Of Money & Football, and 2 Days Till the Move (October 2010)

From October 5, 2010

"Money!  Money!  Money!  I NEED MONEY!!!"  (Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas movie)

I wouldn't be feeling too bad right now were it not for the fact that I am coming to Whidbey Island with no money and no money in my bank account and no way to get any money into that bank account by the end of the month even if I start working right away.  

The first bill to come out of that account within the next few days will be for the car insurance, and obviously not something I can do without.  I will be coming to the island on an empty gas tank.  Right now, my kids have more money than I do and I'm not going to be asking for their help when they have to find work for themselves to cover their own needs.

"I'd go out on the streets,  but you've only got one."  (Sally Field as recently divorced Emma in Murphy's Romance)

Ed has flip-flopped again -- first saying he would make sure we had some money to get by when we got there, and now he is so angry that he says I don't deserve any money, that he has spent all his money on this move and the fact that I am claiming the money as community property doesn't make any sense.  He says he doesn't care what the courts determine because as far as he is concerned there has been no marriage for years (red flag: stalling on future child support payments or reducing them).... makes me wonder why he never left years ago... I guess he still needed me around for some reason... like to run the business, his household, his kids, and his life...

My posts are all so depressing.  Kind of makes me want to stop writing for a while until there is something good to report.

Well then here is something positive to report:

In the wee hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep, I roamed around on the internet for awhile and checked out the latest blogs on the Denver Broncos website.  After watching the magic between quarterback Kyle Orton and head coach Josh McDaniels over the 2009 football season, I figured Orton was somebody who's career is only going to get better.  

He has been playing professionally for six years but Orton has already joined Peyton Manning (in 2009), Kurt Warner (2000) and Steve Young (1998) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with 295 or more yards in each of the season’s first four games. They are the only passers in the history of pro football to accomplish this feat.  That can't be all too shabby.

Just in the most recent game against the Tennesse Titans he finished with 352 yards of total offense in a 26-20 comeback win.  In fact, his effort against the Titans marked Orton’s third consecutive 300-yard passing game. That represents the longest current streak in the league.

And if that isn't enough to impress someone, Orton has totaled 1,419 passing yards, the second most in NFL history through a player’s first four games.  With his two touchdown passes in the red zone against the Titans, he improved his career TD-to-INT ratio inside the 20-yard line to 43-3, which stands as the fourth best mark in the NFL among active players.

So in spite of the fact that Matt Hasselbeck led a great year for the Seahawks in 2007 with some impressive stats, he hasn't really done anything to match Orton's record since.  I have to give Hasselbeck credit for being the Seahawks' all-time highest-rated passer (83.3) just ahead of Dave Krieg's 82.3, and I have to give him credit for 17 career 300-yard games (over Dave Krieg's 11).  But Hasselbeck has been at this for 12 years now, twice the amount of experience as Denver's Kyle Orton...

Maybe Hasselbeck should have stayed in pro-bowling instead....  I'm just sayin'....

Now that I have a reason to smile, here is photo that makes me smile even more:

My two youngest are sitting on the skull of a triceratops at the Museum of the Rockies in 2006.  Ellie is eating a cookie, but you gotta love the smile on Anna's face!!

LATER:

2 days till the move!  There has been another setback in the child support.  Montana Vital Statistics never sent us Elena's birth certificate and a copy is required for CSED to determine child support.  It will take about 2 weeks before I receive it in Oak Harbor, so that adds another two weeks before I can send in the paperwork.   At least I can still get the CSED paperwork notarized while I am here.

Montana's average child support for three children is $9855/year, or $821.25/month... pretty low when compared to the cost of living on Whidbey Island. 

Back to another football note:

Pardon the random football notes.  It is how I cope with a very stressful situation.  

I really want to see the Broncos/Ravens game this Sunday but don't know if I will be able -- It is not likely to be broadcast in WA, anyway.  Right now the Broncos have the #1 ranked passing offense, but the Ravens are leading in pass defense....  could be a very interesting game (even though the Broncos lost to the Ravens last year).  The Baltimore Ravens have done pretty well, but Denver has the better players and they don't allow for a lot of running.  So I guess the running game may very well determine the winner. 

I better be able to find that game on the internet somewhere...

More smiles for me:

I think Anna's favorite museum exhibits have been the reptile and amphibian displays.  She has great admiration and appreciation for these cold-blooded creatures.  Here she is gazing admirably at a snake...

  

 ....who appears to be returning the intense gaze.