Animal Party

Happy Groundhog Day. Of course, if you actually believe in Punxsutawney Phil's forecast, you're not too happy because he saw his shadow today. Ergo, six more weeks of winter. Let's hope he's wrong, because I'm sick of it already. After two mild days, we're supposed to get 3 to 6 more inches of snow starting tomorrow. Enuff Z'nuff!

So the weekend in Jersey was fun. I headed out at 8 a.m. Saturday for my 20-miler. Alas, I wasn't quite prepared for it to be so damn cold: it was 17 degrees with some serious winds kicking in from time to time. I had three layers on, but I skipped the face protection thinking it wouldn't be too bad. I was wrong. Part of the route I was supposed to do was a fire road that cuts through the woods in the state park near Matt and Tricia's house, but it was still covered in the six inches of snow they got last week. So I did a couple of loops through the park and ended up running about 14.5 miles in 2:10. I could have added on some more miles but I was so damn cold that I just wanted to get back.

The party that night was a blast. The theme was a luau, so I got to bust out my Hawaiian shirt. I steered clear of any mixed drinks and stuck to Sam Adams Winter Lager for most of the evening, but I was still pretty toasted by night's end. I played darts late in the night and actually hit a couple of bullseyes. But it was a late one. I usually avoid late-night snacks, but I chowed on meatballs and desserts and all sorts of stuff that was laying around. Didn't hit the hay until 3 a.m. I got up at 8:30, awakened by the kids running around. I felt pretty lousy, but seemed to do better after getting up and showered. We got on the road by 10, but I didn't feel great. It wasn't my head, it was my stomach. I also had trouble focusing on anything I was reading, so I nodded off for much of the trip. Fortunately, Deb was driving. I skipped lunch and didn't feel like my appetite was back until 2:30. We picked up some groceries and I grilled up some delicious steak tips in the backyard.

I had no intentions of watching the entire Super Bowl game, but it ended up being a terrific contest. I was hoping the Cards would win, but that ridiculously awesome TD by Santonio Holmes was a great finish. It reminded me of the Cassell-to-Moss play the Pats pulled off with a second to go to tie the Jets a few months back.

I know I said I would record the podcast yesterday, but it got so late after I watched the game that I waited until tonight. But I was having printer issues (i.e., the piece of crap isn't working), so I'll have to do the show tomorrow.

Deb and I both slept downstairs last night. We've had some sort of critter scurrying around in the attic ceiling above our bedroom for a while now, on and off. Deb's been hearing it for the last week or so and when she does, she can't sleep. I can usually fall asleep, but last night, I could hear the little bastard (or bastards) squeaking away and couldn't get the sound out of my head. Even though I'm pretty confident there's no way they can actually get into our bedroom, I knew I was getting no sleep up there. So I came down and slept on the futon in our guest room while Deb slept on the couch in the living room. I called the pest removal guy we had come out after the bat attack in the summer and he said we'd have to cut a hole in the wall in the attic eaves so he could put some traps down. He said the animals could be mice or squirrels. A friend of ours does a lot of carpentry work on the side, so we're hoping he can help us out. The fun never ends.