Merry ChristChristmas

I really hate it when people take Christ out of Christmas by saying Xmas. You may not be religious. You may not believe in Jesus Christ. But as a Christian I find it offensive when you purposely eliminate the name of my Savior when referring to a day that many consider one of the holiest of the year.

Yes, I am aware of the history of using the letter 'X' to replace the word "Christ". However, I am referring to people using the letter 'X' to purposely exclude Christ.

The world is always trying to remove Jesus from our lives. They'd rather have kids believe in Santa than in Jesus. They'd rather us spend money on gifts than donate to churches and charities. They'd rather say Happy Holidays than Merry Christmas.

Like I said before, you may not believe in Jesus Christ. But without Christ, you wouldn't even have the Christmas holiday to celebrate.

So to all of those people who keep trying to take Christ out of Christmas, I'm putting Him back...twice. Merry ChristChristmas everyone!

A Very Merry Christmas

I woke up Christmas morning to the smell of baked goodies. Daniel was still curled up next to me. Tary woke up before us and had baked some cinnamon buns and blueberry muffins for breakfast.

Around 10 AM, most of Tary's family had arrived. It was almost time to open presents!

Before we did, I gathered everyone together and read out loud the real Christmas story, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ as told in Luke, Chapter 2. It was important to me that we reflect on why we even celebrate Christmas in the first place. Pastor had suggested that we read the Christmas story before opening presents as a family tradition. It's definitely a keeper.

We started opening [Daniel's] gifts. It seems that everyone in the family had the same idea...to completely spoil Daniel. Wooden blocks. Sports-related plush toys. Cars that tumble in a motorized spinner. A walker with detachable entertainment tray. An awesome indoor/outdoor house set. The only problem with all of these great gifts is what will we get him for his 1st birthday?

Speaking of Daniel's gifts, I was really bummed that the one gift that I picked out by myself just for him was broken. The toy's packaging purposely exposed a roller that when spun would play music and cause plastic faces to rise and fall like whack-a-moles. Before we had a chance to wrap it, Daniel loved spinning that roller so much that we let him open it a few weeks early. I think Tary's brother broke it by forcibly pushing down on the faces when he came to visit with the cousins a few days earlier. I know Daniel is too young to notice but I still can't help but feel depressed about it.

I received some really nice gifts this year as well. Notable gifts included the soundtrack to the musical Wicked, nice clothes, Inception and Toy Story 3 on Blu-ray, and basketball-related gear (basketballs, sneakers, and shorts).

Daniel made us a gift with the help of his teachers at daycare. He gave us an ornament with a pair of adorable photos of him wearing a Santa hat inside it. We sure love our little boy!

After everyone who was there opened their gifts, we hung around for a bit. I assembled a few Daniel's toys and we enjoyed watching play with his gifts. I really enjoyed spending time with the family, especially my extended family.

In the afternoon, we all went to Tary's parents' house for food. More gifts were exchanged there for those who couldn't come to our house earlier in the day. After watching the Celtics game, I played some video games with Tary's cousin, P. Even though I hate the whole Call of Duty franchise based on principle, it was nice for the two of us to spend time together.

We returned to our house in the evening because there are more fun things to do here for the young adults and cousins. It was fun challenging each other to dance battles on Dance Central with the Kinect. We tried to watch a movie but some people have a harder time keeping quiet than others.

It was a very good Christmas surrounded by the people I love the most. I hope they all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Burlington Mall so that Tary could pick out a gift for her BFF. We then went on a little mini-adventure trying to find the ice cream store to pick up the cake I ordered for Tary's birthday. I knew we should have turned right. ;)

We drove home and I watched Daniel while Tary went grocery shopping. Daniel has been very, very, very particular about only being with Mommy so it was a good opportunity for Daniel and me to spend quality time together. Daniel will eventually learn that when Mommy isn't around, Daddy isn't a bad 2nd option.

After Tary returned, she watched Daniel as I wrapped the remaining presents. We then picked up around the house and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon.

