Fun Fantasy Football Season! Won Championship!

My third year playing Fantasy Football, I just squeaked into the playoffs with an 8-6 record.  I was definitely the underdog going into the playoffs but then my guys came through and I blew everyone out with a 2-week playoff total of 306.28!  I had the 1st draft position in our snake league so was able to get a good draft.  

This season went fast!  I read through two Fantasy Football magazines and watched the Fantasy Live show every week, and had fun picking guys up from the waiver wire along the way, adjusting my line up every week, and cheering on my guys.  I am a Browns fan and had four on my team (Njoku, Cooper, Defense, Moore and Flacco).  I had Flacco as a backup instead of Sam Howell who I played just for Jalen Hurts' bye week, picking him up so no one else could get him.  

Here are my Keys to winning:

1.  Draft good players that I would want to cheer for.  That means not drafting guys on other teams in the Browns division.  The only exceptions were when (1) I was short on receivers due to injuries so picked up Odell Beckham but didn't have to play him after all; and (2) taking the Steelers defense week 18 because I knew the Browns would be resting some key players.  

2.  If deliberating between two players, choose the one from the better team.

3.  Be willing to play good players even when they are playing against the Browns (my team).

4.  Don't put so much weight on the projection points, trust your gut and listen to Cynthia Friedman's advice on the Fantasy Football show.

5.  Don't put players who are playing early in the flex position.  

Do you have any other tips to share in the comments on keys to winning in Fantasy Football?  I'd love to hear them!

I'd like to give a shout out to my stellar players who were consistent and helped me win this year who were:  Jalen Hurts, Amari Cooper, Raheem Mostert, Breece Hall, David Njoku, Nico Collins, Justin Jefferson and Browns Defense.  I'm already looking forward to playing again next year.
 
Other related posts:

I'm Doing Something I Always Thought Would Be Fun

My First Fantasy Football Season

My 2023 Fantasy Football Draft

Cornhole--Not My Game!

Although I am not good at Cornhole, I went ahead and signed up with Lucille in the Cornhole tournament at the church picnic Saturday because she wanted to play and needed a partner.  At least it was something to do.  I sort of knew her from the Sr. Center so knew she wasn't very good either.  I was doing pretty good when we were practicing before the tournament started; but then I couldn't seem to even keep any on the board!  Neither of us could even get one in the hole.  I figured we wouldn't win, but didn't think we would get shut out 21-0 which is exactly what happened.  We were the first team eliminated.  Our game went very quickly!  The food was delicious and I would have played volleyball but not enough wanted to play.

Time For Baseball!

Today was supposed to be the Indians home opener and we had a beautiful day for it!  Unfortunately, it has been postponed due to the Corona virus.  So, tonight we played our Baseball box game that came out in 1959.  It's actually quite fun and as close to actually playing as you can get, for a box game.  Sometimes the simpler games are the most fun!

One person gets to pitch by choosing good and bad pitches, trying to strike out his opponent who either swings or doesn't.  A swing at a good pitch results in a batted ball (not necessarily a hit) and a swing at a bad pitch is a strike.  Not swinging at a good pitch is a strike, not swinging it a bad pitch is a ball.  If the batter hits the ball, they choose either a "Bases Empty" card or a "Base Runners" card.  There are little tokens you can move around the bases.  The cards have baseball situations on them such as "Fly out to left" or "Long double, runners advance 3 bases."  You can even try to steal if you wish, by drawing a "steal" card.  It's actually quite fun if you like baseball.  We played a full nine innings and I won 7-4.

The scoreboard has wheels to turn to show the number of strikes, balls, outs and runs.  The cardboard scoreboard originally had tabs that fit into slots on the game board, but they broke off so my dad attached a wooden stand for it.  There used to be sticks that fit into the circles to move the pitch choice and batter knobs, but those broke too so we just push the knobs.  It works!  Have you ever seen this game?  I sometimes use the cards from it when we have a baseball review game in Sunday School.

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I'm Actually Doing Something I Always Thought Would Be Fun!

