Ups ... Downs ... Oops!

What a weekend of ups and downs.  The up ... well, it was a big up for the Wife  on Saturday Notre Dame won its football game while Oregon and Kansas State lost theirs.  Notre Dame will now be #1 in the land.  To balance these good things the dishwasher decided to start leaking (It started leaking last week but that's just a minor detail).

This morning the Wife started cutting my hair when oops, wrong attachment and *swoosh* now I have a bald strip behind my right ear.  Not even sure what I did to deserve that.  The good thing is I can't see it and if someone points and smirks, the pointing and smirking will occur behind my back.

We went to Nebraska Furniture Mart this afternoon to buy a new dishwasher.  We ended up buying replacements for all our kitchen appliances.  This wasn't a major surprise since we'd been thinking of redoing the kitchen since we moved into the house and we even got a good deal.  We returned home to no internet service ... and no phone service ... and no cable television service.  (I had to compose this post using WordPad ... *shudder*)

I hope these aren't indications of a larger trend since Thanksgiving is just a few days away and would be fertile ground for disaster.

Looking at this list of things ... I really don't have it bad really.  The dishwasher will be replaced with a better one.  The internet, and everything else has returned to normal.  My hair will grow back.  Thanksgiving will be with family and if things happen ... well, Thanksgiving is only one day.

Everything will be O.K.

A Return To The Wife's Alma Mater

This weekend we went to Notre Dame for the Stanford-ND football game.  We left Omaha on Thursday night, spent the night at the in-law's house, and drove into South Bend, IN on Friday.  The drive was long and uneventful but I did snag an awesome, vintage looking, I ♥ Bacon t-shirt at a restaurant near Walcott, IA.

Notre Dame - Basilica, War Memorial, and Golden Dome.

Friday evening we went to the pep rally before heading to our hotel.  After the long day in the car eating crap, we thought we'd go down to the hotel bar to get a snack before we went to bed.  We sat, ordered some food and drink.  While we waited for our orders, the music was turned off and some guy stood up and welcomed everyone to a meeting of his Libertarian group and thanked the local Tea Party Patriot group for joining them this evening.  The Wife and I rolled our eyes and wondered what we'd gotten ourselves into.  At one point we scootched our chairs around so our backs were to them.  I wanted to say soooo much but I knew they were all packing heat so I kept my mouth shut and tried not to attract any attention.  I didn't even finish what I ordered - lost my appetite.

Golden Dome ... Illuminated.

Saturday was game day.  We walked around campus taking pictures.  (I added the pictures to my Notre Dame album and can be found here.)  As we entered campus I noticed the cheering squad leaving a building.  With them was the Leprechaun.  I asked the wife if she wanted her picture taken with him and he was nice enough to oblige.  Made the Wife smile.  (The picture has circulated around the family for a few days now.)  We waited by the basilica to greet the players as they entered.  The Wife got a hug from one of her former students, one of Notre Dame's tailbacks.  Made her smile again.

The custom is to follow the band into the stadium.  This time the Alumni Band led us in.  The oldest was 91!  Not sure what he/she played but I bet it wasn't the tuba.  They played pretty good and they joined the regular band on the field during half-time - 1,000 members strong.

The game was ... disappointing but the weather held out and we stayed dry but chilled.  We left the game early and got a good pew in the basilica for Mass.  We went back to the hotel ... and stayed away from the bar and the wackos.

It was a good weekend getaway despite the loss.  I ate entirely too much junk food and I'm sure my arteries were screaming by the time I got home.  I'm trying to get back to eating healthy.  My arteries will thank me once they get out of their coma.

Catching Up With The Week That Was

I've been a little unmotivated when it pertains to posting lately.  Everything seems too trivial to post about so, to break the six day silence, I will combine all my trivial activities into one summary post.

Last Tuesday I went to Peru, NE.  When I walked the steamboat trace last may, I'd promised myself that I would return to take more pictures of the Roland Sherman carvings.  Using my new camera and a tripod that I'd brought, I took pictures of all the carvings.  Most of the sculptures appeared unchanged but the genie of Genie Hallow was is very poor shape.  The genie is a combination of carved stone with concrete additions and most of the concrete additions had fallen off.  Not sure if this was a result of all the rain and weather we've had this summer or of vandals.  I haven't uploaded any of the new pictures.  The pictures are of slightly better quality than the ones I took in May but the lighting and poor contrast of some of the sculptures limited what I could capture.

