The NFL AFC / NFC Championship Weekend

What a day!  I love seeing games like this, especially one so good as the Vikings-Saints battle.  My only regret is that it means the football season is almost over.  I suppose that's a good thing, because I'll likely get more work done ;)

I had a tough time in the early game today deciding who I was going to root for.  Growing up in Tennessee and going to school in Indiana means I definitely have some loyalty to Peyton Manning.  I was thrilled, however, to see a rookie head coach & rookie QB make it this far.  Yes, the Jets had their rough games, but they wouldn't have made it this far if they couldn't play.  Though many fans complain about Mark Sanchez's interception quota this season, they often forget that during Peyton Manning's rookie season he threw 28.  Anyway, I am glad Peyton will have another chance to get a ring.  He's definitely Hall-of-Fame quality, and I don't want people to say 'well he just never won enough Super Bowls...'.

I'll admit, I've not really followed the Saints until this season.  Sure, I've watched some of their games, but I never really got into them like the city of New Orleans has.  This season, however, I jumped on the bandwagon like many others.  I loved watching them play - they could create turnovers so well (especially today!).  They didn't always blow teams out, so you never really knew how the game would end.  However, I'm glad for the city of New Orleans that their team is going to the Super Bowl for the 1st time in franchise history, and I'm also glad that Pierre Thomas and Jonathan Vilma have something major to celebrate this week.

It should be an awesome game on February 7th!

Semester 2, Week 1

Whew! I've made it through a full week of classes (though one hasn't met yet, so technically I'm not out of the woods yet).  So far I like them, but it will be a much busier semester than Fall '09.  However, I'm all for that.  I didn't really feel challenged and fully engaged last semester, but I know I will this time.  I've got some great professors and at least three major projects.  Of course they all want me to do 'something relevant or practical' with the project.  I agree, but I don't know if I can come up with 3 separate parts of a potential Masters thesis that fast!  I guess we'll see how it goes.

In other news, I'm excited to have two consecutive weekends in which I do not have to traipse across the country.  I enjoy the trips - both the flying and the visiting - but it is also very nice to have my weekends to myself.  I never really realized how much I look forward to them!  I think this will be my last respite for a while, however, because we've got quite a few families to see over the coming months.  During the school year, we usually can only see the kids on the weekends, because we and they have class during the week.  Thankfully we try to make sure we balance the trips such that no one travels more than 3 weekends in a row.  Still, those three weekends can be exhausting!  And usually there's only one weekend 'off' before jumping back in.

Crazy Kansas Weather

So. Cold.

Blowing snow and wind chills well below zero + not-so-great insulation = COLD Jules & Sugar. 

And I'm supposed to fly north tomorrow???