from the cave: all i know is he's huge.

6'6" - 283. that's a big man. jason hatcher from grambling state with the cowboys 3rd round, 92nd overall pick. this is the only photo i could find.

i don't know much about him except he's a defensive end, and right now the cowboys have, oh, seven already on the roster.

apparently, that doesn't have anything to do with it. it's still the "best player on the board" mentality. i'm listening to jeff ireland (director of cowboys scouting) confirm that as we speak, or write, or whatever...

again, i'll link when the notes package is up. the top note will be on hatcher.

oh, unrelated, but there's beer in an ice chest that's been cooling all day.

allllll day on ice.

UPDATE: chad's notes package with info on hatcher.

poor, glendon.

it ended up 16-2. terrible, terrible, terrible.

from the cave: a tight end?

the cowboys traded down from no. 49 to no. 53 in the second round and picked notre dame's anthony fasano.

according to the boys on the ticket, it's probably because there's no one else they wanted so they took the best player on the board. regardless of the fact that the cowboys appear to have plenty of tight ends already on the roster.

also from them, he was a standout when watching the fighting irish this season, he's not a blocker and (from chad) he was one of three finalists for the mackey tight end award.

fasano is on the ticket now and said graduating was his first priority. smart tight ends. gotta love 'em.

that's all i got. i'll update with a link as soon as rob has the story posted.

UPDATE: here's the story.

in case you were wondering...

mavs tip off now.

the freakin' cubs are losing 14-2 to milwaukee. horrible.

from the cave: the first round is over.

and we (the cowboys) have bobby carpenter, an outside linebacker from ohio state.

he's a second generation parcells guy. his dad (rob) played in the NFL. his dad played for parcells in new york (giants) from '81 to '85. and his dad was his high school coach.

i've already heard interviews with him in a conference call we had up here (he's at home in ohio) at valley ranch. definitely a character guy. a lot of "yes, sirs."

check out dallascowboys.com for full coverage.

welcome to dallas, bobby.

a new sister-in-law and diamonds are a girl's best friend.

when my brother, sister and i were little, we used to have this fisher price tape player. it was brown and plastic. we jammed out to the cocktail soundtrack, multiple muppet and seasame street tapes and, more than anything, garth brooks' no fences album. that tape player was always on.

when scott was a kid he had this bowl haircut that i can still see as clear as crystal in my head. he had, still has, so much hair, and whenever he'd move his head the hair in the back would swing back and forth. we all knew every word to every song on that garth brooks album, but for some reason, i remember scott singing.

he'd sing at the top of his lungs and tip his chin up a little bit. obviously that helps you get the notes out. of course, his singing was lovely, even if it was several octaves above what garth was actually singing.

we looked at baseball cards and jumped off the ladder of the bunk beds onto this big, yellow, styrofoam fold-up couch that we named "the bumdy." we called it that 'cause that's what we'd say when we jumped up and down on it. "bumdy, bumdy, bumdy..."

kids.

so, why the childhood reminiscing, you ask?

because my little scotty, with his swinging bowl cut and his superb vocal skills, got engaged on monday.

that's right. my baby brother is about to be someone's husband.

he's about to have a wife.

and i couldn't have picked a better one if i'd picked her myself.

i already have one incredible sister-in-law, landon's sister, kylah.

and now, i have kelly. miss kelly mckinney. soon-to-be mrs. kelly piland.

man...

she's quite possibly the most beautiful girl i've ever seen, and even a nanosecond dedicated to thinking of how she'll look in a perfect white wedding gown the day she becomes my brother's wife is enough to send me into shoulder-shaking sobs.

she's funny and talented and always quick to give hugs and kisses for whatever reason you may need them.

she already makes my brother incredibly happy, so i know he's got it made for the rest of his life.

and so does she.

she has my little scotty.

she's had his heart since one day in mexico.

congratulations, scott and kelly. i love you so much!

p.s. the ring here is her engagement ring. hello! can anyone else say amazing?!

god, help him.

