House Cleaning

It is that time of year again, time to change your house air filter. You should change it every 3 months. Ours was pretty dirty, certainly worth the investment to buy the best filter available. Next scheduled time to change filter: May 29th.

We did some major cleaning this weekend.

-Garage was swept

-Cob webs were removed from ceiling corners

-Home Office was reorganized and cleaned.

-Some more windows were weatherized.

-House was vacuumed

-Ton of Laundry was done

-Gym workouts were done

-Dogs got walked on each day

-And we only ate out once this weekend. For us that is a big win. Weekends are our fail zone.

Whew, we are tired.

*****

M: 18

H: 10

State of the Union...of Detroit Sports

The Tigers: The offseason continues to show great promise to the spring and summer ahead. Let's hope such great effort will produce post season baseball in the fall.

The Redwings: Great regular season so far, but injuries have taken its grip on the team again. Hopefully they can super glue their team until the playoffs come near and then turn on the jets to fuel a Stanley Cup push.

The Lions: Terrible injuries, great promise of rookies has brought some self-esteem to Lions nation. The 4 game winning streak at the end of the season really brought some much needed light in our stormy 2010 season.

The Pistons: What can you say, they are terrrrible. This team is dysfunctional and are absolutely no fun to watch. The team is under a ownership change, and hopefully it will include a broom to their management as well. I hate to write it, but it is so hard to watch this team 8 to 12 games under .500. Especially playing ball in the NBA Eastern Conference. You add in the mismanagement of Richard Hamilton to the mix and this situation is disgusting. So Sad, So Sad, maybe the Pistons will win the NBA lottery.

Great Photo from the Detroit News that illustrates the Dwindling Piston Support : http://multimedia.detnews.com/pix/11/f5/15/ca/30/f3/20091030223709_2009-1030-dm-pistons9.jpg

*****

M: 15

H: 7

Happy Birthday Labradoodle!

Somebody turned 3 years old yesterday! What better way to celebrate than a takeout order from McDonalds. A classic hamburger dry, with nothing on it except meat. It was topped with 3 french fries to represent his three years.

Look at him licking his lips!

The Belgian also got to have a burger, but without the "candles".

Snow Schedule

Snow. It is inevitable. Unfortunately when it hits, it pours. And when it pours it freezes. And when it freezes, it messes with your daily schedule. For instance, the big storm that hit us earlier in the week, it messed with our schedules for the entire week. You put off workouts, put off normal week events, shopping, chores etc. So week 3 was not very good, but it did give us some time to recuperate.

Bring on the spring!

*****

W3

M: 8

H:8

**

W4, M: 2

NFC North Grudge Match

The biggest NFC North matchup in maybe ever is next week in Chicago. The Bears host the Packers with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. This is actually great news for Detroit and Minneapolis fans. By winning, this guarantees that both of these teams will be drafting in the last 4 slots in each round. The best part will be when the Bears or Packers lose to either the Jets or Steelers in the Super Bowl.

I am sure sports radio is a buzz along Southern and Western Lake Michigan.

*****

M: 5

H: 4

Snoozin Saturday

Today is Saturday, and the dogs are sleepy! A Snoozin' Saturday!

******

M: W2, 17

H: W2, 9

Hoke: Michigan Man

Meet the new "Michigan Man", Brady Hoke who will be named Michigan Head Football Coach on 1/12 in Ann Arbor. Hoke, once a defensive line assistant under Lloyd Carr, has florished two underperforming programs Ball State University & San Diego State University. He was not necessarily the first choice, but he may be the right choice.

Hoke will enter and walk into a broken down defensive unit and will need every bit of push to turn their esteem and talent around. Under Rich Rodriguez, the Wolverines had been become pushovers defensively, and only had a chance to win by spreading the ball across the field in hopes of a shootout. Hoke will need and receive the support staff to recruit to bring in top talent. I am assuming many of the former "michigan men" may be pulled into and sent to help in the recruiting. This may could happen due to U of M being so far behind in recruiting schedules. The likes of Woodson, Brady, and Edwards would be such positives to a recruit if they answered a call from these Blue Legends.

Hoke may be pointing Michigan back in the right direction.

***********

M:12

H: 7

The Art of Trip Planning

Vacation planning might be one of the worst parts of going on a vacation. The process is usually broken in 3 portions. The Idea, The Research, and The Juggle.

1. The Idea, this is the time spent thinking of what/where/when to go. This usually contains the locations that you would want to visit, but other factors come into play and by process of simple elimination, you end up with one solution.

2. The Research, this is the time spent reviewing where to stay, what to do, what to see. This process could be the most time intensive portion, next to the vacation itself. Should I do this? Maybe we shouldn't do that, that is too expensive...maybe we can do this instead.

