a competition, footie, and a wedding

First I want to thank all who cast a vote for this blog on the eCollege Finder Writing Blog Award.  I wasn't a winner, but it was fun to participate. Final results when I get them!

Next, The Super Bowl, which Bob and I watched with great enthusiasm and as little hype as possible.  We waited to turn on the TV just until the actual game started, saw the coin toss, then sat down for an afternoon of our favorite sport.  Our teams may be different, but it's safe to say that both Bob and I LOVE American football. No other sport comes close.

Last year with his Packers involved it was nerve-wracking, hard to enjoy.  This year with the New England Patriots playing it wasn't quite that bad, but neither of us can stomach that team.  Ours may have been beaten by the New York Giants to get to the big dance, but that didn't stop us from rooting for them full out.  As Bob noted, if they won, we could say we lost to the Super Bowl winners, which isn't quite a salve, but certainly better than saying we lost to the guys who lost to the Patriots.

Football is a funny sport; physical, also needing finesse.  Crazy plays lead to defying athletic feats which make the footie-loving heart soar.  Mario Manningham's stunning 38-yard sideline catch kept the Giants alive and will be remembered far and wide, while Ahmad Bradshaw's near toppling into the end zone raises a smile.  The Pats let him score and he tried to stay out, so wanting to let that last minute tick down right there on the Pat's goal line.  Still, stumblin' bumblin' and rumblin' (hats off to Chris Berman) is how football is played.  That last hail Mary pass by Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady hit the ground as those precious seconds slipped from the scoreboard, and for the second time in four years, the New York Giants had won the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the expense of one particular team, a team that seems to have lost that Midas touch.

In Britain, the Super Bowl ran in the dark of night, sort of like how I find myself starting the day.  In America, the game spans the afternoon/evening, depending on your time zone, and as I watched, messaging with Thea about wedding details (centerpieces), I was fully caught up in a game turned national holiday.  Now, Bob and I mute the commercials, which might sound like blasphemy to many.  For many, that's the best part, like my eldest, who was watching those spots, trying to ignore my gentle prodding (centerpieces, champagne flutes, cake slicers).  Thea couldn't give two figs about football, also wasn't too intrigued by monogrammed cake knives.  As her mum, I throw these out, seeing what sticks.  She liked the idea of engraved toasting glasses, but sniffed at the idea of a cake knife just for the day.  I don't care, it's her wedding.  I'm the sounding board, making sure as many P's and Q's are noted (centerpieces).  As we messaged, Bob fired up the barbecue, Bud formed hamburger patties, then I took a break to slice onions and cheese.  Then back to my laptop (centerpieces); but I kidded my daughter that I was feeling a novel form in our innocuous online chatter, then considered what that might be like, a novel written in the form of online messaging.  If done well...

(centerpieces)

She gave several smiley faces, a ninja or two, as I again prodded (centerpieces).  Actually, she has an idea, has been considering it since we started all this banter; she wants books.  Yes, books, three or four stacked, tied in ribbon.  But getting her to make a decision is like watching football, wishing for the best outcome, unsure if it will occur.  Bob and I were dying for New York to win, but it took all sixty minutes of regulation time for that to occur.  As for Thea's wedding...

(centerpieces)

(ninja pokes head up, slips away, peers out again)

Well, there's going to be something on those tables besides white cloths.  Probably not San Francisco 49ers helmets, nor Green Bay Packers paraphernalia.  But maybe books, perhaps our own or those we find for cheap that if guests wish to take home, all they have to do is untie the ribbon, carry off a novel.  Thea is a huge reader of actual paperback (and the occasional hardcover) books, not to mention how she twisted my arm to land here on this blog.  It's just making her decide, making her choose.  She chose lovely flutes which will carry her and Brian's names, she eschewed monogrammed cake slicers.  And of course we have the dress, will pick that up later this week.  But other niggles remain, maybe how the Patriots felt when Bradshaw stumbled, bumbled, and rumbled into the end zone with fifty-seven seconds left on the clock.  New England had three ticks less than a minute and one time out to go the length of the field for a touchdown, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

At least with Thea's wedding, ordinary cake knives won't make or break the day.

(Ahem, centerpieces...)