Utah 38 Georgia Tech 10

What a game!! I have to admit I wildly underestimated the Utes in this bowl contest. Everything you read going into the game was 24th ranked Georgia Tech, a 10th ranked defense, they felt disrespected, and so on. It didn't look good for our Utes. However, there's a reason that you play the games. Utah came out and totally dismantled GT. The closest they even got to the Utes was 20-10 at halftime, and they never scored again.

It's hard to figure this Ute Squad out. At times, they are such a dominant team, capable of competing with anyone. Other moments, they look awful, losing 4 out of 5 and almost throwing the season away. Such is the plight of a Utah Fan, they win enough to keep bragging rights alive - but not enough to jump to the next level. All I know is we better keep Ratliff as the starter next year, what a stud!!!

Too bad Cougar Fan, maybe you'll find a way to win a bowl game some year. Check with the team up North, they've now won 5 straight!!!

Boys' Day Out (Sort of)

Earlier today I spent some time engaged in some very manly activities (nothing involving Brokeback Mountain, thank you very much). My dad wanted to take the boys to breakfast so Jason, Coleton, Kristin (like I said it was sort of a boys' day out), Dad, and I went to Dee's. The natural challenge was to see which of us could tackle the Lumberjack. I don't know what it says about me, but I was able to polish off the jack with little effort. I am getting so fat!!!

Later in the afternoon we went to see King Kong, another manly activity. This time it was Jason, Coleton, Brant, Kerrin, Madison (again it was sort of a boys' day out), and me. Alicia was very concerned with Kong's scare factor for Coleton. I had seen the previous two Kong movies (1933 and 1977) had there wasn't anything terribly scary in either of those films, so I assured my sister that there was nothing to worry about. Okay, so there was something to worry about. Kong wasn't scary, but Peter Jackson decided to make the natives of Skull Island look like Orcs from the Lord of the Rings. In about two minutes of natives onscreen we had a guy get speared, voodoo women with their eyes rolling back into their heads, and another guy get his head bashed in with a club. Not really family entertainment. We quickly covered Coleton's eyes so that bad dreams could be averted. Mission accomplished (I hope). Other than the natives, there was another scene with some giant bugs that wasn't really for a 7 year old. Oh well, live and learn. Coleton seemed to enjoy the film and it got a big "thumbs up" from me. Overall, a pretty good boys' day out (sort of).

Christmas Morning Conversation

Yesterday morning, Kennedy and I sat down to discuss the Holiday Season. She may not be old enough to know much about Santa, but she knows what Santa says. For a little holiday cheer, we also talked about Homer and what he says. Seasons Greetings from Morning Conversations.

Click here to listen to our holiday discussion.

Merry Christmas

After all the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve, today turned out to be quite low key. Kennedy is still too young to get into the "wake up at 5 am to see if Santa came" routine yet, so we woke up about 8:00 and spent the next little while helping Kennedy open her presents. If you tear the wrapping paper a little bit, Kennedy is pretty good about finishing the job. It's funny though cause I think Kennedy is just as interesting in the paper as she is in the present intitally. Once you take a minute to show her how cool the new toy is she'll jump in and start playing, but with so many new toys it was a little bit of sensory overload for Kennedy. Among her favorite new toys were: 2 Baby Einstein videos, a pop up ball toy, a play phone, a duck that quacks, and a book about bees (she likes to make a bzzz sound).

We went to Church around 12:30 (I don't know how this happened, but I was lucky enough to speak and Tara said the opening prayer) and afterwards Kennedy went down for a two hour nap. Good thing she slept so long because the rest of the night was spent over at Alicia's house for another round of presents and a wonderful Christmas dinner. I guess I should mention that Kennedy's all time favorite toy from yesterday wasn't even hers. Alicia and Evan gave their kids a miniture Jeep that Kennedy wouldn't leave alone. She honked the horn, and pretended to steer. She was a real natural behind the wheel. Obviously she doesn't have my distain for driving! I guess we know where we'll be playing for the next several months.

