It’s snowing. No joke! See the photos below! A day until March starts, three weeks before Spring and we have snow! Crazy!

Now that that’s out of the way, here are other quick updates:

This Saturday (8pm EST/PST) Koby will make his television debut on the Animal Planet. The Animal Planet was at the Eukanuba Tournament of Champions earlier this year and will be playing the program this weekend. Check your local listings for showtimes. I will also post my interview with Koby about his television debut.

I guess that’s it.

Oh…here is yesterday’s Joke of the Day:

This gal parked her car outside of her office and left her lights on. She returned a few hours later to find, not only a parking ticket on her windshield but that her battery was dead. I mentioned to the ladies at work that she was calling her boyfriend to come help her and later, after noticing that there were two cars parked next to her, set Sue up for this:

Me: Her boyfriend’s not going to be able to jump her.

Sue: Nope. He’d have to get really close to her and back in.

These past few weeks I’ve gotten a good taste of what life would be like as a prep sports reporter. By Sunday I will have covered 10 events in 13 days. Yes, I still do the insurance thing full time.

I thought I would share my adventures with you all as some of it is amusing, ridiculous, and/or boring.

I think I’ll break it down with the pros and cons of the job.

Pro: Free Basketball!

Okay, so it’s just high school basketball but it’s still organized basketball and it’s still free. This time of year – postseason – the games are intense, the high school band is banging their drums loudly and the student section of the gym is constantly on its feet shouting things like "You got swatted!" "He’s a freshman!" or "We’ve got spirit how about you?!?"

You will also run across the occasional player that makes your jaw-drop. Whether it be a behind-the-back pass from a quick, yet cocky point guard, a big man that passes the ball better than a guard, or a girl’s player that could start on most guy’s teams, it all makes this part of the job fun and entertaining.

Con: Missed time with the Family

In these 13 days I’ve worked nine of them covering games, which means that’s nine days that I will have not been able to spend a lot of time with my family. Plus six of those nine days I covered games immediately after my primary job which means I don’t get to read a book or kiss Lukas goodnight before bed.

Pro: Friendships

After you interview coaches a few times you begin to form a relationship with them. No I don’t date the coaches, though there are a couple (on the girl’s side) that if I was single I wouldn’t mind dropping them a, "and my final question…are you free for dinner after the game?" question. But after you speak to a few coaches you find out which ones you can ask one question to and know you’re going to get at least five quotes from, or the coaches that you have to poke and prod just to get them to say, "We played well tonight." Then after awhile you have coaches that grow comfortable with you and you end up talking to them for quite sometime afterwards.

You also become friends with some of the writers from your paper’s competitors. I hung out with one guy for three games in two days. We share quotes and stats - though it seems like I am the one usually sharing the stats - and if you meet someone cool you can joke about the coaches reactions or marvel at the play on the court.

Con: Stress

I work full-time selling insurance to people and working with four women. Trust me that can be stressful. But nothing at that job compares to what I dealt with last Friday. First there’s the writing on deadline factor. You have to write an 18-inch story in 45 minutes. Sounds easy, it’s not. You’re constantly checking the time and trying to concentrate on what you’re writing while the janitors are using their leaf blower blowing loose papers in the aisle behind you. I actually did fairly well by finishing my story in 35 minutes. Which luckily gave me enough time to prepare for what would happen next.

Oh wait…forgot to mention that halfway through writing my story the computer went blank then gave me the so-called "Blue Screen of Death", lots of numbers on a blue screen and a little note saying that it was clearing the memory. Never a good thing 20 minutes before deadline. Luckily, or by the grace of God, the computer turned back on and I was able to finish my story in time.

After my story was finished I needed to find a phone line that would connect to a modem (yes, this is an old computer) so I could send my story to the office. The janitors said I could use their closet. Their closet phone didn’t have a connection so I tried the four that are around the gym. Nothing. At one point I was testing a connection when debris came flying off the top bleachers courtesy of the janitors. I thought I was going to get bombarded by Pepsi bottles and leftover programs.

