Shoveling complete

It's 8 C here today. The half-foot thick ice rink I call a driveway has finally softened enough that I was able to completely remove all the thick ice chunks. All that's been left behind is a couple of slightly watery pools which will, I'm sure, be gone by the time it dips below zero tonight.

You know you're a father when... (2)

The phrase "explosive diarrhea" no longer makes you laugh

You know you're a father when... (1)

The first place you think to look when missing a tool is in your son's playroom

1-15 or 18-1? Which is more heart-rending?

A dark day in Phoenix, my friends. The New England Patriots have lost the game.

If you recall earlier this year, I gave up on the Miami Dolphins after years of front-office stupidity and on-field ineptitude. After washing my hands of the 'Fins, I looked over the list of NFL teams to pick a new team to root for. It came down to the Green Bay Packers and the Patriots. I was intrigued by the addition of Randy Moss and Wes Welker (one of my favourite Dolphin players), and my father-in-law is a fan, so I decided to go with the Pats. Good choice. 16 straight wins in the regular season and another 2 wins to get to the Superbowl. So much build up and expectation all came crashing down this evening with a 17-14 loss to the offensively challenged Giants. I was so close to going from rooting for a bottom feeder to sipping sweet championship champagne. So close!

Will the Pats challenge for a Superbowl next year? Likely. Will I ever get to see one of my teams go through a season undefeated? Probably not.