this is the most terrible idea i've ever heard.

my unsolicited opinion on newspaper blogs. and an example of their pros.

background: i've been having discussions lately about whether blogging is good for the newspaper. as in, should a newspaper have a blog where writers can post at whim? there are two sides. i see merit in both. one is that a blog allows beat writers to post interesting tidbits and breaking news that wouldn't necessarily make it into the paper. or, if it would appear in the paper eventually, the blog allows the announcement of the news asap. the other side is that writers get careless by posting personal opinions (or completely unrelated s***) and compromise their positions of fair, unbiased reporting. last but not least, it's a legitimate way to give away stories before they appear in your paper.

now...continue.

this is the kind of blog entry that adds to a newspaper. this is actually enriching. it helps you to humanize a writer, and it gives another story behind a big story. and i don't think anyone will berate brad townsend for being biased because he's proud of avery johnson - everyone in dallas is proud of avery johnson. i like this entry. and if we could keep the stupid references to puppets at a minimum, I'd be happy. just thought i'd share.

weekend update.

friday: not too much. worked late. came home and hung out with landon and doc for awhile. took a bath. went to bed. thrilling, i know.

saturday: woke up and stayed in bed with landon for about 45 minutes. we do that every saturday morning. just talking. it's really great. then we woke up and went to chubbie's for breakfast. eggs over medium, bacon, hashbrowns, toast - your basic heart attack on a plate. then we went home, and i laid in the sun for too long (horrible sunburn..) and landon went to the office. i went to church, and we went to pizza inn to watch some bulls-heat (good game) and hang out with teenagers.

sunday: woke up and drove landon to the church. went home. wrote a story. went back to church. stood with the champions kids in front of the 10:30 congregation while they prayed for the kids. attempted to talk to the 5th grade children's church class about moving up to 6th grade and coming to summer camp. outcome: undetermined. then we went home to eat pbj's (end of the month, you know) and baked cheetos (yum). took a nap. did an interview or two. then, things got good. aaron, jeanette, landon and i went to dave and amy's house to eat. wait, eat is an understatement. to slovenly stuff ourselves is a little more like it. dave's dad works on the fishing docks in alaska and occassionaly sends him fresh alaskan seafood. there was crab, halibut and salmon, all beautifully prepared by dave. we had bowtie pasta (my favorite) in pesto sauce and salads and yummy bread, too. the pictures you see here are of our after dinner antics. the cute little blond is dave and amy's baby, katelyn. she's so sweet. we brough doc and for awhile, he tried to steal katelyn's teddy bear. doc was beyond wound up for awhile - you see him here boxing with landon. he played with everyone there, including dave and amy's two lab-and-something-else-big mixes - max and molly. it was hysterical. after awhile he calmed down though. and we watched the first half of the mavs. killin the grizzlies. landon and i came home and watched the end. i was very sleepy. so we slept.

exciting, huh? livin the life, i'll tell ya. don't be jealous.

un nuevo corte de pelo.

¿te gusta? ¿o no?

more trouble than they're worth? apparently.

when i was a little girl, i used to want to be a cashier at a grocery store. i don't know why. there's just something about scanning all those groceries and the satisfying "beep" and bagging them... weird, i know.

anyway, i was super excited when the self-checkout machines came out, and i could scan my own groceries.

except when they don't work. which is nearly all the time.

you know that commercial where the unnecessarily loud automated voice gets suck and repeats "wart remover, wart remover, wart remover" over and over again?

or you know when you buy a toothbrush or a packet of taco seasoning and when you drop it in the bag, the machine can't tell? it starts screaming, "item not bagged, item not bagged" like you're trying to steal something. and you want to say, "it's in there! here! i'll show you! shut the hell up!" but you don't. because then you would look crazy. for yelling at a machine.

well here's the guy who officially lost it.

we've all felt your pain, buddy. we've all felt your pain.

this morning: same ol' doc.

you'd never know he had surgery yesterday.

or that he has stitches where his cajones used to be.

he's as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever.

