Just Days Before Xmas ... 2014 Ends

Highlights:

·         Xmas break for Mindy and the kids.

·         The kids spent the 20^th through Xmas eve evening with Jimaken and Molly.

·         Mindy and I spent our alone time readying for Xmas, working in the basement, and hanging with family and friends.

·         Painted doors and door trim over the weekend before Xmas and then the weekend after leading up to our HV ski trip. Took a lot more time than anticipated.

·         HV ski trip - Dec 28- Jan 2 - Wahoo!

Monday, Dec 22^nd  - Worked from the main office - 47 cloudy

Last day in the office for 2014.

Monday afternoon I got a call from Aspen Fireplace asking if they could stop by to fix the new gas logs. I let them know that I’d be working until 5pm and wouldn’t be home until 530pm. That worked for him.

He arrived just about that time. As he suspected, the wireless controller was simply wired backwards. After making the switch, the remote worked as designed; the on/up button turned on and raised the flame.  Yeah!

While he was there, I asked about more burning embers (looks like fiberglass wool). He agreed to add more, and did a nice job dressing it up a little better. Mindy and I were very pleased.

For dinner, enjoyed Chinese from the Dragon Palace. Plenty of leftovers to take home.

Tuesday, Dec 23 - Worked from home. 55 cloudy. Really quiet day.

Wednesday, Dec 24: Xmas Eve Soap Opera - All My Children ... and the grands too

Worked from home. Cloudy, rainy, 57 degrees, but cooler weather supposedly moving in.

Just as we have the past couple of years, we agreed to keep the boys on Xmas eve so Lindsey could work. She dropped them off near 645am on her way to work. After a 3 mile run and following Glenn’s flight tracker, near 945am, dad, Landon and I went to the airport to pick-up Glenn. We waited in the cell phone lot for his call. He landed a few minutes early, and I believe we had him in our clutches by 1030am.

As usual, Mindy and I were hosting the Wright family Xmas on Xmas eve. We told everyone to arrive near 330pm. We spent the hours ahead of that prepping the house and food for guests. I kept a loose eye on work too, since I was officially working. I checked in a couple times an hour until the evening hours.

Mom opted to not come stay with us this Xmas like she has the past couple years. Said she wasn’t feeling up to it. Her declination was striped with a little hard to miss bitterness. “you’ll be sorry”. Too bad she didn’t make it. All three of my daughters and all six of my grandchildren were there, not to mention brother Charles and Glenn. That doesn’t happen too often.

We had more than enough food including, honey baked ham, pasta salad, and lots and lots of finger foods. Lots and lots of festive holiday treats, too. Mindy made a Xmas run to CBC to fill a couple growlers. She made the run last Xmas eve too. I think she likes doing it.

Took lots of pics with my Canon D70 and got to put my Xmas present to myself to work– an external flash. Setup for a family shot from the balcony using the self-timer feature. One limit of the DSLR is a max 10 second timer whereas my Canon point and shoots have a customizable timer up to 30 seconds. Both shots required that I bolt from the camera to my prestaged position like lightning. I never got fully into either photo. J

After lots of food, gifts and Xmas cheer, most of the kids left before 530pm. Shelly, Kaileigh, Sienna, and Trppy must’ve showed up around 430pm. Dad, Tommy and Wally  hung around for a while after all the others left. Think it was near 730pm when they left. Before he left, Tommy intimated that he and Wally would more than likely stay at our place Saturday night ahead of our early Sunday departure for Holiday Valley to ensure a caravan.

Our kids arrived home around 7pm. Unlike years past, everyone was off to bed well ahead of midnight. The kids, I’ll bet, were in bed before 10pm, and Mindy and I before 11pm after placing all the gifts around the tree.

Thursday, Dec 25^th – Xmas! Partly cloudy 41 degrees – no white Xmas.