The process never ends.

3. The Juggle, the time spent taking all portions of the equation and coming to a final answer. This would include the timeline, the cash budget, the itinerary, and the major must do.

The Major Must Do, is the one activity that must be done for the trip to be labeled a success.

For example, heading to a mountainous region, the must-do might be a good several hours hiking. Heading to Vegas, the must-do might include hitting up a uber-buffet or seeing a prime show.

In any event, Trip/Vacation planning is timely and cumbersome. One day it may be fun, to take a week off, and jump on a random flight to discover some new city.

*******

M: 10

H: 7

Playoffs?

Playoff Football

NYJETS surprised the Colts on Saturday Night. As well as the Seahawks upended the defending champion New Orleans Saints.

Now the Chiefs host the Ravens. So far, the Chiefs are running the ball with purpose. But turnovers and quick 3 and outs is not helpful for your teams cause.

The warm Fancave is more enjoyable watching than standing at Arrowhead. No offense, it is just too darn cold out there.

************

M: 6

H: 5

Movie Review: Due Date

We finally went to the theater today and saw Due Date. It has Robert Downey Jr. and Zac Galifianakis.

Of course watching a movie in an empty theater for a comedy really shows you whether you find something funny on your own without the influence of the other patrons. There was 1 other person who was watching, but never laughed. So either they hated it or were incapable of laughing or talking.

The movie runs 95 minutes and is not too long or makes a big push on your bladder. Although, I downed some coffee before we went in, and was counting down the final 15 minutes. This movie is not one of these dopey boiler plate comedies, although it has almost made 100 million at the theater.

If you are a fan of either of these Actors, then this movie is a must.

There is a scene where Robert wears his collar up and looks like Sherlock Holmes. Also, we can't wait for the sequel for Holmes, not sure if they will make one for one. If they did, they could plausibly do it, based on how they ended the movie.

Movie Star Rating: 9.2/10.0

*****************

M: 3

H: 4

NFL Playoffs Start

NFL Playoffs Start TODAY, Although the first game Saints vs. Seahawks will not be watched in our household. ZZzzzzzz...Seahawks...eh. The Worst Team in history of the NFL to be in the playoffs, based on statistical breakdowns and team metrics.

M: 21

H: 11

Detroit 1-8-7

This TV show shown on Tuesdays on ABC, and it is worth the watch. It is a Police-Crime show without the gore and it is set and shot in Detroit. The actors actually versus reading lines. And it is set in Detroit, worth watching!

**********************

M: 18

H: 10

Sour Michigan Sugar Bowl

Watching the game there are 2 points that go right to the steps of Michigan Football....

1. Ryan Mallett, QB Arkansas, was a Michigan QB under Lloyd Carr, but then transferred once Rich Rodriguez was hired as coach.

2. Terrell Pryor, QB Ohio State, was a major Michigan QB Recruit under Rich Rodriguez, but he then visited Ohio State and chose to wear the Scarlett and Gray.

In regards to Rich Rodriguez , was reportedly fired today at Michigan, but reports were not confirmed by the University of Michigan.

*****

Jogging Log:

M: 13

H: 7

Home of the Chiefs

We went to Game 10, Raiders at Chiefs.

It was pretty neat and cold. Actually really cold. We had to breakout the thermal underwear for this endeavor. One other thing, the crowd actually stands the entire game, so it was pretty worthless to sit on the plastic expensive seat for 3 hours. 1. you couldn't see if you sat down, and 2. the seat was super cold. Not sure how I felt about that, I mean you pay to go to the game, but you have to stand. We liked to stand in college, but at that point I didn't drop that kind of coin for those season tickets that equaled my 1 day game ticket. Anyway, it was cold while the Chiefs laid a steamer as they lost 10-31 to the Oakland Raiders. Not great offensive-line blocking effort today. Matt Cassel was leveled several times and was vulnerable on the roll out by the cornerback blitz.

Chiefs host the Ravens next weekend, and I will be watching from the mancave!

Jogging

M: 7

H: 3

New Years Resolutions? Seriously?

I dunno, lets see the previous ones from years past...

No Cola, No Pizza, No (anything tasty that is bad for you).

This year, we are doing a reverse resolution... more vegetables!

Yeah, sounds crazy. But we will try to eat more veggies each day. I will attempt to use our Wok at least once a week. We are big fans of Stir Fry, so hopefully we can eat more rice and veggies to a healthier 2011.

Challenge yourself this year.

Jogging o Meter

M: 3MI

H: 1 MI

I hope we can hit 2000 Miles this year!