Monday, December 15, 2008

The Fine Art of Procrastination

Procrastination. Others may have it, but Cara and I have made an art form of it. Whether it's NOT getting out of bed in the morning to start a new day, finding things to do besides working on dissertation/thesis papers, or our latest work of procrastination art...avoiding painting our office for the entire weekend; Cara and I have skillfully figured out how to avoid doing those little things we don't really want to do for as long as possible. Here's how it played out.

(Scene opens to find Matt and Cara in the upstairs living room.)

Matt: So, I guess we better start prepping that office for painting. (He continues reading "Marley and Me".)
Cara: Yeah. (She continues to play Wii Tennis.)
Matt: Maybe an Irish Car Bomb will get us motivated. (Together, they leave the room, presumably to have an Irish Car Bomb. They return moments later and resume their previous activities).
Cara: Let me finish my tennis match. Then we can paint.
Matt: Cool. I want to finish this chapter real quick.

(Two hours pass. Now Cara and Matt are playing Wii together.)

Matt: Baby Mario!! ARRRGHHH!!! You're my nemesis!!
Cara: (Rolls eyes. Mutters under her breath.) What have I gotten myself into?
Matt: What was that?!?
Cara: I said, should we just prep AND paint tomorrow?
Matt: Oh. Yeah. That sounds good...(yelling at game)..COME ON!! I HATE YOU BABY MARIO!!!

(The scene fades on Cara and Matt playing Mario Kart into the "Wii" hours of the morning...)

(The next morning, Cara's cell phone alarm blares "So What" by Pink....for the FIFTH time. It is few minutes after 11am)

Cara: Where's my pillow?
Matt: Zzzz....
Cara: Pillow thief! Where's my pillow?
Matt: (singing along) Gave it to Jessica Simps.
Cara: Oh you're hilar. (Punches Matt in the chest).
Matt: I don't want to paint today.
Cara: Me neither. I'm gonna go do some Christmas shopping.
Matt: Sounds good - I'll "prep" a little bit.
Cara: By prep, do you mean set your fantasy football lineup?
Matt: No. I'll prep. I promise.
Cara: Mmmhmmm...

(The two climb out of bed to get their Saturday underway. True to form, no painting gets done. Cara shops. Matt actually does manage to do some prepping. That evening, the two them don their holiday festive wear for a Christmas Party at Lane and Sarah's house. They return, exhausted, and head to bed.)

Cara: Are you sure you want to paint tomorrow? We could just paint when we got back from the NW.
Matt: Don't tempt me.

(The two drift off to sleep. The next morning, they are again roused by the catchy Pink tune, "So What".)

Cara: We should probably get up.
Matt: Zzzz...
Cara: How are you still asleep?
Matt: What are you talking about? I'm awake!
Cara: Mmmhmm.
Matt: Can we hit snooze just once?
Cara: I've already hit snooze 4 times.
Matt: Oh. Hmm...I suppose we better get up then.
Cara: Time to paint.
Matt: Or we could not paint.
Cara: If we don't paint, we definitely need to go to church.
Matt: Why? Procrastination isn't a sin!!
Cara: Nice try. Church?
Matt: Sure. But I don't want to paint.
Cara: K. We'll paint one evening this week. We have to!
Matt: Sounds good. Tomorrow night the procrastination ends. We're gonna get that room painted no ifs ands or buts!)

(Off to church they went. After church, the two hit Panera for lunch and then enjoyed a lazy Sunday complete with chores, some napping, and some leisurely reading/Wii playing. Matt finished "Marley and Me" and stole an occasional glance at the NFL games. Cara increased her pro-status in Wii tennis and blogged about the adorable card her cute nephew mailed us. All-in-all, it was a relaxing last non-workday in Knoxville before the holidays beckon the young couple home to the NW. Will the office get painted? Will the procrastination madness continue? Stay tuned!)

Friday, December 12, 2008

Fantasy Football Flop

Every year, I look forward to the fantasy football season. When I started playing fantasy football a few years ago, I found it to be much more exciting then I could have imagined. I don't know why this came as such a surprise, seeing as I always loved sports, statistics, and playing the role of manager. Travel back in time to my formative years as an apsiring young baseball GM. I think I was about 10 years old and I had an early NES baseball game, Bases Loaded 2 (which, according to this review is quite the crappy game). No matter what "The Video Game Critic" says, I rather enjoyed that the game only tracked stats for each game on an individual basis. This gave me a prime opportunity to keep track of the stats myself for each of my players and the top players on other teams. So, I religiously and meticulously kept stats; calculating batting averages, on-base percentages, ERA...and even doled out post-season awards based on the year-long performances I had kept track of. And you wonder how I became an accountant...