I checked my time again…10:30pm. I checked in with the office to tell them that I had the blue screen and that I’m trying to find a connection. Finally I decided to save my story on a floppy disk (I came prepared knowing I was using an archaic laptop) and drive to the office.

By then my heart was racing. It was 10:40 and I had a 15-20 minute drive to the office. With the laptop in my left arm, and the laptop bag dangling off my right shoulder, I sprinted down the hallways of the school, busted out the doors, sprinted toward the back parking lot, cutting across a muddy grass field and straight to my car, the entire time thinking "this is not worth $9.57 an hour". By the time I reached the car I was sweating profusely, my legs tired and sore from the sprint.

I made it to the office in enough time for them to read my story and tell me that I did a good job. That made me feel good because I put in a lot of work and had to deal with a lot of hassle and stress to get those friggin’ words on the page.

Last night I ran across the same problem when, at the same gym, I had to sprint to my car and speed to the office getting there right before they had to send out the paper. This time though I didn’t stress. I told myself it wasn’t worth it and that it was their fault, not mine, that I was in this situation. They scheduled me knowing that I had to use the prehistoric computer and there wasn’t anything that I could do about it. I did try and put my story on a USB port and then use another guy’s computer to send the story. Would’ve worked out perfectly except that the friggin’ computer didn’t recognize this modern technology of the USB port.

Last Saturday was good though because I got to the gym early, found a connection and a plug for my computer and ended up writing my story then sending it with no problems. That day I had to cover two games, which is tough because you have 15 minutes to write most of your story on the first game and then have to try and finish it at halftime of the second game. Then, after I finished getting the quotes from the second game I had to rush and send my first story before I wrote the second. Sounds confusing, it is.

Pro: Enjoyable

For the most part it’s fun and would love if I could make some decent money doing this full time. I love doing some research about the two teams before the game, and I love taking down the stats and making my spreadsheets of the rosters. I like that people think that your job is kinda neat and I like to see my name in the paper the following day.

Con: Time and Money

As I mentioned above I spend a lot of time with my family and as I’ve mentioned before the newspaper pays crap. Everything these days is time and money and that’s where this job fails.

As I go to press with this entry I still have two games and a state basketball tournament draw to attend. The draw means that two co-workers and me sit in a room with 32 coaches waiting to hear what time their game is and who they play against.

Happy Valentine’s Day all! Hope you and your significant other have a great day. We won’t be doing anything special as I have to work double today but that’s all right, the love is always there!

I thought I would give you an update on our weekend and other things that are going on with us.

Josh invited Lis, Lukas, Erik and I to the hockey game on Friday and we in turn invited Lukas’ friend Hudson and his parents, Graham and Sarah. They recently moved here from Canada and had yet to see the Silvertips in action. They enjoyed the game and Graham brought along a co-worker of his who was fascinated by the game, arena and fans. "It’s so cool how everyone just stood up," he said, referring to the crowd’s reaction after the Silvertips first goal. Hudson and Lukas had a fun time too, dancing in the aisles and sharing snacks.

Saturday Lis and I decided to try out this house-hunting thing. We found a couple of places via the Internet in our price range and mapped out a plan of attack. First though I went to my YouTube page to read the new comment posted on my video, "Lisy’s Battle with Leukemia". Lukas was with us and started to watch the video. He got quiet then we watched as his face grew sad. He said, "Mama" with a pouty lip and his eyes got teary-eyed when he saw Lis hooked up to the IV. He also pointed out the chemotherapy bag and again got teary-eyed. Lis and I looked at him and looked at each other in curiosity. Could he really remember this time in his life when he was just six months old? Or does he automatically relate these photos to a time when everyone around him was sad?

As the video went on he got more and more depressed and as Lis and I watched him we began to cry. It was emotional watching Lukas go through these emotions. When the video was over he reached over to Lis and gave her a big hug and held onto her tight. It was the weirdest, yet sweetest thing we’d ever seen.

Our house hunt went okay. It looks like the only things available in our price range will be mobile homes, most of them in bad shape. Man homes are pricey in this area! We did find a nice little new mobile home on a nice corner lot. We would need to build a garage or something for my ping-pong table and our bikes, but it’s a nice home and was inexpensive – a bonus!

