A little over a year ago I had my first South Bend football experience. It was a stunning day, one that I’ll never forget. Saturday I returned for the big Notre Dame - Purdue contest. I can’t say it was as glorious a day as my first trip, but it was still a fine way to spend a fall day. We departed from Indy around 6:30, and after two straight nights with less than five hours of sleep, I was dragging a little to say the least.
The first game has already started, but I need to slide in my predictions for the baseball playoffs. I went on record a couple weeks back with a St. Louis - Boston World Series, and a seven game Cardinal triumph. I hate to be lazy, but despite the challenges facing the Cardinals pitching staff, I’m not going to deviate from that end result. NLDS: St. Louis over Los Angeles Houston over Atlanta
All joking aside you K-State and Mizzou fans, my football memories from college (and after) aren’t nearly as strong as my basketball memories. That’s not just because I went to a basketball school, although that’s a big reason. With college football, you have 4-6 home games vs. 15 in basketball. You’re generally playing all cupcakes outside the conference schedule as opposed to Kentucky, UConn, Indiana, and UCLA. Road games are less likely to be on TV.
I’ve got a few short posts lined up for this afternoon. Hopefully I can get everything cranked out around nap times. First off, I’ve been watching a lot of VH1 Classic this week. It’s always fun to see the video for a song you liked 20 years ago but now realize is total crap. Even better is when the video is God-awful. Two examples: Glenn Frey - “You Belong To The City”.
I just spent the last hour getting my ass kicked by some GRE math review. I understand the point of these sample sections is to beat you up a little so you’re ready for the real test, but when they actually do more to confuse you than help you relearn the concepts, I begin to wonder if I’ve spent my money wisely on materials. In the time between when S. left for work and a sister-in-law showed up to give me a few hours to study, M.
I know you’re all dying to hear what I think about the debate that’s been dominating discussion in this great land of ours. I shall not disappoint you: I think it was scandalous how Major League Baseball has treated the city and fans of Montreal over the past ten years. Make no mistake, Montreal in all honesty does not deserve to have an MLB team. However, the governing body of the game has done little over the years to make it easier for a team to succeed in the game’s oddest market (Different economy, different culture, different language).
I can’t say it was the most successful night ever, and I can’t say it was a complete disaster either. After almost a week of sleeping 5-7 hours a night, M. reverted to her every three hour schedule for waking up. Still suffering from the shots she received on Monday, nothing could placate her during the afternoon and evening other than laying across my legs on her belly. Sometimes even a bottle at the regular feeding time couldn’t do the trick.
S. just left for her first shift at work since July 23. Looks like I better have this parenting a newborn thing down for the next 20 hours. Check here for information on any disasters that occur.
We just returned from M’s two month checkup. Before the nurse placed her on the scales, we guessed her weight would be in the 10 1/2 pound range. Homegirl weighed in at 12.2 lbs! We need to switch her to Diet Similac or get her walking sooner than planned!
It’s clear there’s one big bonus to being unemployed: If Monday Night Football is exciting, I’ll be able to stay up and watch the entire game. At least until the rest of the world changes time, that is. Tonight, though, I persevered and made it through the entire Dallas-Washington game. A pretty amazing ending, if only for the way it got the hopes of Redskins fans up only to be dashed when there were no more timeouts.
It was a truly outstanding week in Kansas City in almost every way. I had the chance to spend time with many of you, which was tremendous. I got to show off my daughter. I got to eat a huge amount of great food. The Chiefs had a total meltdown which was fun for me. And there was actually a week of hope for the KU football program before it all came crashing down in the second half Saturday.
In over two years of traveling for work, I drastically improved my packing skills. I used to be the guy who took three bags for a three day trip. By this time last year, I was almost always traveling with a backpack that could stow away underneath the seat in front of me and a small suitcase that could be put into the overhead storage compartments. I still generally took far too much stuff with me, but at least I wasn’t checking anything.
One of the funniest things anyone said to me before I became a father came from the mother of one of S.’s best friends. In her unique way of offering to help us, she casually mentioned that she would be happy to come “sit in the waiting room with me” while S. was in the delivery room. What is this, 1950? We laughed a lot about that. One of the areas of potential danger for a prospective father is the dreaded passing out in the delivery room.
These kids, they grow up so fast! Why, it was just seven weeks ago I held a tiny little girl in my arms for the first time, wondering if she could make any sense of the sounds she heard or the occasional image she would let into her eyes. She remained largely silent, save for some crying around feeding time, choosing to spend 20 hours a day sleeping. She weighed less than a bag of groceries and it seemed as if I could curl her up in my arm and hide her entire body.
As the linked story relates, there was a small earthquake just south of Indianapolis yesterday. There’s nothing earth shattering in the article (get it, earth shattering???), but I had to share a nugget from the extensive coverage (slow news day) of the event on last night’s late local news. Contrary to what the IU geologist says in the Star article, another “expert” interviewed last night looked gravely at the camera and said, “It’s quite likely there will be a major earthquake in Indiana in the near future.
Yes, I pried open the door to the long neglected basement last night and fired up the big screen to watch the Colts-Patriots game. Things have changed a little since my last lengthy stay in our subterranean room for the UConn-Georgia Tech game. Back then, I could just disappear for the night without saying anything. Last night, I had to make sure I had my cell phone with me in case S.
The NFL season has arrived! Is there anything more traditional than Thursday night football to put you in the mood for a fall full of pigskin action? Like all good bloggers, I am required to offer my picks for the coming season. To measure my track record from last year, I’ve linked to my 2003 predictions below. AFC East: New England. After Bill Belichick and Tom Brady walk on water before tonight’s game, the rest of the league forfeits all 16 regular season games just to piss off those old bastards from the 1972 Dolphins.
I had to call the Indianapolis Star today to update some information on our account. That means I finally got to call the number that’s been making me laugh for over a year: 444-4444. This is only funny if you’ve spent any time in St. Louis and heard how some natives of that fair city pronounce the number 4. It tends to come out more like “far” than “four”, making 40 sound like “farty”.
Some quick thoughts after the long, holiday weekend. The Oregon State kicker is either going to get more sympathy sex than anyone in the history of college sports or he’s going to jump off a building. No in-betweens after his performance against LSU. I’m sure there was much “good natured ribbing” of KU fans back in KC, what with the basketball team scheduling its exhibition games in Canada the same weekend as the football season began.
I just completed my exit interview, submitted my final time sheet, and am preparing to wrap up the last couple loose ends before I close the company laptop for good. Ending a six and a half year association with an employer comes with mixed feelings. I’ve made some great friends through work, I’ve experienced more success than failure, and made what I think is an impressive move from an entry-level associate making almost nothing to a well-respected customer facing associate that was fairly well paid.