Girls weekend = football and action movies

The CFO headed to Ohio to meet some of her Virginia friends, so that left me home alone for the weekend.  I think she planned it for this weekend on purpose, I don't think that she wanted to be around while I watched the GA/FL football game, as I can get quite vocal and animated while watching games.  Especially when we are the under dog and everyone says that we are going to lose the game.

Friday Night I started with making a nice meal for myself:  spicy pork chops, wild rice and broccoli - Shake and bake is an ok way to prepare pork, however, mixing some Tony Chachere's Cajun spices  into the breading before coating the pork definitely kicks it up a notch.

Action movies I watched this weekend:

The Hunger Games:  Based on all the hype, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this one, but I did.  I didn't realize that it would be so action packed.  What I don't understand is why parents would let any kid under 16 watch this movie... it was pretty violent for something that I thought was oriented towards kids.  Maybe I'm just turning into an old fart.

The Grey:  I typically like movies that Liam Neeson is in and this one followed that trend.  It too was very action packed and I was on the edge of the couch during a lot of it.  I wasn't thrilled with how it ended, but I guess the ending was better than some predictable cliche ending.  I used to enjoy hearing the coyotes howling at night outside of our house, but after seeing this movie, I will have to remind myself that it is just small coyotes howling and not hungry, killer wolves.

Battleship:  What do you know, Liam Neeson is in this one too, along with two actors from one of my favorite all time tv series, Friday Night Lights.  FNL was a highly under rated TV show when it was on, but a great show none the less.  This movie was entertaining as expected, however they could have done a little more to set things up the character backgrounds before the visitors arrived.  If you like military action, stuff blowing up and aliens, this is for you.

My beloved UGA Dawgs faced the #2 Florida Gators Saturday afternoon.  As usual with UGA football, it was a nail biter involving horrible offensive play and amazing defensive play.  The UGA defense carried the team for the entire game... I do not know how we won a game in which our quarterback threw THREE interceptions and our team racked up over 130 yards in penalties.  The offense tried to give the game away, but the defense held strong.  I laughed when I saw this posting on one of the UGA sports discussion threads during the game:

 

I am glad I'm not the only one who feels this way...  ISU and James Madison both won their games too, so we were a cool 3-0 this weekend.  Virginia had an off week, so we didn't have to worry about them ruining our record for the week.  Since Georgia beat Florida and South Carolina has two loses, UGA can go to the SEC championship if they win their next two SEC games.  If the defense plays like they did against Florida, that isn't out of the realm of possibilities.  Until then, I'll continue to be a "basket of nerves" on Saturdays.

 

In addition to a lot of time on the couch, I also spent some time roaming the aisles of Lowes looking for a suitable material to mount posters on (as discussed last week).  I got a few good suggestions from readers, so I went to Lowes and looked at all of them.  I always get strange looks from the staff at Lowes when I am in full "Martha Stewart"/"Take something and use it for something that it wasn't originally intended to do" mode.  They all offer assistance, but then their faces glaze over when I try to explain what I am looking for and what I am going to do with it.  Now I just say, "just looking" and they typically steer clear.

 

I think I might have found a suitable solution to the problem:  Corrugated plastic signs.  They are plastic, so they should hold up OK.  The corrugation gives them a little bit of strength, but they are still light weight.  I bought one and experimented with it using something I got when I worked at the BMW dealership.  It was the cover off of a big desktop calendar, but I couldn't discard it because it had one of the cool custom BMW art cars on it.  Now I just have to figure out how to mount it to the all... Evidently I haven't thought it through all the way yet!

What I started with

What I ended up with after applying a little bit of spray adhesive.

 

In addition to finalizing my mounting solution, I am also considering spraying some sort of clear coating over the posters so they don't fade.  They don't see direct sunlight while in the garage, but I'd like to keep them looking good.



Chili Weather

The evening temperatures keep dropping and we all know that colder weather = time for chili and soup. Re-introducing chili and soup to the meal rotation is one of the great things about the fall season. I never think about chili or soup when it is hot outside, but as soon as the temperature starts dropping, I start craving them. We invited a few friends over last Saturday night and each couple brought a soup or chili. It was nice to have a variety of options to go along with the sweet cornbread that I made… nothing goes better with soup/chili than corn bread, but it better be sweet or I won’t eat it.

