Random Thoughts (Or How I Learned To Stop Smiling and Hate the Snow)

Tuesday evening. The day before Valentine's Day. It's been snowing since roughly November of 1983.

Okay, not really. But it feels like that. I bought a snow blower back in December, because we have a lot of sidewalk (corner lot) and driveway. A long winter and my back is hurting through the Spring. For the first month, I didn't need to even touch the snow blower. It just sat there, without so much as a drop of gas in it. All that changed about three weeks ago. Now I'm out there at least once, and often twice a day. Whomever invented the snow blower deserves our eternal respect, and it was the best three hundred bucks I've spent in a good long time. But I'm sick of using it.

I'm sick of the cold. It hit me hard when I was grateful today that it was twenty, because that was almost forty degrees warmer than this time last week. Twenty should never be forty degrees warmer than anything. I'm sick of the snow. Got off of work today, and there was roughly four to five inches waiting for me (insert my wife's homoerotic joke here). Blew it all away, went and picked up Number One Son. Mrs. JC got home, we had dinner, the boy and I watched some Elmo, and than it was back outside for round two. Another four inches had fallen in those four hours. In some areas where the blowing drifted, it was taller than my blower.

So I'm done for the night, and looking forward to tomorrow, when I'll be out there again clearing off the driveway and walks. I've had enough. Winter could not end soon enough for me.

QUICK HITS:

1. Had a great day with the family on Sunday, as we were all home with nothing to do except relax. Number One Son and I woke up around six and watched some soccer on the DVR. Breakfast, shower, some snow blowing, and some playing. Around three I sat down in the chair and he climbed onto my lap. He dozed off, and I soon followed. When our eyes finally opened, it was after five. I'm not a nap kind of guy. Rarely, and I mean rarely, take them. But this was one of the all-time great naps. Few things make me feel more special than when Number One Son feels so comfortable and close to "Daddy" that he falls asleep on me.

2. Number One Son doesn't really care much for TV, which is good. He'll watch some soccer with the old man, but that's about it most of the time. However, he's fallen in love with the "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland" movie since Mrs. JC bought it for him two weeks ago. The boy is nuts for the Elmo. He takes it to daycare (I'm sure our daycare provider loves us everyday for that one) and he asks to watch it every night. "Elmo! Elmo!" he chants while dancing with the DVD in hand.

It's actually a pretty good little film. He absolutely lights up whenever Elmo is on screen, and talks back at the right times. The Muppets and Sesame Street were favorites of mine as a kid, and still are something special. Learning combined with fun and a good sense of humor.

I was one of those guys who mocked the Barney's and Elmo's years ago before I had a kid. But after seeing the boy light up at the movie, and seeing how excited he was when we took him to see "Elmo's Coloring Book" live on stage in January, I'm a convert. Good lessons and funny characters. If Elmo is good enough for my son, he's more than good enough for me.

3. March 2nd is the date. "Zodiac", the new film from David Fincher comes out. I'm a huge fan of the books about Zodiac by Robert Graysmith. I've read both several times and find them both spooky and interesting. The trailer I've seen leads me to believe that this movie will be just as good. I've been waiting a long time for this, over a year. Cannot wait to see it on the big screen.

4. Weekend Football Update. Here are the results of the games I watched this weekend.

Hannover 96 2-Wolfsburg 2

Queens Park Rangers 0-Southend United 5

Manchester United 2-Charlton Athletic 0

Real Sociedad 1-Real Madrid 2 (probably the best game of the weekend)

ADO Den Haag 1-Ajax Amsterdam 2

Bolton Wanderers 2-Fulham 1

Chievo Verona 0-Inter Milan 2

Bordeaux 1-Marseille 0

UEFA Cup starts up again tomorrow. JC cannot wait.

Be seeing you.