tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75745372024-03-14T00:49:53.126-04:00Fifty-three, oh five for french toast??!?I agree. $53.05 does seem like a lot to pay for french toast.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.comBlogger288125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-81163349072054161252010-09-14T10:42:00.000-04:002010-09-14T10:50:26.382-04:00Random Thoughts & Observations<div align="justify">Ok. Now that week 1 is over, a few random thoughts in no particular order:<br /><br />1. HELL TO THE YEAH!! <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap;_ylt=Ala5Xrh4ztj3CHM57yp_fYBDubYF?gid=20100912028">Redskins beat the Cowgirls</a>!! WOO HOO!!<br /><br />2. Sorry. Had to get that out. So the team won, but got statistically outplayed. They had fewer run yards, fewer pass yards, fewer first downs, less time of possession and worse third and fourth down efficiency. But guess what? We also had a better turnover ratio. Then, of course, there is the most important statistic of all: points scored. That was where we brought it home.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/coaches/Mike_Shanahan.jsp">Coach Shanahan</a> spoke in his press conference about the importance of playing the game for 60 minutes. I agree with him that evidence of this statement is demonstrated in the last play of each half. The first half ended with <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/DeAngelo_Hall.jsp">DeAngelo Hall</a> stripping the ball from <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/8902">Tashard Choice</a>, then picking up the fumble and running it in for a touchdown. The game ended with <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Brian_Orakpo.jsp">Brian Orakpo</a> being held while rushing the QB, nullifying a TD pass and ending the game. The two most important plays of the game, each played in the last seconds of the half, when many players could be thinking of packing it in and heading to the locker room. That's what a coach like Shanahan brings to this team: discipline.<br /><br />4. I noticed, watching the highlights, that Hall and Choice are both #23. Funny coincidence. (Not "ironic." That's not what that word means. Just interesting. But I digress...). I also thought it was sweet that, after the TD, Hall ran to the stands and gave his mother a kiss.<br /><br />5. The hold on Orakpo was a result of his charge to <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/6624">Romo</a> on the last play of the game. If <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/7195">Alex Barron</a> hadn't held Orakpo, it sure looked like 'Rak would have at least reached Romo and most likely sacked him. Game over anyway. Romo might have slipped out (like he did last year), completed the pass (like he did last year) and won the game (like he did last year). We'll never know. You know what? We don't need to know. Because we won. That's the difference between this team and the Redskins of the past five or so years. Incidentally, the guy who held Orakpo, Alex Barron... most penalized player in the league last year.<br /><br />6. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Graham_Gano.jsp">Graham Gano</a> kicked a 49 yard field goal! Wow!<br /><br />7. Speaking of field goals, early in the 3rd quarter, Skins kicked a short FG but Dallas committed a penatly. Shanny took the penalty (giving up the three points), which gave us 1st and 10 on the five-yard line. We were unable to convert the TD and so lined up for an even shorter FG. Unfortunately, the holder fumbled the high snap and we gave up the ball on downs. People are second guessing the Coach saying, "You never take points off the board." I have no problem with Shanahan taking the penalty. You get a chance for four downs to get five yards and a chance for seven points instead of three? Hell yeah! No one expects, even if you can't get the TD, that you'll <i>not</i> make a 15-yard FG.<br /><br />8. Now, it's on to the <a href="http://www.houstontexans.com/">Houston Texans</a>. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/coaches/Kyle_Shanahan.jsp">Kyle Shanahan</a>, our Offensive Coordinator, held the same position with Houston last year. They're still running the offense he installed. So they know our scheme and we know theirs. Should make for an interesting matchup!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-49275781418555197522010-08-27T17:05:00.002-04:002010-08-27T17:08:59.546-04:00Brothers of the Legacy, and My Defense of Jim Zorn<div align="justify">There was a very good show on Comcast SportsNet called <a href="http://blog.redskins.com/2010/07/23/watch-brothers-of-the-legacy-saturday-night-at-7-00/">Brothers of the Legacy</a>. It chronicled the friendship of two <a href="http://www.redskins.com/">Redskins</a> legends, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Jurgensen">Sonny Jurgensen</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Huff">Sam Huff</a>. It was very good. One thing that struck me was something Sonny said about the one year that coaching legend <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Lombardi">Vince Lombardi</a> was the head coach of the Redskins. Sonny said, "Lombardi, of the nine head coaches that I had, he was the only coach that simplified the game, instead of trying to complicate the game. It's executing plays. And that's what impressed me about him from the very get-go. Boy, this is a simple system, and it's successful, and why isn't everyone doing this?" I immediately thought of the last two years of the franchise under Head Coach <a href="http://www.baltimoreravens.com/People/Coaches/Jim_Zorn.aspx">Jim Zorn</a>. Now... by no means whatsoever am I trying to compare Zorn to Lombardi. However, I was and still am a fan of the Z-Man. While I don't completely disagree with those who say that he was probably in over his head as a Head Coach, I do not believe he ever got a fair chance to demonstrate whether or not he could make it. From Day One, he was set up to fail.<br /><br />A little background, for those who don't know: In the NFL, owners hire General Managers to manage the franchise, as owners generally know whatever business made them their money, and are fans of football. The GM, who knows football, then hires a Head Coach to run the team. Together, the GM and Coach hire a coaching staff, look at the personnel, cut players, bring in free agents, draft players from college and develop and implement offensive and defensive schemes. In the Zorn era (after Joe Gibbs resigned), owner Dan Snyder released heir apparent <a href="http://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/coaches/gregg-williams/5d6c0fc5-98da-4431-8490-4f1566a24b2a">Greg Williams</a> (who went on to be Defensive Coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Saints) and hired <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Blache">Greg Blache</a> to run the Defense. He hired Jim Zorn (a QB coach) to be Offensive Coordinator. This was with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinny_Cerrato">Vinny Cerrato</a> already in place as the de facto GM (I forget his actual title... EVP in Charge of Football Operations or some such nonsense). <i>Then</i>, he went in search of a Head Coach. Given his (apparently well-earned) reputation for interference, and his haphazard method of building a staff, he was unable to find anyone willing to step in to the top spot. So, he took a chance, and hired Zorn, who had helped build schemes for the Offense in Seattle, but had never been anything but a position coach, to be Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach. Many people harped on the fact that Zorn had three titles as a reason for his failure, but many NFL Head Coaches run the Offense, and Zorn had an Assistant who helped with the QBs, so I don't put much stock in that.