NHL Network Commercials

Two weeks ago I finally gave in and paid a couple extra bucks a month for the NHL Network. It's become obvious to me that I should've done it a WHILE ago. Sportscenter and ESPN pretty much NEVER show anything about hockey. But the best part of the NHL network isn't even the highlights and analysis of the sport. It's their HILARIOUS commercials! Here's some of my favorites:

"Giving 110%"


In case you can't follow here's the dialogue of a hockey head coach talking to his players about (aboot) effort:

Alright, listen up
Today, I wanna talk about giving 110%
Giving 100% means giving everything ya got.
Giving 110% means giving 10% more than is humanly possible.
If we're gonna win as a team, we need 100% of you guys giving 110% 100% of the time.
If only 50% of you guys give 110% and 50% of you guys give 100%
I guarantee you 100% we'd only win 50% of our games

Suppose 75% of 110% gave only 50%
And 50% of the 100% gave 25%
And 75% of 110% were not feeling 100%
...then we'd be in a heap of trouble
That's why we need 100% of you guys giving 110% 100% of the time.
Ok. Let's go out and play some HOCKEY!
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"Goals"


The goal in hockey is to score a lot of goals
Soccer, is played on a field, where you score goals
Field Goals are what you score in basketball when you go on a run.
Runs are what you score in baseball, which is played on a field
Field Goals are also scored in football when you can't score a touchdown which is the main goal
So, If you score a lot of goals in hockey you've achieved your goal of scoring a lot goals and THAT'S your main goal.
Ok. Let's hit the showers!
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Cliches:


Why'd we lose?
Uh, well I thought we shot the lights out in the first 2 periods.
Uh, in the 3rd period we just couldn't uh
Put the biscuit in the basket
Ya know, uh, we just couldn't put the stuffing in the turkey
Or we couldn't even put the turkey in the oven
Uh, We couldn't put the car in the garage
We couldn't put the train in the station
Uh, we couldn't put the rod in the water
the lightning in a bottle.
Uh, the cat in the hat
I mean that's really why we lost tonight,
We couldn't put the cat in the hat.
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The Blue Line:


Ok, listen up
Our blue line is our last line of defence
And our defensemen line up on the blue line
That's where they draw a line in the sand
But you can't draw a line in the sand in hockey
The blue line is drawn on the ice, not in the sand
But if you don't draw a line in the sand
As our last line of defense on the blueline then you'll flatline
And if you flat line on the blue line you'll make headlines
And I ain't lyin.
Ok, lets hit the showers.

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The Neutral Zone:


Alright, Bring it in!
Alright, we have to improve our play in the neutral zone.
It's called the neutral zone because it's not the other team's zone
It's not our zone…it's neutral
Like…Switzerland
Switzerland was neutral during world war II
And the Swiss are very fanatical
about their timing…and their precision…and their cheese.
We have to be more like the Swiss
And improve our timing in the neutral zone
And be more precise with our passes
And not have so many holes…
Like Swiss Cheese
The more we play like the Swiss in the neutral zone
The more neutral we will be
And I am very precise about that
OK…Lets go out and play some HOCKEY!
---------------------------------------------------------------
We're Behind You



Alright, listen up
As a goalie, you have to believe
the guys in front of you are behind you
Because if they're not behind you,
Then they're in front of you.
And if they're in front of you
Without being behind you
Then you might as well be alone out here
with nobody in front of you
Now sometimes the guys in front of you
will GO behind you
but if they go behind you without being behind you
then you're in a heap of trouble.
Believe me
Ok. Let's hit the showers!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Puckey


Alright, I know what you're thinking
You're thinking…why isn't our sport called Puckey?
Instead of Hockey
I mean after all...all the other major sports
Are named after the objects that are used in them.
football after the football
baseball after the baseball
tennis after the…tennis
but for some reason our sport is not named after the puck
Logic says it should be called puckey
But its not, its called hockey
There's a reason for that
The reason is…is because
When our native aboriginals who invented this game on a cold frozen pond one day
They…they were playing and and this hawk flew down and grabbed the puck in it's beak
and flew back to its nest and ate it
And they went back to their tee-pee's and
they told their elders what happened
Hawk…eat….Hawk-eat….Hawk-eat
And that became what is now today the modern vernacular of...hockey.
Ok…Lets hit the showers!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Can't find the video for this one, which sucks because this is my favorite...