Overall, it was a nice day and a great chance to spend quality time with my family. I think it will be even better next year when Kennedy starts to understand the whole Santa Claus thing, I know I am looking forward to helping her with a plate of cookies for Santa! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Lighting the Way

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is our Ward putting luminaries throughout the neighborhood. I think it started about 15 years ago when I was still in high school, but it has become a staple on Christmas Eve. Earlier today I went over to G.R. Mather's house (he is the mastermind behind the whole project) and helped fill white paper sacks with sand and candles. All in all there are about 1500 sacks that line the streets in the 4th Ward neighborhood. Sounds like a big project, but the results are spectacular. As Tara mentioned we took Kennedy for a walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed listening to her "ooh and ahh" at all the pretty lights. It is one of the simple ways we remember that Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus.

The Big Christmas Eve party

When I was a kid, I seemed to wait all year for Christmas and the big family Christmas Eve party. I almost liked Christmas Eve better than Christmas morning (almost). Now that I'm older and have a daughter, I hope to make Christmas just as fun and exciting for her as my family did for me. We now hold the party at my parents cabin. Usually we spend the whole day up there, eating, opening presents, sledding and doing the nativity. This year, we did everything but sledding, due to a lack of snow, unless you want to count the skidding, falling and sliding we all did as we attempted to make it to the cabin. Due to the warm weather, rain and then freezing at night, the road to the cabin was covered in sheer ice. It was quite interesting seeing the Exterra, Dick's truck and the rest of the family trying to figure out just how we were actually going to get to the cabin! We definitely found out that 4 wheel drive and new tires don't matter on ice. We eventually made it and only lost one pie as it slid down the hill.
Once we all made it in safely to the cabin, the fun started. We ate and ate and then ate some more. We did our annual nativity with my dad reading from the Bible, Austin as the donkey (usually Jared gets this role, but got out of it this year). We even got my brother Alan and my brother-in-law Dick to be a part of the nativity scene. Kennedy made her first appearance in the nativity as a very cute angel. She danced along when we sang songs and chattered with Dick most of the time.
We ended the day with my parents tradition of the grandkids giving homemade ornaments to Grandma and Grandpa. Kennedy had some help from mom, but will hopefully be doing it on her own soon, since mom's creative abilities are pretty sad. Then my
parents opened their gifts from us and they gave the grandkids and kids all of our presents. My parents always make something homemade every year for the grandkids. I was pretty excited that we would finally get one for Kennedy, since I never got one as a kid. They are always so cute and as always, this year's was very cute. It was a little wooden snowman that my dad made and my mom painted. I also won the doorprize which was a nice nativity scene. It will look great with my nativity collection. I seem to be pretty lucky with the doorprize. I think I have won 3 of the last 5 years! I am the golden child, you know!
Anyway, the day ended with some great dessert that Paul and Carrie made. We had a fun day and Kennedy enjoyed being around her cousins. We wore her out and she fell asleep in less than a minute as we headed for a quiet Christmas Eve at home. When we got home, the entire neighborhood was lit up with the luminaries that one of our neighbors organizes every year. We took Kennedy for a chilly walk and listened to her ooh and ahhh at the lights. We had a fun Christmas Eve and I'm sure Christmas Day will be just as fun. Merry Christmas everyone!

Another Party?!

Last night we went to Alicia and Evan's house for another party. However, for the second time this week it wasn't for a Christmas party. Evan's birthday was the 17th and this was our first chance to celebrate the big day.

Here are some events from the evening. We ordered food from Dragon Diner (Chappo and Michelle's favorite place), which ended up being about 1 hour behind when we went to pick it up - at least they were open. After dinner, we watched a good portion of the BYU bowl game. I know, I know, what am I doing watching a BYU game? I allow myself a couple BYU games a year to see whether or not they are going to lose. They made a good effort, but game up short 35-28. Too bad Cougs! The kids spent a good deal of the night playing with the remote control train around the Christmas tree. Kennedy just liked looking at the lights!

One of the funniest moments from the evening came courtesy of Chloe. At one point, Chloe came into the living room and said she needed to go potty. Not terribly uncommon for a 4-year-old. After quite a while we noticed that we hadn't seen little Chlo in some time. Alicia went in to investigate. It seems that Chloe hadn't been eating much fiber lately and her body was letting her know it. I don't know what was going on on the inside of the bathroom door, but all I could hear was grunting, screaming, and what may have been a little crying. In the end, a little friend was deposited in the porcelain bank and Chloe promised to eat more fruit. Apples for everyone. What an evening!

