Go, Raiders, Go! Go,
Raiders, Go!
I should begin by mentioning that there is a big difference
between going to a football game with your boyfriend and watching a game with
your family. Rowen and Tim were with us,
and we had a really great time together; so the big first win was just a fun
added bonus.
Since I’m there anyway, let’s just keep going with the
football report. This definitely felt
like a date night to me. Rowen and I got
dressed up and took extra time doing our hair; though we did pick clothes that
were appropriate for a hot summer evening of sports-watching on
moderately-crowded bleachers. The
holiday weekend had a big effect on that, but then there were more visiting
kids and teens that were catching the game for something to do than there will
be on a normal game night.
Michael had to help out at the Inn until shortly before the
game started, so Rowen and I met him there; and Tim had gone on ahead to save
seats for all of us. While he didn’t
have time to grab a shower or anything, Michael had brought fresh clothes and
cleaned up as much as he could before leaving the Inn. He got razzed a bit by the guys in the
kitchen for being picked up by two girls; but nobody there actually has any
doubt about who his girlfriend is now; and he just played along with them.
We didn’t have time to pick up drinks or anything by the
time we got to the school, but Tim had already taken care of that for us
too. Though he and Rowen were in ‘just
hanging out with our best friends’ mode all night, if Tim had tried to tell us
that he hadn’t dressed to impress Rowen; I’d be sure he was lying – not that we
actually asked him.
He looked good, and Rowen was impressed.
There was actually a football game going on too, but before
I get to that; let’s talk cheerleaders.
Erin Green is Head Cheerleader this year; though that doesn’t have
anything to do with the fact that her boyfriend is Captain of the football team
– there just aren’t very many cheerleaders; and we only have two seniors on the
squad this year. That wasn’t news for
me; but it was news for nearly everyone at the game to find out that Jenny –
and Tammy Morris – were the freshman cheerleader picks this year. Jenny was really fired up, and looked great
in her new uniform.
That was good and bad, because while she was impressing
Joel, she was getting some attention from quite a few other guys too – and Joel
definitely didn’t like that at all – especially when the younger guys on both
teams were watching her or coming up to talk with her. Jenny loved all of that attention, and was
oblivious to the jealous side of her boyfriend’s reaction to her first time in
the cheerleader spotlight.
Small school cheerleading squads can’t do the really cool
tricks you see with the big competition teams; but they do work the sidelines
with little cheers and dances that keep the spectators entertained during
breaks in the action on the field; and the squads from both teams took turns
doing short dance routines to music during half time. That mini-battle between the squads was a
friendly competition too; and nothing like you see in the movies either.
I can’t say that about the football game – both teams were
definitely serious; and Hillcrest had a bit of a grudge going on against us
after we won our playoff game against them last season. Kyle and our defense won that close match-up;
while their offense had kept them in the game.
Our offense is playing better – at least according to Michael and Tim –
but Hillcrest was not ready to keep up with us tonight.
I should probably amend that to suggest that they weren’t
ready to keep up with Kyle; since they were fairly competitive against the rest
of our players. The bad news was that
Kyle is very serious about finishing his high school football career with a
championship; and was playing as if this was the big game. The Hillcrest quarterback wasn’t the only guy
on their team who was very, very jumpy by the end of the game.
I’d say that was justified for him after being sacked five
times and hit by Kyle on nearly half of their total offensive plays. Kyle also had a hand in seven defensive
take-aways; including four fumbles, two interceptions, and one lateral
break-up. Kyle scored three defensive
touchdowns; and our offense put points on the board for each of the other four
take-aways. Our defense only gave up one
touchdown and two field goals; while we put forty-four points on the board for
a very convincing win.
I’m going to back up and cover the action from the rest of
the day before getting to the post-game news; but I wanted to mention that
being a Magi Master at an event like that causes a bit of a problem with
sensory overload. That can be fun – like
when I told Michael and Tim about something one of the Hillcrest players was
doing to give away what kind of plays they were about to run; and Tim passed
that on to Kyle between the first and second quarters. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of things
I see, hear, and sense that fall into the ‘way too much information’ category. Let’s not get into the details of the strange
and weird that happens at a high school football game – especially since what
happens in our little town is mild compared to big cities – but if I’m going to
be going to a lot of these games with Michael from now on; I’d better learn to
find something to do that will divert me from processing all of that
information like I was doing tonight.
With that off my chest, let’s rewind to this morning. Tai Chi by the river was a fun start to the
day, but then Michael headed over to the Inn
to help out with a busy holiday weekend Friday breakfast crowd. I went with a quick cereal and juice meal,
and was out moving the lawn before Dad left for work. Since we’re not going to have a house full of
guests this weekend, Mom didn’t really have much extra work to do today; but
she and Alicia did take the twins with them and did all of the holiday weekend
supply shopping this morning while I was busy working in the yard.
Rowen was working at the computer store, mostly helping out
with the holiday weekend displays while her Dad was busy with a bunch of
last-minute computer updates ahead of the first day of school on Tuesday. It’s been another hot day, and lots of people
were happy to be inside and staying cool; but I was glad to be outside and enjoying
every bit of warm I can get as we head into fall. I also love being able to hop into the river
for a swim too; since that probably won’t be an option for much longer once we
get into the cooler nights that we’ve managed to dodge over the past couple of
weeks.