I ended up ruining our day out because I got frustrated going house shopping. I’ve been feeling tense lately and have been getting frustrated and upset easily. When I do that my family usually feels the wrath. It’s not fair to them and it’s something I continue to work on. So the rest of the night was kinda lame. Sorry Lisy and Lukas!

Sunday we went to church and then I helped keep score at a basketball game before our game started. We won our first game that afternoon and played well as a team. We had a lot of assists and Mike couldn’t miss a shot. He was definitely in the zone and had Chris excited on the bench saying, "Man, he’s awesome!" And he was Sunday. Even Mike would later admit that he was in a zone and felt like everything he shot was going to go in. Aaron also had a good game and like I said we played really well as a team finding easy shots. Chris probably scored 10 points or so on nice and easy layins. Graham also joined us for the first time. He added some speed to a team full of forwards and ended up with a couple of steals. Me? I had a little jump hook, grabbed some boards and even got to run the point a couple of times, which contributed to my having a few assists. It was just a great team effort, have I mentioned that already?

Sunday night we went back to the high school as they were having a Valentine’s Day dance. Aaron had invited us to go and I thought it might be fun if Lis and I went. Something different to do, ya know? We hadn’t planned on bringing Lukas but after the basketball game Megan (Aaron’s wife) said it was okay to do so. He had a fun time dancing and Lis and I enjoyed hanging out and eating dessert. Lis especially liked it because we played a Human Bingo game and she was the only person there that was born outside of the United States, so she spent the entire time autographing people’s gameboards. At one point I turned to look at her and it looked as though she was a celebrity signing autographs. She had about six people around her, holding their sheets in front of her face. Too funny!

What else is new?

Oh, I got new glasses for the first time in about 15 years. I’m excited about them because they give my eyes a rest from the constant stress that contacts put on my eyes. They’re kinda neat too and make me look smart! I had wanted to get glasses for a long time but never got around to doing it. Finally I did it and I couldn’t be happier. For those of you that don’t know, Kevy started wearing glasses in 1986 and contacts in 1990. I’m pretty much blind without them on.

The high school basketball playoffs are upon us, which means I’m working a ton at the newspaper. I work five games in five nights (two on Saturday) so I’ll be worn out come Sunday. It’s fun going to the games because the gyms are usually packed and the spectators are more into these games than the regular season games. Last night I watched a very good Snohomish team defeat Kamiak. I think my story turned out well, I got a lot of good quotes, which helps fill up the column. You can read it here.

If I haven’t already mentioned it, Lis and I started watching American Idol for the first time in its six seasons of being on the air. I can see why everyone loves this show. It’s entertaining! Last night was the group round and four guys sang "How Deep is Your Love" and did an outstanding and very entertaining job. One dude is from Bothell and does beat box, he turned the slow song into an upbeat tune and the four of them moved onto the next round. Here’s the video:

It was just four months ago when I wrote in my blog about the aftershocks of cancer. One of those aftershocks was the fact that we may never be able to have kids or would have to wait five years before having kids.

That all changed today when Lis went to her routine checkup and her oncologist had this conversation with her!

"Are you and Kevin thinking about having another kid?

Lis told him that we wanted to but weren’t planning on it because we were still scared and he had told her that we should wait a few years.

"If you wanted to it would be okay to have another kid right now," the doc told Lis.

"Right now?!?" Lis responded.

"Well maybe wait until you’re in 2-years remission," he replied, which would be in November.

I wasn’t there but when I got home from lunch she shared the news, sort of. I asked her how her appointment went and she told me that everything was good. Then my Mom, who was at our house because she watched Lukas, told Lis, "And what else, did the doctor tell you?"

And Lis told me.

I was happy, and my Mom was especially glad. In fact she told us if we wanted to go upstairs for a quickie then she would watch Lukas a little longer. Oh yes, my Mom is different, but silly. It was all in good humor – we think – but she would like another grandchild.

It’s a great feeling knowing that if we want to we can. Especially after thinking that we may never be able to have another kid, then thinking that we may have to wait awhile and would we want to have another one that far down the road.