Alright, today I wanna talk about our defense
the best defense is an offense
the best offense is a defense
the reason why offense is the best defense is because
in hockey the team that scores the most, wins
And if our offense outscores their offense
they'll be defenseless
Their defense might be able to stop our offense
But it can't stop our defense
Because when we're on defense they have to be on offense
and if we have an offensive minded defense
There's no way they can defend us
Now I don't mean to be defensive
But some of you may find this offensive
we're gonna call our defense our offense
and our offense our defense
that way we'll remember to use our
defense as an offense
and our offense as a defense against their offense
And that'll totally confuse them
Ok, lets go out and play some hockey!

A First Class Nap - Weekend in DC

Pretty busy couple of days. March Madness began on Thursday, which is really the only time you'll catch me watching basketball. Especially with my advancing love of hockey these days, it's taken away from my college basketball viewing (I sure as hell would never watch an NBlAme game!). I run a pretty decently sized bracket pool, usually around 80 participants so that helps drive my interest. Using my nerdy obsessive excel skills I have the power to know exactly where everyone standings after each game. So, with the way technology is these days...may as well bring the laptop to a sports bar! So I did. There was basketball to be watched pretty much from noon to midnight on Thursday and Friday nights. Friday I had the conflict of a Thrashers home game. Not that I was gonna miss it. It was also my buddy Matt's last game of the year. We got to see Alexander Ovechkin's 60th goal of the year, only problem is, he plays for the Washington Craps. The Thrashers blew a 3-1 3rd period lead and lost 5-3. So score one "L" for Operation Believe in Tankland.

After the Thrashers game, me and Matt needed food and wanted to watch basketball. We met up with some fellow Sweetwater friends - Stevens & Rochelle. They picked out a bar to go to a couple miles away, decided we'd take a cab. They had us walking all over downtown Atlanta looking for one. We walked towards the Westin, but noticed the road to our left was blocked off. So we went through the garage of the Westin to the main carport area, thinking there'd be a cab there. Nope. Roads were all closed because of the broken glass everywhere. We kind of snuck out the other side of the hotel. The street was definitely closed. Stevens and Rochelle walked ahead, me and Matt played the role of tourists. See picture - look at all the broken glass all over the place!!!! We turned a corner, trying to head back to an open street and there was a cop car sitting in the middle of the road. Me and Rochelle walked off, but the cop rolled down his window and asked why we were there. (oops). They told the cop that the guys from the Westin told us to go the wrong way. To which the cop replied "those guys are fucking retarded!" (No confirmation of the F-word was given though). Matt then asked the cop for a ride, but he had to stay where he was. Oh well. Next stop - The Ritz. We had a good plan cooked up, if anyone asked, we were in room 302. We did get the concierge to get a cab for us...and I scored a free bottle of water out of the deal! That was the end of the entertainment...I didn't really like the bar we wound up. There was a TV, but no sound and the kitchen was closed by the time we got there. The men's room had an Out of Order sign and I got yelled at for going in the women's room. Whatever. Bitches! Eventually me and Matt needed to get food, so we hopped on Marta, and wound up on the last train back towards his house. Whew! Got back at about 2...went over to Waffle House...back to Matt's couch (my second bed) and asleep by 3. Only to wake up at 5:15 for my 7am flight to DC!!!! D'oh!

I somehow managed to wake up and get myself to the airport in time. Oh, I need a shout out to my friend Jennifer. She's a flight attendant for Delta and hooks me UP!!!! I have to fly on standby, but I get whatever seat is available. If that just happens to be first class...so be it! Well, it had never happened before but it finally happened. Score! I've got me a first class seat! Of course, all I wanted to do was sleep. And that's all I did. I got a bottle of water and a pillow and I was done. Chugged the water, put my head on the pillow against the window and the next thing I know...we landed. I've NEVER been able to sleep that well on planes, but the combo of a first class seat and being on 2 hours of sleep I guess was all I needed! I guess if you're gonna look for a disadvantage of first class, since I was one of the first ones of the plane, I was the first to baggage claim and it felt like I was waiting there FOREVER. Finally my bag (aka - my bed - I was in charge of bringing my air mattress and pillows) showed up and Kim came and got me.

