Football

(Just noticed my post from yesterday was never published. Don't know how I screwed that up, but that just means you get 2 posts from me today. Lucky you!)

Hubby and I are chomping (hehe) at the bit for college football season to get here. Less than 50 days!

We always try to go to at least one game from our respective alma maters. Last year, we were lucky enough to get tickets to see our teams play each other.



As I may have mentioned, we are a house divided. I went to the grand and glorious University of Florida and am a proud orange-and-blue Gator. Hubby attended our archrival, Florida State University and is not just a diehard garnet-and-gold Seminole, but was an athletic trainer for the football team all 4 years (capped off by a national championship in 2000, his senior year). Our allegiances run deep. Is anyone else a "blended family"?

When I first told my mom about him, her reaction was priceless. I could have told her I was dating a black, Jewish, Republican (you get the point, whatever is totally opposite from our family) and she'd have been fine. But her eyes got wide and she said, "Really, Kate? A Seminole?" She did recover from the 'shame' I brought to the family and ended up loving Hubby despite his 'shortcomings', hehe.

So far, we are definitely attending the Florida/Arkansas game and the Florida State/Maryland game. Hubby decided a few years ago that we must always go to FSU's last home game, just in case Saint Bobby decides to retire (we don't predict he'll give any notice before the end of the season). I'd love to get tickets to the UF/FSU game (in Gainesville this year) but those are difficult to come by.

I can't wait for a good tailgate. Or at least a good football party at our house. Grill some burgers, make up some other munchies, chill some beer, float in the pool and watch some college football. I need to start planning some stuff early, I want this year to be good!

The point of this post? Nothing. Did you need to read any of that? No. I'm just tired of baseball, need some football in my life and want to talk about it!

Blue and White, Ignite!

Say it with me now, nice n' loud: "Let's go Ma-gic! Let's go Ma-gic!"

Game 3 is tonight, and it's do or die.

I honestly have not lost faith in the team. This is a very special group of men. And we're at home now! I know I've hardly had any posts regarding anything other than the Magic lately, but seriously y'all, they're consuming my life now!

We're super lucky to have gotten tickets for the game (at face value). The perks of being season ticket holders: a good thing. My sister, her husband, Hubby and I are all going tonight. We'll meet up downtown around 6:30 to get some dinner before the game, then stroll over to the Arena to take in Fan Fest. The city is electrified, and I am tickled blue and white about it. As people who've loved our Magic through the good and the bad, it's so fantastic to see them doing well and to have an entire city behind them. They're even closing down several blocks of the main road through downtown! They've extended last call to 3am! The City Beautiful is The City Bluetiful. The Magic have been in the Finals only one other time, back in 1995. It was exhilarating then, but even moreso for us now as adults.

My nails are blue. I'm wearing my star jewelry. I have my Jameer Nelson jersey laid out at home, ready to put on. I may even get crazy with some sparkly blue eyeliner.

With a tip off time of 9 o'clock EDT, I will be one tired puppy at work tomorrow. Hopefully, it will all be worth it. Like I said, I have total faith in this team. We may be down at the moment, but don't make the mistake of counting us out.

Believe in Magic

Let me tell you, I am on Cloud 9 right now! My favorite team, the team that I have been with since day one, my Orlando Magic are Eastern Conference Champions!

Bring it, Kobe. Bring it on! lol...

I have a friend who is a Celtics fan, and he tells me that there's no way what we (Magic fans) have can or ever will compare to what they (Celtics fans) have. Fiddle-dee-dee. I appreciate the history of such a storied franchise, but to me there is nothing more amazing than to be a part of a team from the very beginning and to be able to say "I was there for that, I remember how that felt" for every milestone.

I love Stan. I love Dwight (a 100% class act). I love Rashard, Hedo, JJ, Mickael, Rafer (thank goodness for Rafer!), Tony, AJ, Courtney, Adonal, T-Lue, The Polish Hammer, and of course dear Jameer.

Hopefully the most difficult thing about this series will be avoiding all the purple in my wardrobe for the next 2 weeks!

Pre-Easter

Ahh, 3 day weekends. I keep thinking today is Sunday, then I remember and smile.

The game was amazing. Even though we lost, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I got to meet Bo Outlaw and Nick Anderson, 2 of my Top 4 All-Time Favorite Magic Players. I also got to meet the team owner, Rich DeVos (our seats were better than even his!), as well as current UF players Chandler Parsons and Nick Calethes. (The complementary food and beer were great too, I can't lie). We won't be catching Boston for the 2nd seed, but even so I am incredibly proud and happy for my team!

The view from our seats.


Time Out



Retreating to the locker room after our loss



A very tiny, distant Kate on the court after the game


Today is just a lazy day, the best kind. I made deviled eggs (maybe they need a different name for this weekend; combining 'devil' and 'easter' is a bit awkward...) and yellow buttercake cupcakes for tomorrow's dinner with my family. Tomorrow we'll go to early mass and brunch with Hubby's family. I am not much of a church-goer, but I figure if it'll make the in-laws happy, fine. Plus, the promise of an omelette or waffles afterward sustains me, haha.

