So I didn’t go to work today which gave me a nice little 4 day vacation. It’s given me some time to catch up on some reading and watching TV. My family got together on Christmas and did a little gift exchange which I think can be ruled as a success. Sam got me a case of beer, the Soprano’s first season, and some other intangibles. Jeff got me a dozen Pro V’s which I’m sure to shank in the woods first few times out. I got Jeff a Beer making kit, Sam a wireless mouse for a laptop that was mouseless, First Season of Dexter for my mom, a shaving kit for my dad, and I got Laura a scarf from Calvin Klein which got me to 100 dollars and a 10 percent savings. Sorry Laura. We had the Schmidts over and then saw some relatives and it was a Christmas that went off without a hitch.

The next day I went off to Barnes and Nobel and bought some books. I got the Girl Who Kicked the Hornets nest (which annoyingly is only a hardback and Laura wasn’t enthusiastic on reborrowing from her friend), the first Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, and a translated version of the Canterbury tales (I read these were entertaining). I finished Harry Potter last night which was under 5 hours of reading which isn’t much when you have nothing to do. It’s geared to the simple, teenage mind but I see where it’s mass fan appeal stems from. I haven’t decided whether I’ll finish the series or not but I’ll consider it. I’m going to start Alice tonight and see where that takes me.

I finished the first season of Modern Family and the show really grew on me. I always puts myself beyond network Sitcoms but this cast of characters has something that draws you into liking them. I honestly have nothing bad to say about the characters like how annoying one is or how I wish they’d off that one. Every scene with Gloria is captivating for obvioius reasons, Phil’s humor is priceless, and I found Alex to be my favorite character even with her limited speaking roles. Two thumbs up from me on this show and I’m going to watch the 2nd season on Hulu.

No Monday entry would be complete without some mention of Fantasy Football which is sadly coming to an end. The Wild Turkey’s won the Shiva Bowl against Ck4 in undramatic fashion blowing his team out by over 100 points. I’ve never had any success in Evan’s league so it feels good to get off the shnied. Just to point out though, this is the 2nd out of 3 years that a Stortz has taking down the championship. I have a trophy that I’m going to doll up and make it the TC for an entire year. I’ll have pictures in a soon to be post. I lost to Sam Levin in the ESPN league which has no 2nd place prize. For being as inept as he is, he won the regular season, most points, and the playoffs. I’ll take down Bill and Bud’s league if Roddy White and Garrett Hartley go for less than 25 points which is about a 50/50. Not to leave out, I beat Chad in the 3/4 game too in Baker’s league. Sorry CK4, I haven’t beat you in 4 years?!? Owned.

I’ve gone to the gym early in the last few days and have been feeling moderately healthy. I’ve cut both treadmills runs short though because I was feeling lousy. I notice my strength increasing though on the select machines I use. I should have a good week though of working out with not much to do. Half day at work tomorrow and then I’ll probably go to the gym and see if there are any pick up games. With the roads like they are because of the inconvience of a snow storm, combined with the holiday season, I don’t expect much action at work and it’s still good time for taking it easy. I haven’t been black out drunk in a while now so my stories are lacking. I’ll update when I have something to tell.