Did you write the book of Lauve…and other great tales from H-Town

http://pictures.thelauves.com/houston0803.html

Well I must be on a roll if I'm posting two blogs in one week! This past weekend we went to Houston to spend the weekend with my old friends from college. There are 3 of the old group in Houston: Steven, Julie, Jill and her fiance Sergei, 6 of us left in Austin: Keith, Ginny, Laura, Chris, me and Daniel, Angela and Aidan live in Dallas and Lisa and Ryan, who weren't able to come, live in San Antonio. Matt & Heather were also unable to join us since they moved to Virginia last summer--we missed you guys! We all decided to have our reunion in Houston this time around. Our Houston friends managed to put us all up in their homes---Jill and Sergei graciously offered up their spare room to us.

We left for Houston on Friday night and made it in town to enjoy Jill and Sergei's favorite Thai restaurant, Thai Gourmet, which really was some of the best Thai food I've ever eaten. It even disproved Daniel's theory that the extremely spicy at Thai restaurants is some sort of conspiracy theory...I'll let him explain that one....we met up with the rest of the crew at Steven's and hashed out American Idol, the Beatles edition part I until we decided to call it a night and meet up the next day for some grilling at Jill and Sergei's.



The next morning, Daniel and I braved the hills with Sergei, who is a personal trainer by profession, and his sporty spice hottie, one of my best friends, Jill. It was a little tough but fun in the end and made me feel I deserved the naughty breakfast tacos we ate soon after. Laura, Chris and Steven did all of the grocery shopping (thanks guys!) while we all got ready to have some fun in the sun. It was a GORGEOUS day that took place at really swank pool setting. The built-in gas grill and pavillion were perfect---take a look at the pictures that prove it.

Even my cousin Teresa and her daughter Yenny came out to play with us at the pool making it a near perfect day for me. I can't think of anything better than being surrounded by so many loved ones. Blue Moon beer with orange slices was the choice drink of the day and my Simple, Summer Strawberry Salad was a hit! Ginny gave me the great idea to include the recipe in my blog:

Simple Summer Strawberry Salad

Salad:
1 lb San Juan Spring Mix
1 pint fresh strawberries (cut)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or toasted pecans
1 bunch green onions chopped

Dressing:
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine ingredients for dressing in large jar. Shake
well and pour over salad before serving.

After lots of catching up and some hot tub relaxation, we all decided to get ready and go out for a few drinks! We ended up at Sherlock's Bakers Street Pub. It was not too loud and even though many of us were tired from all the sun during the day, I think the good company perked us all up again and we got our second wind. Steven came up with the great idea to go to Michael's Outpost, a dive piano bar that our spirited crew soon took over, mostly due to our cruise director with amazing vocals!! Steven Knott wooed the whole bar (all the guys in the back really were wooed) and made singing by a piano in front of strangers so much fun.

It has to be said that one of my favorite parts of the night was when my husband, Daniel Lauve, decided he was ready to sing and brought down the house and brought up the lights (it was the last song of the night) with American Pie. He sang it so well and I know this sounds weird but was just another reason that I'm sooo incredibly proud to be his wife!! I love that he still has tricks up his sleeve...



We ended a great weekend with a trip to Cafe Malay for a tour of Malaysian food with Aidan and Angela. Aidan taught us a few things and it was yet another great adventure with our friends. Thanks to all of you for recharging my friendship batteries---I love each of you so much and I can't wait to start planning our get together in June!

Christmas 2007

 

http://pictures.thelauves.com/christmas0712.html

Okay, okay, okay...there is no good excuse for this tardy blog so I'll just say it quickly to make it less painful for all of us---this is the long awaited, much requested CHRISTMAS BLOG! Our first Christmas as married folk was really great. We started off by traveling through Beaumont on December 21st to visit the Comeauxs. Amber and I grew up together and have managed to stay close despite the fact that we now live four hours apart. I usually go by there while on Christmas vacation and Daniel was game, so we had our first Christmas and traded presents with Amber, Jed and their two girls, Kaylin and Madison. Jed cooked us a great shrimp gumbo that we ate once we got in even though it was 10:30PM!