Needless to say, I am a bit of a fantasy football junkie. On top of giving me my "stats fix" the league I have joined keeps me in contact with friends back home, which is also a plus. As if this wasn't enough, there is money involved and the top team each year bring home nearly $400. I placed 2nd a couple of years ago and scored a cool $190. After a flop season last year, I hit this year charged and ready to dominate. I got the #3 pick in the draft, a good spot with 14 teams in our league. I drafted with an emphasis on running backs, as I wanted to lay the foundation for a strong playoff push (running backs pick up steam as the year goes on and the weather starts getting ugly). I also drafted Eli Manning for his late season heroics last year (though, I really cannot stand the guy) the gritty Pittsburgh Steeler defense (more on that later). My receiver picks were admittedly quite week. Overall, here is how the draft played out for me (overall pick # in parentheses):
  • 1st Round: Brian Westbrook, RB (#3)
  • 2nd Round: Lawrence Maroney, RB (#26)
  • 3rd Round: Thomas Jones, RB (#31)
  • 4th Round: Dallas Clark, TE (#54)
  • 5th Round: Hines Ward, WR (#59)
  • 6th Round: Eli Manning, QB (#82)
  • 7th Round: Pittsburgh, DST (#87)
  • 8th Round: Sidney Rice, WR (#110)
  • 9th Round: Ray Rice, RB (#115)
  • 10th Round: Deuce McAllister, RB (#138)
  • 11th Round: Vince Young, QB (#143)
  • 12th Round: Ernest Wilford, WR (#166)
  • 13th Round: Neil Rackers, K (#171)
  • 14th Round: Matt Jones, WR (#194)
As the early season unfolded, I hit the waiver wire (signing free agents and dropping current players to make roster room) like a banshee. At $0.50 per transaction fee, I may have exceeded the GDP of some small nations in revenue for our free agent pot. It didn't take long before my current roster looked nothing like the draft-day roster. As the playoffs opened last week, only 7 of the original 14 players remained on the active roster (and it would have been only 6 had I not picked up Matt Jones again recently - I dropped him earlier in the season when he faced suspension for possession of cocaine...yeah, he's a winner). All of this moving and shaking did pay off to some degree. After a bit of a slow start (which was plagued by injuries, earning my team the name Westbrook's Walking Wounded, or "WWW"), my team began to pick up some steam. As the regular season drew to a close, I climbed steadily to the top of the standings and finished with a #1 seeding heading into the playoffs. "WWW" was by no means dominant. My regular season title was helped greatly by the easiest strength of schedule (meaning I played my opponents, on average, during weeks when they scored most poorly). But, with Westbrook returning to form after an injury-plagued early season and Thomas Jones serving as a much needed workhorse, I felt good about my chances heading into the playoffs.

My team's #1 seeding would be an empty victory if I couldn't convert wins in the playoffs and claim the top prize. In week 1 of the playoffs, I geared up for a gritty re-match with "Obnoxious Hawkfan," coached by none other than Jeff Hyatt. As his name implies, Jeff is a Seahawks fan through and through. Obnoxiously so, in fact. His team was eager to avenge a narrow (0.60 pt), and frankly quite ridiculous come from behind Week 4 victory for my squad when our teams squared off in the regular season. This narrow victory was fueled by the Steelers defense who rallied late in 4th quarter of Monday Night Football to score 15 of my teams 60 pts that week. To be fair, I should not have won that game. I knew it. Jeff knew it. We geared our teams up for what was sure to be a hostile battle.

As our much anticipated playoff matchup drew near, I began looking over my roster to decide my starters for the week. Fueled by my running game, my team had the edge on paper as early favorites. However, my vaunted Pittsburgh defense (who have been absolutely dominant all year) had an ominous match up against Dallas' high-powered offense. I began to think long and hard about an alternative. So, I looked at my bench and made a decision I would come to regret. Out came Pittsburgh's DST and in came the DST for the New England Patriots. The hated, despised, god-awful New England Patriots. I could hardly believe what I was doing; placing my playoff hopes in the hands of the Patriots defense and Eli Manning. Odd, considering I can hardly stand seeing either of these "entities" succeed in any way, shape, form or fashion. So, why would I do such an odd thing?

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. I made a plain and simple indefensible decision. I made a decision that defies all logic in a fantasy football league filled with die-hard Seahawks fans as I squared off against obnoxiously vocal supporter of the boys in blue and green. But, after much reasoning, I made a decision I felt would propel my fantasy team to a 1st round playoff victory based on the following justification:

The Patriots injury-plagued defense was squaring off against the lowly, meek, and offensively-challenged Seahawks and surely they would perform better than Pittsburgh's defense.

I was so sure of this, I was willing to bet against the Seahawks. That's right - I was betting AGAINST my home team. It makes me nauseous now to even read those words.

People like me are the reason fantasy football gets a bad rap. Critics argue that playing fantasy football forces you to go against your allegiances and make decisions that contradict what is the best for your home team. The criticisms are well explained here. And here. I could go on, but I'll spare you all the wild Internet goose chase. In short, my story is not unique. Fantasy owners face this trap week in and week out. Do you choose what is best for your fantasy team (which may have a real financial impact) or do you sacrifice your fantasy team for your "real world" team loyalties? I both faced and fell into the trap.

The morning of our big matchup, I had a severe case of "second thoughts". The guilt nearly got me to bench the Patriots in favor of Pittsburgh. But, I didn't. I couldn't. I guess that I needed to learn a lesson. As the matchup got underway, I had a sinking feeling that Bad Karma was going to strike. Boy, did it ever.

The Bad Karma seemed to strike Obnoxious Hawkfan first. As the sun rose on our playoff matchup, Jeff's team was confronted with injuries to both of it's starting RBs. He quickly installed back-up RBs and at the last minute named Matt Schaub starter at QB. These critical last-minute moves gave Obnoxious Hawkfan a spark right out of the gate. Matt Schaub outscored Eli Manning (my QB) 26 to 9 (thanks Eli!!). It was a gap that my team would not make up. In this case, I didn't DESERVE to pull out another ridiculous come from behind win. The same Steelers defense that had carried my team to a razor-thin margin-of-victory against Jeff's team in Week 4 sat on my bench as the stupid-head Patriots took the field against the Seahawks. The Seahawks scored a TD on their opening drive. A sinking feeling set in as I watched Pittsburgh's defense run roughshod over the hapless Cowboys. The stark reality of the situation hit me. I had bet against my Seahawks and I deserved to lose...and I was going to lose. I was so certain, I changed my team's name to Bad Karma.

