I had a bunch of things to do yesterday, so I Tivo’d the Bears-Saints game and didn’t end up watching it until late at night. By the time I finished I was too tired to write a post about it, which is why I’m just getting around to it now.

Anyway, the Bears won 33-25 to finish out the season at 7-9. More importantly, they won two games in a row for the first time all year, and will have at least a couple of positives to take into the offseason with them.

The player of the game was Devin Hester yet again. This guy is simply ridiculous in terms of how skilled he is on kick and punt returns. Saints head coach Sean Payton said beforehand that he planned on staying away from Hester, but I guess punter Steve Weatherford didn’t get that memo. In the 3rd quarter, he punted directly at Hester, who answered by cutting through the Saints’ coverage and scampering 64-yards for a TD.

That was Hester’s 11th career kick/punt return TD (which doesn’t count his Super Bowl score or the missed FG he returned for a TD last season). He now needs just 2 more to tie the all-time NFL record of 13 special teams TDs set by Brian Mitchell. Difference is, Mitchell took something like 233 games to get his record, while Hester has racked up his TDs in 32 games.

Plus, you have to remember that most of the time, teams aren’t even bothering to kick to Hester anymore. He rarely gets any real chances to run one back, and this trend is probably going to continue into next season as well.

Anyway, getting back to the game: The defense looked pretty good even though they gave up 25 points. They got a safety in there, sacked Brees three times, recovered a fumble, and had two interceptions. Not bad at all.

The offense looked decent at times, especially when Orton connected with Hester for a 55-yard score. But again, there were a lot of squandered opportunities, Orton missed several wide-open receivers, and the O-line had too many penalties.

Take away Hester’s 2 TDs and the Bears lose again. Lots of other guys on this team better step up next year, or they’re going to miss the playoffs again.

It’s going to be a loooong offseason. Hopefully the Bears address a few of their needs in the draft and come back strong in ‘08!

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

I don’t know what’s going on with me lately, but I’ve been suffering from major PMS symptoms for the past six months or so. This kind of thing never affected me before, but now I’ve been getting extremely irritable in the days leading up to my period. The smallest thing is liable to set me off — which I know can’t be pleasant for my husband or son.

I’ve been reading up on the subject, and it seems that I’m exhibiting classic symptoms of having too much estrogen and/or not enough progesterone in my system. One of the results of this imbalance is irritability, so I could be on the right track here.

If it turns out I’m right, then I’ll be able to manage this estrogen imbalance with a progesterone cream. That sounds simple enough, but obviously I need to do more research before starting on a treatment plan.

Jerry turned 35 today, which is hard to believe (mostly because I’ll be turning 34 myself in just a few more days!). We always do low-key birthday celebrations, so the only thing on the agenda for tonight is dinner at Outback.

I gave Jerry his present this morning, which ended up being Call of Duty 4 for Xbox. Not surprisingly, he’s been playing that game most of the day, and will probably start up again once we get back from dinner.

Anyway, happy birthday to my wonderful husband — the 12th one we’ve celebrated together as a couple!

Jerry’s birthday is tomorrow, but I still haven’t bought him a present yet. Every single year, he insists that he doesn’t need anything for his birthday since it’s so close to Christmas, and every single year I feel guilty about not buying any presents, so I rush out at the last minute to get something. This year is not going to be any different, as I plan on hitting the mall later tonight before going to see The Great Debaters with a friend.

Now I just have to figure out what I want to get Jerry before I leave. I’m not going to have a bunch of time to shop around, so it would be much better if I can just run into a specific store and grab something.

He has a lot of cologne left, and recently bought a bunch of socks, underwear, and ties. He doesn’t wear gold chains or any other kind of jewelry, so that’s out. And he already has plenty of power tools too.

I’ll probably end up getting him an Xbox game, like usual. I know he mentioned something about Call of Duty 4, but I can’t remember if he was saying that he wanted the game or thought it looked stupid. I guess I’ll have to hint around the subject at dinner!

This week’s Booking Through Thursday question is a simple one:

What were your favorite books this year?

The only new release I read this year was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I did enjoy that book, so I suppose it qualifies as one of my favorites from the year.

Other than HP, however, I spent most of my time reading Agatha Christie, Michael Connelly, and Anita Shreve. Out of those novels, I thought Christie’s And Then There Were None was superb, as was Death on the Nile, Cards on the Table, and The ABC Murders.

I did manage to read a few classics, including Silas Marner, Daniel Deronda, The Red Badge of Courage, The Awakening, A Passage to India, The Age of Innocence, and Return of the Native. Most of those were re-reads, as I’d last gotten to them in high school and wanted to refresh my memory a bit. I liked all of ‘em, though I did feel that Daniel Deronda dragged in a lot of places.

