Tailgate at last!

The football game did not go the way I wanted, but it was exciting to watch and fun to be with a big group.

Everything was set up by the time Blaine and I arrived. John's pickup was backed into their reserved space. A large television sat on a platform in the pickup bed up by the cabin. The generator that powered it and a table of slow cookers grumbled in the background. Another long table was holding the food that everyone contributed. Beneath it was row of coolers containing all types of drinks. A small canopy was set up in case there was rain (or sun, I suppose, but we haven’t seen the sun for a couple of weeks).

Blaine contributed a large cooler of mixed beverages (beer, Coke and Diet Coke), and I brought an experiment -- rum balls made with cinnamon flavored whisky instead of rum. This group is nuts for cinnamon whisky, so I thought it would be a novel addition. The balls disappeared quickly because everyone was curious. They were not as tasty as I’d hoped. The cinnamon flavor didn’t come through very strongly. Still, several people requested them again.

The couple who had planned to have a watching party at their house canceled their plans last night and came to the tailgate instead. They were very nice both times I’ve been around them, so I made sure to say hello and reintroduce myself. If there were hard feelings about the party cancellation, I couldn’t tell.

One person in the group that Blaine has brunch with on Sundays always refers to me as “Eve’s dog sitter” when she introduces me. Occasionally she’ll include “and coworker.” This is why I ended up having a long conversation with someone who has a border collie that hates being boarded. She asked if I was taking on new clients. I explained I wasn’t a professional pet sitter. She said that didn’t bother her since we knew people in common. I said I only took care of Izzy because Eve is a friend. She didn’t have a lot of use for me then.

I sought out Blaine after that. We hit the food table. John called out to me to ask how I liked my hot dogs. “Burned beyond recognition,” I called back. No one ever believes me. At John’s insistence that I let him know if it wasn’t right, I rejected the offered hot dog twice before it was properly charred.

Dani (Kim and John’s daughter) and a couple of friends had games going. I successfully avoided those. There was plenty of music coming from the other tailgates and conversations had to take place in fairly tight groups. I hung out with Eve for the most part because the couples seem to separate. It’s the only thing that bugs me. Blaine did come by a couple of times, once to bring me a fresh drink and another time to ask if how I was doing and if I was having fun.

It wasn’t until the pregame broadcast started that John turned on the television and the huge speakers attached to it. Within minutes all the tailgates were tuned to the same broadcast. It reminded me of being a kid and riding my bike around our small town on game day. On every block someone was out working in their garage with their radio tuned to the game and the volume turned up. No matter where you were, you knew the score.

Blaine grabbed the lawn chairs we had brought and set them up for us next to Eve and Paul. There wasn’t much sitting until the opposing team had scored two touchdowns after recovering fumbled balls. It was a close game but we didn't play well.

In the quieter periods, I took some ribbing for having the wrong color lawn chair. Mine was the only one not in the team color. When pressed about why I had bought a blue chair, I said my heart belonged to the Cubs. (In reality it’s the only color there was when I bought it years ago.) Paul called out, “We’ll get her a proper one before next weekend.” At least no one cared that the team t-shirt I wore was about five minutes old.

I was wired afterward and the night air was perfect for a long walk through Blaine’s neighborhood. “This was a fun day,” I told him. “I’m glad we made it to football season,” I joked.

“Once the season starts you have to see it through you know.”

I don’t think it will be a problem.

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Party planning

Mica’s back home and working again. Her elbow is giving her a lot of trouble--very sore--and making it difficult to use the mouse and keyboard for long stretches. She’s made an appointment with her doctor to make sure she’s doing the right things. The bruising is incredible. It’s amazing she didn’t break anything.

I went over at noon to walk the little white dog. Mica let me know what week she’s going to be away visiting her mom. I’ll stay with the little white dog then. The way it works out, I’ll take care of Izzy for nine days, may have one day at home and then will be with the little white dog for seven days. A year ago all of this would have been a nice break from my normal routine. This year my normal routine is more varied.

I broke the news to Blaine when he came over tonight. I believed there was a good chance he would be put off. October is usually a gorgeous month around here, and we have talked many times about taking advantage of the fall weather and colors to go exploring the trails at a couple of state parks. “[The Little White Dog] won’t be a problem. He can go with us. He’s fine with car rides and he loves walks.” Izzy hates car rides, and I have no idea how she would react on a park trail. She would probably enjoy it, but I’m not comfortable testing it with her.

“We’ll work something out.”

“Really?”

He looked at me. “Did you think it was going to be a problem?”

“It isn’t ideal for us.”

He considered that, finished with a shrug. “For some time now my ideal has been spending time with you. That will still happen. And I like dogs--not like you like dogs,” he chuckled. “We have a more immediate problem anyway.”

“Oh?”

He retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket and found a text he wanted me to read. It was from a couple that I don’t think I’ve mentioned before, but who knows. I met them when we celebrated Eve’s birthday, and I liked both quite a bit. I saw them again at Eve’s mom’s funeral. The text was an invitation to a football watching party at their house on Saturday. “Oh my.” I handed the phone back. “Why are they-- Don’t they go to the tailgates?”

And I received the first briefing into the politics of the friendships that make up Blaine’s social circle. When he finished, I observed, “This is why it’s good to be an introvert. When you only have a couple of friends, the complications are kept to a minimum.”