As usual, first one up, but not for too long. Mindy joined me downstairs a few minutes later. Shortly after opening the front door, dad was over. We enjoyed coffee and conversation until the kids were up. We proceeded with gift opening while Glenn slept in.

He joined us about 45 minutes into the ceremony. The kids went first, then dad. I usually go last, but this year Mindy insisted that I follow the kids. Late November, early December Mindy and I agreed on a $50-100 limit for one another. No going overboard this Xmas. After all, we buy pretty much whatever we want all year, and this past years that included new appliances, gas logs, a Holiday Valley and Utah ski vacation, not to mention our MRM season passes.

I got a gray cashmere sweater, one I recently considered buying for myself, an ASBCO gift card, a Macy’s gift card, and a few other things. I got (made) Mindy a photo book, this year using Shutterfly. It’s really no pricier than building a conventional photo album, more creative and a whole heck of a lot easier. I guess the only drawback, if there is one, is that you don’t have the individual prints. From the kids she got purple ski glove liners and a female skier nutcracker. Lastly, I got her/us a new blender even though she’s made it abundantly clear that gifts with cords are unacceptable. She burnt up our existing blender day after TG.

After gifts the others enjoyed her breakfast casserole while I headed out for a Xmas morning run. Ran three miles.

Dad left for home and a nap shortly after my return but not before we monkeyed around with Bella’s new inline skates, trying unsuccessfully to loosen the wheels for better spin. As they were, Bella said she could walk in them like shoes but not skate. I eventually deemed them defective. Mindy agreed to return them. Happens every Xmas, something doesn’t work as advertised/designed.

Mindy invited both Glenn and dad to join us at Gloria’s for the entire afternoon or simply for dessert later. Both declined. They made plans to hook up later that afternoon to make other family rounds. We left for Gloria’s near 120pm (most were planning to be there at 1pm).

We took a little booze – me a growler and Mindy a couple bottles of wine. However, I never did drink any. We took a honey baked ham, too, as well as a cheese plate.  Oh, we took the pug with us too. She was very excited to go to maw-mams, always is.

Lots of goodies on hand – sweets, meats, and appetizers. As usual, the Xmas gathering took place almost exclusively on the lower level. Far less chaos and mass to the gift opening ceremony. There was actually room to walk. I guess the gifts get smaller and smaller and the kids get older. The Thompson tradition is for one person or family to pass out gifts at a time. Next man up! Still takes a while.

This year, all the kids went in on a new flat panel TV for Gloria – a gift idea realized after TG’s TV debacle. J Good times!

Snacked on goodies all afternoon and was more than full. Must’ve been near 6pm when we headed upstairs to play the lottery game. Think there were 20 scratch-off lottery tickets contributed by all players.

The past couple years I was lucky early and pocketed tickets fast. This year I won two but not until near the bitter end. Not many winners this year either. I think Jacob had one of the few winners and that was just a buck or two.

After lottery tickets it was dessert time. I felt a little guilty for not finding time to bake a cheesecake, but it’s not like there wasn’t enough other stuff. I had icebox cookies – another long standing Thompson tradition.  By then about 645-7pm. Jacob and Bella were getting restless and ready to head for home. Before loading for home however, it was time to do the obligatory family Xmas photos. I brought my good camera and tripod but opted not bother. Too many other cameras and too busy. Maybe next year.

Gloria made mention of never seeing any of the photos anyway. J Took about 15-20 minutes to load our stuff for home. This was a far cry different than the first couple Xmas’s with the Thompson’s when Mindy’s minivan was loaded tip to toe with gifts for the kids. Ahh the gift card craze!

Not sure when the decision was made, but Lindsey had asked if we could watch the boys again Friday, and at some point we deemed it better for all if we simply had them over that night instead of having Lindsey drop them early AM. Turned out, Lindsey was in the ER with breathing issues related to a cold and asthma. And yes, she still smokes.! Brilliant, I know. Broke my heart to think that the grandsons spent the majority of their Xmas afternoon and evening in the ER with Lindsey. Said she’d been there for 6 hours. She dropped them off on her way home.

