#Miller6Pack

Yes sports fans, my beloved Irish fell to the Wolverines of Michigan. Yes, people are saying it was a great game. I'll admit it was exciting, but great, not overly so from my sideline. Call this a "sour grapes" post if you wish, and I'll admit, sour grapes are probably an influence, but compiling this was actually a little bit fun. Bottom line, Michigan won, Notre Dame lost. I can deal with that. But I don't have to like it. Yes ND had plenty of blown opportunities to win the game I can deal with that. Yes in the 2nd half the Irish failed miserably in major facets of the game (Run Defense, Kicking Game, Playcalling in final minutes of the game.) As a coach, I always tell my kids that blaming referees doesn't change the outcome of a game. You can't control the referees and you have to learn to play through a bad call, but what I witnessed Saturday at "The Big House" was one of the most one sided, blatant, inept refereeing jobs I have ever seen. N

5 Years ago we officially became a family of 3. I have already told the story of our "Gotcha Day," which is a phrase used by adoptive families to mark the day that the parents and child "got" each other and became a forever family. It wasn't until just a little bit ago, that I realized that this seemingly innocent phrase was so controversial in the adoption community. I won't go into the details but if you Google "Gotcha Day" you will find the strangely heated discussions. Honestly, I am continually amazed by how certain types of people look for something negative in anything they can. Well, for the Millers, "Gotcha Day" is an endearing and powerful phrase that we use to celebrate our union as a family. It doesn't cheapen the bond, it doesn't imply any selfish desires or motives. People who want to be miserable and nitpick everything under the sun can do so, but it won't stop us from celebrating one of the most amazing days o

Well day 4 is in the books and everything went pretty well. No, I don't plan to post a blog for all 180 days of Kindergarten, rather I figured I would finish off the week just because. Today, I still had a little "heart tug" moment, but not as intense as the past few days. I have been trying to explain to Gracie that I will eventually drop her off in front of the school and not go all the way in and she says OK. So today I figured I would take advantage of the moment and when we got in the double doors I said "OK I'm going to let you go find your room and go play by yourself." Gracie gave me a little bit of a look like she wasn't sure how to deal with it, but once again I sucked it up and said, "you'll be fine, you know where to go." As I walked out to the car, I had twinges of "I hope she's OK," and "was she ready for that?" but they turned into being thankful for how far we had come. When I told the story to Amy sh

Day 3 for Gracie in Kindergarten was fantastic. Our commute was awesome and upon arrival at Sunnyside School we met a huge busload of kids on our way to the main entrance. I held the door open as the kiddies all filed in. Then Gracie and I made our way down the hallway and were greeted by Mrs. Roach's sub Mrs. Gonsalves with a big "Hello Gracie!" Gracie immediately went into the room and headed for her cubbie. Me, being the seasoned veteran that I am said "Have a good day Gracie," to which she said, "You too!" I headed out and tought about how far we had come in just 3 days. I am so blessed.

First of all it's late, and I'm near brain-dead after another action packed, emotional roller coaster day, so the typos and errors will probably abound in this post. Well I thought that surviving Gracie's first day of Kindergarten meant that Day 2 would be a breeze. I was in for a big surprise. Gracie goes with me in the mornings as I work across the parking lot in my office at Kellogg Middle School. So we did our 4 minute commute and talked about everything from yesterday's rainbow to where I went to Kindergarten. (we drive by the original Sunnyside School on our way) When we got to the school, I parked. Then Gracie and I walked through the doors and down the hallway. Gracie's teacher, Mrs. Roach was off doing things so the door to the classroom was closed. So I calmlyl had G leave her backpack with the others by the doorway and took her out to the playground. I could tell she was a little rattled, like I was as we were both expecting to be able to go in the clas