So I Am Back

Just because the NHL was on break, that didn't mean I had to be on break also! And I never meant to be away this long, but I have been going through a funky time of it. Nothing that I can put my finger on, just one of those periods that I go through at times. Oh, well, such is my life. And life goes on.

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Today we had temps in the forties. I'm not sure if we broke any records, but it still was nice to have the January thaw. But, of course, this is not lasting very long. Tomorrow should still be on the warm side with temps in the mid to upper 30s, but then we are getting an arctic cold front coming through and temps should drop 30 degrees for Wednesday. Such fun. Looks like we will be getting snow, also. Not surprising--this is winter after all.

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K is prepping himself for his colonoscopy tomorrow. While this doesn't inconvenience me at all--well, except for the fact I have to bring him to the hospital and spend the day there--I do find it very difficult to eat meals while he can't. I hate to make anything that he might want because he has been on liquids all day and can't eat anything but clear liquids for the rest of the night. I know how hard it is whenever I have to do fasting for lab work and I don't want to make it any harder for him than it is. I have to figure out something for tomorrow night--hopefully he will be able to eat dinner.

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We did our road trip on Friday and came home Saturday. We mainly went to help our friend celebrate her Saturday birthday, so the visit was nice. There wasn't all that much shopping that needed to be done, so we didn't even go to many of our usual stores. That was all well and good--I just needed a bit of a break and this was a nice one. The only thing that really tainted our trip was K's phone call from work. He was forced to get back into town early as he had to work overtime on Saturday. He was scheduled to work 6AM to 6PM on Sunday, but he was forced to go in at midnight on Saturday--an 18 hour shift after having to drive home from out of town. The only way he could have avoided the overtime is if I wouldn't have answered the phone--but I just answered without looking at the caller ID. I really was mad at myself for that one. He's done 18s before, but I felt bad that this one was because of my mistake.

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I watched the All-Star activities on Saturday and Sunday and wasn't overly impressed. In a way I could see what they were trying to do, but the execution of it wasn't quite as great as the concept. Maybe with a little tweaking, things could become better. As for the All-Star game, it didn't do much for me. It was very hard for me to keep the players sorted out and the announcers didn't help all that much--and I watched CBC and NOT Versus! Maybe it was just me, I don't know. I don't really enjoy the way the All-Star game is played--it is just end-to-end skating and a lot of scoring. I enjoy the subtleties of a real game and the hits--something that wasn't allowed in Sunday's game. While I understand WHY there is no hitting in the game, it just isn't REAL hockey to me. The high-scoring game is what the league wants in order to try to get non-fans interested, but it doesn't appeal to me--I would rather see a well-played game that ends in a 2-1 score.

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Even though half of the season's games were played a week before the All-Star break, this was the unofficial end of the first half. Things will really start to heat up now through April--and, of course, REALLY get going once the play-offs start. Rumors are really beginning as to the trades that might be made--and it will only be getting worse till 26 February when the trade deadline is. Will really be interesting to see who goes where and how this will impact the play-offs. And to add to things, Selanne has just announced he is going to make his come-back with the Ducks for the last half of the season. I guess the Ducks just MIGHT come close to what they were last year. I REALLY don't need to see Detroit and Anaheim meet in the play-offs again!

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And Jimmy Page says that Led Zepplin just might go on tour later this year. While there isn't anything officially in the works, the tour might happen some time after September when all the band members will be free from other obligations. Might be interesting to see, except for the fact that the years haven't been too kind to Robert Plant. He is kind of scary these days.

Robert Plant: early years



Robert Plant: today