What, you ask?  Fantasy Football!  Yes, that's right.  I think it would be fun to manage a team and I like football.  The only reason I haven't played before was because I thought it cost money, but I got an open invite to join a league that is free!  Our Pastor is the administrator and other players are mostly, if not all, from my church.  I do find it odd though that I am the only woman.  We have 12 teams and I am excited to participate in this new experience. 

When I told my husband about it and asked if he would help me choose my players on draft day, he said he would like to play too and have his own team!  So, I signed him up as well and he has helped me by pointing me to some sites that rank the players according to how valuable they are to a Fantasy team (since scoring is based on individual accomplishments).  He also bought a magazine that gives lots of advice and information about the players and even some example draft teams by "experts."  He is nice and is sharing it with me! 

I have much to learn before draft day.  We are doing our draft online which gives me some anxiety, but I'm sure I will catch on once it starts.  It just seems it would be more fun and easier to do it all together somewhere face-to-face. 

My team is called Parma Pandas and my husband's is the Boston Barkers.  I'm sure by having a fantasy team it will widen my interest to include players and teams besides the Browns.  I will still root for the Browns every game even if some of my fantasy players are playing against them. 

I'm excited about this!  Let me know if you have any good advice for a beginner like me.  I'd like to hear the name of your team if you are playing Fantasy Football this year.

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How To Play Pickleball (Or How Not to Play)

Since some of you who read my previous post on "10 Things That Make Me Happy" commented you did not know what Pickleball was, I thought you might enjoy a short video of my husband playing.  I included captions that give basic tips on how to play.  I am hoping that my husband will take some video of my play too because I'd really like to see what that looks like.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the video.  Here are the rules:

1)  You only score when your side serves, must serve underhand, behind the base line, over the net and land in the blue area cross court.

2)  The no volley zone (also called the kitchen) is the 7 ft. deep space adjacent to the net on both sides.  Players cannot hit the ball on a fly while standing inside the kitchen, must wait for it to bounce in order to hit the ball while in the no volley zone.

3)  Servers switch sides with their partner after scoring points.

4)  At the very beginning of the game, after the initial server loses the serve, the other team gets to serve.  However, from then on, once the first server on a team fails to score, his partner gets to serve--like a second chance!  Once both partners fail to score, then they lose the serve and the other team gets to serve.

5)  On the serve and return of serve, players must let the ball bounce once on their side of the court before hitting it.

6)  Whichever team gets to 11 points first wins, but they have to win by 2 points.

7)  The receiving team must call a ball out of bounds if it misses the sideline or baseline.  If the ball hits the player or their paddle, it counts as in.

8)  If players cannot tell if the ball was out on their side or if one partner calls it out and other other partner calls it in, it's in.  In other words, if there is doubt, the call goes in favor of the team who hit the ball.

9)  Have fun!

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Enjoyed Watching the Browns First Pre-Season Game

This is the house of a Browns fan on our street.  I must say, I am looking forward to this season because of the new talent we have AND the fact that we have a solid quarterback!  It was actually enjoyable watching the Browns game Thursday night and seeing our draft pick, Baker Mayfield, do well for a change.

Of course, they still struggled with too many penalties and had no running game at all; but still managed to win against the Giants.  I know, it's only pre-season and the Giants didn't have their best guys in for the whole game, but it's better to win than lose those, right?

This is when Brown fans have high hopes so let me enjoy my optimism while I can.  Go Browns!  Win some games this season!!  (I'd like to see them win at least 5 or 6.)  Think that's expecting too much?

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Tired of Browns Bashing On Radio Every Week--Here's Some Positives!

Every Monday morning and even sometimes later in the week, The Ken Carmen Show with Anthony Lima sports talk show 92.3 The Fan hosts always pick on the Browns. I know they are have a very terrible season going 0-10; however, it’s like this radio show is beating a dead horse! No matter what, I think it is time to find some good in their games and start encouraging them a little bit. The least the hosts could do is acknowledge the good things such as:

• They do not get blown away and have actually been competitive with a chance to win into the fourth quarter in at least four games. Seven of the games were lost by two TDs or less.

• Last week against the Jaguars (a first-place team in their division by the way), the Browns defense played extremely well!

• Usually the Browns hurt themselves with tons of penalties but Sunday, they finished the game with zero penalties for the first time in 55 years against the Jaguars!

