The pies are made (dreamy high pumpkin pie, apple, and chocolate). The good china has been found. The special olive tray has been cleaned 🙂 The Macy’s parade is on right now (after all these years Al Roker still doesn’t look normal to me as a thin dude than as his former self). It’s tougher this year and although Thanksgiving is missing something this year everything else is coming together and moving forward as it always does. It’s on my dream list to hold a rope to a giant balloon in the Macy’s parade one of these years – I’ll have to actually look into that sometime – who’s with me???
Purdue actually won a basketball game last night. Amazing. I’m debating whether to send Aunt B $3 all at once to save me postage this year. Actually, the football game could be ok depending on which Purdue team shows up but basketball will be ugly for the good guys this year. It’s especially tough losing to a team that dresses up in clown pants for their warm-ups 🙂 But I should congratulate IU on making it into the top 5 of this one:
The question: Who is perceived by college coaches to be the biggest cheater in the sport?
•John Calipari (Kentucky): 36 percent
•Scott Drew (Baylor): 34 percent
•Ben Howland (UCLA): 12 percent
•Jim Calhoun (Connecticut): 7 percent
•Tom Crean (Indiana): 3 percent
•Dave Rice (UNLV): 3 percent
Heh, heh. Happy Thanksgivig Aunt Beth 😉
Christopher wrapped up football last month. He had a lot of fun playing this season. We’ve got him bulking up in the off-season so send him protein powder and Denny’s coupons for Christmas. In the last game of the season they waived the “striper” rule (kids over a certain weight have a black stripe on their helmet and aren’t allowed to carry the ball). So it was awesome to watch him line up in the backfield and break through the pack for about 5 yards. That was cool. It seemed ironic that this last game was dubbed the “Friendship Bowl” and it was in that game that all safety rules (e.g., stripers carrying the ball) were waived 🙂 Basketball has already started for Christopher – they should make all the tall kids wear stripes to give Thompson’s a chance!
E & Wen came up at the end of October. It was a great trip. They zipped up and back so they didn’t bring kids on the trip, and we left our kids at home a few times (so nice to have Colleen old enough to keep some control in the house while we’re out), so it was finally nice for the “grown ups” to go out and talk and catch up on things. We did some nice meals (112 Eatery and Tilia) and also went to a football game at the Goofers new stadium. Purdue got destroyed in the game but it was an incredible stadium regardless and a beautiful day. Before the game we were taking a picture of Wendy outside of the stadium when a cop on a motorcycle stopped us. I didn’t think I had been acting that drunk but you never know (it would have been an impressive acting job b/c we were alcohol free). He told us that wasn’t how we should take a picture – so he propped his motorcycle up in front of the stadium and told Wendy to get on it – it made for a great picture! While on campus we got to see Beth’s labs and had her pose in front of a giant bubble-gum, lego-type structure – I think she said those were the planets but I didn’t have the heart to tell her they added a few too many (honey, I’m kidding, it was a joke, settle down, I know this science stuff is serious). Beth’s lab was cool – test tubes, and centrifuges, and microscopes, and pipettes everywhere. We got to spy on some cells too – fun.
We also went to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (after a fantastic brunch at Tilia – great crowd and atmosphere there). It’s always fun to see the Cherry on the Spoon. The kids got to play on a huge moving sculpture – and we walked a mile in the cold to ice cream at Sebastian Joe’s afterwards. Ice cream is awesome. Walk was cold. Wind was chilly. Conversation was great. Next to ice cream was one of those fun stores that has crafty stuff and witty gifts and something for everyone. We’re in that store in the pic where Megan is wearing the beard hat and it’s funny that behind her in the pic is a package that says “bitch slap those germs” – none of the kids have been saying that phrase around the house luckily!
