Back from a long winter's hiatus

Hola. Greetings and salutations, all.

It's just about time to get back on the blogging trail. After not writing anything for a while, I'll be easing back into it again so nothing of real substance today. Just a little recap of the past couple of weeks.

Spent Christmas with the in-laws down in Orange Beach, Alabama. No, they're not from there; it's the family vacation home. However, it has become something of a yearly tradition for Brandy and I, her sister, and her parents to meet up in Orange Beach for Christmas, and that's just fine by me. I'm blessed with in-laws I like, and more importantly, who like me. It's laid-back, there's lots of seafood, and there's Doc's.

Doc's Seafood Shack is precisely the kind of place at which you would stop if you were lost and hungry. If you weren't, the dive-y, Shack-ness of it would probably scare you away. And you would miss out on some of the best gumbo, crab claws, fried flounder, and sweet tea in the South. Maybe in the country. Yummy. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

If you're ever in the area, you'll want to go to the Canal Road location, not the Gulf Shores location. One, Theresa's a great waitress (she remembers what we all order, and we only eat there a few times a year around Christmas), and two, the Gulf Shores location is all... clean and nice and respectable -- not at all what you want from any self-respecting seafood shack.

Brandy and I returned home, overloaded with the stuff we bought while outlet shopping in Alabama, and after one more night of emergency cleaning for us, Brandy's sister arrived to vacation with us some more.

It was a whirlwind trip, and as always, much too short, but it was great. Jamie even helped us clean while she was here. And by clean, I mean completely reorganize the plentitude of crap cluttering our living room. Our apartment is now to the point where I would almost consider having people over. Almost. We're still a bit of cleaning away from that.

Since food is such a big deal for us, I'll just gloss over the hit list: another dinner at Dragonfly (just as good as last time), some Dungeness crab from the farmer's market (and I made crab cakes with the leftover meat), some Woodhouse Fish Company (always tasty, and some of the best clam chowder we've had on the West Coast), a farewell dinner at Town Hall (a little lackluster, actually, and definitely not as issue-free as our last visit, which was excellent).

I worked on New Year's Eve. It was fine, if a bit dull. The sisters hung out and watched Sex and the City while drinking margaritas. Damn them.

On New Year's Day, we watched Michigan piss away another bowl game.

It's called blitzing. We should try it. It's not really a pass rush if the passer doesn't have to rush his throws. And Morgan Trent cannot cover WRs with size and speed. Would it kill you to help him out with a floating safety or maybe some contact on the line?

I feel bad for Mike Hart. He's coming back for his senior season, and he expressly stated that he was doing so just to beat Ohio State and win a national championship.

I've got news for you. Your quarterback will still be Chad Henne. He will continue to throw balls just slightly behind the receivers. He will continue to rush dump-off passes at people's feet. He will continue to make the occasional highlight reel pass to tease us into thinking he might be putting it all together. In short, he'll still have his head up his ass. Sorry, Mike.

And that's the fortnight in review. I'll get back to the good stuff tomorrow (maybe Friday).