<br /><br />As I watched the team struggle through ten wins and twenty losses under Zorn, I listened to various fans and analysts expound upon the many reasons why they thought Zorn was inadequate as a coach. I don't think I ever heard anyone hit on what I believe to be the true primary cause of our woes. "It's executing plays," Hall of Fame QB Sonny Jurgensen said about the success of the team under Lombardi. Of the scheme, he said, "[T]his is a simple system, and it's successful." Vince Lombardi, a man who is thought of by many as the greatest Head Coach in the history of NFL football ran a simple system... and the players <i>executed</i> it. I can't even remember how many dropped passes, missed tackles and missed blocks I saw over the past two years. I can't count that high. I don't need to. The point is that the players played sloppy. They didn't execute. That is the true failure of Jim Zorn -- he wasn't able to motivate the team. Even that wasn't entirely his fault, though. It is common knowledge that many big name players (who shall remain nameless) had a direct line to owner Dan Snyder. How can a Head Coach maintain discipline when players can go over his head? He can't. People also point to the team's 6-2 start under Zorn and subsequent 2-6 record in the second half of the 2008 season, and say, "It was Zorn's system. By that point, everyone had figured it out." In my many debates about Zorn's tenure with the team, I have told people, "You could have ten basic plays, but if you run them well, you will win." Hyperbole? Perhaps. But my point is exactly the point that the legendary Sonny Jurgensen makes about the even more legendary Vince Lombardi. It's executing plays. For the past two years, the Redskins haven't been doing that. So a man with no experience is put into a losing situation with no support, and isn't able to succeed. Does that make him a bad coach? I don't think so.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-58547571485300335062010-07-20T09:16:00.000-04:002010-07-21T09:18:40.273-04:00Happy Birthday!!<div align="justify">Happy Birthday, Gail! Love you BIG!!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-64177476306503889832010-06-30T15:22:00.002-04:002010-06-30T15:29:15.406-04:00Salsa, Part III<div align="justify">Ok, I know it's been a while. Shortly after the last post, I did indeed make my second attempt, as planned. The one change I made was partly planned, partly a happy accident. I wanted to make it a little spicier, so I was thinking I'd use the whole peppers, and not seed them. When I got to actually making the salsa, one of the two peppers I had bought was kinda mushy and discolored. I threw that out, and just used the one pepper, seeds, membrane and all. Wow, was that good! Just the right amount of heat. Very tasty. I haven't made any salsa recently, because we had some <a href="http://www.screaminmimis.com/">Screamin' Mimi's Sweet Hot Salsa</a> left over from our <a href="http://www.kentuckyderby.com/">Derby</a> party. That's almost out, though, so round 3 should be coming soon! Hopefully, I can duplicate round 2's success...</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-66543415011600790572010-04-26T17:23:00.003-04:002010-04-26T23:43:15.301-04:00Salsa, Part II<div align="justify">So a couple of weeks ago, I finally did my salsa experiment. It turned out pretty decent. Not fantastic, but good. I brought it to a family get-together at my Mom's and everyone who tried it (including my bro-in-law, the chef) liked it. I kind of tweaked & adjusted as I went, but these are the ingredients and about the proportions that I wound up with:<br /><br />8 roma/plum tomatoes, seeded & chopped<br />1 sprig cilantro<br />2 jalapeno or cerrano, seeded & chopped<br />2-3 cloves chopped garlic<br />1/2 chopped white onion<br />juice of 1/2 lime<br /><br />I put it all in the food processor and pureed it, then simmered it in a pan for about 10-15 minutes. Only about half the recipes I saw called for the cooking at the end. I found it really added depth to the flavor and smoothed everything out. Much better.<br /><br />So anyway, I got the ingredients, and I'm going to give it another shot. I think this time, I'm going to leave the seeds and membrane from the peppers in. I want a little more bite this time around. I think I'll puree it for a little bit longer, too. It was a bit thick last time. We'll see how goes round 2!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-40578006618142892812010-04-04T23:36:00.002-04:002010-04-04T23:57:28.303-04:00I'm Torn...<div align="justify">Wow. The <a href="http://www.redskins.com/">Skins</a> <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d817558a4&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true">traded</a> a 2nd round draft pick this year and a 4th round pick next year to the <a href="http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/">Eagles</a> for <a href="http://www.nfl.com/players/donovanmcnabb/profile?id=MCN017517">Donovan McNabb</a>. On the one hand, I feel really bad for <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Jason_Campbell.jsp">Jason Campbell</a>. That guy has put up with a <em>ton</em> of shit from this team in the past few years. Anyone who has talked Skins football with me for more than 30 seconds knows I'm a big Campbell fan. On the other hand, I'm <em>really</em> excited about the possibilities of a QB of McNabb's level being on this team! With the way the young guns in the receiving corps coming on in the later part of last season, one has to wonder how much better they'll do with an offense like <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/coaches/Kyle_Shanahan.jsp">Kyle Shanahan's</a> in place, and with an elite-level QB like Donovan throwing to them. I'm guessing this is the end of the Redskins part of Campbell's career. I can't imagine him staying after this. Hopefully, he can go to a team that will appreciate him, and give him some protection. Hopefully, he goes somewhere with a strong offensive line and kicks some major ass. Hopefully, in another division...