I went for one quick swim once I’d finished cutting the
lawn, and then moved on to the gardening.
Ethan and Ehlana ‘helped’ me with that for a while when Mom and Alicia
were busy unloading the minivan; putting everything away; and making lunch. When it was nearly time to stop and eat, I
went for a clean-up swim with the twins first; and then we had another picnic
lunch on the dock while Mom and Alicia sat on one of the benches to eat while
helping to give me the shopping report and latest grapevine news.
There was still more work that I wanted to get done after
lunch, so I got back to that, and Rowen gave me a hand when she came over;
which is why my chores were pretty much done by the time Michael came over to
hang out with us during his afternoon break.
The football team had some training today ahead of the game; but only a
light morning workout to go along with some classroom time to go over their
game plan. That’s why we didn’t spend an
hour or two at the school this afternoon, but went for two swims and a bike
ride instead. Tim joined us for the ride
and second swim; but then he headed out again when Michael went back to the Inn.
There was a family barbeque going on at Uncle Adam and Aunt
Leanne’s tonight; but Rowen and I ate at my house before getting ready for the
football game. I’ve covered enough of
the football game part of this report; so let’s move on to the post-game
action. First up was the victory celebration
on the field. Hanging out with Tim put
Michael, Rowen, and me on the inside of that because the entire Landry family
was very close to the football team and program – as they have been for
decades. That was fun, and though the
Hillcrest players and coaches were really disappointed, and a bit shell-shocked;
the interaction with them – and their fans – was mostly good-natured and
entertaining too.
I wanted to check in with my visiting cousins before they’d
be in bed for the night, so Michael and I went to do that while Rowen and Tim
stayed and hung out with some of the other teens and tweens before meeting up
with us again for a swim at my house.
Doing that visit ended up being fairly easy, because the main family
action was still going on at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house. Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Jayden were there with
their parents, aunt, and uncle; and Kara and Eddie were there with their
parents too. Nicole, Robyn, and their
parents and grandparents hadn’t made it home yet; but they hadn’t escaped the
city early like everyone else had. Mom,
Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana were there still too, and so were all available
grandparents.
I loved having a little visit with my cousins, but Michael
and I hadn’t planned on staying long – especially since it was an
all-hands-on-deck weekend at the Inn; and I
wouldn’t be seeing Michael very much on Saturday or Monday. The only problem I had with escaping was when
Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara all wanted to do a sleepover with me. The Moms and Aunts helped me out with that by
negotiating a sleepover at our house for Saturday night instead. Problem solved; and I expected at least one
sleepover night anyway.
Mom and Dad used our departure as an early out for them too;
so Michael and I helped to get Ethan, Ehlana, and a few bags and boxes full of
empty dishes, leftovers, and the rest of the gear they’d taken along for the
barbeque and swimming. After doing that,
Michael ran home to change into a swimsuit.
He was back, and we were already swimming by the time Tim and Rowen
joined us. There was a reason why they
were both smiling and later than we’d expected; but I didn’t get the details
about that until Rowen and I had a little computer chat once we were both in
bed for the night.
Once we were together again, we had fun playing in the water
for about a half hour before getting dried off; throwing shorts and shirts on;
and going for a long walk. We went down
to the falls first, but it was fairly busy there, so after staying long enough
to talk with some of our friends; we wandered over to the park to wander around
on the trails there instead. There were
some teens hanging out there too, but they were mostly hanging out around the
playground, pavilion, and along the river.
There wasn’t anyone else around the bike trails at the far end of the
park; and that was exactly the kind of isolation we were looking for – both so
we could all talk together, and for a little couples-only time that Tim and
Rowen weren’t doing just for us anymore.
They won’t admit that publicly; but the smiles are all the evidence I
need – even without picking up any empathic signals.
We were all home again by a bit after midnight, with Tim
being the last to get to his house after walking Rowen home first. Michael and I did our goodnight kisses on his
front porch; and I was on my front porch by the time Rowen was standing on
hers; watching Tim walking toward Witch Falls Road and oblivious to my wave; or
anything else going on around us. I
needed to deal with a few things before coming up to my room; including taking
care of the wet towels that we’d left out on the back porch. I was still changed and in bed by
twelve-thirty; and had that little chat with Rowen while doing my usual nightly
computing.
She and Tim were late because she’d gone with him around to
his house while he got changed into a swimsuit; had talked with his parents for
a while; and then they’d moved on to her house so she could get changed
too. That explained most of the delay,
but the smiles were because they’d managed to sneak a kiss in the kitchen when
getting cold drinks to go – a scary, thrilling moment for Rowen with her
parents nearby in the living room; and her brother upstairs. They didn’t get caught, though if Patricia
saw them smiling like they were when they caught up with us; Patricia would
have had some suspicions.
Rowen is as tired as I am, so we didn’t chat for long; and
since that’s the last bit of news for today; I’m ready to put my computer away
and get some sleep – we do have our big game coming up in just about eleven
hours. Hopefully we’ll be able to have a
really great start to the last day of August with another baseball
championship!
That thought, and some happy memories with Michael to take
with me into dreamland, is just what I need for a happy sleep; so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