I don't think I ever talked about this on here but after Kim & Brian got married they temporarily moved into Kim's port-a-potty sized condo. They eventually decided to sell it and get a bigger place (Brilliant!) Well, it took them all of 5 days to sell it. So they had to scramble to find a place to live and they did a pretty damn good job! They're new place...which I'm still not sure how to describe - it's 2 stories, but its within a building of about 5 other "units". So it's not a house. Not a townhouse. Maybe a condo. I've never heard of a two story condo though. Whatever it is...it really is nice. And it's HUGE! And it's in DC! I didn't think that was possible. They've got a bedroom upstairs, a bedroom downstairs. A living room upstairs and living room downstairs - to be known as the "man-cave".

Saturday was also Kim's birthday. Later that night there was to be a birthday / basketball / housewarming party. The highlight though was the cake that Brian got for Kim. Yep, that's basically a photo shopped picture of Kim's head on a body sitting on their couch, reading some financial reports while watching her new favorite show - Real Housewives of something or other. Nicely done Brian! After a nice and well needed nap, they put me to work. I helped Brian put together a desk while Kim went out shopping for the party. I managed to keep myself out of harms way but Brian manged to splinter and staple himself. Also at some point we managed to scrape a piece of wood on their wall. Which is when I learned about Oxy-clean (I think that's what its called) Rubbed a little that on the wall and the black line we put on the wall was gone!!! After the desk was done, it was basketball time. It was nice watching Duke lose...as always. But then Kim got home and put me to work again getting ready for the party. The party was good enough for me, all I really wanted to do was watch basketball, so thats what I did. The social types were upstairs, while most of the guys were in the "man-cave" watching the games. One thing I learned is that I'm glad I don't like wine! About 9 bottles of wine found their way into their house as housewarming presents!

After bringing my air mattress with me, turns out I forgot the pump-charger, so the bed wasn't really inflated and I didn't feel like working at it anymore, so I just crashed on the couch and got a good, much needed 10 hours of sleep or so. Woke up just in time for some more basketball! The big activity for Sunday was that Kim was gonna finally teach me how to do my own taxes. I've managed to go all these years and got out of it every year! Between my dad and Kim, I've been pretty lucky with that. But, I guess after going through it, it wasn't that bad. Managed to get that done just in time to go back to the airport to go home. So, it was a quick visit, but it was a good one.

Flying back to Atlanta, again I got to sit in first class! Baby steps but I took a little more advantage of it this time. It was nice sitting there why all the poor little humans walked passed me. I actually felt important or something :) In first class you apparently get free alcohol but I drank enough the last couple of days that I didn't even take advantage of it. I did learn something though. I've always wondered why flight attendants say "we'll be by to collect any cups and glasses". Glasses? Yep. In first class, you get a GLASS! Fancy! I had about 3 bottles of water, but in that fancy glass it seemed like it tasted better than water :)

Why I'm Dumb (Part 294)

Last week I broke one of my precious Sweetwater glasses (I believe this would've been #39) on my kitchen floor. I had a bunch of stuff in my hands, thought I was putting the glass on the counter...and missed. Oops! I swept up all the pieces of glass. Or so I thought. On Saturday I felt something sharp on my foot...without thinking, I wiped it off on my other foot. Ooops! Glass! Blood! Gross! Ouch! Your foot is never a good place to cut yourself. I'll survive. Scott managed to sleep through the girlish screams.

Last night I stepped on ANOTHER piece of glass. On top of that, I found a piece of glass on my couch! What the hell? So, I finally decided it was time to invest in a mop and some other cleaning supplies. I still had some Target gift cards leftover from my housewarming party (still working on those thank you cards by the way!!!!). I go to Target at lunch, ASS-U-ME-ING that the cards were still in my wallet. I get to the register...$48.53 please. (Why does that always happen to me a Target? They have way too much of my money). I open up my wallet, in search of a gift card...NOTHING. Damnit!