</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-69942754467637696022010-03-11T17:08:00.002-05:002010-03-11T17:16:22.019-05:00Salsa<div align="justify">Ok, so for ages now, I've wanted to try an experiment in making my own salsa. I don't like the chunky, pico de gallo-type salsa. I lean more toward the pureed (mostly) type of tomato salsa (not salsa verde). Most recipes I'm seeing online don't specify the type of tomato. I'm thinking of using plum tomatoes, which I seem to recall <em>someone</em> saying was good for salsa. Some white onion, cilantro, jalapeno (or serrano) pepper, lime and probably some garlic. So I ask anyone who has made their own salsa, or even anyone who just likes salsa or knows anything about making it: Does that sound pretty decent? Any particular recipes out there that you particularly favor? Any proportions I should keep in mind, or warnings I should heed (<em>e.g.</em> use gloves for the peppers, add lime juice slowly)?</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-70430256470676449812010-02-13T18:33:00.003-05:002010-02-13T18:42:31.622-05:00Kiwee Toolbar and Unlocker<div align="justify">Ok, maybe someone out there can help me. Does anyone know what this damn Kiwee Toolbar is? It popped up a couple days ago. We did not download it, or anything else that it could have been piggybacking on. It just appeared one day. We used Control Panel to uninstall it, and it just popped back on the next day. Every time, it keeps doing the same thing. I tried Googling it, but every item that mentioned it either involved individually removing about 120 lines of code from the registry (which I don't want to mess with), or downloading another unknown program called Unlocker. So it's either deal with unknown, unwanted toolbar, or load questionable unknown, unwanted program to remove unknown, unwanted toolbar. Any suggestions?</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-64121093328055298672010-01-05T09:21:00.000-05:002010-01-05T09:22:00.321-05:00Zorn Era Ends, Shanahan Era to Begin<div align="justify">Well, it should be official today. Or, as rumor has it, if Buges announces his retirement today, then it should be official tomorrow. That would be the classy thing to do, so as not to overshadow someone who has been with this team for so long and has meant so much to it. So, they'll probably announce Shanny today. It will be interesting to see what he does, once he gets here. The scuttlebutt is that he's cleaning house in the coaching staff. Not shocking. I think we could stand some new blood with the assistants. Supposedly, he's bringing his son in as Offensive Coordinator, and Mike Zimmer from Cincinnati as Defensive Coordinator. Not bad. Cincy's got the 6th overall defense in the league. And.... really? The Texans (where little Shanny currently is OC) is the top passing offense? And 10th overall offense? Wow. Ok. Anyway, given our dismal record, and the flashes of talent we showed, I think a shake-up may do some good.<br /><br />The real interesting part will be seeing what Shanahan does with personnel. GM Bruce Allen said in his press conference yesterday that the new coach (he refused to name him yet) would start off with the players here, implying that wholesale change is not in the cards. This could be good news, or this could be disaster. Word is that Shanahan likes to draft young QBs and mold them to his system. This could be a fiasco if he tries to do that here, at least right away. It seems glaringly obvious to me (and to 95% of the announcers and analysts on TV & the Internet) that our top priority needs to be the O-line. If that isn't addressed this offseason, it won't matter if we put Peyton Manning in at QB. Well, maybe not Peyton, but nearly anyone else. I've made my case for Campbell here previously, and my opinion hasn't changed. He was running for his life nearly all season and still managed to throw for over 3,500 yards, 20 TDs and only 15 INTs. If you look at what he has done when he got protection, you can see he's <i>thisclose</i> to taking his game to the next level. I say give JC the protection he needs and keep him around. If coach wants to mold a young QB, draft one in a few years and begin the process. If Shanahan comes in and addresses the line, I will be hopeful. If he comes in and tries to draft Bradford or Claussen, then my suspicion would be that Snyder's still pulling the strings and we're in for another tough year.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-70067729231249113792009-12-18T16:20:00.002-05:002009-12-18T16:27:33.225-05:00Decisions... Decisions....<div align="justify">Well, it's that time of the year again. I have a Christmas gift card and Christmas cash. Now, I just need to decide what to spend it on. The first thing that popped in to my head was to buy a <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Nintendo+-+Wii/8008559.p?id=1156203165702&skuId=8008559&st=wii">Nintendo Wii</a>. Now, I'm not a huge gamer, but a few months back, I was at my friend Keith's house, and he has a Wii. We played <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Star+Wars%3A+The+Force+Unleashed+-+Nintendo+Wii/8947189.p?id=1215819388388&skuId=8947189&st=star%20wars%20force%20unleashed&lp=1&cp=1">Star Wars: Force Unleashed</a>, and it was bad as a MoFo! That would be my primary reason for getting the Wii. Not only could I play alone, but I could connect over the Internet and play against Keith, and others who have it. Also, Wii has the Wii Fit games that you can use to get exercise & burn calories. However, as I understand it, the Wii does not play BluRay, like <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Microsoft+-+Xbox+360+Arcade+Console/9267937.p?id=1218071907912&skuId=9267937">Xbox</a> and <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+PlayStation+3+(120GB)/9476952.p?id=1218115837227&skuId=9476952&st=playstation%203">PS3</a> do. I believe Xbox and PS3 will also stream <a href="http://www.netflix.com/">Netflix</a> movies. But PS3 is also $100 more expensive. There also remains the option of simply getting a BluRay player, and bag the whole idea of a game system. Or I could go another direction entirely. So, I pose the question to you, the audience. Which way do I go? Thoughts, please?</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-59253024354138358632009-11-30T18:18:00.002-05:002009-11-30T18:21:25.067-05:00City of Brotherly Love<div align="justify">Well, I had something exciting happen this weekend. We were in Jersey for Thanksgiving and Chrissy's Aunt Fran's 90th (!) birthday party. The original plan had been to head home late Saturday night, hopefully after the traffic had eased. However, at the party, we were talking to Chrissy's cousin Joe, who lives in Winchester, VA. Joe shares <a href="http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/index.html">Eagles</a> season tickets with a friend of his, and had been planning on taking his brother Mike, who was at the party too, to the Eagles/<a href="http://www.redskins.com/">Skins</a> game on Sunday. Unfortunately (for him), Mike had a flight leaving out early in the morning. Joe's wife, much like mine, would go with him and enjoy the game, but would rather him go with another real fan who will enjoy the game. After a little discussion, he asked if I wanted to go to the game! I'm sure he would rather have gone with an Eagles fan, but at least this way, he didn't have to find a sitter for the kids.