"Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Frozen, Day 1

Well, we are still on the grid. Both of us got snow days, because the offices are both without power. However, not only do we have power at the homestead, but we also have cable and internet. So far, this ice storm thing is working out. It's supposed to get colder tonite, so we'll see if that holds up.

I love winter.

We may have a power situation before long. See you on the other side.

Exercise Challenge

Just in case you're wondering about the new graph on the right, Katie and I are starting on a serious exercise initiative. So now you can watch the minutes climb and see who can keep the edge in our big challenge.

Christmas Time in the Household

So, we put up a Christmas tree yesterday. That was an experience all by itself and I will let Scott tell that story. My intention for this post: currently taking bets on when the cats will tip it over. Takers?

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, Katie and I traveled back to the Hoosier State. We decided to drive it and do some sightseeing on the way. After leaving Hutch on Tuesday, we stopped in Kansas City tuesday night. Wednesday morning, we checked out the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and American Jazz Museum in Kansas City. Both were pretty interesting. The NLBM had lots of nice artifacts from the many Negro Leagues that existed from the 1920s to the 1960s. The Jazz Museum was also pretty cool. It had a ton of neat interactive displays and audio to listen to and play with.

After those visits, we hit the road for Thorntown. While we were there, we had Thanksgiving and Christmas with my parents, and we checked out the Thorntown Library. They underwent a lot of renovations since the last time I had been there, including the installation of a replica of the Anson Mills Statue, which used to sit at the intersection of Main and Market Street. We also toured the Sugar Creek Art Center, a new art studio in one of the old Thorntown Factories. It was pretty impressive.

Sunday, we attended the ninth annual Ball State Thanksgiving. It was nice to see some friends and have another huge meal. We left Sunday evening to head back to Kansas, stopping in St. Louis. On Monday morning, we checked out the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, including the Gateway Arch. The weather was pretty crappy, but we got to check out some pretty cool stuff.

Weather

Even though we all know that weather is what you talk about when you really don't have anything to say, and you're probably talking to people you don't want to talk to, I'm going to do it. It doesn't make sense, because I don't have to talk to you, but seriously, how often – on November 19th – do you walk out of work into a dark sky, and the temperature is still 73 degrees? The first person that says no more than once a year... just don't. It's nuts. I think it got up to 82 today. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 74. Then the fun happens. Wednesday's high is 44. Should be a nice shocker. Anyway, headed back to Indiana for the holiday, so we're out from Tuesday to Monday. Maybe we'll see you there...

I've been published

So I'm totally a professional photographer. Quitting my day job to be like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window.

Check it out at: http://www.schmap.com/berlin/sights_churches/#p=160608&i=160608_18.jpg.

Household chores

Laundry, light bulb changes, grill in the garage for winter, tasty beverage.

Halloween 2007

Pumpkins Aglow, originally uploaded by scott_allen13.

Well, even though we waited until the last minute, Katie and I managed to get our pumpkins carved. And even though, it's now November, I'll go ahead and put them up, just because mine is so awesome. I'll let you guess which one is which. So anyway, Happy Halloween!

Corn Maze

Where do we go?, originally uploaded by scott_allen13.

This weekend, Katie and I made the trip to Buhler, Kansas and visited the Gaeddert Farms/Martisko Farms Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch. We took a spin through the Corn Maze, which was surprisingly difficult. We also each picked out a pumpkin to use for some future carving, which I'm sure will be documented at a later date.

Still going...

Clouds over Hutch, originally uploaded by scott_allen13.

Well, we get another year. As you can see, the sun came up, and it's a pretty nice day today. Hell -- once again -- didn't freeze over. The Cubs were swept by the Diamondbacks in the NLDS. We all hoped they would win, but they didn't even get a chance. They got beat really badly. I'll be happy to not see another double play for at least 5 or 6 months. So, the Cubs made it 0 for their last 99, and we'll see if the 100th time's a charm next year.

