Happy for my Brother

Well for a change I'll write a post that isn't depressing and self-absorbed. Yesterday my brother, Matt, called me to get my address since he's filing to graduate from college in the spring and needed an address of someone who can get in touch with him. He will be 25 next month and had some obstacles to overcome (a bad, costly, early engagement and some ensuing debt) but he'll be graduating with a degree in US History.

For as long as I can remember he has wanted to coach high school football and teach US History. Well, over the summer he was offered a job to coach the offensive line (or maybe it was just the quarterback? I'm not sure) at a private high school not far from where he lives. This is in addition to his full time job at the Boys and Girls Club and his full course load. Of course he took the coaching job, and they have thrown more yards in one game this season than the entire season last year. There are 10 games in the season and so far his team is 4-0. The school has told him that if he's serious about wanting to teach history and coach after graduation that it may be a possibility. I am so happy for him. He's also dating a girl that I really like (hey, she was in band and loves LOTR; what she's doing with my brother I'm *really* not sure, but I like her).

So instead of feeling down today I will be happy for my brother. I have given him a hard time over the years when he pursued crazy jobs (like the "concrete pumping" thing when he bought that truck that got 8 mpg) but he's finally gotten his act together. Our youngest brother is also back in school full time (at their local junior college) with reasonable aspirations of transferring to UC Irvine (or Riverside, I can't remember which it was now) next year.

My big disappointment for today is pretty trivial and fixable: I decided it was time to brush up on my calculus and DSP so I ordered a calculus book from half.com. Well, it arrived yesterday, but instead of the 1168 page, 17 chapter Multivariable Calc book that I thought I was getting (you know, since that's what the description said and all) it was a second half page 651-1168 chapters 10-17 book. I've contacted the seller and am hoping for a quick, painless resolution. I'm really annoyed about it but it's trivial and I can file a claim at the website if it doesn't work out. It delays my studying a little bit longer, but oh well.

I'm planning to take Luke to Legoland tomorrow; it's been three weeks since we last went. I'm hoping I can squeeze my sudoku book into my purse somehow since he likes to play in the area with the kid-sized town (fire station, police station, hospital, store, house, etc; it is so cool) for a looooong time. I don't know if Jay is coming with us or not. Either way I'm planning to visit the new Chick-Fil-A in Oceanside for dinner. I wish there was one closer, but at least it's reasonable for when we go to Legoland.

Have a good weekend everyone!