Then we went to the Christmas Eve service at church. I have fond memories of these services as a kid and my hope is our growing family will make new memories together.

We pulled into the church parking lot about 20 minutes early and I thought we were late because the parking lot was completely full of cars. When we got inside the sanctuary, there were only 2 other people there so far. I was annoyed that we had to walk across the length of the slippery, ice-covered parking lot while holding Daniel in his car seat because some inconsiderate people were hosting a party nearby and were using the church as their extended driveway.

I was rightfully reminded that no one would have their cars towed, least of all on Christmas Eve. It would not reflect the loving and forgiving nature that Christians ought to show.

In the message, Pastor took us on a journey through time and highlighted key people and events in and around Bethlehem leading up to the birth of Jesus. First we recounted Rachel's death during labor to Benjamin just outside of Bethlehem. We then read how Ruth remained loyal to her mother-in-law Naomi and returned to Bethlehem. Ruth would then marry Boaz and become the great-grandmother of King David.

We sang Christmas hymns between Bible passages. There was a touching moment toward the end of the service when we stood up and each held a lit candle as we sang. Pastor explained that Jesus was sent to be the light of the world and the world extinguished it. Pastor then shut off the lights and said that though the world may be dark, the light of Jesus still shines in each Christian. I am so glad we attended this service.

After the service we picked up Tary's BFF and had dinner at the New Jumbo Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown, Boston. Our friends and family were already there waiting for us. We squeezed into a large table at the back of the restaurant and somehow managed to all fit. The food was delicious as always. Even though it was a bit of a hike to get there, I'm glad we got to celebrate Tary's birthday together at one of her favorite restaurants.

Happy early birthday Jesus. Happy early birthday Tary.

3rd Annual Trinh Family Yankee Swap

On the Saturday before Christmas, we threw the 3rd Annual Trinh Family Yankee Swap/Pot Luck Party. Every year it seems to get louder and rowdier which adds to our party's charm. About 50 people came which is actually a down year in terms of attendance. But like previous years, it was still a fun time.

As alluded to earlier, our party is unique in a number of ways. Here are some of them:

The Crowd Is Fickle

Very fickle. Just about anything negative will get you booed. Party foul? Boo. Crappy gift? Boo! Camp Rock DVD? Boo!!! The host magically draws #1. BOOOO!!! (Actually that was last year.)

The first year we held the event, since it was a potluck we ended up with about 20 desserts and no entrees. Every year since, we explicitly asked that people NOT bring desserts. Several people mistakenly showed up with a dessert and were soundly booed for it.

Previous Transgressions Will Be Revisited

If you do something to be teased one year, you probably will be reminded of it again the following year. Repeatedly. Ad nauseam. For example, one of our friends brought the most delicious-looking cupcakes one year and we were so eager to try them. A few of us each grabbed one and took a bite. The cupcakes crumbled like dirt in our mouths and we rushed to spit out the rest. So if you ever hear the words "dirt cake", you'll know what we mean.

Participants Routinely Bend Break Rules

The spending limit on gifts is set at $25. However, some participants purposely spend WAY over that amount to ensure that they bought the "best" gifts. There are definitely some bragging rights to bringing a gift that everyone wants to swap for.

What You See Isn't Always What You Get

Last year had the funniest unintentional moment in Yankee Swap history. On her turn, a girl picked a gift and began to unwrap it. She was thrilled to find a ceramic heater! She railed about looking forward to using it because her house was cold. Toward the end of the night, she opened the box to look at her new heater and was surprised by what she saw. Instead of a new ceramic heater, she found a liquor bottle instead. Someone quipped, "At least that will also keep you warm."

After last year's accidental bait-and-switch, it was funny seeing how many people attempted to purposefully attempt to do the same this year. To make things interesting, no one opened their gifts completely until everyone had a gift in their hands. During the Yankee Swap, many "real" gifts were traded away because people thought they were fake.

