Confessions From the Wife of a Fan

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. The expectations were clearly laid out for me before I said “I do.” I had to convert. Not religion mind you, but teams. I had to convert from a Dallas fan to an Eagles fan.

I’ve always liked football - I grew up watching it. For the first 9 years of my life I lived in Dallas. My mom made me a little vest with the fringe and blue stars, which I would wear while watching “The Boys” with my dad. I usually lasted about 15 minutes before falling asleep on the couch. Then I got married and agreed to denounce “The Boys”. Now I am a member of the Eagles family. A year-round member.

You may think NFL football runs from September thru February. You would be wrong. The draft order is released in February, soon after the Superbowl. From then until the actual draft (towards the end of April) there is a lot of research to be done regarding who your team is looking at. The endless hours of discussion online and on the NFL network could tire even the most emphatic philosophy student. I refuse to even acknowledge this part of the season. It makes me tired.

The draft takes place in April and after it is over fans spend hours learning more about “their” new players. I say “their” because if you are a true fan you consider yourself part of the organization (even though I’m still waiting for my paycheck from the franchise). Training camps start in July. There are ample opportunities for fans to attend training sessions, dinners, and autograph sessions. It’s the best chance to get up close and personal with the players. It’s also time consuming and very expensive.

The pre-season starts in August. These games usually feature the second and third string players. If you are a true fan you follow all of the players, not just the stars. Unfortunately that means watching each pre-season game in its entirety.

The actual season begins around the first week of September and I lose complete control over my TV every Sunday. It starts with the Fox Pregame Show and continues until the late game is finished. We have been devoted Sunday Ticket subscribers for years, so sometimes we watch several games at once. It’s no wonder so many people have been diagnosed with ADD. Then there are the Monday games. I instituted Spaghetti Monday a few years ago. With Nick, my brother-in-law, and all their friends coming over to watch the game I had to find a way to feed them all for under $50. I get really tired of spaghetti.

So that’s my year. It could be worse. In football the teams only play once a week. I feel sorry for the baseball and basketball wives. Uh, oh I better wrap it up. My husband is nagging me to use the computer to check out the latest draft picks…

Happy Birthday Olivia!

It's official - my baby isn't such a baby anymore. Olivia is 4, but she acts like she's in her teens. We had a Care Bear party and invited her cousins and some neighborhood friends. The grandparents were all sad they couldn't attend, but made up for it by spoiling her rotten!

The kids created their own Care Bear symbols on their own shirts. It was fun to see them in action!

Memories of Yesterday

Addy was out of school yesterday for Martin Luther King Jr Day and again to day for some sort of teacher prep day. I decided that with the extra time on my hands that we would head south. So the girls and I packed up and went over the river and through the woods to Grandmothers house. Actually, for those of you who know me at all, we call her Marmie.

It is so fun to share my childhood memories with my girls. It's fun to see them get excited about the same treasures I did and to watch them sit with Marmie on the piano bench. Just like when I was young, they play songs that never end and consist of many loud keys at once. Marmie always says "What a beautiful song! You're such a great pianist!"

Papa was sitting in his office last night and Olivia went in with him to color. Addy, Marmie and I were in the living room watching TV. After a while I went in to check on Olivia and found her as content as can be to be playing with Papa. I'm so happy my kids have so many amazing people in their family, and I'm especially glad they have the chance to know 6 of their 8 great grandparents.

Fly Eagles Fly

Let me take you back to a time not so long ago. It was the end of November and after a miserable showing against the Ravens, the city of Philadelphia thought all was lost. McNabb was benched and Philly fans were demanding the end of the Reid/McNabb era. Who's got egg on their face now? We square off against the Cardinals this Sunday at 1 pm mst. Our home will especially enjoy what we knew was coming all season long - a trip to the Big Show.

Let's try this blogging thing

It's been a long time coming, but here I am. The family letters seemed to die a slow and painful death and I hear that it's because most of the family has a blog. I vow to update my blog at least once a month (let's start simple here).