We watched a replay of Christmas tree lighting ceremony from Rockefeller Plaza and then an animated version of Elf – not sure which came first. To bed by 11pm after a couple Jack & Cokes.

Friday, December 26^th – warm again. 50 degrees.

Woke with an innocent tickle in my throat around 8am. Later, while doing a little painting in the basement, I began to feel ill, nauseous. Had to go lie down in bed. Felt like a cold was coming on. No, please, no!

Like most Friday’s, I worked from home, but also planned to take Glenn to see the Transfiguration exhibit at the Wexner center sometime that afternoon provided work remained quiet. Didn’t make it, but it wasn’t because of work being busy. Instead, he spent most of the day with dad and I wasn’t feeling that good.

Sometime after my run I fetched the Thule from the shed, placed it atop the Pilot then loaded the skis and boards for our Sunday trip to HV.

Despite not feeling well, I painted doors and trim in the basement. Midafternoon I was feeling so poorly that I really didn’t think that I’d be doing anything or going anywhere. But after lying down for an hour or so and then taking a shower, I felt well enough to join the rest of the family and head over to  Jodie & Larry’s for Camilla’s home coming.  Glenn opted to go with.

We knew heading over that Camilla’s arrival was delayed. Instead of arriving near 5pm, she would be in until 1030pm or so. Still, Jodie and Larry wanted us all to come over since they had a food spread laid out.

After taking some Naproxen and then cracking a beer or two the tickle in my throat abated, or so it seemed. I felt a whole lot better too. When we left the house we figured to hang with the fam for no more than a couple hours, but when we made the decision, I wasn’t feeling well.

We ended up sticking around until 1130pm, long enough to see Camilla after Jodie, Larry, & Joe picked her up at the airport. While they were at the airport Mindy ordered a couple pizzas from Joseppi’s.  Good to see Camilla – as animated as ever!

Saturday, December 27 rainy and mild

Throat back to feeling like the onset of a cough. Dang it! Please, no!

Ran 3 miles with my legs feeling like lumber (stiff). I attributed it to being dehydrated.

My primary goal was to be HV ready short of loading the Pilot. Which I planned to do early Sunday morning.

To that end, I had everything either in the garage or by the front door by evening. Glenn and I made a booze run later afternoon. We stopped at both Kroger and the new Hilliard Giant Eagle. Beer at Giant Eagle, Jack, Bailey’s, rum and ice at Kroger.

While we did that, Mindy and the kids headed to the Dublin Rusty Bucket to join the rest of her family to have dinner with Camilla. Tommy & Wally showed up around 7pm. Mindy and the kids got back from dinner around 8pm.

It was a no drink night for me. I wanted to get a restful night of sleep ahead of our week long ski trip. Not only that, but I made sure to drink lots and lots of water too.

The weather, meanwhile, was everything but wintry.  That was a letdown of sorts, but the Ellicottville forecast was still calling for cold and snow pretty much on cue with our arriving into town Sunday afternoon. That day, however (Saturday) they were dealing with warm temps (55) and rain. In fact, it was like that that last couple days. L

We watched a bowl game though can’t recall what teams. Everybody initially in bed by 1015pm. However, as sleepy as I was from the sofa, once into bed I just couldn’t sleep. I ended up back downstairs where I watched more football with Tommy and Wally. Rejoined Mindy in bed near 1130pm.

Sunday, December 28 – HV here we come!

Our stated goal was to be on the road as close to 9am as possible, but I also knew from past experience that motivating six others to be up, ready and out of the house by then might be a bit of a stretch. Still, to that end, I was up by 630am. I wanted to be out the door for a run by 7am. I delivered Mindy’s coffee near 715am, or just before heading out the door.

