Well, It's Sunday Night...

- attended my first-ever "baby brunch" yesterday....some dear old friends from my old Monday-night bible study became parents a couple of months ago. The brunch was held to show off their son to some of us who'd not had the chance to see him yet. I gifted the little tyke with a "board book" copy of "Go Dog Go" by the illustrious P.D. Eastman. That was a favorite book of mine when I was small. I was one of the few men in attendance, though.

- Raked another 14 bags o' leaves yesterday. The Mizzou Tigers kept me company on the radio as they defeated the Cyclones of Iowa State, 34-24. At 7-4 Mizzou HAS to go to a bowl game. The only question is where they will end up. It will help immensely if they can take out KU next Saturday. KU coach El Blimpo Mark Mangino is in a really bad place lately, career-wise and it hasn't helped that his football team is on a 5 or 6-game losing streak. All bets are off when it comes to MU-KU, though. I still remember all those Todd Reesing - Kerry Meyer connections that were made in last year's game to beat Mizzou.

- decided at the last minute last evening to drive up to the TouPAC to catch George Jones in concert. The Possum, or "No Show", as he has been sometimes been called during his 50-year career, is one of those artists that everyone should see live before they die. Alas, he was not in the greatest of voice last night. He was fighting a cold, or allergies, and sang like he had a mouthful of cotton balls all night. I enjoyed hearing his hits, regardless. The songs are all pure country gold and his crack band provided expert backup for them. He brought someone named Brittany Allyn along to sing the part of Tammy Wynette for some of their famous duets.

- Christmastime's a bloomin' everywhere today, from my church to my local Dierbergs market. Can't we at least wait until after Thanksgiving, folks? Just sayin'...

- Random observation: I really like Camera Obscura's cover of Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest." The girl singer delivers the lyrics in a delicious Scottish brogue and it just works.

Rainy and Gloomy...YAY!!!!!!

YAY for rainy day Mondays! it was such a pleasure to start a week off with rain, clouds and gloom! YAY!

...........

Okay, now that that's out of the way.

- had a peaceful weekend. I have no place to put any more leaf bags since my garage is filled, at the moment. SOOOO, I just wrangled them into submission with my evil Leaf Blower O' Doom®. I have a nice large pile of leaves that vaguely resembles a dog bone.

- took a couple of late-afternoon hours on Saturday to ride Grant's Trail one last time. did 14 miles, roughly. my legs really felt it, too.

-on the subject of football, ol' Mizzou really asserted itself against K-State on Saturday. They won the psychological battle early, stuffing K-State's run and refusing to let them impose their will on them. The Tiger offense came alive in a big way and put the game out of reach by the third quarter. Would like them to beat Iowa State on Saturday to get to 7-4, and thus a higher quality lower-tier bowl. The KU game will be a toss-up, I think. Since Mizzou beat K-State, which earlier beat KU, then it follows we should beat KU, but after last year's game/debacle, anything's possible.

- Those plucky Rams durn near knocked off the mighty Saints yesterday. The Saints were playing giveaway with the football and were soft on their run defense all day. The Rams were in it until the very end, but they reverted to form at the end, missing a last-second "hail mary" pass that wouldn't have counted anyway due to a yet another holding penalty called on Alex Barron that would have ended the game. Oh, and yeah, the Rams lost yet another player to a catastrophic knee injury. Oh, and yeah, they totally mis-managed the two-minute drill at the end, but it's not like they've had much practice using it this year. They play hard and don't give in. They just don't have enough playmakers to win consistently yet.

- Is it me or are those "Jimmy Football" Budweiser commercials REALLY REALLY ANNOYING? I see the obvious reference to the late Billy Mays, but it's still annoying. And don't get me started on those Progressive Insurance commercials... : )

- yet another reason why I gladly support FM88.1 KDHX community radio - heard a great song on Cat Pick's program today by a British group called The Clientele. Had never heard of them and now I'm totally checking them out.

Weekend Update...

- yeah, I've probably used that title before once or twice, or three or four times. I couldn't think of anything catchy, though, so there it is.

- Wow, was I a week off on my vacation, or what? It was cloudy, goopy, and raining the week before last, when I was off and last week was gorgeous and sunny the WHOLE WEEK. Can't predict these things, though. I'm over it.

