i'm back. . .

I've sort of missed not blogging for the past four days. I must have created a habit during my 30 days of intentional cyberspace blabbing.

I had a request earlier to tell this story. So here goes.

There are three things that I consistantly could care less about - really, not like at all. And they happen to be things most people typically enjoy: parades, fireworks, and football. To separate them more, I find parades and fireworks utterly boring. Perhaps the first time I saw a parade and fireworks they might have been exciting, but after 34 years there's nothing much new or fresh about either in my book. Pyrotechnics haven't seemed to change, at all. And they still throw that woman up in the air and the Vulcans still run around acting obnoxious. Stale and boring.

Football. I completely detest football. To my core. (I do want to see The Blindspot, however, because the story seems to be more human interest than football). I remember happily telling a guy on my freshman floor that I considered Super Bowl Sunday one of my favorite days of the year. . . because it means it's over for a few months. I left him speechless. But he wrote about my comment in his weekly campus newspaper column. I vaguely remember him calling me unpatriotic or not human for my admission.

Well, imagine the sheer delight that came over me this year at the U of M Ultimate Homecoming when I learned that I would have to partake in these three things all in one night. (Apparently it was the "ultimate" homecoming because the blessed stadium, after all the years of whining and complaining about the Metrodome and then talking about building it, followed by the years of building it, was finally finished. And the U, to our credit, decided to start a tradition of showcasing our academic and outreach missions in addition to pride and spirit during this week).  Actually, I didn't have to participate, but because I love my coworker Erica to pieces, I told her I would volunteer for our CLA Homecoming Parade experience. I thought I would just have to direct CLA alumni who came to march in the parade. Then I'd go home. Oh no - I ended up having to march in the parade and carry a sign because we were short volunteers - and I'm not even an alum of CLA. To make it even better, the act in front of us was none other than the bouncing girl. And those Vulcans were running around everywhere. Really, I thought? This isn't a city parade. Really, those two acts have to be at the U of M parade too? They have nothing to do with the U of M.

It gets better because the parade route (which was only a few blocks long) ended at the stadium, for a football game pepfest with fireworks. The saving grace at this affair was the marching band. We have a fabulous marching band. I love listening to and watching them. And I love that they now have a great new home in the new stadium. Those kids so deserve it.

So, there I sat in the new stadium, singing the rouser with my coworkers, clapping for the spirit squad and watching a ridiculous message from Coach Tim Brewster on the jumbo-tron. Then the pyrotechnic specialist set off fireworks on the field. And yes, they were unremarkable to me. 

The parade: ok, it moved along pretty fast.

The football team: supposedly "preparing" for the game at the Radisson Hotel near campus, so I didn't have to watch them prance about the field. Also thankfully, I didn't have to attend the game the next day.

The stadium: meh. It's fine. The inner corridor is a massive wind tunnel. The bowl section wasn't as cold as I thought it would be that night. I'm sure it will be a great venue for U2 next summer.

But because I'm a good aunt, a few weeks later I went to Iowa to watch my nephew play football. And yes, I watched the game and cheered. Although from the backseat of my sister's car. I giggled when I realized his school is so small that some players and cheer squad members were dashing around to get suited up to also play in the half-time marching band show.

And I discoverd just how much my mom loves nachos. And just how good the nachos are at the Akron-Westfield field. And that Andrew's game was sort of fun, mostly because I was watching him and because there wasn't a parade or fireworks in sight.