January Madness

Favorite thing AM did this week

In a sign that we watched and read too much Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer this Christmas, AM has decided to name her soon-to-arrive baby brother "Baby Abominable Snow Monster." I'm hoping that by the time May rolls along, she will have forgotten this moniker, but I am not counting on it.

Favorite thing I watched this week

To celebrate our anniversary last weekend, Matthew and I headed to Atlanta to see a Hawks game. We had great seats (stubhub.com), and stayed at the Omni, which is adjacent to Phillips Arena (translation, we didn't even have to walk outside to get from our room to the game). Plus, the game turned out to be excellent. Although we aren't big Hawks fans or anything, it was still fun to cheer for the home team. They were behind most of the 4th quarter, but made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Suns by 1 point. And the crowd went wild.

In keeping with the basketball theme, this weekend, we got to use one of Matthew's Christmas presents--tickets to the Alabama vs. Miss. St. basketball game in Tuscaloosa. Surprisingly, though they were not at all favored, the Tide won. And the crowd went wild.

Because all I've done lately is watch things...

I saw Up in the Air and The Blindside recently (yes, I am feeling the pressure to see the likely Oscar picks). Up in the Air was okay, definitely not as good as I had hoped. I don't get a big kick out of George Clooney, so that might have been part of the problem. However, in supporting roles, Jason Bateman and Vera Farmiga were great.

The Blindside was as expected. Sad, then happy. Sandra is good. Tim McGraw is minor. Football coaches can't act. Especially Ed Orgeron (apparently he's better at cheating, though he doesn't do that in this movie, that came later).

Best thing I saw this week

After we left Atlanta last weekend, we drove up to Mentone, AL, located in the foothills of the Appalachians, along Lookout Mountain. It was beautiful, especially with the ice from all of the cold weather we've been having. Here are a few pictures of nearby Little River Canyon.

Best thing I ate this week

In Mentone we had dinner at the Wildflower Cafe, http://www.mentonewildflower.com/index.html. It was great. Matthew had a piece of prime rib that was at least a foot in diameter. I had a shrimp and pasta dish that was thankfully smaller than the meat dish. Dessert was banana bread with Wright Dairy vanilla ice cream. Love that Wright Dairy. I might have to go for a tour. http://www.wrightdairy.com/