A very happy Easter to everyone! Appreciate the time with your families!

It must be Magic!

For a brief moment earlier today, this mouthy broad was speechless.

My father called me up and told me he had some tickets to Friday Night's Orlando Magic/NY Knicks game for us. I thought, "aww, that's sweet". He regularly ends up with tickets from his buddies and passes them along to us, so I figured this was like any other time.

No. Oh, no. Not even.

I wish I'd had a camera watching me when I took them out of the envelope earlier. We are seriously going to be right by the home bench. Not even behind it, next to it. Apparently these are the only seats in the entire Amway Arena that are better than the team owner's seats. Hooray for dad's awesome friend! (Said buddy is at Augusta this week--poor guy--so that's why the seats are available).

As a sports nut and fan of the Magic since they were "born" (they played their first game on my 9th birthday. I got a basketball franchise for my b-day, what'd you get? Eh?) I am giddy! It's a nationally televised game on ESPN, should you have nothing better to do than watch. We're going to DVR the game and watch to see if we catch ourselves later on (we're dorks, what can I say?) I pray I don't pick my nose or do something else equally klassy.

I'm in a tizzy over what to wear. Hubby and I are going to get there when the doors open and watch the warm ups. I need to charge my camera battery, because that puppy is going to get a work-out tomorrow night!





P.S.--I love how I made "we got awesome tickets!" go on for about 8 paragraphs...

Monday Monday, can't trust that day...

Poor Monday. Everyone hates it. It's not Monday's fault it is what it is.

Our weekend ended nicely. We visited our farmer's market for the first time since moving to the area. We got a great deal on some red bell peppers and an onion (seriously, the bulb was as big as my head, its greens were 2 feet long, it was as sweet as can be, and only a buck!)

I finished up my glitter eggs as we were watching the CMA's, and they are adorable! A bit messier than I anticipated, but no full fledged disasters. I don't have any pictures of my own yet; it was dark outside when I finished and dark when I left home this morning (I'm at work, shhh!) The ended up lookin exactly like my inspiration photo, which I'll share (from the blog http://www.mom2momdfw.com--I'm having trouble making the hyperlink, but at least here's the address-- they actually used glitter instead of Martha's fancy 'glitter dust')



See? So cute! And really, so easy. I might "seal" them with some clear spray stuff, just so they don't shed too much glitter. I didn't do white, but I should have! Maybe I'll do some white ones for a "regular/in between holidays" table centerpiece. I definitely see myself doing the glitter pumpkins Martha does at harvest time. I might like glitter just a little too much, what can I say?

Moving on from one love of my life (glitter) to another (basketball). Tonight's the NCAA Championship! Hubby is rooting for Michigan State; he says they are a technically superior team. Technical, schmechnical. ;) I'm rooting for Carolina. (1) With a few exceptions, I will always root for the Southern team. (2) I love that color blue and the argyle. (3) Tyler Hansbrough is from a town very close to where my mama's family is from. Makes good logic to me! (And although I don't think Louisville has much of a chance against UConn, tomorrow I'm rooting for the Cardinals nonetheless!)

Sunday Basketball Babble

Since Hubby is a basketball coach, it should come as no surprise that March is a highly anticipated month around our house. I've always loved basketball myself. I can remember shooting hoops as a kid with my dad: he'd be Larry Bird, and I'd be his rebounder, Kevin McHale (this was before we got our own team in town, so being Irish, we rooted for the Celtics til we got our Magic).

With my 2 picks for the final game out, my bracket has officially gone to Hell. It started with such promise! I'd been wanting a Pitt/Memphis match-up. With Pitt, Memphis and Mizzou out, I think I'll root for Louisville. At least their mascot has meaning to me.

At least Pitt is still alive in the women's tourney. I'm surprised UT didn't have much of a year. Being a Gator, it is my moral obligation to loathe Tennessee. But I admire Pat Summitt and will cheer for her when my Gators are not in contention. I figure if UF can't be the winner, then someone in the SEC should at least get the glory. After all, it's the best conference ever.

Speaking of Gator basketball, I was happy to hear Coach Donovan quickly shoot down the rumors that he was leaving for UK. Sorry to dash your dreams again, Big Blue. Billy D has turned you down twice now. I know Kentucky b-ball is legendary and it's a great job on paper, but Billy the Kid isn't sitting by the phone like a lonely girl on prom night (maybe that's a bad analogy to pick, considering we didn't make it to "The Big Dance" this year...but heck, neither did UK).

Hubby is in Tallahassee participating in his fantasy baseball draft (this is year 11, or something crazy like that) so I have the house to myself today. I wish I could tell you I'm doing something fantastic, but I think the best I'll manage is laundry and organizing my craft (ok, "junk") room. I store the majority of my clothes in that room's closet as well, so I'd like to make some space. But first, I need to run out to Target to pick up a few things...let's see if I can manage to leave with just the 3 things I need---yeah, right!