Happy Belated Birthday

to Meeeeee!

Not really, but I told BS that all I wanted for my birthday was to go to a Virginia Tech football game. Didn't care when or which one, as long as I got to go. Didn't even matter if the game wasn't anywhere near my birthday, as long as I got to go.

I WANNA GO!!!!!

Really? Me? I wanted football for my birthday?
*knocks self in head*

Yes. Times change, people change, and my smug & condescending distaste of football turned into an unexpected & fervent fondness for the Hokies once the family kids started going to VT for all their high cost higher learnin'.
And I have partaken of the proverbial crow ever since.

So, anyway, BS got tickets for the NC State game this past weekend. And through extra tickets and schedule changes, one of his good friends and Sista G ended up going with us. Sista G, for all her living in Roanoke (only 45 min away from B'burg) and years of Hokie nieces & nephews, had never been to a football game. Any game. Anywhere.
(and she's even more rabid about football than I am)

Hot dawg! Good times on the way!

But first things first.
I had to go explain to SOMEONE that I couldn't watch the game with him this time
on account of I was gonna be at the game.
Boy, did I get the stink-eye.
The worst of the stink-eye was over by the time I grabbed the camera.


I had to pacify him with the promise of souvenirs.
Lots of them.

So, BS + friend + I left after work on Friday (and I got to doze in the back seat. ahhh, pure pleasure)
to stay the night at Sista G's. We left for the game a little after noon on Saturday.
BS & friend were staying the night in B'burg, so he drove my car & Sista G drove hers.

Now, seeing as how this was the last home game of the season, traffic was going to be a bitch. See?


So BS took us the scenic route to avoid those all those crazy VT drivers (present company excluded ;-).
That's BS & friend ahead in my li'l green car.

It was a really lovely little winding hilly twisty twisty road . . .


. . . and Sista G took great pleasure in careening around the curves
so we could pretend we were on a roller coaster. Pretty close.



If you listen closely, you can hear me mumble something about throwing up.

First stop - the bookstore for the promised souvenirs.
Next stop - the looooong walk . . .



. . . to joy & fun & yee-haw!




Including the super secret sniper spies on the roof.



We ate giant smoked turkey legs, yelled a lot, did the wave, stomped, hooted, hollered, shivered,
and generally had a heck of a good time.
Yes, we won. By a lot.
Random shots from the night:

Someone's unfortunate idea of a practical joke


Sista G


BS & friend


BS


Thank you Beloved Son for a terrific birthday.
I had 2 months to look forward to it, which made it all the sweeter!

And,
in the spirit of tomorrow, and since the VT mascot vaguely resembles a turkey,



HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Who'd have believed? (new & improved with added video)

If you were to ask me 20 years ago if I would get excited about watching football and participate in any of the following activities . . .

• make sure I am wearing all my Hokie paraphanelia on game day

• rush back to St. Mary's so I can watch the game with a 14 year old boy who loves the Hokies as much as I do. And yes, I am talking about Brandon (BS was in B'burg for the game). And let me tell you, that boy knows more about football than I do

• beat my fist on the table when the other team scores to the point that I have to cradle my hand for awhile

• yell out loud to the point that out switchboard operator had to ask me to close the door

• jump out of my seat and run around the conference table in the boardroom (where I brought the big screen tv) waving my arms around when we score a touchdown. Heck, I do this even when we get a first down

• pummel said 14 year old boy (albeit ever so gently) on the arm when it looks like we are really going to win

. . . I would have said you were nuts.

WHOO-HOO!

And let me tell you, the last minute of the game was the best I have ever seen:

ps - BS just got home and told me that the Nebraska fans are some of the nicest he has ever met, and (being a bartender in Blacksburg for so long), he has met quite a few. So Nebraska, even though I am celebrating that you lost . . . Even though I know you wanted to win as much as we did . . . Even though I will hope for your crushing defeat the next time we play you . . . YEA HUSKERS!

Hokies Football & Team Hoyt

Saturday & Sunday were jam packed with fun!!!

That wasn't even sarcastic. It was fun.

First off was the season opener of Virginia Tech football against Alabama in Atlanta on Saturday night. The Hokies started the season at the #7 position, and Alabama was #5. So, a pretty even match maybe? Although we lost one of our best running backs to injury, Tyrod Taylor was there as quarterback. VT did pretty well, but part of our success was due to errors on Alabama's part.