After the Yankee Swap, a group of people played Dance Central (and Kinect Adventures) with the Kinect, the new controller-less peripheral for the Xbox 360. It was so much fun seeing the guys get up and dance to girly songs like "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga. It was also great seeing Tary's cousins open up a bit and have fun along with our friends.

All in all, I think it was a successful party. It seemed like the people who came all had fun. Though I'm not sure if we'll do this again next year. It was a lot of work for us this year with all of the planning, buying food, cooking the food, cleaning up the house before and after the party, and trying to watch Daniel. Interest may also be waning so we'll see how we feel at this time next year.

If we end up hosting a party next year, here are some lessons learned from this year:

1. We bought food and supplies a few hours before the party and cooked everything just before guests arrived and that proved to be way too hectic for us. We need to be more organized and plan our meals and buy supplies well in advance.
2. This year we held our party the Saturday before Christmas. People are busiest the closer it gets to Christmas and they may still have last-minute shopping to do or other events to go to. That may explain our lower turnout. We need to host the party on an earlier date, perhaps the 2nd Saturday in December.
3. We love the people who look forward to our events and always come and have fun. However, there are some people (mostly Tary's old "friends") who never come no matter how many times we invite them. Instead of trying to invite everyone, we should be happy that the people who do come care about us and actually want to be there.
4. These events are hard on Daniel. All of the noise interferes with his schedule and it messes things up for him and for us the next day. We need to start the party earlier and/or get a babysitter.

Thoughts after Week 15, Packers vs. Patriots

I'm not very superstitious but I can't deny the recent success of the Patriots when I do certain things.

Watch the game at home. Check.
Wear my Patriots sweatshirt. Check.
Eat a meal before, not during the game. Check.

Even with everything in place, the outcome was certainly anything but automatic. The journey was rough but the Patriots ultimately prevailed in a nail-biter. This 31-27 victory reaffirmed my superstitions theory.

Offense
Brady looked uncomfortable for most of the night. The pass protection broke down a few times and allowed Brady to be sacked 3 times, especially on stunts. Brady was outplayed for most of the game by Matt Flynn, a 3rd-year backup QB making his first NFL start for the injured Aaron Rodgers. Brady finished 15-24 passing for only 163 yards but added 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Brady's streak of most-passes-without-an-INT almost nearly ended on two separate occasions but the Packers could not hang on.

Generally speaking the offense struggled to sustain drives to help bail out the depleted defense which was gassed. The Pats offense put up only 24 points, with 7 of those set up by a 71-yard return by 313-lbs OL Dan Connolly on a squib kick.

On a good note, the Pats running backs both played pretty well in limited opportunities. BJGE capped their first drive with a long TD run. Branch had a great downfield block knocking over a DB on that play. Woodhead also added some tough yards to keep the chains moving.

Hernandez also had a good game after battling the flu all week. He finished with a pair of TDs, one while scrambling along the goal-line, and the other on an out-pattern.

Edelman once again dropped another pass near the end-zone. He was only targeted once and that number will continue to decrease with that kind of effort each Sunday. When Welker was hurt and everyone rushed to compare Edelman to Welker, the main difference between the two players is Welker is fearless in traffic while Edelman gets alligator-arms when he hears footsteps.

Defense
The defense played horribly. They couldn't stop the run. They couldn't stop the pass. They couldn't get off of the field on 3rd down. They stunk.

The lack of healthy bodies on the defensive line really hurt the team this week and they allowed 143 rushing yards. I don't know what it is about big RBs but no one wanted a piece of FB John Kuhn, especially when he was catching out of the backfield.

The defense allowed Matt Flynn to throw for 251 yards, 3 TDs (1 INT) and amass a 100.2 passer rating in his first NFL start! The Patriots were lucky to come away with a victory thanks in part to Flynn's lack of experience with managing the clock on their final drive.

The Pats continue to struggle on 3rd downs and had trouble getting off of the field. The time of possession was heavily skewed in the Packers favor, 41 minutes to only 19 minutes.