“I hadn’t considered that angle,” he said.

“So what’s it going to be?”

“What’s your preference?”

“I’ve been hearing about these tailgates since before I met you. I really want to go. Plus, this is a good game to watch in that environment.” It’s against a team with fans so odious that all I want is for us to annihilate them. Or win by one. I don’t care how it happens as long as they lose. LOSE.

I may have said much of that out loud. “This is a new side of you.”

“I can get fiery.”

“I like it.”

So, we’re going to the tailgate but Blaine thinks it would be best to make an appearance at the watching party.

“If it looks like we will win,” I said, “can we go back to the tailgate before the game is over?”

“Are you going to taunt the visitors?”

“Introverts don’t taunt,” I reassured. “We feed taunts to those who do.”

“Eve?”

“Eve.”

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A walk to support

In IM earlier today:

Me: I have a feeling I'm going to accidentally end up volunteering to wear the plush mascot costume before I'm done registering.

Eve: You will be cute in the giant lower digestive system costume!
Me: You really can't beat a plush gastrointestinal tract.
In a few weeks Eve and I are participating in a walk to support research for Crohn's Disease.

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Figure out how to care

The main communications department rolled out a new branding campaign today via an online meeting. All of us at the various locations need to implement it over the next several months. I was ready to take copious notes about how to do that but the meeting lasted less than a half hour and was about the process that had lead to the new branding. It ended with a video designed to make us stand and cheer.

I’m not the stand and cheer sort unless there are nine men arranged around a diamond of dirt.

After logging out of the meeting, I looked at my nonexistent notes. I jotted down the tagline so I’d remember it. I considered adding “Figure out how to care about new branding” to my to-do list but decided I could remember that on my own.

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Not broken

Mica called early to see if I wanted to get breakfast. Before she could ask I heard loud noises and Mica cry out. She had tripped over the edge of the new carpet protector under her office chair. I heard, “I fell. I thinks it’s broken.” I told her I was on my way, and I was. Izzy barely got a goodbye. I had already fed her and she had been outside twice, although I wasn’t sure she had bothered to do anything since it was raining.

I made good time getting across town. When I arrived, Mica had ice packs on her elbow and knee. She no longer thought anything was broken but agreed to have X-rays. Sophie arrived as we were about to leave. The three of us went to urgent care.

Nothing was broken but everything is bruised badly. Since Mica’s bed is a flight of stairs away she‘s going to stay with Sophie until she can manage them again. I said I could stay with the little white dog because Sophie’s yard isn’t secure enough for him to go out unsupervised. Sophie wanted him to go to her house. I helped load his stuff and him and packed for Mica. All is well and taken care of.

A couple of things were said during all of this that hurt my feelings badly. I should be getting used to it but never will.

I drove back to Izzy. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t have had an accident, but she’d held it. After taking her for a well-deserved walk, I jumped into the shower. I had hair and makeup finished but hadn’t yet dressed when Blaine arrived to pick me up. It only took a few minutes for me to finish, and we weren’t late leaving but I was frazzled. He couldn’t have been less bothered that I hadn’t been ready. It’s exactly what I needed.

Blaine has a friend, someone he’s known since law school, who is terminally ill. I was introduced to him at Blaine’s birthday party. He had mentioned then that we should double date sometime. I don’t think his relationship went the way he hoped, so it didn’t happen. Recently he told Blaine he’d like to meet me—have a chance to talk some. We spent a few hours with him today and had a good time.

Blaine waited with me until Paul and Eve got home. It was a quiet couple of hours. Izzy slept on the couch. We sat on the loveseat and looked out the front window. We talked some but mostly stayed with our thoughts.

Now I’m home and doing laundry. I’ll get just enough done to see me through a couple days of work. I hate to see what this week will bring.

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No occasion

Blaine invited me to dinner at his place . I walked in to find the lights dimmed, music playing and candles flickering in every room and on the dining room table. Dinner smelled great. The menu included roasted Brussels sprouts. Dessert charmed me—my favorite cake, the classic strawberry Jello whip-n-chill. There was wine. There was dancing. There was no occasion, just too many weekends in a row without much one-on-one time.

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Quick as lightning

I learned something new about football today. Lightning suspends the game and play won’t resume until 30 minutes have passed following the last strike.

Blaine and I went downtown to meet up with John, Kim, the rest of the usual group and assorted others to watch the game. We were crammed into a bar where a bank of giant television screens above the bar were tuned to different games until it was time for the tunnel walk and all switched to the only game anyone cared about.

The fervor of football fans around here cannot be overstated, and this season opener has been anticipated since a new coach was hired at the end of last season. When the tunnel walk started, the place erupted—whooping, clapping chanting. The tables vibrated. I couldn’t hear Blaine talking into my ear.

On the screens we watched the kickoff, then a clap of thunder loud enough to break through the noise got everyone’s attention. On the television the officials were already at the sidelines waving like traffic cops to get the players and coaches to leave the field. Closed captioning said play was suspended a minimum of 30 minutes due to lightning.

We waited. And waited.

Nearly three hours later it was still pouring and the wind was blowing the rain sideways. Some people who had been at the game made it inside and said everyone had been asked to leave the stadium because the game was going to be called off. A few minutes later a local news app sent a text saying the game would be played in the morning. Not long after, another text said the game was cancelled.

So…football season is here...ish.

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