Yesterday was my birthday in which I turned 60.  It was a very laid back birthday which is what you'd expect from  a senior citizen :-).  I was kind of tired from watching the Packers on Monday Night Football the night before. 
I took Otis for a walk around the park.  When I was down there my cousin, Mary Ellen, stopped to wish me happy birthday and Otis went nuts.  He managed to slip out of his collar and ran under their truck which was just starting to move so they stopped.  At this point Otis started running around and jumping up on their truck to try and get to their dogs who were in the back.  I couldn't catch him so I finally decided to just walk away and see what he would do.  Remarkably he sat down and let me put his collar back on.  He didn't have a very good morning after this as I pretty much ignored him.
I went to transport Ethan from day care to pre-school and when I got to day care the kids there sang happy birthday to me.  The all call me Uncle Joe.
Other then this I didn't do much during the day.  We went to Midland Inn with Bailey and Shad for supper.  Their special was fried chicken which I'd heard good things about but it was only ok.  When we got home we picked up Otis and took him for a ride, stopping at Dairy Queen for a blizzard to take home.  When we got home Joe and Angie were there and had their present for me.  They'd visited the Louisville Slugger factory and had the idea to get me a miniature Giants bat which is really cool.  Bailey and Shad's present hasn't come yet so I'll have to wait for it.
After Joe left we watched a the Bruins on tv for a while before calling it an early night.

Thanksgiving was last Thursday and as always it was awesome.  The Glue cooks a really good turkey and awesome dressing.   She also did a ham since our son doesn't like turkey.  We had about 20 or so people at the house which was great being around family.  Now I have to get back to eating better and drinking less which may not happen for a few more day.
On Tuesday the doctor released me and I'm ok to do anything I feel like doing but still have to be smart about it.  I'm thinking about possibly golfing on Friday if the weather is good but it will still depend on how my belly feels.
On this past Wednesday I visited my 93 year old Aunt in Herrin and as always I learned something new.  This time it was genealogy and that I'm more American Indian that what I'd thought.  I still need some clarification by I'm either 1/16 or 1./32 Cherokee dating from an incident when the Cherokee were camping near Jonesboro during the Trail of Tears. 

The recovery continues from last Thursdays surgery.  After getting the anesthesia and pain meds out of my system things started getting better.  I got out of the house for really the first time yesterday to run some errands.  I got a little "hazy" while I was out so cut it a little short.  Doing some routine things are getting less painful every day such as getting out of bed, walking, etc..  Basically I'm in the get through the day and make it to the next mode but the better I feel the worse it's going to be especially if the weather is nice. 

I had surgery yesterday to remove my gallbladder which was only functioning at 13%.  By all accounts the surgery seemed to go well with the only problem being that my blood pressure was high which delayed my discharge.
So far it hasn't been too bad pain wise but the hard part is and will be staying away from fatty foods and beer until I'm off the pain med.  Staying relatively inactive will also probably be a problem as will not getting to excited during the Packer game on Sunday.
Memorial Hospital and it's staff did a great job in what was not the highlight of my life, they were professional and very caring.

And a big thank you to The Glue for putting up with me and taking care of me as I recover from the surgery. 

To make a bad week worse Lisa hit a deer on Wednesday and probably totaled her Mariner.  The car still was in good condition and ran real well.  Oh well, at least Lisa my get the Jeeps shes wanted for a few years.

On Sunday the Packers played a horrendous game in losing to the Colts by 5.  
In what has been obvious for quite some time our defense has problems getting off the field on 3rd down and comes up small in clutch situations.  We have a lot of problems defending the middle of the field and the other teams take advantage of this. 
Our offense uses way to many isolation routes which doesn't seem to suite our current receivers.  I read that we had receivers cross five times against the Colts which is outrageous. 
We are very banged up but so is everyone this time of year, the early bye did us no favors.  I've been reluctant to change because of memories of the 70's and 80's and while I'm still behind McCarthy I'm thinking more and more there needs to be a change.  I've said for a while that we need a new D coordinator and staff adjustments.  I've also said I think we need to change some of our offensive staff to get some fresh ideas.
Having said all that a nice run into the playoffs would probably solve all these complaints.