Today's Lesson

Back in the Bay State after a long weekend down in New Jersey. We got down to Matt and Tricia's place Friday afternoon. They got the boys a Wii for Christmas and holy crap, is that thing a ton of fun. I played baseball, bowling, boxing and even some crazy cow racing game. The boxing game is especially interesting, because you're literally throwing punches like a real boxer. Matt and I battled and I eventually knocked him out, but not before working up a serious sweat; my shoulders and traps were really sore about 36 hours later, too. Deb, who's no gamer by any stretch of the imagination, thoroughly enjoyed the Wii, too. We're not buying one any time soon, but maybe someday.

Friday night ended up being quite the drunken affair. Our friends Pete and Sheera and their kids came over, so we got some pizza and beer. Matt, Pete and I went over to another little shindig not too far away at Joe's place; turns out a woman I knew from my UNH days married one of Joe's best friends and was in town. So we had a few beers over there and Pete, a fellow Torontonian, and I watched a little of the Leafs-Islanders game. We went back to Matt's and kept imbimbing. The kids were put to bed late. I didn't stay up too much later, but woke up with a nasty headache at 6, popped a few Tylenol Extra Strengths and went back to sleep. Thankfully, I don't drink like that much anymore. Got up at 9 and went for a run with Joe; the hills around there beat the hell out of me, but that was good. I ended up doing 9.5 miles. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, playing some Wii and reading mainly.

Yesterday, we took the kids into New York City to check out the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and skating rink; it was pretty fun, although not quite as Christmas-like since it was 60 degrees out. We took a ferry over from NJ. We kept a tight grip on the kids as we made our way through the crowds in Times Square and visited the M&M store and a big Toys R Us. We had a delicious Southern food lunch at Virgil's; I had some excellent beef brisket and sides. We made it back to Matt's by 3 and watched the DVR'd Patriots-Bills game, which was a must-win for New England. We had successfully observed a media blackout and were able to fast-forward through the commercials and enjoy the Pats' 13-0 win in blustery Buffalo conditions. Now the Jets had to beat the Dolphins or the Jags beat the Ravens for the Pats to make the playoffs, despite the fact they finished the season with an 11-5 record. Unfortunately, Brett Favre decided to be Brett Favre and threw interceptions left and right, resulting in a Miami victory. Baltimore steamrolled the Jags, and the Pats were left out of the playoff picture, after battling through season-ending injuries to Tom Brady, Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, Laurence Maroney and many others. Ridiculous.

We got back this afternoon and I went for a 6-mile run that was only marred by the fact I ate a ham sandwich while driving home a few hours earlier; the exertion left me with quite the case of indigestion. But at least I got the run in.

Back to work tomorrow, albeit for another three-day week because of New Year's.

Assorted collections of words:

• Note to tourists visiting Dubai: If you're going to hook up with someone, don't do it on the beach. This British businessman found out the hard way that they frown on that kinda stuff there.
• More sad news about Alexei Cherepanov, the 19-year-old NY Rangers prospect who died in Russia after collapsing on the bench during a game. In addition to having a heart condition, Cherepanov had been blood doping, according to Russian authorities. Of course, it didn't help matters that the emergency response after his collapse was horrendous. Just a bummer all around.
• Think about this story the next time you chatter incessantly during a movie: Some wacko might just shoot you.