So, guess where I was?


Since we can't take Brandon to Blacksburg this year (damn that Swine Flu!), we are making a concerted effort to watch the games with him at the Home so he doesn't miss them.

I said "we", didn't I?


I have a feeling it's going to be more of "I" than "we". No one else could join us for our big-screen par-tay.


I hauled the big screen TV into the board room so my neck didn't suffer the cricks & strains of last year - looking up at the little bitty tv dangling from the ceiling in the break room:


Brandon had his usual game day noshes of a couple sips of strawberry milkshake & a couple licks of barbeque sauce.
This is haute cuisine for him. Trust me. But I got the rest of the milkshake. There's a method to my madness.
Mwaahahah.

He particularly liked the commercial about drunk driving where the cars were full of beer. Cracked him up each time. We had fun.

But, alas, the Hokies couldn't pull out a win.


The game, however, was an action-packed thriller. VT pulled off a 94 yard run for a touchdown that was a thing of beauty.
Alabama got a lot of flags & penalties. Brandon was so excited, I had to hold him down, lllliterally.


His right arm is his wild arm, usually going off in directions he doesn't intend.
This disrupts his control over the rest of his body, so he likes to have us hold his arm to help keep him steady.
And I just liked the picture of our clasped hands. Makes my eyes get moist.

Here's the thing. The game started at 8. It wasn't over until almost midnight.
He closed his eyes for all of 7.5 seconds during the 3rd quarter. By the 4th quarter, we were both yawning every minute,
but he still wouldn't hear of going to bed.

Darn. Normally, it wouldn't be a darn, but I had to get up at the disturbingly early hour of 4 am
for the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon, and I didn't end up getting to bed until 1 am.
You do the math.

This was what greeted me when I arose at 4.



Team Hoyt VB (Virginia Beach) were able to take 18 young people with disabilities to the race this year.


I've written about them before. Part of their goal is to raise funds for St. Mary's,
and some of us from The Home help them in this noble endeavor.
We get the kids positioned in the jogging strollers and place ourselves around the route
to assist with flat tires & kids that need repositioning.

Here is the water stop just past our station in the wee hours of the morning.


My spot this year, with 2 of my colleagues, was along the median of General Booth Blvd to catch them coming southbound at the 3 mile mark, then again northbound at the 9 1/2 mile mark.
Our gear consisted of the Team Hoyt Flags and a bag of positioning aids - foam, wedges, and the like.
I took a picture both with and without the flash. I love the difference, especially in the reflective part of the barrel.


Looking north, the road is empty.
But soon, the runners would come south on the left hand side of the picture at 3 miles mark,
wind their way through some neighborhoods,
and come back north on the right hand side of the picture as they passed us at 9 1/2 miles.


The first people out of the gate were the wheelchair racers. These guys can fly.


Then, even though Team Hoyt were allowed to start next, the elite racers overtook them pretty quickly.
But hey, they didn't have to push 100 pounds worth of jogging stroller & person.




Then came the initial waves (mobs) of runners.


The Rock n' Roll is a pretty laid back race, and there were the occasional costumes, including Elvis.



And, let me tell you, I caught Elvis on the homestretch. In that hot suit. And the dude was still running.
And hardly sweating. Way to go Elvis!


I used the action mode on my camera for most all of these pictures. Spent - no, make that wasted - a lot of time being fascinated by things like these 3 ladies all in midair at the same point in their stride.


Somewhere around 27,000 people passed us.
The sight of the endless - ENDLESS - stream of runners (and walkers) is staggering.
It took almost 3 hours for everyone to pass us in the southbound lanes.
I have no idea if those last racers (they were actually walkers) even finished.
We left as soon as Team Hoyt passed us at 9.5 and they reopened the road.

This little guy wanted to high-five everyone that passed. He got in a lot of slaps before his mom took him away.


And across the street from us was a group of girls who cheered everyone on.
With chants and dancing and everything. For the whole 3 hours, without stopping.
They were troopers.


The fascinating part was having the runners at the beginning of the run on the right, and the runners on the homestretch on the left. After awhile, the left-hand side stragglers were walking at the 3 mile point, but the right-hand side people were still running after 9.5 miles.




