Boo

Sugar Britches and I have had conversations about how Maddie is going to respond to having a baby brother. Will she be jealous? Will she take to him immediately or have to warm up to him over time? Really no way of knowing until Jackson makes his big move. Maddie is good with Cash. She loves that dog. She also tugs on his tail, pulls his ears, and tries to ride him like a horse. My first piece of advice to Jackson: watch your back little buddy.

The smoothest of the smooth jams. On Boo's Buttery Goodness Chart, Easy gets five-out-of-five sticks of butter.

Congratulations Tony. Good job.

Great job Mars Man. Enjoy your day...wherever you are.

Everybody loves to hate that band Creed. Them and Nickleback. However, heard this song for the first time in a long time the other day. Never had strong feelings for it one way or the other back in the day. Now that I'm a father of one with another one on the way....I have to confess, song hit me right square in the feels. I never would have guessed that fatherhood would include me getting emotional over some song that played on regular rotation at every rock station twenty years-ago...funny how things work out.

The holidays are over, time to clean up the diet and get back after it. I'm doing a boxing workout six days a week. If you've never tried a boxing routine, I highly suggest it. Great workout and it is downright cathartic. A few rounds of work on the heavy bag is a great way to relieve stress. I'm adding in strength work at the end of my boxing. Just doing the four fundamental lifts on a 3x5 schedule. Did Deadlifts and Overhead Presses today, will do Squats and Bench Press tomorrow. Healthy New Year everybody.

Sometimes it's not until you hit troubled waters that you realize how well you can swim. Keep on swimming Mee.

Great job Kel. Congratulations. Doreen and I really cut a rug at those lido deck parties. Let that serve as further motivation.

Good call on giving up the smokes. We're proud of you.

It is 6:00 p.m. local time, meaning we are at T-minus one hour from our big New Year's Eve seafood extravaganza. We got lobster. We got shrimp. We got salmon. We got scallops. We got crab cakes.... There's no way of knowing what the future holds, but I know I'm not going into the new year on an empty stomach.

Happy New Year to each and everyone of you. May good fortune find you often in the new year.

I know how time zones work...for the most part. That being said, the Australian contingent here on the Train always seems to be posting from tomorrow today. They say they're from the land down under, but what if Jo and CB are actually time travelers.

Ray Wylie Hubbard wrote one of my favorite song lyrics of all-time: "And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days."

Meathead! Long time, no see. Sonic always livens up the party when he comes around. He also causes the collective IQ to drop a few points when he comes around. It's a trade-off we're willing to accept. Don't be a stranger Meathead.

Trying to get my bearings about me. The week between Christmas and New Years always feels a bit discombobulated. As my grandfather used to say: "I'm not sure if I should scratch my watch or wind my ass." P.S. I really like the word "discombobulated." I'm not asking you to shoehorn it in to every conversation, just consider using it more frequently.

Sugar Britches' recipe is pretty uniform. The secret is to knowing just how much mustard and salt to go with the number of eggs being prepared. Many a good deviled egg has been ruined by people overdoing it on the mustard and salt. Sugar Britches knows the formula. It is strictly a matter of preference, but she also uses dill relish rather than sweet relish. I've had both and prefer dill relish. It's not a proper deviled egg until they have been sprinkled with paprika. Some folks get cute and try other toppings...but they always come back around to paprika.

Good job Intoxicated Yoda. Congratulations.

Congratulations Katgirl. He's a handsome little fella.

Always room for one more Doreen. We'll leave a light on for you. I have an uncle that tried to deep fry a turkey one Thanksgiving before giving it time to thaw out. Fortunately, everybody lived to tell about it and the property damage was minimal.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas folks.