OT: Hate week distractions, holiday plans, etc
I have accomplished exactly nothing at work (or home) this week, and it's looking like that is going to continue through Saturday.
I'm in desperate need of distractions to pass the time today, so let's talk about hour holiday plans. Maybe share some stories of drunken Thanksgiving shenanigans and jackassery?
I'll be at my in-laws this year, which means I won't have a decent meal until I hit the White Castle drive thru on the way home.
![north-campus-turkey[1].jpg](/sites/default/files/users/user104274/north-campus-turkey%5B1%5D.jpg)
November 21st, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
EYB, that's harsh. sorry about that.
i can still hear my oldest son's words when we had to do the same about a dozen years ago to one of our dogs. i was trying to be the comforting father, telling him that one day we'd get another dog. in a tone of voice i could never reproduce he said, 'no, dad. you can't replace the best dog in the world'. yeah, i had to turn away for a second....
November 21st, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
Thanks man. Wow that's rough. There's no doubt that having kids makes this infinitely more difficult. My 7 year old is really attached to her and he definitely is taking it hard.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
My 7 yr old didn't want to be in the room when we put down our German Shorthair ~5 weeks ago. So when it was time for the little yorkie, we did it when he was in school so the wife didn't have to be alone. It's hard, man... But when its the right thing to do, you know it.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
i think oldest son was 6 at the time. and he didn't want another dog for a while. it was over a year later that he was on board with that.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
When the second of our two cats passed away about seven years ago our (then 7 year old) daughter said, "Does this mean we can get a dog now?"
This comment really warmed my heart.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
We had to do that the day after Thanksgiving one year. It was the dog my kids grew up with and it was my middle daughter's 18 birthday. (Welcome to adulthood.) I feel for you.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
Very sorry for your loss.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:20 AM ^
I am passing the time until The Game by changing diapers and pretty much holding and cuddling a new little Wolverine fan! He was born two weeks ago and will be ready to cheer on the Maize and Blue with his Michigan onesie!
I can honestly say nothing beats the feeling of first-time fatherhood!
November 21st, 2018 at 8:36 AM ^
Congratulations.
Being a dad is my greatest joy and the one thing I've done well in this life.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^
I didn't know what I was doing until the second one arrived. Kids are like making pancakes sometimes.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:01 AM ^
The first one always bears the brunt of the learning curve. Makes me glad I'm the second oldest.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:05 AM ^
Congratulations! You've given me some additional encouragement. My wife and I are expecting our first in early February, and we're hitting that stretch that is starting to suck for her (and by extension, me). I'm happy to be reminded just how worth it it will be. Our very best to you and your wife on the new addition!
November 21st, 2018 at 9:10 AM ^
You will fall in love harder than you thought possible.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:11 AM ^
And it never changes - my oldest is now a sophomore at our beloved school and it hasn't changed. Just miss him more.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:22 AM ^
One thing you'll never be allowed to forget - that your wife built and delivered a baby human. Every time I think something hurts - like when I cut off a leg with a chainsaw* getting rid of trees she doesn't like - all I get from her is "this one time, I went to the hospital and they cut me open and pulled a human out of me"...
(* - I haven't cut off a leg with a chainsaw. Yet.)
November 21st, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
Exactly how many times did you respond, "Was it full grown? No? Then how was that supposed to impress me?"
November 21st, 2018 at 10:21 AM ^
Zero.
I'm not stoopid, man...
November 21st, 2018 at 9:50 AM ^
humblebrag about mgowife: no meds for her during any of the kids' births. and after our first one was born, she looks at me about 2 minutes after the actual delivery and says some genuinely heart-warming things, and not one bit of complaining. i married so far over my head its not even funny.
i'll spare the long-winded stuff about kids being worth it, and just say, they are way, way worth it.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
Protip: Towards the end your wife will be crazy horny. But she'll also be huge and feeling bad about the way she looks, so she may not initiate and may even try to discourage you from having sexy time together. Do whatever you can to work through that shit and have as much pregnancy sex as you possibly can. It's sexy, intimate, bizarre, and awesome all at the same time.
