Life 2.1

My dad used to tape newspaper articles to our refrigerator when my brothers and I were growing up. Articles would appear in the mornings, if he read the paper prior to our getting up for school, or in the evenings, if it was something that crossed his desk while at he was at work. The content of the articles varied from sports tips to social commentary that served as food for thought to those that were meant to entertain. Sometimes there was highlighted text, of which we knew to take special note.

If I had someone who saw my fridge besides myself, I would totally post this article on it. Since I don’t, I’m posting here.

When my brother Joe graduated high school in 2003, my graduation present to him was a ginormous scrapbook of all his sports accomplishments in high school. In truth, I had actually given him the first chunk of the album for Christmas in 2001, because there was enough material, and gave him the balance at graduation. I took alllll his football articles and alllll his baseball articles, combined them with photos (being nice to the yearbook lady in high school totally paid off, she gave me a whole CD of photos since I was in college myself during his junior and senior years) and the finished product was actually TWO ginormous scrapbooks.

Well, for those of you playing at home, I have two brothers. And Ted also received his first installment of his album for Christmas in 2005, with junior and senior years still owed to him upon his high school graduation in 2007. That came and went, and I still had a very large bag of newspaper articles that would have intimidated even the most seasoned scrapbooker. But…I finished it. Finally. Nevermind the fact that the kid is headed into his junior year of college. That’s neither here nor there.

But, since he is getting his present later today upon my arrival back on the west coast (assuming that ever happens :/ ), and because I’m confident he never checks my blog, I’m posting the images. Because that sucker is thick and I’m, adding it to the Scraptastic Gallery so it won’t take days to load on one page. Here’s the latest additions:

Ted’s Senior Year (2006-2007)

Ted’s Junior Year (2005-2006)

Oh yea. And Go Indians too.

I love football season. I mean, I love baseball season but the two are different. There is something about the smell of football (shoulder pads, mixed with sweat, mixed with grass) that I love. I especially love it under the lights. I love baseball just as much, but in a different way. (I’m not sure why I needed to justify that but I felt the need.)

At any rate, tonight is Monday Night Football. And not just any Monday Night Football. This is the Saints taking on Atlanta. The UNDEFEATED SAINTS against the Falcons. It’s huge in this town. New Orleans is a football city. I mean, after the huge win over Miami last week, I actually got a text message on Sunday at 9pm that said something like, “Saints land at 10pm. See you at the airport.” Like that is totally normal to go to the airport. I didn’t go (obvi, I like sleep) but word on the street was that cars were lined up for miles outside the private airport.

This was the scene (taken from nola.com) at the airport. And the best part? The Saints players stopped to sign autographs. For a long time. Nice.

New Orleans has no pro baseball team so I can’t compare how they would be for a World Series event but I have to say, today….today, ladies and gentlemen, I was impressed.

It was Monday. No one likes Monday. Except the Monday where you get to wear Saints/black & gold clothing to work in place of a suit and tie. I went to work today (not in Saints gear because I literally didn’t get the memo) and I’m pretty sure everyone that I came in contact with today didn’t want to/was not working. (Not me though, I work all the time. Double on Saturdays. Triple on Sundays. All the time, in case you’re reading this Mike.) Why? Because they were all.getting.ready.for.The.Game.

Please note that The Game is capitalized. Because it is that important.

To illustrate my point, I took these pics from my car (when I was working) today at approximately 1:30pm near the Superdome.

Yes that is a Saints blowup man

The tailgating started early. As in 7 hours early.

And these pics don’t even do it justice but I was getting ready to merge onto a major interstate and value my life so it’s the best I could do.

As I walked between accounts today, I was amazed at the buzz of activity. Oddly, the first thought that popped into my head was hmm, this sure is going to stimulate the local economy. This is also how I know I’m an adult. I think of adult things like the economy.

Everyone was in Saints jerseys, women donned black and gold boas and fleur-de-lis. It was really impressive. That’s really the only word I can use to describe such passion. And believe me, it is passion.

I know him. Seriously.

For my CA readers who haven’t experienced quite such a thing, don’t be alarmed. He is actually a very nice person.

But I just thought I would attempt to capture such a day/emotion/passion because, really, there is nothing like it. So I guess there really is just one thing left to say.

Who Dat???

Talk about a whirlwind weekend! There was definitely not a moment spared while I was in town. Since we already recapped Thursday, let’s do a quick run down (we all know I’m much too long-winded for a quick recap) of the remaining weekend days.