except that his stupid plastic collar keeps getting in his way. he can't walk up the stairs on his own. or, horror of horrors, hide under the couch.

he doesn't fit in his kennel either so he stayed in the bathroom all day.

about to return home to assess the damage...

so glad he's alright.

last night: home from the hospital and totally stoned.

so here's the baby. he has no more man parts. the check out papers from the doctor actually said "canine castration procedure."

scary.

he was a bit wobbly and totally pathetic in his cone collar. all he did was chill in our laps last night. he half-heartedly chewed his bone for a few minutes, but not so much.

he has three kinds of medicine - pain, antibiotic and some ointment for the scrape on his head.

the vet shaved around the scrape and "flushed the wound." whatever that means. so it looked kinda bad last night. it still wasn't bothering him much.

he slept in the bathroom and didn't really make a sound. and didn't pee or poop in there all night. he did that when landon let him out this morning. five seconds my husband waited while he had to go pee before he took the dog out, and then it was too late. far too late...

i've been trying to tell him. he just won't listen. do not pass go, do not collect $200. TAKE THE DOG TO PEE!

kiss me, baby.

what a handsome man. i like the trees and the dark sky in the background. just got done playing basketball. love the sweaty stink of an athlete after a ball game. and the cheese of a ham in front of a camera.

and today...finally caught up. the day of the neuter.

here is the baby just before getting out of the car at the vet this morning. 7:30 a.m., lord, help me... he was scared before we even got out.

i just heard from the vet, and they're giving him a special ointment for his head. he also gets a cone collar and pain medicine.

he has to wear that silly-looking collar for 10 whole days while his stitches heal. i don't really know how that's gonna go. i haven't seen it yet, but i don't know how he's gonna fit in his box to sleep. or how he lays down comfortably.

poor babe.

i'm sure there will be pictures up here tomorrow of the damage. i mean, you know, how he looks in the collar.

gross. you don't think i'd post a picture of THAT on here. do you?

ugh.

monday, april 17 - the night before the neuter.

(here i continue my catch-up blogging. the fifth of several.)

to add insult to injury, doc is at the vet today being neutered.

here he is getting some super great playing time in the night before his manhood was stripped from him.

why was i so lucky to get the most adoreable dog on the planet?

(oh, and aren't those orchids so lovely? $4.99 at kroger!)

sunday, april 16 - easter part II, mom's house.

(here i continue my catch-up blogging. the fourth of several.)

easter continued to be lovely at mom's house.

we had ham, green beans, asparagus, corn pudding (so good...), homemade rolls, fruit salad with some fabulous topping and homemade angel food cake with lemon glaze icing for dessert. i made the cake.

we had the traditional easter basket hunt for the little cousins, and everyone got tons of (unneeded) candy.

out of the mouths of babes: landon asked lizzy (in the yellow) if she liked his new haircut. and did she notice that his hair was gone. she said, "it's not that different. you never had any!" or something to that effect. it was amusing. needless to say, landon was not all the impressed.

doc was definitely not feeling any complications related to his injuries. he played like a madman with dirk (travis' new black lab puppy) and molly (the gump's golden). daisy (mom's bassett hound) mostly stayed in the bedroom. she is far too dignified for mindless playing with puppies. in the picture here, doc continues to antagonize molly after she'd collapsed on the floor panting. she made feeble attempts to appease him by ocassionally pawing at him. he wore her out for real.

and isn't my sister so lovely with my pup? i think so. cute freckles.

and colored eggs were enjoyed by all.

sunday, april 16 - easter part I.

(here i continue my catch-up blogging. the third of several.)

easter was lovely.

i made both my boys easter baskets.

as soon as doc got into his bucket, he tenderly removed one beef jerky bone and disappeared under the couch for the next hour and a half. the blurry closeup is of him hibernating under there.

landon got lots of candy, hard-boiled eggs and a framed photo of doc.

doc got bones and a new collar.

his old one was fraying and too small. the new one is very handsome. cowboys blue and silver, of course.

saturday, april 15 - the day my motherhood abilities were proved eternally incompetent.

