Good Weekend

'Ello there, guvna. I've got a little quiet time while Deb and the girls are out cleaning the minivan. Did some errands around the house, including the first official mowing of the backyard. Not much in store this weekend, which is kinda nice. Hannah's soccer game was at 8 a.m. today and I've got a massage later this afternoon; it was supposed to be last Saturday but I ended up going to the Sox game instead. Tomorrow, I might be meeting up with my buddy Phil to record some sports-themed audio for the podcast. He's going to the Bruins game tomorrow night, so he was thinking of coming over around 11, which is fine, but it all depends on how long the game goes, etc.

I ran a few times this week and felt good. I also played hockey for the first time in four weeks and was huffing and puffing at first, but eventually felt better and popped in a couple of goals along with four assists. We've got our last skate in Lynn coming up next Wednesday, followed by a two-hour mini-tournament next Saturday to raise money for a scholarship in the name of our fallen comrade. Should be fun.

My new diet has been going well for the most part. I had a couple of minor relapses--like when we took Hannah to Panera for her birthday and I ordered a chipotle chicken sandwich that I later found out was loaded with fat and calories. Oh, well. But I've been good 90% of the time. I'm probably eating about 1/3 of the amount of cereal I used to and I've cut back on a lot of the snacky stuff like Wheat Thins and chips. So of course I'm finding myself ravenous at various points during the day, but I'm resisting the temptation to eat junk. I've lost about five pounds so far.

Whoop de doo:

• The swine flu outbreak has got everybody panicking, with 615 cases worldwide and 160 in the U.S., according to the CDC. But we might be going overboard with the precautions. Anybody with the sniffles is being quarantined. One older guy at the gym yesterday told me he's never washed his hands so much in his life. The tricky thing is, as far as I can tell, the symptoms are nearly identical to the regular flu. How is this virus killing people? So far there has only been one death in the U.S., a toddler from Mexico who was visiting Texas. There have been eight cases in Massachusetts, mostly folks who recently went to Mexico on vacation or spring break. Bears watching, but not a total freakout.
• The playoffs have been pretty fun. The NHL's second round just started, with Vancouver and Detroit winning both their games in the last minute of regulation and the Bruins smoking Carolina last night. The Washington-Pittsburgh series starts this afternoon. Meanwhile, the Celtics and Bulls have been engaged in a slugfest of a series, which has seen seven OT periods so far and goes to a game 7 tonight. The Bulls won a 3OT game Thursday night that was just insane.
• Wow, check out the original artwork for Van Halen's first album, including a different logo. Given how iconic the logo (and album), it's hard to imagine it looking any other way. Of course, they also could have stuck with the name Mammoth.