Gonnachange

I think most people would agree, but the way teachers, schools, and school districts are gauged it's much harder than in the past to have an inclusive curriculum. When my kids were younger I was very involved on a volunteer basis in the school system, both in and out of the classroom, and had many conversations with the professionals directly affected. Most were very dissatisfied with what was dictated to them and I don't blame them.

Thanks, I did with the exception of the outcome. Actually, from a Met fan's perspective it was very frustrating as there were just too many tactical and physical mistakes. That said I have to give KC credit; they played as they have all year which is the reason they are back in the WS.

This Morning

I was at the gym at 8 for a solid 45 minute workout. Mainly upper body stuff as my legs are still recovering from Monday's lower body workout and my left knee is a little angry today so I figured I would give it a rest. All is good.

SoberLeigh

I only made it to the 13th inning, despite the excitement and anticipation; it was a very good game.

I felt so bad for Familia when he gave up the homer in the 9th.

More games to come; my guess is that Mets will rally and rally well.

Gonnachange

I meant to also mention that around the 10th inning I moved from the recliner to the couch in the room and shortly afterward fell asleep. I definitely missed the 13th and 14th innings and was loopy for the 12th. I woke up shortly after the game ended so I knew the outcome, but none of the particulars of the last couple of innings such as Wrights error.

Familia giving up the HR to Gordon in the 9th is one of the tactical errors I was referring to earlier. He can bring it consistently at 97 MPH and has an almost unhittable slider, but he tries to be cute and quick pitch. The only way that works is by having the element of surprise because, just as he did, the pitch is almost always a fat fast ball down the middle of the plate. No surprise, the ball is deposited 450 feet away and the game is tied. Just wrong. His stuff is so good that even when the hitter knows what's coming he's effective. To date the biggest game of his career and he goes away from his strength.

Yeah, the series is far from over, but even with missing the last few innings my belief is that last night was a game the Mets could have won. They didn't and regardless of what the Mets did or did not do, KC deserves credit for their W.

Gonnachange

My plan for tonight is the same as last night. Dinner with my wife and daughter and then watch the World Series. Hopefully the Mets will prevail and it will not go into extra innings again.

Dinner tonight is the deferred beef and ginger stir fry from yesterday.

SoberLeigh

My plans are virtually the same - including a deferred meal.

Gonnachange

LOL! Enjoy dinner and the game.

FYI, we had a great time while visiting my son in your state. I don't know where you are with respect to his university, and I'm not asking, but the fall foliage appeared to be just about peak and we had a fine time walking around a state park near the campus.

SoberLeigh

I was noticing how brilliant some of the trees were on Sunday and the last few days; the Autumn foliage was off to a slow start but it was well worth the wait.

Gonnachange

In the University area the weather this weekend was very conducive to being outside and we took full advantage of it. I was able to get some very nice pictures when we were at the park on Sunday. I probably could have done likewise on Saturday while on the campus, but I purposely left my camera at the hotel.

SoberLeigh

Sounds as though you had a very nice weekend. I really like the University of Delaware campus.

Gonnachange

We did have a fine weekend. I'm very fortunate that my kids, although very different in many ways, have a strong bond. As parents that makes my wife and I proud and it also makes it very enjoyable to spend time with them since there's no contentiousness. An example of the bond is this weekend my daughter could have chosen to stay home or go visit her boyfriend, but she was absolutely committed to spending the weekend with her nuclear family. Great stuff!

The campus is really nice. I don't know when you were last there, but in the past couple of years there's been a lot of new construction that has greatly enhanced the student body experience. One of those enhancements is a dining facility that opened at the beginning of this semester and is mind blowing; given the breadth and quality of food it's really hard to believe that it's a college cafeteria.

SoberLeigh

For a Royals fan, last night's game was a thriller.

For someone who wanted to see a good, close well-played game, not so much.

For a Mets fan, oh dear.

Good news is that Mets return home for the next game. I still believe that they are going to rally.

Gonnachange

Cueto and his teammates showed up, the Mets did not, and the Royals once again played their brand of baseball. Among many positives for them, their plate discipline and ability to make contact is very impressive. Note to self: Find out who their hitting coach is. Like you I believe (hope?) that the Mets will be more competitive once they return home. About the only positive from last night's game was that I allowed myself to go to bed before the game was over.

Certainly the Royals are in the more envious position by a large margin; I read a stat that 41 of the 51 teams to go up 2-0 have won the series and while the Mets were one of those 41 in 2000 when they lost to the Yankees they were also one of the 10 to overcome the deficit when they beat Boston in 1986. IMHO, it might be a fun stat about the team's history, but it's meaningless with regard to Friday and the outcome of this World Series; the Mets have to show up because the Royals will.

My Thursday

It's been uneventful, but productive. I took care of some errands, walked the puppy a couple of times, went for a short run despite a knee that still isn't happy with the squats I did earlier in the week, and had an interesting conversation with an acquaintance.

I'm not sure what my evening plans are. My wife is going out to dinner with some former work colleagues so I may be on my own. Seared shrimp with pesto over homemade pasta with a side salad may be in the cards. After that I'm sure I'm going to watch some Thursday Night Football, but plan on getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

Gonnachange

Updated Plans

Sorry for the minutia, but it keeps me focused.

My daughter is going out after work to meet some friends, but will be home about 7:45 for dinner. I've changed what I previously wrote about my cooking plans to boneless center cut pork chops with red lentils. Exact cooking method and seasonings to be decided. :-)

SoberLeigh

Both meals sound delicious, GC.

Enjoy.

Gonnachange

Thanks SL. I'm not sure when the shrimp dish will happen because my wife is avoiding carbs at dinner. I may make it tomorrow and serve it over spiralized zucchini. Or compromise and make the zucchini and a small batch of homemade pasta, but that seems like a lot of work for just one serving. Decisions, decisions...LOL!

Gonnachange

Since it's the last Friday of the month my wife wants to go to see the band that plays this day every month at a local pub. All well and good except the World Series is on tonight. I know my next door neighbor usually goes with us so it may be the two women attending.

I was at the gym this morning for another solid workout; it's been a good week in that respect.

Time to walk the puppy. Again.

SoberLeigh

My choice would be the World Series. Tonight's game only happens once.

Give the pup a pat for me.

Gonnachange

No brainer here. I talked with my wife a couple of hours ago and she will probably go out with our neighbor, if she's available, and I am definitely staying home to watch the game.

The pup is right by my side sort of snoozing so it was easy to fulfill your request. :-)

Eats

I picked up a few pounds of chicken thighs on sale this morning and my wife asked if I would smoke them......so I am. There's enough for dinner tonight and a couple of future dinners so I'm going to portion out and freeze the leftovers. I'll be serving a garden salad on the side.

Not sure what we'll be doing for dinner tomorrow as it's Halloween; probably something that won't degrade when we have to leave the table when the door bell rings. I'm thinking some sort of stew or hearty soup. Sunday I'm aiming toward grilling up a beautiful (USDA prime) rib eye steak I got on sale with the chicken. Actually the impetus for me going to the market was for the beef and I happened to stumble across the poultry.

SoberLeigh

Looks as though the Mets have brought their A-Game tonight, GC!!!!!!!

The are up by three as I type.

SoberLeigh

Up by five now, wow!!!!