Ok, this might not be our Christmas card this year, but we had fun taking some pictures today. The temp was about 65 degrees today, not to bad for the last day of October. I had to mow the yard yesterday. I think that will be the last time until March. Well, I might mow again just to mulch up the leaves from my neighbor trees.

B and K received their grade cards. K earned to 2 O's (Outstanding). B earned 3- A's and 3-B's. She is still putting up a fight to do her homework, but she is getting it done. Plus, she is taking a Gifted and Talented online class. It is a 5th grade advance Social Studies class. She did not do well on her first assignment, but she will re-do it. Her teacher explained what kind of work is needed for the class. I think she will do well with the extra work. She gets time during school to do work and I help her as well at home.

See you Down by the Bayou

It has been a few days since my last blog. Not much has happened since last week.
Trick or treat was yesterday. We had Hannah Montana, baseball player and a firefighter. Everyone was at mom and dad's before hand to have lunch. We watched some of Browns games. They won. They are 4-3 and on a 2 game winning streak. The Cowboys had a bye. But lets talk about the Buckeyes. They passed their first real "test" with flying colors. They are #1 in the BCS poll and Boston College is 2nd. The Buckeyes host Wisconsin on Saturday at noon. IF they win their next 3 games, then it is off to the Big Easy for another shot at a National Championship. Of course Coach Tressel will have them focused on the Badgers.
It is playoff time in Ohio. The Mogadore Wildcats are #4 seed in Division 6, Region 21. They will host Columbiana on Saturday. They beat them last year for the Region Title, 21-14. It will be a tougher road this year to a state title. But I know Coach Adorni will have them focused on Columbiana and not anyone else this week.

Well, we wondered when fall like weather would hit and it hit today. Temps will be in the 50's all week. I am glad T and I did most of the fall packing up. We filled the barn with stuff we will not need til spring. T wants to clean out the garage. Hopefully we can do that soon.
Today in school we had yearbook order taking day. I think it went pretty well. Hopefully, we will sell a ton of books. The staff has a deadline Friday. We should have most of the fall sports done by then. The school pictures should be arriving soon. Once they arrive we can finish about 12 pages.
I did forget to mention the picnic we attended, minus T, on Sunday. Matt Slaw hosted a gathering of KKPsi/KSU people. It was a beautiful day and it was amazing to see my fraternity brothers with their children. It seemed like I was the only one with kids there for a long while. But now, there are little ones all over the place. Hopefully, we wont wait years to do this again. Here is the list of who made it to the party: Brain and Pam Dean, plus their daughter; Carrie and Herb Dean, plus their 3 girls; Carolyne Strand, John Paydo, Dave and Laurissa Roth, plus their daughter; Mark and Rose Bradbourne plus their daughter; Scott Smoot, and Bayou with his 3 children as well. I am sorry I dont remember all the children's name. We did not have name tags. But a big thank you to the Slaw family for hosting everyone.
Don't look for too much more on the blog this week. Life has slowed down a bit. At least until wrestling season starts on Nov. 12th. Maybe I will add a couple of picture blog for everyone's enjoyment this week.
Stay tuned,
Bayou

First things first, the sun came up today and I went to school. It was difficult to get out of bed, but life goes on. It will be a long winter remembering losing 3 straight to Boston. I doubt I will watch any of the WS, but I hope Colorado wins it all. There is hope in Cleveland. Read this from the Indians website:

