Christmas Week is Here/Winter Brews and other temptations

Like a out of control freight Train, the final 2 weeks of 2009 have arrived....

We got our 2 or 3 inches of snow yesterday, but that is fine...unlike some of the folks out east, who were dumped on with a foot or 2...I was disappointed however, that DC didn't get buried once and for all....we could have only hoped that Obama and every member of Congress and their staffs had been buried alive and out of our misery once and for all....instead the Kenyan's Lap Dog Democrats banned together and stole 1/6 of the Nation's Economy by passing the massive Trillion Dollar plus Health Scare package...."We is Doomed" ...but we really knew that once we put this bastard and his Marxist Allies in office, didn't we? It's time for the good Conservatives of Montana, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Arkansas, to vote out your turn coats who reside in the Senate...2/3rds of your citizens didn't want this bill, and yet your elected Senators threw you under the bus...time for you to do the same to them next election.

The Battle of the Bulge that is Christmas Time____

The time of the year from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day is the time that, on average, folks gain 5 pounds or more...it's just tough trying to stay away from all the food and parties, booze, winter brew, and eggnog.

I was bound and determined to stay off that one way treadmill....

I began my Diabetes 2 Diet on Labor Day...and have dropped 20 or so pounds since that time, and seen an equally good decrease in the Blood Pressure as well...but I knew that I had coming the fishing trip to Michigan, the drive and weekend in Wisconsin, Thanksgiving, the Christmas week, and then top it off at Rick's for our annual New Year's Day Bowl Bash....after dropping from 208 to 187, I figured that this would be the last battleground to get to 180 by winter's end....and up until this weekend I was still winning the battle....

I survived Sam's Ice Cream Birthday cake...nary a drop of that....then Friday came Patricia and my Anniversary dinner out, at a Mexican Restaurant no less....then yesterday I did battle with the Beef Stroganoff...and a half case of Samuel Adams Winter Brews, a selection of of ale and dark beers....ouch! Needless to say, a "slight" setback this was....but after a 2 day off diet binge, I will hit it hard today through Christmas Eve...then the New Year Bowl roundup....I'm hoping to stay in the 187-190 range and then finish off the weight loss through January....

Sam Adams Winter Classics____

I have never been a "Beer Snob" and am not afraid to admit that I like to keep it simple...Miller Lite is my beer of choice during the summer and warm weather. Of late though, thanks to the home Brewer Garry, and my old college roommate Mick in Ashtabula...I have found a liking for winter brews and some heavier stuff{of course this comes with the dangers of more calories and carbs}....Friday afternoon, while shopping at Wally World I came across a selection of brews by Sam Adams....the half case contained 2 bottles each of 6 different beers...including the regular Samuel Adams Boston Larger and my new favorite SA Winter Larger....I have managed to try them all except the little number called Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic...just can't get myself to try a "Cranberry Beer"...the rest were pretty good. I still like the Winter Larger best, but have to admit I also enjoyed the Old Fezziwig Ale and the Holiday Porter....these are not brews you want to get "hammered" on, but the taste with a fine cigar is something to enjoy....

So with that in mind, I grabbed the lawn chair that I had put in the garage for the winter, and donned a wool cap, coat, and gloves, with a good Robusto Cigar, and planted my butt outside and downed a Fezziwig and polished off the cigar in 20 degree weather with darkness approaching....my fingers felt the sting of the cold and snow, but all-in-all the experience was enjoyable.....

The upcoming week____

Sam and I will head to Dayton tomorrow to check out a Toyota that a women has for sale...the vehicle is not that old, but does have 170,000 miles on it...the price($2000) seems worth bargaining with...but we will see after a test drive and look under the hood.

After that, we head home...Sam with double header Junior High basketball contest at St. Marys, and me on to Dartball to finish off the 1st half of the season...as it sit now, as a team we have a chance to know Mount Carmel out of the first half title in the South....with the game at home, we have a shot. As for me, with enough at bats to qualify, I sit at .415 in batting average, good for 2nd place in the league...and honestly that's not that great, but a sign how far the league has fallen over the past decade...I remember finishing at .491 back in the late 1990s, and that was only good for 3rd place. An influx of new players and the aging stars that have dropped down{or died} in batting/dart tossing skills, have put a dent in the quality of play. But we continue to persevere as a league...and we need the new so far unskilled players to keep the Wabash Valley Dartball League going into the future.

I have a double header at St. Marys Tuesday, with a Girls Freshman game followed by a Boys of the same class....then off for a week before tournament games on the 29th and 30th.....

Thursday night we head to sister Marty's place for our family get together, Hal and his girlfriend will be home for that, then Christmas day at our place will be for just us 5....and I'll probably spend the day watching "A Christmas Story" off and on all day....then do a weigh in and hope for the best before New Year's at Rick's place....

Actually Rick's place has been sold, and Rick and Toni will be moving into the new place, currently under construction on their 17 acres, sometime this coming summer....in the meantime they will be moving into an apartment in Auburn....I'm sure this will be a real culture shock for them after living in the country for almost 30 years...but it will be a short bump in the road for them....and they will be back out in the sticks, soon enough.

That's the story for the upcoming remainder of the month/2009...I'll be checking in, and have my Year End Review starting sometime around the 27th or 28th....

Back Later

Photos-The Samuel Adams Winter Classics....buy the 12 pack, most are pretty good...others? Not so much....but worth the chance. Sam's Birthday Cake, Chocolate and Ice Cream...I stayed away from this one. Then left to right...a Sam Adams"Old Fezziwig Ale" with a Robusto smoked outside in the cold and snow...me standing out smoking, drinking, and freezing...and the Yellow Roses I got Patricia for our 33rd Anniversary.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!