The next day Amber's parents showed up for breakfast, and it's always good to see them.  They have been busy repairing Amber's old dollhouse to give to the girls for Christmas.   I think I enjoyed playing with it just as much as them on this visit (as seen in the pictures) because it brought back so many memories for me!

 

We soon left for Mom and Dad's. Once we got to the house, it smelled and looked just like a Nunez Christmas. Mom spent most of the time doting on us by cooking our favorite foods and treats, Dad spent time with us at the park jogging and sharing bottles of wine, and my brother was especially anti-Christmas pajama bottoms! He did throw the football around in the yard with us for awhile---I caught it a few times and shocked the heck out of my Dad and brother.

Daniel got a special present from Dad. He bought him a basketball and new net for Brent's old basketball goal---such a thoughtful gift! We made the infamous sugar cookies on Christmas Eve and opened our presents together. On Christmas day, we headed to Vidor to be with our extended family for a big lunch, my Memaw outdid herself again. Most of the family was there so Daniel and I visited for awhile and then headed to Houston to have a Lauve Christmas!



We arrived at the Neely house on Christmas night in time for a delicious dinner and then opened Christmas presents. I learned that the Nunezes open presents the Neely way! The Lauves were sweet and opened each of their presents one at a time just to appease me. The Neelys had actually left for New Braunfels but it was the perfect meeting point for the Lauves. We stayed for four days, during which the Neely's returned so we had yet another Christmas! If you know me at all then you know that it was just fine with me! We rested, talked, read Harry Potter, visited with Daniel's grandparents, watched movies and played many rousing games of Wii boxing! Take a look at the crazy pictures of me and Cristina as we honed our rapid fire tactics and beat Daniel more than once. It was addictive and exhausting!



On the 29th it was time to head with only one last stop to make. We went to my cousin Teresa's house for a Christmas party. Teresa cooked the entire dinner which was delicious and her house felt very cozy and festive. We stayed for awhile and got to visit with Diane and Damon and my Aunt Audrey. Soon after winning a game of Mexican Bingo, we headed to home to Austin.

We enjoyed all of our stops along the way which extended our Christmas to a full week-long celebration. We are truly thankful to have so many people to see. Merry Christmas & Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!

Here’s another clue for you all…the walrus was Paula

I chose the infamous butcher cover for this post because last week's American Idol featured some butchering of some Lennon/McCartney standards. For the most part, though, the performances were entertaining and impressive in many respects. Next week will also be from the Lennon/McCartney catalog, but giving American Idol contestants another shot at Beatles songs is kind of like giving your puppy another crack at your new shoes. So in the interest of avoiding train wreck moments like the one that claimed David Hernandez, I'm doing my part to help the final 11 with their song selections. So below are each of the eleven contestants, the song they sang last week, the song they should sing this week, and the song they will sing this week.

Syesha Mercado
Sang: Got to Get You Into My Life
Should Sing: And Your Bird Can Sing
Will Sing: Get Back

Chikezie
Sang: She's a Woman
Should Sing: This Boy
Will Sing: Lady Madonna

Ramiele Malubay
Sang: In My Life
Should Sing: Cry Baby Cry
Will Sing: The Long and Winding Road

Jason Castro
Sang: If I Fell
Should Sing: Michelle
Will Sing: Two of Us

Carly Smithson
Sang: Come Together
Should Sing: Oh! Darling
Will Sing: She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

David Cook
Sang: Elanor Rigby
Should Sing: Hey Bulldog
Will Sing: Rain

Brooke White
Sang: Let It Be
Should Sing: I'll Follow the Sun
Will Sing: Fool on the Hill

Amanda Overmyer
Sang: You Can't Do That
Should Sing: Little Child
Will Sing: Birthday

Michael Johns
Sang: Across the Universe
Should Sing: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Will Sing: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

Kristy Lee Cook
Sang: Eight Days a Week
Should Sing: From Me to You
Will Sing: Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da

David Archuleta
Sang: We Can Work It Out
Should Sing: For No One
Will Sing: Yesterday