BOSTON -- They were built to get here. And they were built to be here again.
The Indians don't anticipate that their Game 7 loss to the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series will linger as a momentary tease. Their expectation, rather, is to be right back here in a year, with the learning experiences of this 2007 defeat in tow.
"I hope guys realize how special this was," third baseman Casey Blake said. "The experience was so valuable."
So, too, is the rare roster stability the Indians are expected to enjoy this offseason.
This Tribe club is built around its young, core players -- and that core will remain intact in '08. A glance down Game 7's starting lineup reveals as much.
Designated hitter Travis Hafner and second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera are under contractual control through 2013; center fielder Grady Sizemore, first baseman Ryan Garko and right fielder Franklin Gutierrez through '12; shortstop Jhonny Peralta through '11; catcher Victor Martinez through '10; and Blake through next season.
The only potential free agents from the crop of regular starting position players are aging corner outfielders Kenny Lofton and Trot Nixon.
Game 7 starter Jake Westbrook was signed to a three-year extension through '10 earlier this year. Dual aces C.C. Sabathia (signed through '08) and Fausto Carmona (under control through '13) are also on board for next season.
In the bullpen, setup men Rafael Betancourt (under control through '09), Rafael Perez (under control through '12) and Jensen Lewis (under control through '13) are all coming back.
"It's exciting to know that I'm going to be a part of that and part of a lot of guys who have signed long-term deals and the core group of guys who are going to learn from this and do better," Westbrook said. "We'll continue to build off what we've learned the last few years and get better."
What remains to be seen is how the Indians will handle the club options they hold on fourth starter Paul Byrd, closer Joe Borowski and left-handed reliever Aaron Fultz.
Fultz could be deemed disposable, now that Perez has emerged. Borowski, who would make $4 million next season if his option is exercised, is almost certain to come back, having notched an AL-leading 45 saves this season and two in the postseason.
Byrd is the most intriguing case. He seemed like a lock for '08 and the $8 million he'd make after a 15-win '07. But Sunday's revelation about his use of human growth hormone has the potential to affect his standing with the organization.
"I haven't had time to process how this affects anything," general manager Mark Shapiro said when addressing Byrd's situation before Game 7. "I don't feel like we have the full landscape of what's going on."
What the Indians do have is a better feel for their '08 composition than most clubs at this time of year.
"We'll probably have less turnover than any [playoff] team," Shapiro said earlier this month. "I know it will be less than anyone in our division."
That information wasn't going to take the sting away from the Game 7 defeat. But when the clouds clear on their collapse in the ALCS, the Indians might wake to find they have a team built to last.
"We were running a bunch of kids out there at times this year, and we accomplished a lot," Garko said. "This team has a bright future. Our core guys are real young, and we had a lot of first-time contributors -- myself included."
The Indians will have to make some tough decisions on a number of players.
Does Cabrera's emergence bump 24-year-old second baseman Josh Barfield down to Triple-A Buffalo? Can Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers reclaim the spots they once held in the rotation, or will one of them be dangled as trade bait? Has Aaron Laffey earned the right to maintain his starting spot?
And what of Andy Marte, the key acquisition in the 2006 Coco Crisp trade? He was expected to be the everyday third baseman by now. Instead, he's out of Minor League options and must either be exposed to waivers or kept on board by the end of Spring Training next year.
These are all questions that Shapiro and his front-office staff must begin to ponder, now that the playoff run is complete.

There were a couple of high points to this past weekend. Mogadore won big. Ohio State beat Michigan St and Dallas won. It was another beautiful weekend. It seems like I have said that more and more lately. But it will change this week. Rain and 50's for the next couple of days.
I did play golf tonight. Shot a 44 for the last round of the season. Or I think it is the last round of the season.
I did forget to write some bad news from last week. Sadie passed away last Tuesday. She was 12. We all were saddened by this news. I will miss her coming up to me and pushing her nose under my hand until I petted her. I am surprised I dont have a picture of her to post. But mom has plenty of pictures to remember her by. There will be a service next week for her.

Til next week,

Bayou

PICTURE TIME

Me and K went to an Akron Aeros Championship Series games against Trenton. The Aeros won the game we went to, but lost the series.
The Wetter's bonfire. Keith said it was smaller than years past.

J played with all the cats at the Wetters.

View from our seats last night. The tribe is up 3 games to 1.

The fans went all out in their dress for game 4.

I will write more later.

--Bayou

Reader's Digest version of my blog.

The ugly: Kent State not even showing up against Ohio State.

The bad: Dallas's defense against New England......I hate Bill Bellacheat. He is a classless jacka$$. I hope the 'Boys remember this beating when we play then in Super Bowl XLII and get some sweet revenge.

The good: The TRIBE!!!!!!They are up 2 games to 1. They won tonight 4-2.

The bonfire at the Wetters was ok. The kids wanted to go home pretty early. The food was good and the fellowship was good as well. We went to Atwood after the party. We did some cleaning before heading home. The weather was more like fall.

I golfed again tonight. I was "on". I shot a 39, but I was even through 6 and then shot 4 over on the last 3 holes. We will try to golf another week next Monday.

Bayou Out.

Fall arrived this week. We even received some rain this week. The leaves are starting to change color and fall. It was a bit chilly standing on the sidelines last night at the Mogadore-Windham game. Which the Cats won 45-8 for their 7th staight victory.
The yearbooks re-arrived yesterday. The staff passed some of them out after school. I am sure the students will pick them up first thing Monday morning. They look pretty good. This year's staff have big shoes to fill. They need to produce a good book to top this book.
The Indians did not look good last night. They need to take it to Shilling early tonight. They need to split in Boston. We will see Byrd on Tuesday night against Wakefield.
Kent State plays Ohio State today at noon. Then Sunday, the Cowboys play the Patriots. It could be a Super Bowl pre-view. Tony and the boys need to play better than they did in Buffalo.

Bayou out---to enjoy sports and a bonfire tonight.

Somehow I made it through today at school. 6am came a little to early today. My allergies kicked in today and I was sneezing and blowing my nose most of the day.