On Friday morning I had blood drawn for another lipids test.  I moved up the blood work so that I could let loose a bit this weekend.  I know, not the best thing for me.  We were joined Friday evening by T_E and J_A for an high school football game at the Wife's school.  Unfortunately the overcast, drizzly, dreary day was not conducive to sitting on wet bleachers watching a game.  Instead we went out to eat at the Nebraska Brewing Company.

I have to say that I cannot recommend the Nebraska Brewing Company.  The food was okay but not spectacular.  They brewed their own beer so I ordered a root beer.  Home brewed root beer is usually pretty good.  Theirs ... well, I'll never know because they were out ... on a Friday night.  We should have took the hint when we found the place rather empty for a Friday night.  T_E ordered an appetizer ... that never arrived.  The waitress was very apologetic and offered them a free dessert.  They chose the Chocolate Cobbler.  Seeing the dessert when it arrived, I ordered one for myself.  Five minutes later ... "Sorry, they're out of chocolate."  WTF. Here I had my blood drawn early so that I could splurge on some sweet root beer and a decadent dessert and I end up with bupkis. *sigh*

Saturday turned out a little better as we all went down to the farmer's market, ate a good lunch, and ended up at Maggie Moos where I consumed four scoops of Better Batter ice cream with cookie dough mixins.  Yep, it made up for Friday.  After a stop at a used bookstore (Everyone bought books except me) we went home and watched college football.  Okay, I admit that while I watched some football, I spent more time on the confuser playing on-line Scrabble.

After the game T_E and J_A went home and the Wife and I went to the Holland Center to listen to Anthony Bourdain.  We've been watching his show, No Reservations, for many years now and really like his irreverent take on thing.  He was surprisingly funny, interesting, and entertaining.  While he is not as irreverent, he's now married and the father of a three year old daughter - things that have mellowed him out a bit, he often took his foul mouth commentary to the bleeding edge.  The high point was when he was taking questions from the audience.  A guy walks up to the mike, tells him that his wife thinks he's sexy but thinks Bourdain's friend Eric Ripert was sexier and asked him what he thought of Ripert's lips.  Very funny.  People thanked that guy for asking the question as we left the Holland Center.

So that's it.  Today is a chore day - laundry and lawn mowing.

It Will Ruin Your Eyes

Well, I can kiss my laptop goodbye now that the Wife has learned that they stream football games. Tonight she's watching her nephew play in the 4A championship.

As you can see, my laptop is connected to the big screen. Unfortunately the site won't let you go full screen so she has to sit up close. You would think for $4.99 (the webcast is not free) you could go full screen but noooo.

Note: To the left of the TV you will find the Notre Dame shrine which has had mixed results lately.

Saturday Activities And Coffee Maker Trevails

Saturday is turning out to be a quiet day here in Homer's. The father in-law is watching football (Notre Dame, naturally) with the Wife. The Mother-In-Law is playing Freecell on a hand held game we gave her for Christmas a while ago.  I went down in the basement to read a little.   Homer joined me as he usually does.

I started the day with a trip to Wal-Mart to replace the carafe of our coffee maker.  The Wife and I don't drink coffee but we got one as a wedding gift and it has been used to make coffee for guests over the years.  The carafe cracked - probably a result of the move.  A bought a replacement ($10.57)  and ... it didn't fit.  With a sigh and a "take two" I went back to the store to return the carafe and redo my search.

I was lucky as there wasn't any line at the customer service desk and I got my refund after a 30 second wait.  I went back to the coffee maker area - bigger and better laid out than all the other small appliances in the store - testament to the popularity of coffee - and realized they didn't have any carafes that fit our eleven year old machine.  Sometime during the last ten years they changed the capacities of the carafe from 10 cups to 12 cups and they didn't tell me. I looked at the machines and realized that the machines only cost a few bucks more than the carafe alone. I picked out the cheapest one ($9.60).

So that's the exciting day I'm having so far. Tonight, after a great home cooked meal, we see the Niece dance.

Has The Jinx Returned?

