Life is Good! Jesus on the Throne and the Cubs in 1st!

In a couple hours I'll be advising (academically) new students to OCC. Our classes start next week. It appears that we have a pretty good incoming class. I like my classroom assignments (with the exception of my Spanish class assignment, but you can't have everything). Yesterday I finished setting up the website that supports my classes. Life is good.

The Cubbies made an announcement yesterday morning that sometimes pitching ace, Carlos Zambrano, signed a contract extension: five years at a ridiculously high price. Hopefully, that will settle him down (his last 3 starts have been bad after being nearly lights out good since the dugout fight with former catcher Michael Barrett on June 2), and beat the Redbirds on ESPN Sunday night.

Yesterday, Albert Pujols got his shot in, a home run to left field, against the wind. Fortunately, no one was on base. The next half inning, the Cubs scored twice (2-run homer by Jacque Jones), and took the lead, beating the Cardinals 2-1. That win moved them into a tie for first place, pending the Brewers/Reds game later in the day. The Reds soundly defeated the Brewers last night, giving the Cubs sole possession of first place. Eamus Catuli!

I got my oldest grandson, Nathan, a Chicago Cubs outfit when he was a newborn. I thought I had resolved his baseball issues early on. Unfortunately, I have been reminded recently of how easily a child can be influenced in the wrong way. A few weeks ago, when the kids were in Joplin, Nathan and I got to watch some Cubs baseball on TV (for him it was a way to stay "out of bed"). He asked me, "Grandpa, why do you like the Cubs?" Dumb question, right? Then he follows it up with, "My Grandmama (that's Emily's mother) says the Cubs are yucky! I like the Cardinals." Well, look at the standings, Grandmama!