Ghosts of Championships Past

This week has been Championship Week in the Small Town.  For the football players, the week goes something like this:

Monday:  Practice.

Tuesday:  Practice

Wednesday:  Practice

Thursday: Walk through

"How is that different from any other week?" you may be asking yourself.  Well, it isn't.  Except for practicing at least once in the nearby big city at an indoor facility that has artificial turf, which is what they'll be playing on this afternoon.
Championship Day will be a little different than a normal game day:  The boys will meet at school and have breakfast.  Then, there will be a pep rally involving the whole school.   They will get on the bus and travel a few yards (literally) to the middle school. 

There, they'll get off the bus and greet the middle school who will be lined along the sidewalk in front of the school.  They'll go through a "receiving line", if you will; shaking hands and giving high fives to the student body.  After that, they will get back on the bus and ride down the hill to the elementary school.  

Now that is the place to be to see the excitement.  The middle schoolers are, well, middle schoolers, so they're not all that excited to see the high school players.  Oh, but at the elementary school there are signs made and hung on the fence.  
 

Every elementary student (K through 4th grade) is lined along the sidewalk anxiously awaiting to get their high-five and see their heroes.  It doesn't matter if they're first or last string...every player gets a hero's welcome.

Last year, the Pre-K was already at lunch and missed the send off, but they let the boys know they were thinking about them:

And then the big moment arrives:  The bus is spotted coming down the driveway to the school:

 The kids start jumping up and down, and the excitement mounts.  After what seems like forever, the bus stops and the coaches step off of the bus.

 And then the boys.  Most of them with their "game faces" already on.

When the last boy has gone through the line, the bus slowly leaves to make its way to the University that hosts the games.

School lets out early so the fans can make their way 1 1/2 hours down the interstate.  Last year was the first year the championships have been held at that university:  before then championship weekend had been dubbed "________ County's Biggest Sleepover".  The university that it had been held at was about 3 1/2 hours away, and our game was played at 7:30.  It was so fun to go down, check into the hotel, see who else was in the hotel, go to the game, go out to eat, than get up the next morning and have breakfast with other fans from the school, read the paper, and talk about the game.  Our rival school (that is only about 10 miles from the small town school) has been to the state championships the same years we have been...the only exception is that they haven't won for the last 2 years.  So, a lot of their fans would go down the day before to watch our game, and a lot of our fans would stay and watch them play the next day.  But, now that the game is played closer, most people go back home after the game. 
Last year it was pretty cold.  My mom & dad rode down with us to watch MS play his last football game:

 (Told you it was cold!  That's CH right behind them.)

A couple of years ago it was actually balmy, but the year before that, it was freezing, and the wind would just cut right through you.  One year, one of my BILs called me right at the end of the game and asked me what I was doing!  Funny guy!  He had watched the game on tv, so he knew the perfect time to call.  The high today is suppose to be around 50, but when the sun goes down it's going to get chilly.  

Last night "the bridge" was painted:

 And the boys got into bed early to do what has become a yearly tradition. They'll get on a bus where the number will change to "7":

And they'll "get 'em up" before taking the field:

Hopefully the result will be the same, because no one wants to be known as "the team that broke the streak".

 And not to be forgotten:  the boys and girls who have worked all season long to entertain the fans:

Here's to a good time, clean game, and no injuries!  Oh, and may the result look like this:

The Weather Outside is Frightful

I was amazed when I went to leave for work yesterday:  There was snow falling!  The day before had been really rainy and warm.  Crazy weather!  We got an awful lot of rain on Tuesday:

(That's a creek just about to spill over its banks)

Wednesday, as I was driving home, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw this sight:

Can you see the snow on the mountains?  Gorgeous.  It looks like you can just reach out and touch them. (In real life, of course!)
My schools are getting ready for the holiday. In one of my schools, my room is off of the auditorium.  When I leave the auditorium to go down the hall, this is what greets me:

What is it about white lights that makes everything seem so warm and cozy?
This week has been bus duty for me, but only the days I'm at one of my schools.  The kids haven't been too awfully wound up this time.  I did have to search out a couple of 5th grade girls who messed up this beautiful bulletin board:

 I don't think you can tell it in this picture, but the snow at the bottom has been smeared.  The girl who did it said it was her hoodie that wiped it.  Sure it was, because you're 2 feet tall and that's exactly where your hoodie would've hit.  So then she changed her story:  there was a string on the board she was trying to get off.  She should write fiction.
Anyway, this bulletin board belonged to the teacher who has the gingerbread house over her doorway.  And, when I walked into her room today, this is what I saw:

It's so festive in her room!  She (well, her TAs anyway!) is going all out this year.
What are some the decorations in your workplace or around your town?

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What is the most interesting thing you've done in the last year?

Started blogging!  Yes, I have the most incredibly exciting life.  

2. What is your most meaningful family heirloom?

We don't have any.  Sad, but true.  We do have a copy of a famous Danish painting of fishermen.  CH's great-great grandfather is one of the fishermen.  To see the painting, click here.  The painting is on the right side of the screen.

3. What food festival would you most like to attend? If you're not sure click here to see a list of possibilities.

Oktoberfest.  The real one in Germany.

4. Snow...do you love it or is it considered a four letter word where you live?

I love snow. Especially when we don't have school.  There's just something about the disruption of the schedule, drinking hot chocolate, and the peacefulness of it all.  

5. Can you ski? Do you ski? Are you any good? 

I tried to ski once while on a high school trip to Minnesota.  I never got off of the bunny slope.  We had this one guy who had never skied, but he went up to intermediate slope anyway.  We watched him ski, fall, ski, fall, all the way down to the bottom.  By the end of the day he was skiing all the way down.

CH, OS, & MS ski & snowboard.  YS has skied a couple of times.  Me?  I don't like the feeling of not having any control...I'm a control-freak, remember?

6. What quality in your spouse or best friend are you most thankful for?

Patience.  CH has been very patient throughout our married life!

7. Describe the coziest spot in your home.

I don't have just one.  There's my bed, which I absolutely love, especially in the winter.  I love having the down comforter over me during those cold nights.

Then there's the living room couch.  There's nothing like curling up on the couch with a blanket over me, watching old movies while the Christmas tree lights are the only lights on.  Love it.

And, the kitchen when we have a fire going in the fireplace.  Our house is kind of weird in that we have 2 fireplaces:  one in the kitchen and one downstairs in the "man cave".  But, it's in a weird spot down there.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm just amazed that Christmas started before Thanksgiving.  I just thought it was ridiculous this year; it seems like everything started earlier.  The sales started before Thanksgiving, and even the Christmas specials on tv started early.  

One of my friends' son (who is 8 years old) told her that I need outside lights.  I told her that I would work on it, but it wasn't Thanksgiving yet, and our 49 year old house doesn't have outside outlets.  My decorations won't go up for another week (after high school football season is over), but they'll stay up until Epiphany (the real end of the Christmas season), which is January 6th this year. So, the decorations will probably stay up until January 8th.  When will your Christmas decorations come down?