(here my catch-up blogging continues. the second of several.)

saturday started off just like every third saturday has since we got doc. i woke up at 9:30 in order to make it to the vet just 10 minutes late for the 10 o'clock appointment for the next round of shots.

now, i'd been feeling a pressing guilt at carrying doc in my lap in the car for some time. everything i've read says he needs to ride in the car in his kennel, not even in another seat, and definitely not in my lap. it's common sense. i mean, i don't even want to think of what would happen if i was in an accident and the airbag deployed with him in my lap.

well, despite my pressing guilt, doc rode in my lap on the way to the vet. he's 9.2 pounds now, and the vet visit went well. he has started to recognize the vet, however, and he shakes from the moment we arrive until the moment we leave. he's terrified.

so i'm on my way home, and as i pull into my apartment, landon is pulling out. he rolls down his window and asks if i want to take him somewhere so he doesn't have to take his dad's truck. i say sure. my window is still down, and i'm talking to my mom on the phone. i round the corner to the street in front of my apartment, and i'm probably going 10 or 15 mph at most.

and in the moment in took for me to take a breath to keep yacking to mom, doc slipped under my arm and out the car window WHILE I WAS DRIVING!

what ensued was the most traumatic time of my life to this point.

i froze for a second, i was still on the phone with mom. i could hear him making this terrible, tormented crying and see him in the rearview mirror, moving his head and stumbling backwards unnaturally.

i freaked out and threw the car into park in the middle of the road, crying hysterically. i started to run after him, and he was running sideways, still making that excrutiating noise. oh, and pooping.

then all of a sudden, he took off running normally and went to our apartment building steps. he ran up and sat in front of the door that's in the same place as ours, only on the second floor, not the third. i sat down on the top step and was trying to clear-headedly assess his condition. i started to calm down until he walked toward me. he had a HUGE gash on the top of his head. i lost it again. i thought he'd ripped his ear or something equally tragic. still on the phone with mom during all this.

in the meantime, landon has come up behind me. my car is parked in the middle of the street, and i'm running around the apartment complex after the dog. he said, "what happened?" and i started to tell him only to cry the most violently of all at the recollection of the horror of what'd just happened.

i hung up with mom.

landon walked over and picked up a very calm and collected doc. i was sobbing in his face and landon's, squeaking out, "i'm sorry, baby. i'm so sorry, baby. i'm sorry baby."

upon further investigation, it appeared he just scraped the skin and hair of his head and there is nothing to worry about. just minutes after the accident, he let me clean it and put medicine on it without so much as a peep.

it's hardening into a scab now, and the vet says his hair should grow back just fine.

i am still not over it. i question my caretaking abilities once every minute, at least.

my poor, precious baby doc holiday.

how can i ever make it up to you?

friday, april 14.

(here begins my catch-up blogging. the first of several.)

friday landon and i both had work off. we went to eat with travis, dad and cherie at rockfish in mckinney. always yum. then we (i) colored easter eggs. you can see here what doc and landon really did during easter egg coloring. aren't they lovely though? the eggs, i mean.

also, friday was our six month anniversary. half a year, people. and he doesn't want to kick me out. cool thing: i got some photos from becky mckinney of our wedding and reception that i hadn't seen until this weekend. they aren't coming off the cd correctly, but i'll post some, in honor of our six months, as soon as i get them working. they are great.

for the love of lauren.

i am working on a story right now for park cities people about a little girl named lauren newman.

lauren is in 5th grade at mccullough intermediate school here highland park. she has had leukemia since she was three years old. she's gone into remission twice and is now battling her third bout of the disease. she's been through chemotherapy twice, but her doctors say that will not work this time. her only hope is a bone marrow transplant. there are 6 million people on the bone marrow registry in the united states and none of them are a match for lauren. none of her family members are matches. lauren's doctor is pushing for an early june transplant so they are desperate to find a match.

