Notre Dame Football 2007

As you all know, the football begins anew tomorrow. Questions loom about the 2007 Irish. Who will the quarterback be? How will the defense react to the new defensive coordinator? But things will not change. We will follow the team. I suggest this website for the most complete coverage The Blue Gray Sky We will go to some games and watch all the games. And some moments, we will forever remember.
In 1980, Notre Dame played Michigan. Mom, Dad, I went to the game. It may seem like once again "The King" got special treatment, but come on, I was 3...and I did fall asleep during the game. Everyone else was at home, but Joe only remembers that he, John and Patty were upstairs watching the game from Mom and Dad's room.
This is one of those memories, tied to Notre Dame football that we will forever remember, or in my case, a memory I get to hear so many times that I swear, I do remember it too.
Harry Oliver, 5'10", acne-covered Mechanical Engineering student, a back-up to the back-up, a guy who missed an extra point in the same game, a nobody, makes a 51-yard field goal to beat Michigan. And we all still remember the announcer saying, "Come Harry, give it ride, Baby."
Here's a clip from the game. It's the U of M announcer who is so surprised that the kick was made that he seemingly lost his mind. Just so you know, ND wins 29-27.
More on Harry Oliver here. Go Irish beat Georgia Tech.

We Got a New Pet!

And it wants to eat us.

Post "coma" Memoirs

Well, it's official -- the heat/humidity of the deep South is unlike.......well, I'm at a complete loss for words ---- there's just no describing it. It literally put me in a mental (and sometimes emotional) "coma" -- hence my ridiculously long blog hiatus. Soooo, it appears that the beginning of the end of the worst of the heat is commencing. How's that for a clear sentence? I don't want to get too excited or jinx it, for that matter. Mother Nature can be persnickety! Anyhow, we feel like the beginning of the end is near because over the weekend we actually ate dinner (a very LATE dinner) outside!! Tom had drops of sweat pouring down his forehead and I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes, but WE ATE OUTSIDE AND SURVIVED!!! Of course, we had to move one of the outdoor tables from the back porch (faces West), to the front porch (faces East) in order for this to happen, but it did happen and as the night progressed and I proceeded to stomp Tom in a lengthy game of Gin, the outdoor temp. actually became quite pleasant. This event was followed-up the next evening with the temps actually dropping to 90 degrees by about 6pm and I was able to go for a run without getting a massive headache!! I never thought the day would come when I would say "wow, it is so nice outside" when the thermometer reads 90 degrees! It's crazy. Aside from cooler temperatures, we also have a lot of other things to look forward to in the upcoming weeks. First, we are training for our first itty-bitty triathlon on Sept. 8th. (I only mention it so that you trusty blog readers will hold us accountable for actually completing it!) It should be fun as long as the temps continue in their downward trend. At the top of our "looking forward to" list would probably have to be our trip to South Bend for the ND v. MSU game in mid-September. It will be Marin's first Notre Dame game!! Tom is counting the seconds until kickoff for the Irish's first game this Saturday against Georgia Tech. We will be watching the game in Birmingham with Sara and Greg -- it'll be great! Ahhhhh, football season -- what a great time of year it is, that is once one resigns them self to the fact that their husband will be totally unreachable (even if he is in the same room) every Saturday for the next 12 weeks or so.

Videos, Hummingbirds & Videos of Hummingbirds

On Monday, Marin had more immunizations done. As painful as they are for her (and for her mom!), we think the low grade fever she runs for the next few days is even worse. She was cranky for 2 days and didn't sleep all that well either. It is pretty easy to tell when she feels bad; her eyes look sad and she is pretty whiney. Below is a video of Marin when she feels bad:


Compare that with video of her on the same day, after her fever had subsided. She is usually silly like this:


This week we also put in a couple of bird feeders on the back porch. We've managed to attract the attention of at least 4 different hummingbirds. We've enjoyed seeing them arrive each morning to battle it out for the sweet syrup.



Here are some stills of the hummingbirds.

Grandma Cronley Visits Mississippi!

After eight months of time without a trip to Meridian, Grandma Cronley was finally persuaded to make a trip to the south as part of yet another whirlwind tour across the country. After flying into Birmingham, she and Aunt Sara drove west to Meridian to share some much needed family time with us. Amidst the hottest temperatures I've ever lived in, we spent most of the time either indoors or in pools!
The week flew by and now Grandma is with the Woods in Columbus. Thanks for coming and see you soon!