The Top Albums from A to Z

My wife is a coolfind buzzkill. For a couple weeks before the release of Vampire Weekend's debut album, it was highly anticipated by the half of the Lauve household that tries to be on the front edge of the indie scene. When the album came out, it was great---it will take an absolute masterpiece to unseat it as the best album of 2008---and it was like my little discovery. Until Brandi one day said, "You know that Vampire Weekend album is really hot right now." I looked it up, and sure enough, it was #2 on both Amazon and iTunes. So maybe it wasn't the undiscovered gem I thought it was. But it is, in my opinion, the greatest "V" album of all time, not there is much competition for that title (unless you're a Velvet Underground fan). Which got me to thinking about the greatest albums beginning with the other 25 letters. So here are my top albums from A to Z:

Abbey Road (The Beatles)
Rolling Stone naming this album the 14th greatest of all time is like Sports Illustrated naming Michael Jordan the 14th greatest athlete. Or like TV Guide naming Johnny Carson the 14th greatest talk show host of all time. Or like Cigar Aficionado naming Cuba the 14th greatest cigar-producing nation of all time.
Bookends (Simon & Garfunkel)
"A light and tumble journey from the East Side to the park"..."counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike"..."hear the Salvation Army band"...It always amazes me how Mr. Simon puts together these seemingly effortless and uniquely American images that just sort of spill together. There are two Simon lyrics from his solo career, "she makes the sign of a teaspoon, he makes the sign of a wave" and "I'm gonna stand guard like a postcard of a Golden Retriever," that sounded oddly appropriate even though I have no idea what they mean. I think those kind of lyrics have their root in "At the Zoo," which really doesn't get enough credit as a truly inventive song.
Catalogue of Generous Men (Modern Skirts)
Greatest debut album ever? The songwriting and harmonies are something to behold on this record, and they're even better in person.
Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)
I've tried all 26 of these albums as the soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz, and this is the only one that makes a lick of sense.
Eldorado (Electric Light Orchestra)
This one was a little impenetrable for me at first, but now I absolutely love it. I even listen to it at the gym. I bet I'm the only one.
Flood (They Might Be Giants)
A perfect combination of the out-of-left-field, Dial-A-Song quality of their early albums and the musical maturity and increasingly varied arrangements of their later stuff.
Green (R.E.M.)
This album got me thinking about direction in a way I hadn't before. Wonder why.
Her Majesty the Decemberists (The Decemberists)
This might not even be the best Decemberists album, but I'm giving it the nod over Help!, A Hard Day's Night, and the Bees' High Society as the best "H" album. Of course, any Decemberists album is like a combination of David Copperfield and Hot Words for the SAT.
Illinois (Sufjan Stevens)
This one really blew me away. I picked it up after Paste magazine called it the best album of 2005 (as many others did), and after listening to it I think it might be the best album of the last 20 years. Sufjan put an unbelievable amount of time into researching Illinois history and crafting some amazing arrangements, and it shows.
John Henry (They Might Be Giants)
The Johns finally show what they can do with a full band.
Keep Your Wig On (Fastball)
Not a hit to be found, but this is far and away their best album from beginning to end.
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Derek and the Dominos)
Personally, I think "Layla" is the 4th or 5th best song on the record.
Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles)
First Beatles album I ever owned, though it isn't really an album in the strictest sense. Still a great collection of incredible songs from the lads at their peak.
Not the Tremblin’ Kind (Laura Cantrell)
I fell in love with Laura Cantrell way before I even knew what alt country was.
Odessey and Oracle (The Zombies)
It's easy to look at the track listing and stop at "Time of the Season," as I did for a long time, but this is one of the great psychedelic albums of the 60s. The first time I heard "This Will Be Our Year," which was only a couple months ago, I thought, "How on earth have I never heard this before?"
Paul Simon (Paul Simon)
Stands beside McCartney and All Things Must Pass (both released two years earlier) as evidence that sometimes maybe it's just time for people to go their separate ways.
A Quick One (The Who)
Edges out Quadrophenia. Not a lot of "Q" albums to choose from, but for some reason the best ones are from The Who.
Rubber Soul (The Beatles)
Yes, I realize that Revolver also begins with an R. But this one has always been a half notch ahead for me.
Songs We Sing (Matt Costa)
This album is the result of the most serendipitous skateboarding accident in human history.
Tommy (The Who)
Easily a top five album in rock history, maybe the best ever. Whoever says that the Rolling Stones were the greatest contemporaries of the Beatles wasn't paying attention.
Undiscovered (James Morrison)
The 1995 me is angry with the 2008 me right now for not picking Under the Table and Dreaming, but this is such a great album. Just one song, "You Give Me Something," got any American radio play, but it's remarkable all the way through.
Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend)
What a unique sound---I hope their ability to make interesting music is a sign of things to come.
The Who Sell Out (The Who)
The fact that The Who released, within the space of two years (and consecutively), the greatest concept album (I'm not counting Sgt. Pepper's as a concept album) and the greatest rock opera ever never fails to blow my mind. This record is woefully underrated.
X&Y (Coldplay)
Needed something for "X." This is actually a surprisingly strong choice.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco) I'm not sure if this is my favorite Wilco album, but it definitely is one of the most consistently good all the way through.
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, The Rise and Fall of (David Bowie)
A little bit of a cheat, but the selection for "Z" is really thin. This one doesn't have very many of my favorite Bowie songs, but I suppose it will have to do. Not a big Zooropa or My Morning Jacket fan.