<br /><br />Fortunately for me, we had brought laundry to do, so I had one of my Redskins jersey's. And, of course, I had my Skins hat. So, steeling myself for plenty of ribbing, I met up with Joe and we headed to the <a href="http://www.lincolnfinancialfield.com/">Linc</a>. I wasn't overly fearing for my safety for two reasons: 1) I'm not the type to come back at drunken idiots yelling at me. I'll just let it lie. 2) What were they going to say that I didn't already know? "Redskins suck"? I'd just shrug and say, "And?..." While I certainly think we have potential to play much better than we have, we are currently 3-8.<br /><br />So we head to the park and look around for a parking spot. On our 3rd side street, we finally find a spot and pull in. There are two guys sitting in lawn chairs enjoying some pre-game beverages. Of all the possible spots on all the streets and all the fans milling about, guess what? One Eagles fan and one Skins fan! So we chatted with them as we ate the <a href="http://www.wawa.com/WawaWeb/">Wawa</a> hoagies we picked up on the way in. Once we were done eating and pontificating, we headed to the stadium. As many people as we passed, I was surprised not to hear any comments until I was about a block from the stadium, when a police officer directing traffic shook his head ruefully, sighed and said, "I know you can't help it." This brought me to attention of another fan who called out, "Here's an asshole!" After that, I made it the rest of the way to the stadium relatively unscathed. A few times, I hears "Redskins... mumble mumble..." muttered under someone's breath behind me.<br /><br />Before the game, Joe showed me around the stadium a bit. A little mini-tour. It is a very nice stadium. A lot more character to it than <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/articles/FedExField_524.jsp">FedEx Field</a>. There was HeadHouse Plaza, an area where various vendors hocked their wares while a band played on stage. In addition, there was an Interactive Zone with activities for kids, including Play 60 activities. I even saw a few Skins fans milling about, though not nearly as many as there were Eagles fans at FedEx four weeks ago. Inside, next to the pro shop, there was a hall of fame area that had names on the walls of past players, glass towers showing notable past players, photo collages showing key moments from each decade. In the South corner of the field was the Miller Lite Phlite Deck, where a band played at halftime.<br /><br />After the tour, we headed toward our seats. Upper level, row 5. However, in our section, there is what I believe was an area for handicap seating, which took up the first four rows, and was lower than where our seats were. So, for all intents and purposes, we were in the front row of the upper level! Naturally, on the way there, I heard "asshole!" a couple more times, as well as "Redskins suck!" Once we made it to our seats, the people around us were very nice. The one exception being a Redskins fan two rows behind us. He was so annoying, <i><b>I</b></i> wanted to smack him, and we were rooting for the same team! He was much louder than I was, and repeatedly called for Philly players to get injured or killed. I'm all for healthy competition, and good-natured "insults" between fans, but he crossed the line. I don't want anyone (even <a href="http://www.dallascowboys.com/">Cowboys</a> players or fans!) to get hurt or killed. I just want a good game, hopefully that the Redskins win. I did get a good game. Unfortunately, we lost 27-24. Not a huge surprise, but disappointing. On the way out, one Eagles fan in the row behind us even tapped me on the shoulder and said admiringly, "You guys played a tough game!" Guess that's about the most we're going to be able to hope for this season...</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-44096599440189545032009-11-20T10:39:00.003-05:002009-11-20T10:44:32.193-05:00Letting Go and Moving On<div align="justify">I was looking at my sporadic blog, and at <a href="http://fft5305.blogspot.com/2009/09/mister-update.html">my earlier post</a> about our new cat, Mister. I realized I hadn't posted a picture of him here. I had put some pictures of him on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=740765034&ref=profile">my Facebook</a>, but not here. There may be some people who see this who don't see my Facebook, and vice versa. So in any case, this is Mister:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uxUidqwb9q4/Swa4dkIJsjI/AAAAAAAAAFI/60XijQg8euA/s1600/NJ+(garden+and+kitty)+028.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 113px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uxUidqwb9q4/Swa4dkIJsjI/AAAAAAAAAFI/60XijQg8euA/s200/NJ+(garden+and+kitty)+028.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406211220758442546" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This segues nicely into the subject of my post. I've been struggling recently with letting go. I saw a comedian (I think) a while back talking about friends who have died, and how long you should wait before deleting them from your cell phone. Oh, wait. It was George Carlin. It was his last special on HBO before his passing. Interesting. Anyway, in a similar fashion, I don't know how soon is too soon to change my digital presence to reflect Buddy's passing. I have a picture of Buddy for my avatar on several different sites to which I regularly post. I have a pic of Buddy as the wallpaper on my phone. A few times, I have gone to change it, wanting to put a pic of Mister on there. But I always stop before I do. I feel like somehow I'm betraying Buddy's memory by doing so. I know that's completely irrational, and strictly an emotional reaction, but there it is. So, how soon is too soon?</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-14251412773674097102009-11-17T18:19:00.004-05:002009-11-20T10:12:54.326-05:00Some Stats on Jason Campbell<div align="justify">Toward the beginning of the season, I had a discussion with another <a href="http://www.redskins.com/">Redskins</a> fan regarding <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Jason_Campbell.jsp">Jason Campbell</a>. Like many others, he stated that he thought Campbell needed to go. I disagreed, saying that the problem was the Offensive Line, not the Quarterback. We agreed that we would see who was right by mid-season. Now that we're into the 2nd half of the season, I went through some stats and put together an argument for my side as follows:<br /><br /><strong>During the <a href="http://www.kcchiefs.com/default.asp">Kansas City</a> game</strong>, when Campbell was benched at half, and <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Todd_Collins.jsp">Collins</a> came in:<br /><br />- Campbell was 9 for 16 for 89 yards. 