Also you can't have sex for 6 weeks after the birth, so it's important to stock up beforehand.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^
Congratulations! I'm experiencing first-time grandparenthood and I've got to tell you in some ways it's even better. All of the love, less of the anxiety! Enjoy your little Wolverine!
November 21st, 2018 at 8:21 AM ^
Heading out tomorrow morning from Birmingham (MI) to the SE suburbs of Cleveland, which is where my wife's aunt/uncle/cousins live. This is a double bonus, as we like this branch of my wife's family. Plus we get credit for seeing my in-laws (they come in from NY) without having to be at my in-laws' house...or having them stay at our house.
Leaning toward heading south to Columbus for The Game but have not yet decided. Going to The Game would necessitate taking two cars to Cleveland, as I don't think my wife and kids would join me.
Decisions. Decisions!
November 21st, 2018 at 8:28 AM ^
My sister and her boyfriend are flying out to Denver to visit me and my wife. We’re going skiing at Breck for a long weekend.
What my sister’s boyfriend doesn’t know is that because I’ve watched exactly one Michigan game with him in his life (Houston, March Madness) and it was possibly the greatest I’ve ever seen, he will be joining me Saturday morning as my lucky rabbit’s foot instead of skiing.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:29 AM ^
Heavy traffic today. I can't leave NYC until 3pm because my son/avatar has school (Brooklyn Tech--Go Engineers!) Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law's in upstate NY. She's a great cook, but I still have to carve the turkey, so the pressure is ALL ON ME. Friday will be a lost day. I will think about running some errands, but then realize it is Black Friday and will shelter in place. Saturday! Finally! Go Blue!
November 21st, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^
Last year I finally tried a different carving method. Cut the turkey's tits off before you carve them, instead of doing it when they're still attached. And carve the breasts with the grain of the meat instead of perpendicular.
It was delicious.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
Absolutely correct! I learned that last year. Cutting with the grain certainly changes the way it eats.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:29 AM ^
My wife is 27 days away from delivering our first MGobaby so we will be taking it easy.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:43 AM ^
You’ve got a typo...I think you mean “she” not “we.”
November 21st, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
Congrats! Hang in there!
November 21st, 2018 at 8:39 AM ^
Got the week off from work, alone for Thanksgiving, chilling at the house passing time by playing a couple old school video games and the arcade machine.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:41 AM ^
No family this year. It's an 8 hour drive to the nearest family, the in-laws, and they don't cook. My family is in Atlanta visiting my sister. So it's going to be a nice low-key Thanksgiving with lots of beer, football, sleeping, and beer.
November 21st, 2018 at 8:49 AM ^
Thanksgiving break starts for me today and I’ll be heading home to be with sister, mom and dad. Then we will be heading south on 31 to go be with family. Two thanksgivings on thanksgiving day (one side has pizza and beer for their meal!!!!!). Then Friday I’ll be putting up Christmas lights and watching high school football finals. Then Saturday I’ll be at my grandmas to watch The Game with her. She is just as big as Michigan crazy as me and she just beat colon cancer for the second time, had to cancel plans at the bar with some buddies because she asked me to come watch it with her. Don’t ever know how many we have left to watch together so if Michigan gets the W there may be some tears to be able to watched the end to this magical season with her. I love thanksgiving weekend.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
You were right to cancel the bar, don't take it for granted. I never thought that UTL1 would be the last game I ever watched with my dad...
November 21st, 2018 at 8:50 AM ^
Going to Emerald Isle, NC with my in laws. Hopefully the weather stays sunny enough to keep my father in law outside wandering around the beach. Especially on Saturday.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:03 AM ^
snow advisory in marquette this morning. hope the mackinac bridge is open
November 21st, 2018 at 9:06 AM ^
Also, I have a friend coming into town this weekend, so I'd appreciate any recommendations on a place to make dinner reservations. Downtown Detroit or Birmingham / Royal Oak area is preferred.