The jinx may be back.  I went out to do some grocery shopping (We're have one of the Wife's nieces and her room mate over for dinner tomorrow night).  I get home and look at the score - Notre Dame 21 Michigan 0.  In the few minutes I took to unpack and put away the groceries, Michigan scores.  I sit down to drink a soda and a Notre Dame pass is intercepted.

I got the hint, grabbed a cookie, my book, and the remainder of my soda and went down in the basement (I was doing laundry too and that's in the basement).  I found Homer wearing his Notre Dame Victory Scarf  cowering in the tornado room - actually a storage room off the laundry room.  He doesn't like the sound of the game or the cheering and clapping of the Wife.  It must of worked since Notre Dame scored another touch down while I was downstairs.

I guess I know my place on Saturday afternoons - anywhere except watching the game. 

Championship Winning Saints!

Last night The Santa Clara Saints defeated Bishop Diego Cardinals to win the state championship. I wasn't there but the Wife was there with her Helmet Of Victory. The Saints trailed until the last couple minutes when they tied. The game was won in overtime. Good going Saints!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that this is their first championship win in 42 years!

Santa Clara Helmet Of Victory ... And Embarassment?!?

I have many reasons to love the Wife and one of them is because she is crazy - in a good way. The Santa Clara Saints Football team are in the championships (Go Saints!). The championship game is Saturday. To prepare for the game the Wife bought 15 batters helmets, spray painted them gold, and epoxied little Saint Clare statues to the top of the helmets. She is going to give them to other teachers and they will wear them to the game. With the paint fumes on Wednesday and the epoxy fumes on Thursday, I think we were both going a little loopy.

She finished them Thursday night. The "J" was planning to stop by to see them. There was a knock on the door. The Wife donned a Santa Clara Helmet of Victory and opened the door and ... was face to face with a total stranger. There was a short pause when no one said anything then the lady at the door, without skipping a beat, asked if Eileen was home. Except for the pause, the lady did not react at all to the Wife wearing a gold helmet with nun stuck to the top of it. The Wife told her that she had the wrong address, closed the door, and promptly died of embarrassment. I, of course, supported her by laughing my A$$ off. It's been a long time since I laughed so hard. The wife was mortified but she started laughing because - what're ya goin' to do? What's done is done and what 's done is hilarious.

The "J" arrived and I opened the door to make sure the lady hadn't come back with the police and to prevent any more embarrassment. We shared the story with the "J" and we all had a good laugh before going out to eat at Pirate's.

The Wife And The Coach

The wife had a great day Monday. Charlie Weis, coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, stopped by her school. He was down from Stanford, where they won their last game of the season, paying a courtesy visit. There is a football player at her school, a junior, that Notre Dame is interested in. NCAA rules prohibited Coach Weis from talking to him until he is a senior but it didn't stop the Wife from talking to him and getting her picture taken with him. Her friends at school were so nice to her, arranging a sub when he arrived. They even had secret call signs . She received calls: " The Shamrock arrives in 30 minutes". Heh. He got his picture taken with several teachers and coaches. He also sat down with another junior who wasn't sure how to proceed with his sports career (Coach Weis was not recruiting him) to give him some advice. The Wife thought he was a really nice guy. She passed him a thank you card with her business card in it - networking at its finest! (She is so much better at that than me - I suck) Who knows, maybe we'll get free tickets ...

She was kind of glowing when she got home. Nice to see after the misery of the cold she's been fighting.

Friday Night Lights

On Friday night I joined the wife and the "J" at the Saints - Flashes football game. It was a chilly, foggy night in Fillmore, CA.

If you remember, last season I only went to one Saints game, the Saints - Flashes game, and they lost. This year was a bit different.

The Saints beat the Flashes 41 - 3. I guess my Football Jinx is finally officially over.

Birthday vs. Football Curse

Saturday, the wife's birthday, we attended the Notre Dame - UCLA game. I was concerned that my football curse would ruin the day. Turns out the birthday trumps the football curse.

We had a slow drive to the Rose Bowl. Traffic was terrible with many of the freeway exits near the stadium closed. When we finally reached the parking lot, taking 3 1/2 hours instead of 1 1/2 to get there, we were about ten light years from the stadium. The walk to the stadium went past miles of tailgaters including one person selling "Notre Lame" t-shirts. By the end of the evening he should have been selling UCLAme shirts - HA!