Where's Johnny?

It's been a few months since I've discussed the Red Sox in here, but this was too much to pass by. Johnny Damon finally signed a contract this week. This may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but he signed his contract with the New York Yankees!!! When Tara and I saw the headline on ESPN News we couldn't believe it. Johnny was one of the core Red Sox players. He epitomized what we loved about the Sox: fun attitude, long hair, left everything on the field- a real fan favorite. He was the one who coined the term "the Idiots" to describe the club house in 2004. Now he is a Yankee.

I totally blame the Red Sox for this one. They could have made more of a concerted effort to sign Damon. They probably felt like he would give them a home town deal, but like Johnny said this week, "I may be an Idiot, but I'm not stupid (The Red Sox offered 4yrs./40$ million and the Yankees offered 4yrs./52$ million - hmmm, that's a tough choice!). It's just another sign that the Red Sox team we loved in 2004 is long gone. So far we've lost Lowe, Pedro, Mueller, Millar, Cabrera, Mirabelli, Roberts, and others that we enjoyed watching. I know you can't keep everyone, but the Sox ownership seem like they don't want to keep anyone. I don't know what next year's team is even going to look like. So long Johnny - we can't root for a Yankee!!

KFC Site Update

I've just updated Kennedy's Photo website. It contains some great pics over the past couple of months.

Visit Kennedy's site through the links portion of this page or at http://www.uensd.org/staff/jared/kennedy.

Big Party for Kennedy

When I say big party, I mean it! Try cramming 3o people into our house, feeding everyone, opening presents and having cake and ice cream. It was quite a task, and well worth it to help Kennedy celebrate her first birthday. We served some excellent soups, chips and dips, and great desserts, thanks to help from everyone. Hey, I know how to delegate, especially when it comes to feeding people! Kennedy was a bit onery tonight, but she did okay. She was recovering from some serious 1 year old shots.
She enjoyed opening all the fun presents from everyone (with a little help from Kazzy and Chloe). She also perked right up when we placed the head of the cute
snowman cake Nana and Aunt Alicia made for her front of her and let her dig in! There was cake everywhere! She loved it and it didn't take long for her to destroy the snowman's head. We had lots of fun with all the family members from both sides and appreciate all they did for Kennedy. Happy first birthday, Kennedy! Now it is on to Christmas and even more presents and parties. (Which is great, as long as I don't have to host them.)

A Night with U2

So, as you read in a recent post I got tickets to go to the U2 concert last night.  As it turns out, I didn’t get struck down by any higher power or sentenced to an eternal misery for going to the concert alone while Tara hung out with Cousin Eddie…err, Kenny.  In fact, Tara didn’t even go to my family Christmas party.  Kennedy got sick on Saturday, so she and Tara stayed home all night (let’s not get into the debate about what’s worse:  attending your in-laws Christmas party or staying home with a sick baby).

Anyway, let’s get back to the concert.  We went downtown a couple of hours before U2 was scheduled to come on, so we decided to go to the Gateway and eat dinner.  One problem:  trying to eat at the Gateway on a Saturday night with a U2 concert next door and about 20 high school dances that night.  Needless to say, there was a 1-2 hour wait at every restaurant we checked.  That is until I suggested Samba Grill.  The owner is a woman I know from UEN, so we decided to at least give it a try.  Joan Souza is such a wonderful woman, she not only got us a table, but she gave us a meal for free!  The night was looking up for sure!

After dinner we headed across the street for the concert.  Fortunately, we were just in time to miss Kanye West (I have no desire to listen to a rapper, even if he is a good -whatever that means -rapper).  As luck would have it we ran into another guy I know from work who was an usher at the Delta Center.  Scott asked to look at my ticket and said he would try to get us better seats – things were really starting to look up.  I wasn’t sure if Scott could come through or not, but while we were waiting for the show to start – here comes Scott coming up (and I mean up) the stairs to talk to me.  Here’s an excerpt from our conversation:

Scott:  “So, do you guys want better seats or what?”