• The last TD was a fluke coming off a fumble by Kizer. Unfortunately, Kizer still had two interceptions (at least not in the Red Zone this time) and two costly fumbles. I feel bad for him. I think he tries very hard and has a fairly strong arm and quick legs with some good running moves. He is courageous and still learning. I wish the talk shows would give him some credit!

• It also was nice to see our receivers holding on to the ball for the most part.

• More good news was that our kicker made the extra point! This can never be taken for granted.

The Browns get to play the Bengals and Charges who are both 4-6 (not so great a record) but I really look forward to seeing them play the Bears who are 3-7 and seem to have similar problems as the Browns when it comes to winning.

The way I look at it, if Kizer can stay healthy and finish the season out as the Browns No. 1 quarterback, it will have been a successful season. He is very young and a hard worker. He will only improve if he gets to play.

I’d love to hear what other Browns fans think. I know it is hard to watch them because it seems every week they come up with new ways to lose, but I still have hope for the future with Kizer. I wonder what would happen if Hugh Jackson actually got an offensive coordinator instead of insisting on calling all the plays himself.

I just finished reading Relentless (Julian Edelman's memoir) and couldn't help but notice the big difference between the Browns and the Patriots organizations when it comes to coaching, attitude, work ethic and expectations.  I highly recommend this book to the Browns coaches and players!

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Unbelievably Horrible!

Where did our Windians disappear to?  They started out this playoff series against the Yankees with two amazing games but pretty much have fallen apart when they went to play in New York.  I just can't believe it!  This is not the same team on the field, the Indians to not make 4 errors in one game and give away 6 unearned runs!!!  (I'd like to know when was the last time that happened.)

If I had to choose one word to sum up last night's game, it would be HORRIBLE!  What word would you choose?

The Indians were struggling all night long.  The only bright spots were the homeruns by Santana and Perez and the few base runners.  Although, I did think some of our bullpen did a great job.  What I don't understand though is why Francona only let them pitch to two or three guys and then took them out when they did so well.  He does that all the time with Tyler Olson.  I haven't seen him pitch poorly yet, but he never gets to stay in for any length of time.

I really hope the Indians can use this day off to recoup, relax, rest up and come ready to play at home and win the final game of this series.  They need to relax and play their game. The question is, can they do it in a must win situation.  They certainly did not do it in NY.

C'mon tribe, let's win on Wednesday! 

Related posts:  Windians are So Much fun to Watch

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Share a Photo that Best Represents Your June (Writer's Workshop)

I am so glad my husband and I discovered the game of Pickleball--it is great exercise and a lot of fun!  I enjoyed teaching others to play so that they could teach kids to play at our Focus Sports Camp in June at Parma Heights Baptist Church.  I had the privilege of being the Pickleball director in June when we added the sport for the first time this year.

Practicing dinking (ball bouncing in kitchen close to net)

It is an easy game to learn but one that has lots of aspects to practice and improve.  It is a game of patience, ball control and strategy that all ages can enjoy!  It was fun seeing how fast the kids at sports camp caught on and were playing some close exciting games by the third day!

 
Pickleball is played with paddles slightly bigger than ping pong paddles and with a whiffle ball. It is played on court the same size as is used for badminton, much smaller than a tennis court so involves less running.   It is very similar to tennis in strategy but the serve must be underhand and the service box is positioned in the back of the court as opposed to the service box in tennis at the front of the court.  Pickleball has a couple quirky rules such as the double-bounce rule and not volleying the ball in the kitchen area or the "non-volley zone (the area 7' from the net).  The double-bounce rule is simply that you must let the ball bounce once before hitting it on the serve and the return of serve.  A game is to 11 points but you only score when your side is serving and must win by 2.

The game can be played indoors or outdoors.  Outdoors is harder due to the wind and sun, but it just makes it a bit more challenging.  To view some actual games or to learn to play, just do a search for pickleball on YouTube.  There are tons of short video clips describing how to execute specific shots as well as actual tournament games.

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America!  Have you played yet?  If not, what are you waiting for?  Join the fun!

See other Writer's Workshop posts and link up your own.


