The World Cup is intense today. USA against Germany. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch the second half because, ahem, I'm now at work. Damn.

I woke up at 6:30 today to catch the first half though. I got up at 6:30. Damn straight.

The US was playing pretty well. We had some really great chances, but Germany's keeper made some insane stops.

Their size paid off near the end of the first half when their 6'3" Midfielder Michael Ballack showed just how tall he was by getting up higher than everyone else to head a goal past the incredible Brad Friedel.

Right now, the game is in the 86th minute and we're still down 1-nil. Hopefully something good happens for us.

I do enjoy watching this level of soccer, though. It's quite the beautiful thing.

It's thundah storming here this morning. Our dog, Oscar, has a lot of trouble dealing with the thunder. He vibrates like crazy and pants really loudly. I feel sorry for the little guy, but if I comfort him too much, it will validate the fact that it's okay to get like that when he hears loud noises -- which it's not. I'ts probably not the healthiest thing for his soon-to-be 4 year old ticker.

Yesterday, Lindsay and I closed on our Refinance and Home Equity. You know what rocks about this? No housepayment for July. Oh yeah. That's a huge chunk of cash that's screaming "Veeeeegas!" But we keep telling it to shut up.

Maybe it should scare us more that the money is talking, but it doesn't. We're damn near unflappable, baby.

Lins, the K&K Connection and I are road tripping to Iowa this weekend. We're all bringing our dogs, Oscar, Bailey and the K's big black lab named Duke, so that should be interesting, to say the least.

Today, right after work, Lins and I tear off for Davenport, to attend her cousin's wedding reception. K&K are coming to Davenport later tonight, and will stay with us at Lins' folks' house.

Tomorrow morning, Lins and K&K are going garage saling at the citywide garage sale. Then it's off to Iowa City to meet our good friends Whitney and Jeremy for lunch (hopefully). They just got back from their honeymoon in Tahiti, and we're anxious to hear all about it. Plus there's a kickass antique store in Iowa City. You can bet your ass we'll be going there. If you're the ass-betting-type, that is. I know I am.

After lunch, I'll be taking off to go to Boone and visit my family. Did I mention that I'll have all three dogs with me in the bug at this point? Hee. Meanwhile, Lins and K&K will be antiquing their way toward Ames, Iowa, home of the fabulous Iowa State University, where we are staying for the evening. Should be strange. And interesting. But strange. It's a place we lived for about 5 years and haven't really been to for about 5.

I'll visit with my fam for awhile, hopefully I'll get to spend some quality time with everyone, then I'll head off to Ames to meet up with Lins and K&K for the evening's festivities, which will surely include copious amounts of drinking. Good times should be had all around. We'll CyRide it back to our hotel, sleep, then head back up to Mpls Sunday morning.

Should be a fun time.

Oh, and this just in: Game over. The US got stopped by Germany today, 1-0. It's too bad that our best run ever in the World Cup had to end.

Thanks for reading,
Eric