The weather for week 2 was significantly better than the previous week but still a little cold. 
In the first game we took on #thankusforyourwin on the middle court.  Roll'em got off to a rocky start by giving up a two point frame where we got lucky and they knocked themselves out of a third point on their last throw.  They pushed the lead to 3-0 before the girls got us on the board with two points.  Each team followed with one pointers before me and Herbster could finally break through and get a point and a tie game.  Each team kept it close before we could finally manage to squeak out a 9-7 win with no thanks to Roll'ems team captain.
In the second game we played Biotches again on the middle court which the Biotches had just finished playing their first game on.  The lead went back and forth in the early going before they missed on a kill shot and then went for another which did hit our ball but left it wide open with only one ball left.  The Glue got a close one and their throw was around three feet away and Clutch put her two in for three points and a 6-3.  The Biotches closed to 6-5  on a really great shot where the hit the pallino away from two of our balls and got an easy two points.  Then came the shot of the game.  We had a ball close to the pallino and on their last shot they got past a couple balls in front a moved our ball out of the point.  With their ball was next to the pallino close to the wall with a couple balls in front Clutch shorted her first throw.  Her next throw was money though and hit their ball back and gave us two points and an 8-5 lead.  After switching early because of my poor throwing Herbster was back in the lead position and his first throw was a couple feet away from the pallino.  In a game that had many really good throws that distance hadn't held up all game until then.  The Biotches couldn't get inside it and we had a 9-5 win to move to 4-0 on the season.
For the first time all season it felt like competing instead of surviving because of the cold.  On the other hand I'm ready for warmer, no rain and some sun for a while.

Me and the Glue took a trip to Springfield recently for her to have a retirement meeting. 
I overestimated the time it would take to get there and we arrived an hour and half early.   So we did what everyone would do in that situation and went shopping.  Yeah, right.  We found a bar that opened early and went there to blow the time.  The place we found was the Blue Grouch.  When we walked in no one was saying anything including the bar maid.  We got a couple drinks and finally people started talking a little, maybe it was just to early for conversation in a bar.  Anyway I asked a couple of the guys about Darcy's Pint which we'd passed on the way there and they both said it lived up to it's hype.  Our old friend and former MBC player Mike had recommended it to us also.
We got to the meeting a little early but were able to get in ahead of schedule and it didn't last long which was great.  The Glue didn't get the retirement news she was hoping for but it wasn't awful either.  Realistically she has two options and a couple months to make up her mind what she wants to do.
After the meeting we decided to skip Darcy's Pint and get out of Springfield before the noon rush.  We decided to exit I55 at Staunton and take Route 4 all the way home.  We stopped in at a place called Mr. T's for a quick beer and ended up talking to the bar tender/owner for a bit and he was very nice.  Another guy at the bar said they have the best cheeseburgers around.  The place I really wanted to stop was Decamps Station outside of town but it wasn't open yet.
We headed down the road a bit and stopped in a place called Slotzy's for another quick beer and there was only one other person in the bar.  We were talking with him and the bar maid and asked about other places in the area.  The bar maid said Mr. T's has the best cheesburgers in the world.  They also mentioned Tilley's in Mt. Olive and McClintocks in Standard City by Carlinville.
Our food choice came down to Schiappa's in Lebanon or the Mascoutah Steak House.  We decided on Schiappa's and some pizza and wings.  I really like the pizza but the wings were just ok, nothing special.   There were only a few people in the place and they left while we were eating so the owner who as he put it was also wearing an apron came by and sat down and talked with us for quite a while.  A really interesting and nice guy, we could have sat there a lot longer but didn't want to be out too late.  As we were getting ready to leave the owner said "I'll tell you what, I'm going to be nice" and brought us a whole pepperoni pizza from the buffet that had brought out as the other people were leaving.  He then went back and brought over some wings, meatballs, green beans and steamed veggies that were left on the buffet.  Way above being a nice guy and the wings on the buffet were better than the sweet mild ones we'd gotten.  Still can't believe that he did all that.
At this point we debated stopping at a couple other places but decided to come on home and take care of Otis and relax, not that Otis and relaxing should be mentioned in the same sentence.