Me:  “Yes.”

After this brief conversation Scott received a call on his walkie-talkie.  He said he had to leave, and he never came back.   I guess the good luck had to end sometime.  Too bad though because the seats Scott was in charge of were in the middle of the arena, much better sound.   For most of the evening Bono sounded a bit muffled where we were seated.

Around 9 pm U2 arrived onstage with an amazing light show. Most of the early songs came from the Atomic Bomb album, mixed with splashes from the All that You Can’t Leave album.  Throughout the rest of the evening they played all the best songs including:  Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where the Streets Have no Name, New Year’s Day, Pride, One, With or Without You, Mysterious Ways, 40, The End of the World, and many more.  Surprisingly (not really), there wasn’t one song from the Pop album (the last U2 concert I went to).  It was a great mix of music and spectacle that last well past 11 pm.  It was a great night and I was so glad I had the chance to see U2 again in concert.  I may or may go to Hell, but I am happy man ‘cause I found what I was looking for.

A Year with Kennedy

To celebrate Kennedy's first birthday I put together a little video of our time together. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by and much she's changed. Enjoy!!!

Going to Hell

Yesterday morning I got a phone call from Tara that dramatically changed my life forever (or at least for the weekend). It seems that Brant found 8 tickets to the U2 concert for Saturday night. I have two problems with attending the concert: 1) Each ticket costs $80 and we're broke! 2) My mom's big Thomas Clan Christmas party is on Saturday night. What a moral dilemna! Dare I spend all the remaining money from our tax return on the tickets? Will I be able to stand having my mom hate me from skipping her party?

After weighing all the issues, Tara came up with an interesting solution: She would send me to the U2 concert with Brant and she would attend my family party without me (Talk about taking one for the team!!!!) How could I go to a concert and send my wife to a family party without me? Come on, I have a soul!!! Well, maybe not. I may be going to hell, but at least I'm going there after watching U2 on Saturday!

Kennedy's Big Day!

I can't believe it! We have a little one year old running around our house! Well, I can't say running, since she isn't walking yet, but she is the fastest crawler around. We celebrated Kennedy's 1st birthday today by starting with her favorite breakfast foods, pancakes and scrambled eggs.

After breakfast, Kennedy opened a couple of presents from Nana and Papa, including a cute Anne Geddes doll, that has blue eyes, just like Kennedy. After some play time with the new toys and a way too short nap, we headed out with Alicia, Chloe, Liam, Nana, Papa, and Jason to Thanksgiving Point, to enjoy a chilly, but fun trip to the Country Farm. Kennedy loved all the animals, especially the sheep, horses and the ducks. We ended the trip to the farm with a cold pony ride with Liam and Chloe. (Note for next year's birthday-it is usually cold in December-maybe plan an inside activity!)

We headed for home and went to dinner later with Jared's family to Tres Hombres. What one year old doesn't want Mexican food for her 1st birthday! Kennedy quite enjoyed mom's chimichanga, but was more excited by the fried ice cream brought out by our cute waiter. After dinner, it was back home for some pie and a visit from Aunt Char and Jess. I think it was a pretty full day for baby Kennedy and for the family. We still have a big party with the whole family coming up on Sunday. Hey, it's her first birthday, we need to make the most of it!

On Your 1st Birthday

Dear Kennedy,

As your 1st birthday comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment and write you a note to let you know how important you are to your Mommy and me. Thank you for finding your way into our family. For years we always wondered what having a child would be like, now we can't imagine a day without you.

I love getting on my hands and knees and watching your face light up as you crawl across the room to "get" me. I love getting "A-wa's" (kisses) and "loves" (hugs) and watching you sleep in my arms. I love to listen to you talk about "whatever" (you have really been blessed with a gift for gab). Your smile, your laughter, your personality - all add up to one amazing little girl who has stolen my heart.

This year has gone by quickly and I can't believe how incredible you are. Keep being patient with us, we're new at this parenting thing. As you learn from us, we will learn from you and, hopefully, we'll get this thing right someday. I love you little Kennedy and can't wait to see what comes up in year number two. Happy Birthday!!

