Another Monday in Holland, and a productive one at that - I like those kind of days. (I didn't like the rain followed by wind and freezing temperatures, but you can't have it all. ) A coworker and I had lunch at The Office, an almost-dive bar on Waverly and they had a cheeseburger meal special that was decent. And they had crispy crinkle fries, which were tasty.

I had planned to stay on the west side for a hike in Saugatuck State Park, but the rain / sleet / ice changed my plans. Instead, I hit another "new to me" McDonald's on 68th Street and 131 in Grand Rapids - two down, eight to go. Then it was back to East Lansing. After wandering around a cold, windy campus, I stopped at bubble island for Oreo-flavored bubble tea. Yes, I said "Oreo-flavored bubble tea".

I was in Holland yesterday and spent my lunch hour snowshoeing around Saugatuck State Park. There wasn't a lot of snow, as it's been a weird winter (thank goodness), and it was warm enough yesterday that what little snow we did have was melting. But I hiked all the way to Lake Michigan for an icy scene:

My night concluded with dinner at Bagger Dave's for an excellent burger and a visit to the MSU library to check out a book on Egyptian history, because that's how I roll.

Elena had an overnight at the grandparents, so I got to sleep in until 7:15, which was very rewarding. And I went for a walk at Lake Lansing North in the snow. You would almost think it was winter, finally getting a little snow. I'm not complaing, though. The driving has been easy so far.

And I got to see some of the 49ers playff game. They are headed to the NFC Championship game! Very cool - they haven't been there since the mid-90's. I had hair the last time they made it this far in the playoffs.

We finally got some snow. I'm not complaining - there are many things I find preferable to shoveling at 6:30 AM. But I took the opportunity to walk at Woldumar. I was the only person on the trails, which was nice. Lots of snow on the ground and the streets had mostly been plowed, so it wasn't too hard to get there. And it beats sitting in a cube looking at the brick wall outside my window.

Not much happening at the moment. Elena has an overnight stay tomorrow, so Andrea and I will be partying hard. Well, we'll be going out to dinner, but that's good, too.

Here is a picture of some backyard visitors we had last month. Hopefully the state doesn't come after us because we have deer eating out of bird feeder. Baiting, and all that.

Yesterday I was in Holland for work. After a stop at the New Holland Brewery for lunch, and working, of course, I went to Grand Rapids for a 4-mile run around the downtown area.

After some healthy exercise, I went to McDonald's in Ionia to undo all the work I did. I ended my evening watching the national championship game at Blue Gill Grill in Haslett.

And here we were, sitting on the couch, when Baloo thought he would try his paws out on the keyboard. They saw that an infinite number of monkeys typing would eventually recreate Shakespeare. How about one cat?

Elena had a better day. There no more incidents of vomiting, so that was nice. She and Andrea stayed home, and now she has a fever, so it will be another day home from school for Elena.

And in other news, added a post on Michigan Foodies about my experience at Reno's East. This one doesn't involve any kind of sickness or vomiting, thankfully.

There Andrea and I were, minding our own business, eating dinner at Cancun in Grand Ledge, when we got a call from our babysitter that Elena had thrown up. How bad can you get? I mean, I didn't even get to finish my Dos Equis! Terrible. Hopefully, the worst is over.

And I posted a blog at CCRP. And one at my coding site.

Andrea and I both had the day off. We saw "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", which was very good. Don't let the two hour, forty five minute running time scare you - it flew by faster than you would think.

What didn't fly by was the Outback Bowl, but the ending was happier than the movie's - MSU won their first bowl game since 1991. It took three overtimes, but whatever - they will won.

Being my night on the town, I visited the barely populated MSU campus for a cold walk along the Red Cedar River. I stopped Reno's East for "Dave's Olive Burger" and watch more bowl games. The burger was good, and you can read my review at Michigan Foodies in a few days. (I just posted one about a Houlihan's burger, so this will be Burger Week at that site.

We had a tame New Years Eve. Andrea made some excellent lamb along with chocolate mousse, and after Elena went to bed, we watched Couples Retreat, which was funny. Speaking of mousse, Elena had to be convinced to take chocolate mouse over a cough drop for dessert. Not sure what was happening there.

I have the day off tomorrow, so we are planning on seeing a movie and watching MSU play in their bowl game. Hopefully, it will end better than the last several.

I'm reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, which I'm enjoying. He relates his experiences in the restaurant business, and his opinions about... well, everything. Here is a favorite about vegetarians:

Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.

It was a slow day in downtown Lansing. The parking lots were mostly empty and my office was sparse on people. But I like this time of year, when most people take vacation time and it's quiet and easy to work.

Here is a picture from three weeks ago. After a tour of Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas, Andrea and I stopped at the gift shop where she tried on some very stylish Elvis glasses, complete with sideburns.

Elena and Charlotte at the Howe Christmas. Lots of big hugs all around.

One of the advantages of the occasional trips Holland, MI is the proximity of Saugatuck State Park. So for my lunch break, I took a stroll along the beach, which was sparsely populated.

Merry Christmas everyone! If you don't celebrate Christmas, you should - it's a great holiday.

With four family gatherings down and two to go, our holiday season is winding down. I've gotten some books that I'm looking forward to reading, and the newest Switchfoot CD. And this four-day weekend has been great. After all, I've needed the time to catch up on all the work at home.

Last night was the big Stoecker Christmas. I ate more than I did at Thanksgiving, I think. So many snacks - popcorn balls, pigs in blankets, onion dip, sloppy joes, potato salad - and that's only about half the different kinds of food I ate. The big disappointment was that I didn't win a single game of Christmas Bingo. No apple-scented candles for me, but maybe next year.