Woohoo, bocce season has begun.
In our first game of the spring 2018 season we faced off against 2 Boobs and 2 Girls.  2 Boobs was without several of their regulars and really should have 1 Boob and 3 Girls.  Roll'em was hitting on three of four cylinders and jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Boobs could get on the board with a couple points.  Roll'em then proceeded to close out the game 9-2 with the Glue, Herbster and Clutch all being in mid season form while poor ol Dusty struggled.
Somehow we ended up playing in the first round of games at 6pm and then being the last game played at 8pm.  There is no way this should happen and on a cold spring evening it made for an unpleasant time.  Our second game was called but the team we were scheduled against was still playing which is what happens when a team is scheduled in back to back time slots.  Once the team we were scheduled against got done playing we figured we would be next but for some reason a game had got skipped or something and they ended up playing while we sat longer waiting for a court to open up.
Our game was finally called again and we were on the new court which was in better shape than the weekend but still not good.  Our opponent was all female team Boccelicious featuring ex Squatchy nemesis Tammy.  They started off the game with a three point frame against me and the Herbster before we answered with a couple single point frames.  After a couple back and forth single point frames we managed to pull away slightly and then close it out for a 9-5 win and a 2-0 start to the season.  Once again we had the same three cylinders working and I struggled some.
The Glue had some of her beef/burger soup on at home but even with that it took a while to warm up from the long cold evening.

This past Saturday me and the Glue met up with Bailey, Shad and the grandtwins to march in the parade for our good friend Brian.  The day looked like it was going to be sunny and nice but quickly turned cloudy and cool.  The parade went a couple few blocks longer than when we previously were in it and the crowd really thinned out those blocks.
After it me and the Glue stopped in Brews Brothers for some holiday cheer while the others headed home due to the weather.  It was a fun place to be but would have been a lot better if it was warmer.  Ran into our sons long time buddy KJD and had a really good time with him talking some track with Mike who I ran track with a long time ago.
We also had ran into my cousin Mary Ellen and her husband Patrick who lives in my grandmother's house on old 13.  Also ran into some BBQ friends, bocce people and just a a lot of friends. 
We ended up leaving early since we didn't want to get wound up too much with a bocce tournament the next day.  We also had Otis to think about not to mention we had corned beef cooking and were hungry.  The corned beef and little potatoes turned out great and really helped soak up some holiday cheer but it was still a real early night for both of us.

Yesterday was the kickoff of the 2018 bocce season with the St. Patrick's Day tournament.  The tournament was held in less than ideal conditions because of the cold and lack of sun.  The Glue's brought her Irish stew much to the delight of quite a few of the contestants.  Clutch and Herbster couldn't play so The Grumpy Shillelaghs picked up super subs Danny and Jean.
In the first game we played Love Is A Boccefield on the new court.  Coincidentally their sign was being put on as we were playing.  Inspired by their sign they were on fire in the beginning especially at the end me and the Glue played on.  Danny did a good job keeping us in the game until the others found their game.  We were behind the hole game but managed to finally tie the game 7-7 when me and the Glue left them a great opportunity with the point and two balls left.  With their first of the two our end thought the game was over and shook hands but Bake to the rescue.  He wasn't sure so they measured and it was still only one point and their last shot didn't get in either.  We returned the favor the next frame as we had point and a great chance to close it out but came up half a rotation.  With the score 8-8 the Glue went deep to hopefully get them off their game but they made a great throw.  With our second to last ball everyone thought was on the pallino but somehow missed and hit the back wall.  On our last ball we managed to hit the pallino and get in.  They shorted their two remaining balls and we walked away with a win we really didn't deserve.
In the second game we played Rolling Rocks, a new team with only one experienced player.  We jumped out to a big lead but then let them have a couple before we managed to close out the win moving us to 2-0 in pool play.
The next game was against Here For The Beer again playing on the new court.  We struggled again on it our good throws were knocked out or better quite often.  Even with that we managed to keep it close for the whole game, however this time we couldn't pull it out and lost 9-7 to force a three way shoot out.
This shoot out two players from a team threw one ball each which I ended up liking, also the second balls were thrown in the same order as the first instead of from furthest to closes which I have mixed feelings about.  Here for the Beer got both their balls pretty close but Love is a Boccefield managed to put theirs on the pallino. Our last throw was good and got inside Here For The Beer but no Boccefields so they moved on as first seed.  Against Here For the Beer they again got two close but we paid them back for what they did to by barely getting inside of them so we advanced as the number two seed.
In the quarterfinal we faced the Ringers who jumped on us right of the bat with a four point frame.  Not to be outdone we answered with a three point one of our own.  Things looked bleak when they got a three pointer of their own and a 7-3 lead.  We got a couple points to pull to 7-5.  We traded points then we got another and it was 9-8.  The Glue got one of her balls close and they used all their balls to no avail.  Our next throw wasn't a good throw but somehow made it just enough to win the game.
In the next game we played Deboccery in the semi-finals.  They must have run out of gas or something because we jumped on them early and cruised to a 9-0 win even though we left several big frame opportunities on the court.
In the finals we played long time nemesis Squatchy Bocce.  We threw well enough, especially Jean and the Glue with their first ball, to keep the Squatches scrambling.  The Squatches wouldn't go down without a fight and kept close but couldn't quite keep up and we ended up with the win and the championship.  I think the score was 9-6 but it was a long day and I'm not 100% sure.
At different times all four of us stepped up and carried the team on their backs.  It was a very fun day in spite of the weather.

