Ok. Lots to recap so I will go in short form:
-Leah and I spent our New Years Eve with the Rafal's at their Scottsdale home. The four of us (and young Winter) dined on Leah's artichoke dip teaser (A+), salad, steaks, potatoes, and Asparagus. I was stuffed, but made sure I made room for my last desert for a few months - a Carol's Cookie sundae. They sell the famous Carol's Cookies at a gourmet grocer in Scottsdale so we brought them over with ice cream and hot fudge. We started early and went back to Leah's parents about 11:15. We tried our hardest to stay up until midnight, but just couldn't make it. I had been out the night before and got banged up with Rafal and another friend of his. I didn't get my customary daily two hour vacation nap in. We did see midnight in the East on TV.
-In regards to New Years Eve, I heard a clip of Dick Clark on New Years Eve on ABC. It is beyond sad. I'm surprised that he would want to put himself out there looking and sounding the way he does after his stroke two years ago. I felt so bad for him.
-While we were away the king of awful human beings, Saddam Hussein, was executed. He was hung to death. In the sick world we live in, the video is up on youtube. We had a conversation about the death penalty and interestingly, my sister in law Jessica's take was that while Hussein definitely deserved to die, hanging is too cruel of a way to kill someone. I thought that was quite interesting, and quite crazy. Bottom line, Hussein oversaw the murders and rapes of thousands of people in Iraq and stories of how he tortured not only women, but the athletes who played for the Iraqi national teams were astounding. To me, the guy should have been strung up by his balls, had his eyes gauged out with a knife, and ravaged by a pack of angry Lions.
-On a happier note, the reason I didn't get in my nap on the 31st was because Leah and I went to see MD's kids. Stacey came with us (she is a team player) and brought both Casey and her dog Bailey with us. Both Jace and Reese have been calling for Casey for weeks. Everytime I talk to either of them, they ask "how's Casey." Reese only says words, not sentences yet. He favorite words seem to be "Todd," "Beah," and "Casey." The best though is after meeting Bailey, she would look at both dogs and say "Cayley." Classic. The kids were cute as usual and we had fun watching them run around after the dogs. The ex-Mrs MD was actually not so bad. We did have a frosty hello - she gave Leah and her mom hugs and I walked right by her to grab Reese. Reese gave me a huge hug as I picked her up, and she wouldn't let go for 15 minutes. I'm sure the ex loved that! Anyways, it was great as always to see the kids and made me even more excited to have my own soon.
-Speaking of my son, we had an ultrasound yesterday morning. The boy was looking good and progressing well. they told us he was in the 50th percentile (whatever that means), currently weighs 4 lbs, 6 oz, and has hair already. I'm know, your shocked - my kid has hair. I told my boss that and he said "knowing you, the kid will come out with hair on his balls already." They also told us that the due date may have shifted now to the 22nd of February. Leah wants him out early as she is more and more uncomfortable each day. I think she is going to get her wish. The date I think he is coming will be February 17th.
-Last night, we attended an infant CRP class. After the first 30 minutes, Leah turned to me and said "I forgot how much I hate classes." It turned out to be very informative and interesting. We learned about child safety in the home, how to administer CPR on an infant, how to stop a baby from choking, and how to give the Heimlich Manuver. We have our baby basics class this Saturday morning. This is where I learn proper techniques on bathing, putting on diapers, etc. Since I know nothing, this should be good.
-I just found out this morning that the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament this year have sites in Columbus and Chicago. With the new pod system that is in place, the top three seeds in each region are placed as close to their campus as possible. I saw all of the other sites and Chicago is definitely the closest site for my KU Jayhawks. I'm sure with my luck, KU will be playing their first two games in Chicago now that I no longer live there.
-I wish I could have stayed up to see it, but the finish of the Fiesta Bowl Monday night was one of the alltime classics in college football history. Boise State was leading the whole game before Oklahoma came roaring back. Down 28-20, they scored 15 points in the last minute and a half, including an interception runback for a TD to stun the Boise State team and fans. Now trailing by seven, Boise needed a miracle. Its 4th down and 18, 17 seconds left, Boise State ran the old Hook and Ladder play to perfection and scored the game tying TD to force overtime. In OT, Oklahoma's stud Adrian Peterson's scored on the first play, giving OU the seven point lead. Boise State was stuck with another 4th down situation needing a TD. They put their backup wide receiver at QB, and had him throw a pass to the corner to their tight end who scored. Instead of kicking the extra point and going for the tie, they went for two and the win. QB Jared Zabransky took a shotgun snap, faked a pass to the corner, and handed the ball behind his back to RB Kyle Johnson who ran into the end zone for the 42-41 thrilling win. After the play, Johnson ran to the sidelines, got on his knee and proposed to his girlfriend, a Boise State cheerleader. All I can say is wow.
