Clean House

I just have to say... after spending all morning cleaning my house, it feels SO GOOD to have a clean house!! Now if it would only stay like this forever!! I dusted, vacuumed, moped, and scrubbed. My next project is to clean out my closets... but that will have to wait for another weekend.

Tonight I am off to a Hurricanes game. I will be tailgating with friends before the game so I am looking forward to a fun night of hockey.

Tribute to Kay Yow

The Hurricanes paid tribute to Kay Yow at the hockey game tonight. It was such a nice tribute and it brought tears to my eyes. I was so surprised to see that all of the players - on both teams -, the coaches, and refs all watched the video on the jumbo-tron. Towards the end the NC State wolf howled. Everyone was on their feet and clapping. All of the players were either banging their sticks on the ice or boards, the refs, were all clapping, and even a few players took their helmets off during the tribute. This was the first time ever that I saw any of the players watch what was on the jumbo-tron. It was very fitting.

To view the tribute, please go here. Here video is the first one in the right hand column.

Bill Clinton

Today I had the opportunity to hear former President Bill Clinton give a lecture at NC State. Although I am not a democrat, I was curious to hear what he had to say especially since he was to speak about what lies ahead for the country with the new presidency. Tickets for the event were hard to come by but I managed to get a ticket for myself as well as my friend Tamara. After waiting outside in the cold for close to 45 minutes were allowed to enter the venue. We then sat there and waiting another hour and forty-five minutes for Clinton to take the stage. I won't go into any of the political issues but I will say this... that was one of the most somber and depressing lectures I think I have ever heard in my life. In a nutshell, Clinton said that: we would all go hungry, the melting of the ice caps would wipe the east coast off the face of the map, and jobs will become fewer and harder to come by. Way to inspire us and to give us hope.

Kay Yow

Kay Yow, the women's basketball coach at NC State, passed away early this morning. Coach Yow had been battling breast cancer since 1987. She fought a long, courageous battle against cancer. Not only was she a dedicated and wonderful coach, she was also a caring and compassionate woman. Her passing will be greatly felt within the NC State community and the country.

In her 37 years as a head coach at the college level, she has led her teams to a combined record of 729-337 and is one of only six Division I head women's basketball mentors to achieve 700 career victories. Yow has guided her squads to 20 of the 27 NCAA Tournaments, 11 trips to the Sweet 16, and a trip to the Elite Eight and Final Four in 1998. She has also collected five Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championships, four ACC Tournament titles, amassed 21, 20-win seasons and a staggering 29 winning seasons. Her career victory total is the fourth most among active coaches in NCAA Division I and in 2003-04, won her 650th game to become the first ACC women’s basketball coach to eclipse that special milestone. Coach Yow also led the 1984 Olympic team to gold.

Coach Yow was a wonderful woman and she will greatly be missed.

Mistress and the Snow!

Mistress went outside today on the back deck and enjoyed the snow.. for a few mins at least. I think she wouldn't have minded it if it had been so cold. After being in the snow for a few minutes she tried to pick up all four paws at once. She then made a bee line for the house!

Snow Day in Raleigh!!

Today was a snow day in Raleigh!! I awoke to about 5" of snow on the ground, much to my surprise. Last night they were forecasting for snow but I just figured the weathermen were trying to make a big deal out of nothing. Turns out they were right about this forecast. When I went to bed last night around 12:30 it was still raining. At that point I figured it would stay rain and not switch over to snow. But such as not the case. Now growing up in CT, 5" of snow is no big deal. But down here it is a HUGE deal!! Businesses and schools were all closed today and motorists were asked to stay off the road. The mere 5" of snow managed to cripple Raleigh!! NC State even canceled classes. So I stayed home today and worked on my paper in the comfort of my house. It was nice seeing everything covered in white. But I am now ready for the snow to be gone and the warm weather to arrive. After all, that is part of the reason why I moved to NC!!

Hurricane Downgrade

Oh.. my poor Hurricanes! Just when I thought they were doing well (they were on a 4-game winning streak!) they have to go and prove me wrong! The Canes have now lost their last four games. And it's not that they lost, but they really LOST! They've suffered humiliating losses that were very lopsided and displayed just how not together they have been.

I was hoping tonight's came would be a turning point. The Canes had been on the road and this would be their first game back at home. Surely having home ice would be the difference. Not so much. The first period was pretty painful but some how they managed to only be down 1-0. The second period... oh the second period. It was...well... a nightmare!! Three more goals and the Canes found themselves down 4-1. I had all but written off the game as a loss. But then something changed.. the Canes came out in the 3rd and actually resembled a hockey team! And before I knew it the game was tied up (thanks to a goal by Scottie Walker!!). But all of that came to a crashing end when Toronto scored and went ahead for good. Ugh... hopefully this losing streak will come to an end!