He's rich, and buying, so money is no object!
November 21st, 2018 at 9:09 AM ^
Do you like sushi? We don’t eat it but people are raving about Adachi in Birmingham. Also Forest Grill or Phoenicia in Birmingham. SheWolf, Selden Standard, Lady of the House, all in Detroit.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:48 AM ^
I'll eat sushi, but it's wasted on me. I just don't get it.
We've been to Forest Grill / Phoenicia / Streetside Seafood / Rugby Grille. Now that I think about it, we've been to most places in Birmingham. Toast is still my favorite though, especially in the summer.
Friend just txted that he's in the mood for steak, so I'm thinking the London Chop House. It's good, and they have a cigar bar. Which is exactly what a guy wearing a nicotine patch needs.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
If you're looking for a different steak place, people are digging Prime and Proper in Detroit. We haven't been yet but will get there eventually. Very expensive, so you can drain your buddy's wallet a little bit.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
Good recommendation, but they're booked already. I think 10pm is the earliest table they have.
I'm not intentionally draining his wallet, but around the time of the crash he was piss broke and I let him live with us rent free for a while and bought all his food/drinks/etc for a few years whenever we would go out. I think he's trying to make up for that, although it's completely unnecessary. Plus he doesn't have any kids so the % of his income that he can piss away is just completely foreign to me since we had our first at 21 / 22.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
We took the opposite approach. Had our first kid when we were 32/33...and second (and last) a few years later. Benefit is that we had made $$ and were able to travel and were more "established" once our kids came along. Disadvantage is that we will be relatively old when we are empty-nesters.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^
Downtown B'ham has some excellent options. If your friend is buying:
Italian: Bella Piatti
Steakhouse: Churchill's Bistro or Cameron's
Seafood: Streetside Seafood
New American: Rugby Grille
New American/French: Forest Grille
November 21st, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
My nephew from Cali, who is on academic scholarship at Notre Dame, is with us for the holiday. He grew up Blue and wears his Michigan gear underneath ND shirts at football games. He went to The Game last season at Michigan Stadium, fulfilling one of his lifelong dreams. One daughter, a huge football fan, got home from college in Minnesota last night, so we'll watch the Lions on Thursday as an appetizer for Saturday. My HS son actually has basketball practice on Saturday until 12:30. I told him it was OK to quit the team if it got in the way of The Game (his coach is an MSU fan).
November 21st, 2018 at 10:00 AM ^
Given the Lions haven't done shit in 60 years, I'd liken them to a stomach ache rather than an appetizer.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:23 AM ^
I don't want to be distracted.
It's been a long time since Michigan had a team this good. I'm enjoying every minute.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:32 AM ^
Today: Leaving the office around 2.
Probably do something that will benefit my health for tonight and tomorrow .
Tonight: Bars
Tomorrow: Family, Food & Football
Friday: Put the tree up and watch football.
Saturday: Flying down with a group of friends from Grand Rapids to c-bus to watch Jim & The Team get it done.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:51 AM ^
I used to love this day for bar hopping. Guaranteed to get laid.
November 21st, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
Going to see the Ralph Breaks the Internet this afternoon with the fam and then going over to GR area to see family tomorrow morning until Friday.
Then my parents are coming to A2 to watch the game Saturday and then go watch our former HS in the Championship game after The Game Saturday afternoon. This week is going very slow.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
hey, same. my former high school is playing in the D7 state final (go hornets!). it's at 10 am so getting out of Ford Field without missing too much of the game will be tough, but it's a good situation to be in
November 21st, 2018 at 9:43 AM ^
I, too, have accomplished nothing at work, but that is because I am off this and next week. At home, though, I have accomplished many Xbox achievements with all the gaming I have been doing. My gamer score is at 90,698.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
90k is pretty weak.