Ed Icionsub

There was an article in the paper that say over 60% of workers in the U. S. did not take their earned vacation time last year. That might be a good thing if you can can accumulate unlimited hours or days that carry over each year. But at my company we have to used the days earned within a year or we lose that time. So you can believe that I use my vacation time,

This year I have plans to go to the biggest and best golf tournament in the the world, held every year in Augusta, Georgia. I have a friend who lives in nearby Aiken, SC, so the deal is that I buy the The Masters Tickets for both of us and I get to stay at his house for a week during the tournament.

Last year I did not get to attend any baseball games all year, so this year I have to make up for that. I will get both Fenway Park Tickets for a game in July, and then Wrigley Field Tickets for the Cubs against the Cardinals. This game has been an annual tradition for us for 15 years, with the exception of last year and the passing of a brother in law. Obviously, we had to cancel our plans and attend the funeral. But this year, we are back to our yearly trek to Chicago in the heat of summer to cheer for the Cardinals.

What a great Super Bowl. The game was actually better than the commercials for a change. Really glad to see the underdogs win this one. Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on a well deserved win!

There’s a lot of money on the table today as the Saints play the Colts for the NFL championship. I would not be surprised if there were bets on which team would win the coin toss, bets on how many sacks will take down Manning, how many touchdowns will be in each quarter, and all kinds of other nonsense. Office pools have been passing around sign up sheets and collecting small dollar bets for days. I can’t wait to see who cashes in the biggest on this game.

My head says to pick the Colts but my heart says to pick the Saints. This will be a good game, either way.

I cannot believe that I have spent the entire day driving around town running errands. I’ve been on the go since 8:00 this morning and am just now getting home. I have been to all kinds of stores and gone through over $400 in small purchases here and there. Boy, they really add up!

I’m looking forward to a quiet evening with a nice dinner and a movie, and tomorrow will be hockey followed by two NFL playoff games.

We are running out of Sundays for this year’s NFL games. This weekend is the playoffs for the AFC and NFC. I watched the Vikings beat the Cowboys. That was fun – I hate the Cowboys – always have.

Then I watched part of the game with the Chargers against the Jets. I cannot believe the Jets beat the Chargers. I had picked the chargers to go to the Superbowl. Dang it.

Next week the Jets take on the Colts and the Vikings play the Saints. After that we will have the Super Bowl, and then no more football until August.

Today is the big game between the Cardinals and the Saints at 3;30. I’m thrilled to see the Cardinals have come this far, and I’m surprised that the Saints have had such a good year.

It was strange to see the Cards get a touchdown 19 seconds into the game. That was a fun start. But then the Saint came right back with a touchdown a few minutes later. Looks like this will be a high scoring game.

My sister wants to get her daughter involved in gymnastics and maybe eventually into cheerleading or competitive gymnastics. My niece has a lot of talent and loves to do routines. She is incredibly graceful and has a sense of balance that we discovered when she was very young. I still cannot believe she was able to skip over riding a big wheel and went right to riding a two wheel bicycle at only 4 years old!

Since moving to the Raleigh/Durham area last year, the family has had fun discovering all the good things that area has to offer. I have to agree that the Triangle area of North Carolina is probably as close to perfect as you can get. It’s very family-friendly and there is so much for kids to do, both outdoors and indoors, depending on the season and your interests.

Gymnastics in the Triangle area is served by a great facility called Gymcarolina. I went to their web site after talking to my sister to check it out for myself. I think I will send her the money to get my niece enrolled in their gym classes and if she really likes it, we will try to find a way for her to go to their summer camp this year.

This is a really big weekend for the NFL teams still fighting for their playoff spots. The winners of this weekends games will determine who will be going to the Super Bowl in February.

In today’s games, the Patriots had a stunning loss to the Ravens. I was not cheering for the Ravens, however I knew that they would win.

The hard game to predict was the Cardinals vs Packers. It was one of the most evenly matched offensive games in the playoffs. Neither team has much of a defense but both have great quarterbacks. It turned out to be the highest scoring playoff game in history – and the Cardinals won in overtime.

Today there is an awesome hockey game on TV. The Winter Classic is an NHL game that will be played outdoors. They did this last year and it was a huge success. So I was glad to learn that they are doing it again this year, except this year’s game will be played in Boston.

I’m not a big fan of either the Bruins nor the Flyers, but since the Flyers have two former Predators players on their team, I think I will be cheering for the Flyers today.

It just started, so I’m going to sit down and watch the game today.

Some people have a great way of looking at things as an optimist. They have and project a confidence that everything will be OK. Athletes and salesmen have this character trait.

A set back is an opportunity for a comeback.

My father always had something good to say. He was an endless source of encouragement and comforting words when I needed them. Even the most difficult situations brought out something positive from my father, if nothing else he would say, “It could always be worse!”