That's an interesting thought

The other day, my friend Brian and I were having lunch. Our birthdays are two days apart and since we've been friends since high school and we're both turning 35 we decided to splurge and go to our favorite 5 star restaurant. I hadn't been there since they renovated about a year ago so I was anxious to see the changes.

The outside was nice. Fresh paint, new stucco, cleaned up the landscaping. Then when I stepped inside, I could really see the changes. Everything was new. No more teal seats. No more gray floor tiles, no more purple railings. It looked as classy as I imagined it would when we decided to go there a few days ago. Everything was decorated in nice earth tones with a touch of the deepest blue you could imagine. Absolutely gorgeous. New seats and tables. In fact, everything was new. It was like stepping into a magazine ad for one of those luxury condos on Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago.

The service was quick, the food was great as always and we had great conversation between us. We decided that we are going to try and make this a regular event. Who knows, maybe next week. Anyway, I highly recommend this place to everyone. It's on first avenue in Cedar Rapids, just up the hill from the Cell Center. Just look for the tan and brown stucco building with the big bell painted on it. I might just see you there.

What just happened?

My birthday is coming up, which is normally a good thing. However, for some reason, it just hasn't been my best day. I can remember numerous times getting injured (diving into the shallow end of the pool and scraping my whole chest along the bottom, breaking two ribs in high school football), getting sick (three times that I can remember, both feeling like death was only a puking away), girlfriend broke up with me in junior high (I think we had been "going out" for two whole weeks. I was heartbroken). Last year on my birthday, I took the day off from work to putz around the house. I ended up getting a hernia lifting a piece of drywall.



So you see, October 13 and the days that surround it just haven't been that kind to me. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten my share of great gifts, gotten to go to a couple of Illinois football games (which by the way are winless when I've gone) and of course Michelle's special good gift, wink wink. So, I shouldn't be too surprised as to the events that have transpired this weekend. Work went ok on Friday, except I slept at the rink. I closed on Friday night, finally turning off the lights at 12:30 and had to open on Saturday at 7:00. Instead of losing an hour of sleep due to driving 30 minutes each way, I just brought my air mattress and spent the night. Not the first time I've had to do that so not that big of a deal.

As a result, I missed the Big Ten Networks Friday Night Tailgate show from Champaign, an Illinois volleyball game on ESPN and the two baseball playoff games. Saturday was the killer. Illinois lost to Michigan State, the Cardinals got swept by the Dodgers and Iowa beat Michigan. On Sunday, the Packers don't play and the Vikings won.

What a crappy weekend. Anybody want to trade birthdates? Maybe I'll have better luck on April 30th or Sept 17th.

We're all in

About a year ago, Michelle and I decided we should paint the living room. The big debate at first was whether we should paint the wood trim white or refinish it. It is all scratched up, cracked, some of the varnish is peeling off and in general it doesn't look bad. But it's that beautiful yellow, long grain pine that is only found in older homes. We finally decided that we're going to refinish the wood. It's a lot more work, but the benefits will be worth it.

So, now that we've decided on that, wall color is next. After spending hours looking on the internet at various other rooms and colors, an olive green is what we decided looks best. I brought home 5 sample jars and started painting splotches all over the room. None of them look good. so it's back to Menards for some more choices. At this rate, we might have it done by Christmas.

Two weeks to go

These next 13 days can't go fast enough. That's when Illinois basketball officially begins with Illini Madness. I can't wait. This season might be a little rough, but they'll still finish in the top 3. It's next year that should really be fun. It's nice having the #2 recruiting class in the country two years in a row. Click the Chief for this years schedule.

Foiled again

Always a brides maid, never a bride. We came out like gangbusters and won the first game last night. But alas, it wasn't meant to be because we lost the last two. It's sort of a bummer, but realistically, we barely beat that team when they only had three people because one didn't show up. So beating them with four players was going to be a tall task. Oh well. Indoors starts next week so I'll just move on.