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Fun in Cleveland--Go Tribe!

My Newest Indians Shirt from my Husband!

Finally the Cleveland Indians made it into the post-season and get to play the Cubs in the World Series!  It is so exciting to watch this team with a good mix of guys.  It reminds me of the 1995 team with walk-off wins, a lot of great defense, good pitching and good hitting.  You just never know who will have the clutch hit.

I think Lindor is my favorite player because I love his fun attitude and outstanding plays.  It's also fun to see him steal bases and is just an all-around good player who obviously loves the game.  He reminds me of Omar Vizquel who also was my favorite player when he was with the 1995 team.

It's also nice that I get to wear Indians shirts to work on certain game days in the post season.  The Cubs are good too and I would be pulling for them to win IF they were playing anyone other than the Indians.  

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Our Neighborhood Mystery is Solved!

Pickleball courts in Parma, Ohio

I posted not too long ago about a mysterious building project next to the tennis courts right in our neighborhood and now it is done.  Parma replaced the basketball courts with two Pickleball courts.  I think we were the first to play on them. 

Pickleball is a recreational game for all ages and is kind of a combination of tennis, ping pong and badminton.  Game goes to 11 points but you have to win by 2 and you only score when you serve.  You must serve underhand using a whiffle ball and what look like giant ping pong paddles.  The court is smaller and there is a no-volley zone called the "kitchen" which is the green part on either side of the net.  Players are not allowed in the kitchen unless the ball bounces in that area.  In that case, they can go in to hit the ball but must get out right after they hit the ball.  You serve to the opposite box as in tennis; however, you must let the ball bounce at least once on each side before you can hit it on the fly (volley it).

There is a possibility of Parma Heights Baptist Church offering Pickleball in their Sports Camp next summer.  If so, I'll be coaching that!  I'm much better at Pickleball than I am at basketball.

For history of the game and more, check out pickleball.com.

Related posts:  Neighborhood Mystery

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Common Knowledge?

My hubby told me some things that surprised me.  He says it is common knowledge that:

(1) The NFL gets paid by the government to do patriotic things at the games. Things like reuniting soldiers with their family or making the flag in the stands with spectators all holding a part of the picture. 

(2) The referees have other jobs as well.  Being a NFL referee isn't their primary job.  

I did know any of these things that he said "everyone knew."  So, I need to know who is right.  Please let us know in the comments if you knew these things.  I think there are others who didn't know these things either, did you?

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Figure Skating Pairs - Great Athleticism!

Shibutanis (sister/brother)

I happened to watch the U.S. Figure Skating Nationals yesterday and really enjoyed seeing the pairs  (I started watching late so missed the singles).  I was mesmerized by the athleticism involved in this ice skating event!  Some of the moves they do I couldn't even do on the floor of my living room!  I thought it was quite spectacular and also enjoyed most of the music that went along with their routines.  The two pairs I liked best came in second and fourth.  I was rooting for the brother/sister team, Alex and Maia Shibutani, because they did part of their program to a Strauss Waltz that was beautiful!  Hawayak and Baker was the other pair that I really liked a lot because not only were they doing impressive moves, but they looked like they were really enjoying it too! 

See photos of Alex and Maia Shibutani.

See interview with Hawayek and Baker.

Did you watch yesterday?

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What We've Been Up To This Week - Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post.

Reading

First of all, at the end of the year we always review the lists of the books we've read and choose our favorites.  We post these over at our book blog (Grab a Book From Our Stack).  We had 18 books that we both loved this past your and listed them for you with links to our reviews.  

Cracker Barrel

We enjoyed several meals at Cracker Barrel recently and when I washed my hands in the restroom, the water wouldn't come on. It was those automatic faucets where you just put your hands under them and the water is supposed to come out. People next to me had theirs working so I tried that sink and it didn't like me. I finally asked a girl next to me how she got that to work and she showed me the sensors and said I had to have my hands lower across from them. So then it worked when I lowered my hands--felt stupid but at least now I know.

Abby's Leg

I am pleased to report that Abby's leg seems very close to normal now after being at the full dosage of Metacam for a week and a few days.

