15 September 2009

Goodbye, Pedometer, We Hardly Knew Ye

I lost my pedometer on Sunday. On a walk. In grass. Good luck finding it.

I was really enjoying seeing how many 'steps' I had taken. For the 27 days I kept record, I took 273,590 steps. I walked about 27.5 miles. A good indication of how much I liked it, twice I left the house forgetting my phone, but I never forgot the pedometer.

10 September 2009

2009 NFL Season, and This Hurts

Bear down, Chicago Bears, and we'll follow you to victory!

What is this? An offense? The Bears haven't had this kind of scoring offense since, never. Even the 84 team with McMahon and Payton didn't have the kind of point scoring potential that these Bears do with Cutler, Forte, and tight end Greg Olsen. This team has the potential to light it scoreboards all around the NFL. This is a top five offense. I'm excited, like when Grossman was good a few years ago, but without the flakiness. However, my Bears have the same sort of issues on defense that they did a year ago ... I believe they will improve from last year, but will it be enough?

Unfortunately, I just have to say no, and it hurts to say this, Green Bay is just too good. So here are my predictions for the year:

NFC:
East - Eagles
North - Packers
South - Saints
West - Seahawks
Wild Card 1 - Bears
Wild Card 2 - Cowboys

AFC
East - Patriots
North - Ravens
South - Colts
West - Chargers
Wild Card 1 - Steelers
Wild Card 2 - Titans

NFC Champion: Packers
AFC Champion: Chargers

Superbowl Champion: Chargers

The surprise team of the year: Kansas City Chiefs, new staff with a winning pedigree, a good home field advantage, and let's face it, they are playing Denver and Oakland twice. I think they will jump up to 8-8 or 9-7.

I think the Bears, Saints, and Colts are A-/B+ teams, but I think the Packers, Chargers, and Patriots are all A's. I think the Chargers division opponents make for an easy schedule, and the best record in football. I think this will allow them to get to the playoffs better rested and in better shape, so this is their year.

I'll happily be wrong and have my Bears win it all!

09 September 2009

Four Birthdays and a Wedding

Dear friends: seriously, couldn't your parents just have gone shopping the day after Thanksgiving? There are way too many birthdays this time of year, so many that it is tough to keep up on the blog, or cleaning, or breathing. Throw in a wedding, dances, and a walk or two and it's no surprise I haven't updated in a couple weeks.

We've already covered Kaleb and Ben P. in a previous post, so we start with JNO two Friday's ago and plow through.

Matt(s) - Maeg
Shouldn't the universe implode or something?

100_7860.jpg - Me
Ben achieves swinglightenment.

More here from me, Maeg and Cliff.

The next day we gathered at Lisa's house to enjoy a little birthday celebration for Matt.

100_7888.jpg - me
The birthday boy got a DVD with me on it, oh wait, I mean The Office.

IMG_0371.jpg - Matt
What is going on here? Be sure to hand Vivian a shovel prior to her explanation.

Way too many pictures of the pink hat can be found here from me, Maeg and Matt. Make sure you check out the cake Donna made for Matt.

The next day was Sunday and Troy wanted a have a low key lunch, to watch the air show, and to play some games to celebrate his birthday.

Troy & Jinx - Maeg
The birthday boy demonstrates the proper way to hold Jinx.

100_8005.jpg - me
Troy must have some pull to get the Blue Angels to perform just for him.

More here me and Maeg (Maeg's is a combo Troy & Ben's birthday set).

After some gaming and fun, it was time to celebrate the 21st birthday of Ben C. So we headed down to the Old Market and had dinner at Blue Sushi. Continuing on from there we did an Old Market pub crawl.

IMG_0394.jpg - Matt
Are you gonna finish that?

100_8026.jpg - me
Ben at the French Underground. This is probably his best moment of the evening, don't be surprised if some documentation is not available for public review.

Even more visual evidence of this legal activity can be found here: me, Maeg (Maeg's is a combo Troy & Ben's birthday set), and Matt.

The intervening week was fairly uneventful, but sure enough, Friday came back around and it was another busy weekend starting off with JNO at Creighton.

100_8074.jpg - Me
Ben C. appears in another birthday jam? Well, yes, but not his own.

100_8103.jpg - me
Wait, didn't I say Anna was out of town? She promptly put this up as her profile picture.

Don't we ever quit with the camera? Apparently not, more here from me and Maeg.

Kate got married. No, really she did, look for yourself. The reception was an odd combination of swing and folk dancing/music, and oddball pop. I even did a folk dance, and enjoyed it.

The Wedding - Maeg
The vows are exchanged, or Kate is telling Michael what to do a little prematurely.

100_8197.jpg - me
Actually there was all kinds of dancing. This reminds me of my gypsy relatives when I was a boy.

I'm betting there about 2,000 more photos all over the internet, but here are mine and Maeg's.

The next day in the early afternoon I went for a walk at NP Dodge Park and then up to the Boyer Chute.

100_8208 - me
We saw some wild turkeys, but they evaded the camera.

100_8211.jpg - me
There was much more flora than fauna.

Just six more pictures here.

Which brings us to Sunday evening and the last of the birthday events (for a whole week). It was Maeg's birthday, and we celebrated with food and games/Rockband, two of the three things you might expect (not counting booze).

IMG_0499 - Matt
Don't let the smile fool you, in her hands, those chopsticks are deadly.

Return to Game - Maeg
Maybe I should take this for my profile picture.

Yep, we took bunches of pictures of this too, here are some from me, Maeg, and Matt's starts here.

Monday may have been a holiday, but Maeg, Merinda, and I got right into Cowtown planning. Sheesh, the next few weeks are busy too!