Atlanta, Kansas?

EDIT: Ok, so I thought I was being funny, but apparently there really is an Atlanta, Kansas. So much for my jokes.

I have no idea how people in Kansas (or wherever tornadoes are relatively frequent) deal with them. Friday seemed like a regular day. It was somewhat rainy during the day, but it stopped before the work day ended. Headed over to sweetwater for after-work beer. Mmmmmm, beer!!! My friend, Scott, was supposed to be flying up from Pensacola later Friday night, but they told him no flights were going into Atlanta. I thought this was weird because at about 6:30 it was pretty much clear and sunny. After sweetwater, we went back to my friend Matt's house, to watch a Thrashers game (on TV - it was a road game). Just after the game, about 9:30, some storms picked up and just standing by a window at Matt's house, we could tell it was getting ugly out. Still, didn't really think it was anything to worry about though. It started hailing and the rain got a lot heavier. A small river formed on part of the street in front of his house. Some of his neighbors had bagged a bunch of leaves, which started floating with the river. ALL of them stopped right at Matt's car! Eventually we turned the TV to a local station to see if there was anything we should know about going on. There sure was.

The SEC men's basketball tournament was going on at the Georgia Dome. Mykal Riley, (if you click that link, ESPN says he's 4 years old) hit a game tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation for Alabama. By doing so, he literally probably saved THOUSANDS of lives. If he missed that shot. thousands of fans would've been leaving the Georgia Dome. That would've been bad because with 2:11 left in overtime, a tornado hit downtown Atlanta (Georgia, not Kansas). It ripped right through the area where the most populated spot in Atlanta probably was at the moment: Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, CNN Center, Omni Hotel, Georgia World Congress Center, Centennial Olympic Park. There was also an Atlanta Hawks game going on, but as you can tell, nobody cares about the Hawks! (Ok, cheap shot, my bad). Last year I was actually at the SEC tournament, a former coworker of mine found out one of his old college friends works for the SEC and gave us VIP passes to the whole tournament! Couldn't pass that up! For this years tournament we tried to get tickets again, but it just didn't happen. And good thing!!!!

The next 2 hours or so we were glued to the TV, watching various local stations' coverage. They all had one thing in common. They're all TERRIBLE at covering stories like this. One station kept showing clips of the georgia dome where someone used a telestrator and drew something looking like a potato. Saw that at least 15 times and still have no clue what they were showing us. The reporters on the scene were annoying. For some reason they felt the need to interview a cab driver who we couldn't understand. In retrospect, I wish we turned on the closed captioning to see if it was just us. I doubt it. Eventually we couldn't take it anymore, we were hungry and decided to go out and get some food. The skies had cleared up, so it was safe to go out. Went out for some uneventful pizza. Didn't see any kind of damage anywhere. Went back to Matt's house afterwards and just watched more crappy news coverage in hopes of seeing some good footage of something. But there was nothing. I decided it probably wasn't a good idea to go anywhere, so I just crashed on Matt's couch. Which is pretty much my 2nd bed anyways.

