Quicktakes...Issue 2

Military Intelligence???
On the news this morning, I hear that we've bombed the hell out of a couple of huts in Pakistan because the head terrorist was going to be there for a holiday meal. Turns out he most likely wasn't there. Why? Because our military had recon planes circling the place for a few days prior to the attack. Now I'm not the brightest person on the planet for sure, but how many brain cells does it take to figure out that if you fly over the place scouting it out that maybe, just maybe, someone is going to alert your target that he shouldn't come? I am proud of our troops for doing their job. I have family members who have fought over there. But somewhere up the chain of command someone needs to sneeze and come across a clue once in a while.

Offically Mistaken
Way back in November, I had to watch as my beloved Oklahoma Sooners got supremely jobbed in Lubbock Texas. It wasn't at the hands of Texas Tech but at a herd of zebras hell bent on handing the Red Raiders a victory and thus assuring their safe passage out of town. I have historically been fairly critical of officials. They have so much technology at their disposal now it seems to me that it should be rare thing for a call to end up wrong. Imagine my displeasure as I watched the college bowl season which say poorly called games too numerous to mention and then on into the NFL playoffs which have been so badly messed up that even the site commentators AND the studio hosts have felt the need to comment on it...something usually regarded as taboo. Are the officials all getting too old? Is there some kind of under the table code where we don't want to overturn the field officials too often, making them look bad? I don't know the answer, but in a day and age where we have an abundance of cameras available and the technology of instant replay I don't see why 99% of the calls can't be the correct ones.

How Much Is Too Much?
I don't know how much play this has gotten outside of Oklahoma...last week an Oklahoma State alumnus, Boone Pickens, gave a financial gift to the OSU Athletic Department that totaled $165 million dollars. It's the largest single gift to a university in history. This isn't the first gift he's given and he's said it won't be the last. I think the quote I read was "This is only the beginning". Pickens is in the oil business, and has had a very good couple of years. He can afford it. My question is...when is it too much? How much has he given to his alma mater's cultural facilities or to acedemic endeavors? Did those contributions even compare? I will grant you that OSU athletics needs help. They have a wonderful basketball arena but are otherwise well behind the other Big 12 teams in almost every sport. They need help. But it bothers me that this man is trying to do it all on his own. I would have preferred to see him give more money to causes that will further humanity. Help cure a disease, help kids who otherwise would be unable to get teh enjoyment of learning to play a musical instrument. Pickens isn't a bad guy at all and I admire him for wanting to help his school. I just hope he pays as much attention to those other areas of need as he does to sports.

Hallmark Holidays
We are still a month out, but the biggest Hallmark Holiday of them all will quickly be upon us. No matter the origin, Valentine's Day has been comercialized to death. Here, go get a bunch of cards to tell the people you love how you feel when you should have been doing that all year long. Hey, go buy some roses for your lady...sure you'll spend about 4 times the usual amount on them, but you are supposed to do so! Get a reservation to an overcrowded restaurant to eat mediocre food and pay half a week's wages for it. Suzanne and I agreed a long time ago that we wouldn't do these things. When I buy her roses, it's on a Tuesday in August or a Monday in May...out of the blue and when she least expects it. I tell her I love her every day. I don't need a card to do it for me. Don't get me wrong, we always make sure and hug and kiss a little bit longer on February 14th. We may order chinese delivery or go eat somewhere casual with our kids that night, but we just don't get caught up in it. I challenge you to do something for your loved ones now. Do things for them later. Make a point to call them more often and tell them how you feel about them. Valentine's Day is a good time to do any of those things...just make sure it isn't the only time.

Disregard

I hit the publish button by mistake...move along, nothing to see here!

Chronicles Of A (Near)Teenage Diva...Part 1

For those of you who didn't know, I have two kids. My son is 11 and my daughter...The Diva...is 9 going on 22. They are a constant source of entertainment in my life and I find myself consistently having the broadest range of emotions imaginable concerning them. Now, a son is an entirely different creature than a daughter. His room smells, he makes the full array of nasty noises, and he's very logical and down-to-earth in his approach to things. But I didn't come here today to speak about him. What follows is the first in what will likely be a long series of posts chronicling one little girls evolution from childhood to being a teenage diva.

I think the thing I have the most trouble adapting to is her wanting to look and act like a grown-up already. I mean, when I was 9 I don't remember the girls seeming so mature. Hell, I don't remember thinking about girls until 12 or so! I think it's natural for every one of us Dad's out there to want our little girls to remain little girls indefinitely. It's tough knowing that the days of her sitting on my lap and giving me a big hug are numbered. The inevitibility of me not being the first man in her life chills me to the core.

Exhibit A. We got the kids a cell phone for Christmas...something they could take with them on sleepovers or when they have activities. It's turned into Rachel's social line. It would be easier for me to count the minutes in the day that she isn't talking on it than it would to count the time she is. Whether she's playing a game, watching TV, whatever...you can bet she has the headset plugged in and is talking to a friend on it. My little girl now spends more time on the phone than she does talking to her family. Ugh...

Exhibit B. She finally talked her mother into curling her hair. I sat and watched as they worked the curling stuff into her hair, rolled it into curlers, installed a shower cap over it, and sent her to bed. Yes, my daughter...my little girl...slept in curlers! As we were getting ready for church yesterday, they took the curlers out and brushed her hair out. Lord help me, she comes walking out of the bathroom easily looking 5 years older than she did the day before. Don't get me wrong, it looked really good! It's just that she's not supposed to look 14 yet. Ugh again...

Exhibit C. Dressing up. When she was 5, to dress up meant taking some of her Mother's old ballet outfits, putting them on, and dancing about the house. Now it means something entirely different. I was first made aware of this phenomenon the last time I went to buy her clothes. The things I was picking out just weren't cutting it. She has become very fashion conscious and completely passed her old man by. Jeans with designs on them, colorful belts, pretty shirts, soemthing other than tennis shoes, and...(*gasp*) TRAINING BRAS. What happened to my little tomboy??? Her hair has to be done, she has to be looking good to leave the house. I feel that heartburn coming back now...and I KNOW I have less hair than I did when I started writing this post.

My little girl is starting to turn into a young lady and it just doesn't sit well with me. I know it's going to happen no matter how much I want it not to, and I will love her unconditionally throughout. I know we've raised our kids right. They have the right values, they have great heads on their shoulders. But with each passing day, I yearn to have my little girl hang around just a little bit longer.