Anyway, I hope to read even more in 2008, and am looking to add new favorites to my list!

Another Christmas is now officially in the books, and I’m happy to say that I made out reasonably well. I got a bunch of useful gift cards, some clothes, and a few books that I wanted. While these were all fantastic presents (and things that I actually asked for), I kind of wish someone had surprised me with a truly unique gift, like the wine of the month club membership that my cousins bought for my uncle.

I’d heard of these types of clubs before, of course, but never looked closely at what a membership entails. With my birthday coming up next week, I decided that this would be a perfect time to check out some clubs for myself just to see if it’s something I’d be interested in.

One of the websites I landed on during my research was GoldMedalWine.com, so I started reading about the details of their memberships. They have several different membership levels, starting with a Gold Series and progressing through something called an International Series.

Each series entitles members to different products, such as one red wine and one white wine per month in the Gold Series, or two reds and one white in the International Series. Exclusivity of the wines also comes into play, with selections in the International Series not available anywhere else in the U.S.

Compared to other wine club websites I looked at, I think GoldMedalWine.com was the easiest to understand. The details of each membership level are clear, and all charges (including shipping) are prominently displayed so there won’t be any unwanted surprises later on. Moreover, the wines seemed to be of exceptional quality, and were reasonably priced.

Overall, I was very impressed with what I saw at GoldMedalWine.com. In fact, I might just have to drop my husband some hints about getting me a wine of the month club membership for my birthday this year!

I just wanted to make a quick post to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful day, no matter how you chose to spend it.

I had a very nice get-together with extended family yesterday, and was able to spend all day today with just my immediate family. This was the first Christmas where my son really knew what was going on, and he was so excited to see all the presents from Santa under the tree! It was an amazing feeling to see him so happy; I’d forgotten how special Christmas is for kids!

My son got a bunch of toys that he wanted, but I think we went overboard there. Next year we’re definitely going to scale back on how much we buy him — particularly since he’s my parents’ only grandchild, so they spoil him too.

Those of us buying my husband presents decided to pool our money together and get him an 80GB iPod Classic. It was a total surprise for him, and he’s been fiddling with iTunes ever since he opened it.

I asked for (and received) movie theater gift cards from just about everyone who was planning on getting me a present, so now I’ll be able to see a ton of new releases instead of having to wait until the films come out on DVD. Seriously, if I went to one movie at the theater every weekend, my gift cards will last me until the end of summer!

All in all, it has been a pretty terrific holiday. I am so thankful that we were able to have such a nice time together!

I haven’t been watching TV at all since the major networks ran out of new episodes of their primetime programs. I’m not a reality show fan at all, so until the writers’ strike gets worked out, I’m just going to keep watching DVDs. I’ve got a pretty sizable collection of box sets that I haven’t finished watching yet, plus I’m always trading and borrowing from friends.

This is a great time to discover new shows. I’m currently working my way thought Season One of Without a Trace, and I also just finished watching the Dexter pilot. I really like WaT so far, but I thought Dexter was a little too weird for my tastes. Nevertheless, I’m going to stick with it because so many people absolutely rave about the program.

So how are you handling the writers’ strike? More shows on DVD? More movies? More Internet?

Our big Christmas dinner with extended family members is tomorrow afternoon at my mom’s house. We always do it on Christmas Eve so we can spend Christmas Day with our immediate family. Anyway, I’m in charge of bringing some side dishes and a couple dozen cookies. I was thinking ahead and bought the ingredients several days ago so I wouldn’t have to hit the stores this close to Christmas.

But then my mom called and asked me if I could bring a nice centerpiece with me, as she didn’t have time to go out and get one herself. So I had to brave the weather today and run out to see what the local flower shop had. As I feared, there wasn’t much to choose from at this point in time. I walked out with what looked like an arrangement of wedding flowers and hope that my mom will be satisfied with it.

Well, it’s not my fault. This is what happens when you put stuff off until the last minute at Christmastime!

There hasn’t been much for Bears fans to cheer about this season, but at least we can take solace in the fact that Chicago swept the Packers both times the teams played. Sure, the rivalry isn’t what it used to be, but it’s never cool to see the Pack come out on top in head-to-head meetings.

Game conditions were terrible this afternoon, with the wind gusting around and game time temperatures at below zero. This led to a pretty sloppy game all the way around. There were dropped passes, pooched punts, bad throws, interceptions, missed extra points… it didn’t look pretty. But the Bears actually came out on top 35-7, and looked very good in the second half.