- Indian summer was in full effect this weekend. Sunny skies and temperatures approaching 80 degrees were the rule yesterday and today. I took advantage by raking 20 bags of leaves yesterday. And that was just from my back and side yards. This will occupy my Saturdays for the rest of the month.

- After a one-year hiatus the big BSF square dance returned last night. Over sixty young adults made the trek down winding Little Antire Road in the darkness to Rocking J Ranch. I had a great time seeing old friends and square dancing up a storm.

- The Verizon Wireless How Sweet The Sound national choir competition finals were last night. My dad's choir competed but alas, did not win. A Pentecostal church choir from Atlanta, GA took home the honors. I did not see their performance, but apparently they broke out in tongues, the Pentecostal secret weapon. My dad's church choir did their thing just as well as they did in St. Louis and my mom said the Detroit crowd reacted just as wildly as the St. Louis crowd did. (She attended a Verizon-sponsored watch party at their church.) My poor dad was a real trouper, performing despite being very much under the weather. Still, he said the choir had a generally good experience, all things considered. The P-D's religion writer Tim Townsend wrote about the choir's experience before, during, and after the national finals. Read his story here.

- My cousin J. and her husband welcomed their first child, a boy, into the world last night. He was born at Barnes-Jewish Hospital late last evening. I visited them this afternoon and I must say he is a handsome little guy.

Bang The Drum Slowly...

By now most Americans are inured to the almost-daily casualty reports that come in from the ongoing wars/conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I admit, I let them flow in one ear and out the other, since they've been going on for so many years now. I don't have any friends or family serving over there so it's sometimes hard to feel a personal involvement.

Until now, that is. My third(?) cousin Spc. Robert Charlton died last week at a hospital in Germany of injuries suffered in a "non-combat-related accident" in Afghanistan. His body is arriving on Thursday in my hometown of Malden, MO. I was surprised to hear this news when talking to my mom Tuesday night. Surprised because I didn't even know he had joined the Army in 2007 and had deployed to Afghanistan in January after being initially stationed in Ft. Drum, NY. He was the grandson of my late grandfather's older brother and I can't remember the last time I saw him face to face or talked to him.

He was just 22 years old.

Man, I gotta keep in better touch with my extended family.

Little Miss Can't Be Wrong...

Ummm, can't you see I'm BUSY??

Okay, ONE picture!

...that's what her expressions seem to be saying. Her, of course is niece Lydia--22 months old in a few days. She was staying with grandma and grandpa for a couple days last week and I spent most of Friday afternoon and evening with her and them. She's wearing headphones and a pink bow in her hair while holding her 'blankie' in her arms with a half-eaten apple and a black ink pen in her hands. She's nothing if not busy (and cute!)

I was able to be there because I took my annual week of October vacation last week. I've started doing that in recent years because I love Fall weather and being out in it. This year the weather did NOT cooperate, with clouds and/or rain making for mostly dreary days. However, I did take it easy, raked leaves in the back yard, did a little shopping, took longer walks with the dog, etc...

(oh, and I picked out some spiffy new eyeglasses, too. After 6 years, I figured it was time. My eye guy gave me a new prescription at my recent annual exam. He swears I'll like it a lot!)

The sky cleared out nicely this weekend, though. Both days this weekend were picture-perfect. I got out and explored a couple of trails at Rockwoods Reservation yesterday. The air was crisp and the sun was bright. So. Nice. Today, the dog and I walked the length of the trail at Jefferson Barracks Park late in the afternoon. We stopped off at Cliff Cave Park on the way home so I could see how high the Mississippi River has gotten since the recent soaking rains have pushed it up over flood stage. It is indeed high.

MU vs. Texas, 'Horns Hooked 'Em!...

Ol' Mizzou had the misfortune of playing the Texas Longhorns for homecoming on Saturday night...the Tigers submitted to a predictable beatdown, losing 41-6. P-D sports writer Vahe Gregorian had a particularly amusing quote in his story for today's paper:

"You've got to give Missouri credit," Texas quarterback Colt McCoy said, though it was unclear why.

Didn't You Just Know That...

- the Rams would somehow find a way to lose to a team that was as bad as they were?

- that the Balloon Boy saga would eventually end up being a hoax?

- that the sun would eventually re-appear, after a week of gloomy clouds?