Unique Shirt

My husband found the perfect t-shirt for me for Christmas and I love it! He was right that I never would have guessed what it was. I will be wearing this to our Children's Worker Breakfast at church coming soon.

Laughter

Two things cracked me up recently: First was when my husband started putting on MY black pants by accident, thinking they were his. I had them laid out on the bed and he picked them up and started putting them on!

The other funny thing was when we were walking the dog, Gerard said maybe the Browns would put in "Thigpen" but I heard it as "Pigpen" and busted up laughing, thinking of the dirty Charlie Brown character.

Sports

Of course, we've been cheering for the Browns, Patriots, Bruins and Ohio State. I am pleased with the Browns season because they did better than expected, only had one really bad game, and Hoyer is not hurt. They really need to get rid of those all brown uniforms they sometimes wear that they NEVER play well in! Unfortunately, when they lost their center, that's when the running game fell apart and consequently, led to their downfall. I never realized how important the center position was until this season.

Patriots still find ways to win and Brady is just a real quality guy, both on and off the field. I'd love to see the Bengals and the Patriots in the Super Bowl with the Patriots winning.

Don't know what happened to the Bruins; Gerard thinks they are getting old.

And finally, our Ohio State Buckeyes came through last night against Alabama. What an exciting come-from-behind win! GO BUCKS!

When channel surfing, I discovered a sport I never knew of before--red bull bike racing in Colorado.  These guys are dare devils and amazing with how they can ride these bikes down mountain trails the go straight down with tight turns and drop offs.  This blew me away.  

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7 Friday Fragments (Computer, Money, Books, Sports)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. It's been quite a week so I have more than usual this week:

Money Well Spent

As they say, "easy come, easy go." This week we got our tax refund and I got some money for Administrative Professionals Day which more than covered the expense of our new ACER computer (can't believe how fast this one works compared to our old one) and the 3 yr. service for 24/7 tech support from iYogi. Wednesday night, I spent five hours on the phone and chat with them to get my computer all loaded with stuff and cleaned up from some downloads I did that I changed my mind about. They do monthly tune-ups to keep it running like new and I love that. They can remotely come in with me permission and take care of everything for me! As I sit and watch, I also learn more too. If interested in looking into this service, please give me your email address so I can refer you.

Microsoft Office

I am so happy I now have Outlook 2013 and it works after the iYogi tech set up my email on it for my last night. I got it for just $10 through a work shopping program. I couldn't get it for my old XP because it wouldn't work on that. Now that I have the Windows 7 operating system, I could finally get it. It took a very long time to download (which is why I was up so late on Wednesday), but it is so worth it to me!

Football

I think it's early to talk NFL football, but the schedules came out this week. I'd be surprised if the Browns win 3 games this year. Another year of starting all over again. I can't even get excited about it. Think I'll be more into the Patriots this year along with my husband.

Books

The only thing that would make this book better is if it had cats.

This month for me, reading has been a bit slow. I finally read a very good historical fiction novel that I could give 5 stars-my favorite of the month so far. It is The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr. It is so touching and gut-wrenching that I cried three times when reading it. Click the link to read our review. This is one we both enjoyed very much about a nice old man who was the caretaker of a animal sanctuary in the Ukraine during WW II, an orphan girl who had a very special connection with the wild horses and the fantastic horses themselves and a brave, loyal smart wolfhound.

Wonderful Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year, it was a "Perfect Day" for all of us!  Tennis anyone?  How about puppets or a walk in the woods?

Go Bruins

My husband is very excited about the Bruins again this year. So far in the first round of the playoffs, they are 3-1. I really meant to watch with him, but the computer issues took over my time and focus. It's been a wild two weeks but now I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Surprise Gifts

Last Saturday when visiting the nursing home with our dog, Abby, we were showered with gifts to show their appreciation for us volunteering by bringing Abby to visit the residents twice a month. We did a post about this, in case you missed it: It's Nice to be Appreciated. Share this:

NCAA March Madness Brackets--Give It a Try!

