'Tis the Season

We hope everyone has a happy holiday season.

Lee Family Hunting Trip

I have been meaning to post this since we got back from our trip in mid November. Cindy has been pressuring me to post some sort of update and since I promised to help keep this as current as possible, here we go with my first blog posting.

We, the men of the Lee family, have been planning this trip for a year. We decided to go visit my father-in-laws brother, Uncle Alan in Alliance, Nebraska to do a little Pheasant Hunting. We had a lot of fun in the planning; Kenny and Matt both went out and purchased new shotguns, which apparantly can be submersed in water for an extended period of time and still function as the fastest non-fully automatic shot gun on the market. I was not able to convince them to perform feild test while in NE.

Since nothing larger than a crop duster flies into the Alliance Airport, we decided to drive; there were four of us, so we could drive in 4 hour shifts and all still get some sleep during the 14 hour trek. On the way up there, Ken, my father-in-law, wanted to drive the way his mom and dad go up there which is up through the pan handle of Texas and Oklahoma, then through easthern Colorado, and finially into Nebraska ( I think they have some phobia of Kansas. Since he can be a bit of a whinner, no offense dad, we all agreed to take the back roads and left Fort Worth about 6:30 Friday Nov. 7th. Of Coarse much to Kenny's dismay no Lee family trip is complete without a stop at the local Wal-Mart, so we accomplished this on the way out of town. Ken drove to Childress, TX, then I drove my four hour shift. During the final hour of my shift we finially left the Lone Star State and after a breif 45 min. or so made it into Eastern Colorado where I handed off the driving duties to Matt (who will be referred to as Todd from this point, it is a long story that we should save for a future post or just get him to explain on their blog) The cool thing about Eastern Colorado is no light pollution at night, after living in the metroplex for so long you forget exactly how many stars are out there... At some point in the next 4 hours we diverted from our route " Ken's parents route" which greatly stressed Dad when he woke up at dawn and discovered this. Back to my point, I wake up to Todd and Kenny laughing at these two road workers who were directing traffic(us) through a construction zone (no working equipment or any sign of construction only these two flagmen). They were dressed in these coveralls that looked alot like Hazmat Suits. They made us come to a stop before letting us move on, (I half expected the space me to abduct us at that point) but it was funny at 3:00 am. Todd's four hours were occupied by things like this, his GPS was playing games with the directions so it seemed like we traversed Colorado in a "Figure Eight" pattern. Kenny's 4 hours were alot less eventful. He was preoccupied with acheiving the Highest Average Speed on the GPS. Dad awoke at this point to discover our route mishap and spent the next 30 min trying to talk us into taking a right to get back to the way his 'Daddy goes". After we convinced him that either way we would get to Alliance he settled down. Ken finished up the drive by getting us safely to Alan's apartment.

We hunted Saturday afternoon and baged 5 Pheasant. We also discovered that walking in waist high grass is alot harder when your main source of daily excersize is trips to the coffee machine or water cooler. Let me introduce our hunting party.. . Left front to back: Todd, Alan; Right front to back: Me, Kenny, Ken.Sunday the 9th was my 33rd Birthday. To Celebrate we went hunting and had another good day. We hunt at a reserve called Creasant Lake in the sand hills of Nebraska. We were blessed to see an abundance of wildlife from White Tail deer; Antelope; Mule deer; and on my birthday a Porcupine. Unfortunatly, I was following behind Alan when we noticed the porcupine and did not notice he stopped to show Todd and I ended up rear ending him. Luckily no one was hurt besides the bumpers on our vehicles.

Crash Investigation Site

Cause of Crash (note: when I noticed said porcupine it was crossing the road)

Luckily the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We hunted until Wednesday and got up to drive home on Thursday Morning. One of the days Ken was riding with Alan we decided we could handle the whinning and chose to come home on the interstate which was more condusive to higher speeds. Overall we had a great trip and ended up taking 30 or so Pheasant. Todd was the only one of us to limit (3 birds) in a day. Below are some of the other pictures that we took.

These birds were on private land...

Hunting Party (Jessie Sticking her head out of the Kennel)

I hope everone ejoyed reading this. Needless to say we had a lot of fun, especially in the car you really get to know folks when you are stuck in a vehicle for 28 hours...

Tricking and treating

It's a good thing Halloween only comes once a year. The rehearsal itself was a daunting task for Sofia. For about two weeks before the big day, Sofia would practice being a lion. It wouldn't matter if we were at Albertson's, Wal-Mart, or church. Whenever the inspiration struck her, she would start growling and crawling on 'all fours'. When the big day finally came, she got bored after a few houses. I guess growling at people is a lot more fun than walking around begging for candy.

The boys were a different story all together. They didn't really care what their Halloween costume was, along as they got to paint their face and have a sword. One day during dinner, I thought Joey was going to have an aneurysm. Jake indicated that he wanted to be a cowboy, then he quickly added that he wanted to be the bad guy so he could were a mask and carry a gun. After a few seconds, he added the suggestion that the "bad cowboy" should wear a mask, carry a gun and sword, and wear a cape. After watching Joey's face turn red with every new idea Jake had concerning his ideal costume, I was not prepared for Joey's reaction. He looked at Jake and said, "Son, there are very few cowboys that wore a cape, had a gun and a sword, and wore a mask... but you could be Zorro." I was very impressed with Joey that day. I would have been more impressed if Jake was Zorro for Halloween. But instead, the boys ended up being these freakish clowns (that even scared me). Sofia wouldn't go near them when their face was painted. But, the good news is that Jake compromised on the gun, sword, and cape. He was happy with a hula hoop, bed sheet, and face paint.

Confessions of a disappointed teacher

Ghandi once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Recently there was a blood drive at our school. This quote from Ghandi was all over the school stamped on tee-shirts. I think it's ironic how the basic concept of change or self improvement is not encouraged by most students in high school. Most of the students I get to know are amazing, interesting, smart, and funny. They have unique personalities that have unseen potential; however, most of them settle for mediocricy. There are a few exceptions. Those students who do their best regardless of what is expected. It is those quiet students who will end up becoming successful because they got in the habit of working hard early. I understand that the education system in general needs improvement, but what bothers me most is the fact that most people aren't willing to motivate themselves. I get it... your parents don't motivate you, your teacher doesn't motivate you, your friends don't motivate you... but what excuse can you possibly have for not motivating yourself?! Why is it so much to expect a 16 year old to demonstrate responsibility by completing a task on time? They call me crazy or mean because I expect the task to be detailed and accurate. Well, I must not let those mediocre opinions influence my motivation for doing my best. I'm far from perfect, but I would be very disappointed in myself if I didn't try to reach my potiential as a teacher, mom, wife, daughter, sister, and student. To try my best is to expect the best from those around me. So, to all those students who consistently work hard, hang in there. Your success will come. Until then, know that you make a positive difference in my life.