Easy like Sunday morning ...

(Thanks, Lionel.)

I feel like The McLaughlin Group ...

Issue #1:

Crabs ... delicious, hot, heavy, Maryland steamed crabs. We dined with family last night at Ocean Pride. Throw in some steamed shrimp, cream of crab soup, "Old Bay" Chips, corn, and ice cold Yuengling - it was Scrumdiddlyumptious.

But wait, there's more. Dessert followed - we descended upon the Towson Diner. Talk about big portions ... and we didn't leave a drop. Two eclairs, apple pie a la mode, lemon meringue pie, a sundae and rice pudding.

Issue #2:

The Ravens continue to look like a very good football team. The loud groan you heard around 8:30 pm last night was Raven Nation reacting to the team failing to score a touchdown / field goal after a decent drive that stalled near the Panther goal line. However, Joe Flacco and the boys made amends and put up 17 points. Again, the defense was the defense - the starters have not allowed a touchdown in three games.

Reality check - none of this matters until November 29. That is the date of the first Steelers game. Until the Ravens beat Pittsburgh in a meaningful game, everything that Joe, Ray and the team accomplish is fluff. The Steeler game is Week 11 - if the Ravens are for real, they enter that game with a better-than-five-and-five record (my prediction - 7-3) and a chance to seize the division.

Certainly injuries can alter the landscape. The Ravens have not put together back-to-back strong seasons in quite some time, and the Steelers followed their Super Bowl win in the 2005 season with an 8-8 record the next year.

We'll see soon enough.

Issue #3

My kid starts kindergarten tomorrow. Can she really be 5? I love the irony of Lilly attending the school where I first taught, where her parents met, and where her mother teaches. Lilly has a great teacher - I taught her son when I worked there. It's a very familiar setting for us, so were excited and confident about her starting school for real.

One thing is for sure - she'll provide me plenty of blog material.

Until next time,

Marty

Swimming lessons

Calling upon my background as a teacher, I recalled that it's easier to write when you have a purpose, a clear picture of what the final product should look like.

I tried to write about myself. It yielded some material, but perhaps it was too deep of a pool of ideas. Deep water - and I had no raft.

So, I'm moving into the shallow water. Each blog will touch on three main topics: a sports story, a school story, and a food story..

I'll do better in the next entry on Saturday, but here's my first new blog:

We had a good first week of school. I'm watching the Orioles. Tonite's pizza was yummy - thanks, Pasta Blitz.

Shabbat Shalom!

Guilty

I'll admit it - the blog has fallen on tough times.

And I don't see it getting much better, at least not right away. School starts today ... yes, I know I'm a 12-month employee, but the kids arrive, so it's different.

Plus, the lovely Mrs. Blogger heads back to school tomorrow - this means the end of slippers, newspaper and pipe waiting for me by the couch after I gloriously return home from a day at work. Then, my dinner is brought to me on a TV tray, and I watch all the celebrity sleaze shows ...

(And then I wake up.)

And football season is upon us ... this is a true statement because my Fantasy Football draft is on Sunday. I'm getting my kicker early - don't tell the guys.

Wish us luck up in Thurmont - may the gods of combination locks be smiling upon the timid 6th graders!

Channeling Rodney Dangerfield

How many people were able to identify the "Back to School" movie reference from the title? Probably not many ... I have always had a bit of an off-beat view toward movies - two of my favorites of all-time include:

Clue - all three endings
The Hunt for Red October - "One ping Pricilly - one ping only please."

I also like TV shows that aren't on the Tivo list of many folks ... my weekly lists include:

Psych
Dark Blue
The Closer
NCIS
Criminal Minds

I may try to watch the new NCIS-Los Angeles show ... LL Cool J is on it. I gave up on 24 and Prison Break. I like to watch reruns of House and Bones.

Getting back to Rodney ... his movie inspires me, as school begins for real on Tuesday. Teachers report, which means the kids aren't far behind. More so than in previous years, I'm looking forward to it, as it has been hard to get used to a new school when it's mostly empty. The Thurmont folks have been great so far, and it was nice to see / meet almost 200 families at the open house on Thursday.

For those keeping score, Fat Bachelor Friday had a low-key feel last night - I picked up sushi and watched a ton of TV - the PGA championship, the Orioles, and a bunch of stuff from Tivo.

Girls are on the way back from New Jersey - I better go and get my chores done!

So long summer ...

I hate to be a downer, but summer officially ends tomorrow with the return of 5-day workweeks in Frederick County Public Schools. Friday's just won't be the same, but it was great to have a bunch of 3-day weekends. Somehow, it was not so much of a chore to deal with the lawn (keep your "it's just a townhouse lawn" comments to yourself)

The management of the blog would like to apologize for the time lapse between postings - we've been busy with:

• swimming - Lilly's is almost a swimmer ...
• bike-riding - we took off the training wheels, but then aborted the experiment and put them back on
• an impromptu trip to Dutch Wonderland; Perfect weather, minimal crowds and an easy drive each way. The diving show with the "frogs" and princess was pretty amazing. And to wrap up the day, while driving home we made a pit stop at Sonic for snack. It was our first trip ever to Sonic - the food was OK, but it was cool to see a guy on roller blades deliver the food to our car. Besides Lancaster, PA and Bridgeville, DE, are there any other Sonic establishments around?

The girls are going to milk summer for a bit more fun - a beach trip to see family in NJ, and then Lilly has a soccer camp on tap (with Brits, no less).

By the way, we're selling some Raven tickets - holler if you are interested.