-This Britney Spears is too much. She had quite the year. She gave birth to her second child with that wanna-be lose K-Fed, dropped Fed-Ex and started going out every night getting loaded, gets photographed with no panties on which is seen all over the Internet, and now comes New Years Eve. She passes out just after midnight at her own party at the Las Vegas club Pure. I nominate her for mother of the year. What a friggin disgrace she has become. She should just pose for Playboy and get it over with already. Meanwhile, on the 30th, my brother in law texted me from work (he is a sous chef at the hottest restaurant in Scottsdale, Olive and Ivy) saying Britney was there. The next day we had brunch there and our waiter said not only did she smoke like a chimney (the restaurant is non-smoking), but she left a very skimpy tip. Supposedly she was seen later that night with Cardinals QB Matt Leinart. I say gossip Perez Hilton has nothing on me.
-Casey seems a little depressed about being back home. She definitely misses her grandma and her new friend Bailey. They say dogs get back at you after you leave them for a while. I didn't believe that theory until Tuesday morning when I was greeted by a big Casey dump on the dining room floor.
-Has anyone ever parlayed success and played one job off another quite like Nick Saban? Yesterday, the Miami Dolphins coach accepted a 8 year, $32 million offer to take over the reins at the University of Alabama, just 2 weeks after saying in a press conference "can we stop talking about this? I am not going to take the Alabama job." While he is rightfully being called a liar by every media outlet, you have to hand it to the guy. After he won the 2004 National Title at LSU, he was approached by the Dolphins to take over their entire organization. He got a huge deal, hemmed and hawed, and took the job that made him one of the top three highest paid coaches in the NFL. With the Alabama job, he is now the highest paid coach in all of college football. All of this in a span of two and a half years. Pretty amazing.
-Leah and I spent our New Years Eve with the Rafal's at their Scottsdale home. The four of us (and young Winter) dined on Leah's artichoke dip teaser (A+), salad, steaks, potatoes, and Asparagus. I was stuffed, but made sure I made room for my last desert for a few months - a Carol's Cookie sundae. They sell the famous Carol's Cookies at a gourmet grocer in Scottsdale so we brought them over with ice cream and hot fudge. We started early and went back to Leah's parents about 11:15. We tried our hardest to stay up until midnight, but just couldn't make it. I had been out the night before and got banged up with Rafal and another friend of his. I didn't get my customary daily two hour vacation nap in. We did see midnight in the East on TV.
-I am in full starvation diet mode. The last two days it has been soup for lunch and Lean Cusine's for dinner. I know that people say that moderation is the way (Mark P), but for me, its all or nothing. I have to be able to skip out on everything good for 6-8 weeks to get down to where I need to be. It has become an annual event. Once I get past that first couple of weeks, I'm ok. Those first two weeks are tough.
-In regards to New Years Eve, I heard a clip of Dick Clark on New Years Eve on ABC. It is beyond sad. I'm surprised that he would want to put himself out there looking and sounding the way he does after his stroke two years ago. I felt so bad for him.
-While we were away the king of awful human beings, Saddam Hussein, was executed. He was hung to death. In the sick world we live in, the video is up on youtube. We had a conversation about the death penalty and interestingly, my sister in law Jessica's take was that while Hussein definitely deserved to die, hanging is too cruel of a way to kill someone. I thought that was quite interesting, and quite crazy. Bottom line, Hussein oversaw the murders and rapes of thousands of people in Iraq and stories of how he tortured not only women, but the athletes who played for the Iraqi national teams were astounding. To me, the guy should have been strung up by his balls, had his eyes gauged out with a knife, and ravaged by a pack of angry Lions.
-On a happier note, the reason I didn't get in my nap on the 31st was because Leah and I went to see MD's kids. Stacey came with us (she is a team player) and brought both Casey and her dog Bailey with us. Both Jace and Reese have been calling for Casey for weeks. Everytime I talk to either of them, they ask "how's Casey." Reese only says words, not sentences yet. He favorite words seem to be "Todd," "Beah," and "Casey." The best though is after meeting Bailey, she would look at both dogs and say "Cayley." Classic. The kids were cute as usual and we had fun watching them run around after the dogs. The ex-Mrs MD was actually not so bad. We did have a frosty hello - she gave Leah and her mom hugs and I walked right by her to grab Reese. Reese gave me a huge hug as I picked her up, and she wouldn't let go for 15 minutes. I'm sure the ex loved that! Anyways, it was great as always to see the kids and made me even more excited to have my own soon.