Scott was supposed to be getting on a 6am flight out of Pensacola, so i was gonna have to wake up early to go pick him up. At about 5:30 I woke up to some LOUD thunder and lightning. I turned the TV on and here we go again. HUGE storms were coming through and there didn't look to be any end in sight. I sent Scott a text, telling him to keep an eye on the ATL weather, and I didn't think he'd be getting here anytime soon. I just told him to let me know if he actually boarded a plane anytime soon. I went back to sleep until I got a call from Scott. The weather had actually cleared up enough to get a flight in. Not only did he get on a flight, but the little bastard wound up getting sat in FIRST CLASS. And he wound up realizing he was sitting next to the aunt of one of his high school friends. Small world. So eventually Scott's flight (after circling Montgomery for a while) got in around 10:30 and we took a little tour of downtown. A lot of roads were closed, but it was still pretty unbelievable what we saw. Sooooo many buildings were missing random windows. Very bizarre. We came back to my neck of the woods, where luckily it seemed as if nothing even happened. More serious storms were supposed to be coming towards Atlanta around 1:30pm. We had some time, so we went and got some food. 1:30 came and went and all seemed well with the sky. Still, we went back to my place to see what was headed our way. One by one, it look almost like someone in Birmingham was spitting these storms out and right at Atlanta! I haven't ruled out a terrorist attack! Storms were coming, one right after the next, luckily they were all heading just north or just south of me. These were seriously powerful storms. We've all seen radars with green, sometimes red colors. I wonder how many times purple and black have shown up?? There were reports of hail over 4" wide. Grapefruit size. The local ABC affiliate had some pretty cool graphics where they showed these storms in 3D. They were also able to use something called a "BTI" (Baron Tornado Index). It's a scale from 0-10 that gauges the likelihood of a tornado. If the number is over 7, its pretty much a guarantee that a tornado has touched down. And the number was over 7 at least 5 times throughout the day. Pretty scary stuff. Luckily, for me, all this stuff managed to avoid my house. Hell, I didn't even get any rain! At one point a siren did go off, which was odd, I didn't even know we had a tornado siren! I guess that's good to know. It was LOUD. And last for a good bit. The dumbasses that me and Scott are, we ran outside to see if we could see anything. Nothing. Still sunny. Very odd. By about 4:45 most of the damage had been done and things were finally clearing up.

Just in time for us to get to the They Might Be Giants concert at the Variety Playhouse. They had a "family/children" show at 3pm. Apparently their stage manager had to tell the lead singer to play some more songs because they couldn't let people leave because of how bad it was outside. The "adult" show was at 6pm. Still early, but apparently the band had a couple thousand mile drive on Sunday. They still played for just over 2 hours. I tried yelling out that there were more tornadoes coming that they needed to play more, but they didn't get that message. Oh well.

I'm adding a bunch of pictures below, of which I took none of them. The 7th building, is from Scott's phone, I believe that is where my roommate works. Haven't gotten confirmation from her on that though. Pretty devastating stuff! (Sorry I have no idea how to keep these pictures somewhat organized, they like to spread out I guess)

Operation Believe in Tankland!

Well, as you may have realized by now, I've become a big Atlanta Thrashers fan now that I've lived in Atlanta for a few years. But it took some time. I grew up in NYC and was a big Rangers fan. I still remember where I was when the Rangers won the Cup in 1994! (Ok, even if it was just in the extra bedroom of my parents house in Roanoke, VA...I still remember being so excited but everyone was asleep so I had to be quiet!) Soon after, I started FSU in the fall of 1994 and for my birthday, I got my first hockey jersey (aka - "sweater"). It was a dark blue Rangers jersey. Up until about 2003 or so, I would wear it to Thrashers games and even root against em (which I still do the Braves, as a Mets fan...that one will NEVER change). But something happened that year. I realized how much fun the games were. The team was on the "cusp". Later on, maybe 2005, the Thrashers provided an opportunity to trade in any NHL team's jersey for a brand new Thrashers jersey. I traded my 11 year old Rangers jersey for a Thrashers jersey. You've probably seen me in it in many pictures since! And I've been a die-hard Thrashers fan since. Beginning with last season, my company actually started advertising in Philips arena, and as part of a contract they now have a suite in one corner (figures!) of the arena. Not frequently, but I've gotten to sit in the suite several times. Now this year, I've managed to (through Erica) become friends with a guy who actually works on the ice at Philips. He even gets to drive the zamboni occasionally (which apparently is a bottom feeder job that isn't as cool as it sounds). He's gotten me and some friends a bunch of free tickets. So, between him and work, I've gotten to go to A LOT of these games for FREE. With the NHL All Star Game in Atlanta this year, a couple of my friends decided to buy a season ticket package (all Saturday games) in order to have a shot at ($200) All Star Tickets. See, it all evens out. The All Star Game Weekend Festivities were worth it. And to date, I've been to all but 3 home games this season, all for good reason.

