The Menagerie

Go Pack!

So it may be UNR (where the n stands for knowledge) but I am soooo glad to be able to say, in this state, that I am neither duck nor beaver, but a wolf.  Go Pack!

Shelley's Sports Milestones

Let's just say that in my family, sports were not on the TV.  Ever.  At my grandparents' homes, yes -- golf and football with my father's parents and baseball and football with my mother's parents. My granddaddy was a diehard Braves fan. 

My husband's not all that into sports, either, although he knows football pretty well (we had an interesting experience on our mini-vacation where he was forced to explain the whole down system to me, which did not make sense for the first 30 minutes).  So...unless there was someone in the house watching it, we never would.  But my neighbors have been a good influence on me (there's always a game, usually on mute, in their living room).  In the last year, I watched the Stanley Cup, the World Cup, went to my first hockey game, finally watched my college team play a game (on ESPN, something I never thought would happen), learned some of the distinctions between college and pro football and now, the biggie:

For the first time in my life, I know who's going to be playing in the Super Bowl.   And I came home this evening and gave my husband a play-by-play of the last five minutes of the Colts/Patriots championship.

Unbelievable. 

Risking a jinx here, but can't help it!

Today, I predict, is going to rock. Yes, my head is killing me (still) but migraines are ordinary around these parts (seeing colors when the dog barks and the sound reverberates through the piano -- fun, ordinary stuff).

However, two things make today unusual.

1. I'm getting a new iPod! Matthew's federal agency is the friendly federal agency (unlike his last federal agency, which is better known for employee shootings). They give each other awards all the time, and the awards are redeemable for gift certificates and coupons. Usually he picks Fred Meyer cards, and we use them for groceries. However, this time decided to cash his in and get me a new 30 gig iPod. This is exciting for me, because iPods are 5th generation now and my 20 gig iPod is 2nd. This is great for Matthew, because he gets my 20 gig iPod. (His died, and I fixed it, but we're not sure how long it will last.) Finally, I will have an iPod big enough to house my music collection (around 26 gigs currently).

2. I'm going to my first live hockey game! Matthew and our friend Alesia and I have center ice tickets to the Winterhawks' opening season game. I've been looking forward to this since the end of the Stanley Cup.

I did something completely out of character for the post-law school me, too -- I made a real breakfast, including pancakes made from whole wheat and oat flour. It's been years since I made pancakes, though it used to be an every Saturday sort of thing.

Go Ghana!

I got more out of the Czech Republic-Ghana match than any other so far in the World Cup. (Matthew even watched the last 20 minutes with me and saw the lovely second goal.)  Maybe it was rooting for the underdog, maybe it was the fact the Ghanians had Christians, Jews, and Moslems on their team.  I dunno.  But I did get all teary at the end!

My Euro Dog

Norris, as I've pointed out, is a Belgian Malinois. His father is a Dutch-bred Mal (the more aggressive type) and his mother was a narcotics dog in the Netherlands.* Norris -- well, he's into his European roots. Today I turned on the World Cup for him to watch (Paraguay and Sweden) while I worked on a memo and he stayed on the couch, eyes wide open, watching the entire game. I swear his ears pricked up when Sweden (finally) scored, too!

It's interesting watching soccer after watching the Stanley Cup final this week. I mean, I always thought of soccer as so quick compared to American football, but it is so...painfully...slow after watching hockey.

UPDATE: Matthew just told me that researchers recently discovered that dogs can actually watch HDTV; since the match we watched was broadcast in brilliant HDTV, I guess he really was watching!!

*A friend pithily pointed out this would be akin to dousing for water on a cruise ship.

True Confession

I've gotten hooked on watching hockey, thanks to the Edmonton Oilers and the Stanley Cup Finals.  My neighbor's responsible; in the evenings I've been hanging out with him and his wife and watching the games.  Usually the sound is muted, and my neighbor explains the rules in between chitchat (his wife's area of expertise is baseball, as her father managed teams).  Today my neighbor had to prep for oral arguments tomorrow and was upstairs, working; his wife and I sat downstairs, completely glued to the television and offering expletive-laden opinions on the players from time to time.