1. I thought when I went on my big shopping spree at Fred Meyer last week, I had finished my shopping for Thanksgiving, but, ha!, today I discovered I needed a few more things and headed over to Yoke's, shopped, got home, and discovered I forgot to buy an item or two -- so I'll return on Wednesday. I had no illusions, however, about whether I had finished shopping for Thanksgiving liquor. I want to be able to fix any one of a variety of drinks for my guests Wednesday and Thursday and now am supplied to mix a Dry Martini (but I don't have martini glasses yet, an offense -- but I'll just pretend I never knew such a glass existed!), Chelsea Sidecar, Old Fashioned, Stinger, and, well, who knows what else might come up! If I make one more quick trip to the liquor store, I can also offer a Manhattan. Yeah, I'll do that.
2. I decided that one batch of cornbread wasn't enough, so I baked another this evening and mixed up the ingredients for cornbread and chicken stuffing/dressing and put in a bowl and sealed it so I can bake it on Thursday. I also decided that rather than brush the lemon-lime-y mixture on the salmon fillets just before baking them, I'd put the ingredients and the salmon in zip-lock bags to marinate over night.
3. Warning! I'm going to get enthusiastic about college basketball again!
I took a break from my efforts in the kitchen around 5:00 and watched Virginia Tech, the team I found so amazing yesterday, more than meet their match today as they got drubbed, 89-62, by the Dayton Flyers. Whoa! Good Lord Dayton looked awesome. I have decided that this winter I must add the Atlantic-10 to my college basketball viewing schedule. Monday night, I loved watching the Richmond Spiders play. Tonight I got to see what all the early season praise for Dayton's Obadiah Toppin is about. He does a bit of everything: posts down low and scores in the key, shoots a sweet 3-pointer, can score from mid-range, is team-oriented, plays defense, rebounds, and plays with pizzazz. (The only thing he fears is flying per his interview with Jay Bilas.) I'll quote Bilas' favorite word: Obadiah Toppin is legit. He's Dayton's best player, but not their only contributor. I was also very impressed with Trey Landers, Rodney Chapman, and Ryan Mikesell, all of whom play smothering defense, rebound with determination, and can score.
On Wednesday, Dayton will face a very tough test against the Kansas Jayhawks at 2:00, but I will not be tuned in. Molly, Travis, Christy, Everett, and I will have finished our cocktails and will be sitting down to our salmon dinner. No problem. It does, however, look like Christy, Everett, and I will be able to watch most, if not all, of Gonzaga's 4:00 game against Southern Mississippi.
Byrdman and I texted for a few minutes this evening about how wide open this year's college basketball season looks. The likelihood that this season will be one wild ride after another was confirmed this evening when Nathan Bain of the Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks of the rarely thought of, seldom respected Southland Conference streaked the length of the court and converted a lay up at the buzzer, in overtime, and the uber unheralded Lumberjacks upset the current top-ranked elite perennial powerhouse Duke Blue Devils, 85-83.
Buckle up! It's been an insane November in college basketball and chances are good the insanity will continue and maybe even increase over the next four months.
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