 I wore back-up everything for my run. A little rainy and a little cooler – about 36 degrees. Mindy was out of the shower about the time I made it back home. I wanted to load the Pilot before getting a shower of my own since I know all too well that I break into a serous sweat from such activity despite the cooler temps.

The others did reasonably well getting up and ready. In the back of my mind I had already told myself that if we were on the road by 930am we’d be doing good. And that’s about the time we backed out the driveway. Think it was 940am. As we often do, I shared our beginning mileage with the family, and then asked Bella to remember it – 79501. Would no doubt crack the 80K mile barrier on the drive home. We stopped at Thornton’s so Tommy could gas up. I went inside to see if they sold coffee creamer. They did not. L

The kids fell asleep early on – Bella more so than Jacob. Tommy, Glenn and Wally lagged behind several car lengths. We stopped at a rest area after about 80 miles for a bathroom break. We didn’t stop again until lunch about 3/4s the way through Erie, PA. Glenn & Tommy stopped just across the PA state line. We stopped at Wendy’s and I am thinking that it was near 115-130pm. Very popular time to stop. The place was packed.

We lunched quickly. My food was subpar – some of the worst Wendy’s food ever. Did the trick though.

Temperature was hovering around 34-35 degrees with drizzly rain. Very minimal signs of any recent snow along the freeway – both I-90 and I-86. Made excellent time considering two stops. We waited atop exit 46 (route 219N) for Tommy & Glenn since Tommy’s never been there before. The last 10 miles zig-zag a bit through Salamanca.

Pulled into the Inn at HV somewhere near 315pm. Check-in was a snap. I was very happy to get room #207 – one of the few that run perpendicular to the Sunrise run and are ski-in and ski-out despite being 2^nd floor. Took no longer than 10-15 minutes to be fully into our room. Right away, Jacob was on us about skiing yet that afternoon.

Speaking of skiing, more green than I’ve seen before in winter. Still, most of the ski runs were opened with snow down the middle. I took a pic and sent it off to some peeps. Most importantly, the temp was 30 degrees and falling and snow was forecasted for the overnight/early AM.

Tommy & Wally needed to get rentals and headed to the main lodge to take care of all that. Mindy ran to the HV Inn lobby to get lift tickets for Jacob and I. She didn’t get one for herself citing the desire to get organized and then rest. Would decide later if she was going to ski that night. Bella, since she hadn’t boarded before, planned to hang in the room on her Kindle.

Jacob and I were on the lift by 430pm. First run up! The snow was loose granular, but very nice for my liking. I was surprised how nice it was. It wasn’t the prettiest but effective. I could tear it up without fear of slipping or losing an edge. Mindy called texted near 530pm asking about the conditions and if we planned to stay out. Yes, I

Was really enjoying it. More importantly, the snow machines kicked into actions around 6pm signaling cold enough temps abound. We ended up skiing until 745pm or so and then planned to do dinner at the new Slopeside bar & grill located in the old Cadillac Jack’s.

After a brief grooming, we opted to walk over. It’s just across the street. Not many patrons, but it was Sunday night and up till then the weather hadn’t been too nice. We took a larger table on the lower level. Opted for a Ski Bum winter ale and their fish & chips. Mindy got the same thing and it was really, really good. Poor Wally, her ordered the mac &cheese but then pouted about not getting chicken tenders. I ordered him some tenders mild. That briefly made him happy until they arrived with sauce. J We learned that Wally is a very picky eater.

Back in the room and dosed up with a cough suppressant and Naproxen by 10pm. Asleep a short time later.

Monday, December 29 – HV Ski day!

Up a little later than usual – just after 7am. Disappointed that there was only a slight dusting of snow, but it was plenty cold – only 20 degrees. I was quickly into my running clothes which I had strategically placed for easy access in a dark room and off to the Inn for some coffee ahead of my run.

