I’m going to David Letterman tomorrow and then the Rockerfeller Tree lighting afterwards.  Should be fun.  That’s all for now.  Feel free to look for me on T.V.

I’m sure my last post could have treaded a little too close to TMI territory, but I’m happy to say the yeast subsided after only a couple of days.  The rest of the weekend was spent hanging with my sister and mom as well as hanging out with friends at night.  I went shopping a little with the family which is something I’ve never really been a fan of.  My mom wanted to get me my Christmas present early, though, so I’m happy to report that I’m now a proud owner of a new down comforter.  I’ve only been able to sleep with it once, but I can tell the two of us are going to be pretty great friends.

I also went out Friday with friends for a low key evening of catching up with friends.  I ended up seeing people that I hadn’t seen for over five years.  Unlike most people I know, I love running into old acquaintances and am genuinely interested in hearing how they’re doing.  While Friday was the laid back night, Saturday was the night we went all out.  It was great to see that even though we’ve gotten older that we’re able to still do it up right. 

The night started with Nick and I getting to The District to meet up with the rest of the gang.  It didn’t take long to see that the girls we were with had been partying much longer than we had, so Nick, Matt, and I took off for a couple of bars for a little guy time and to catch up to the rest of the folks. 

Not only was it a great time being able to hang out, I think it’s safe to say the mission of catching up on drinks was accomplished. We returned to the bar to meet up with the others and, after talking to friends for a little bit, I looked over to see Nick dancing shirtless on the dancefloor.  I about lost it.

It ended up turning into exactly the kind of night I had hoped we could have.  It’s very rare to get our groups together (even though there were a handful of our guy friends that were missing) and I’m glad we seized the opportunity to have some fun together. 

I picked up my sister Wednesday afternoon to head up to eastern Iowa to visit my mom for Thanksgiving.  It’s a pretty long and boring drive to say the least.  I had developed a slight cold in the past week and, despite pretty much killing it off with the help of Zicam, a minor sore throat still remained.  I kept taking Zicam in hopes that the soreness would subside, but it hit me while driving that maybe I have strep throat or something.  I looked in my rearview mirror at the back of my throat and, sure enough, there was some white junk back there. 

Luckily, the walk-in clinic by where I used to live in Bettendorf was open until 8.  I stopped by there to get checked out and told the nurse that I was pretty sure I had strep.  The nurse did a throat culture and told me that she was going to make sure I got something even if it came back negative.  The doctor then came in, looked in my throat, and asked, “Do you take an inhaler?”  I told him I did.  He then said, “Well, it looks like your inhaler gave you a yeast infection in your mouth.”  My jaw about hit the floor.  He got me hooked up with this mouthwash stuff and told me to swish it around about four times a day.  In a few days I would be fine.  He told me to make sure I rinse my mouth out whenever I take my inhaler from now on, too.  So yeah, it was a great way to kick off my little vacation knowing I have a yeast infection in my mouth.  Pretty sexy.

Thanksgiving itself was pretty good even though I had to constantly take jokes about my new condition.  I did my share of joking around, too, though.  For example, my sister was making dinner rolls and I told her if she wanted them any bigger to let me know because I could spit on them.  Dinner itself was amazing.  There were only three of us — my sister, mom, and myself — although my mom couldn’t eat any of the food she prepared because of her heath problems.  It was strange to compliment her cooking knowing she couldn’t eat it.  I’ve always made a point to compliment my mother’s cooking, but I couldn’t help but wonder if doing such a thing was almost like rubbing it in.  My mom tried eating some chicken noodle soup during dinner but only lasted halfway through dinner before having to get sick in the bathroom.  It’s horrible having to see things like that. 

All in all, it’s been a good trip home so far.  I was worried that the trip may be kind of depressing given my mom’s current status, but it’s actually been very lighthearted.  It’s very obvious that my mom is really happy to have her kids home. 

I went to the College Basketball Experience Classic last night with a group of friends.  The tournament changed it’s name this year from the Guardian’s Classic, and I had a great time at it last year.  This year, Air Force, Texas Tech, Marquette, and Duke played and, for the price of just $15, I felt foolish passing it up.  The thing that surprised me is that there seemed to be less fans than the year before.  I think this was due, in large part, to the lack of promotion that surrounded the event.  Half the people I talked to hadn’t even heard it was going on.