Daddy

Gift Fight at the Desert Edge

We had our big company Christmas party earlier today at the Desert Edge restaurant. There are times when you think, "Oh no, not another boring company party." However, the Gift Fight always brings a smile at the end of the year. Each Christmas our department has everyone bring a White Elephant that can be shared as part of the Gift Fight. The rules are simple: take a present from the pile or take a present from someone else. Once a gift has been taken, it's officially dead.

Once Michelle opened her present I knew that I had my prize. A fun little tie-dyed star pillow that would be perfect for Kennedy. So, I waited patiently since, with number 8, I would be one of the last people to make a selection. 11, 10, each person took a new present from the pile. With number 9 finally up, I was on deck. Of course, what do you think he did. The pillow was now dead and I would have to draw from the pile. I selected a Medieval Knight Light (a nite light shaped like a medieval knight - clever). A perfect present for the Middle Ages Enthusiast who has everything. Someone took that from me, I don't know why, and I went back to pile to select from the last few presents. It came down to a small package, which looked like it may be a toy or a large bag (possible candle or ceramic snowman). I decided to take the small package and it was ..... a pocket calculator. The large bag contained.... The Best of Will Farrell on SNL. There is no justice when involved in a gift fight.

Another Girls Day Out

So the Houtz girls made another day of it today. Every year, the girls try to get together around Jessica's birthday (December 12th) to have some fun. This year we went to the lunch at the Lion House Pantry and the Kurt Bestor Christmas concert. We used to go almost every year to his concert, but it has been awhile. The last time we went, we invited husbands. After all the sarcastic comments we received from the men while leaving the concert, we decided that men were no longer invited to our day out. They don't seem to be too fond of Kurt Bestor. No biggie-just saves us money on the concert ticket I don't have to buy for Jared! Anyway, as always, Kurt Bestor was very good. He has a way of capturing the Christmas spirit in his music.

I had to head out right after the concert to attend the annual 4th ward Christmas party. After getting Kennedy all dressed up in her ice princess dress, we headed out. We had some great food, (even some yummy mac and cheese for Kennedy), good
pumpkin pie and a cute nativity by the Primary kids. It was a full day. It seems that this time of year is always busy. We are having lots of fun, especially sharing all these times with Kennedy. We can't wait to share Christmas with our baby girl!

Customer Service?

Last night Tara, Kennedy, and I went to Circuit City to purchase two items: a digital camcorder (for Kennedy's first birthday) and a printer (our's died last week). I had been looking around online for the best deals and C.C. had some pretty good prices on each item.

After looking at the items, we were ready to make our purchases. Only one problem, the price at the store was more expensive than it was online. I mentioned this to a clerk who promptly told me that the prices online were "Web Only" specials. I informed him that I was here and ready to make the purchase, if I got the online price. "Sorry, you'll need to go home and order the items online and then come back to pick them up." Is there some type of customer service logic that I'm missing here. I always assumed that when you have a customer in front of you, with cash in hand, ready for a purchase - you do everything you can to make it happen. Sending me home generally equals LOSS OF SALE.

So, we went home and I started looking at every other company I could think of to buy the same items. Unfortunately, C.C. still had the best prices, by quite a bit. I went back to their website and ordered the items. Second problem - You have to print the confirmation email to pick up your purchases. Remember now, what was one of my purchases? I was tempted to go back to the store with only the confirmation number to pick up my items and when questioned about the confirmation email say, "How can I print a confirmation email, when I'm buying a printer?" I decided that this would result in a brain hemorrhage for the 19-year-old GED grad at the counter, so I saved myself the hassle and printed the confirmation email next door.

I don't know why I'm telling you all of this, but now you know why I hate shopping so much!

Interesting Request

I had to laugh this morning when I was checking my email and I had a request from someone in New Jersey to reference something I had written in one of my Master's projects in her paper on Vygotsky. Take a look:

Dear Jared Covili,

I am writing a paper for a graduate class at Willliam Paterson University in NJ :Language and Culture. I read your paper which I found on the Internet and I would like to know if it would be alright to mention you in my works cited page. Although I did not use an quotes, I found your paper http://home.utah.edu/~jjc03270/papers/vygotsky2.html quite helpful in forming my ideas to write the paper. Please let me know if it is alright to include you in the Works cited page.