As the Seahawks scored another TD, I cheered. I realized that losing my 1st round playoff matchup would be a small setback as long as the Seahawks scored a million points on the Patriots. Who cared if I lost my matchup and the chance at the 1st prize. At least the Seahawks were going to beat the Patriots. Bad Karma was going to strike my fantasy football team, but at least it didn't get a hold of the Seahawks. I felt a twinge of relief.

Unfortunately, this relief was short-lived.

When the dust settled on the day, the Steelers defense posted a dominant 24 point effort against Dallas. New England could only manage 3 points against a surprisingly feisty Seahawks offense. However, the %&@$'ing Patriots returned to New England victorious with a last minute victory over the now 2 and 11 Seahawks. ARGH!! The Bad Karma of my decision echoed from Knoxville to the Emerald City. A quick survey of the damage reveals:

  • The newly minted Bad Karma (fka Westbrook's Walking Wounded) lost to Obnoxious Hawkfan by 14 points, no small margin. However, considering that my team lost out on 21 points because I IMMORALLY picked the wrong defense, victory was certainly within reach for me on that fateful day.
  • My team lost the 1st game of the playoffs and now only plays for pride.
  • I lost out on the prize money, which is no small thing for a starving graduate student who is trying to save up for a wedding next Fall. Especially considering that I contributed a small nation's GDP worth of cash to the free agent pot in my league.
  • Most importantly, I lost a little bit of my soul because I bet against my beloved Seahawks.
Rest assured, I've learned a valuable lesson. Never again will I bet against my boys in blue and green. From this day forward, I will not let my quest for Fantasy Football gold come at loss of my better judgment. I will return next season, ready to once again pursue the vaunted 1st prize. But this time around, I'm going to do it the "right" way.

Go HAWKS!!

Friday, December 5, 2008

The Kick'n Chick'n

About a week and a half ago, my classmate Lane and I hit the local cigar bar, The Knoxville Cigar Company for a special whiskey tasting and cigar night. The price of admission (a mere $25) bought a cigar, five whiskey tastes (see picture), and some delicious sausage gumbo for dinner. I have to admit, I'm not a huge whiskey OR cigar guy, but it sounded like a good night out and Cara was out of town for work, so I figured it'd help distract me from missing her too much. The whiskey tasting was put on by the master distiller for Wild Turkey, Mr. Jimmy Russell HIMself. I hadn't heard of the guy MYself, but I guess he's the beez-neez. He was certainly a charismatic fellow. My favorite part of the night was when one of my fellow whiskey-sipping, cigar-wielding comrades hollered "Kick'n Chick'n - WHOOO HOOO!!!" That got me pretty good and fired up.

Jimmy Russell is a nice, older guy. One of those grandfatherly types you just feel comfortable around. He had lots of fun stories about how much he enjoys his job. "I would go to work, taste a couple hundred sips of whiskey, and go home and pour myself a glass as a night cap." He also enjoyed telling us childhood stories. "Out where I lived growing up, grandma would mix some whiskey, sugar, and little bit of lemon, heat it up, and call it cough syrup. I learned pretty quick that I could fool her faking a cough every time - until I started trying to do it during the summertime." Definitely good for a chuckle or two. I don't know if you can actually tell what's going on very well in the picture at the left, but Jimmy is in there...somewhere. He even signed a few tumblers at the end for everyone with some fancy paint pen. I have to give my respect to the guy - his signature on a glass with a fancy paint pen is better than mine with a regular old pen and paper writing on a flat desk. The guy has got talent. Fo sho. I just don't know how I felt about this little old drink he was peddling.

I have to admit, I was more than a little bit intimidated at the thought of downing five tastes of Wild Turkey. You see, the Kick'n Chick'n and I have a little bit of a rough history. We don't necessarily see eye to eye. It's been a while since we've visited with one another, but back after my sophomore year of college, I had my first experience "tasting" Wild Turkey while camping with some friends. I admit I was still relatively "green" when it game to drinking (for my parents possibly reading this blog, please PRETEND this was the summer after my senior year of college), and I did not have the proper "maturity" to enjoy a whiskey as fine as Wild Turkey.
I mixed a few drops of wild turkey in a two liter bottle of coke, took a sip, and what h appened next is forever etched in my mind. My eyes crossed. My vision went blurred. My stomach t wisted in knots. And I spent most of the evening trying to stay as far away from that disgusting stuff as I could. The battle lines were drawn. The kickn' chick'n and I were to be enemies for life. That is, until this whiskey tasting. You see, my buddy Lane (pictured at right), wouldn't have any of it. So he scheduled this little rendezvous and next thing I know, I was sitting there face-to-face with my sworn enemy.

The enormity of the situation did not fully hit me until I settled into my bar seat, casually puffing on my cigar. The rest of the crowd dissolved into the smoky recesses of the bar, leaving me and those five shots of Wild Turkey caught in a long and tense stare down. Me. Wild Turkey. Mano e whiskano (x5). "Alright chick'n," I thought to myself. "Tonight, I'm gonna do the kick'n." So, as Jimmy Russell explained the nuances of the Wild Turkey whiskey distillation process, I got reacquainted with an old friend. My tastes have definitely grown up quite a bit in 7+ years. And as I sipped that whiskey, I reflected on how my life has changed in the last 7+ years. I can hardly believe the journey I have had that lead me to Knoxville and that bar stool with a good friend and classmate that particular evening. And, it was a wonderful evening. I actually enjoyed that whiskey. The cigar and the food were the perfect compliment, as Lane and I visited and met new friends. It was an experience I will not soon forget. And I've got the signed Jimmy Russell whiskey tumbler to prove it. And something tells me it won't be another 7+ years before I sit down and "visit" with glass of Wild Turkey.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Random Musings

Hey y'all!