The games themselves really weren’t all that exciting to watch.  One thing I got out of it, though, is that Texas Tech really doesn’t look good.  They couldn’t box out and committed lots of turnovers. This was fun because, not only did it give me hope that my young, inexperienced Cyclones could probably take them this year, but it also let me see Bobby Knight get red in the face and yell at his players a lot.  That just never gets old to me.

The highlight of the night for me was getting to see the first class of inductees to Kansas City’s soon-to-be-built College Basketball Hall of Fame introduced.  I blew my mind that I was in the same building as John Wooden, Dean Smith, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Bobby Knight, and Mike Krzyzewski.  They’re all legends and that alone was worth the price of admission.

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On a side note, I feel like a lot has gone on lately that I haven’t had the time to write about. Last Thursday I went out in Chicago with a bunch of friends and had a blast.  It’s looking like I may not be traveling to that city for work much anymore so I was really happy to have gotten the chance to get together with everyone one last time. 

My dad, stepmom, and littlest sister were in town this past weekend for the American Royal Horse Show.  I was able to spend some quality time with the fam when I got back in town what was nice.  On Saturday, I went with them to the horse show.  I couldn’t care less about watching horses trot around in circles for 3 hours, but thank goodness my dad seems to share the same attitude towards the sport because we chatted the whole time and the time flew by.  William Shatner usually attends (and often rides in) the show, but he was absent this year.  This year’s “celebrity” turned out to be none other than Carson, the blonde guy from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.  My sis was really excited to see him and immediately wanted to be his friend.  He walked by us, though, and she got too nervous to even say hi.  It was pretty funny.

Tomorrow I head out to my mom’s place in eastern Iowa to spend time at her place for Thanksgiving.  I’m looking forward to the break and to enjoy time just bumming around without anything planned. 

I saw earlier today that Bo Schembechler passed away (hmm…that rhymed).  While it’s important to pay respects to a coach that many consider a legend, I will always remember him as a man I grew up despising.  I spent a few years growing up in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio as a kid and became a pretty big Ohio State fan during that time.  I almost went to college there and probably would have had it not been for the ridiculous cost of out of state tuition.  Everyone knows what an insane rivalry the Ohio State/Michigan football game always is, and I remember getting excited for the matchup even as a kid.  Since my Columbus days, I have remained somewhat loyal to the Buckeyes and still have a very strong dislike for the Wolverines.  It’s funny to think that two of the 11 teams in the Big Ten are my two least favorite teams in the country. 

The root of my dislike of the Wolverines was Bo Schembechler.  I even wrote a story when I was in third grade about a him but, instead of being a football coach, he was a bum that no one liked.  It’s kind of funny when I think back on it.  While I’m sure there are some twisted Ohio Staters out there that are smirking at the demise of the one-time coach, I kind of smile now when I think about him because of how much I hated the man.

I went with my friend Josh to the Regina Spektor concert on Monday night.  The show was originally supposed to be at the Record Bar which is insane to think about because, even after moving it to the considerably large Madrid Theater, the place was still sold out.  I’d never really cared for her stuff prior to her latest album, and apparently I’m not the only one.  Not only was the place packed but the crowed was really excited to see her.

Regina Spektor is an artist that I like but also feel kind of girly listening to.  Some of her music sounds a little too adult contemporary for me, and it seems like it would be more likely for my sister or mom to listen to her.  The show was pretty much what I expected.  It was pretty mellow for the most part yet had some upbeat moments.  The funny part was that I enjoy her upbeat songs most on her album yet liked her solo stuff live much more.  She’s a pretty witty person who also comes across as someone who is very appreciative for her recent success.  It’s always good to see a performer come across so genuine.  All in all, I thought it was a fine show and well worth the $15 ticket. 

I was planning on writing about seeing the Regina Spektor show last night, but I received a call tonight that is going to have to push my little recap to tomorrow.  The call I got tonight was from my mom who has not been doing too well as of late.  She been battling multiple difficult health setbacks since I was in high school, but some of the recent developments have my mom really struggling.  I won’t go into too many details about it, but I will say that my mom called me crying tonight.  She told me she’s starting to give up her fight.  She found out today that she’s allergic to the medication they put her on to help her with her latest problem.  She doesn’t know what she’s going to do now.

It was an awful conversation.  My mother was sobbing as she told me that if it weren’t for my sister and me she would have no reason to live.  I’m terrified to lose my mother, and I’m scared that something bad could happen.  I’m going home to be with her next week for Thanksgiving but that alone will be hard.  She’s going to spend all day making a feast for my sister and me and won’t be able to eat any of it because she can’t digest food.  It’s just hard to think about.  We hung up tonight crying and telling each other how much we love each other.  Not fun.  Not fun at all.  I hope something can be done to get things on the right track.