I want to. As I mentioned before, and as you all know, I grew up with two younger brothers. Two brothers that are two of my bestest friends. I loved having siblings (most of the time) and would love for Lukas to have a baby brother or sister (gulp!). Lis grew up with two older sisters and a younger sister. When we go to Brazil we hang out with them all the time. They are also close to each other. We always said we’d have two kids – if the first one was a boy – and now that opportunity presents itself for the first time since Lukas was born. I want to, and I think I want to in the next year and a half.

It’s funny because for awhile I felt that I didn’t know if I necessarily wanted another child. Lukas has been perfect. As a baby he was easy to handle. He wasn’t a loud crier, he adapted to changes very well, moving from breast milk to formula with no problems, and he’s so darn cute. What if a new one came along, what would he/she be like? I know all kids are different, will this one be a shrieker and harder to handle?

But when Lis told me what the doctor said I knew how I truly felt. I was excited. I’m ready for the challenge, I’m ready to add one more to our family, I’m ready to take another step in our lives. I’m ready to have fun!

God really has a plan and I think he’s working wonders in our life. As I mentioned in previous blogs, Lis and I continue to attend church on a weekly basis and I have started attending a men’s Bible study on Monday nights. Lately I’ve felt better about myself, my relationship with God and things that have been happening in our lives, and to hear this news only makes me feel even better than I was feeling before.

Anybody catch that football game on Sunday? Yah, I caught bits and pieces of it too. Looked pretty sloppy to me, was happy to see that team in the white, muddy jerseys win. What’s with the guy in the No. 8 jersey for the Bulls…oh Bears? He looks like a little kid, kind of throws and handles the ball like one too. And those two guys that ran the ball all over the field from the white team…the Horses, right? Anyway, those two guys were good. And that No. 18, boy he threw the ball well, especially when the blue team was draped all over him.

Okay, I’ll stop.

It was a sloppy game though, wasn’t it? Fumbles galore! Especially if you’re a Bears fan. I’m not, I sported my blue No. 18 Colts jersey and watched my boy Peyton Manning win the Super Bowl MVP. Honestly, I didn’t think he totally deserved it. I thought a co-MVP between running backs Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes would’ve been better, but I wasn’t disappointed to see that Manning won the MVP, and I wasn’t surprised because he did do a good job of play-calling and put together a nice performance in the rain.

Manning had a couple of spectacular passes that he completed with Bears defensive players wrapped around his waist or flying at him, like the touchdown pass he threw to Reggie Wayne. Question: Why was Wayne so friggin’ open? He threw for 247 yards, converted first downs when they needed them, and controlled the clock for the Colts.

Still I thought the play of the Colts dynamic duo of Addai and Rhodes was the key to the game. They both ran for 190 yards on a Bears defense that allowed 99 a game. Rhodes finished with 113 yards and a TD and Addai had 77.

Oh and that defense that sucked so bad in the regular season turned it up after the first quarter allowing three points in the final three quarters, after giving up 14 in the first. Kelvin Hayden returned an interception 56 yards for a TD and Bob Sanders also picked off Rex, who could’ve won MVP also for his contributions to the Colts victory. Okay, let’s not pick on Grossman too much. He did finish 20-for-28 with a TD and 165 yards, but he also fumbled twice and was picked off twice. Not too shabby.

Okay, enough of the sports chatter, you all want to know about the Super Bowl party don’t cha?

Here are some highlights from the Hotel Johnson’s annual Super Bowl Party:

Best Food: My Dad’s lone guest, Rick (the Steeler fan) and his girlfriend Carla made some killer meatballs. They unseeded last year’s winner, Josh’s wraps, as my favorite party food.

Best Bears Fan in Attendance

Play of the Game that Most Resembled Something I would do in my Nintendo Gamecube Game

Luckiest Party Pool Player

I guess that’s about it for the party. We had about 15 people there, had some yummy snacks and I even drank a beer and a half. Whoohoo! I’m so manly! Doing the party pool makes it more fun for the average fan and gets us excited for things like the coin toss, first team to punt, McDonald’s commercials (there were none) and other categories.