After flying out of the gates with blog, after blog, after blog - I seem to have lost momentum. I need to try and get back into a good routine or I am going to start "losing fans" as Cara has warned me! So, here are a few musings - my lack of blogging certainly has not been due to a lack of material! I like putting my blogs into some sort of theme - so today I'm organizing my musings according to the annoyingly catchy camp/kids song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes".

Head. I'm in a really good place right now. The semester is winding down - I have my last class next Monday when we return from Thanksgiving break and the final is one week after that on December 8th. It's been a good semester of teaching - not without its stressful and draining times, but energizing and exciting above all. I met with the doctoral program coordinator (Terry - yeah, we're on a 1st name basis here in our program) yesterday about my dissertation and he was really optimistic and positive about my idea. So, I set to work now on circulating my idea document with my intended committee members and with luck I will have my committee formed before I fly home to the NW for the holidays. I suppose at that point I will officially be in the "dissertation stage" of this crazy journey that is the Ph.D. program. I was feeling very exhilirated about it yesterday. This combined with a long Thanksgiving weekend ("our first Thanksgiving" for Cara and I!!) and I'm a happy camper. Very happy. This head has visions of dissertation completion running through it...and that puts a smile on my face. A big smile.

Shoulders. Cara and I have sore shoulders and it's probably from all the painting we've been doing lately. We painted the upstairs hallway and staircase a bright, cheery yellow and are very happy with the result. Our upstairs looks awesome and is officially complete until we decide to do the bathroom which probably won't come until sometime next year. This weekend, we plan on turning our attention to the kitchen/dining room/downstairs hallway in order to have our painting wrapped up by Christmas break. Wish us luck!

Knees. Or more specifically, knee. My right one. In my last blog, I gave an update about my knee. I went to the doctor last Tuesday and had some x-rays done. The doctor, who's the primary sports doctor for all of the UT athletes, diagnosed my symptoms as a deep knee bruise that is starting to "go fibrous." She noted that I had full range of motion (limited somewhat as I am the least flexible person alive) and little pain so she was not particularly concerned. X-rays confirmed that there was nothing terribly wrong with my knee and she was confident she could see the fairly substantial hematoma (bruise) that I'm battling. She prescribed anti-inflammatories (Aleve), stretching, and ice and asked that I schedule an appointment in three weeks so she can see how I've progressed. So, I would say this is good news -- it definitely made me feel better about everything. The only problem is that I have been positively awful about stretching, icing, and consuming Aleve. I'm sure that I'm headed towards a stern lecture from the doctor if I don't get my act together!

Toes. Cold toes, to be exact. It has been positively chilly in Knoxville, which had me in the doghouse initially. I had Cara convinced that it would not be so cold in Knoxville that she would need a winter coat until after the Christmas holiday. So, she left her cold weather attire back at home in the NW and is not too pleased with me for providing the poor information. In reality, we are just having unusually cold weather, but that doesn't help Cara stay any warmer. This last weekend she picked up a fancy purple wool coat at the mall. I must say, it is pretty sharp. I am sure she will be posting pictures of it at some point, but she is a must happier camper now that she is warm and snuggly in her new coat. On top of the cold weather, our furnace has been acting unusual. It will come on for some period of time (could be hours, could be days) and then it will randomly shut off. I've done my homework and I can't figure out if I've got something wrong with the pilot light (or ignitor), the thermostat, or the supply of gas to the house. We just had our best span of 2+ days of functioning furnace and warm house, but last night it shut off again. I hope it's just some early season "kinks" that the furnace and I can work out between ourselves. I am not digging the idea of paying to have someone come out and take a look at it. Ahh...the joys of home ownership.

Knees and Toes (read "odds and ends"):

Cara and I have thoroughly enjoyed our Wii. We highly recommend the Wii to anyone who doesn't own it. Our goal is to find a Wii Fit for the holiday weekend, but they are not easy to come by. So, we'll see if we can scrounge one up or not. Whatever the case, we're looking forward to a weekend of basketball (Go Zags!), movies (we're off to see "Four Christmases" on Thursday), good food (cooking up our 1st Thanksgiving meal together!), games and puzzles (you know, old boring couple-y kinda stuff), and some painting, cleaning and chores. It should be an awesome weekend.

I clinched a spot in the playoffs with my Fantasy Football team...the 1st step on my road to the Championship and the $300+ 1st prize.

Holiday travel plans are set. We travel home to the Northwest the evening of December 19th and return to Knoxville on a red-eye flight on January 1st. We'll make good use of our two weeks home celebrating the holidays with family and friends (Cara's parents and my parents are going to meet for the 1st time!). We've also got plans to attend the Battle in Seattle (the anniversary of when Cara and I first met!) and to spend New Year's Eve celebrating the arrival of 2009 with friends in Seattle!