Banta-Cain has seen limited playing time lately and he is clearly the 3rd OLB on the depth chart. He failed to set the edge several times which resulted in long runs.  However, he got a timely sack on Flynn which caused a fumble to end the game.

Another player with a reduced role has been S Meriweather. He didn't help himself by taking a horrible angle on a 66-yard TD to James Jones and knocked his own teammate McCourty down in the process.

Despite how poorly the unit played, two player's performances stood out to me. Arrington returned an INT 32-yards for a TD after breaking several tackles. Wilfork had to play extended minutes due to injuries on the defensive line and continued to be a disruptive force in the middle.

Special Teams
The Pats displayed horrible situational awareness by allowing the Packers to recover an onside kick to start the game. This is the second time this has happened this year and they need to be more prepared for that.

OL Dan Connolly made the play of the game returning a squib kick 71-yards all the way to the Packer's 4-yard line late in the first half. After catching the ball, Connolly started running while shielding the ball with both arms. Then he picked up a few blocks and saw some daylight so he started racing down the left sideline while holding the ball in a headlock. He stiff-armed a defender and even tried a cut-back move. It was probably one of the funniest plays I have ever seen.

Other Thoughts
The officiating by Ed Hochuli and crew was notably bad in this game. I felt they bailed out the Packers a few times which extended a few scoring drives. Wilfork was flagged for a horrible facemask penalty but the refs missed that Wilfork was held on the play. McCourty was penalized for a bogus helmet-to-helmet hit though he actually hit the receiver's chest with his arm and shoulder before their helmets made contact. Also, the refs did not initially throw the flag as the play happened but only threw the flag after delaying the game to huddle up and watch the replays on the Jumbotron. Late in the game, Banta-Cain was flagged for illegal-hands-to-the-face which negated the game-sealing INT. Again the refs missed the OL also holding Banta-Cain's facemask.

Thoughts after Week 14, Patriots vs. Bears

For the second straight week, the Pats have embarrassed another 9-win team in their 36-7 victory over the Bears. The Pats have shown that they can handle any kind of weather conditions and the snow did little to slow them down. This game was even more enjoyable because Tary has family in Chicago and it was fun teasing one of her cousins each time the score changed.

Offense
The Brady-led offense put on a clinic with nearly 500 yards of total offense. Brady finished with 369 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. Brady had some accuracy issues and had some passes deflected, but I think some of that was due to the snow.

The skill position players handled the elements pretty well. Everyone held onto the ball and had 0 turnovers. Hernandez almost lost a fumble as he was hit as he was trying to catch a pass.

Branch and Welker are both playing at such a high level. They each finished with 8 catches and over 100 yards receiving. Welker claims to be almost 100% back from his devastating knee injury last year. If he continues to get stronger as his knee recovers, this is going to be one scary team during the playoffs.

Gronkowski is starting to really learn how to use his body to take advantage of his size. On one play in particular, he sealed off the defender with his body and caught a short TD in the 1st quarter.

I absolutely loved the cut-throat mentality of the Pats at the end of the 1st half. The coaches were yelling to take a knee as the Pats were at their own 41-yard line with a comfortable 27-0 lead. It looked like the Pats were content to let the clock run out but instead, Brady called a play and chucked the ball down hitting Branch in stride on a hitch-and-go pattern for a TD. I couldn't believe what happened but that was one of my favorite plays of the year.

Defense
The defense played great in this game allowing only 7 points. They limited the Bears to only 33 net yards in the first half and the Bears finished with only 185 yards total. The Pats' DBs were able to handle the snow pretty well and were able to knock several balls away from their intended receivers.

McCourty made a great individual play by ripping the ball out after a short reception early in the 2nd quarter. The loose ball was picked up by Guyton and returned for a TD.

Speaking of Guyton, he had a great game replacing Spikes who was suspended for violating the league's PED policy. In addition to the fumble recovery for a TD, Guyton also added another INT late in the 3rd quarter.