Thank you Mary Gould

It shows once again that once your life is out there on the web, you never know who'll find it. I guess I should feel honored that Mary wants to reference my work, but now I'm torn - Should I tell Mary I got a "B" on that paper?

Snow + UTA = @~$+*#&^!!!!!

We finally had the first major snowfall of the season in SLC, and for those of you saying, "Oh, I love the snow. It's so fluffy and white. Hooray!" I remind you that if it snows while you're at work you still have to get home. Since I ride the bus this can be particularly agonizing.

There are a select group of people who ride the bus everyday - we are the "Busers", "Bus Folk", "Bus Freaks", etc. We are a comfortable social group who like to read books, listen to music, and avoid eye contact with any other "Bus Freak". Normally, there aren't any issues which upset our little world of isolated transportation. However, on snowy days we have another group of people who show up on the bus, they're called "Wusses." Since, they don't normally ride the bus, they upset our established dynamic and force everyone into uncomfortable travel. Here's how:

1. They make the buses run late. It's not bad enough that the weather already slows us down, they slow the buses down. They don't know where there stops are, they forget when they pay, they are slow getting on and off the bus. Yesterday, the bus was 45 minutes late picking us up and the U.

2. They take up extra seats. A "Bus Freak" knows how to make room so that more people can fit onto the bus. "Wusses" are only concerned with themselves and their problems. Yesterday, I was forced to stand in the isle on over half the trip home until a good percentage of "Wusses" left the bus.

3. They talk to you. A "Wuss" always wants you to know all about themselves and why they are riding the bus that day. "Bus Freaks" don't talk to one another on the bus. We simply try to get from place to place as quickly as possible and with the least amount of human interaction. I almost never talk with anyone on the bus and yesterday I was annoyed by two separate "Wusses."

It has cleared off today and I hope that gets rid of the "Wusses" I rode home with yesterday. It's bad enough that you are outside in the snow and 20 degree temperatures. It's even worse when riding home with "Wusses" makes me want to walk home instead. Can't you leave a "Bus Freak" alone?!?!?!?

Bagong Gupit

Over the weekend I did something that only happens about twice a year. I got a haircut. Many of you are thinking that a haircut really isn't blog worthy, and normally I would agree, but there isn't a whole lot going on right now...

Two things determine where I will get my haircut: 1. Whether or not there's a line. 2. If the place has a coupon or special going on. I'm not that particular about who cuts my hair; I only care about the price and the time involved. Too high on either account and I'll simply wait another month or two before I have the locks cut.

On Saturday, Sports Clips met both of my difficult criteria. No line and a coupon - what could be better!!! One of my favorite questions when you go to get your haircut is, "So how would you like it cut?" I always have the same response, "Short." You can tell that I comb my hair a certain way, based upon how it looks when I come in. I want the same style, only shorter. I don't think there should be much of an issue here. I don't go to the barber for a lifestyle change, I simply want to see past my bangs again.

The only tense part of the haircutting experience, was when Candy, or Barbie, or whatever the girl cutting my hair's name was, got into an argument with one of the other stylists over some kind of salon etiquette issue. If you're like me, the last thing you want is someone to be angry while they are coming near your head with scissors. I managed to keep Candy calm, and got out of Sports Clips without a Mohawk or a giant nick in the back of my head. Crisis averted!! Oh well, wait another 6 months for my next haircutting adventure.

Tis the Season?

I never know whether or not it's too early to start getting ready for Christmas. At my office, Vickie starts listening to Christmas music in July, just because it may be snowing somewhere, and Ross practically shoved presents down our throats on Dec. 1. Is that getting a bit ahead of ourselves, maybe? I've always had a rule that you can't start getting ready for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. That being said we began this week getting our home decorated for the Holiday Season.

Last night we took turns, with Kennedy's help, putting lights on the tree. This has got to be the worst part of decorating for Christmas. Getting poked by a million pine needles and watching half your lights stop working, once they're on the tree of course, is not my idea of a good time. Once they're on it's great, but the process of applying lights to a tree is about the same scale of difficulty as putting mittens on an angry cat. Anyway, we're almost done with the decorating and then the Holidays can officially begin at the Covili home.