Look forward to a post this weekend sharing the fun and excitement of our relaxing 1st Thanksgiving weekend together in Knoxville!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! Love from Knoxville!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Phone the Doctor...something's wrong with my knee


Last Friday after my 8am A200 class, I noticed a weird bump just above my right kneecap. (Note: the picture at the left doesn't do it justice, but it gives you some idea of where this is all going down.) I didn't feel any pain, had no trouble walking, and I climbed the stair to my office without any soreness. I did feel a bit of a twinge of pain when I was bending my knee to pull up a document on my laptop during my Forum presentation. But, I iced my knee that evening and everything seemed fine. No pain, no soreness all weekend. But, the strange bump did not go away. So, yesterday I called the Student Health Center to set up an appointment with the on-campus sports medicine doctor. She didn't have an opening until next Tuesday, so I wait...hoping my knee will get better before then. Yesterday evening and now again this evening, it's clear that it isn't getting better. It is definitely sore...not painfully so, but tender sore. Kind of an aching pain. Most distinctly, I can tell something is "off." Although it hasn't slowed me down at all at this point, I fear that there is something out of sorts that ain't getting better. I hope it's not anything too serious. It seems my collision with the "rock that rocked me" a few weeks ago may have done more damage than I thought. I'll keep y'all posted.

The fun news is that I can phone the doctor on my brand, spanking new cell phone. No sooner did my contract with AT&T Wireless end, and I jumped ship to join Cara with Verizon. I got a Samsung Alias, which came with some decent recommendations. I've been extremely happy with it so far. It feels solid and durable. The menus, interfacing, and functionality is intuitive. And, it's got the "wow" factor in that it opens both vertically for calls and horizontally for texting. Pretty cool. So far, 26 hours into my contract with Verizon...I've been impressed. Change is fun. Now, if my George Strait ringtone would just arrive already!! Here are a few pics to document the exciting new change in my life -- a new cell phone AND a new cell phone provider!! The next time I call you, it'll be from my new phone!!

Flips open vertically for phone calls - puts a smile on my face!!

Flips open horizontally for texting - easy on the fingers!!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Home is where the heart is...

Cara and I have had our share of exciting times as we settle into our home together. Not all of these exciting times have been "good" per se, but you've got to take the good with the bad I guess. At the end of the day, it's been so much fun turning this house into a home with Cara!

At the end of last week, I was working from home on Thursday afternoon (10/30) and I was taking a quick work break so that I could get some wedding "to dos" checked off the list. I was on the phone with a potential DJ and the Photographer called (whom I was trying to connect with so I could get our deposit squared away). Just as I was getting ready to call the photographer back, I heard a dripping sound. Turns out, the dripping sound was water falling from our kitchen ceiling and cabinets and into our sink (see the photo to the left). Ugh! I guess water dripping from your toilet is a bit of a problem. Because, water will tackle anything in its path on its way to the sea. Next thing you know you've got a blown out ceiling in your kitchen, a nice plumbing bill, and some contracting work waiting to happen (new sheet rock in the kitchen ceiling). Yahoo.

Crazy plumbing mess aside, Cara and I decided we are going to get the condo painted to make it look a little bit more cozy inside. So, we picked out some paint colors - a good dark tan, crimson red, and a bright and cheery yellow. Picking out the colors was the easy part. First, we prepped -- no small task. Paint prepping involves sticking blue tape EVERYWHERE. I guess the rule of thumb is: 'tis better to paint blue tape than to paint things you don't want to paint. Next step, remove outlet and light switch covers. Cara took care of this - she's pretty handy with a flathead screwdriver! And finally, you've got to move furniture. We both took care of this task. With all the prep work done -- it was time to do some painting. Finally! All this work took some serious energy. So, we made sure we were appropriately caffeinated! We got energy drinks on the way home from a Lowe's run. Cara didn't like her Monster, so I took it (being the wonderful fiance that I am). Between the energy drinks and a little 80's music (gotta love Comcast music channels), we had plenty of energy to spare.
We started painting our living room/family room. It turns out, it's a SLOOOOWWWW process. In fact, we spent the entire last weekend painting two, count 'em, TWO rooms. We haven't even painted the closets yet - so, we still have our work cut out for us! The bad news...I don't do well with painting. I was an absolute brat for a good chunk of the weekend. Painting takes time. It's a mess. And it's exhausting. I just could not handle it. I don't know how Cara put up with me, but she did. The good news... the two rooms look absolutely awesome for our efforts! And we did manage to have some fun too! Below is a montage of photos of us prepping, painting, and our finished efforts. Oh, and I've got some video footage of Cara dancing as well...heh heh. You can't hear it...but it's 80's music..."Straight Up Now Tell Me," in fact. Love it!


Next up...we're painting a coffee table blue to round out the family room. Well...not totally rounding it out I guess. We still have the closet and then we'll have a finished room! We'll plan on wrapping up the closets and the upstairs hallway shortly and then turn our attention to downstairs. If we're lucky, we'll wrap up sometime before Christmas. Hard work...but well worth it. We'll make this house a Hoag home afterall!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Weekend Shenooligans

In an earlier post, I talked about all of the fun and adventure Cara and I had in store for us last weekend. And then I fell off the map. Hopefully none of my adoring fans thought the weekend left me lying in bed recovering from exhaustion. Certainly not the case! In fact, it was a perfect dose of fun and adventure. Now, let me tell you about it.

On Friday, Cara and I went to the Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts concert at Thomson-Boling Arena (where we'll watch our #11 Zags battle the Vols in a few short months!!). We got all "gussied up" as Cara would call it and headed to the concert which started at 8pm. Of course, we left at about 7:45 figuring traffic wouldn't be too bad. We were mistaken. There was a steady stream of last minute concert-goer traffic so we were about 20 minutes late and missed some of Taylor Swift's set. I must admit, she puts on quite a show. Her stage presence is fun - very light-hearted - and her songs are kinda catchy. Some of them are even pretty good -- "Love Story" is my fave. Wow - just now I saw a bit of my manhood disappear in admitting that. I'm sure it's at some bar sipping whiskey, watching sports, and soaking up some classic rock; recovering from the Taylor Swift-ness I just ambushed it with!