The Tournament Auction

Remember right before the release of Sgt. Peppers when all of the critics were saying, "Oh, the Beatles haven't got anything left," and then the album came out and they were all blown away? Well that's what this is like.

Rumors of the demise of SportsHistory.us have been greatly exaggerated. Over the past several months (wedding planning tended to get in the way of my writing for my website) I have been working on what could very well be most important thing I've ever introduced on the site. More important than the story of how I got on TV at the Rangers game? Well, that's for you to decide.

The tournament auction is going to revolutionize the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament gambling landscape. I didn't invent it, but I plan on bringing it to the masses. I've also, over the course of three years, developed an auction format that is fun and engaging for all types of people, and it is, in my opinion, far superior to the vast number of office pools and the emerging Calcutta auctions, which leave much to be desired.

SportsHistory.us was originally intended to be about big ideas, and this certainly qualifies. Follow the link below to read all about the tournament auction, and with only 33 days until Selection Sunday, it's never too early to contact me and tell me you want to be included in the 2008 tournament auction.

http://www.sportshistory.us/tournament_auction.html

Favorite Songs: 1957-2007

For those fans of the old SportsHistory blog who have been disappointed with the dearth of rankings on the new blog, this one's for you. It was actually a fun little trip through rock and roll history. It also serves as a demonstration of my inability to follow my own directions, as I had intended to highlight just one song per year but failed miserably in some cases. It ended up being ridiculous to pick just one favorite for certain years, so in the case of a tie, I listed two or more songs.