We finally arrived at the stadium and looked for our seats. We had no idea where they would be. It turns out our seats were three rows from the field, right behind the goal post. We were 10 feet from the field - How awesome is that?!? The wife had donated two of our four tickets to Santa Clara art department and the tickets were sold by silent auction. The winners turned out to be really cool people. She was a UCLA grad and he was wearing an Irish sweatshirt. They turned out to be good company.

During halftime we noticed that there was one solitary male flag twirler. I wonder what kind of guy yearns to be a flag twirler? After the UCLA band played, a couple pee-wee football teams came on the field to do a play or two - cool for them.

The game was totally awesome. The wife has never been so happy. One of the best games she has seen in a long time. The luck just never ran out. All points of the game, both UCLA and Notre Dame, were scored at our end. The wife pulled out her rosary and shook it in the air each time the Irish scored. To top the evening off, USC lost to Stanford. When they finally announce those scores the entire stadium cheered.

When it became obvious that Notre Dame was going to win, the wife decided she was going to run on the field. She enlisted some other fans to block for her. She started to talk to one of the guards who turned out to be an very polite ex-marine with a smile on his face who gave her no slack. Not even her birthday would make him budge. As the clock counted down, the number of security people at our end of the field doubled then tripled. Then came the line of cops followed by the cop with the video camera ready to video all the unruly Notre Dame fans. What a joke. Anyway, the wife didn't get to run out on the field. The Irish players did come over to our end and celebrated with the fans. The wife did manage to high-five a couple linebackers.

I am not a football fan but even I had a good time. What a way to celebrate the wife's birthday. We had a great time - Notre Dame won their first game this season and USC lost. Only time will tell if the football curse is finally over.

I took quite a few pictures. The best are here.

The Curse Continues ...

I have mentioned before that I have a curse when it comes to football games. Every significant football game that I have gone to with the wife, the team she was rooting for has lost. Well, we tried again on Friday night. We went to the Saints-Vikings game, the Saints' first game of the high school season, and watched them lose 6-17. Now the wife tried to comfort me saying that they just didn't play well but I don't believe it.

The next test of the curse will probably be the Notre Dame-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl in October.

Game Over

The Saints put up a good fight but lost their playoff game by three points ... in overtime. They were the underdog by 17 points so a three point loss was a victory for the Saints.

Black Friday and our Unusual Shopping Habits

Today is Black Friday - the day when Christmas shopping starts in earnest. We, like millions of others, went out shopping but unlike most we went to a couple of slightly off-center places. The first was the Long Beach Convention Center where National Geographic was having a warehouse sale. About a year ago I subscribed to national Geographic using frequent flier miles (Free Subscriptions - Neat-O!). Soon afterward we started receiving catalogs for the National Geographic store. Now most of you are probably imagining a catalog full of books, maps, and DVDs. The fact is the catalogs are full of cool travel clothes, sweaters, jewelry, travel gadgets, as well as books, maps, and DVDs. We went down to Long Beach for a three day sale looking for clothes and travel stuff. The catalog tends to be pricey but the card we received in the mail promised 25-95% discounts. Sure enough, the discounts were impressive. We were slightly disappointed that there was less clothing and jewelry then we had hoped but the books and stuff we found was worth the trip. In all we bought almost $200 worth of stuff including a sweater for the wife, a couple shirts for me, and several travel books to help us plan our future travel. We even found a Christmas present for the spud. I was looking for a wall map but was surprised to find they had none on sale.

Our second stop was the General Wax and Candle wholesale outlet store. We left there with $55 worth of candles for gifts and our own personal use. I really like candles and always burn them in the chilly winter months.

The wife is going with the "J' to a Saint's playoff game tonight. It's down in Duarte (Near Pasadena). I think I will just hang out and relax this evening. We were going to decorate the tree but it will have to wait for the weekend (Yeah I know, I said we were going to decorate after Thanksgiving Dinner but it didn't happen and it won't happen tonight either - deal with it!).

Friday and Saturday - School nights

The Saints are moving on in the playoffs. Their next opponents, the Falcons, are supposed to be tough. Go Saints! I did not attend and it has been suggested that I should go and root for the opposing team. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Kind of bums me out a little.

Speaking of the wife's school, on Saturday we attended the school's charity auction. There was a pretty good turnout. I haven't heard what the haul was but I don't think the school was disappointed. The wife was disappointed that she didn't win anything, though. It was a worthwhile evening of charity giving and good food.

