Friday

Today is my favorite day of the year: the day before the NFL draft. This what all the hype is all about. Every team has wiped the slate clean and every team is angling toward improving and being a champion. I love it. In years past, I wouldn't sleep the night before the draft.

Tonight I'll sleep. But I'll wake up early. Run. Then I'll sit down with the seven or eight draft publications I've purchased (the best being Mel Kiper Jr's book) and watch all 16 hours unfold. Then on Sunday I'll do it all again. Cant' wait.


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Last night Kristie had a management meeting for her work. She got another raise. A $1,200 raise! That makes it $3,600 hundred in the past six months. I'm in the wrong profession. It took me four years to make that much teaching.

But she's worth every penny.

*****

This evening Kristie and I have dinner plans with one of my colleagues here and his wife. He is one teacher I really admire (well, maybe not his penchant for a dress shirt and tie with jeans and tennis shoes, but that's his style). In fact, I try to emulate his inquisitive mind and teaching style. I'm looking forward to it.


****

Koko cracks me up. Last night I had to drive her to a Girl Scout function at the elementary school. She was dying to tell me something that she had told her mom over the phone (and made me leave the room, "It's girl stuff," she said and forced me into the kitchen).

Finally, the couldn't take it anymore. "Okay," she said, "Kyle ranked the girls that he thought were the prettiest. I was number two." Now this is a big deal to her because Kyle is the same boy who once told her, "If you're better looking in high school, I might think about going out with you."

Now Koko is just eleven and isn't going to be going out with anyone any time soon. But she was honored by the compliment this time around.

Then she seemed to take some delight in the fact that Kyle listed her best friend-turned arch enemy, Rachel, as fourth on the list.

"Oh now don't be mean," I told her.

"Nope. I'm not inviting her to my birthday party since she isn't inviting me," she said. Never mind that her birthday party isn't until NEXT YEAR (and by then they might be best friends again).

"So, you're not inviting her out of spite," I said.

"Yep," she quickly replied. "Just like Jerry."

I had to think for a second. Jerry? Oh yeah, Jerry Seinfeld. I forgot. For the month we were without cable we watched the first seven seasons of Seinfeld. It was one of my favorite things to do with Mom and Dad when I came home from college. So now it's become a family tradition with us.

"If Jerry can return that suit coat for spite (referring to an episode where Jerry ends up buying a sport coat from a salesmen who doesn't think he can really afford it. Then he takes it back to return it. When asked why, he says out of spite. But they won't let him return it for that reason), I can not invite Rachel," she said.

I couldn't help but laugh.