1957: Everyday (Buddy Holly)
1958: Oh Boy! (Buddy Holly)
1959: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (The Platters)
1960: Walk Don't Run (The Ventures)
1961: Mack the Knife (Bobby Darin)
1962: Telstar (The Tornadoes)
1963: She Loves You (The Beatles)
1964: It Ain't Me Babe (Bob Dylan)
        A Summer Song (Chad & Jeremy)
1965: Eve of Destruction (Barry McGuire)
        Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan)
        We Can Work It Out (The Beatles)
1966: Paperback Writer (The Beatles)
        Eight Miles High (The Byrds)
1967: New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Bee Gees)
        On a Carousel (The Hollies)
1968: Hey Bulldog (The Beatles)
1969: Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles)
        Sally Simpson (The Who)
1970: Apple Scruffs (George Harrison)
1971: I've Seen All Good People/Your Move (Yes)
1972: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Paul Simon)
1973: Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) (George Harrison)
1974: Nothing from Nothing (Billy Preston)
1975: Why Can't We Be Friends? (War)
1976: Livin' Thing (Electric Light Orchestra)
1977: Mr. Blue Sky (Electric Light Orchestra)
1978: Right Down the Line (Gerry Rafferty)
1979: On the Run (Electric Light Orchestra)
1980: Video Killed the Radio Star (The Buggles)
1981: Tempted (Squeeze)
1982: Steppin' Out (Joe Jackson)
1983: Everyday I Write the Book (Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
1984: So. Central Rain (R.E.M.)
1985: Take on Me (a-ha)
1986: She's an Angel (They Might Be Giants)
1987: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (R.E.M.)
1988: Heading for the Light (Traveling Wilburys)
1989: Veronica (Elvis Costello)
1990: Birdhouse in Your Soul (They Might Be Giants)
1991: The Other Side of Summer (Elvis Costello)
1992: Allison Road (Gin Blossoms)
        Dinner Bell (They Might Be Giants)
1993: Afternoons and Coffeespoons (Crash Test Dummies)
1994: Down with Disease (Phish)
        Destination Moon (They Might Be Giants)
1995: Underground (Ben Folds Five)
        Blue (The Jayhawks)
1996: Unsupervised, I Hit My Head (Mono Puff)
        So Fast, So Numb (R.E.M.)
1997: Seems So (Apples in Stereo)
1998: Out of My Head (Fastball)
1999: Maine (John Linnell)
2000: Churches off the Intestate (Laura Cantrell)
2001: August (Rilo Kiley)
2002: July, July! (The Decemberists)
        The Future That Was (Josh Joplin Group)
2003: Go On (The Elected)
        Saint Simon (The Shins)
2004: Living Life (Ben Kweller)
        Broke in Two (They Might Be Giants)
2005: First Day of My Life (Bright Eyes)
        Sixteen Military Wives (The Decemberists)
        My Lost Soprano (Modern Skirts)
        Story (The Rocket Summer)
        Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Sufjan Stevens)
2006: One Crowded Hour (Augie March)
        Imaginary Girl (The Bees)
        Fireflies in a Steel Mill (The Elected)
        Astair (Matt Costa)
2007: A Million Fireflies (The Midway State)
        Australia (The Shins)

Reindeer Rally ‘07

http://pictures.thelauves.com/reindeerrally0712.html

Webster's defines "commencement" as "a beginning". If that's the case, then December 15, 2007 was a day of significant commencements, both the kind accomplished by walking across a stage and the kind brought about by running through a mall.

We left the driveway at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday in order to make Cristina's 9:00 a.m. graduation. Cristina is the last of the three Lauve kids to graduate from Texas A&M, and to say we have the drill down at this point is an understatement. Texas A&M is a great school, but unfortunately its graduation ceremony leaves a little to be desired. That's a problem with big school graduations: they feature huge numbers of people walking across the stage, and in the case of A&M, the graduation is split into three different ceremonies, which means we usually don't get the benefit of high-profile speakers. But it was a good ceremony, and Cristina did a great job getting her last name pronounced correctly.

My aunt Diana told us that after Cristina's graduation we would go back toward Houston and participate in the first ever Reindeer Rally, which none of us could quite make heads or tails of. Expecting some sort of athletic competition, I was surprised when we pulled up to Katy Mills Mall, which, for me, is not a place I prefer to go any way other than kicking and screaming.

As it turns out, the Reindeer Rally (at least the 2007 incarnation of it) is a scavenger hunt. A very involved scavenger hunt that requires collecting items, gathering information, and taking pictures throughout the giant donut-shaped outlet mall. We were split into teams (my cousin Eric was with me, Alicia was with Brandi, Cristina was with my cousin Cecilia, my dad was with Diana, and my mom was with my uncle Kyle) and given a packet of tasks that included the following:

• Get a picture taken while talking with a kiosk vendor


• Transcribe John 1:14


• Get a picture taken in a jersey from an athletic store


• Grab a free food sample


• Place pennies in the wishing well


• Operate a remote-controlled vehicle


• Play Dance Dance Revolution


• Purchase a t-shirt for a child


• Purchase a teddy bear


• Purchase a children's educational book


• Get a picture taken while getting a massage


• Purchase 1/2 pound of candy


• Find the 10th track on Bing Crosby's Christmas album


• Make a souvenir penny


• Buy some bubble gum and blow a bubble


• Play the shooting gallery

What follows are the stories of two of the five Reindeer Rally teams. They wouldn't let Brandi and me be on the same team, but that didn't keep us from posting excellent results in the soon-to-be-perennial event.