Since we had a house full of people, of course the CFO brought out a game for everyone to play… I’m sure these people have learned by know that if they come over, a game of some sort will break out. I am happy to report that when the final scores were tallied, the guys beat the ladies. Yes, for what ever reason, she typically likes to pit the men against women. The guys enjoyed the fact that 3 guys with bachelor’s degrees beat 3 women with PhD’s… Even better was the fact that we won even though I was distracted by the Georgia/Kentucky football game that was on the TV. Who knows what would have happened if I had put my full attention into the game!

I played golf with some friends on Sunday, but the sun beat us and we were only able to play 17 holes before it was too dark. Other than one of the par 3’s, I played like crap… but hey, I’m still learning. The guys I played with have been playing since they were kids, so it came as no surprise that I couldn’t hang with them. The highlight of my day was on a par 3 where I was the only one to land on the green in one shot. Then my poor putting kicked in and it took 4 putts to get it in… so I ended up with a 5 on the hole while they both shot par for the hole. All I could do was laugh at the fact that I was the first one onto the green and last one into the cup. Oh well…

After losing last week, my curling team bounced back with a resounding 12 to 2 win on Monday night. It was nice to be back on the winning side, I hate losing! The whole team played really well and I had a couple nice final throws that won us some points. The crowning shot for me was in the fourth end (a game is made up of 8 “ends”) when our opponent had a stone sitting in the middle of the house and their stone was surrounded by 3 of ours. As it stood, they would win one point since they were closest to the center with that stone, but it was all in my hands with the final shot. I managed to slide my stone just past one of ours and was able to knock theirs out without disturbing our other 3. We went from them possibly scoring one point to us scoring 4 points, a very nice turn of events for us. It was a sweet throw if I do say so myself.

The CFO is heading out of town this coming weekend to meet some of her Virginia friends for a shopping weekend, so I’m planning on catching up on some action movies that she wasn’t interested in seeing… After all the hoop-la over the Hunger Games, I am curious enough to want to see it. I know there are a few other movies that I have missed, so I will probably be making multiple trips to the redbox machine over the weekend. I am also trying to think up some entertaining projects for myself to pass some time… I have some posters that I want to put up in the garage, but I am trying to figure out the best way to do it. I don’t want to just pin them to the wall (too cheap looking, even for a garage), but I don’t want to buy frames for them either (too much money for me). I am thinking about just spray mounting them to some kind of board and then hanging that up. I was going to use foam core, but then I read that it might curl in humid conditions… what else is there to mount them to that won’t cost me a lot? Suggestions?

End of the birthday week

Yes, it was the CFO’s birthday this week and, as usual, the celebration has spread out throughout the month. We went out for Chinese food for her birthday dinner and she requested that I make a dessert with apples in it instead of a traditional birthday cake. As for gifts, she said that I should only spend $20 on a gift since we have recently bought her an iPhone and a new car. I’m not sure that she was really serious about that arbitrary spending limit, but I took advantage of it. I even went so far as to remind her that her iPhone was part of her gift by putting a bow on it… I considered doing the same to the CRV, but decided against it.

Unfortunately for me, the CFO isn’t a big fan of cake… that is bad for me because I am a HUGE fan of cake. I love cake and will jump at any opportunity to consume a slice or two or three, as long as it isn’t German Chocolate or Red Velvet. In a vain attempt to appease both of us (yes, I know it is her birthday, not mine!), I hopped online and found a recipe for an apple cake… She said a dessert with apples in it, so, even though it is cake I wasn’t technically breaking the request since it had apples in it.

Saturday was cold and rainy, so I fired up my trusty red kitchen aid mixer and made the apple cake while she was at work for a morning conference. The cake turned out well, although I have a few alterations that I’ll try the next time that I make it. Yes, I think that I can improve on the recipe. It was still raining at dinner time, so I ventured back into the kitchen and made some sausage and red bell pepper risotto for dinner… what can I say, I have mad kitchen skillz.

UGA’s football team had the week off, so I wasn’t stressed out over football this weekend. (Don’t ask me why I care so much, I just do!) ISU and JMU both won, while Virginia continued their recent losing ways… not sure why they are so bad this year, but it was painful to watch.

On Sunday, we went to church and ran some errands and then I hurried us home so I could watch the Red Bull Stratos jump live. For those of you who haven’t heard about it by now (it was all over the news after it happened), Red Bull was sponsoring a team that was trying to break the record of the highest jump which was set in the 60’s at around 105,000 feet. I’ll give you a moment to think about that… most jets travel at 30-40,000 feet and there are 5,280 feet in a mile.