Back to last weekend, we made it down to the camper by 6pm. The Indians' game 2 was still on. We walked to the Festival and looked around. I would stop every so often to check the score. We watched the extra innings at Whitt's camper. The place went nutz when Hafner singled home the winning run.
Saturday was laid back. T took B to a Girl Scout thing, so it was just the boys for the afternoon. While they were gone, I helped Tim W prepare his world famous trashcan turkey. It was ready by 5:30pm. My mom made it to Atwood again this weekend and she brought some goodies for the picnic. By the time the picnic was over, the Buckeyes game was starting. They went on to beat Purdue.
Sunday was sad. We packed up our stuff for the winter. It looks like we are done camping for the season. Again, the weather was more like July, than October. We even got into the lake to wade around for a little bit. There were plenty of people at boater's beach and tubing. The water was not that cold.
I cant believe I forgot my camera at home for this weekend. Our aim and shoot camera is at Canon getting fixed. I hope we get it back soon. I felt kind of lost without a camera. I normally have one or the other with me at all times. I could have taken pictures with my cell phone, but those pictures are good for here, not printing them out.

The Bayou Steelers are 3-2. Last year at this time we were 1-4 and still went on to win the MNFFL Super Bowl VIII. This year Tony Romo is leading the Steelers and he racked up some points last night by throwing 2 tds and going over 300 yards passing. Rudi Johnson and Steven Jackson have been hurt this year and if they get healthy, then watch out for the Steelers to repeat!

Go Bayou!

Where do I start?

Well, lets go in order of finish. Congratulations to the Cleveland Indians! They beat the NY Yankees 3games to 1 and advance to the ALCS against Boston. They won 6-4 but is was not an easy win. It seemed like NY could score in most innings, but Byrd pitched out of it and the bullpen was great.

Then about 20 minutes later, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills 25-24 on a last second field goal by Nick Folke (also of the Bayou Steelers). Romo played like a JV QB. He threw 5 int, 2 of which where returned for a TDs, and lost a fumble. They scored with 20 seconds left, but missed the 2 pt conversion. They recovered the onside kick and were able to get close enough for a game winning field goal, twice. Bills coach Dick Jauron called a TO just before the snap of the first kick. But, it did not matter...The Cowboys will play New England next week, with both teams 5-0.

I will have to write more about this awesome weather. It was a record 88 degrees today!

--Bayou is out. I might have to call in tired tomorrow.

The beautiful weather continued today. It was in the 80's again. It will be a beautiful weekend at Atwood for Fall Festival. K had another game tonight. Again, they lost on the last play. It is fun watching him play and learn the sport of football.
Perry beat McKinley in football tonight. The game was on FSN.
Game 1 of the ALCS is going to the top of the ninth and Cleveland is leading 12-3 over New York. My "buddy" Jensen Lewis pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th. This will be a big step for the tribe. With a win, they know they can hang with the big market, big payroll team. Funny thing about watching the game and talking to my mom, she was about 4 seconds ahead of me. Massillon Cable was ahead of Time Warner. She knew what was going on before I did.
The Mogadore golf team won the district title today with a 328. That was 10 strokes higher than they thought they needed to shot to win. They are going to the state tournament for the second straight year.
Today was the first day for students to purchase a lunch in the new "Wildcat Cafe" I will purchase my first meal there sometime next week. Tomorrow is the Jostens workshop, so I will be eating out for lunch tomorrow.

Game 1
Cleveland 12
New York 3
Final

Bayou out!

We had a beautiful weekend at Atwood. We ended up with about 30 people for T's birthday party/trick or treat. Almost all campers have some kind of decorations up for the Fall Festival this weekend. It looks like another beautiful weekend coming up.
Yesterday was supposed to be a big day at Mogadore. The yearbooks arrived. Terry Byers was in my room for an observation when Kathy gave me the news. When I looked at them 8th period, I noticed the printing mistake. They printed 112 pages of the MHS yearbook and 8 pages from a school in PA. I talked to both Holly at Jostens and Terry Leek, my rep. It looks like it was human error. The books are heading back to State College to be reprinted. The kids are upset that they need to wait even longer now. How can I take orders for next years book, when this year's book is going to be arriving in late October?
I got tickets today for the ALCS! Now, the Indians must make it to the ALCS. I hit the lottery for tickets. The Indians are holding a lottery for all playoff tickets. I still can win the lottery to buy World Series tickets. It would great to go see the Tribe in the series. I missed out on seeing them back in 95 and 97. I was working for the Tribe in 2001, the last time they were in the playoffs. It also would be great to repay Jared for taking me to the series last year.

How 'bout them Cowboys!!!!4-0


--Bayou Out