Okay, so now that the cat is out of the bag - I'll move on to my review of Rascal Flatts. I like some of their songs - "Here's to You" is one of my all-time favorites. You can bet your britches I danced, rocked and bounced along when they played that one. Otherwise, I spent most of their set thinking about how badly my feet and legs hurt from standing the entire time (we were in the General Admission "Bob Your Head"section. That's either a sign that (a) I'm getting old and crotchety, (b) Rascal Flatts does not put on a great show, or (c) both. I think the answer is (c). The other day at the doctor's office I was writing my age as 26 on all the forms. Clearly, I seem to have forgotten my recent birthday (August 25th) which I share with Sean Connery, Rachel Ray, Regis Philbin, and Elvis Costello among others. Newsflash: I am now 27. I write that more to hammer it into my own head than to broadcast it worldwide. The reality is, 27 is not THAT old.

So, Rascal Flatts must not put on a great show. And that's a fact. I think they are worth seeing once - concerts are a fun experience. And they do have a few songs that really get the crowd enthused. But, overall their show seemed to be low on energy, a bit fake, and the bad kind of cheesy that leaves a bad taste in your mouth (e.g., not good cheesy - which is something I have made into an art form as is clearly evidenced in the photograph to the right!). Also, Rascal Flatts makes full and blatant use of text messaging during their shows - they must get some serious revenue from the text messaging service they use because they had the whole arena texting. Before the show you could text a message to have it shown on the arena jumbotron and you also had a chance to win backstage passes after the show. Cara and I both texted and neither one of us won, nor did we see our respective messages displayed in the arena. What we did get was enrolled into the Rascal Flatts text message fan club - so we've been receiving sporadic, gimmicky, and annoying text messages from Rascal Flatts telling us about other offers and chances to win tickets. Annoying! About halfway through the show, Joe Don told the concert goers to text him at his special text number for a special gift. Cara did that - and to this day still hasn't received her gift. And if he thinks singing a special song was the special gift, well than I got the special gift too without having to text him...so ummm...yeah. Kinda lame. The icing on the cake? The encore consisted of two songs complete with confetti and balloons. Two songs?!? Balloons and Confetti?!? What kind of a lame-o encore performance is that?? By that point I was just wishing we were in the car headed home. But, don't let my cynicism fool you - Cara and I had fun and I'm glad we went. I just wouldn't do it again for Rascal Flatts. For Taylor Swift? Maybe. Just don't go telling anyone I said that. My manhood has taken enough of a blow with this blog already.

On Saturday Cara and I got up and did some serious cleaning and reorganizing to make ready for my old roommate Quinn to stay the night with his fiancee Deborah, who were coming into town for the UT vs Alabama game (which has come to be known as the Third Saturday in October, down here in SEC football country). The two met while in the MAcc (Masters in Accounting) program at UT and are getting married next May 2nd. I am honored to be a groomsmen in their wedding.

On an unrelated note, I'll have to try and get some good pictures of the reorganized house up soon. It looks pretty good. Cara and I are going to try and tackle some interior painting this weekend. She's even started with the blue tape. Wish us luck! And you can count on a few pictures and a blog to keep you updated on that excitement...whoo hoo!

Quinn and Deborah arrived around 4pm with Deb's adorable little Maltipoo, Snuggles. Snuggles and I had quite a bond back in the day, so it was a nice little reunion. It was awesome to see Quinn and Deborah too! After catching up for a bit at the house, we all headed out to a pre-game tailgate across the river from Neyland Stadium. The evening could not have been nicer! Sipping whiskey and coke, a few cold beers, and eating some delicious bbq with friends and foe alike (Deborah is a huge Alabama fan...grrr!!) was the perfect way to prepare for the big game. And for Cara, it was her first experience with Tennessee footbal. See Cara's take on the game in her earlier blog. As the game drew near, we got in line for the water taxi that would ferry us across the river for the game. Due in part to misjudgment by us and conservative passenger limits (only 19 people at a time, no ifs, ands, or buts!), we waited for 45 minutes to board the water ferry. The game started to the roar of the crowd. We waited. But, we didn't let the wait dampen our spirits. Cara and I kept each other warm and the the evening was too perfect to be stressed. When we finally did board the water ferry to head across the river, it was really starting to get cold and Cara and I were both excited to get into the stadium for some SEC football! The water taxi ride was brief and afforded us an awesome view of the Henley Street bridge, which they had all lit up in orange and white for the big game. All in all, a pretty impressive sight, wouldn't you say? The view from our seats wasn't bad either. Well...unless you count the way the Vols played. They got manhandled by the visiting Crimson Tide, much to the satisfaction of the houndstooth cap wearing, cigar smoking Alabama fans in front of us. The final score: Alabama 29, Tennessee 9. BOOO!!! Behold a photo montage of the game (the stadium, the 'Bama fans, the halftime show, and a picture of Cara and I - blog storyline follows below):





As the closing seconds ticked off the clock, Cara and I had the distinct honor of hearing firsthand one of the more hated traditions in all college football - the dreaded Rammer Jammer cheer. That video is from the game. I did not shoot it. But, you can tell how loud and boisterous the visiting 'Bama fans are. There were quite a few of them still there celebrating as the dejected Tennessee fans streamed from the stadium. I can tell you one thing -- I will ALWAYS root against Alabama after hearing the Rammer Jammer in Neyland Stadium. Go Vols! "It's great to be a Tennessee Vol!" After the game, we all hit Cool Beans (a local watering hole) for a few drinks and then headed home, thoroughly wiped out from an eventful day.