Dec 12 vs Boston - doctor's apt & parents in town

Jan 4 vs Carolina - My friend Courtney & Mike's wedding

Jan 6 vs Buffalo - My Super Bowl XLII Champion N.Y. Giants had their first playoff game at the same time as the Thrashers game. Priorities! But I haven't missed a game since.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm a big fan. About a month ago, February 15th, the Thrashers won a 10 round shootout in New Jersey. That win put them a mere 2 games over .500 and into first place in the South(L)east Division. They've one just one game since. The playoffs aren't a realistic goal anymore. Beginning with last season, the Thrashers PR department (or whoever thinks up these things) came up with the slogan "Believe in Blueland". With "Blueland" being Philips Arena. I didn't really like it at first, thought it was kinda lame. But it grew on me. I approve. Now, fast forward to current day. My thoughts are, with the playoffs out of reach, the more games they lose, the better draft pick they'll get. Introducing "Operation Believe in Tankland". Thats right. I hope the team tanks and losing as many games as possible. If they manage to finish with the worst record, they'll have the best shot at the #1 overall draft pick, where a kid named Steven Stamkos would probably help out immediately.

Now, for the bad idea segment. Last night the Thrashers attempted to have a "White-Out" at Blueland. With the idea being, everyone wears a white shirt. As you can see by the picture, there are TONS more empty seats than people in white shirts. Even better, the Thrashers were supposed to wear their white jerseys too. Well, someone forgot to tell the Colorado Avalanche (the Thrashers opponent on White-Out Night) and they just happened to forget their non-white jerseys. Oops. First of all, the whole "white-out" thing has been done. Why not have a "blue-out" aka a "smurf out"? (credit given to Divya for thinking of that one). Instead they had us all wear shirts the same color as the opponent. BRILLIANT! Well, the Thrashers lost 5-2. As if that mattered, hell, they haven't won a home game, in regulation since January 30th!

The highlight for me was this Avalanche jersey. I know its a bad picture, but the back says "Redwings Suck". The Red Wings and Avalanche have one of the best rivalries in hockey. Especially in the late 90, early 0's (did I just name it that?)

So thats about it. Does it make me a bad fan since I'm basically rooting against my favorite team the rest of the season? I don't think so. It's whats best for their future! Right?

The Week in Review

First things first, Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

This past Tuesday there were some pretty powerful strong storms around 6am or so. I woke up, turned on the TV to see if I'm supposed to be hiding in a bathroom or something. Luckily, I was perfectly safe in my bed. During the weather reports there were talks of power outages in Kennesaw (where I work). I had the brilliant idea of calling my extension to see if voicemail was working. It was not! A busy signal! I went back to sleep.

About 7:30 I called a coworker (Monica) to get an update. Stuck in traffic, but she'd update me when she got there. Eventually I got word that there was officially no power in the office and that everyone was to go home and check back around noon. I sent an email to my boss and back to sleep I went!

Slept all the way til 9:30! (sarcasm). Then I remembered it was NHL trade deadline day! Which was to be a big deal for the Thrashers. They had several soon to be free agents to trade, including Marian Hossa who is probably the most coveted impending free agent. I was glued to the internet, waiting for the Thrashers to do something when all of a sudden it was after noon already! I had just spoken to another coworker (JOAN!) who said that the power was back but nothing was working. So I stayed on the couch. Ooops! Got an email from the boss asking where I was. No one told me!!!!! Anyways, went to work. After expecting Hossa to get traded to Montreal all along, out of nowhere came the Pittsburgh Penguins. We gave up Hossa and one of my favorites, Pascal Dupuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis for Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, a prospect (Angelo Esposito) and a 1st round draft pick in 2008. That's A LOT! Unfortunately they didn't trade any of the other upcoming free agents. Oh well. The Thrashers are now 0-0-3 since the trade. And Hossa is out with an injured knee. Oops!

