Temples and Tombs

Last night, Kara and the entire second grade class at Bristow Run Elementary School held a performance of Temples and Tombs. Here is a picture of Kara taken after the show.

Indiana's New Coach

Indiana University has hired former Oklahoma University basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. Why is this news? Kelvin Sampson is a Pembroke, N.C. native and a Lumbee Indian. When one of us makes it big, we all share in the glory. It can be argued that Kelvin was already in the spotlight. He remains a very respected member of the NCAA coaching ranks beginning with his success at the University of Washington and clearly his work at Oklahoma has impressed someone. Kelvin stated that he wanted to coach at a school where basketball is #1. He's clearly not going to get that at OU, so when Indiana offered him the job, he got what he wanted. Indiana is one of the most visible coaching jobs in the country, so let's wish Kelvin the best of luck!

Kelvin Sampson Official Website

Happy Birthday to Dr. Clark

Yesterday, Charles celebrated his 39th birthday. I called him to remind him that this was his last birthday in the 30's, but he was well aware of that fact. He celebrated the big day with a nght out with his girlfriend? (Kristin), Mom, and Kristin's mother.

Second and Last Playoff Game

Austin's basketball suffered a season ending defeat this past Saturday. They were beaten by this team earlier in the season, and played them far tougher this time around. The whole idea is to have fun and her certainly did that. All that is left is the season ending party. The league decided to distribute shirts this year in lieu of a trophy. This may be a cost-saving measure, but rest assured that young Austin is quite upset by the new development.

First Playoff Game

Austin's basketball team had their first playoff game last night. In an earlier post I described their comeback game of the season. They drew the same team for the first playoff game. This time, however, there was no comeback and no drama as they easily won the game 28-20. The game wasn't as close as the score might indicate because they let up with two minutes to go, allowing a few easy scores. Their defense flustered their opponent and even drew comments from the peanut gallery. One of the opposing team moms made several derogatory comments about the inept offense during the game. This type of behavior used be typical of the boy's fathers, but I am seeing more and more women act like this. Austin and the rest of the boys did get a big kick out of listening to her yell at her team.

Offense is nice to watch, but defense wins playoff games.

All American

Kellie just returned tonight from her 2-day competition at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Kellie is on two squads this year and placed 1st with one squad and 2nd with the other. The big news of the weekend was that Kellie's coach nominated her to participate in the All American challenge. She wore a special orange ribbon on her shoes throughout the competition and was judged independently for this award. At the end of the 2-day competition she was awarded All American status and invited to participate in the 2007 NFL Pro Bowl halftime show in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is extremely excited about the offer and is showing the typical Clark modesty about the whole thing.

We are sending away for the trip details, and I'll report more on this subject as I know it. Her 1st place team was also invited to the "Final Destination" competition in Baltimore which will be televised by ESPN on May 6 & 7, 2006.

Basketball Playoffs Starting

Austin wrapped up this year's basketball season with a hard fought loss in their final game. Playoffs begin this week. His first playoff game will be Wednesday or Thursday.

Temples and Tombs

On Wednesday, March 29, Kara will perform in "Temples and Tombs", a school play about ancient Egypt. Kara has singing role in the production. She and I spent this afternoon preparing her costume for the big day. We took a trip to a craft store and got the supplies to make her Egyptian collar. She docarated it with gold paper and jewels and is quite proud of the effort.

Swim Team

Kara tried out for the Bridal Waves swim team on Saturday and was invited to join the winter team. She will practice every Saturday until the Summer league starts. This is a prepatory phase for the competitions this summer.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 36th birthday to Tracy! In lieu of the traditional birthday dinner, Tracy's girlfriends organized a "progressive dinner." Under this format, you travel from house to house, having part of your dinner at each location. We had four stops; drinks and appetizers, side items, main course, and desserts. At each stop Tracy was given a part of her composite gift; a charm bracelet with new charms at each stop. Each charm was particular to the person giving the gift to make it truly personal. Everyone had a great time, and it was the first time that we had done something like this. Even the kids were able to participate. It was definitely a unique experience.