the newman family is underwriting the cost of eight or nine bone marrow drives around the country to not only help lauren find a match, but also to add a few more thousand people to the registry so other people who need transplants have hope.

on sunday from noon to 5 p.m. there will be a marrow drive at hyer elementary at 3920 caruth blvd.

if you can, try to make it out. it's just a prick in your finger that is sent to the lab to test if you are a match for lauren. your name is then added to the registry, and you could help any number of people looking for donors from around the country. you can also make tax-deductible contributions to the lauren newman fund to help the family with the costs of the drives they are underwriting.

checks marked with the "lauren newman fund" can be sent to:

the marrow foundation
lauren newman fund
400 seventh street, nw, suite 206
washington, d.c. 20004

i am not even able to meet lauren for this story because she's so sick and in the hospital - she's not allowed to have visitors.

check out park cities people this thursday for more information about lauren and some of the great stuff her friends and other members of the community are doing to help out.

update: 4:07 p.m. tuesday
lacy, lauren's dad, said i can go meet her! i am going to try to go later this week so i can take her some copies of the story. but, one of her rules is "no sad faces talking about cancer" when people go to visit. what a great little girl...

i met him.

yes, i met him.

who, you ask?

yesterday afternoon, i met a future presidential speechwriter.

he called me inarticulate. figures.

but spending time with him was lovely. he humored me and my terrible story telling.

his story telling on the other hand, was wonderful. to be expected from a future speechwriter, i imagine.

he embarrassed me by (well, he embarrassed me several times, but we won't get into all that) telling me i should send him some of my clips.

"i want to see what you're proud of," he said.

very funny, mr. future speechwriter. you're an amazing writer. i'm already intimidated by you. then you called me inarticulate. and then ask for some of my writing? ha. i may be unable to form intelligent sentences in your presence, but i know damn well that you do not really want to read my writing.

even if i did send it to you, and you found the time to read it, you'd laugh.

and i don't think i can handle that humiliation and rejection.

but i was flattered nonetheless.

it was lovely to meet you, mr. future speechwriter.

even if i was just another face in the sea of faces looking at you.

i hope you made it home safely.

an early warning.

i have an extremely large number of things to blog about. and after i get my story written, things are gonna start showing up all over this baby today. so beware. and be ready. to read.

words.

sometimes i wake up in the night and words are just there and i have to write them. it's like the good ones can only creep up on me when i sleep. when i'm not trying so hard to find them. or trying so hard to lose them. they have to show up when i'm not looking. it's very underhanded and sneaky of them. not at all fair, if you ask me. but they don't ask. they never ask. jerks.

song of the day: "jolene."

cocaine flame in my bloodstream
sold my coat when i hit spokane
bought myself a hard pack of cigarettes in the early morning rain
lately my hands they don't feel like mine
my eyes been stung with dust, i'm blind
held you in my arms one time
lost you just the same
jolene
i ain't about to go straight
it's too late
i found myself face down in the ditch
booze on my hair
blood on my lips
a picture of you, holding a picture of me
in the pocket of my blue jeans
still don't know what love means
still don't know what love means
jolene
ah, la, la, la, la, la
jolene
been so long since i seen your face
or felt a part of this human race
i've been living out of this here suitcase for way too long
a man needs something he can hold onto
a nine pound hammer or a woman like you
either one of them things will do
jolene
i ain't about to go straight
it's too late
i found myself face down in the ditch
booze in my hair
blood on my lips
a picture of you, holding a picture of me
in the pocket of my blue jeans
still don't know what love means
still don't know what love means
jolene
la, la, la, la, la, la, la
jolene
la, la, la, la, la, la, la
jolene

re: dallascowboys.com, the greatest NFL website of all

it was recently announced that dallascowboys.com was selected to receive the award for "best content" out of 32 pro football team websites in 2005. that award recognizes all the articles, columns, videos, radio broadcasts and press conferences carried by the site last season as being the best of the best.