While I'm not fully aboard the craft beer industry there are several craft beers and styles I do like.  What I don't like and don't understand is the trend toward serving the beers only moderately cool.  I want my beer cold, the colder the better even to having a little ice in it.  I don't care if it's a lager, ale, bock, amber, kolsch or any other of the styles I drink, I want it cold.  Frosty pint glasses or mugs are a great addition to any beer.  There a few local places that I enjoy but don't go to often because of the temperature they serve their beer, way too warm for my tastes.

After Friday we decided to go to Bandanas which seems to be a hit and miss proposition.  We decided to order a couple Shiner Bocks and split a full rack of ribs along with baked beans and cole slaw.  We've had really good ribs there and some awful ribs there, these were very very good.  Great job on them.  The beans were also good and the slaw was pretty good.  The Shiner Bocks weren't very cold so they took one of them off the bill.  All in all it was a good choice.
On Saturday I golfed and walked 18 holes for the first time since last fall.  My game is showing the rust but I made it around without much problem.  Afterward me, Rod and ex-super sub Fred went to Midlands for a pitcher and I ran into a couple classmates, one who I hadn't seen in quite some time.  I hadn't seen Rod much over the winter and the beer was going down smooth but I had to cut it short after a pitcher and a half of Ultra.
After a quick shower and change we headed down to Von Jakob to meet our son and his family for our daughter in laws birthday.  The place was pretty crowded and service was slow but not terrible.  We decided to split a pizza and some wings along with a dark bock for me and a German pilsner for the Glue.  The pizza got there and it was real hot and I'm pretty sure they forgot about the wings because when I said something it was a little while before they came and they were hot.  The wings were also buffalo sauce and we'd ordered bbq but not a big deal.  On our second beer we both got the german pils and I really like it but after that is was back to the lighter Ultra.
We don't spend much time with Joe and his family and it was great being around them even if I couldn't hear much over the music.  We did meet their friend Phil and talked to him quite a bit.  Corey Evitts was playing and we really enjoyed him, he played a very wide variety of music.  At one point he went from Johnny Cash to Pink Floyd to Jimmy Buffett.  It looked like everyone had fun which was great.
On Saturday we went to Sams Club and on the way back we stopped to try out the Newell House and use a gift certificate our nephew had gotten us.  I ordered the country fried steak which came with mashed potatoes and green beans while the Glue ordered fried chicken breast which had the same sides and also a side of chicken and dumplings.  I normally don't get green beans out but they were good.  The country fried steak was decent and had sausage gravy instead of milk gravy.  The Glue's fried chicken was good but I wasn't wild about the chicken and dumplings.  Overall we'll go back but I didn't think it was worth what the bill was.
After leaving there we went on a little drive around Giant City and wound our way to our nephew Andrews house where he was smoking a brisket which looked great but wasn't done yet.  We each had a couple Yuengling Lagers which isn't available around here.  Really nice beer that I wish we could get.  We sat around with him and his wife and his son for a while and had a nice visit.  We both were tired and wanted to get home for some veranda time so we didn't stay too long. 
Our veranda time was cut short with the arrival of the grandtwins.  They both seemed tired and a little cranky but it was still good seeing them.  We had them for a couple hours and I was ready for some R&R by the time our daughter picked them up.
All in all it was a really good weekend.

Work is proceeding down at the bocce courts.  The Kiwanis and Key Club courts have been worked and are in great condition for this time of the year.  The Silkworm court is scheduled to be flooded on Sunday which will hopefully take care of some of the problems encountered last year.  Water has been turned on in the bathrooms and the benches have been moved out of storage.
Bad news:  apparently we have another neighborhood vandal who has been tearing up the courts and some of the fixtures.  Park District personnel have an idea who the think is doing it and are patrolling the area more frequent. 
The season is drawing nearer!