Something about fall energizes me. Summer has finally given up the ghost, taking the 90-degree temperatures and humidity-you-can-slice-through with it. Ferns and summer flowers on front porches are swapped out for pumpkins, mums, and Halloween skeletons. The a/c is turned off. Everything is pumpkin-spiced and apple-cidered. Football season is in full force. And the weekends turn into a flurry of outdoor activities.
If I could define this past weekend in one word, it would be football. Friday night was the Houston vs Collierville game. I was torn on this one. My boyfriend’s daughter is in the marching band for Houston and Collierville is my old school. In the end, Houston overpowered them:
And the fans charged the field, college football-style:
On Saturday, we followed the Memphis Tiger caravan down to Oxford for the Tigers/Ole Miss game. This was my first experience tail-gating Ole Miss-style. I discovered money is apparently no object when it comes to parking:
I also discovered Ole Miss tailgating is the same as being in a club pack to capacity. We muscled our way through the sea of Ole Miss red and found our first stop. The booth was already full of people, but we were able to make it inside and found our host and visited for a while. By the time we were able to find drinks and food, the booth had so many folks in it, I couldn’t even turn around so we said our goodbyes and found my sister’s booth on the other side which was a bit less like a club and more like a family affair. I can say this about Ole Miss, they know how to throw a party.
Inside the stadium, Ole Miss students and fans were everywhere. We were a bit outnumbered, but we had our cheering section and you know, Memphis fans:
And Fedex did a fly-by for us. We’re claiming them as Memphis Tigers fans. You can’t have them, Ole Miss.
Alas, in the end, we lost. We made mistakes, some small, some embarrassingly large, but I felt we did pretty good against a team that is SEC level (I still think the refs were closet Rebel fans). And we made an awesome play with that fake punt (that’ll be something talked about for year).
We followed the Tigers home.
The Memphis police officers were honored this morning in during the service at Saint John’s Episcopal and we had red beans and rice for lunch in the PLC. I was too busy eating and yakking to get any pictures, but it was a good turnout.
We had the Blessing of the Animals this afternoon at Saint John’s.
 |
| Kristoff and Bryan |
 |
| Where one is good, three is even better! |
 |
| Kristoff, trying to pretend he’s not with us. |
 |
| Ever tried to get a dog to pose? |
 |
| Finally! |
 |
| Sniffing other dogs to see if they are friend-worthy. |
 |
| Mama’s boy |
 |
| I think he was a squirrel in a former life. |
 |
| I bet THIS ref would’ve favored the Memphis Tigers last night. |
 |
| Viciousness personified |
 |
| Because what’s a blessin’ without a chicken? |
 |
| And the blessing begins… |
 |
| I think Kristoff has decided he likes Father Jay. Kristoff has good taste. 🙂 |
This is the last week before fall break in the Shelby County School system. I’m taking some time to prep for the week, but I’ve been getting better at balancing school life and home life. I’ve enjoyed teaching and the students even though the work is very hard and there have been days when I’m frustrated with all of it, but I’m starting to take time out for myself in the evenings to recharge, making sure I get the important things done at school and leaving the evenings for light work at the most. The pace is still the equivalent of being on the Autobahn and I feel like I’m a 50-year-old Fiat getting burned by a Bugatti and my writing has suffered for it. I’m stuck in the mode of having five minutes to do anything in any given moment during the school day and that has had an effect on how I deal with things at home because it’s hard to slow my mind down from that mad rush, but I’m learning to adjust and to make time in the evenings for fun things. My goal is to blog more, write more, read more, and crochet more. Those are my recharge activities and I need them. Plus, I want to be able to enjoy fall and the holidays. Life is too short to not enjoy each day as it comes.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
My Mosaic Life 
Leave a Reply