as you may know, i've been an "intern" with the cowboys since the summer before the 2004 season, and i love every (free) minute of it. mickey is my mentor and has taught me so much about being a journalist and about writing. i can ask him anything about anything - from sports, to newsrooms, to life. he knows i will write for him until the day he kicks me out.

in 'mick's shots' at the end of his column yesterday, mickey thanked us interns for our contributions to the site last year. here's what he said:

"In case you didn't hear, the 32 NFL club website directors gave DallasCowboys.com the "Best Content" award at this week's NFL Business Summit being held in Dallas. Nick and I would certainly like to thank our army of interns you guys have been reading, Chad, Erin, Sarah; also Brad for his columns during the season; and especially Rob. Without him, we could not have put up the volume of quality content we did during the season."

go here to read it for yourself. (scroll to the bottom to see, but read the column, too. it's greatness.)

i am proud to be mentioned and even prouder of my friend and teacher, mickey spagnola.

ok, so it's been three sunsets.

but is anyone surprised at my tardiness? no. didn't think so.
doc is now four months old. he is obsessed with tug-of-war with his giraffe named gerald. he knows how to sit and definitely knows what 'no' means, even if he doesn't obey all that often. he loves to hide under the couch, and i love to see him just walk into his box to rest even when he doesn't have to go in. he loves to pick up sticks, rocks and leaves when we go outside and is very content to just sit in the grass with me. last time we went to the doctor (2.5 weeks ago) he weighed 7.6 pounds. we go again on saturday, and i know he's gained more. he's also learned that flipping on his back gets him a wonderful belly rub. he's the cutest dog on the planet. we love him more everyday.

the bald picture i promised.

the general consensus is that he looks scary. i think it's hot.


i love my boys.

bald husband.

while i was out of town in austin, landon shaved his head.

bald.

he has tiny peach fuzz, but his hair is so white blond that you don't notice unless you touch it or there are rays of sunshine coming from behind him.

i will take pictures tonight and post them.

i think it's pretty sexy. he's gonna grow his beard out, and i'll have a hardcore husband.

i guess that's what i get for leaving him alone on a saturday night. like a toddler. or a puppy.

ha.

you know you love a man when hearing he's done something drastic to his hair doesn't even phase you. i wasn't nervous at all. he could have a mohawk (well, technically, he can't...he doesn't have enough hair. but just for the sake of argument), and i'd still think he was a hottie.

i heart landon. he's my favorite.

torn.

there were 500,000 people marching for rights of (illegal) immigrants in dallas yesterday.

i know this has been happening all over the country.

when i drove into austin on friday, there were a bunch of mexican-american ut kids with a huge sign painted and hanging over an overpass atop southbound I-35 advertising a student walk-out on monday. funny they were planning it for monday and not during the weekend. anything to get out of class.


on most of these social issues, i'm pretty in the middle.

i mean, i know our country would not function as it does now without hardworking mexican illegal immigrants doing jobs others don't want to do. i am all for working toward a better life. i know america is a melting pot, and i think that's a wonderful thing.

but they're illegal. they're not citizens. i mean, i have a problem fighting for the rights of people who broke the law to get here.

and i was talking to some people this weekend who brought up interesting points: bush's plan for these people was more than fair. it was rejected last week, but it offered them a very, very good deal. pay a fine (some nominal fee like $1,500, i think), and then go through the proper procedures to become a legal immigrant. and if you don't want to do that, he even had an optional work visa they could get. just something to get control of the number of people coming in and out. a record of sorts. anything.

but that's not good enough.

what exactly do they want? just to stay for free without any consequences or any required procedures?

i mean, think of the alternative... he could kick them all out. round them up gestapo-style, and throw them in jail.

things could be worse here, people.

i don't know. like i said. i'm torn. and only vaguely educated on the subject.

but it just seems like a lot of flack over something that the president is trying to compromise on.

maybe they should accept a good deal while they can get it.

but what do i know?

taking a slightly futuristic look at this issue: we are witnessing the stuff of history books here.

(pictures are borrowed from people present at yesterday's march in dallas.)