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Our two daughters worked together in presenting us a very nice gift that started at Rodizio Grill Brazilian Steakhouse in Columbus, Ohio. It was our first time for such a restaurant, a place you only want to dine if quite hungry. They place a block of wood on your table, which indicates to multiple servers your preference: green meaning bring the meat on, down meaning digesting, red meaning stop before overeating and extreme discomfort.

The first position of the block was on its side while we went to a salad bar that took up a large space in another room. On it were different kinds of salads, soups, deli meats, a variety of cheeses, several bread choices, and … I prefer French dressing, but they did not have that as an option, which seemingly occurs more frequently in restaurants we visit. So, I noticed a red sauce hoping it would be sweet. I applied a significant portion on my salad while anticipating it would add a soothing flavor. Oops, not to be! It was hot, very hot. Being from a time period which you were expected to eat all on your plate and thinking it was time to try something very different, I slowly got the salad down, which required several glasses of ice water. Afterward, I made a special trip to the salad bar to read the signs I obviously had not paid much attention to earlier. On one sign above my selection, I saw the words: Hot Sauce.

It was then on to the meats after turning the block on our table to green. One long skewer after the other was presented to us with each server telling us what was being offered. I tried a sliver of most of them with each going down much better than the salad with reddish hot sauce. Sliced glazed pineapple seemed to balance all the meats out, which apparently was a hit with many customers since it only came around once. We then tuned our block to the side after enjoying a wonderful dinner and actually ordered one dessert to share, feeling a need to taste something other than meat at the end. It was delightful! After enjoying all the food with no signs of meat sweats, as some people experience, we turned our block to red, paid our bill, and headed to our next stop of the evening.

We walked a very short distance to Nationwide Arena to be entertained by comedian Nate Bargatze on his Be Funny Tour. My wife had already heard of Nate because of watching him perform on Saturday Night Live and assured me I would like him. While finding our seats, I stopped suddenly which caused the individual from behind to lose part of his drink. Fortunately, most stayed in his cup with just a little landing on the floor, and he did not appear upset as I apologized. Once we got in our seats, I admittedly was not overly impressed with the allotted space. It was even less than most seats on an airplane. It was particularly challenging getting up for people as they were entering or exiting. Nate was great, as well as the three acts before and the MC. I enjoyed the lines related to the differences in the way men and women do laundry since my wife and I have had several conversations related to that topic. Due to my height and position on the chair, I had to contend with some leg cramping afterward but joked around about it which seemed appropriate after watching a comedy show.

During our stay with our daughter and her husband, we took in the movie "The Boys in the Boat". We all would highly recommend it. The movie is based on a true story about an eight-man boating crew from the University of Washington unexpectedly ending up in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and unexpectedly winning Olympic Gold. As any such feat, it was not an easy endeavor, and the producers do an excellent job of taking the viewers through the challenges. As an athlete who has had opportunities to play on some really good teams, I really liked the short but very accurate line: “The best boats, they're connected.” Like the comedian acts, the movie has a PG-13 rating, a rating I prefer.

While reading one of several books received for Christmas in the apartment's guest bedroom, I looked out the window while hearing the laughter of children. It had snowed very lightly during the night, and there was some snow gathered close to the curbs. The children were scooping it up little by little and placing the snow on the back of a car belonging to their parents. I'm not sure why, but they seemed to have some type of plan, and, more importantly, they were having fun. Now and then, they would playfully throw the snow at one another. I almost wanted to join in like the three older ladies do after watching children sledding in an Amazon advertisement but chose to do some reflecting. I thought about how blessed I was to have two very thoughtful daughters and to be entertained by events costing lots of money and one not costing any at all! With this being February, I will make sure I tell my daughters, my grandsons, my wife, my mother, and others how much I love them. Saying those words don't cost a thing but sure make a difference!