Going back to where I last left off, Alcatraz with my parents was really fun. The first time I went was just in and out because it was really packed and I didn’t really have time to go to the different break outs and stuff. They have things like A&E type documentaries and speeches about the history of Alcatraz and some of the escapes.  My dad is a really big history buff so he knew everything about everything that went down there, and he was real excited about it.

Mostly it was just fun to hang out with my sister s and my parents. Basically, we just laugh a ton when we are together. My middle sister is really, really funny. She just cracks me up. I think we have the same personality. My dad gets a little sensitive because everyone picks on him. Sometimes I try to back him up since he’s had to live with three girls ever since I left for college. He misses his boy, so I try to defend him and stay on his side somewhat.

My family wanted something to do on Saturday night so they opted to go to this comedy show in San Jose while I was at the team hotel. They left a little late and my dad gets real panicky when he’s not on time, and my mom and sisters are ALWAYS late, so he was already on edge. Then, they couldn’t find any place to park and they ended up far away and in kind of a bad spot with people breaking into fights and yelling at them as they walked by. They were a bit scared but they made it there, only to find out that only five other people showed up for the early show. I guess the management told my family they could either come back for the late show or get a refund because they weren’t going to put it on only for five people.  They took the rain check and so basically went through all of that trouble for nothing.

On to the bye week, Snyder had his kid on Tuesday, and no, I didn’t pull a Knocked Up move and make my way into the birthing room.  They induced in the morning and Kiel Richard Snyder, 8 pounds, 1 ounce, 21 inches was born at 1:14pm. I know all of that. I’m the proud uncle.  Later that afternoon, myself, Heitmann and his wife, and Baas and his wife went up to visit them and meet the little guy.

He’s the cutest thing. He came out looking like an alien, he was all smashed and really pale, but now he’s really super cute. He’s got Erika’s looks, which is a good thing. Snyder kept busting out old baby pictures and holding them up trying to say that his kid looks just like him, but we were like not really. Snyder is not good looking, so fortunately he doesn’t look like him.

I went back over against last Thursday after practice and hung out some more with them.

On Friday night, I had them over to my house, along with Heit and his wife, and Baas and his wife. It’s always me, the single guy, with all of the married couples but fortunately all of their wives are super cool to be around.

To hand out candy, I dressed up in a Superman outfit that Heitmann had worn before. It’s hard to find fat guy outfits. I had a ton of trick-or-treaters. I was giving out full sized candy bars and since I had a ton and really didn’t think that I was going to have that many people, I was giving out two or three to each kid. I ended up running out early, but fortunately Baas brought over about six or seven huge bags from Costco so we had plenty. I guess some of the kids eventually figured out that there were 49ers players at my house because all of the sudden we got crushed, not for candy, but for autographs. They didn’t have pen or paper, so we had to run and get that for them, and we were scrambling but we got it taken care of and they left happy.

After all of that, we decided to film a horror movie. We were all dead serious about it too. Heitmann was the director and the rest of our were actors. We shot from different angles and were really on a roll but then we got sidetracked telling ghost stories, and that was the end of that.  So, that was Halloween.

On Sunday, I watched a bunch of football, and on Monday, I headed back to Snyder’s after practice to hang out with my nephew. He was wearing one of the outfits that I got him that said, “I’m kind of a big deal. “

 I am proud to say that I learned how to change a diaper.  I want to babysit him sometime so I figured I needed to learn. He had a poopy diaper and it was really gross.

The bye week was great. I got some rest and worked out a lot, and it was a good week to get in a lot of extra film work. The offensive line spent a lot of time in the film room. I went through all of the cutups of when we had a pressure or a sack to find out what went wrong and what we could do to fix it. During the  normal week, you are focusing on one team and game planning against their scheme and stunts, but you really don’t get a chance to watch yourself.  I had a chance to do that over the course of the bye, and I think it was good to watch yourself and see what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong, and what you can improve. So I watched as much film as I could.

I think this game is going to be awesome.  We got a victory last year at their place and we have to get back to winning, especially on Monday night in front of a national audience. We need to start the second half of the season on the right foot, and show that we are not a team that is down or out and that we are not going to quit. We are going to play hard and we are looking forward to it. It’s going to be a good challenge for our offensive line because they have a good front seven and I think you always play up to the competition you play against. It should bring out the best in everybody and I’m looking forward to us handling our assignments so that we can win this game.

We’ve got a new quarterback in Shaun Hill playing, but a familiar one for us. He does a good job of not forcing anything and taking what the defense gives him. He’s a good game manager. That’s a stupid term, but to us, it means that we keep the ball in our hands. We take time off the clock. His first series against Seattle, we went 12 plays, 7 minutes and that’s managing the football game – keeping the ball in the offense’s hands and the defense off the field. So, I’m excited about it.

I used to watch Monday Night Football of course as a kid but I always had a bedtime and probably only watched the first half unless the Steelers were on. But everyone in the country watches and it’s a good chance to showcase what you can do. It’s also more pressure because you don’t want to screw up in front of everybody, so I think it tends to bring out the best. I can’t wait!