Until I married Gerard, I never realized what all the hoopla was about over March Madness; nor did I know what a "bracket" was.  It's actually when people try to pick the winners of the Men's College Basketball Tournament that happens every March and the bracket is a diagram of the different games.  When you fill in all the games with who you predict will win, then you find a pool to enter in the hopes of winning some money.  Both Gerard's and my places of employment have one going.  Since his place has much fewer people and therefore a better chance to win, we have been entering only that one which costs only $5.  Although the winnings would be much less than at my work, mine costs $10 to enter and about 50 people are in it so the odds of winning are much less.

Karen's Method

By completing a bracket, it makes the games much more fun to watch and provides entertainment at a minimum cost.  This year, I used a very random method of choosing my teams.  First, I chose teams that I liked based on their names or the city.  When I got to teams that I felt were even or that I had no preference of team, I simply used two scrap pieces of paper with a 1 or a 2 written on them, mixed them up, and picked the piece on top.  If it was a 1, I chose the first team listed, if a 2, I chose the second team listed.  There are lots of methods people use when filling out their brackets, but no one really knows what's going to happen.  It's basketball with lots of good teams and really any team could win on any given day so that is why I do not put a lot of time or thought into mine.  This year my champion pick is Virginia.  It is an unpopular choice so if they should win, that will help me because most others in my pool probably won't pick them.  I chose them basically because they had a good record and are a different team than usual.

Gerard's Method

On the other hand, Gerard is just the opposite when it comes to completing his bracket.  He listens to all the experts picks and their reasons, reads whatever he finds about the teams and players, and second guesses himself over and over.  Last night he spent about an hour at least filling in his teams.  He takes it very seriously and the sad thing is, I usually do better on my bracket than he does, last year was the exception.  He beat me last year.  So far, his champion is Arizona.  Since we both enter the same pool, we usually pick different champions in the hopes of increasing our chance of at least one of us winning the pool.


So, what strategy do you use to complete your bracket?  Maybe you never did one but even if you don't actually enter a pool, it can be a fun family activity.  Just go to cbssports.com, click Print Bracket for each of your family members and let the fun begin.  You could set up your own prize for the one who gets the most picks right. The little numbers by the teams tell you how the league ranked them, the smaller the number, supposedly, the better the team so even if you don't follow men's college basketball, you can get a clue by the numbers to as to which team is considered the best in each region.

Check out the Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge--Get them all right and win a billion dollars!  Also giving away $100,000 for the 20 highest imperfect brackets.  

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Friday Fragments (travel, sports, books)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. I have a few this week:

A Trip I'd Like

Over at Snoopy's blog, I saw some very interesting pictures from a trip his mom and dad took down the Amazon, including dogs they saw along the way!  The post is titled "Dogs of the Amazon" but it has pictures of lots of other critters too!

Travel Tips

We don't travel but I came across a very helpful post for those who do at It's Just Life--"Traveling? Take These Along!" She gives a list of items to pack that could be quite useful!   I think this was the most helpful post I read this week.

Paraplegic Hockey

I was intrigued when I watched a bit of a hockey game played by paralegics between the USA and Russia. They sat on a what looked like a big skate using two sticks to slide themselves along on the ice. I struck me most was that there were actually that many paralegic hockey players and that they were so fast!

Good Neighbors

We live on a fairly long street near the one end so walking from the bus stop with snow and ice on the ground and a cold wind blowing more snow in my face is not very fun. I usually walk in the street at the side and am thankful when neighbors see me and stop to give me a lift. We have some very nice people on our street!

Civil War Christian Fiction

I just finished reading another Civil War fiction series by Lauraine Snelling consisting of The Daughter of Twin Oaks, Sisters of the Confederacy, and A Long Way Home. I enjoyed this series very much because of the well developed characters, the adventure and lots of action, and the fact that it is Christian fiction so swear words and steamy sex scenes are omitted. Reading this kind of book helps me keep my problems in perspective.  This series is about saving their race horses, protecting the freed slaves, the separation of families that the war caused, life on a wagon train, how people assisted in the war effort, and how far people will go to protect their loved ones and help others.


What did you find interesting this week?  Have you read anything good lately?