Not many folks in for the breakfast at that hour. I enjoyed coffee and a muffin. My head was in a fog even after the coffee, Felt like I needed another hour or two of sleep. Not in the cards. Ran into town and back, running past EBC and the new digs for Cadillac Jack’s. Noticeably missing was the coming soon sign. I wondered if the opening might be pushed back a bit. Doesn’t look close to being opened.

Back at the Inn near 8am. I made two cups of coffee to-go and headed back to the room. Everybody still asleep. After a few minutes I woke Mindy sharing that I was heading back to the Inn to hang out. She said she’d meet me for breakfast shortly.

Still in a fog, I worried that I was getting sicker, not better. Oh boy! Just felt as though I had no energy. I drank more OJ and ate another muffin while reading local papers and watching the weather forecast. Calling for snow during the day, but no real accumulation. By the time Mindy showed up I felt like a zombie. Tommy, Glenn and Wally were soon there too.

I filled up on waffles and sausage even while feeling off kilt. It was near 10am when we headed back to the room to supposedly gear up for skiing. I laid down in bed and promptly fell asleep for slightly more than an hour. And even then both kids remained sleeping. Mindy said I kept them awake through the night with unusually loud snoring, which no doubt was a byproduct of my cold. Sorry!

The nap did the trick. I still wasn’t 100% but far, far better. Mindy, Jacob, Bella and I geared up then headed out. Mindy opted to shuttle over to the HV lodge with Bella to sign her up for a private lesson. She could board over given that it’s brand new to her. Jacob and I lifted up Sunrise and skied over. I spotted Mindy and Bella after one run walking into the Creekside learning center. We walked over to meet them.

All signed up but her lesson wasn’t until 130pm. Wally was signed up for a group lesson which began at 1pm but ended at the same time as Bella’s private lesson – 3pm.Jacob agreed to work with Bella on some basics on the beginner hill while Mindy and I headed out for some runs. By then it had been snowing for more than an hour and at times at a decent clip. It was definitely making a difference especially given that it was light fluffy snow.

We made our way back to Creekside in time to introduce Bella to Courtney, her snowboard instructor. She is a young 20 something and seemingly very sweet. She promised to have her Utah ready by day’s end. J The rest of us skied off for the next 90 minutes.  Morning Star and Independence were by far my faves. Light chunked up snow all over Morning Star made for some fun, fast runs, and Independence was loaded with some bumps and curves with several shallow powder caches along the edges which I always seek and destroy!

We held off on snacking/eating until Bella was done with her lesson. We headed in for a table at the T-Bar (3^rd floor HV Lodge) overlooking  the main ski area while Mindy went after Bella. The others soon met us there. Ashley was our server (cute). Enjoyed a Southern Tier IPA but only one. Must be getting old. Ordered a gyro, and then nachos and pretzel stix to share. Everybody loaded up. Really too much food. Break lasted till 415pm.

Skied and peed! For me, every beer is worth at least two bathroom breaks. Goes right through me when on the slopes. Snow kept falling and again at times really heavy. Yes!!!! Lovin it! Bella wasn’t long for the ski runs tired from her first lesson and then practicing for about an hour. We bagged the skiing by 530pm and declared it hot tub time ahead of dinner at the Depot.

Per the usual, the kids weren’t interested in hot tubbing, just the adults. Felt good, despite begin a tad crowded initially. Still feeling bit dehydrated, I opted for only Gatorade. Man, what is happening to me? Hit the spot!

Back in the room, we had originally talked about doing dinner at EBC but everybody was beat. Pizza and wings at the Depot sounded agreeable to everyone. Well, everyone but Jacob, who still wanted to visit EBC. I got a shower before heading over. It was close to 8pm by the time we arrived at the Depot – a very cozy bar &grill directly across the street, though too far to walk comfortably on a really cold night. We opted to drive, and everyone piled into the Pilot – all 7 of us.

