Saturday, January 31, 2015

Snow Daze

Snow Daze

by graphica.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Cat Spat

Basil and Hamish playing/fighting about 20 minutes ago.  Hamish, the smaller of the two, seems to have the upper hand this time around.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Badgers Mend Packer Pain

This is for my fellow Green Bay Packers fans, for my heart aches with yours.  This was written today about our Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball team:

"...All of which adds up to this: On Tuesday night, Wisconsin beat a ranked Big Ten team, one without a road loss yet this season, by 32 points. In the process, they committed exactly one turnover. Which came on a shot-clock violation. Thanks to a scorer's table correction. Without their starting point guard..."

Not too shabby having a team like this to root for now.  I'm not saying it takes away the hurt from the Packers overtime loss to end their season, but it is certainly a good distraction.  Go Badgers!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Happy Birthday Mrs Scoakat!

20150117 010Yes I am still here, thank you.  I realize I have not posted much lately but I have not had much to say and I no longer pressure myself to post even in those droughts.  If you read back, I've been trying to be much more relaxed and manage my time better recently.  That being said, ever forward!

We celebrated my wife Kate's birthday recently.  On Saturday night we had friends over, turned the heat to 80º F, and had a 'tropical' party.  We got some cheap decorations on Amazon and my wife put out a very nice tropical spread, only partially seen here.  We made the best tropical fun out of a January birthday that one can expect (without hefty expenditure) and enjoyed a good time with our friends.

Then last night, her actual birthday, we had reservations for a local bar/restaurant, Dexter's Pub,  that was having their first beer tasting dinner event.  They call it their 'Heritage Series,' and they have them scheduled for almost every month for almost 2 years out.

20150119_195252Each month they bring in a different craft brewery that works with their chef to create different dinner courses that compliment various brews from that brewery.  I'm sure this type of thing has been happening for quite some time now at other places and in other areas, the craft brew market has exploded in the past decade or more.  Seating was limited to the first twenty people, cash up front.  We bought our tickets about a month ago when we were there to have dinner with friends, in fact we were the first two to sign up.

We had such a good time that we would highly consider doing it again - but the next one is all seafood and, well, I just can't do that.  But that's okay, there are many more events scheduled and it will be nice to see if it runs a bit smoother after they have a few of these under their belts.  Also, Dexter's is only probably a 20 minute walk from home so it is very nearby.  Just another reason to love our side of town in this capitol city which we live.

Note to self:  Get Bikes In Spring!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

New Year Resolutions*

Someone brought up new year resolutions to me recently and my first reaction was to chuckle, then I actually stopped to think.  It has been a long time since I made a new year resolution, even longer since I made a serious one, probably as a kid.  If it works for you then go for it, I hope you get what you want.  I guess I can make life resolutions.  I know what I have to do to improve myself and I can resolve myself to it any day of the year.

However, no matter how or what kind of resolutions you make, following it through can be the hard part - no matter when you make your resolution.  Inner strength and determination are the biggest factors in changing yourself.  Do it for you.  Do it to be a better you.  Good luck, I'm pulling for ya!

*Edit, 5:05 pm: Another thought is that is what new year resolutions are - life resolutions at that specific time.  No one said a new year resolution has to start that day.  That leads me to the arbitrary choice of that particular day as a time to set those goals.  I'm sure there's something out there explaining our need of hope and change and a 'fresh start' with the new year.  Sorry, but now I've lost interest since typing that last bit.  I'd research a whole lot more odd things if there were more hours in the day.  Walking away now...