A Productive Day...

Yesterday was indeed a productive day.

True, most of us usually manage to accomplish some things during the course of a typical day.

But today was a more productive day than most, and I think I'm well within my rights to feel good about myself right now.

Today, I wrote fairly well earlier, more or less to my liking, adding some to yesterday's blog, and doing work on some other blogs, and even some writing outside of the blogs. That was something good, but in itself, it is not unique.

However, I also read quite a bit today, and since I seem to be having a kind of drought as of late. So, on that front, there was success.

I forced myself to beat out my own laziness, and go for a rather tough hike in slippery conditions through the snowy woods before the sun went down. It proved to be a race towards the end, but I pushed myself to do what normally is an hour's hike with just over an hour of daylight to go, and managed to get it done in less than ideal circumstances.

Cleaning - something that I do not always have the energy and proper spirit for. But I did on this day, and that even includes my car, which did not need serious cleaning, yet I did some, anyway!

The big thing was to put up the Christmas tree that my son was asking about. I did not do it last year, mostly because I was going through some issues and feeling depressed at around this time last year, admittedly. But there was a lingering sense of guilt over having allowed that to get the best of me, and not having mustered the energy, or the will, to put the tree up for the benefit of my child. This time around, however, I was determined not to let that particular history repeat itself. I was originally targeting just after Thanksgiving, but that unfortunately did not happen. Monday was too busy, which left today, because next week is just going to be a chaotic week (yes, I know it in advance). That's a lot of pressure, but I didn't buckle. The tree does not look beautiful, yet my son was very excited to see me working on it.  There was clear joy and happy energy in his eyes and voice, and I felt very pleased

So, I got to see him, as well as spend some time with my family, enjoying a nice dinner there.

All that, and I even remembered to get my son the Hess truck, knowing how those things seem to be very hard to come by in the days before Christmas, for whatever the reason.

Not everyday do I get to feel like I accomplished a lot, and I am old enough to know to appreciate those days when there is sufficient reason to feel so. A nice day, all in all!

Outside of my own life, this was a night for American football, both in the pros, and in college.

Rutgers had a chance to capture their first ever Big East title, as they hosted Louisville. They raced out to a 14-3 lead, which they held at the half, and then seemed to score a touchdown that really would have put their boot on the throat of the Cardinals.

Unfortunately, however, there was a flag on the play, and it was called back. Who knows what would have happened had that been good? But as it were, Louisville came back with a strong touchdown drive, to close within four points. Then, a turnover by Rutgers gave Louisville another chance, and the result was yet another touchdown. Rutgers managed to tie it up in the fourth with a field goal, but the Cardinals managed to get into field goal position themselves very late in the fourth quarter, with very little time left, inside the two minute warning. Rutgers drove and seemed to have a chance, but after miscommunication between the quarterback and the receiver, the result was an interception that ended the drive, and Rutgers hopes along with it, and iced the game for Louisville, who now qualified for the BCS.

Rutgers, who have been in the Big East since it was first created (the only team that can claim that, for that matter), will have one more chance to win the division, although this really had been a golden opportunity for them. They will now head towards another bowl game, but this one meaning significantly less. Rutgers will get a share of the Big East title, and most likely are headed to the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando. The Cardinals, in the meantime, are heading to a much more prestigious and famous bowl, either the Orange Bowl or the Sugar Bowl. A missed opportunity for Rutgers, for sure.

Otherwise, in the NFL, after a boring Monday Night Football game between two of the worst teams in the league (the visiting Panthers managed to defeat the hosting Philadelphia Eagles in a lackluster affair that meant nothing), Thursday Night Football was between two very capable teams that were also bitter division rivals, as well as among the most successful franchises in the league in the last few years, and the stakes were very high.

The New Orleans Saints visited the Atlanta Falcons, and were hoping to follow up on their victory over Atlanta just a few weeks ago, when they handed the Falcons their first (and so far only) loss of the season. They had climbed back to .500 after a surprising 0-4 start that threatened their season, but after a bad defeat at home against the 49ers, the Saints were hoping to get back on the winning track.In the meantime, the Falcons were hoping to be able to wrap things up within the division, and take one step closer to home field advantage, and that's exactly what they did.

Atlanta was effective on offense and defense, ending Drew Brees's record streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass at 54, and grabbing 5 interceptions. They raced out to a 17-0 lead, and held on to win, 23-13.