Friday: I woke up early to meet Amanda (the bride-to-be) and Aleah to get our toes and nails done for the wedding. I should first share an Amanda-Colleen story. When we were sophomores in high school, we both invited boys to the Turnabout Dance. It was the high school version of a winter formal in a sadie hawkins format. Amanda had asked her boyfriend at the time (now hubby!) and I asked Bobby. Bobby was pretty much my other brother but he made for a good date so it worked out.

The dance was just after Valentine’s Day and I found this adorable (although very early late 90s/early 2000s) red ankle-length dress with spaghetti straps and a black lace overlay. I was feeling quite lovely in said dress. We had all planned to meet at my house before the dance and my mom was cooking dinner for us at Molly’s Country Kitchen since we couldn’t even drive yet (!!)

You can imagine my surprise when Amanda, who had shopped separately for her dress, showed up in the exact.same.one. Only in blue. We had a good laugh about it and I was declared the shopping winner since my dress was cheaper because it was red and it was post-Valentine’s Day.

Ok. Back to Friday. So I haven’t seen Amanda in months. Like, over a year. That is a very long time for us to go without a Target trip people. But as I sat chatting with her mom at the Pro Nails, waiting for her and Aleah, imagine my shock and immediately laughter when she came in wearing the exact same shirt I had on. And this wasn’t just any shirt. It’s not like it was a white t-shirt and jeans uniform or something. See the below:

Twinsies

What are the odds? Only this time, it was Amanda who was declared the shopping winner since she bought hers at a thrift store for a steal of a deal while I only found mine on clearance. Ha!

At any rate, we had a good morning of pampering, thus the pic of some of the content ladies:

Left to right: Aleah Amanda Me and Kristina

Following my mani-pedi, I met up with my girls (and guy–way to hang in there JHart) from the winery and had lunch at one of my favorite places ever: Taqueria Rosita! It was everything I had hoped for and more in a burrito form. sigh.

JHart in the back, Vicki, Melissa, Morgan, Me, KK, Andi and Megan

Then I quickly ran to a hair appointment and got ready for Amanda and Ben’s rehearsal dinner, followed by (wait for it…) Friday night football at Memorial!!! Yay!!!!

Oh man do I miss it. I even miss the confetti that is thrown without care after every touchdown Napa scores (almost )

The culprits of the confetti are the daughters of the head coach (and yes, that white stuff in my hair is definitely confetti. Peyton and Kennedie had to make up for lost time):

Peyton Me and Kennedie

I was also excited to get to see Charles play, who is also like an extended brother, since his mom Cindy is pretty much a big sister/aunt to me. Much like his older brother (who is John, the reason I proudly don my Oregon fleece), Charles is all over the football field doing everything and doin’ it well. Did I mention it was throwback jersey night since Napa High was honoring the 1959 team that went undefeated? Check out these sweet jerseys:

Me and Charles

Friday was a FULL day but I’m glad I packed it all in…

Saturday’s recap will follow shortly but I have to board a plan back to New Orleans because quite frankly, an hour in Houston is all I can take at this hour of the morning. No offense to Houston, I just REALLY REALLY want to be in my own place since I had the pleasure of seeing the sun rise this lovely Monday morning.

I mean, there really is no place like home. I should know. I arrived at mine today after not having been there since Christmas. That may not seem like a long time in the grand scheme of kids being away from home but for this kid it sure was a long time!

Since my weekend is jam-packed with events, I did something every no person whose every minute is spoken for should do: I didn’t sleep Wednesday night. This was a mistake for many reasons. Mainly because I like sleep and while I don’t mean to, I turn into someone similar to Maxine the cartoon when I don’t get enough shuteye.

My biting sarcasm index raises exponentially.

Lucky for me, I made up some of the hours on the plane. By the time I awoke, we were making our initial descent into Sacramento, where my dad was picking me up. We headed to lunch then drove home. I surveyed our backyard and saw what could only have been something out of a magazine. Well done, parental units. Pictures will be taken on Sunday at my family dinner.

Thursday afternoon/evening also found me at a freshmen football game. That’s odd outta me, I know. For those of you who don’t know, my brother is the offensive coordinator/QB coach for the wobbleheads (aka the freshmen) and my cousin plays on the team. I love being at that stadium but since I’m going Friday night after the rehearsal dinner, I’ll probably post pictures then.

The blog might be picture-iffic for the next few days…I’m just sayin’.

The game got over at 4 and the rookies won and looked pretty good doing it. (Must be the coaching.) Since it was about dinner time, my dad and mom took Ted (my other brother) and me to Red Rock Cafe for my favorite burger (my brother Joe was scouting an opponent after the game then had film to breakdown so he couldn’t make it to dinner.)

It was a solid first day and night back but it makes me wish my stay was longer!