November Top 5

My top 5 returns!  Mainly because the past couple months apparently haven't produced 5 sweet happenings...

Here's the quick preview, in no particular order - actually, yes, in order.

5. getting to karate (for one night only)
4. finishing some crucial homework
3. Megadeth
2. seeing old friends
1. Thanksgiving

5. Getting to karate (for one night only)

I decided to show up relatively unannounced since I wasn't entirely sure I'd be available.  It was fun working with Mr. Hawkey and thinking about different interpretations for Naihanchi San, but at the same time, my passion and drive are still nowhere near the level they've been before.  I wonder if I just still need more time out or if I've grown out of that stage of my life.  I'm hoping the former is true, because thinking I'm done with karate is a scary thought.


Regardless, I need to find some energy for it before January when I substitute at Riverview for two months.

4.  Homework

I'll be the first to admit this sounds lame.  But I finished a web design that I'm actually pretty happy with (http://www.adambockler.com/web/blog/index.html), and got a paper done way ahead of time for my communication law class that I'm proud of.  It's due Thursday, but I finished it awhile ago and have been proofing it for about a week now.

3.  Megadeth

I've missed several opportunities to see Megadeth in Chicago in the past.  I probably could've seen better opening bands, but I'm glad I didn't have to make the drive.  Instead, they played the Exhibition Hall at the Peoria Civic Center.  We caught the tail end of Machine Head who sounded pretty nu-metal.  This is the first concert I'd been to in about 2 months, so I'm excited I got to see another sweet band.

2.  Seeing old friends

Dog the Bounty Hunter was playing Wednesday night at 9 as I was half-comatose in front of the TV in my room when one mustachioed Joe Maubach sent a text saying he was at Old Chicago.  My body was telling me no, but I hadn't seen Joe for a long time and was curious to see who was with him.  Joe's party crew included former MMA alums Russel Boulton and the Ruder brothers, Aaron and Andy - none of whom I'd seen within the last year or so, I'd guess.

As they wound the Winter Tour, we got the chance to catch up.  It's weird to know Rusty is out of college and has a job as a teacher.  Man, are my friends getting old?  I still felt like a youngin' when he was talking about his job.

But it was great seeing them.  I hope we can all catch up over winter break, too, as that's a group that I don't see often enough and would love to chill with more in the future.

1.  Thanksgiving

Can I just say I freakin' love this holiday?

My cousin got married in September so my family was in town, but I didn't really get to hang out with any of them, so I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving.

After work, I went over to my aunt's in Washington to down 3 solid plates of food, played some poker, got tagged in 100+ pics on Facebook taken on my uncle's Macbook Pro, played Wii with a few cousins, and briefly saw some friends.  A+ day