Ever since my last column was drying on the pages, I have been home taking care of the house, one dog and three cats. My wife, Melodee, and neighbors, Brandy, Corey and Spencer Pottle, took a road trip to Atlanta to support the Boothbay Region Y-Arts group at the Junior Theater Festival. I wasn't sure about the condition of my knee (they say there's a lot of walking down there), so I volunteered to watch the ranch and "the domesticated critters." Well, I think they miss their "mother" because they have been watching me more than I have been watching them. Everywhere I went, they were there. My dog – a mini/medium Australian shepherd – is a Velcro dog anyway, but the cats ... underfoot, into things (closets, drawers, etc.) that I was into, on the bed early, etc. I swear ... one of my cats probably sleeps only two hours a day. He is wired! Can't wait for Melodee to get home so they can hang with her for a few hours.

While at home, I watched the progress of Izzy – so much, I got dizzy (you knew that was coming) – on the Weather Channel. Now, I know the South doesn't get the snows we get here in Maine, but "where were the plows?" While the reporters chimed in, the roads (covered with a few inches of snow) didn't look plowed at all – even with the snow stopped. Invest in some plows! Maybe they were all on the highway – who knows.

And finally, I got my dose of the NFL this weekend; two "interesting" games (Las Vegas/Cincinnati and Dallas/San Francisco) and like many Pats fans, I shut the TV off at the half. I also can't get into Tom Brady winning for Tampa Bay, so I switched to college basketball. Yes, Brady is the best, but he was the heart and soul for New England for 20 years. Hard to watch him winning for another team.

Back to work on Thursday!