Week 52: The End!

The End: The last weekly SP, the end of 2009, and the end of the Colts' perfect season. Hard to believe I've finally reached week 52 and thus my last SP of the year, but here we are!

I ended the year with a short visit to John's hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. We were lucky enough to be able to attend a Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium, which is a very nice venue, as sports arenas go. We were thankful for its retractable roof since it was a brisk 20 degrees with strong winds and falling snow throughout the day.

Unfortunately, the Colts decided to sit most of their starters for a big chunk of the second half with only a 5 point lead, so I had the disappointing distinction of witnessing their only loss this season, their first regular season loss in 23 games, and the end of their pursuit of perfection, which has been pretty exciting to follow this year. Alas, the playoffs are still ahead so Colts fans needn't dwell for too long.

Either way, it was a great experience and thanks to my new Dallas Clark jersey (received as a Christmas present from the Canganys), I was able to blend right in and support the home team. Don't worry (I'm looking at you, Auddie), I'm no traitor. I was tuned in later to watch the Redskins take on Dallas in their Sunday night game and pretty much seal the deal on a fairly dismal season. I'm already looking forward to 2010 and a fresh start for my hometown team!

Here's to new beginnings and exciting adventures, both in football and in life!

Week 47: Sloppy Joes and the Skins!

I know it seems like I've had a number of football-related SPs recently. Well, it's due in part to the fact that that's how I spend my Sundays in the fall. That, and I've been doing a horrible job of remembering to take SPs during other, more exciting activities that take place off the couch.

This was a rare NFL week in which we got full coverage of a Colts daytime game on Sunday. Since they were up against the Ravens, they were on CBS at 1, while the Redskins took on the Cowboys on FOX at 1. We seriously considered bringing the bedroom TV out into the living room to watch the games side by side, but realized we didn't have cables long enough or with the right attachments to make it work. In the end, it was Colts on the living room TV, Redskins on the bedroom TV (Tivo'd), and switching back and forth between drives to catch as much live overlap action as possible.

Ultimately, the injury-riddled Skins lost in a low-scoring heartbreaker, while the Colts barely edged out the Ravens in a rather close and dramatic game! We enjoyed the game while eating some homemade crockpot sloppy joes, which were hearty and delicious!

Week 46: Fun with Meg!

I went out with Meg and a few other folks on Saturday night where we attempted some bar self-portraits. Yes, this was the best of the bunch after at least 5 attempts that I won't post here (SPs late on a Saturday evening are decidedly not the best idea). On Sunday night, I watched the amazing Colts game with both Canganys who are true Indy natives. Due to a text message miscommunication over dinner plans, Meg and I ended up having a macaroni & cheese-off dinner in which we each prepared a huge pan of homemade mac 'n cheese. The final verdict is that Martha Stewart's got nothin' on either of our versions (except that she might have provided the recipe I used - big deal). Needless to say, I'll be eating mac 'n cheese for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week. Let's just call it practice for Thanksgiving!