1 sack, 1 INT, 0 TD. QB Rating 46.1<br />- Collins was 6 for 14 for 75 yards. 2 sacks, 0 INT, 0 TD. QB Rating 60.1<br /><br /><strong>Last week against <a href="http://www.atlantafalcons.com/">Atlanta</a></strong>:<br /><br />- During the first half, the Offensive Line gave no protection. Campbell was sacked 5 times. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Clinton_Portis.jsp">Portis</a> had 4 runs for 4 yards. Then, Portis went out with a concussion. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Ladell_Betts.jsp">Betts</a> came in and had 4 runs for 14 yards The team had 1 FG. No TD.<br /><br />- By all counts, <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/coaches/Jim_Zorn.jsp">Zorn</a> and <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/coaches/Joe_Bugel.jsp">Bugel</a> completely ripped the team for playing terribly (stating, among other things, "This is not <a href="http://www.popwarner.com/football/">Pop Warner</a> football!"). During the 2nd half, the O-Line began blocking much better. At which point:<br />- Betts had 11 runs for 56 yards + 1 reception for 23 yards. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Rock_Cartwright.jsp">Cartwright</a> had 7 runs for 16 yards. The Line gave up no more sacks and team scored 2 TDs.<br /><br /><strong>This week agains <a href="http://www.denverbroncos.com/">Denver</a></strong>, the O-Line blocked better than they have all year, and:<br /><br />- Campbell went 17 for 26 for 193 yards. 1 TD, 0 INT.<br />- The Skins rushed for more yards than they had all season, and scored more points than they had since week 2 of last season.<br />- Campbell's <a href="http://www.nfl.com/help/quarterbackratingformula">QB rating</a> for the Denver game was 100.3, which was better than the week 10 ratings for <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/8795">Joe Flacco</a> (98.1), <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/4256">Payton Manning</a> (97.4) and <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/4650">Donovan McNabb</a> (93.7).<br />- Campbell's current QB rating for season is 87.9, which is better for the season than media darlings, such as <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/8780">Matt Ryan</a> (78.8), <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/7760">Jay Cutler</a> (76.0), <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/7406">Matt Cassel</a> (75.3).<br /><br />All of which is to say that I think Campbell is a good QB. I'm not saying he's Payton Manning or <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5228">Tom Brady</a>, he just needs an Offensive Line that protects him. He got that in the beginning of last season, and the Redskins went 6-2. He didn't get it at the end of last season, or the beginning of this season, and the Skins went 4-12 for that period. He got it on Sunday, and we beat the 6-2 Broncos, who were and are still at the top of the AFC West. I rest my case.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-25703383172539146552009-09-25T11:46:00.002-04:002009-09-25T12:24:37.671-04:00Mister Update<div align="justify">First big kitty news, Mister had his first vet appointment yesterday. Well, not exactly his first, but his first with us. He had two vet appointments in NJ before coming down here. But this was his first time seeing our vet, Dr. Shah. It was so cute. We walk in a couple minutes after 8:00 a.m. (our appointment was at 8:00), and there is half the staff waiting to see our new boy! They all loved Buddy so much, they were all excited to meet Mister. Naturally, they all thought he was adorable.<br /><br />He was very curious about the new surroundings. He jumped on the exam table, jumped down, did a few laps around the room, jumped on the counter, jumped down. At one point, he tried to jump up on the top edge of a corkboard on the wall. That didn't work out so well. But he was able to push off before falling down and he landed safely back on the exam table. Best of all, though, he got a clean bill of health from the doc. Yay!<br /><br />Even though he was really good while he was there, he still wasn't too happy about the whole experience. When we got home, he pretty much ran for the bed and stayed there most of the day. He seems to have settled down now, though, and he's looking forward to a visit from his Aunt Noelle this weekend.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-56778608863566456812009-09-14T13:44:00.001-04:002009-09-14T13:47:28.891-04:00Vacation and New Beginnings... and New Beginnings?<div align="justify">Well, we're back. We spent last week at the beach in Wildwood, NJ. Naturally, it rained almost every day there. Of course, except for Friday, when we were packing up to head back. But, as the old saying goes, a bad day at the beach is better than a good day at work. Seriously, though, vacation is vacation. I always feel that you can't control your circumstances, you can only control how you react to them. Whether we were able to sit out on the beach, or were stuck in our room, or wherever else we went, it was up to us to have fun. And so we did. We went to the <a href="http://usnasw.org/">Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum</a> at Cape May Airport. We went down to the Boardwalk one morning when it hadn't started raining and rode rented bikes. We played <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pressman-Toys-0400-06D-Rummikub/dp/B00000IZJB">Rummikub</a>. We visited <a href="http://www.douglasscandies.com/">Douglass Fudge</a> for the first time, where I found that the fudge well exceeded that of any other I have tasted. In fact, they have sugar-free fudge that tastes better than any other regular fudge I have ever tasted! (sorry <a href="http://www.jamescandy.com/">James</a>). We finally got to try chocolate-covered bacon from <a href="https://www.laurasfudge.com/index.html">Laura's</a>, after seeing it on <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/dinner-impossible/index.html">Dinner Impossible</a>! Everything really <i>is</i> better with bacon.