A quiet but productive weekend

Get most of my daughter's Christmas shopping done? Check.

Install some needed weatherstripping on the drafty backdoor to the house? Check.

Cook a very tasty red beans and rice dinner for the family today? Check.

Get sufficient rest to get over this cold I've had for a week? Check.

Find time to hit the holiday wine tasting at Ourglass with L, and have some Layer Cake Shiraz last night? Check.


It's all good. :-)

Running Hot And Cold

Another week, another cold. Don't know if I just ran myself down, or caught something on the flight back, but it's here and I feel tired and congested. Been taking Zicam this go-round - seems to be working OK.

My Jacksonville trip was a blast. Went down last Friday morning with 2 of the guys I tailgate with. We stayed just outside of the airport - headed into downtown JAX in the late afternoon and hit a reception for the BC booster club. I met a lot of other friends there and caught up with a bunch of people. We headed over to The Landing a few hours later - it's an outdoor tourist trap on the St. John's River, lots of bars and restaurants. Had an overpriced steak for dinner and hung out in the courtyard with the other fans, listening to cover bands and knocking back some adult beverages. By the time we left, there were probably a couple thousand people there having fun.

Saturday morning we did the one-stop shopping deal at the local mall...hit the Walmart/Always supermarket for provisions, and the guys went to the liquor store next door for some Jim Beam. Got down to the stadium lot around 10:30 and settled in with a couple dozen BC fans to tailgate. One friend's brother (who is now a local) gave directions to a coworker to get him to our lot, then figured out they knew one another from schooldays.

The game was a grinder...left too many points on the field in the first half and got shut down in the second. The funny part was my friend getting put on national TV after the deciding INT return...his cellphone started ringing off the hook with calls and text messages that he was a celebrity. I told him he was now the poster boy for BC fan depression.

Did some more tailgating after the game, then it was back to the hotel, where we finished up in the lounge. Flew back Sunday. It was a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Having a cup of coffee, getting ready to load the car and head out to visit my brother-in-law. Back on Friday and then the last BC home game of the year. Booked my trip to Jacksonville next weekend for the ACC championship game, which should be fun.

Safe travels to all who are on the road and in the air today.

Birthdays

L. and I took a friend to All Seasons Table for a birthday dinner this past Saturday night. He liked the restaurant as much as we do - and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. We had sushi as appetizer, and I had some crispy duck in a Thai sauce. Fried green tea ice cream for dessert. Happy to see the restaurant full at 7pm, with folks waiting on tables. Then home to watch a disheartening BC loss.

Did a lot of errands over the weekend, as well getting to the gym both days. Taking tonight off, so it's been 5 out of 7 days. It's a good start, and I'm hoping to keep to a similar schedule this week. Brought in my winter clothes and put the summer ones out in the garage...with temperatures in the high 20s the past few days, it's about time.

As for the other birthday, our oldest cat turned 17 over the weekend. Bebop's been part of our family since we bought our house - we have a picture of him smelling G when we brought her home from the hospital. He's slowed up considerably and has some trouble seeing - right now he's curled up next to me on the couch as I type this.

Shhhh.....batteries recharging

It's a quiet Friday night...no plans at all. The only definite item on the agenda is taking a friend out to dinner for his birthday tomorrow night; other than that, there's things to do like bring in the winter clothes/take out the summer clothes, housework, etc. That's all on my time and pace, which I'm thankful for. And with that, I bid you good night.

Super Special Overnight Posting!

I'm sitting on my couch, half-asleep, waiting on a DBA in Dallas to finish a backup and upgrade Oracle software. I went to bed around 9:30 and slept fitfully until 1:30. If I can get back to bed by 4, I'll be shocked. Looks like a long day ahead of me. Ah, the exciting life of the IT professional - and yes, I am getting overtime.

Been trying to get back on my exercise routine. Between football games and a cold, I'd been out of the gym for a week and a half. My gut has expanded accordingly, so it's time to get serious. I made it to the gym last night and tonight, but I already know I'm going to be too zonked to do much of anything Thursday.

Saturday night was a doozy. Got up to my usual parking place at BC around 5pm, and wound up sitting in the car for 2 hrs with The Captain and Count Macula, drinking beer and talking. The weather was horrendous...cold with wind-driven rain. By 7pm, we headed up to campus to meet up with our usual tailgate crew, who ran late. The funny part was meeting an FSU fan who was a good friend of my cousin down in NJ back in the day. Wound up getting stuck with 8 ounces of Bushmill, which I had to down just before gametime.

The weather actually improved during the game itself...the rain let up by halftime and the wind died down by game's end. Not a happy ending for the good guys, unfortunately. I wound up getting home by 1:30am and was appropriately useless on Sunday.

Winter is starting to rear its head - getting the winter clothes out and putting the summer clothes away is at the top of my to-do list this weekend. I already scheduled some maintenance for the snowblower with the local hardware store. It's about 37 degrees in the backyard as i type this, and I'm warm, albeit tired.

Shelter From The Storm

Just starting to see some rain from the remnants of Hurricane Noel. I have a decision to make in a few hours as to my pregame activities before FSU-BC. There's no question of staying home, but I need to decide when and where to meet up with people. The latest forecast is for heavy rain and wind in the hours just before kickoff.

Just getting over a cold, and I'll most likely get drenched even if rain gear, but hey. I'm a fan and this is what I do.