If we were gathering for Happy Hour this week, we would be gathering at my favorite bar in Minnesota . . . . The Corner Bar in Bemidji!  I’d order a big juicy cheeseburger with fried onions and side of cheese balls. (one time I went to the Corner Bar and ordered my favorite “bar burger” twice in one day, for lunch & dinner!)  To drink, we’d have a big ass pitcher of Labatt Blue in honor of all of our Canadian followers! (Hello Mrs. Sanford!) It’s been another great week here in the desert.

The winter temperatures have settled in (75 degrees everyday) as the countdown to Christmas has officially begun! We have one more week of work, before our Winter Break, and our two and a half week vacation to Sri Lanka & the Maldives.  The date tells us that Christmas is coming, however it feels like September around here. Occasionally we will see some Christmas lights on a house or holiday decorations at a store, but it definitely doesn’t feel like Christmas is only a couple of weeks away.

• Last weekend was jam packed with Holiday parties!  On Thursday night we hung out with some friends here in our apartment building.  They threw an awesome party, and it felt so festive. They had a super nice Christmas tree, ugly sweaters, and even egg nog!  On Friday night, we had our school Holiday party where about 150 of us gathered for a fun evening.  It was an outdoor party, with a social hour, dinner, and dancing.  They catered-in dinner from our favorite Lebanese restaurant, and it was soooo good! It was a great way to get everyone together from all of the different schools in our school system to celebrate the holidays and see everyone before they depart on their vacations.  The last holiday party we had was on Saturday afternoon, and was hosted by one of my fellow umpires from the Little League Baseball program that I’ve been working with.  It was fun to spend the afternoon outside, standing around a charcoal grill with some big slabs of meat working towards perfection.  It was a crazy busy weekend running around to all of the parties, but it sure makes us thankful for all the friends we have made here, and it was great to celebrate the holidays with them!

• This weekend, I also officiated my first high school basketball game.  The boys varsity team at our school had a scrimmage game, and the head coach asked if I would ref the game.  It was great to be back on the court again, and I had a ton of fun. I was hoping to get involved during the regular season too, however it sounds like it’s going to be nearly impossible for me to get involved with the local association. I still had a great time, and told the coach that I’m always open to ref if they need someone.

Cheers, Mitch