Cara and I woke up the next morning and had brunch with my buddy Adam and his wife, Katie. We went to the Crown and Goose and the food was awesome. The mimosas weren't too bad either. Or, are they called molasses? Marmelade? Adam couldn't seem to get it right. We all had a great time visiting and were sad to see the time come for Adam and Katie to head back to their cabin (they were staying in the Smokies for their one year wedding anniversary). Overall, Cara and I had an incredible weekend. My fantasy football team (Westbrook's Walking Wounded) even managed to pull out a big victory and the high score for the week, which was a big step in securing my team a trip to the Fantasy FB playoffs. On that note, I've ranted, rambled, and raved for far too long by now. It's time for me to get back to course prep. I'm taking the afternoon at home to get some errands done around the house and also to get some research done! Wish me luck!!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Teaching for Life

Now that my dad is showing me up in the blogging department, I figured it was about time for me to hop to it and post a blog.

My semester of teaching has really been an awesome experience -- but, it has certainly been busy too! My Accounting 200 students had an exam last night and of course the week or so leading up to the exam was filled up with tutoring, getting make-up exams sorted out, and all sorts fun administrative mumbo jumbo. On top of that, my BA353 section (where I'm a "business coach") had their Business Plan presentations last Friday (10/24). These count for 25% of their grade in the course so I also had my hands full in the week leading up to the big day to say the least. All in all, I had an extremely busy week and a half to two weeks that is just now starting to simmer down to a low boil...just in time for me to prepare for my 1st early-stage dissertation presentation next Friday.

I'm still struggling in some ways to find my niche in the classroom. I absolutely love teaching, but I still feel like I don't have an identity. I imagine that will develop over time. I get a rush of adrenaline from standing in front of the classroom and I especially enjoy working through problems with students one-on-one or in small group settings in my office. But at the same time, I feel majorly bummed when my students struggle and I take poor exam scores way too personally - it's hard not to have a vested interest in how my students perform. After the first exam, I spent hours examining and analyzing the test scores. I compared my students scores to the scores of students in other sections. I talked to classmates, professors, and even my parents about the emotions that flared up in response to having my students struggle with the material. And at the end of the day, I beat myself up quite a bit over things I could have done to better prepare my students for the exam. With the exam results from the second exam looming, I fear I may be headed down a similar path if my students do not perform up to their expectations.

The ups and downs of the semester have me feeling like I'm on a roller coaster at times. To compensate for the bummed out times, I pour a lot of time into teaching - a whole lot more than my allotted 10 hours a week for Accounting 200. This leaves me shortended on research and feeling a little bit anxious and uneasy about the prospect of trying to juggle all of the academic expectations in the future. I suppose that is part of the learning curve that I must follow - I certainly am learning a lot about myself and the nuances of teaching this semester. And I certainly do not ever plan to stop trying to learn, grow, and develop myself -- it is why I find the academic lifestyle so appealing in the first place.

At the end of the day - this has been one of the more challenging semesters I've faced in the Ph.D. program. I must say I'm more than little bit surprised about that -- I thought my Fall 2007 semester with Economics, Math Economics, and Multivariate Statistics would continue to reign supreme atop my heap of most challenging academic semesters. But, this semester has been surprising -- emotional, energizing, stressful, and all-in-all pretty amazing compressed into a few short months. I love the journey that I am on and most importantly, I have wonderful family and friends who love and support me every step of the way. I would be remiss if I didn't give Cara a big "shout-out" too...she has been such a wonderful strength and support for me in these emotional months. Thanks sweetheart -- I love you more than words.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Weekend Mania

Why is that weekends always seem to fill up so fast?!?
(not that I'm complaining)

Here's what Cara and I have on tap for this weekend.

Friday night - Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift concert (7:30pm until ??) followed by a classmates' 30th birthday party (?? until the wee hours of the morning).

Saturday - Quinn (my old roommate) and Deborah (Quinn's fiancee and my old honorary roommate) come into town at 3pm. We tailgate for the UT/Alabama game until the start of the game at 7:30. We then will watch our Vols try their best not to get crushed by #2 ranked Alabama. And afterwards, we may hit the Strip for some shenooligans.

Sunday - Roll out of bed. Go to church to try and make penance for any sins we may have committed the night before. Have brunch with my friend Adam and his wife Katie at the Crown & Goose downtown. (Brunch Menu). I know what you're thinking. Mmmmmm...

Somewhere in all this, Cara and I must clean, continue to organize and straighten up around the house, prepare for painting (which is on our slate for the not-too-distant future), and get some rest!! Before we know it we'll be into a new week....YIKES!!

You can bet there will be some stories and pictures to follow the crazy adventures of this upcoming weekend. Check back next week for the full report.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Theme of the Day is ROCK

Good morning!

So, I'm talking with Cara about my exciting new blog yesterday and I use the phrase, "Now that I'm a blogger..." to start a sentence...Cara wasn't buying it. She pushed me and teases, "You've posted one blog!!" She makes a good point. I still have some work to do to quote "become a blogger." I'm working on it.

In case you didn't know it, I rock. I've decided that is a good mantra to start a new week with. Accordingly, I've themed today's blog around that mantra.

