Things are always generally busy, but lately, it’s been really hectic.

I learned last week that Adam was failing his core classes (English, social studies, math). Not that he’s not smart, but, he’s not turning in his assignments. Apparently 7th grade is a hell of a time for the kid, so he’s going to have a lot of make-up work to do over the next couple weeks.

Adam was also quite ill the week prior to that, so we didn’t do much that weekend except sit around while he worked on schoolwork and rested.

Last Saturday night was quite enjoyable! Laura and I went to Cafe Brazil. Really great, particularly the fried Manchego cheese. The whole meal was terrific.

Afterward, we went to the Starz film center to take in Exte or Hair Extensions (in English). It’s a Japanese movie about possessed bodies growing hair, which were cut and sold to hair salons. We’d seen a previous film by the director (Suicide Club) and, unfortunately, Exte was not nearly as good. It definitely wasn’t a bad time, however.

Sunday, Laura and I roll up to Blackhawk for a day of poker. We broke even, minus the steak dinner at the end of the night.

It’s been a crazy, crazy work week. Laura is a great distraction from all of it, and I stayed with her three nights this week, as we watched movies a couple nights. One evening, we started a handful of free movies on Laura’s on-demand cable TV, including such titles as Deuces Wild and The Nun. None were good enough to watch more than halfway through.

We went back to play more poker on Wednesday. I won, she lost a bit more, so not a terrible result. The play up there is still nutty, but the variance can be quite high.

Silliness is about all I can use to describe how last night went.

Tuesday nights are normally a low-key affair for me. Well, Laura was aware it was her last day at her job prior to getting laid off, so she used one of her complimentary Ameristar hotel coupons for us.

Long ong story short, we played poker on and off from about 6pm until 5am. I didn’t get more than three hours of sleep. She took a 2-hour nap just before midnight, so she wasn’t as tired today. But I had to work… and somehow, I actually am NOT that tired. Laura brought Shawn up with her to play poker, as he’s one of her brother Stephen’s military friends that loves poker and was only in town for this week. He apparently played 25 hours straight!!! I don’t think it worked out well for him, according to what Laura said.

Shawn’s a good guy but could use a little more discipline when playing.

Today at work wasn’t too terrible, given my lack of sleep.

My old friend Ross gave me a call this afternoon as well, so I swung by his place today after doing a podcast with Bob and Tony. We hung out for a few hours — poor guy has been without work for about six months now, I’m not quite sure how he’s hanging on.

All in all, a weird 24-ish hours. And I’m not that tired at the moment.

The Colorado Rockies were scheduled to play a game tonight against Philadelphia in the MLB playoffs.

It didn’t rain in the later part of the day. Or snow. But there was no game to be found at Coors Field.

MLB decided to postpone the game, apparently due to cold. While it was (lightly) snowing this morning, it was hardly notable, other than it was the first snow we’ve seen this autumn.

It was cold, however, with temperatures in the 20s.

The game is now going to be played Sunday evening. At 8pm. Who comes up with this stuff?

I understand it’s all dictated by ad revenue, but how is it in anyone’s best interest to start the game so late? If you’re on the east coast, it may not end until 2am if the game is similarly paced as how Game 2 unfolded on Thursday afternoon.

What’s funnier is that as much as I wanted to take Adam to the game, he came down with a pretty hefty case of some flu or cold or virus or something. He got a real painful stomach ache late this morning, and then didn’t want to eat all day. He finally ate around 8pm, but was in no condition to go anywhere, let alone sit in the cold for 3+ hours.

So this was a blessing in disguise.

Although, I was planning on seeing Laura tomorrow, and the game is going to cut into that part of the day, which is going to be fun when we do eventually meet up after the game.

I also feel terrible for Laura as she lost her job this weekend, (but hopeful!) that she can get another job soon. Plus, unemployment will make everything a lot better for her.

I’ve heard many a great things about The Oliva Tremor Control over the years, and finally have gotten a hold of several of their albums.

I’m really in love with Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One. I can’t quite pin down exactly what it is about the music that is so inspiring to me, but it’s just a really good listen over multiple lengthy tracks.

Coming up with a headline for a blog post is normally an easy task. But, I’m going to try and summarize what I’ve done the past three days, and all I can think of is “stuff.”

Thursday was basically a day off from work — I and a couple co-workers ventured to the Rockies regular-season home finale against the Brewers for a day game at Coors Field. It also just so happened to be a win for the Rockies that clinched their spot in the playoffs.

It was an easy win. The Brewers’ pitching staff is pretty bad, and Manny Parra isn’t going to stop many major league lineups.

After the game, it was humorous to see the increased security around the field.

The weather was cold and windy, particularly after the 4th inning when the sun dropped below the stadium’s upper seating area behind us. I didn’t feel 100% after enduring the same kind of cold the prior evening, and after another three hours in the chilly winds, I felt abysmal enough to sit out karate class that evening.

Friday, a small group of developers at the office had invited a few of us to join them for a CORN MAZE competition (of sorts) at some local farm north of Denver. Sounds terrible, but it was actually quite a bit of fun. Adam really enjoyed it, and we completed the entire maze in just under two hours. Check it out! It was actually a bit excessive. After about 90 minutes, I was ready to walk in an area not confined by rows of corn.

Saturday was the final karate tournament of the year. Thankfully, the miles of walking from the night before didn’t affect our performance. Adam didn’t place in his continuous sparring event, but did win his 12-year-old point sparring division.

I managed a third place in my point sparring division, which included one win and one loss. I could have been first or second, but lost in “overtime” in the first round.

It’ll be interesting to see if I continue to stay in tournament shape during the offseason.

Saturday night, Christine was in town and spent the evening with me and Laura. We decided to take her to Mataam Fez, a Moroccan restaurant. It was as good as our other dinner we had previously, which is pretty fucking tasty. My favorite is the lentil soup, but all of the foods there are really marvelous.

After waffling over what to do afterward, we decided on the netflix movies we had sitting around. Stuck was surprisingly good, containing various shots that I would certainly throw into the category of “pretty darn creative.” Never mind that the story is at times ludicrous and there were a lot of “no way” moments, as well.

We also watched a Demetri Martin DVD, and it was quite enjoyable/humorous.

Sunday! Football! Zach and I walked to Big Hoss BBQ up the street, and watched football all afternoon. Including the Broncos amazingly ridiculous win over Dallas.

(if you’re looking for a fantastic BBQ sauce, check out Big Hoss’ sauce at Whole Foods)

After the game, Laura picked me up and we went to see Pandorum, a pretty interesting sci-fi movie. It’s not often a movie gets me thinking about the triviality of everyday life, and earth in general, and this film did just that.

Great weekend!