<br /><br />We did finally have to come back. But we were not alone. As you know if you read this blog, last month, we had to put our beloved Buddy to sleep. Well, about four or five months before that, a young cat began loitering in my mother- and sister-in-law's garage. After a several phone calls, discussions and back-and-forth decisions, they decided to keep him. Not for themselves, but for the unfortunate, inevitable time after Buddy was no longer with us. We knew we would want another cat at some point, we just weren't sure how soon. Well, a month later, we knew we would be in NJ for our shore vacation, and decided to bring Mister home with us when we came back. They had taken him to the vet, so we knew he was a healthy, neutered male about two years old (sadly, many people in that area drop unwanted pets off in the countryside, rather than find homes for them or take them to shelters). It has been just over a day, and he seems to be adjusting pretty quickly. After the initial lap around the apartment looking for the way back to the garage he knew, he worked is way under our couch. He stayed there for about an hour, before finally coming out. He walked around again, trying to figure out where he was. He eventually got used to us enough that he sat in my lap for a few minutes. Then he wandered again, eventually ending up on the couch. He spent most of the afternoon sleeping (he had a rough morning), with periods of waking up to explore. He still hasn't eaten or drank much, but we're hoping that, as he gets used to the fact that he is safe here and his food is safe here, his appetite will pick up.<br /><br />The other, fortunate-yet-unfortunate new beginning was the new football season which began this weekend. The <a href="http://www.redskins.com/">Redskins</a> lost their opener to the <a href="http://www.giants.com/">Giants</a> 23-17. The game really wasn't as close as the score and stats might indicate. They looked fairly outplayed in many aspects of the game. I don't know what happened to the much-touted West Coast Offense that we displayed to great effect against the <a href="http://www.steelers.com/">Steelers'</a> 1st team in preseason. It looked like Zorn had abandoned the passing game and reverted to the Gibbs run run run game. The "upgraded" defense looked like it got some of the big plays (a sack and 2 turnovers) it wanted, but at the expense of basic good play across the board. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/DeAngelo_Hall.jsp">DeAngelo Hall</a> got an INT, but missed several tackles that let big plays get by him. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Albert_Haynesworth.jsp">Haynesworth</a> created some pressure, but not enough to collapse the pocket on the QB as we wanted. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Brian_Orakpo.jsp">Orakpo</a> was virtually invisible all night. I certainly hope this was just a rough beginning and we'll shake the rust off next week. There's no reason we shouldn't beat the <a href="http://www.stlouisrams.com/">Rams</a> next week, but then again, there was no reason we should have lost to them last year!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-77640989330314887962009-08-26T15:00:00.002-04:002009-08-26T15:04:05.437-04:00Sad News and Angry Letter<div align="justify"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uxUidqwb9q4/SpWG0l7O0rI/AAAAAAAAAFA/2Qui_mAb51o/s1600-h/Bud+Bud.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 156px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uxUidqwb9q4/SpWG0l7O0rI/AAAAAAAAAFA/2Qui_mAb51o/s200/Bud+Bud.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374349968428421810" /></a><br />As I'm sure most of you are aware (especially those on Facebook), we had to put our beloved Buddy to sleep. To make a very long story short, he was at least 15 years old (we never new for sure <i>exactly</i> how old) and diabetic. Toward the end, he stopped eating and drinking, and was so weak he could barely stand. We really did try everything we could (antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, testing his blood sugar) to give him (and us) as much time as possible. We finally had to let him go. It got to the point where it was not going to be fair to him any more. It was a difficult decision, and the first time either of us had to make that decision, but it had to be done. By the time we actually brought him to the vet, his condition had deteriorated to the point that neither of us had any doubt that we did the right thing. It was tough for us, but right for him. *sigh* Very sad.<br /><br />Ok. That was the sad news. Now, the angry letter. An angry e-mail, actually. A while back, I had been noticing some delays in the turnaround of the movies on our <a href="http://www.netflix.com">Netflix</a> queue. I went back & forth with Netflix customer service sending me non-responsive form letters that had nothing to do with my problem. Someone finally answered me personally, that Netflix was sorry, blah blah blah, if it happens again, let them know, more details, yadda yadda yadda. It happened occasionally after that, but for the most part was fine. Recently it has gotten worse again. So I did a little looking on my history and wrote back to them. Maybe you can tell me if this happens to you, too. When we return a movie, we put it in the mail, Netflix receives it the next day, then ships out the next movie later that same day, we receive it the following day. Three day cycle. One day each for shipping each way. What I have noticed is that during periods when we watch a lot of movies, suddenly, it takes two days for them to receive our returns. This month, we have returned eight movies (with a ninth on the way back). Our last four movies were mailed on two consecutive Mondays, but Netflix didn't show them as received until Wednesday, which means we didn't get the next movies until Thursday. This only seems to happen when we exceed about five movies in a month. What I suspect is that, when our frequency of return becomes to high, they will receive a movie, but hang on to it for a day before officially marking it as received. The more movies we can get out of them in a month, the more processing they must do and the more postage they have to pay. If they can slow us down a little, it saves them money. Maybe if we get fed up enough, we'll upgrade our membership and they can make even more money.<br /><br />Hmm. Just thought of something else. I didn't think about until I was just writing this post. I'm sure they will say that they have no control over the Post Office, and it's probably just random delays. The one problem with that, which I did mention in the e-mail, is that the delays <i>only</i> occur when our frequency of rental increases. The other problem, which just occurred to me, is that the shipping delay <i>never</i> occurs when they ship us the movies. Only when we return them. <b>That</b> would be a pretty big coincidence...