Mom, birthdays, and handmade jerseys.

1. I had a birthday on 7/21.

2. RJ08, who is now officially RJ12 on the Jets (as he was in L.A.) and 30 years old, had his on 7/23. I was busy moving that day, but I sent a midnight tweet wishing him many happy returns and steak and potatoes. (I'm sure he appreciated it.)

3. My mother sent me a handmade jersey for my birthday.

4. I'm not lying: http://yfrog.com/h4nxvjrxj

5. I hope mperreault loves it, as my Caps blogging friends would have me believe.

That is all.

One year, two ways.

Just yesterday, mperreault signed a one-year, two-way contract with Washington.

Within hours of me having tweeted relief at this, a total stranger (and apparent Caps blogger) challenged me, politely, to defend mperreault's honor as an NHL-caliber center.

Apparently the guy has a hard-on for Marcus Johansson and didn't much like that I said he would be mperreault's main competition. Nor did he appreciate my statement about turnover in the NHL and that I could see mperreault in Boston in 2013, insisting that they'll keep the centers they already have.

And all this, of course, was going on in a public forum, with lord knows who reading. Thanks, guy. I'm all done with that; I've got work to do.

It makes me hope that mperreault has a breakout season and then leaves rather than gets traded. (I'm with you, wherever you wind up--you know this.) I mean, hell, *I* just got a new job. It could very well be contagious.

RFA, UFA, a/s/l, WTF acronyms...

One of these fellows is an RFA--restricted free agent--that's mperreault.

As of Monday, the Caps gave him an offer and also reserved the right to match any offer he receives from another team. So, there's the restriction.

As for the UFA--unrestricted free agent, in the form of RJ08--he's still listed as being on the Lightning roster, but no blurbs about him being re-signed just yet. I wouldn't mind him being a few hundred miles closer, but Florida is awfully nice in the winter. Oh, the dilemma.

Looks like I'm 100% sure on a Caps apparel purchase, but still on the fence about anything else. I was even tempted to buy a player-number t-shirt in Pittsburgh over the weekend because it said "Jones." Yeah, yeah. Wrong city, sport, and first name. And the guy probably can't skate, either.

On the up side, I did get to see Heinz Field. No, it's not made of ketchup.