Wednesday was another wacky day. Oh, I forgot to do my rant on everyone being pregnant. My good friend and coworker, Beth (the one who actually trained me when I first got to Aarons) had her baby on Feb 19 (Claire Elizabeth Robinson - aka - E-Claire). She was a few weeks early. Another coworker, Lakeisha was due before Beth and didn't have her baby until Tuesday (Feb 26 (Stephen Champion Moore). Then on Wednesday, it was my friend Jill's birthday. She was, what looked like about 2 years pregnant. Met up with her at some Italian restaurant called Il Localino. I had no idea what kind of place it was, I just showed up in my Thrashers hoody and jeans. Apparently it's a somewhat fancy place. Oh well, the owner had a good time with us. He actually told me that a few guys from the team are regulars! I'll never understand the lifestyle of spending $100 on a meal, but amongst about 10 of us, we racked up a $700+ bill! Hooray beer! A lot of that was wine, which, luckily I'm not a fan of. It was a good time, Josh (Jill's husband) has some wacky friends. Josh was wearing a crab? hat the whole time. Another girl (Bonnie?) had a Viking hat. Very strange. But it was a fun time.

Thursday I had my first episode of Beth withdrawal. Usually I make her come with me whenever I have to buy anything at lunch. Well, I needed new work-shoes. I'm a guy, what the hell do I know? I had to somehow choose between brown and black shoes. Beth was nowhere to be found. I called Lauren and she talked me into the brown ones - actually, I eventually realized they didn't have the black ones in my size. My newest problem is, they come with light brown and dark brown shoelaces! What do I do? (Seriously, I'm clueless here)

Thursday night was the first Thrashers home game in over 2 weeks. And it was a mess. Traffic was terrible. I got there in time for the traditional pregame 44oz beer. Met up with Pat and Jeremy. I was waiting on Divya with my ticket, but she was stuck in traffic. And it turned out that the tickets that were supposed to be waiting for her never showed up! Matt couldn't get off work til about 6:45. Erica got there right around 7:00 and happened to have an extra ticket. So in with them I went. I had all kinds of friends there. I stayed with Erica and Peter for the first period (in the good seats). My friend Jason was there for "guys' night" so I told them I'd hang out with them for a bit. Went upstairs in between periods, hung out with Jason, Mike, Adam, Seth and some others. With a few minutes left in the 2nd period (and with the Thrashers losing 3-0) I finally heard from Matt, who was apparently sitting nearby. He called and said to come over, he ran into our favorite usher...Millie! So I ran over. I don't remember if I ever mentioned Millie on here, but she's hooked me and Matt up numerous times, including getting us lower level seats for the 3rd period of the all star game. Anyways, Millie had us follow her. Usually this involves going down lots of stairs. Well, not this time. She had us sit in the very last row of the upper deck. In her defense, apparently she said "wait here, I'll be back". Well, she came back, but we wound up staying there the rest of the game. Oh, as an added bonus of sitting in the last row, I had the bright idea of jumping over the back of the seat and landed flat on my ass. Oops. Oh, the Thrashers came back to tie the game, but lost in OT. Like you care.

Friday, Violet Louise Reiter was born (that's Josh & Jill's). That thing was almost 10 pounds!!!!!
Friday night began my Family Guy marathon. I'd managed to avoid Family Guy for years. Everyone said that I would love the show, but I just always thought there is no way it could live up to expectations. Well, it has. Jeremy got a hold of the first two seasons on DVD. Started watching it right away. Love it!

Saturday, me and Matt went to go visit Jill & Josh & Violet in the hospital. We parked at what we thought was the right place. Oops. Walked around a building that seemed like a hospital for a while. Walked through a parking garage for a while. Finally found the front door of what looks like what used to be a hospital? Still not sure but it became obvious we were in the WRONG building. We managed to get directions from a security guard and jumped back in the car and found the right place. The only thing I wonder about this whole baby thing, both Beth & Jill have cats. How do they know their kids aren't gonna be allergic????? (Cats suck)

After the hospital Matt introduced me to this place called Raging Burrito. It was REALLY good but I found out a little later why I think they call it that. Ok, sorry, that was gross. But the burrito was really good. Two words - Pineapple salsa!

That's about it. This week is spring break. Yippee. Doesn't exactly mean the same now that i'm working. All it means is that I don't have to be awake for an 8am class (which I'm consistently 15 minutes late for, hell, I'm consistently 15 minutes late for anything AM related) Any advice is appreciated!