  • The rock that rocked me
In my post yesterday I told you about the garagantuan, gi-normous, and granite grey (I got on a "g-theme") rock that took me out during the touch football match. I bet you're dying to see what this rock looked like. So, here it is. This picture still makes my knees ache.


I know. That rock is huge. How didn't I see it? Well, those of you that know me have a pretty good idea. I just know that it's a good thing I have superior bone density and structure. Because I am a big clutz. A bull in a china shop, if you will. No matter...I still rock. But that rock definitely rocked me.
  • Pumpkins that Rock
In my last blog, I promised photos of our rocking jack-o-lanterns. I've got pics of the whole fam-damily for your enjoyment. Presenting, the Jolly Rocker, T-Rockz, and a date that rocks (10-17-09 - our wedding date)...in all their beautiful, glowing-orange splendor:


Our happy little pumpkin family rocks. What did you carve (or what are you planning to carve) this year? Feel free to comment and send pictures!
  • Rocking the Knoxville Nightlife
On Friday night, Cara and I went out to dinner to celebrate our -1 wedding anniversary. Yep. You heard that right. Our one-year PRE-wedding anniversary. Pretty cheesy. Accordingly, we went to the melting pot for some delicious, cheesy fondue. I hear their chocolate fondue isn't too bad either...so we sampled some of that as well. A salad and the cooking fondue entree rounded out the middle of a very big meal quite nicely. The night made two things official; (1) Cara and I are now less than one year and counting to our wedding day, and (2) Cara and I were both officially uncomfortably full after eating the four-course Melting Pot feast. The following photographs provide stunning proof of point 2. Notice the glazed look in our eyes:


Look at me, I'm already calling wedding photographers. Or was it a taxi cab? Hmmm...

Cara and I rock. And we are both excited to rock (and roll) with friends in family in Spokane next autumn!! Woop woop!!

One final note. Since last Friday was our pre-wedding anniversary, I presented a wedding themed lecture in class. Seriously. How cool am I? I mean, teaching assets, liabilities and expenses using wedding reception site deposits - does it get any more awesome? To quote Barack Obama from the Al Smith Fundraiser Gala Dinner, my greatest weakness is that "it's possible that I'm a little too awesome." By the way...if you haven't watched video of BOTH McCain and Obama from this event. Do it right now. (Barack Video) (McCain Video). Hilarious.

On that note. I'm gonna sign off for today. In the spirit of today's theme, I encourage each of you to "rock on!"

Sunday, October 19, 2008

My First Post

First of all, let's all take a moment to congratulate me on my 1st blog post. It's a momentous occasion. I've finally joined the world of blogging and I am excited to share my insights, adventures and experiences with my friends, family, colleagues and whoever else may find this blog of interest. Okay, now on with the show:

Cara has now been in Knoxville two weeks and we've kept ourselves very busy. Last weekend, we went to the pumpkin patch for the perfect fall experience. We did a corn maze, hayride and we picked out three perfect pumpkins to make a happy little pumpkin family. I'll pop on in a later blog to describe our fall themed weekend and to post some pictures of the finished jack-o-lanterns...so feel free to be excited about that.

Yesterday, I did some cleaning around the house while Cara baked some fall-themed muffins. She made funfetti muffins with orange coconut topping and chocolate muffins with chocolate frosting and candy corns. Mmmm...mmmm! They were good. Mike's wife, Jennifer, even referred to them as very Marth Stewart-esque...she wasn't kidding. They were a hit at the cookout we went to last night, but there were sweets galore, so we brought quite a few home! I'm definitely looking forward to satisfying my sweet tooth!!

The cookout was good fun - Ernie Cadotte (a marketing professor) hosted at his beautiful lake house. The sunset speaks for itself...could you handle this view to wrap up each day? I could.


The night started with an interesting game of touch football. Being the competitive guy that I am, I joined the game (in-progress) the moment I arrived. The rules made the game a bit more like rugby in that forward passes were allowed (and encouraged!) even ahead of the line of scrimmage, which allowed more folks to get involved. It was all good fun - until that rock got in the way. On my team's second drive - we drew up a tricky double reverse play. The center snapped to our quarter back who handed the ball off to a player who swept around from the left. I swept around from the right and took another hand off and sprinted off to the left. Just when I was about to be touched, I flipped the ball off to Ernie. Knowing that we could continue to lateral the ball, I figured I had a wide open sideline ahead of me as our opponents swarmed Ernie. So, I took off sprinting, intending for Ernie to flip the ball back to me so I could "house it." I didn't make it that far. Just as I was accelerating and calling for the ball, I felt my legs being swept out from underneath me..and it didn't feel good. I had run smack into a gigantic rock. Next thing I know, I'm lying on my belly on top of this momentous boulder that someone had strategically placed directly on the field near the sideline. A bit dazed I rolled off the rock and surveyed the damage. My knees were both bloodied and I also managed to scratch my arms up quite a bit. Yeah. Not a smooth move. What my collision did do, however, is provide a pretty darned good distraction. While half of the other team was watching this spectacle in complete disbelief and awe, my teammates were able to take the ball all the way down field for the score - our only of the game. The game ended in a 1-1 tie. And I was carried off the field as a hero. Okay, maybe I just imagined that.

After the game, we feasted on burgers, pasta salads, and desserts aplenty. We then gathered around the campfire to stay warm. The fire more than did it's job.


All in all - a great evening. Though I could've done without the broken kneecaps!!

Cheers all - more to come!!

MH