Happy Turkey Day!

So many things going on and to post about from the exceptional to the mundane....or from the slightly less mundane to the really mundane.

Ever since engagement night (last Sunday), I've been fighting a sore throat and probably some sort of sinus infection-y issue. That said, this week hasn't been without interest, even though I've been sleeping in every day until 9 or 10.

Wednesday was the pre-holiday dinner at Ricardo's, hosted by Bill the Bear. Also in attendance were Smitty and his wife, both noticeably smaller after losing 20+ pounds each on Weight Watchers. Good for them! There was no calorie watching this night though as much cheese dip, cheese slices, pies, wine and meatless pasta dishes were consumed. Finally, around midnight or so, I had to call it a night because the next day was Thanksgiving and I had a 7 a.m. wakeup call.

Why 7 a.m.? There was football to be played!! Some of the guys who sit around me at the Bears game hold a Turkey Bowl game at 9:30 in a far southern suburb (Matteson) and though it's almost an hour away, I've played 3 years running now. The first year I was an offensive MVP as our team dominated with me at QB. Last year, I turned into the bad Jay Cutler and had a horrible game throwing something like 6 interceptions in a loss. This year, almost a year off of shoulder surgery, I was back on top again. We pick teams like you did when you were a kid and after last year, I slipped significantly in the draft, though I guess I was a captain the first two years I think. Anyway, there were only one or two guys picked after me for the 6 on 6 game (last year we had 10 or 11 a side).

After leading a scoring drive at QB on our first possession, I threw a pick 6 (an interception returned for a TD) on our second possession to tie the score. Ugh. It was no repeat of last year though as I ended up throwing for two scores, running one in and picking a ball off for a near touchdown. Five of the six guys on our team scored a touchdown and we won 42-7. I was named MVP once again.

Here's the team photo, though the guy on the left in the picture wasn't really on our team. In fact, he's 0-3 in Turkey Bowl games. He's a pretty selfish player and it's really hard to play a team game when you play that way. And yes, that's a new Turkey Bowl trophy! Very cool.

Thanksgiving continued with a 45 minute drive to my parents' house in Naperville. Upon our arrival we were welcomed with a big bed sheet hanging on our garage door with "Laura said yes" written on it and a big smiley face. Nice touch. We also were given a fruit bouquet and lots of helium balloons with congratulations on them. Even Sommer got into the act by giving us a snow globe with the Eiffel Tower inside. Very nice.

The food was awesome as always and I consumed probably too much of it. From there we went to my friends, The Kibbys, house down the street. Naperville Greg and Terry and Sharon from Wisconsin are part of this family. After a short visit, we headed home for some much needed rest.

Tomorrow is the Bears/Eagles game, so my next post will probably be Monday.