The boys got to visit Santa again this year. 

Snow fell in Las Vegas today, covering most of the city and causing delays at McCarren airport.

MacWorld is the premier event for Mac fans with vendors, exhibits, and education tracks all under one roof.  IDG, the people behind the annual MacWorld Expo, have announced that Steve Jobs will not be presenting the keynote speech this year in San Francisco.  In the past, this has been the high point of Mac related news with Apple/Jobs using the keynote to present upcoming technologies from Apple.  This event was the jumping board for official news and release information for both the iPod and the iPhone. 

With the impressive win over the weekend by the Vikings over the Cardinals, the playoff picture is getting a little clearer.  The magic number for clinching the division is now down to one – 1 win by MN or 1 loss by CHI and we clinch the NFC North.  However, we can now add a little fantasy to the playoff predictions.  The Vikings at this point have the potential to be the #2 overall seed for the NFC.  Here's the scenario:

Every scenario requires the Vikings to win their final two games and is aided by the current top seeds, Carolina and the New York Giants, facing off Sunday night at Giants Stadium.
Let's look at the two primary possibilities:

1. Vikings win out. Carolina loses out. Both teams finish 11-5. New York Giants take No. 1 seed. Vikings take No. 2 seed based on head-to-head tiebreaker with the Panthers. (Minnesota 20, Carolina 10 on Sept. 21.)

2. Vikings win out. Carolina wins at least one game. Giants lose out. Vikings and Giants finish 11-5. Carolina takes No. 1 seed. Vikings take No. 2 seed based on head-to-head tiebreaker with Giants. (In order to win out, the Vikings will have to defeat the Giants on Dec. 28.)

There is one complication, however. Carolina hasn't yet secured the NFC South title. Tampa Bay (9-5) or Atlanta (9-5) could win out and overtake the Panthers for the division title.

If the Buccaneers win the division, they would take the No. 2 seed because of a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Vikings. (Tampa Bay 19, Minnesota 13 on Nov. 16.) The Vikings and Falcons square off this weekend, so if Atlanta wins the division, that means the Vikings would have lost at least one of their final two games and would not be a factor for the No. 2 seed.

Now most of this speculation has left a few Vikings fans as giddy as a 5 year old on Christmas. And it's basically going to take a Christmas miracle to get the Vikings the #2 seed spot. Kevin Williams is out for the next 2-6 weeks with a shoulder injury and the Vikings are coming up against two the best rushing offenses they've faced all season.
All I can say is, Go Vikes!

Playoff scenario originally posted on ESPN.com.

With the impressive win by the Vikings this weekend over the Cardinals the playoff picture is getting a little more clearer, but now has a few wrinkles too.  The most important fact is that the Vikings magic number is now 1 – 1 win by MN or 1 loss by CHI and we win the division.  However the prospect of taking the #2 seed for the NFC is what is making Vikings fans giddy as a 5 year old on Christmas.  The possible scenario is:

Every scenario requires the Vikings to win their final two games and is aided by the current top seeds, Carolina and the New York Giants, facing off Sunday night at Giants Stadium.
Let’s look at the two primary possibilities:

1. Vikings win out. Carolina loses out. Both teams finish 11-5. New York Giants take No. 1 seed. Vikings take No. 2 seed based on head-to-head tiebreaker with the Panthers. (Minnesota 20, Carolina 10 on Sept. 21.)

2. Vikings win out. Carolina wins at least one game. Giants lose out. Vikings and Giants finish 11-5. Carolina takes No. 1 seed. Vikings take No. 2 seed based on head-to-head tiebreaker with Giants. (In order to win out, the Vikings will have to defeat the Giants on Dec. 28.)

We’ll see how things go this Sunday, now that’s been confirmed that Pat Williams will miss the next 2-6 weeks due to a shoulder injury.  Go Vikes!

Originally posted by ESPN.com

Wishing my wonderful wife a very happy birthday. 

Sam sometimes locks in on who he will share an item with. Typically it’s with everyone but the person he’s talking to, so this morning I was the person being excluded from his inner circle. So I asked him why. He gave an outlandish answer that only the mind of a 3 year old could make up. So I asked him why again. He came back with another goofy reason and I asked why again. This went on for about 2 minutes when Sam finally said, ‘that does it, I’m just going to walk away because I don’t want to talk about it anymore’. What was even funnier was how serious and annoyed he sounded as he walked away.

Score one for the daddy.

Evan is finally starting to take his first steps.  I was so excited when I saw Evan take a step last week I told Holly to come see.  She goes into a big rant about how it had better not be Evan taking his first step.  I sheepishly said yes and said I thought she'd be happy it happen at home.  She came over to see what was going on and finally confessed that Evan had taken a couple of steps earlier in the day.  She thought it was kind of funny to throw a little fit just for me.  Ha ha.  Thanks honey.

There is one thing I've wondered as we enter this holiday season… who really gives their spouse a brand new Lexus?