Brandi and Alicia's Team
Even before I knew what Reindeer Rally was, I knew I was going to like it. I enjoy surprises, and figured that no matter what it was, it would give me some bonding time with my new family. When Diana called out the pairings, I had a feeling that Alicia and I would do well together. In fact, I thought we had a pretty good chance of winnning. With Daniel acting as though he was non-plussed with the atmosphere, and Eric and Cecilia both going through separate phases of being too cool for reindeer games, Alicia and I were the only pairing where both teammates were eager for the challenge.

Quickly we were off, taking our positions-Alicia deciding which store we were going to go to next and me reading off the instructions for each. Alicia did a superb job at creating the charted course of the mall so that we made sure and did each task in order as the stores were found. One of our biggest mistakes was really due to my poor reading of context clues. I read, "Go to the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, look for the shooting gallery and take one picture of your teammate shooting a round, and another of their score" and thought it was referring to golf so we spent some good quality time looking for a driving range in Outdoor World. Sorry Alicia! It also took us several minutes to figure out to take a picture of our score so probably not our shining moment in the contest. This was also around the time where I wondered allowed if Daniel was able to put his issues with shopping behind him and enjoy the fun of Reindeer Rally.

Probably one of our best feats was bribing a smart pre-teen and her little sister to let us break in line and play Dance Dance Revolution for long enough for us to take a picture. The oldest sibling informed us that in order for us to do so, we would need to pay not only her for the game but for her sister to play too! That's where we first spotted Cristina & Cecilia. Alicia and I started to run through the mall towards the end as we could feel Cristina and Cecilia close on our heels. Imagine my surprise and our slight disappointment when we were told by our benevolent judges (Grandmommie & Aunt Dortha) that Daniel and Eric were the first to finish!

Even with that sad mement of realizing we came in 2nd, the Reindeer Ralley was truly a success. Not only did we learn about each other and enjoy the hunt, we also got to contribute a donation to Salvation Army in the end. Each of collected a shirt, teddy bear and book for a different child in need. We also celebrated the winners in all of us since everyone, even the parents, did complete the scavenger hunt. We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and had the Sparkling Volcanoan Dessert! We had a really good day celebrating Cristina and her graduation and then each other in the spirit of giving! I'm very excited to see what next year's Reindeer Rally brings.

Daniel and Eric's Team
My less-than-rosy disposition on a mall-based scavenger hunt changed as soon as I heard the teams announced. When I thought we were going to be doing a lot of running around, I thought of this as a competition between Eric's team and my team. Now that the two top competitors (in the DL preseason power rankings) were on the same team, it was obvious what had to happen: we had to run away with this thing.

My initial thought on the contest was that it was going to be very close. I figured that the difference between first and second place would be less than a minute, which meant cutting out seconds wherever possible. The instructions gave us just one rule, that each team had to stay together, so everything else was open to interpretation. This led to our three-word mantra: "keep the change". We were supplied with envelopes filled with money for most of our stops, and we probably shaved off a couple minutes by being slightly careless with my aunt and uncle's money. The rest of it came from good old two-guys-trying-to-get-out-of-the-mall impatience. We abhorred waiting in line, and for the last half hour or so, we ran everywhere we went.

The highlight of our scavenger hunt had to be the massage. The instructions said that we had to get our picture taken while getting a massage, and the massage envelope included four quarters. Remarkably, ours was the only team that couldn't figure out that we were expected to pop four quarters into an electric massage chairs. So when we came across a massage station with real live masseuses ($15 minimum), I decided to try and negotiate a $1 massage. What we ended up agreeing to was $2 for a 15-second massage, which gave us a picture that I think was the best one from Reindeer Rally.

After frantically scrambling through the final few tasks and getting our pictures developed, we raced to the finish line and were surprised to find that we were first. When you think about it, it's kind of remarkable that the only all-male team ended up being the best at navigating the mall. For the sake of competition, I hope that next year's Reindeer Rally involves baking or painting fingernails or something like that; otherwise, it's bound to be much more lopsided than this year's.