The offense was ineffective again, but thankfully this was a day on which defense and special teams made all the difference. At first, it looked like it was going to be a typical Bears loss, where they moved the ball all the way to the red zone and then just died out. After having great field position on their first three drives and dominating in time of possession, the Bears had only 3 points on the board. Then they got another field goal, but just like that Green Bay took the lead on a 66-yard TD run by Ryan Grant.

So, yeah, it looked like it was going to be another one of those games for the Bears.

But they actually came right back with a TD of their own to end the half, and then completely dominated in the second half. The defense held Green Bay scoreless for the rest of the day, and intercepted Brett Favre twice. One INT was run back 85 yards for a touchdown by Brian Urlacher to cap the scoring.

This was a fun game to watch, particularly in the second half. The Bears almost looked like a complete football team then, and this game definitely will show up as a positive in an otherwise bleak season.

New Orleans visits next week in what will be Chicago’s 2007 finale.

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh via ESPN.com)

I just read an interesting article on ESPN.com about the gifts that college football players receive when their team makes it to a bowl game. I had no idea that the players even got anything for these bowl berths. I mean, I knew the schools got big money, but I thought the players just got… I don’t know, the glory of playing in the spotlight one more time?

Anyway, the NCAA allows the bowl sponsors to spend up to $500 on each player, and apparently this leads to some pretty fierce competitions among the organizers to come up with the most attractive gift packages. So we’re not just talking custom pens, caps, and t-shirts here. These guys get things like Nintendo Wiis, Best Buy shopping sprees, digital cameras, iPods, and even cowboy boots.

That’s pretty cool, I guess. I bet it certainly gives the players a little extra incentive since they’re not eligible for cash bonuses here!

My husband and I are going to go see a movie tonight, but I’m having a lot of trouble making a decision! There are so many that I want to see right now: I Am Legend, No Country for Old Men, Charlie Wilson’s War, Sweeny Todd, Dewey Cox, National Treasure 2…

Honestly, how am I supposed to pick just one? Maybe we’ll do a double feature, or better yet, maybe I’ll get that booklet of Marcus Theaters gift certificates that I want for Christmas so I can see all of these while they’re still in theaters!

I just had one of those days that makes me want to get away from it all. I thought I was cruising along through the Christmas season without any of the usual headaches or holiday stress that usually crop up at this time of year. But then today, it’s like everything came apart at once.

My son, who’s a complete angel 99% of the time, decided to stuff a year’s worth of tantrums and fits into about three hours. I have no idea what got into him, but he just suddenly went off the deep end after lunch today. He refused to take his usual nap, refused to have quiet time, didn’t want to play with his toys, etc.

He wanted to call his dad at work, but I can’t let him do that otherwise he’ll be asking to call every 5 minutes. I don’t know if there was anything wrong; he wouldn’t tell me. He just screamed and cried and carried on for what seemed like an eternity. Of course I couldn’t get anything else done during that time, as I was busy trying to calm him down.

Then I got into a huge fight with one of my best friends. It was about how much money we each spent on Christmas, which is something I didn’t even want to talk about in the first place. I’m still mad, so I don’t want to go into it here.

And, finally, my husband just called and said he’s going to be late coming home from work. Not cool, especially since our son is still a wreck.

Ugh, this is the kind of day where I just want to go hole up in one of those luxury Pigeon Forge cabins I keep hearing about and not deal with anyone!

I just read an interesting article on LiveScience.com (cool site, BTW) about 7 medical myths that even doctors perpetuate/believe in. The information in the article was actually culled from a publication called the British Medical Journal, but LiveScience does a good job of distilling the facts in an understandable manner and showing why the myths are inaccurate.

Here are the 7 myths talked about in the article. (You can click through to read the whole thing if you want more details.)

• We only use 10 percent of our brains.
• You should drink 8 glasses of water per day.
• Fingernails and hair continue to grow after death.
• Shaved hair grows back faster and darker.
• Reading in low light is bad for your eyes.
• Eating turkey makes you drowsy.
• It’s dangerous to use cell phones in hospitals.

I’ve heard of all of those, and am pretty surprised that none of them are true. I figured the 8 glasses of water per day thing was accurate, but I guess I can start scaling back now…

Pretty interesting stuff!

The Chicago Bears were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Monday night’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. I only watched that game until halftime because the Bears looked god-awful on offense (yet again), so I didn’t actually realize they were out of the postseason hunt until I read some sports articles this morning.

Even though I knew this was coming, it’s still a bummer to see it in print. Oh, well, I guess I won’t be needing any super bowl tickets this year after all.

Let’s hope the talent scouts are already working overtime to come up with a first-round pick that will help this team out.