Newcomer Eric Moore who was playing for the UFL earlier in the year chipped in with a forced fumble as he sacked Cutler. The ball was recovered by Mayo and led to another FG.

Meriweather made a solid INT in the end-zone when Cutler reverted to his usual form when the Bears were down big and were forced to throw the ball.

Special Teams
Edelman is so much fun to watch on punt returns. He had an awesome 42-yard return which he almost took to the house but a teammate got in the way. He had another 71-yard punt return for a TD negated by a holding penalty on the play.

The Pats struggled a bit in kickoff coverage. After the unit gave up a long return to Hester, the Bears would go onto score their lone TD of the game.

Shayne Graham was perfect on 3 FGs but missed another extra point. I always feel nervous watching games and it's not a good feeling having to worry about whether your kicker can convert on something as routine as an extra point.

Other Thoughts
The only real concern is the status of McCourty's rib injury. I'm not sure how serious the injury is but it would be a tough blow to the defense if he is out for any extend period of time.

After the Jets were exposed last week, they lost again 10-6 at home to the Dolphins. Sanchez again showed why he shouldn't be trusted to handle the ball; he fumbled 4 times, completed only 17 passes out of 44 attempts, and threw 0 TDs and 1 INT. To add to the embarrassment, the Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi stuck out his knee and tripped a Miami player running along the sideline. Alosi has since been suspended indefinitely and has been fined for this incident. It's so easy to hate the Jets.

Don't Believe Everything You Read

...especially anything started on Facebook.

Recently an Internet meme was making the rounds on Facebook where people would change their profile picture to a cartoon character from their childhood to raise awareness against child abuse. Like most Internet memes, I balked at the idea and didn't participate because I don't believe they raise awareness for anything. In fact, all it seemed to do was raise awareness for how cool these old cartoons were.

This reminded me of meme started last year where ladies would post status updates with the words "I like it on" followed by where they placed their purses to raise awareness for breast cancer.

"I like it on the couch."

"I like it on the floor."

"I like it on the table."

It just sounds like sexual innuendo. I fail to see how it raises awareness to breast cancer. Sure it gets people curious at first when they inquire what these status updates mean but the original point is missed.

Instead of thinking, "Let's raise some money to discover a cure.", most of the people were thinking, "Meow. She's pretty kinky."

A few days after the cartoon-picture-meme was making the rounds, news outlets were reporting that the meme was actually a hoax started by a group of pedophiles because young children were more likely to accept friend requests from strangers with profile pictures of cartoon characters. So en masse, people rushed to change their profile pictures back to normal.

Then a few days later, the reports about the meme being started by a group of pedophiles were actually false. It just proves that you can't believe everything you read on the Internet.

So let's stop hiding behind these memes and actually make a difference. If you want to raise awareness for a cause, be an adult about it and post a real Facebook status like, "I'm raising awareness for ." Blog about it. Go volunteer somewhere. Donate some money or your time. Invite others to join.

Thoughts after Week 13, Jets vs. Patriots

It was suppose to be the game of the year. It still was for me. The Pats completely dominated and humiliated the loud-mouth, trash-talking, haven't-done-a-single-thing-yet Jets to a 45-3 beat-down. No one hates Rex Ryan and the Jets more than I do so it was so satisfying watching them lay an egg in front of a national audience. After the game, I stayed up and watched all of the postgame press conferences just to revel in this victory.

What does this game mean? The Pats have a game lead over the Jets and share the top record in the league. The Pats have the inside track to the #1 seed in the AFC which means if they win their remaining games, they would have a bye week followed by two home games to reach the Super Bowl.

Offense

As well as Brady played last week against the Lions where he amassed a perfect passer rating, he played even better this week against one of the best defenses in the league. Brady threw for 326 yards, 4 TDs to 4 different receivers (Branch, Welker, Tate, and Hernandez), and most importantly, no INTs again.