We ordered wings pizzas. This time I had two beers – two Southern Tier IPAs. Pizzas weren’t nearly as good as they have been times past. These were more like a frozen variety. Wings were good. Stephanie was tending bar, the same girl we met week before TG. She seemed to remember Mindy and whipped her up one of those flaming holiday shots again.  This time she couldn’t get them to ignite, citing that the Bailey’s needs to be room temp. J

The shot: Bailey’s, Kaluah, and Gold Schlager sprinkled with cinnamon and whipped cream.

Back to the room and bed near 10pm. Like the night before, I dosed up on Naproxen and Tussin.

Tuesday, December 30 – Better but still not 100% - More Snow!

Up around 715am again, though this time feeling far more rested than the morning prior. Quickly into my running clothes and off to the Inn for pre-run coffee, juice and a muffin.

Run through town and back. A little surprised to find Mindy awake and playing on her phone from bed. A short time later she and I off to breakfast. I wrapped on Tommy. Glenn’s door as we passed to let them know we were headed to get food.

On the slopes by 1040am. I invited Wally to go with us since he was ready and waiting for Tommy & Glenn to finish loading up their car. They’d be heading back to CMH at day’s end. Wally ended up skiing with us for the whole day.

Another banner ski day with lots of fresh snow. The Tannenbaum lift was down for repairs. Bummer! That left that end of the park with only one lift – Yodeler. And just as you might expect, it was busy! Exchanged a few texts with Tommy and Glenn. They were skiing, beering together. We didn’t hook up with them until after our lunch break in the Yodeler lodge.

We got a huge kick out of Wally sharing what he wants to be when he grows up – an Indian. Wow, wasn’t expecting that one. And when asked why he shared that he’s already tracking coyotes. J Oh my gosh! Tommy, Glenn & Wally were leaving that afternoon, their passes good only till 430pm. And they skied right up until that time.

With snow all day Monday &Tuesday, we could now ski-in and out of our room with ease. We skied to the steps to bid Tommy, Glenn and Wally farewell. Wally pouted - didn’t want to bag the skiing. We’ve created a little ski monster!

With our kids already calling it a day, Mindy and I did a couple more runs down Sunrise before calling it a day ourselves. We figured to get showers and then head to EBC before the evening dinner rush. Heck, we still had 3 more ski days to look forward to.

Off to EBC by 6pm. We got the same parking spot on Martha Ave. that we got in November minus the large puddle of rain.:) Still quite crowded and many turned to leave after begin quoted a 1 hour wait. Our group of four was quoted 30 minutes which as always turned out to be just 10 minutes.

Seated in the older area for the first time in a few years, which was fine with me. Ordered the Stainless Steel Obsession IPA. Shared some spinach artichoke dip ahead of dinner, which for me consisted of a half chicken. Mindy went with that same unusual standing pork entrée she had in November. She loves it! Jacob tried it and liked it too, and he hates pork.

Dinner was good. We let the kids order dessert, too, a giant piece of chocolate cake. Back to the Inn by 8pm. We watched TV but I fell quickly asleep, but once again, not before dosing up on half a dose of  Nyquil and Naproxen. The Nyquil was Mindy’s suggestion. Holy smoke! That stuff got to me in a hurry. I made a Jack & Coke but could barely drink it for the hefty Nyquil buzz. I’ll bet I was down and out by 9pm.

Wednesday, December 31 – Last Day 2014 – Started my year at HV, ended it there too!

I like that. Not too many other places I’d rather spend the 1^st and last days of the year than at HV. I really enjoy the place. Up and off to the Inn by 730am. Got one heck of a night’s sleep. Ran into town and back. Estimating it to be about 3 miles tip to tail. Snowed plenty more overnight.

Days beginning to blend/merge, losing track of differentiation.

Not on the slopes until 1100am. Our plan was to set Bella up for another private lesson with Courtney. Unfortunately, they told us she was booked and wouldn’t be in until noon, but offered that we could check back once she arrived to see if she/they could rearrange things for her to take Bella on a private lesson. AS it was, they had her set up to run a group class. As an alternative, they offered that she might be willing to work later and do an hour long 3pm private lesson.