Beth and I saw Jackson Browne in concert the same weekend E & Wendy were in town. They stayed home with our kids while we went out (we had the tickets before they planned their trip up). The concert was great – thanks again Wendy for helping me prep 😉 Jackson and Sara Watkins were amazing and powerful. We sat in the 3rd row and vowed always to sit up close to anything in the future – it completely changes your experience! I was worried as it got closer about how I would react to certain songs. I’ve definitely found meaning in lyrics to several of his songs since the time Katherine died and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to hear some songs (e.g., For a Dancer). But it was all great and special and I think what I needed. Throughout his tour this year he’s only played For a Dancer a few times and I had told myself before the concert that maybe it was meant to be if he played it. A lady in the row behind us yelled for that song, but he didn’t play it (he played Something Fine instead). She yelled again, and he didn’t play it. And then, she yelled that request a third time but this time she yelled, “For a Dancer, remember the tattoo”. He played it then – and it was beautiful/meaningful/touching (Fountain of Sorry has some lyrics that really get to me too and hit me for a second in the concert). I had mentioned getting a tattoo to help me to remember to live a good life and take away positives from Katherine’s life – to force me to remember more frequently – so it was interesting that the request from the row behind us included the song I most relate to and a tickler about a tattoo. No decision yet on a tattoo – first I need to define what it is I would want that to remind me of. What am I chasing now? Who do I want to be? Where am I headed? What’s most important? I’m also not clear on what it is when I say things like “it was meant to be if he played For a Dancer”. What sign am I looking for? That Katherine’s ok? That she’s in a better spot? That she’s watching us? If so, when is she watching us – hopefully not all the time. That she hears my prayers and thoughts – again, hopefully not all of them. Do I get to pick and choose when she sees and hears me or does she? That we’ll all be ok and stick together as a family and keep talking and eventually be happy and strong? It’s tough. I go back an forth on what I want some of those answers to be. These holidays are especially tough. My thoughts are with everyone in NH and MA. I finally let off some steam last night – first by punching a tray of delicate dessert crackers (hey, Beth mentioned that she may want to crush them and try making a pie crust so this was my way of helping) – and then by talking. I think it was the combination of both methods that eventually made me feel a bit better – don’t keep it bottled in everybody – find ways to talk and share and let it out.
Ok, enough sharing, time to lighten things up again.
Halloween came and went to. Wendy helped the kids make disgusting finger cookies while we were at the concert. Yuk. But fun 🙂 Megan was Harry Potter. Christopher was Dark Vadar again (yes, “Dark” – he still prefers this over “Darth” but now recognizes that everyone else says it differently – and incorrectly). Colleen was an egg for Halloween. She went with a friend who was bacon. Kind of ironic since Colleen can’t stand eggs or bacon. They trick-or-treated in her friend’s neighborhood. Christopher went trick-or-treating with a friend of his (chasing the ever elusive neighborhood that gives out the huge candy bars!). So it was just Megan and me going through our neighborhood. We had a fun time. She thought it was a hoot and would come running back to me with a big grin on her face when someone would say “hey guy – great costume” – she found it funny when they couldn’t tell that she was a girl dressed up as Harry 🙂 After we went around our block she wanted to walk further so we went down a street that has some town houses and I asked if she was sure this is where she wanted to go. She was on a mission and wound around, skipped many doors, and finally, oddly went straight to a certain lit up house. I gave her a bit of a warning but she said that was exactly where she wanted to go for her last house. So…she rings the bell and a lady comes out. Then the lady sits down, and asks Megan to come closer. And then the lady starts calling her dogs from in the house one by one. And she starts telling Megan about the dogs – their names and special features. And when I say special features I mean things like “here is my dog pookie-wookie who has 5 legs” (named has been changed with equally silly name to protect the guilty). Seriously – this dog had 5 legs!!! Megan got up after a few minutes and walked back to me and said “that lady was weird and kept telling me about her dogs). I couldn’t stop laughing – see, that’s what happens when you don’t listen to your daddy 🙂 Although I never would have predicted it playing out quite like that. I think we’re going to hit scary dog lady’s house every year from now on!!! 🙂
And, finally, what would a post be without more dance pictures. Colleen and her team are getting really good. Those pictures are from the gopher’s women’s basketball game. We go to the gopher’s men’s game soon too. It’s fun getting out and going to the games. Colleen works on new moves all the time and continues to do things that my body will never ever come close to doing. It’s great to see her having so much fun with this. She has her sights set on the high school dance team in a few years. We also went to the Eden Prairie football team’s game last weekened, which they won – so now they are in the state championship game tomorrow night. They’ve been in it 8 times and have won 7 of those times – hopefully they make it 8 tomorrow night! Last weekend they beat a team that had beat them 16-0 just a few weeks ago so they have really turned it on now.
Ok, time to put the turkey in the oven!!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
That is ridiculous that they would have black stripe rule in Christopher’s football league. So basically some parent with some puny kid petitioned to take away any advantage that another kid could have. Little little kids are hard to tackle too because they’re so quick and low to the ground. They should take their ball carrying away too. Just let the perfect kids who fit the perfect mold do the fun stuff. I hope Christopher levels whichever parent who created that rule’s kid right into the ground when that kid is carrying the ball.
And maybe those were all the planets but with all the moons too. I bet that’s what Beth meant. I would definitely hold a balloon rope with you. But pick one where we don’t have to dress up too crazy.
As for the Katherine stuff, keep on doing what your doing. I feel like some of those questions you ask yourself you may never find the answer but there’s nothing wrong with that. The questions you ask made me realize that I also do that kind of stuff. I just didn’t realize that I didn’t know why I did it. I feel like I assume she’s watching me when good stuff happens and wonder why she isn’t watching when the bad stuff happens. But who knows. I’m sure they have rules up there that you can’t just make everything perfect for everyone you knew when you were alive. I wish I had weeks to just think about the questions you pondered because I had trouble answering any of them when I was reading them.