January in Review and February Preview

Another winter month has come and gone here in Madison. Despite the frigid temperatures and lack of sunshine for much of the month, January flew by for me. For the most part it was a pretty good month. I gave up drinking pop, joined the Princeton Club, started another season of city league basketball, and baby sat Scout for a week with the help of Laura. In addition, things at work are progressing nicely. I have to become LEED certified this year and I have set a goal to take the test in April. January did mean saying bye to my parents and George for the next couple of months. I miss having them in Madison, but luckily with our iPhones we can stay in touch quite easily. Though when my dad told me he instituted a “No Cell Phone on the Beach” rule, I took it as a hint to send a few less texts per day. Sorry Dad, this is just me getting back at you for all your email forwards. Isn’t your crackberry great? Sorry, I’ve digressed a bit. Back to the subject at hand, here is a recap of what I consider to be the highlights of January:

Best Weekend Activity: Kickball on Ice Tournament on Lake Waubesa. The Rubber Souls kickball team plus a few additions took their kicking and fielding skills from the rocky infield at Demetral field to the frozen lake. The event was great fun and turned out to be a killer workout. I am pretty sure I worked muscles that I did not even know I had. We played a total of five games through out the day and ended up finishing in 2nd place. I am quite convinced that we would have won the championship had the game not been called after the 3rd inning due to poor lighting conditions. The sponsoring bar also gave each team 10 pitchers of beer and multiple cups of chili. I’d definitely like to make this an annual event and if you ever have the opportunity to play ice kickball do not pass it up.

Best Sporting Event Attended: UW Men’s Basketball vs. Purdue. This was a great game to be at, as the Badgers played great from start to finish. The Kohl Center was rocking through out the game and it is always fun to send the Boilers home with a loss. This is especially true given our recent struggles against Purdue. Only downfall with this game was that the Badgers lost Jon Leuer indefinitely to a broken wrist.

Best Sporting Event Watched: Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints. Anyone that watched this game would have to admit it was a great football game minus the sloppiness of all the turnovers. I’ve mentioned it before, but this game also had the perfect ending!

Best Book: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. This is sort of an award by default, as I only read 1 book this month. Even so, Shutter Island is a very entertaining book and definitely worth reading. If you get the chance read it soon, as the movie is coming out in late February. I always find it hard to read a book after seeing the movie.

Best Movie: Avatar 3D IMAX. Hopefully, everyone has had a chance to see Avatar. The 3D IMAX experience was amazing and well worth the $15. If you have not made it to the theater, what are you waiting for?

Best Meal at a Restaurant: Ruth’s Chris. Laura and I decided to take full advantage of Restaurant Week and treated ourselves to a fabulous steakhouse meal. I have to admit we did not strictly follow the $25 Restaurant Week menu, as we both made a few additions to our meals. However, we were still well below the cost for a typical night at this fine establishment. The whole meal was phenomenal and just the right amount of food. If you are debating what restaurant to try during the next Restaurant Week go with Ruth’s Chris. It is hard to find a salad, steak, a side and dessert at a top-notch restaurant for around $25.

January was a great month but I am expecting February to be even better. There will be many great activities and events taking place in the shortest month of the year. Here’s what I am looking forward to:

#16 Badgers vs. #5 Michigan State Spartans at the Kohl Center-2/2/10

Weekend trip to DC to see George and my mom. This trip, like all mine to DC thus far, should be fantastic. We will be seeing #7 Georgetown vs. #2 Villanova. In addition, we will be hitting all our favorite restaurants: Tombs, Ben’s Chili Bowl, Mexican, and Italian at Palominas. Can’t wait.

Birthdays: I am sure I will forget some but just to name a few…Laura and Kris on 2/11/10 and my mom on 2/26/10.

Bowling League: Yup, that’s right I have decided to join a bowling league. Never thought I would say that but it should be a lot of fun. We even get to customize and keep a bowling ball!

Stay Warm and Go Badgers,

The Bean Spiller