Someday when I die, I have a feeling that, when I’m greeted by Peter at the pearly gates of heaven, he’ll deny me from entering.  When I ask what I did wrong, he’ll look at his list of potential recent heaven-goers and reply with the following:

“On Thursday, November 9, 2006, while walking through the Theater District in Boston, Massachusetts, you laughed to yourself as you watched a seeing eye dog walk a blind woman into a brick wall.”

I couldn’t help it.  It’s not every day that I see a blind woman walking with a seeing eye dog, let alone see that woman be lead face-first into the hard exterior of a building.  Hilarious yet so wrong of me to giggle.  I wonder if the dog’s name was Justice.

I posted a little bit ago about not really knowing enough about the local issues in Kansas City to vote this past Tuesday.  While I was in KC last week, I got a decent understanding of the issues and candidates yet neglected to get an absentee ballot.  I’m in Boston right now but still paid close attention to the elections on both a local and national level.  I must say, I’m pretty pleased with the outcomes.  I think it speaks loudly of how little people approve of Bush and the way the republican party has gotten things done.  I also had hoped the tobacco tax thing had passed, but I guess you can’t win them all.  I talked to my dad yesterday and he told me he voted democrat across the board.  I never thought I’d hear such a thing out of him.  Prior to the last presidential election, he’d never voted democrat once in his life. 

Donald Rumsfeld stepped down yesterday which was a huge move. I personally expected that to be their “October surprise” to help gain votes before the election.  Why they decided to wait on it is beyond me.  It just goes to show that the arrogance of the republican party really wasn’t an act.  I think they really believed it.  It’s too bad because that arrogance is going to really damage the party for some time, I believe. 

Speaking of changes, the football coach for my alma mater, Iowa State, was asked to resign yesterday.  I’d been meaning to post about my displeasure of our team lately but hadn’t gotten around to it.  My ‘Clones are just awful this year.  Most people predicted we’d compete for the top spot in the Big XII North.  Instead, we haven’t won a game and are headed for our second season without a conference win in four years.  I think Dan MacCarney has done a great job building our program during his tenure there, but his record in the past five years is unacceptable. 

It frustrates me to no end to hear ISU alum talk about how we can’t afford to lose Coach Mac because we won’t be able to get anyone better.  There are a lot of good coaches out there who would love to coach in the Big XII.  The argument that no one would want to coach in Ames, Iowa is ridiculous, as well.  You really think Norman, Oklahoma is that great of a place?  Is Lincoln, Nebraska some tropical paradise?  The city argument is completely ridiculous.

For anyone out there who is concerned with the direction of the football program, I hope they have a little faith in our new athletic director.  I have a good friend who used to play football at ISU and knows our AD somewhat well.  I talked to him yesterday about who our replacement could be, and he told me our AD is very good friends with a particular offensive coordinator from one of the best football programs in the country.  He said he’d put all his money on us getting the guy.  If that’s the case, I think all of the naysayers will be pretty darn pleased.

I was in Kansas City all of last week which was a nice change from flying, sleeping in random hotel beds, and living out of a suitcase.  Lately I’ve been feeling extremely fatigued and I, despite my best efforts, still managed to deprive myself of any catching up that was needed to replenish my body of sleep deprivation.  I think my problem is that I want to do too much too often and rest becomes an afterthought.  People talk about how you should have a carpe diem approach to life, and while I definitely think it’s a positive mentality, I also believe I’m experiencing the downfall of it, as well.

I would liken my recent energy meter to that of a cell phone battery.  Lately, all I’ve been operating on is one bar or, in some cases, when the empty bar is blinking to signify that it’ll shut off soon.  When I rest, I let myself charge just to the point of reaching that one bar again instead of allowing a full charge.  I want to just take it easy sometimes, but then I think about all that can be done and experienced and I go back to pushing myself. 

I got a flu shot today at work from a nurse who, ironically, was employed by the company I worked for when I first got out of college.  I figured I should get it done with my constant traveling and knack for wearing myself down.  I am not a big fan of needles (who is, really?) so I usually try to lighten the mood to keep my mind from worrying about the slight pain.  When it was my turn for the shot, I told the nurse, “You know, you might have some problems with giving me my shot, I just want to warn you.”  She asked why and looked at me perplexed.  I then showed her my bare arm and said, “The needle might not make it through all that muscle!”  Sometimes I don’t know why I have any friends.