The Kohlmans

Last Saturday was Justin's first football game - ever. We drove to Emporia and sat in the rain to watch the Chase County 5th and 6th grade team. Brad and I decided that, in the future, we'll be fair weather fans. :) But it was actually a lot more fun to watch then I thought it would be. We'll head back in a few weeks for another...

I keep meaning to take my camera to school, to take picture of my new room. But I keep forgetting. Someday... School is going well. I have some challenging students, but what teacher doesn't? For the most part, my kiddos are sweet and good. And I am adjusting. It's different, but it's still good. Brad always likes to remind me that, almost always, things are not necessarily better or worse than others, just different. In this case, it's true. I suppose - depending on the day. I keep thinking that I will soon be in the routine and no longer exhausted, but that's not happened yet. A clean house isn't really important, right? My last semester of grad school (!!!) started Wednesday. So far, I've done pretty much nothing. Finally today one professor posted all the assignments so I can start working. I'm a little nervous as to how it's all going to come together in time - assignments for two of my classes have to be done for me to complete some of th...

About three weeks ago we loaded up and headed to the cabin with Grandma, Grandpa, and mom.We spent a week hanging out, relaxing, reading, and doing nothing related to classes or work. It was amazing. Brad & I went to a NW Arkansas Naturals game on Monday night. This is Sinker, the creature from Beaver Lake. Yordano Ventura pitched in the Futures Game. strawberry rhubarb pie... yum! This hummingbird was a bully. He would sit on the branch until another bird would come to the feeder. Then he would chase it away and go back to sitting on the branch. Crystal Bridges Art Museum Grandma wanted a teddy bear pancake. I already feel like I need to do it again.

A few weeks ago, my Grandma Lu's siblings had a mini-reunion. We visited, had an auction of handmade goods (to fund a music scholarship in my great-grandparents' names at Bethel College), and, of course, ate. I would attempt to label all the pictures, but every time I think I have a handle on who all these people are, more people start showing up...  pens made from wood from the Zerger outhouse bidding wars

*Brad Post* While relaxing in Arkansas, I read Over Time , by Frank Deford. He was a sports journalist/writer for Sports Illustrated and many other papers/magazines. He also has a sports segment on NPR. It was a great read for me. As I read, I got to thinking about what happens to people over time.  The book, and my summer graduate courses reference that highly successful people (especially professional athletes) often suffer from low self esteem when their careers (or identifying talent/feature)  are over (lost). Over time we lose the ability to do what has defined us. When I remember Grandpa Markowitz, I think of his voice. That voice had given hundreds or thousands of hours of lectures as a professor. He lost his after a laryngectomy. Before he lost his voice, he would record hours of video (mostly of  his grandchildren). The videos were always narrated by his calm and smooth speech, meticulously describing the scen...