcos.  Also, Texas A&M will play 8 of their 12 games at home this season.  What could hurt the Aggies playing Alabama this year is that the Crimson Tide will be coming off of a bye, while last season they were coming off of a close game with LSU (thanks Phil Steele!).  ;)  I hope that it's not too early to post about football, because you'll be seeing more and more of it from now through February (just for you Miletus)...  ;)

Megan, Megan, Megan...  My crazy, beautiful, interesting friend Megan...  :)  Exactly a week ago today, I was looking at my facebook page, when I saw that Megan had posted a photo.  The picture shows Megan laying on the beach in a bikini, with about 25 seagull spectators in the background, and at least 8 other seagulls hovering right over her, the lowest of which is about an arm's length above her.  There had been a couple of comments made regarding the photo when Megan responded to the first commenter:  "Look really close at my left boob...  There may or may not be a Dorito there for the seagulls to swoop down and grab.  :D"  First, let me stop here to say to my fellow bloggers that you KNOW that Rob's head just EXPLODED!  Second, you're welcome for the free advertising also Doritos...  :)  Of course when you examine the picture more closely, you can see that there IS, indeed, a Dorito resting on Megan's chest, and that the lowest seagull that I referred to before is already ZEROED IN ON IT.  The best part is that Megan has an expression on her face that totally resembles those shots that you see of people riding rollercoasters, just loving every minute of it...  :)  It wasn't until about a half-hour later when someone else commented on the photo that I realized that Megan had made this her COVER PHOTO...  At this point I told her how much I missed her (Megan has moved away from San Marcos), and she responded:  "And I'm being 100% serious about the chip.  It was crazy how they swoop down to get food."  Yes Megan, the SEAGULLS are crazy...  I love ya to death Megan...  :)

I hope that all of you have a great day and I'll see ya again tomorrow!  And Pete..., Lightning..., Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final is tonight, in case you were not aware...  ;)