NLDS Game 1

Some thought while I watch the Cubs fail miserably in game 1 of this series:

1) Big thanks to MLB, TBS, and Cox Communications for their hard work in taking us back a decade. MLB gave more than half the postseason to TBS even though most of us don't get TBS in HD. Then TBS decided to create and HD channel, which they launched in September, giving cable companies only enough time to scramble and get it to major markets. Needless to say, Hutchinson is not one of those. So I'm stuck watching the MLB playoffs in standard definition for the first time in like three years. Well played.

2) Along with the fact that it's standard definition, TBS also chose to give the D-Backs-Cubs series a couple of the worst announcers I've ever heard. Where do they find these guys? I've heard more mispronounced names and incorrect information tonite than ever before. I'd rather have Hawk and Darren Lewis from the White Sox broadcasts doing the game. At least they know baseball.

3) The Cubs have to score some runs... this is terrible.

4) Thanks to MLB for keeping me up until midnight. I'm glad I'm at least in the Central time zone and not Eastern.

NL Central Champions!

The Major League Baseball season is over and the Cubs somehow managed to pull out the NL Central. Maybe it wasn't the prettiest of seasons, but none of that matters now. The Cubs will face off in a best-of-five series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, starting Wednesday evening in Phoenix. Prepare yourselves for a little more baseball coverage until the Cubs win the World Series... or fail miserably and I snap. Anyway, just wanted to congratulate the Cubs and throw my support out there.

Pretty Exciting Weekend

Well, what we planned on being a nice, relaxing weekend turned into an ulcer when Ball State decided to give #24 Nebraska a run for their money in Lincoln. Katie and I drove to Malcolm, Nebraska on Friday night and camped out at Branched Oak State Recreation Area, a pretty big lake outside Lincoln with about 18 different campgrounds.

We got up Saturday morning and had breakfast at Sundaes and Fundaes in downtown Malcolm, had a nice conversation about football and Muncie and parking and other stuff, and then drove to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Although I knew the BSU football team was much improved from my time in Muncie, I don't think even I expected them to be as much a test for the Huskers as they turned out to be.

They were ahead by nine points with about seven minutes to go, before blowing the lead and missing what would have been a game-winning 55 yard field goal. Final score: BSU 40, Nebraska 41. If Ball State had caught one of the three dropped passes that were sure touchdowns, it would have been a very different outcome. Regardless, it was a great game, rivaled only by the win over #23 Toledo in the old college days. (Spazz, you were there... on the 50... with six seconds left on the clock.)

After the game, we slowly made it back the the car and headed back to the campground for another night of camping on the lake. It was a pretty good weekend, but a couple more points would have made it just a little bit better.

The World Ends?

As many of you have probably read, a meteorite has struck in Peru and people are now getting sick (article). Being the rocket scientist/astronomy guru that I am, I know that it is more likely the meteorite has struck a particular spot in the ground that is now releasing gases, making the villagers ill. However, the initial idea certainly makes you want to run screaming for Tommy Lee Jones and Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck.

Bikes

Today I got a bike. Now I'm sore. I also got a sweet blue helmet that I didn't wear. Katie got her million dollar bike all tuned up for the... upcoming winter, so I decided to pick up a cheap bike just to hang out with her. I'm finding out that it's more of a workout than I expected, especially in this brutal Kansas wind. Maybe I'll get in shape after all.

A walk in the park

Carey Park, originally uploaded by scott_allen13.

Monday after work we decided to go for a walk on the walking trail between Carey Park and Rice Park. While we were out there, I snapped a few photographs, including this decent shot.

Football Season

Even though the Colts already opened the season with a big win, today is finally the reall beginning of football season. And you know what that means... it's Fantasy Football season! So today, I'll be watching all my players hoping for big yards and a lot of touchdowns. I'm sure there will be more posts on this in the future, and you will all love it.

Labor Day Weekend, Part 4

Today we had to drive back to Hutchinson, but on the way, we stopped in Ashland, Nebraska at the Simmons Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari. Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds. Most of it was a drive thru nature preserve, but we also got to do a little hiking in a few areas. We saw quite a few North American animals, including elk, bison, antelope, wolves, and black bears. It was actually a pretty cool place, with a lot of land. The animals really felt like the weren't captive for the most part, even tho they are probably totally domestic. Anyway, it was a good way to break up the drive and get in a little more outdoor time before we start the work week up again tomorrow.