Phickle Thoughts

Posts are going to be less frequent here folks. That's just the way it goes with a baby on the way. As of Friday, when this is going up, we're 13 days away from our due date. Things are still looking good, the baby is healthy and projected at 50th percentile, Mrs. Phickle is doing well and still looking fantastic.
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You can color me as one Vikings fan happy we got Brett Favre. The QBs we had were abysmal. Even old, worn out Favre gives us a good chance.

That and Adrian Peterson.
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Speaking of Minnesota sports, Joe Mauer is currently closer to hitting .400 than he is to hitting .350.

That isn't to say I think he'll hit .400 because I don't. My eye is on .362. If Mauer can best that, then he will hold the highest batting average ever for a catcher. Since Ted Williams hit .406 only 3 players have had a batting average as high as Mauer this late in the season.

Oh, and he's got 25 home runs. Considering he missed a month of the season... Oh, and let's throw this one out there too: Mauer became just the fifth player EVER to be hitting .380 or better with 25 home runs. The other 4? Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and some fellow by the name of George Herman Ruth.

And none of those guys had the added challenge of being a catcher.
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I'd be remiss if I didn't say something about the passing of Robert Novak. I never met him, didn't really pay much attention to his work, and probably wouldn't have agreed with most of it. But he became a small part of my life during my time in law school and beyond. First, for a good while I attended the same parish where he was a member. As such, over the past year or however long he was fighting cancer, every week his name was on the parish sick list, and we would pray for him in church. (As an aside, I wonder... it seems like you hear the same names on the sick list week in and week out. Does that mean praying for those folks is especially effective or especially ineffective?)

Second, during law school I heard a rumor that I was Robert Novak's son. Apparently this had been going around for a little while when someone approached me to ask about my dad. They were disappointed when I explained that not only was Robert Novak not my dad, he wasn't even my uncle. No relation at all, in fact.
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After the earlier post about The Dead Weather, I have to admit that "I Cut Like A Buffalo" has grown on my some, and I no longer hate them entirely. I don't love 'em, or even like 'em, but they're certainly tolerable.
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Finally, we've been getting ready for the baby here. Mostly that consists of much talking about the stuff we still need to do, and little actual doing. But we've had a ton of people helping us out, giving much appreciated advice (but not too much that it would be a pain) and wonderful gifts, and we're really excited to have everyone meet our little baby. I just want to say thanks for everything everyone has done for us. It is a wonderful feeling to be the recipient of so much generosity. Thanks all!

I think of him when I'm doing the dishes