Something to Believe

We're creeping closer to Christmas. Better start my shopping soon, huh?

It was a long weekend. Not in terms of days, but activity. On Friday morning, I got a call from my mother, who told that her condo building in Hampton, NH, had been without power since the previous night. While we were soaked with rain near the coast Thursday and Friday, north and west of 495 were slammed by an ice storm that knocked out power in parts of Massachusetts and much of New Hampshire. With temps dropping down to the teens Friday night and no end in sight to the outage, I didn't want my mom to have to stay in a cold apartment, so I drove up and brought her home. It was pretty creepy once I took the exit off Route 101: the only light was provided by the full moon. Her complex had a generator and had lights in the hallways and in their first floor lounge, where a bunch of folks including my mom had dinner and were playing cards and other games. We got back here around 9. On Saturday, we went to Hannah's soccer game and then she decided she wanted to head back up to her place, so I took her home at 3. As it turned out, the power in her building was back by 5 or so, but it's still out for a lot of folks in both MA and NH.

I went to the holiday party for my running club last night, armed with appetizers that Deb made. It was a good time. Still waiting to hear who gets the six Boston Marathon numbers that the club gets for volunteering at the marathon every year. I put my name in the hat a few weeks ago. A committee is going through the applicants and is supposed to make its selections today, although as of this writing I still hadn't heard anything.

We went to a holiday party this afternoon hosted by some friends a few streets over. It was a good time, although I ate way too much. Can't wait until all the holiday tempation is removed; there's just too much good stuff to eat these days.

Jingle all the way:

• Well, the George W. Bush farewell tour isn't going so well. An Iraqi journalist threw both his shoes at Bush at a press conference today. But give Dubya credit: He was able to duck out of the way of both of them.
• If you don't think Major League Baseball needs a salary cap, consider this: After spending $240 million on deals for pitchers CC Sabathia (who basically was paid $2 million per pound) and AJ Burnett, the New York Yankees are now eyeing big-name free agent sluggers Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez. Of course, there are other suitors for those players, like the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, LA Dodgers. But there are plenty of other teams (my Blue Jays included) who are feeling the financial crunch and are going in the other direction. The Jays' big signing so far? Matt Clement. It's going to be another ugly season, I'm afraid. After having the top pitching staff in the league last season, the Jays lost their number 2 starter (Burnett) and have two of their top four pitchers (Dustin McGowan and Shawn Marcum) recovering from major arm surgery. In addition, the Canadian dollar has dropped back down to its customary weak position, so the team has had to lay off staff. I don't expect any major free agent pickups this offseason. My only hope is that the Yankees' acquisitions wilt under the NYC spotlight and they continue to miss out on the brass ring as they have for the last seven years.
• So the Sean Avery era in Dallas is over. Yeah, the guy's a bozo, but did he really deserve to have his career derailed over yet another stupid comment? Seems kinda harsh to me. The guy's made a career out of being an a-hole and it made him an effective irritant on and off the ice. But I've seen guys commit much worse acts on the ice (Todd Bertuzzi, anyone?) and still maintain well-paid careers in the league.