The Saints Were Flashed

We went to the football game last night. It was my first high school game and it will probably be my last. It seems my Notre Dame Jinx also applies to the Saints. The Saints went into this game 8-0 (2-0 in the league) and were up against the Flash who were 6-1 (2-0 in the league). Well, after last night the Saints are 8-1 (2-1) and the Flash are 7-1 (3-0). Not that the Saints didn't play well - 6:00 left in the fourth quarter, Saints are down 7 to 27. By the end of the game the score was 22-27 and the Saints were on the 5 yard line when they ran out of time. Oh so close.

I doubt I will be invited again.

A Close-To-Home Weekend

This weekend is going to be a quiet one spent close to home - no roadtrips, no new adventures. We are going to a High School Football game between the wife's school - undefeated - and another rival from a nearby city - also undefeated. Now I am not a sports fan but even I am interested when two undefeated teams battle each other. The crowd is going to be large. The game is tonight. I'll let you all know how it went tomorrow.

Besides the game, we may go see a movie and just hang around the house. Everyone needs that every now and then. I spent this afternoon catching up on by Dr. Who and Battlestar Galactica episodes - both thought provoking, interesting, and just plain entertaining. Battlestar is still the best show around.

Well, not the most interesting of posts but things are just chillin' with This American Life playing in the background. On Friday we are going to the Griffith Observatory that just finished a multi-million renovation. I should have pictures. After that, a football game between the wife's new school vs. her old school - mixed emotions there.

P.S. I think I'll try out a new font - Trebuchet. What the heck - I feel like living on the edge.

Notre Dame, Mary, and Wiraqocha

I mentioned in an earlier post that the wife builds a shrine next to the TV when she watches Notre Dame football. While most of the readers may already be aware of this, a few of you may not be familiar with the wife's football habits. Here is a picture of the shrine. The main components are a Fighting Irish Leprechaun figurine, a statue of Mary draped with a rosary, and a lit candle ( a green candle, of course). The rosary was purchased at the Notre Dame bookstore during our visit in 2004 (Purdue vs. Notre Dame - my last live game - Notre Dame lost). The Sun in the background was purchased in Taos, New Mexico back in 1998 and has been on the speaker ever since.

The statue of Mary is from Peru. We bought her in a market in the town of Pisac. My clumsiness resulted in Mary being dropped before we even got back on the bus but fortunately the wife managed to repair her when we got home. There is some significance to the shape of Mary's vestments. When the Spanish conquered the Incas, they converted all of the natives. The natives were recruited to build the churches and statuary. The local artisans would combine the Christian symbols with their own Incan symbols. The triangular shape of Mary's vestments represents the sacred mountains where Wiraqocha, the Sun God, and the Moon Goddess lived. Mary is often shown with a halo - a Christian symbol that also represents the rays of the Sun at the top of the mountain. I guess its appropriate that the Sun is in the shrine since that is the most important god to the Inca and fits in with the symbolism of the Mary statue.

The shrine seems to be working since Notre Dame is having a winning season. Go Irish!

The Arrival of Autumn and the Football Widower

Fall arrived different this year. I swear, it was like flicking a switch on Labor Day - ZAP BAM BIFF! - Fall was here. The temperature is starting to drop, it gets dark like right now, the sun doesn't come up til like noon, and the leaves are dropping like ... some bad metaphor.

One other thing that happens this time of year is that I become a football widower. My wife, as some of you may know, is a hardcore Notre Dame fan. She builds this little shrine on one of the speakers next to the TV, puts an ND neckerchief on the Homer, and then proceeds to yell, whoop, and D'OH! - scaring the poor dog upstairs all Saturday afternoon. I am not much of a sports fan. A little odd I suppose - a sexual stereotype role reversal kind of thing. Now I am not against joining the wife watching her games but, you see, I am not welcome. I have been to three ND games - two at USC, one at ND. ND lost every one of those games so now I am a pariah. I guess it's balanced out by the wife not watching Battlestar Galactica with me.

Football worship also means we go nowhere as a couple on Saturdays. I guess I don't mind this too much. I spend Saturday doing my household chores and stuff like that.

P.S. ZAP and BIFF are in Google's spell check but BAM is not - what the heck?!