Last night was rough. After spending most of the night obsessing over a questionable decision we made earlier in the evening, both Catherine and I made several fruitless attempts to fall asleep, starting around 12:30 am. Around the time my brain had done it's 723rd push-up, my body finally declared that enough was enough, damnit, and demanded some sleep. Three hours later, I found myself awake again, and very confused. The alarm must have gone off, but I didn't remember it. Still, something had woken me up. I looked at the clock a couple of times in an effort to understand it completely. Comprehend the message. Like I always do when coming out of a deep sleep, I tried like hell to reason my way out of the certainty of time, but there was just no way around it: it was 6:40 am. We had not prepared the night before for a late night, and the car was parked in a 7 am rush-hour spot. There would be a pink ticket on our windshield in twenty minutes. And a truck would be towing poor Carmen away ten minutes after that. Time to get up. Hop to it.

So the day started off bad and got worse before it got better, in the form of a long trip to Gaithersburg for a dentist appointment. But right now I feel good. I can't explain it, really. Perhaps it's sleep deprivation setting in. Or perhaps it's the amazing weekend of playoff games. I have a friend, Tom, who is a Patriot's fan so I don't want to gloat too much, but . . . what the hell . . . Go, Broncos! We actually watched the Skins game at Tom's house Saturday night, but out of respect for the host, decided to leave before things got messy in the AFC. And who'd of thunk that the Steeler's would pull it out against the Colts? Awesomeness. Broncos and Steelers: they happen to be my two favorite teams. And they'll be battling it out for the AFC Championship. How great is that? Regardless of what happens this weekend, I'll have a team in the Super Bowl. Still, I hope it's the Broncos. Even though I was a Steeler's fan before I was a Broncos fan, I have to say that my loyalties lie more with the Broncs these days. So it'll be another weekend of blue and orange for me. And does it really matter what NFC team wins at this point?

And the decision that kept us up last night? Well, meet the newest member of our family. She's really cute and likes it when we pet her. She makes occasional purring and ticking sounds. She's neither orange, nor round, but her name is Tangerine. She will help me better test my Web sites during production. Catherine has already taught her a bunch of new tricks. Truth be told, I think they may have a slightly better relationship. I'm a little jealous of all the time they've been spending together.

And why was this a 'questionable decision?' Because we started second-guessing the breed we chose. We were not sure it would be the right temperament. But today, after spending some more time together, we've come to realize that she's a perfect match for us.

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