Holidays already?

Seems hard to believe the holidays are here already. But that's what everyone always says, I suppose.

I'll start with the catching up by going back to Friday.

M's main band, Shatterbelt, played at a bar called My Brother's Place in D.C. It's a little "joint," as his grandmother would say, near the Capitol. They were great. The room was small, so it looked packed because they pulled in about 50 friends and family members. A couple people we know from USA TODAY came as well. The energy was good, they played very well and people seemed to buy a lot of beer (which probably helped them get invited back to play again in about two weeks).

Saturday, my friend Kevin invited me to come over and "jam" with buddies of his. Kevin's the driving force behind the other band M plays with, Not Dead Yet. The jamming is really just a few baby boomer guys like me plunking along on old classic rock tunes and trading stories about their kids. They do it about once a month and I'd like to go back if they'll have me.

Sunday I drove out to W. Va. Managed to get in about an hour ride on my mt. bike in the afternoon. Removed leaves from a key gutter. Generally checked the house and it seems OK. We've got vacationers coming in later this week. I was going to stay two nights but decided to come home today instead because the weather report called for rain and snow tonight. One of the two ski resorts had obviously started serious snow making but looks to be about two weeks away from opening.

E has decided to go back into the color guard for the winter season, so we'll be going to performances of theirs in coming months.

Thursday, Liz and Tom and Cullen and Bridget are due here for dinner. If all goes as planned, I'll try to leave for L.V. sometime Fri. morning. But as you all know, the weather around Thanksgiving can be unpredictable and we shouldn't be traveling if it looks bad.