Catching Up

12/29/07

Sorry for the disappearing act, but I've caught my annual Christmas week cold.

This is no exaggeration, I have gotten sick- be it the flu or a virus or a bad cold every year right before, during or just after Christmas, without fail.

And this year was no exception, as Sunday night and more so Monday morning I could feel it coming, and by the time I went to sleep Tuesday there it was like a lump of coal in my Stocking, straight from Santa himself. Thanks fat ass.

Anyway, I have not really been doing much these last few days, as my cold was kept me from running since when I last was at the gym on Wednesday (big mistake) I was having a lot of trouble breathing during and after the run, so I figured a few days off couldn't hurt.

In the meantime, I was fortunate enough to hit the jackpot on Thursday when I went shopping with my mother and Joe. Our quest was for a new TV for the master bedroom in my apartment, as my mother finally realized what the rest of the world has, which is that HDTV is not something you should have, but something you must have.

And so we took a trip to P.C. Richard and Son and started browsing the big screen TV's when I pulled off something truly remarkable.

I have been known to scheme and negotiate my way into getting some really nice stuff even if might not necessarily need it- for example last winter a Playstation 3, last spring a new cell phone and at least once or twice a year a new authentic jersey. However what I was able to do Thursday belongs in the record books.

I suggested to my mother that instead of buying herself a new TV, we instead shop for an even bigger TV that I can put in the living room of my house next year in school.

And so we went from the 26 and 32 inch TV's over to the 37 inch models and there it was, sitting there with my name on it.

An LG, 37 inch full 1080p HDTV. Now some of you may not have the slightest idea as to what that means, but essentially its a a big, beautiful television with the best picture quality available right now.

And the best part was it was on sale, which for those of you who don't know my mother, takes the place of me needing to convince her something is worth purchasing.

In exchange of course I now will be giving her the 26 inch Sony HDTV I have at school, but in turn I am the beneficiary of a far nicer and far bigger TV for next year and beyond.

The sad part was last winter when I actually saved up and paid for most of that TV, it ended up costing even more than the new TV, which goes to show you that good things come to those who wait but better things come to those smart enough to realize a opportunity and pounce on it.

So as if next year wasn't going to great enough living with one of my closest friends (Rossy) in a big, gorgeous house, but now we added the centerpiece to to our living experience.

Aside from that accomplishment, some of the other things which took place over the last few days were that I received my grades for this semester.

And for the most the part the grades were exactly what I expected them to be:

Modern American History (1917-1960): B+
American Environmental History: B+
Literacy Across the Curriculum (Education class): B
Modern American Comedy: B
Communication Sciences and Disorders: C

All comes out to 2.93 semester GPA leaving me with a 2.996 GPA.

Could the grades have been better? Of course they could have been, however I have been known to historically underachieve in school, and college has been no different than high school in that regard.

Hopefully I can finish my last 3 semesters stronger than I have my first 5.

If you have been stalking my away messages not only do you know I've been feeling pretty lousy the last few days but I've used my time resting to watch even more television than I normally would. Which is difficult for me to pull off.

And of course that means even more Scrubs, along with episodes of Home Improvement, King of Queens, That 70's Show, Gilmore Girls, Family Matters and Full House.

Am I proud of watching some of these shows? You bet your ass I am.

The other real bitch about being sick is the lack of sleep I've been getting, causing me to stay up later than I want while waking up earlier than I want.

Yesterday I was up and out of bed at 8:30. Realize I only woke up that early when I had to do classroom observations once a week at school, meaning that the last time I woke up that early without having to be was probably before I was Bar Mitzvahed.

And so even though I am still not 100% (although I finally like I may be getting there), tonight I will be at Giants Stadium, watching the G-Men try and stand in the way of the Patriots Perfect Season.

Game starts at 8, which means that we will be leaving around 2:30, giving us plenty of time to get there early and tailgate.

The menu for today included skirt steak marinated in Italian dressing, grilled chicken, hot dogs, burgers and enough snacks to feed half the parking lot.

I am sorta torn because as a Jets fan who has nothing against the Giants- I really hate the Pats and Bill Belichick and so on any other night I would be wanting nothing more than to see them lose.

However tonight there is history on the line, as the Patriots, with a victory, would be come the first team ever to go undefeated in the NFL's modern 16 game season.

Being the sports nut I am, I would be lying if I told you a big part of me is hoping New England takes care of business as sports does not often give fans a story like this.

That being said, the Jets fan inside of me knows that should the Giants pull off the unthinkable and actually upset the Pats, it will be satisfying on an entirely different level.

One way or the other, the game should be exciting, and win or lose, something pretty special is going to go down tonight in East Rutherford.

And I'll be among those lucky enough to witness it.