</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-18891610189117187852009-08-10T00:27:00.003-04:002009-08-10T00:41:13.953-04:00Borrowed Time<div align="justify">Well, we got some bad news from the vet today. It's a pretty safe bet that our Buddy has an abdominal lymphoma. In other words, a cancerous tumor. It was a fairly emotional morning. Our vet, Dr. Shah, is really wonderful. I think he's really trying to get us to realize that it's not going to be much longer. There was some discussion as to whether we should put him to sleep today. The other options consisted of nothing (where he would waste away to nothing), Prednisone (which would have had too many side effects), Metacam (an anti-inflammatory, which would hopefully alleviate some discomfort or pain he may experience, and allow him some quality for what time he may have left). So we decided to go with the Metacam. We'll see how that does for him. We also got an antibiotic, since he seemed to be displaying some of the same symptoms he had before when he had a mouth infection. We hope that between the two medicines, he'll start to feel a little better and start eating better. When we can get him to eat, he seems to perk up quite a bit. The problem is getting him to eat. If all goes well, and everything works as we hope, we're still probably only looking at a couple of months. But for now, he's home, and he doesn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-20648860106630133532009-07-28T10:09:00.002-04:002009-07-28T10:21:30.814-04:00Redskins Training Camp<div align="justify">Well, it's almost upon us. Camp starts this Thursday, I believe. (Why it starts on a Thursday, I have no clue.) I've thought about going to Fan Appreciation Day, but I think I'll pass. a) Don't want to go solo. b) It's going to be hotter than Hades, not to mention humidity roughly equal to that of the Atlantic. c) The older I get, the more crowd averse I get.<br /><br />As we get closer to the season, naturally, all the prognosticators have to put in their $0.02. Not too many people are giving us much of a chance. I think the collapse of the O-line in the 2nd half of the season is looming large in everyone's mind. I, on the other hand, think we'll do much better than last year. I certainly hope so. Of course, I am optimistic. I am a fan, no? In any case, it's not entirely without cause. Our defense, already ranked 4th last year, has added <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Albert_Haynesworth.jsp">Albert Haynesworth</a>. He should draw double, sometimes triple coverage in the middle, meaning someone else should come free to go after the QB. His presence also should effectively shut down (or at least limit) the middle lane for RBs. We also added <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Brian_Orakpo.jsp">Orakpo</a> on the line and <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Phillip_Daniels.jsp">Daniels</a> is back and healthy. In the secondary, we re-signed <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/DeAngelo_Hall.jsp">Hall</a> and <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Carlos_Rogers.jsp">Rogers</a> has had a full offseason of working on a healthy knee. No question our defense should be greatly improved over its already spectacular performance last season.<br /><br />The greatest question marks appear on the offense. Here's why I think we'll do better this season. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Jason_Campbell.jsp">Campbell</a> is in his 2nd year under <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/coaches/Jim_Zorn.jsp">Zorn</a>. His handling of the off-season shenanigans of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Snyder">Snyder</a> & <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinny_Cerrato">Cerrato</a> shows his maturity and determination to be the leader of this team. I think he will make great strides this season. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/articles/Campbell_Needs_Young_Receivers_to_Step_Up_36233.jsp">Last year's rookie receivers</a> are now healthy, know the system, have adjusted to NFL speed and have had an entire offseason to work with Campbell. I think they will step up and give defenses someone to cover other than <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Santana_Moss.jsp">Moss</a>. <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Clinton_Portis.jsp">Portis</a>, as usual, is a machine (though I don't get the new look...). Another 1,000+ season. The O-line is the only area of concern. They've certainly gotten younger, with the release of <a href="http://www.nfl.com/players/jonjansen/profile?id=JAN692150">Jansen</a> & <a href="http://www.nfl.com/players/petekendall/profile?id=KEN043723">Kendall</a> and the return of <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Derrick_Dockery.jsp">Dock</a>. The question is, will they gel as a unit and stay healthy? If they do, I think there's no limit to what this offense can achieve. Apparently, <a href="http://blog.redskins.com/2009/07/27/an-optimistic-season-preview-courtesy-of-madden-nfl-10/">Madden 10 agrees</a> with me...</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-20816622719778806332009-06-23T20:36:00.003-04:002009-06-23T21:02:22.907-04:00Two for Two!!<div align="justify">For the second night in a row, Larry Michael read one of my questions on <a href="http://comcastsportsnet.tv/pages/redskinsnation">Redskins Nation</a>!! Last night, I asked if the <a href="http://www.redskins.com/">Skins</a> would consider putting <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/players/Rock_Cartwright.jsp">Rock Cartwright</a> in on punt returns. Tonight, in response to the recent <a href="http://www.redskins.com/gen/articles/Redskins_Unveil_New_Parking_Lot__Tailgating_Procedures_42232.jsp">press release</a> regarding the changes in the parking and tailgating rulse, I asked what the shuttle situation would be this year. This time, they didn't use my last name, but they still said "Michael from Crofton." Those were my only two emails so far, so I guess I'm going to have to come up with some more questions.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-86832576114411172592009-06-22T22:18:00.003-04:002009-06-22T23:59:35.204-04:00I'm Famous!!<div align="justify">Most people who know me (and many who don't) know that I am a big Redskins fan (and season ticket holder!). There's a show I've been DVR-ing and watching on <a href="http://www.comcastsportsnet.tv">Comcast SportsNet</a> called <a href="http://comcastsportsnet.tv/pages/redskinsnation">Redskins Nation</a>. It's a nightly show, hosted by Larry Michael, who does the play-by-play on the Redskins radio broadcasts. Every show, they do a segment with fan questions. People can write in and ask questions, and Larry and the Official <a href="http://blog.redskins.com/">Redskins Blogger</a>, Matt Terl, answer. Tonight, they led the segment with a question I sent in last week! They even said my full name and location, so there was no doubt it was me! Yaaayy!!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-19454983591790433142009-06-22T13:27:00.002-04:002009-06-22T13:54:42.005-04:00Double Lobster<div align="justify">I guess any weekend where you have two lobster meals can't be all bad. On Saturday, Chrissy's company had their annual summer gathering. This year, it was at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. They have a Fosters Clambake tent right by the water. I think I heard that the clambake goes on every weekend, but they rent out for groups on occasion, too. In any case, they had the company picnic there on Saturday.