The final countdown

I wandered out of bed this morning and headed to our local Fox station to talk about what to expect in the final days before Christmas. The breaking news of the hour was that the general manager of the Redskins stepped down, so the fact that this segment even happened at all was surprising.

OH, and no I do not have a publicist. It's a good thing they weren't showing my face when she said that. I'm sure my first reaction was priceless!

Toy story

Our friends' annual holiday party, which brings in lots and lots of toys for needy kids, was a raging success again this year. It's crazy to see how this party has grown from seven of us sitting in the living room of a two-bedroom apartment in 2002 to...this:


This year, the party featured...

4 kids, including my two favorite sisters...

Incredible food, as usual:

The debut of this year's addition to Paul's Christmas sweater
lovingly crafted by my mother, who realizes it's kind of a joke:

More than $1000 in donated toys, including a Jay Cutler action figure
and Easy Bake oven, which I opened...

...and this breadmaker, which has regifted itself through our group of friends for the last six years but, to my knowledge, has never been opened.

Baby steps

Chad came home from physical therapy earlier this week with something to show me. Of course when I decided to record this for posterity he was none too pleased, but as you can see, we are making progress!

CBB is back!

It's video time again, since Ellen has neglected the blog, you get another video from me.

We are college basketball fans. I am a huge fan. Ellen enjoys it and likely humors me a bit too. Many of you will likely remember this game if you follow CBB and/or the Fighting Illini. You might also remember the cast of characters from that season: Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Luther Head, Roger Powell, James Augustine and more. That year, IL lost one regular season game and lost their second game in the NCAA championship to UNC.

Ellen and I were able to attend the IL-G'town game here in DC which occurred right around the time the Illini become the #1 team. That was a great win for the Illini and most of the stadium was wearing orange. Even though it was in DC, it was pretty much a home game for IL.

While the season fell one game short of the goal of a NCAA championship, in the tourney that year, they played one of the more exciting games I've seen. This video gives a nice summary, including a 3-point shot from Dee Brown at around the 30 sec mark that had no business even making the rim, let alone going in that night. That was part of a comeback against Arizona that was unlikely, to say the least.

So enjoy. I look forward to another great season of College Basketball. Next IL game: Sunday, December 13, 2:30 ET (1:30 CT).

Sick and tired

I always know I'm really sick when I take a shower and it doesn't make me feel better. And then when I've been sick for a few days, I come to a point where I really think I'll never be well again. Truly. I wonder.

(Mom, you don't need to call me. I'm not sick. This is an analogy.)

Today I had this overwhelming realization - kind of like you feel when you wake up and you realize that you're on the mend after those hours and days of not believing you will ever be yourself again. For the first time, in those moments, you come to realize that you may not be sick for the rest of your life.

Today I got to work and realized that the chaos of the last few weeks was over. I may not be this busy or stressed out for the rest of my life. It was an unexpected epiphany.

For weeks now, when my alarm has gone off in the morning I've repeated, "Ok, hang in there. Only [fill-in-the-blank] days until Cyber Monday." I've peeled myself out of bed and prayed for the strength to make it through the day until I could collapse under the covers again. I work so much during the first few weeks of November - probably somewhere between 60-80 hours a week, which I know isn't unusual for farmers but is a lot for me - that I neglect everything and everyone else. And Cyber Monday, which comes after the chaotic weekend of Black Friday and nearly two weeks of a different research report every day, is always my light at the end of the tunnel.

At about 10 a.m. today, I felt like a sick person taking a shower, realizing that maybe - just maybe - I have emerged unscathed. Rachel and I went to grab lunch and, as we were sitting there talking about life and Christmas and nothing in general, I told her, "I feel like I survived." It's so ridiculous, but I feel like I have. Again.

This afternoon, I crossed some things off my checklist. Cleaned my desk. Planned for the next few months. Thought big-picture. Left by 6:30. Home by 7:00. Walked the dog. Dinner at 9:00 (ok, so we're still late). Bed a little after midnight.

The holiday season might not be over, but it's nice to know that I'm over a major hurdle. Something tells me many retailers are feeling the same way.