The Stratos jump had been postponed a few times over the past couple weeks due to high winds that could damage the huge helium balloon that was going to take the jumper, Felix, in a pressurized capsule up to the planned jump elevation of 120,000 feet. He ended up jumping from about 128,000 feet or 24 miles above the ground. He was two miles short of falling a marathon's distance. That is absolutely crazy!  The jump was a success and he broke the speed of sound on the way down. I believe his top speed was around 820 miles per hour and his free fall lasted for almost 4.5 minutes before he opened his parachute. Can you imagine falling for 4.5 minutes?  Kind of like those falling dreams where you wake up in a cold sweat... or maybe that is just me.

I thought it was really cool to see happen live, the CFO wasn’t quite as impressed. Here is a link to one of the videos if you haven’t seen it, the view as he steps off the edge of the capsule is wild.

After the jump, I tried to plant some daffodil and tulip bulbs in the back yard, but I was chased back into the house by another heavy rain storm. The CFO said she didn’t know anyone else who enjoyed “working” in the yard as much as I do… and that she also didn’t know anyone who was disappointed when they couldn’t get out there and work due to weather. What can I say? I find it relaxing and like seeing some results from all my effort.

We also spent some time trying to nail down the details on our upcoming trips – we are going to be on the road a lot in November – January, stay tuned for updates. We’re going on some trips together and she is going on even more without me… so many total trips that I finally had to ask for her to write it all down for me. Yes, I need an itinerary for the upcoming months; there is that much going on. Not that I’m complaining about it, as I haven’t really been anywhere since we went to Denver in the spring… unless you count the trips to the Indy 500, a weekend at Indiana dunes or the Georgia game in Missouri…. Well, ok, so I have been some places this summer… heck I guess I am a bit spoiled when the trips listed above don’t “count” because they weren’t very far from home. That being said, I’m still ready for a dramatic change of scenery and the opportunity to dip my toes in the ocean!

November also means that we’re closing in on election time; I can’t wait for this one to be over! I’ve been biting my tongue a bit around neighbors and the CFO’s co-workers. Sometimes I really want to interject, but don’t want to get into a long discussion so I just keep my mouth shut. Heck, I was even pretty well behaved when her parents were visiting… her mom and I do not agree politically, so I do enjoy making political jabs at her whenever possible. I will say that election time has made me really miss my old co-workers in GA. A lot of my political opinions were vastly different from the majority of them and we had some very interesting discussions about them. I can still remember seeing their jaws hit the floor after some of my statements… good times indeed. I thought about stirring things up on this blog, but decided that I didn’t want to potentially alienate any of the few people who read this!

Bulldog Blues

What a strange week – Not a whole lot going on, but I still feel drained regardless. I spent a majority of the week out of town for work, driving an hour each way every day to observe the construction of a retaining wall. Exciting stuff, right?   Perhaps all the driving is what wore me out.


The CFO’s parents came into town to celebrate her birthday, so we were busy all weekend – She loves to play games, so when there are two additional people in the house, a lot of gaming will definitely ensue. We ate way too much and didn’t do much exercising… a typical week when we have company.

Football Saturday was particularly gut wrenching, with UGA getting their tails handed to them by the S.C. gamecocks. At least I don’t have any friends/family that went to S.C. so I didn’t have to endure being harassed by them. My parents usually call and check in with me during games, but they wisely elected to not call me about this one… I am not a happy fan right now. Losing always sucks, but getting whipped and hearing the crowd chanting “over-rated” (we were rated #5 in the country, they were #6) was painful. Maybe this will wake the team up and they’ll play better from here on out. ISU’s undefeated season ended on Saturday as well, not the way they wanted to celebrate homecoming! Virginia lost as well, leaving lowly James Madison as our one winning team for the week.

My father in law and I went to see the movie “End of Watch” on Sunday. I really wanted to see it and figured Karen wouldn’t so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to go. The trailers were a little deceiving as to the depth of violence and language in the movie, so I felt a bit bad about taking him to it about 15 minutes into it. That being said, it was a great movie if you like gritty action movies and aren’t put off by the f-bomb. The cinematography was an interesting of hand held and “typical” movie shooting styles and I thought it was well put together.

The curling season starts tonight with an open practice session… it will be fun to get out on the ice again. We will be officially celebrating the CFO’s birthday this week too… even though she has opened up a majority of her gifts already.