Then, finally, the last walkers pass by. A nap is within my grasp at last. My couch is calling me.


Going back to the car and looking out at the course, the sunlight was filtering through the trees,
so I wanted a picture of that too. I like trees. And clouds.


Next, Labor Day pig butt.

The Joys of Football

10 years ago, putting 'joy' and 'football' in the same sentence would have been an oxymoron to me.
(Like 'military intelligence'. You aren't tired of hearing that one, are you?)
Didn't watch it, didn't understand it, didn't care. Then BS applied to and was accepted at Virginia Tech, and a surprisingly thing happened. I started to like it.

Ever since, I am, shall we say, enthusiastic about football. Wait, let me clarify that and say I am selectively enthusiastic about football. I have learned to understand it, and if there is a team playing that interests me in some way, I will watch the game and enjoy every minute. I am a Hokies fan first and foremost, and a Tarheels fan second (since I grew up there).

How can anyone not get excited when in the midst of this:


By clarifying that the team 'interests me in some way', that means it is a team from a place that I have friends or family, where I used to live, has cool stuff, things like that. With the exception of VT, I would not be able to tell you the name of a single player.

Now, about the Super Bowl. I take it the teams involved are going to be these:

So, who do I root for?

Before I tell you, I have a pet peeve to unload. When a team relocates, and they had a name specific to their area, they should change the name.

Case in point - the New Orleans Jazz. I get that there may be reasons to move a team. But come on, Jazz and NOLA are synonymous. What the heck does Utah have to do with Jazz? Change the stinkin' name to something that is reflective of Utah, like the Bigamists or something.

And the Lakers are another one. They came from Minnesota - the land of a thousand lakes. Makes sense. So they move to LA and KEEP THE NAME? C'mon. Make up your own.

The Steelers started out and stayed in Pittsburgh, the city of steel mills. Great name. But would someone please tell me what Cardinals and Arizona have in common? I don't think they even have cardinals in Arizona.

So..... who will I root for? Here's how I come up with the answer:

• Cardinals - stupid name. But I have very special friends that live in Arizona. Friends who I love so much that I consider them part of my family. And Arizona is the home of the Grand Canyon and "...standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona...", not to mention the Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, and the Wigwam Motel. I saw those things, and will no doubt attach pictures to this post. And when we went there, I decided I could be very happy living in Flagstaff.
  

• Steelers - good name. I have ancestral history in Pennsylvania from way back. And it also has a lot of Dutch people with hex signs on their barns and nice Amish people with buggies. Oh wait, that wasn't what I meant to link for the Amish, it's this one. I am avoiding mentioning Pittsburgh, because I have no positive mental images of Pittsburgh, although Wiki says very nice things about it. I still picture this.

What does this all mean? Well, I'll tell you, just let me gather my thoughts. I know you are in a near panic, waiting for the answer........

****runs down the hall to ask BS who he is going to root for****

So, upon careful consideration of the merits of each place, I have decided to cheer for.... um.... well, since Sunday is my dad's birthday, and BS & I will be watching the game with him in Kitty Hawk (on the Outer Banks), I will cheer for whoever he cheers for. Obviously, I don't much care who wins, but I will enjoy the game anyway. Especially the commercials.

Nice things about Pennsylvania:


http://z.about.com/d/honeymoons/1/5/x/q/buggy_farmscape.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2006/2255319162_ecfea1f548.jpg?v=0


http://csumc.wisc.edu/AmericanLanguages/graphics/Amish_girls_half.jpg


http://www.legjoints.com/TourofFlandersLive/amish-airlines.jpg

And my erroneous vision of Pittsburgh:


http://www.triplepundit.com/GD3153294@Benxi-steel-mills-blo-3862.jpg


Now, some pictures I took on our cross country trip 2 years ago.
Arizona - first, Flagstaff from the highway - a very pretty city, and the weather was delightful for being surrounded by desert:


The Grand Canyon:


BS at the Grand Canyon:


BS scaring the piss out of his mater by climbing waaaaay out onto a ledge:


Meteor Crater:



The Painted Desert:



The Petrified Forest (within the Painted Desert):



The Wigwam Motel. The others are in California & Kentucky, and there was a vintage auto parked at each wigwam:



And lastly, of Eagles fame: