Crimson Friday

Gameday.

We woke up this morning with the intent to hit some of the Black Friday sales and then head on over to the campus for the game. Got up, got out and bought a suit for Eli at Belk and officially started our Christmas shopping. You know how you get excited about a gift that you got for someone and just can't wait to give it to them, so you feel like giving it to them before Christmas? Yeah? Me, too. And the only reasons I don't do that are 1) this person doesn't live nearby, and 2) I'm way over-excited about this and am afraid that my excitement might overshadow the person's reaction to the gift and I would be disappointed.

So, after the mall, we took Elsie over to my friend M's house. She couldn't go to the game because evidently she would need a ticket even if she were going to sit on our laps. We said goodbye, and M told me to feel free to call as often as I needed to to check up on the baby, that it would be okay. My response was pretty much, "Please don't think terribly of me if I don't call at all." She laughed. We drove back to the mall, parked the car, and rode the shuttle to the stadium.

The game was a nail biter, for sure. I had a revelation somewhere in the middle of it that the game is called the "Iron Bowl" because it used to take place in B'ham, which is famous for its iron industry (at least in the state of Alabama, it is). Duh. It only took me 5 years to figure that out. And my other revelation was that I've been to several Iron Bowls, but never a one has the Tide won. I started to sweat in an unnecessarily superstitious way. Thankfully, Bama came back to win it. Thankfully. Did I say that?

We made it back to the shuttle stop and the line was soooooooooooo looooooooooooong since EVERY SINGLE FAN stayed to the last seconds of the game. There was no graduated escape from the stadium. Everyone left at once, and everyone headed for the shuttle at once. I could not stand in that long line. It's just a thing. I can't do it. I hate lines. I won't stand in them if they are ridiculous. So, Eli and I took it to the streets and hoofed it the 3 miles back to M's house (remember in a previous post when I mentioned that it was a "healthy" walking distance?) and Elsie was great. Everyone there at M's Iron Bowl party told us how good she was and how the little boys were enamored with her. When we came in, in fact, Elsie was chewing on an airplane propellor that was attached to a toy airplane that one of the boys gave her (they were ages 2, 4, and 5). Nice.

M and her husband used to cater, so they had great food. We ate it up heartily. Finally, M gave us all a ride back to the house. We will pick up the car from the mall in the morning. We're just exhausted!

So, now it's time for bed. And it's only 8:47. :)

Roll Tide!