Someone's in My Bed

The kitty sits in the dog bed just to spite him. She doesn't really want to be in it.

Shop Til You Drop

This has been the ultimate retail shopping season for Lincoln. Thanksgiving was early, so we have an extra week, and the weather has been perfect every weekend.

NGD!

NGD! is short for New Guitar Day! JP felt bad for me having to go to work every day, so she got me a new guitar for X-Mas/birthday. She's the best!

W doesn't seem to mind it.

Hey! Let me up there!

Season of Darkness

Mid-December and it's dark when I go to work, and dark when I come home. Time for playing music, board games, and 1000 piece puzzles!

Family Photo 2018

Happy Holidays from all of us.

Fluffy but Sharp

This is S's new friend from up the street. He comes over once a week to play. He weighs about a pound and is made of nothing but fluff and sharp puppy teeth. He looks cute as a button, but he's still a puppy and he like to chew on EVERYTHING.

Stripes on Lions @ Night Owl Pub

GP's band played a double set at the Night Owl Friday night. They totally rocked it!! It was obvious that all three guys were really having fun.

X-Mas Lights

We were blessed with a couple of relatively warm days for X-Mas light installation. JP went to town and did it all. Our little skinny Alberta Spruce is now as tall as the house. I wasn't there to help, so I imagine she acted out a scene from Christmas Vacation while trying to get lights to the top of the tree.

Thanksgiving 2018

S is a pretty good traveler - he likes to look out enjoy the scenery.

We did a fast in and out trip to see Nana for Thanksgiving in Lanark. As usual, we all ate too much.

The day after, we went back to Woodstock to our old friends. This was the 10th (?) annual lunch @ Biaggi's in Deer Park.

Another Fluffball

This is the other new fluffball in the neighborhood. She's a cokapoo just like M was, and she's a terror.

Best $30

We have been fighting the volume on our Netflix and Amazon videos to the point that we literally wore out the volume buttons on the remote. I picked up an audio compressor at the local used music store for $30 and it's AMAZING!! when the TV signal gets loud, it automatically turns down the volume, and when it's real quiet, it lets it all through. We were able to watch an entire scary movie (they're usually the worst) without touching the volume control.

Chilly Football

We scored another set of tickets to see the Huskers. This time we beat Illinois - it's good to see our season is turning around. Saturday morning it was 12° when we arrived downtown. By kickoff, it was up to 24°. Brrrr.

In addition to the chill, we also had a breeze. The banner-flying plane had a hard time making any headway flying south.

Latke Feed

We ventured onto campus to take in some yummy vittles at CP's SAM Latke Feed. It's their annual philanthropic fundraising activity. I'm now hooked on latkes! They're like ginormous tater tots that have been smashed flat.

Let it Snow

My least favorite tradition of fall is installing the snow tires. GP has been working out, and it showed as he manhandled the tires.

We cut it pretty close this year - it snowed a couple days after we did the tire swap.

Fluffball

There's a new fluffball in the neighborhood. 

New Sammy

CP had his induction to the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity last weekend. It's a great group of guys that are focused on academics and success. We're excited for him.

Senioritis

GP got his senior photos done by our friend downtown in the Railyard.

Stripes on Lions @ Southpointe

GP's band played last Sunday afternoon at the mall. It was a picture perfect day. Between the game on Saturday and being out Sunday, my lips got sunburned.

Here they are doing their own version of Country Roads

This is Rio (Duran Duran 1982). It's really challenging on the bass - I can't even begin to play it, but GP has been after it for a while. I think it's his favorite song to play.

This is a song from GP's favorite band, Gorillaz. (Same band he saw in Boston)

Best Friends (Sometimes)

With S growing a few brain cells, he's become much more of a friend for V. 

Puppy Friend

We have a new puppy in the neighborhood. She's a brown version of Maggie. Same sweet disposition and also has the need to dig.

Cheap Seats

With the dismal Husker football season this year, ticket prices are at an all-time low. CG & I got some seats for $20 a piece. We got to see watch the Huskers get their second win of the season!! We played a small school from FL, Bethune-Coleman, that was a makeup game for the season opener that got called off due to lightning.

AN-124 @ LNK

When I got back to Lincoln, this behemoth was parked on the ramp next to the airline terminal. It's a Russian AN-124 cargo plane getting gas on its way back over the pole to Russia. The airport cop said they've been stopping off one a week at out 11,000 ft runway. Wonder what they're carrying back home?

Lake St. Clair

Flying home, I went through Detroit Rock City. I was amazed at how blue-green the water was in Lake St. Clair. The channel coming out of Lake Huron looked almost tropical. I wish everyone could know/remember how bad the lakes and oceans were in the 70s when I was a kid. Growing up in a small town south of Flint, MI, I remember movies of the great lakes where the water was a puke-purple-red. When we moved to FL in the early 80s, Sarasota Bay was olive green and devoid of fish. Now (before the 2018 red tide, anyway) it's clear and full of fish (but due to Gov. Scott's policies, the red tide totally wiped out marine life on the west coast this summer).

Above is the west coast of FL before and during the 2018 red tide. The environment isn't just what it is due to forces of nature - it's what we humans make it. Get out and vote. 

Boston VIII

On Monday, we hit the USS Constitution only to find that it's closed on Mondays. No problem, there was a destroyer and museum there that were open. After that, we hit Legal Oyteria for some Chowda for lunch. After that, we parted ways - JP & the boys continued the Boston experience, and I headed out on a trail to Ashland, MA, for a week of dealer meetings for work.

As we walked around on the destroyer, it really sank home what it must have been like for the kids that lived on her through the battles of the Pacific. I can't imagine what it was like with all the guns blazing in the heat of the South Pacific sun and to take a direct kamikaze hit. (This ship took three kamikaze hits in her life.)

It was really cool to see the drydock where the Constitution was overhauled.

The Boston Aquarium paid tribute to H.P. Lovecraft with their own mini-Cthulu-in-a-tank.

JP & the boys got a nice view of Manhattan on their way back to Nebraska.

Boston VII - Gorillaz & Roommates

When we booked the trip, I had no idea about this, but we soon learned that GP's favorite band of all time was playing in Boston while we were there. How could we go across country and not see them? The boys took the subway to TD Garden and had the time of their lives at the show.

JP & I had a quieter evening. Two days before we left from NE, one of JP's college roommates connected with her and soon after that JP was able to connect with all of her other roommates. One of them lives in suburban Boston, and we were able to meet her for dinner & beers downtown. 

Boston DCLXVI - Salem

On day 2, we took the T up to Salem. Wow!!! What a fun place. Being in October, on a weekend, it was a madhouse tourist city, but we had a blast checking out the historical sites. Above is a solid brass Standard Yard" at the customs house where Nathaniel Hawthorne worked as a customs agent.

We scored an awesome lunch at an oyster bar next to the Salem Shipyard. More Chowda!!!

We hit the House of the 7 Gables under an unbelievable blue sky.

This is the House Across the Street From the House of the 7 Gables.

Freedom Trail V - Little Italy

The Freedom Trail took us straight through Little Italy right at dinner time. Imagine that!!

We all tried something adventurous. I had some sort of Italian meat pie. GP had bolognese.

JP had some sort of seafood medly.

And CP ate his heart out with a lobsta pasta dish. It was a good thing we had a two mile hike back to the hotel!