Weekend Recap

What a wonderful weekend, not that I accomplished much of anything substantive.

Saturdays between Labor Day and New Years Day are tests in our marriage that closely resemble tests in academics. While I know the correct answers, I still do not do as well as I should. I am comfortable with a gentleman's "C". I have to work hard during the week to eke out a B minus average.

On weekends, Saturdays in particular, I am utterly content spending just about every waking moment watching football. First thing in the morning, I'll put on the high school football recaps in FSN. At 10 am comes ESPN's College Game Day. An east coast game or two start at 10:30 or 11. That'll last me until 2:30 pm when a Big 12 game starts (the first of a triple header). Several more prime time games start at 6 and 7 pm and the night is finished off with a PAC 10 or WAC game on the west coast until midnight or so.

That's a good day to me.

Unfortunately, I am rarely afforded that luxury.

Fortunately, I had to work a few hours on Saturday and make a side trip to REI to replace my Jetboil. I also wanted to begin looking at tents, sleeping bags, and water treatment filters. I love my sleeping bag, but at eight pounds it is just way too heavy regardless of how warm it keeps me.

I got back home for the second half of the A&M game. This is where I still have a tough time. I have no problems hoping for the worst for OU. [Aside, I saw a picture the other day that showed an American soldier in Iraq standing next to an Iraqi kid. The kid held a sign that read "It's 10:30 on the other side of the world in the desert. And OU still sucks!"]. That is a hatred that comes from so deep inside looking for its source would be too revealing. A&M is different. Their saving grace is that my wife, father-in-law, and two sisters-in-law graduated from their university.

I still have no idea what happened at the end of regulation. Was it a balk, icing, or a two-stroke penalty?

It wasn't until 9:30 pm when I looked at the clock and realized that I was hungry and had missed dinner.

Sunday morning was spent with Big Bend stuff. At noon, we went out to run errands and do some shopping for Larry's birthday. While we were out, we got a call from him and Colleen to meet them for lunch. Afterward, we went to the mall for more shopping.

At Barnes & Noble, I picked up Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, a very good read about the history of water development in the American west.

My favorite words at a mall are "I'm just gonna look around." The unspoken suffix is "and hope I don't find anything to buy." That is usually the case, but not always. Dicks' had a tent sale so I picked up a Coleman Sundome 2-man tent. This is the funny part - I picked up the case for it and we were both amazed at how light it felt. We were in a hurry so we quickly bought the backpacking tent and went home to rest before dinner. Once we got home, I opened the bag and quickly learned why it was so light - it was the demo case. The only contents inside were the rain fly and some cardboard. Back to Dick's to replace the tent.

Back home to change and meet up at Ferrari's. Were I to pick my favorite restaurant in Dallas, it would be this. We've been visiting the restaurant for almost ten years and is the site for many celebrations, including our rehearsal dinner. It is a place with many warm memories.

We got back in time to settle in before the season premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Later that night, I assembled the tent in the back yard and stayed out there for a few minutes before taking it down and coming back inside. Were rain not in the forecast, I would have spent the night out there. It was the first, and perhaps the last, time Melissa got inside. The tent and rain fly are super easy to put up and take down. It offers quite a bit of breeze to pass through and keep me cool at night.

I soon went to bed but stayed up well past midnight reading my new book.

Unfortunately, we'll be out of town this weekend and the 14 hour football marathon will, again, be a logistical impossibility.

Fortunately, I'll be able to attend a game, making the withdrawal less severe.