-Speaking of my son, we had an ultrasound yesterday morning. The boy was looking good and progressing well. they told us he was in the 50th percentile (whatever that means), currently weighs 4 lbs, 6 oz, and has hair already. I'm know, your shocked - my kid has hair. I told my boss that and he said "knowing you, the kid will come out with hair on his balls already." They also told us that the due date may have shifted now to the 22nd of February. Leah wants him out early as she is more and more uncomfortable each day. I think she is going to get her wish. The date I think he is coming will be February 17th.
-Last night, we attended an infant CRP class. After the first 30 minutes, Leah turned to me and said "I forgot how much I hate classes." It turned out to be very informative and interesting. We learned about child safety in the home, how to administer CPR on an infant, how to stop a baby from choking, and how to give the Heimlich Manuver. We have our baby basics class this Saturday morning. This is where I learn proper techniques on bathing, putting on diapers, etc. Since I know nothing, this should be good.
-I just found out this morning that the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament this year have sites in Columbus and Chicago. With the new pod system that is in place, the top three seeds in each region are placed as close to their campus as possible. I saw all of the other sites and Chicago is definitely the closest site for my KU Jayhawks. I'm sure with my luck, KU will be playing their first two games in Chicago now that I no longer live there.
-I wish I could have stayed up to see it, but the finish of the Fiesta Bowl Monday night was one of the alltime classics in college football history. Boise State was leading the whole game before Oklahoma came roaring back. Down 28-20, they scored 15 points in the last minute and a half, including an interception runback for a TD to stun the Boise State team and fans. Now trailing by seven, Boise needed a miracle. Its 4th down and 18, 17 seconds left, Boise State ran the old Hook and Ladder play to perfection and scored the game tying TD to force overtime. In OT, Oklahoma's stud Adrian Peterson's scored on the first play, giving OU the seven point lead. Boise State was stuck with another 4th down situation needing a TD. They put their backup wide receiver at QB, and had him throw a pass to the corner to their tight end who scored. Instead of kicking the extra point and going for the tie, they went for two and the win. QB Jared Zabransky took a shotgun snap, faked a pass to the corner, and handed the ball behind his back to RB Kyle Johnson who ran into the end zone for the 42-41 thrilling win. After the play, Johnson ran to the sidelines, got on his knee and proposed to his girlfriend, a Boise State cheerleader. All I can say is wow.
-This Britney Spears is too much. She had quite the year. She gave birth to her second child with that wanna-be lose K-Fed, dropped Fed-Ex and started going out every night getting loaded, gets photographed with no panties on which is seen all over the Internet, and now comes New Years Eve. She passes out just after midnight at her own party at the Las Vegas club Pure. I nominate her for mother of the year. What a friggin disgrace she has become. She should just pose for Playboy and get it over with already. Meanwhile, on the 30th, my brother in law texted me from work (he is a sous chef at the hottest restaurant in Scottsdale, Olive and Ivy) saying Britney was there. The next day we had brunch there and our waiter said not only did she smoke like a chimney (the restaurant is non-smoking), but she left a very skimpy tip. Supposedly she was seen later that night with Cardinals QB Matt Leinart. I say gossip Perez Hilton has nothing on me.
-Casey seems a little depressed about being back home. She definitely misses her grandma and her new friend Bailey. They say dogs get back at you after you leave them for a while. I didn't believe that theory until Tuesday morning when I was greeted by a big Casey dump on the dining room floor.
-Has anyone ever parlayed success and played one job off another quite like Nick Saban? Yesterday, the Miami Dolphins coach accepted a 8 year, $32 million offer to take over the reins at the University of Alabama, just 2 weeks after saying in a press conference "can we stop talking about this? I am not going to take the Alabama job." While he is rightfully being called a liar by every media outlet, you have to hand it to the guy. After he won the 2004 National Title at LSU, he was approached by the Dolphins to take over their entire organization. He got a huge deal, hemmed and hawed, and took the job that made him one of the top three highest paid coaches in the NFL. With the Alabama job, he is now the highest paid coach in all of college football. All of this in a span of two and a half years. Pretty amazing.
-Finally, tomorrow my beautiful, 8-month pregnant wife Leah turns 31. I have told my readers several times how amazing she is and how much I love her, so I won't bore you with more of the same. But I have to tell you that she has been such a good soldier during her pregnancy. She is obviously getting more uncomfortable as the days go by - he feet swell from time to time and her back gets sore. Like any pregnant women, it is hard for her to sleep comfortably. But she is managing well. I know her better than anyone, but I cannot wait to see her in a new light, as a mother. She is going to be amazing. I also have to send a happy birthday out to my grandmother, who turns 93 tomorrow. She is truly an inspiration to us all. Both birthday girls, my mom, and I will be dining at Bluepoint Grill tomorrow night to celebrate.
Song of the Day: "Around the World" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
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