The running game did a good enough job to make play-action work. After a pass interference against the Jets on a pass intended for Gronkowski which set the Pats up at the 1 yard line, I loved that the Pats decided to punch it in with BJGE instead of passing the ball in that situation.

Woodhead was explosive coming out of the backfield. The Jets didn't have any answers for him because he would sometimes stay in the block. Sometimes he would chip on a block and release out to catch a pass. At other times, he would line up outside and force the Jets to try to match up.

The Pats play-calling was great in this game. It felt like everything worked because they put up 45 points! They did a great job of mixing up formations and personnel and the Jets were guessing all night long. It was hilarious watching Revis and Cromartie try to figure where their assignments were going on any given play.

Defense

The defense simply played great allowing only 3 points! They seemed to have a good week of preparation and were ready for plays that Sanchez likes to run such as bootleg throws to the right side. Once the Pats got up big and the Jets had to throw to catch up, the Pats dropped more guys into coverage and came away with 3 INTs.

McCourty made another great play staying along Braylon Edwards' hip and then turning at the right moment to grab the first INT. You can't get more textbook than that.

Spikes came up with the 2nd INT just in front of the goal-line. That was a poor decision by Sanchez to force that throw. That kind of decision-making highlights the difference between just an average QB like Sanchez and a great one like Brady.

And Sanders came away with the last INT on an underthrown ball. I'm not sure what the Jets were thinking keeping Sanchez in that late in the game but it doesn't bode well for them if they get down early in games and are forced to throw to try to catch up.

The only negative things I noticed was that the defense did not do a great job defending the run. However, the pass defense played well enough to make the Jets one-dimensional.

Special Teams

It seemed like everything went wrong for the Jets and that included their special teams. Folk missed an early FG which would have tied the game. Conversely, Graham was successful on his lone attempt of the game.

The Jets' punter shanked a couple of punts which gave the Pats great field position.

The Pats did a great job containing the dangerous kickoff returner Brad Smith.

Other Thoughts

Ryan was clearly outcoached by Belichick in this game. He had a panic moment challenging the spot of a QB rush early on their first drive. It cost him because he couldn't afford to challenge a questionable TD reception by Tate along the sideline.

As for Belichick, how much more genius-like does he look now? He trades away Randy Moss and the offense actually gets better! He trots out the youngest defense in the league and somehow coaches them up to an opportunistic, play-making unit. Then in the midst of a blowout, he huddles the team together along the sideline and delivers a speech about playing hard for 60 minutes and that he doesn't give an [expletive] what the score is!

Regarding LT, how did one of the most likeable and marketable guys in the NFL become one of the most hated? Go ahead and ask him; he'll tell you how much of a classy guy he is. He is clearly embracing his new role as a villain. I haven't seen this kind of 180 degree turnaround since Hulk Hogan became a bad guy and joined the nWo. Anyways, I started to hate LT as his time ran out in SD. I hate him more now that he's a member of the Jets. And I hate him even more because every single time he rushes for a decent gain, we have to watch him pop up bobbing his head, yapping his mouth, and pounding his chest. Yeah, real class act...

NY Jets coach Rex Ryan said in a speech shown on Hard Knocks that he wanted to eat a [GD] snack. How did that slice of humble pie taste?

Trendy Names

Many of our friends and their friends are having babies now. Maybe there's something in the water. Anyways, a disturbing pattern that is emerging is most of these babies were given a "trendy" name such as:

• Ethan
• Aiden
• Caiden, Kaiden
• Jaden, Jaiden, Jayden
• Rylan
• Raiden

The formula is simple...pick some random letters and then add "an" or "en" at the end. Voila, you have a name.

It's one thing to try to give your child a somewhat unique name. It's another when every parent has the same idea with using the same trendy names.

I can picture Daniel at school in a few years and when the teacher checks the attendance, there will be 4 Caidens, 2 Rylans, 3 Ethans, and only 1 Daniel.