Billy football

Well, when you're in the South, you live, breathe, and eat football. This weekend we went to our first Monticello High School (the Billies, as in goats) football game. The Billies are in the state football playoffs, and Hope needed to take her Cub Scout den to a game to help them with their badges. What better excuse to hang outside watching football? Stephen thought so...

We actually only watched the first quarter of the game--a cold front dropped in unexpectedly, and the kids weren't really dressed for how cool and breezy it got. Fortunately for us, Monticello easily defeated their opponent 42-13, and we got to see an action-filled quarter. High school football games are big social events in these southern towns--far more so that I remember them being in Rhinelander. Admission is relatively cheap, and there's plenty of excitement in the air.

The Monticello Billies are the team in blue. The Monticello High School stadium is larger than the one at UAM, and nicer in some ways, too--little kids can't sneak between the benches and fall to the ground at this stadium.

Today, I took the kids to see Madagascar II, that new animated movie, and tonight we're having the neighbor girl come over to babysit the kids while Hope and I go to the new James Bond movie. I've got a slight cold, which is more an annoyance than anything, and I'm hoping it breaks up real soon... Our research unit is hosting a major meeting in Hot Springs this next week, and I've got a bunch of responsibilities to make sure it goes off without a hitch. We've got over 250 people coming to Hot Springs, with 90+ speakers (including myself) and two field trips to manage, plus a lot of other logistics. I'll be back to Monticello by Thursday evening, so Hope will be the trooper and keep the kids running without me for most of the week.