Well, supposedly everything got settled from the other day, but I have this nagging feeling inside that we barely scratched the surface and didn't touch the root of the problem. But we shall see. People that are natural born complainers are always going to be complainers, so I might as well brace myself for more whining. There are some people, that no matter what you do to try and please them, they will always, always want just the opposite. Mark it down. Okay, enough of that.

I discovered today that the combination of coffee and peanut butter are very interesting, almost satisfying. No, I didn't put the peanut butter in my coffee. I was drinking my cup of coffee and eating a bagle with peanut butter on it.

Lately I've been a media giant! Well, not really, but I did get about 15 seconds on the 5 o'clock news Monday. Monday morning I had to take Michael to work (long story) and while I was in the area, decided to drive over to Tiger Bookstore to do some birthday shopping for him (his birthday is next weekend). Since I had to get out and about earlier than usual, I just threw some clothes on and a ball cap, ran Michael to work, and me and the kids went over to the bookstore. I was hoping I wouldn't see anyone I know, just trying to go "undercover", get in, get out. I wasn't even in there 10 minutes and some reporter from Fox 13 approaches me, starts asking me some questions about the Tigers, and the next thing you know, I am wired up with a mic and a news camera in front of me. Just great! I picked a really bad day to go out without my makeup on!! My arm was already about to fall off from lugging Jacob, and I tried to get out of the interview, but then I decided "What the heck?" The whole time, Travis was pulling at me, saying "I wanna go shoot the basketball!" (he had a small foam basketball in his hand and there was a little goal hanging up in the store.) They interviewed another person shopping in the store and also a store clerk, but they used more of my interview than anyone else's. I got it all on tape when it came on the news, and Jacob looked really cute...I looked AWFUL!!! A little while later I got to thinking "I wonder if anybody from church saw me?" and not even 30 minutes later, the phone rang, and it was one of my friends from church, laughing her head off. She said I looked "cute" in my Tiger Girls cap and that I seemed really calm. I was nervous as heck though, and I sounded like a total hick!! I sounded something like this..."We're really ex-CIIII-ted about bein' in tha top twenty-Fiiiiiive." At least they spelled my name right, though.

THEN (yes, there's more) yesterday on the message board I read/post on, memphistigers.org, someone started a thread talking about Memphis' band, The Mighty Sound of the South, being a lot smaller than usual, and they just didn't have the same sound as in years past. Something else said that it was a funding problem...scholarships had been reduced drastically ever since the Athletic Department decided not to fund the band scholarships anymore...the music department took it all over...kids didn't want to put in all that work for less scholarship money and dropped out of the band. Besides just being in the marching band, they are now required to take private lessons and be in an ensemble...for HALF the scholarship money. So THEN some idiot comes on there and says he could care less about a marching band...marching bands are boring...the money should be put to good use since the University's budget is so tight...he was proposing the University do away with the band. THAT sent off flames EVERYWHERE. I mean, this guy makes a pretty good donation to the University every year, went to school there, so lots of folks that know this guy were pretty shocked he felt that way. Marching bands are part of the tradition, and for him to flat out say that marching bands are a waste of scholarship dollars, that was way off base. Most of the thread turned into one big scrap between me and this guy, and the rest were other folks just saying who they agreed with. Most of them agreed with me. Well, Geoff Calkins, the sports writer for the Commercial Appeal, was lurking around on the message board, and he posted on there and said if anyone would like to talk to him, he wants to do a story on the band situation. So I called him, left a message, and surprisingly he called me back. I didn't really get to say ALL I wanted to say because I was in the middle of making dinner and screaming kids and Michael asking me to bring the steaks outside to throw them on the grill. So I talked to him for a few minutes over the phone, but then e-mailed him everything later on last night. My thing is, if the band has a funding problem, doing away with it won't do anything for the University. Instead they need some way of raising the funds to fill in the gaps...have a band booster club, something! I will admit, the MSOS is NOT anywhere near the best marching band out there, but to do away with it would be a big mistake. If our football program is moving on up, then everything else needs to, too. Can you imagine going to an Ole Miss game with no Pride of the South, or a State game with no Famous Maroon Band? HECK NO! So why even think about going to a Memphis game with no MSOS? It's ALL part of the football experience...it's tradition...it's like taking away the cheerleaders, or the dance team, or not allowing tailgating anymore. It wouldn't/shouldn't ever happen! I know to some people, the band is boring and the least important thing, it's their concession/potty break time when the band hits the field....but don't even suggest getting rid of it. If there's no more marching band, that's 200+ students that are going to choose another school that DOES have a marching band. So hopefully I will get quoted in the front page of the Sports section of the CA. Another 15 seconds of fame, maybe.

Unfortunately I have to get up off my rear now and fold laundry, make beds, and clean things. It sucks not to have a magic cleaning fairy.