Coach Erb Leads Team to Lots of Medals

Mister John, aka Coach Erb, helped lead the Mary Star Academic Decathlon team to many medals earlier this month. His first team won 18 individual medals as well as bronze medals for Super Quiz and overall. The second team won 15 individual medals as well as silver medals for Super Quiz and overall. This was the largest medal haul yet for Mary Star. Woot!

There would be pictures of the team but those really aren't allowed without parental consent so here's a great picture of Coach Erb in action, walking along the floor before the event. He didn't know that Miss Jill, aka the Speech Coach was secretly taking pictures from the sidelines.

While each student received a minimum of two medals (two received SEVEN), Coach Erb only receives plaques for team success. Luckily for him, he received four this year to match the four from the previous year. Who says plaque is bad for you? He thinks not!

After the event, Coach Erb said, "I'd like to thank my students, my Speech Coach, but most importantly, I would like to thank my rabbits for allowing me to spend some time with my students and not just feeding them carrots."

Some Pictures from the Monterey Coast

Miss Jill and I made our way to the Central Coast in order to buy Monty, a new (to us) car. This is a 2007 Volvo S80, again pictures upcoming, and as we acquainted ourselves with the new car, we drove up and down the coast and took many beautiful pictures of the scenery.


The surf was quite high last weekend as it topped out at almost 20 feet. Luckily we were high upon the palisades and rocks above to take these pictures.

Later on we did hit one more mission. Well, we visited it; if we hit it, then our new car would have been most displeased. I'm not sure where we our on our "Mission Count" but Carmel is one of the missions which looks quite kept up. Coincidence that it's in a very exclusive neighborhood? Hmm...

Anyway, it's back to my judicious reading of Derrida for my class next week. Nothing quite says excitement like reading Différance.

John Spotted in Monterey, Later Trapped in Can

Twas an interesting weekend for Mister John as he and Miss Jill went to pick up a new car (pictures coming soon, we promise). On the way, they visited the sweeping coastal landscape of Monterey Bay where the surf reached an incredible 15-18 feet this weekend. Surf's up, indeed.

On the way this scenic photo of the shoreline was taken just north of Big Sur. There are many other pictures which will be added in the next few days. What the viewer cannot see is the steep cliff about three feet away from Mr. John. He was just itching to get outta there as soon as the picture was taken. Wuss? Maybe... but he does look out for number one: Miss Jill.

On the right hand side, utter catastrophe. Mr. John was walking through one of the buildings down in the former Cannery Row section in Monterey when he unwittingly became trapped in a sardine can. Luckily for him, it was just him and not dozens of his fishy friends. On that note, TV Turtle did tag along for the ride this vacation. And as all you casual and die-hard bloggers know, TV (Theodore Victory) Turtle LOVES fish. He had a fish-filled weekend and we made we left the windows in the back of the car open because he smelled... well, fishy.

Flip flop. See ya.

Root Beer Float Has Something to Say

From the desk of Root Beer Float:

"I'm cute. That is all."

New Car!

Photos Upcoming!

Elephant on the Head?

Watch out, Chee is on the bed and she's got an elephant named Trumpet on her head! Re-name the blog! Elephantonthehead!

That silly bunny is the ultimate bed rabbit. She'll sit at the foot of the bed and rest there. If only one of us is lying in bed early in the evening, she will sit on the other side. And at night she will alternate between sleeping on the floor and on the bed in between us at our feet. The only problem is that she likes to be fed at 5am. I guess I get those duties most of the time.

Miss Bugg and Flowers Remind Sister To Behave

Miss Bugg and Flowers, the older siblings of Cherry Bugg, have reminded her repeatedly in e-mails to lighten up on the rest of their family. According to Flowers, "You have bitten our nephew and nieces on the butt one too many times. If you keep that up, Mr. John and Miss Jill might not give you as many apple slices. Those taste really nice on a wood floor if you mix in some water with that as well."

Cherry Bugg responded with her typical defiance. "Impudence! Subterfuge!" With a bit of a disgruntled growl, she turned and hid in the cage underneath Mr. John and Miss Jill's bed. Oddly enough, Mama and Papa Bugg have stayed out of this argument. Rumor has it that Papa Bugg tagged along with Mr. John and Miss Jill to Santa Anita on Sunday afternoon. He likes the horse races almost as much as he likes smokes and whiskey. While Miss Jill did give him a sip of a Bloody Mary, he behaved quite well otherwise.

Meanwhile Ruby Jane, the niece of Cookie Anne, Flowers, and Cherry Bugg, remained quiet about the family conversation. All she wants is to have her toenails trimmed occasionally, have her own supply of carrots, and a sauna. Go figure.

Early Morning Chair for Chip

Sunday morning means relaxing. Especially for our little boy Chip who sits warmly in his chair. Nothing like having your own weekend throne.

Chip Gets Blessed

In front of St. Joan of Arc Church, our bunny Chip was officially blessed by the pastor and will no longer suffer from chronic thumping caused by demons. He will go potty in the bin like he is supposed to and he will never nibble on things like phone cords ever again.

Or at least that is what he has promised us. Otherwise, it's back to get him exorcised.

Bunnies Not So Hoppy on Rainy Day

Unlike the cartoon character (see right), the Erb family bunnies are stuck in their cages on this rainy day and are quite unhoppy. Chip remains in his, flopped and staring at the while. Root Beer Float and Ruby Jane remain huddled, staring out at the rain falling upon the grass. Cherry Bugg remains indignant, true to her self. And Phillip just hates water altogether. Meanwhile Mister John needs to remember not to wear Crocs when walking down wet sidewalks.

Meanwhile Mister John continues to read his Superfreakonomics book and highlight materials for this year's Super Quiz. Ah, the Academic Decathlon waits for no man or rain storm.