We skied for another 45 minutes before making our way back to Creekside where we hoped to find Courtney. She wasn’t in and this time they advised us to check back at 1:30pm. They said they would do all they could to hold her back at that hour. Cool.

We headed off to ski some more. Bella, by the way, was doing great. Far and away better than Jacob was after one lesson and one whole day to practice. But then again, Jacob had no one to help whereas Bella has Jacob to lean on.

We skied for 45 minutes before Jacob met us at the HV lodge. As it was, we left him sleep in the room until he was ready to join us. They went for food while I went for drinks – me a beer, Mindy a rum and Coke. We caught a little bit of the Michigan State Auburn bowl game. MSU was losing big when we headed out and back to the Creekside to check on Bella’s lesson.

I gave Mindy my credit card to pay for the lesson. When we met up after lunch at the ski rack, she shared that Courtney was able to take Bella at 130pm as hoped. They actually didn’t get out until 145pm so she said to expect them back around 315pm. Cool!

Mindy, Jacob and I skied off to play. We skied Champagne, Independence and Morning Star a number of times.

After Bella’s lesson, she and Jacob wanted to bag it early. We opted to head back to the room to catch some football and possibly even a nap. Mindy & I figured to head back out around 530-6pm.

The break was exactly what the doctor ordered. Got completely out of my ski clothes too. Mindy slept for almost 90 minutes. It was my insistence that persuaded her to head back out for more skiing. The kids both were sleeping and barely acknowledged our insistence that they join us. We gave up and just the two of us headed out. Turned out, however, that our night skiing was brief. Despite all the recent snow, all the runs were skied to solid ice. I struggled to get my edges to dig in on any of the runs. Mindy said I scared her more than once when I kicked an edge at a high rate of speed. Not only that, but it was downright cold, too- down around 10 degrees and windy. After maybe 30-40 minutes we headed back to the room.

We discussed our dinner options and eventually settled on the Slopeside. Looking back, I wished we would’ve gone to the new Armor Inn Tap Room. But I was exhausted, keeping in mind that I’d been skiing all day for 3.5 days and battling cold symptoms all week. We walked over to Slopeside near 730pm.

This time a larger crowd that our first night in town. We were seated in a booth on the main floor and our server a young cute girl, whose name I can’t readily recall. Bottom line, she was terrible. We didn’t get silverware. Instead, I had to fetch it from another table. She didn’t bring appetizer plates, she goofed up our orders, having it delivered to another nearby table and then letting them droll over it before declaring it ours. Grossed me out! When she brought it over I told her I didn’t want and then asked where our salads were since we usually get those BEFORE the main entrée.

Another more experienced server came by when we had to ask for other accoutrements and apologized insisting that she would have the owner stop by. We met Bob, the new owner Sunday, when we were first in town. Seems like a likeable guy. I told her his visit was unnecessary. Still, a few minutes later Bob showed up to chat. Went on and on about how he just opened on Monday before Xmas and that things were still rusty. I’ll say. He asked what was wrong, and while we explained in detail, we insisted that the food was good, decent. Never once did he offer any type of credit which he really should’ve. Can’t imagine that server will be around too long.

Back to the room where we caught another bowl game.  Both Michigan State and Wisconsin won doing right by the Big Ten this year. We planned to stay up for the ball drop  and festivities. I doubt we would’ve done the HV torch parade anyway, but given the extreme cold and icy ski slopes, Mindy and I had no desire to give it a try again this year.

They did have a very nice fireworks display on Fox Fire right next to the Cindy’s run. We managed to stay up for that as well as the NBC ball drop from NYC. By the way, the NBC hosts (can’t recall his name and guests) were terrible. Gone are the days of Dick Clark as well as his protégé, Ryan Seacrest. I may never watch again. What a waste.