Cross Country Skiing

So on to the most recent week.  The work week went flying as we enjoyed an evening at Northwestern Mutual's holiday party.  Nice time reconnecting with folks I haven't seen in a while and gave me a reason to wear something besides blue jeans and sweatshirt.  I figure it is good to be forced to dress up a little now and then.  We spent most of the weekend at the Bradley Center seeing a concert and basketball game.  But before all that we took advantage of another hefty snowfall (about 5 or 6 inches, and yes, I got to snow blow again) to head out to a local park and spend a couple of hours getting some exercise on our cross country skis.  Always a bit of a learning curve the first time out for the season, but it came back quickly.  Although neither of us is a big fan of going down hills in those skinny little skis.  

Next up, was the basketball game where we watched Marquette play IUPUI (yes that is the university's initials - look it up online).  Unfortunately, IUPUI wasn't much of a match for the Golden Eagles as they easily won the game.  But we had a nice time with several of Jo's HR team as it was a group outing.  Always nice for me to put some faces with people she talks about.  We also love the Bradley Center pizza and chicken fingers.  Not that they are good for you, but they are free with the Northwestern tickets and you know me and free food.

Kathy and John were in town for an event with John's family on Saturday and they spent the night with us.  Then Sunday morning we had a family brunch with the local family members.  We were joined by Chris and Angela, Drew, and of course, Kathy and John.  Always fun to catch up on what the young folks are doing.  We whipped up a sausage and cheese strata along with a spinach and mushroom frittata.  However the biggest hit was the monkey bread, none of which was left for me to nibble on later.

Afterwards we headed back to the Bradley center to see the Tran Siberian Orchestra play their Lost Christmas Eve show with our friends, Steve and Kathy (they had treated us to the Badger football game in November and this was our return treat).  As usual it was a great show with stirring music, cool laser light show and amazing fire effects.  Afterwards we headed to Mader's for some great German food before coming home tired but having had a great weekend.