The Swarm home opener is just two weeks away and we got season tickets for Christmas! We’re sitting right on the glass at midfield (right next to the penalty box in Section 104, where Jesse will be able to keep an eye on her favorite player, Travis Hill, pictured above). Travis is the cousin of Katie’s best friend back in New York (Alaina Hill Marlin). He said to be sure to say hi to Alaina and to send her his picture. So there you go, Alaina. Travis says hi.

Jesse and I had a chance to spend a day with the players and new team owners at a season ticket-holder event the other day. It was good to visit with the players and to have the opportunity to get to know the new owners. Plus, I won a couple of jerseys in the door prize drawings. All in all, not a bad day. The next morning, Jesse talked me into getting up before dawn and driving her down to the last day of training camp for the Swarm, where we had the chance to meet some other die-hard fans and to wish the guys well before they headed out of town.

Go Swarm! Here’s hoping we make the playoffs again this year…

Wow! Those are some interesting elves Santa hired this year. Why, the one with the green hat and collar looks just tickled to be included in the holiday festivities.

We definitely “enjoyed” a white Christmas this year. Seems like we’ve endured several inches of snow every day this month. We’ve had to shovel the driveway many times already … and I don’t like it. We have plenty of extra snow if any of you all want to drive up here with a cooler and take some home with you. We’ll even supply the shovels.

At left is a picture I took looking out from our dining room onto our deck, where the snow is a couple of feet deep in most places. We haven’t been able to get out to the grill to barbecue in weeks. Guess that’s a good thing because the temperatures have been well below zero (up to today, when it warmed right up).

But, since it’s warmed up so much, I think I’ll shovel out to the grill tomorrow and barbecue some country ribs. Mmmmmm. Nothing says “Minnesota Winter” quite like a plate of barbecued ribs.

For those of you who are curious, or who just get some kind of kick out of pointing at us and laughing, here is a handy weather widget to show you what our weather is like right now. Read it and laugh till you weep:

Here’s a picture of Art’s famous sweet potato pie. He baked 10 pies for Christmas (for the neighbors, his office Christmas party and for the American Indian Education program in our school district). The pies are diet-friendly, filled with 16 eggs, 2 pounds of butter, a quart of heavy cream, 5 cups of sugar, 4 cups of brown sugar and a generous helping of bourbon (in the pies and the cook). OK, so they’re not so diet-friendly. But the pies do have sweet potatoes and nuts. Doesn’t that count for something? Jeez. For those who have asked, here is the recipe.