Of Hat Tricks and Cannons

On Saturday we went to our first ever Blue Jackets game and what night it was! For those who don't follow hockey, and I barely do, the Jackets have been decimated by injuries and have to play a lot of rookies and players recently called up from their top minor league team in Syracuse. So their recent string of victories has been something of a pleasant surprise.

Sam and Abby both seemed to have a good time at least until the third period when Sammy melted down a bit. Until then both Sam and Abby were having a great time, watching the game and the attendant entertainment that came with it, including the future Jackets hockey game at the first intermission pitting one team of 7 to 9 year-olds, and the "blimp" that flew overhead the crowd dropping various prizes on the fans in attendance.

Unfortunately, in the third period things started to go south, especially for Sammy. Prior to the third each team had one goal, both scored in the first. Whenever the Jackets score, the folks at Nationwide set off a "cannon" while blaring AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock". In the first period when the Jackets scored, Sammy loved it. By the third period though the poor guy was pretty tired, which is when the Jackets did the rest of their scoring (3 goals). This time when the cannons went off Sammy wasn't so thrilled with them, and fortunately for the Jackets, not so fortunate for Sam, the Jackets scored 3 goals in the final period to seal the victory. By the last goal he had pretty much lost it.

But in terms of a first game it was certainly memorable. We saw Nikita Filiatov score his first career hat-trick (3 goals) which prompted a five minute celebration which included fans throwing hats onto the ice. And since the Jackets scored 3 goals we could have gotten free chili from Wendy's (I somewhat lament passing on that), and for reasons I forget we could have gotten a free donut from Tim Horton's with the purchase of a coffee. So it was a potentially productive night.

An Interesting Couple of Weeks

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. Last week Cindy had a conference with Sam's pre-school teachers (a concept I'm still trying to grasp) to go over his progress. In a lot of ways it was reassuring since they were fairly pleased with him and generally thought he was doing well. They noted that he tended to be a follower, but also took direction well from them. The only real negative comment they had, if you can call it that, was that he likes to lay down when he plays or during story times. That isn't so bad, but they suggested it can be problematic if other kids start doing it. Otherwise, he's content, they're content, and we're content.

Abby has had an interesting time. Last Friday the nurse from her school called me to come get her because she was complaining of nausea and evidently had a low grade fever. However, over the weekend she was perfectly fine, though she was eating rather ravenously for her. Yesterday the nurse again called us to get her because she was complaining of the same symptoms. And again after she ate a bit she was perfectly fine. We took her to the doctor this morning to make sure that all was all right. The doctor just laughed and said that Abby was ok, but we need to do a better job of getting her to eat more substantiative things for breakfast aside from chocolate-chip pancakes. So that's good.

Abby and I did go to an OSU hockey game Saturday night and had a great time. So much so that I wish we had been able to bring Sammy too. The game itself was fairly exciting and intense, as a very youthful Ohio State squad defeated the 11th ranked MSU Spartans 3-1 to complete a series sweep. There was music playing in between down times on the ice to keep folks entertained and cameras set up throughout the Schottenstein arena that folks could interact with. At one point during a stoppage time their was an air guitar contest and during another they played YMCA over the soundsystem and showed various people doing the obligatory dance. As an aside I had forgotten how obnoxious 12 year-old boys can be. Abby really seemed to enjoy herself and with all the theatrics involved I think Sammy would have too. But alas it started right around his bedtime. We are planning to go again to a matinée game against Notre Dame in February, so that Sammy can join in on the fun.

And did anything else happen? Oh yeah, as for the election, it's hard to argue that the Republican brand name isn't tarnished. It will be interesting to see how the Democrats govern now that they have control over the Legislative and Executive. I tend to think that Obama's biggest challenge may be pursuing the centrist agenda he espouses while placating the left-wing of the Democratic party. That won't be an easy feat. I'll be happy if he can indeed change the tone of debate in this country, though I'm pessimistic that he, or anyone, can.

Other Random Items:

• Sam has insisted on wearing his new Christmas PJ's for 3 or 4 nights now. I suppose it's an improvement over when he wanted to sleep naked, but still.
  
• I'm unconvinced that the Big 12 deserves all the praise it's been getting. Scoring a lot of points is great, but giving them up not so great. That said I was impressed with what Texas Tech did to Oklahoma State.
• Along the same vein why is PSU's loss to Iowa damning to their BCS titles hopes, while Florida's loss, at home, to a fairly pedestrian Ole Miss isn't?
• College basketball is about to begin. All is right with the world.
• It looks like my general exam will be during Winter Quarter. As it turns out that works out best for my adviser and my committee, and also for me.