Quotes of the Week (v2)

“Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.”
- Bobby Knight

“The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions.”
- Mike Krzyzewski

“I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust em.”
- Jim Valvano

“If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.”
- Isiah Thomas

“Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball.”
- Phil Jackson

“We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors.”
- Weldon Drew

“My priorities are family, Lord, profession - And that's not the order it should be, but I think No. 2 understands.”
- John Wooden

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”
- Tim Duncan

“Fans never fall asleep at our games. They're afraid they might get hit by a pass.”
- George Raveling

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
- Hebrews 11:1

“It’s not what you tell them that’s important. It’s what they hear.”
- Red Auerbach

“God had a plan for me and I'm just fulfilling that plan, ... Just like HIV. I was the one that was supposed to go through that challenge and go through that period because that brought light to HIV and AIDS. They needed somebody and it was me, and I feel really good about what I have accomplished.”
- Magic Johnson

“First master the fundamentals.”
- Larry Bird

“The only mystery in life is why the kamikaze pilots wore helmets.”
- Al McGuire

“The strong take from the weak and the smart take from the strong.”
- Pete Carril

“Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.”
- John Wooden

What a morning!

My alarm was set to go off at 7:15 this morning. Amazingly, I only hit "snooze" twice before finally getting up. Due to a short commute (down one flight of stairs and through the playroom), I don't have to get up early.

This morning was particularly beautiful. The mountains around us were shrouded in gray mist with a whiteish cloud nestled down in the valley below us. I sat in the living room looking out at the view and listened to the quiet of the house. I was the only person up. It was 7:45. If our kids were in public school, they would have already been at school for 30 minutes. Given the fact that it's a 25 minute drive to the "local" elementary school, we would have had to leave at 6:45, which means we would have ALL been out of be before 6:00.

Instead, I was sipping coffee quietly at 7:45.

Now, school is going on upstairs with well-rested students and a well-rested teacher.

Life is good! Homeschooling isn't always easy, but days like today sure remind us that it's worth it.

Quotes of the Week

My father-in-law sends out an email blast weekly with quotes. Some great, some good, some so-so. I thought I would start sharing them here.


“Absence of proof is not proof of absence.”
- Michael Crichton

“Two monologues do not make a dialogue.”
- Jeff Daly

“Love thy neighbor as yourself, but choose your neighborhood.”
- Louise Beal

“The key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities.”
- Stephen R. Covey

“Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”
- M. Scott Peck

“A wise man never knows all, only fools know everything.”
- African Proverb

“The real guarantee of freedom is an equilibrium of social forces in conflict, not the triumph of any one force.”
- Max Eastman

“Vietnam was the first war ever fought without any censorship. Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.”
- General William Westmoreland

“Do what's right. Do it right. Do it right now.”
- Barry Forbes

“It doesn't matter what temperature the room is; it's always room-temperature.”
- Groucho Marx

“Teamwork is neither 'good' nor 'desirable'. It is a fact. Wherever people work together or play together they do so as a team. Which team to use for what purpose is a crucial, difficult and risky decision that is even harder to unmake. Managements have yet to learn how to make it.”
- Peter F. Drucker


“A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.”
- Mark Twain

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

“If your plan is for a year, plant rice.
If your plan is for a decade, plant trees.
If your plan is for a lifetime, educate children.”
- Confucius

“Possession of the ball is the key to winning in football, basketball, and the game of life.”
- J. Laing Burns

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
- Marianne Williamson

Life Happens, Part 2

Or, more aptly titled "Life's been happening for the last week and here's at least part of what that entailed!".

DW's car: back from the dealer with new brakes and some new cooling system seals buried deep within the engine (and therefore very expensive to replace). However, the AC is still not cold, so it goes back this week for a boost of freon.

My car is "outa here". Last Sunday, while DW's mom kidsat, we went car shopping in town. We'd been researching online and had narrowed down our requirements. Mid-size SUV, decent gas-mileage, all-wheel drive, three rows, low miles, preferably with leather seats. We're not picky. Plus, DW's van has On-Star and she's a big believer in it, so she preferred that we get a GM that was so equipped. Our choices might have been a little limited.

Fortunately, I drive a lot of different cars when I travel on business. While that has mostly exposed me to a lot of cars that I really don't want to own, I have had several pleasant experiences with the Buick Rendezvous.

Back to last Sunday. We headed to the closest Carmax. Great place to test-drive lots of makes and models of cars, plus they buy your car whether you buy their's or not. While the were checking my car out, we looked over the lot and drove a few options. No Rendezvous' on the lot, but we tested some other 3-row SUV's; no takers. After getting their quote for buying my old car (old Lexus' really do hold value!), we headed to the new Buick dealership down the street. They didn't have anything in the used lot, but we test drove a new Rendezvous and really liked it. Not too station-wagony, not too truck-like.

Back home we started checking out EBay and other auto auction sites. We found a 2006 with just over 2k miles on it; totally decked out with options (even a DVD player). It was in Cleveland (OH), but I figured I could always fly up there and drive it home. Let's sleep on it and make an offer tomorrow morning. Guess what was already sold the next morning. Back to the computer. Look around. There are amazingly few 3-row Rendezvous' on the market; even fewer with less than 50k miles (my top threshold).

Then, I found one only 75 miles away! Almost everything we wanted. No AWD, but we'll survive. We made an offer, they countered, and by Mon night we had a deal. Yeah!!! We headed back to Carmax on Tuesday to sell the Lexus. What a seamless process. If you ever need to sell a car, check out Carmax. Then, we picked up the new one on Wednesday. I'm so pleased. Great car, great price. Mostly, great that the whole process is done! Even if we do own an Oldsmobile and a Buick. What happened to the Porsche I was supposed to have about now?

Tomorrow, maybe we can get back to "normal".

Oh yeah, my parents and my two aunts (visiting from Illinois) are coming to dinner. Never mind.

But, I did get to play golf this afternoon. I love where we live!!! And I love our lives, even when they don't go according to our plan.