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Go Browns! Great Game Against the Ravens

I am so happy for the Cleveland Browns who played great last Sunday against the Ravens, a good team.  The mistakes they made against Kansas City (dropped passes) were corrected and Jason Campbell, the quarterback was excellent.  Even when he hurt his ribs, he came back in the game and still played well!  I am glad to hear he didn't break any.  Whenever he took off running, I thought, "don't get hurt!" 

As I watched the game, it was exciting to see both Greg Little and Bess make great catches and holding on to the ball.  I loved that the coaches let them go for it on 4 and 1 and they made it . . . twice!  It's been a long, long time since I have been hopeful that the Browns could actually make the playoffs and it feels so good.  The CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER had big full-page write-ups and pictures about the game and my husband said "They act like they won the Super Bowl."  I said, we celebrate every win in a big way because we get so few!

What even made it better was that the Browns were they only ones to win last week in their division, woo hoo!  I also loved that the Steelers were demolished by the Patriots--that was icing on the cake!

There were only a few things that weren't so good: 

(1) Greg Little hurt his collarbone and although he had a great game which he hasn't had in a long time, he needs to stop the taunting and keep his emotions under control.  Maybe if he plays well more regularly, he'll get used to actually making plays and it will become the norm so he won't be so excited and taunt the opposing team.

(2)  They need to still be careful to have the right number of players on the field.  I think this is a matter of better communication which I would think could be easily corrected.

I am praying for a speedy recovery for both Travis Benjamin and Brian Hoyer who have torn ACLs and will most likely be out the rest of the season. 

I know most of our readers are not football fans, certainly not Browns fans, but I just had to share my excitement about my team since I shared my discouragement and disappointment earlier in the season before they turned things around.  Now, onward to the playoffs.  I am looking forward to the second half and hope the team enjoys their week off. 

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Wordless Wednesday

Go Sox!  Wish the games were on earlier!


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7 Friday Fragments (blogging, life, death, sports)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post to give Mrs. 4444 a break for the summer. Here we go:

Broken Cell Phone

Hubby's cell phone broke, but had replacement coverage on it which we paid $4.00 a month for. It still cost us $25 to replace it (just a basic phone--no texting, no pictures, no internet access). I asked how much an upgrade would be and the service rep at Great Call said $75. So, I'm thinking we should have just not did the replacement coverage and put that money towards an upgrade instead. The next day I canceled the monthly "replacement coverage." They said without that it would have cost $50 to replace it. At least they are waiving the shipping and handling fee. In the meantime, hubby is borrowing my phone--I miss it.

Travis Benjamin

This Browns wide receiver/punt returner is very fast! He had 179 yards on punt returns in Last week's game which broke the Browns record formerly held by Metcalf. Said he learned to run fast by chasing rabbits in Florida and now that he shared his rabbit story, his teammates nicknamed him "the Rabbit"! Read more about it: Benjamin Built Speed by Chasing Rabbits.

Funeral

Glad I happened to look at Facebook yesterday morning because my cousin posted that my Aunt Jolene died with a link to her obituary. The funeral is tomorrow so I am planning on going. Funerals are like family reunions for my family--it's the only time we get together. She was 78 and died of Lymphoma.

Blogger Trouble

Don't know what's up with Blogger, but I tried changing my weekly quote on my blog but it wouldn't save it. Finally, I just deleted it and tried adding it from scratch instead of editing it, but that didn't save either. The verse I was going to change it to is "Our God is in heaven. He does what he wants."--Psalm 115:3 (ICB)

Skunk

On my way to work, walking to the bus stop, I saw a skunk! It was little but I didn't stop to take its picture. I warned a dog walker not to go that way because a skunk was in one of the front yards so she thanked me and kept going straight.

Quiet Time

I am enjoying Beth Moore's "David--Seeking a Heart Like His" so much! I am learning a lot and every day finding new verses to mark in my Bible that pop out at me. Starting off my day with an hour with my Lord which seems like 15 minutes is so precious and wonderful. I highly recommend this Bible study and encourage you to check out my Sunday Sharing posts from this starting in September. (Just use the search box or the archive list at the left of my blog to find them.)

New Place

Gerard gets to see his new work place today which I seem more excited about than him. He's a bit nervous about going a different route than usual--he is a creature of habit but I know he'll be fine! It's actually much easier to get to than where he works now!

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