Todd Swank's Diary Entry for August 25, 2013
Monday night we celebrated Miss Sheri's birthday. She knew she was in for something pretty special when she saw the fancy wrapping paper we used for her gifts.
Tuesday night brought us to Prior Lake High School for the Freshmen Orientation. I really can't believe my kids are going to be in high school and in theory moving out of the house in only 4 years. Where does the time go?
Wednesday night brought us to the Rollerskating rink. I told the boys that I used to go to J4 Rollermania in Mason City, Iowa every week when I was in elementary school. People knew me as Ernie because I used to wear a Sesame Street football jersey with his name on the back of it. And I skated fast. This evening certainly brought back memories of those great days!
Although my rental skates were garbage with wheels completely out of alignment, I still was able to get around pretty good and do some of the old tricks. Although I was really glad they don't do the limbo any more. I don't think my fat butt would have allowed me to get very low in that competition!
Friday night brought me to Steve "Cuds" Cuddihy's house for the annual Nor-Tech Fantasy Football Draft. It was good seeing my old co-workers again, but nostalgia didn't make me go easy on them. They know this is my year to win the league Super Bowl!
Our league uses an Auction draft format and every year Steve hires some SuperModel named Curtis to be our auctioneer. We're also a keeper league so if you draft someone at a bargain the year before you can keep up to 2 players at that same value the next year. Last year, I drafted Adrian Peterson at only $49.00 because everyone thought he was going to be hurt. This year I won the bids for Aaron Rodgers and Alfred Morris which gives me a pretty solid core, but I had no money left over for receivers. So if any of you know any deep sleeper wide receiver locks, let me know about them. Thanks!
Saturday afternoon brought me to the Hornbuckle Hell Weekend celebration of Dick Hornbuckle's birthday. They told me to meet them at Canterbury Downs to watch the horse races. Lucky for me they were pretty easy to find once we got there.
We didn't do too hot at picking the horses, but it was such a beautiful day nobody seemed to mind much.
For dinner we went to Gasthof in Downtown Minneapolis which is a German restaurant and has all sorts of crazy traditions like drinking beer from a glass boot and the whole place yelling "Oy Oy Oy" every time someone takes a shot. It's my kind of place because I really like being able to yell in public!
We all had a pretty good time, but the birthday boy seemed to be in the Happiness Zone the whole night!
I'm not sure I heard how old Dick turned, but it's gotta be like 100 or something. That lovely wife, Vic, sure keeps him looking young and handsome, though.
Some of the nastier Hornbuckles kept accusing me of wearing one of the table cloths, so I had to prove to them that they looked nothing alike.
The night ended with several rounds of Polka Dancing. The kids had a great time showing off their moves and I did my best to make some new friends in the bar. I really like Polka People.