<br /><br />They served clam chowder, steamers, lobster, grilled chicken for the non-shellfish peeps, corn & potatoes with blueberry cake for dessert. The weather in the morning was very cloudy and icky, and "they" were predicting possible intermittent showers through the day, and temps around 91. I think that scared some people away, as somewhere around 1/2 the people who had RSVP'd that they were coming didn't show. Fortunately for us, that meant that, as we left, there was lots o' lobster leftover, and they began giving it away! So we each took one home with us and warmed them up yesterday! Yummy!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-44106974693401994002009-06-05T10:04:00.002-04:002009-06-05T10:06:57.854-04:00Facebook v. Blog<div align="justify">I was updating some info on my blog, when I realized I hadn't updated in forever. I realize a lot of this is due to now being on Facebook. I hadn't realized quite <em>how</em> long it had been, though. I guess all I can say is that I'll try to do better... Right now, though, I need coffee.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-66980527188105092009-04-10T15:07:00.002-04:002009-04-10T16:03:46.587-04:00Back from the Bluegrass!<div align="justify">Granted, it was only 5 days off (2 of which were the weekend, so we had them off anyway), but a vacation is a vacation... even if it's just a mini. Chrissy and I took a few days off work and went to Kentucky to see some horsies. We left early early Thursday morning from BWI and flew into Louisville. We picked up a car there, and headed to <a href="http://www.churchilldowns.com/">Churchill Downs</a>, where they run the <a href="http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2009/">Kentucky Derby</a>. We did the walking tour, and visited the Derby museum, where I ran into a woman who was doing research and taking photos for a book she is doing on things to do in Kentucky. She took my picture on a racehorse simulator, so I may appear in a photo collage in her book! Then we went to <a href="http://www.woodfordreserve.com/">Woodford Reserve</a> distillery. Woodford is the official bourbon of the Derby. Nice tour and nice tasting there. I won't go into full details on everything, or this post will be more like a novel.<br /><br />Highlights - we visited the following stables: <a href="http://www.vinery.com/">Vinery</a>, <a href="http://www.threechimneys.com/">Three Chimneys</a> and <a href="http://www.darley.co.uk/homepage/us?country=US">Darley</a>. We visited <a href="http://www.oldfriendsequine.org/">Old Friends</a>, which is a retirement farm for former thoroughbred race horses. Spent quite a bit of time with Michael Blowen, who started and runs Old Friends. We went to <a href="http://www.keeneland.com/default.aspx">Keeneland</a> race course on Saturday. Went to the <a href="http://www.kyhorsepark.com/">Kentucky Horse Park</a> on Sunday, and took a horse park tour (including Winstar Farms). We had dinner at <a href="http://www.malonesrestaurant.com/">Malone's</a> steakhouse (a Top 10 in the Country on a few different lists). I tried bison for the first time, at <a href="http://www.tedsmontanagrill.com/">Ted's Montana Grill</a>, not Malone's (pretty good - not as tender as beef, but similar flavor). One of the funniest things that happened was when we were at Vinery. We saw a horse there named Repent. I went to pet him, and he moved his head around. Didn't quite try to nip my fingers, but not far from it. Then, I went to scratch his chin. Well, that must have just been the magic spot for him, because the moment my fingers made contact, he about fell into a trance. He became perfectly still. After a bit, I stopped, and he began moving around again. Then I went for the chin again, and sure enough, he froze. Cracked me up! Check it out...<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WY1nG4IhlU4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WY1nG4IhlU4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Anyway, overall it was a very good trip. Saw lots of horses, had lots of good food. Did a lot of running around, though. Now, we're trying to catch up on our sleep. Not doing a very good job, I might add. I think I need another vacation.<br /><br />P.S. Congrats to <a href="http://ourfantasticfamilyjourney.blogspot.com/">Sharon & Steve</a>! They finally made it home yesterday after a long, arduous process to adopt their new daughter from Russia. Welcome home, Victoria!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-69153485076149398792009-03-24T17:06:00.003-04:002009-03-24T17:15:48.984-04:00Happy Birthday Buddy!<div align="justify"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uxUidqwb9q4/SclMKS-GEgI/AAAAAAAAAE4/KOiGR-s2NDo/s1600-h/Good+Good.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uxUidqwb9q4/SclMKS-GEgI/AAAAAAAAAE4/KOiGR-s2NDo/s200/Good+Good.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316864574862266882" /></a><br />Today is the 15th birthday of our cat, Buddy! Actually, since Chrissy was his 3rd or 4th owner, we don't <em>really</em> know how old he is, but based on estimates from his vet records, and pictures of when he was little, we estimated. Also, I'm not sure how, but I seem to remember having some sort of indication that this was the time of year he was born, so we just picked this day... He's getting up there in years, and he's definitely slowed down a bit, but he's still doing pretty well. He's still seems happy. He's still interested in food. He eats, drinks, and uses the litter box. He still sleeps on my chest every night. Actually, he starts on my chest, then moves down to my legs, then (usually) will move on to the bed at some point, but not always. Occasionally, the alarm clock goes off and he's still on my legs. :-) He's so sweet...</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574537.post-18605316350233591412009-03-18T11:02:00.001-04:002009-03-18T11:02:41.843-04:00Country Week<div align="justify">I'll keep this brief, since I'm home sick. It was country week on Idol, with mentor Randy Travis. Oddly, no one sang a Randy Travis song. Michael sang Garth Brooks. They're always saying they want to see what kind of artist someone will be, and Michael showed it. Good job. Allison sang Blame it on Your Heart. The song was a bit old for her, but at least none of the judges mentioned her age! Woo Hoo! Kris, Danny, Anoop and Megna all kicked ass! Lil was ok, but seemed a bit uncomfortable. Scott wasn't great, but he keeps going through, I think, because no one wants to vote against a blind guy. Alexis did pretty well, but the judges weren't crazy about her performance. Matt did well, but not as great as the judges thought. Adam was just weird. He sang some weird middle eastern arrangement of Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. I hated it, but then I'm biased. I can't stand him. We'll see what America thinks. I'm hoping he goes home, but I could see Allison or Lil going home instead.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15458179135941048647noreply@blogger.com0