Seven in-a-row 37-7

It was Michigan Saturday. I woke around 740a and quietly slipped out of bed and ultimately downstairs. It was cloudy but promised to turn sunny later. Frankie made no overtures to be set free. I left her in her pen temporarily while starting coffee and then did 55 sit-ups and 55 push-ups. Like most other days, I spent some time on the PC ahead of my run. In fact, I spent at least an hour online downloading recent photos and poking around for more gift ideas. I freed Frankie and took her outside somewhere between then and when I decided it time to run. Near 930a, I dressed warmly and headed out for a run. It was 30 degrees. The sky told two stories. Overhead and immediately to our west, the sky was completely blue. To the east, and near the sun's current position, there were thick dark clouds. Two different mind sets. I ran 3 miles like I do now most every Saturday and Sunday. Saw lots of folks heading off in their Buckeye attire. Many have commented this past week how it doesn't feel much like Michigan weekend, due mostly to the new after TG game date. However ,reflecting back though, we played the game on the Saturday after TG the first year of Jim Tressel's tenure as coach, the game when Belasari was benched for DUI and the then unknown Craig Krenzel was elevated to starter. That year's entire schedule was modified due to the events of 9/11. I was back from my run after 10a. Mindy still wasn't up, or at least not downstairs. It wasn't long, however, before I heard her stirring. As I recall, she was up numerous times during the night. Sometime near 11a I took a shower. For the first time in a long time, I wore my red #29 Buckeye jersey, the one Lindsey had signed by Pepe Pearson. It was near 1130a. Where had the morning gone? I tuned into the Buckeye pregame hype. Mindy was busy updating thr Xmas list and addressing more Xmas cards for mailing. I pulled out the leftover Barley's smoked turkey for snacking. I was gonna make a sandwich but ended up snacking on meat only. The game kicked off at 12noon. The Buckeyes wore new NIKE designed uniforms that were designed as a tribute to the 1942 national championship team. They featured stripeless red helmets and jerseys, along with solid gray pants and red shoes. Cool. As with a lot of Buckeye games this year and last, we looked sluggish early on. On the other hand, Michigan looked poised to take the early lead, but couldn't take advantage of two long drives in the first quarter. I find it hard to believe that a program as prominent and reputable as Michigan can't find a half way decent field goal kicker. The Buckeyes scored first making it 3-0, and then 10-0. Honestly, though, it was more about Michigan's mistakes and misfortune than about the Buckeyes dominance. We were very opportunistic. Michigan answered our TD with one of their own making it close at 10-7. The Buckeyes, however, returned the ensuing kick-off for a TD that fired up the team and 105,000 Buckeye faithful in the stands. It wasn't close after that. The Buckeyes, of course, won 37-7, once again demonstrating their dominance over the rivalry, winning their seventh in a row, a feat I would never have dreamed possible having suffered through the Bruce/Cooper era (7-14-1 vs. Michigan). As usual, coach Tressel was a gracious winner deferring all the praise to his outgoing seniors. After the game, Mindy and I elected to go Xmas shopping. We planned stops at Best Buy, Kohls, and possibly Justice. We headed to Best Buy first, planning to work our way back towards home. We spent about 45 minutes in Best Buy, our main purpose picking out Jacob's new LCD TV. We got what we considered a really good deal, a 32" Samsung LCD 720p for $327. While there, we also looked at washer/dryers, cameras, and blu-rays. I was eager to see in person, the new Canon PS d95. I was disappointed that the display model wouldn't power up, missing the battery. A young salesman promised to find a battery and get it working. We went to look at other items while waiting. When we returned, the camera was still not operable and the salesman nowhere to be found. I wasn't impressed with its small physical size and its almost toy like appearance. It's classified as a high-end premium compact. We left Best Buy and headed to World Market and then the Macy's furniture store which are effectively next door. We bought some new purple throw pillows at World Market along with a six-pack of Bell's Christmas Ale, and advent calendars for the kids and Gkids. We just browsed at Macy's Furniture, weren't planning to buy anything, although sometime soon we'd like to update/redecorate our livingroom. We left Macy's and headed across the street to Front Room Furnishings where we quickly browsed their offerings. From there we headed west on Tuttle to Wilcox to Hayden Run working our way towards Avery Rd and then south to the Hilliard Kohls. It was nearly dark as we headed west on Hayden Run, where we encountered a green Jeep Cherokee stopped in the middle of the road apparently and empty without the flashers going. Certainly a danger to others. Mindy phoned the Hilliard police to report the abandoned car. At Kohls, we picked up Buckeye jerseys for both Landon and Rocky getting them for more than 50% off. Mindy picked up a new pair of shoes for herself. I was worried that there was more shopping ahead, after all, Mindy mentioned Justice and Target too. I was hungry and tired. Lucky for me, Mindy was hungry as well and wanted to go for dinner. We had no venue in mind. I suggested a Minelli's pizza. She agreed and called and placed our pick-up order. Turns out, they were offering a 4 item extra-large for $14.99 - a $4 savings. Perfect! We had to wait maybe 7-10 minutes for our pie to come out of the oven. It took only five minutes to get there from Kohls. At home, we carried in our Xmas haul then Mindy took Frankie out. I ate one small piece of pizza, choosing to wait for Mindy before digging in fully. I also opened a Bell's Christmas Ale. Good, not overbearing but festive. We both agreed that the pizza was the perfect call. So damn good. We did some serious damage eating about 2/3's of it. It was near 730p. Mindy called the neighbors and invited ourselves down. She took Frankie while I carried three beers, two for me, one for her. She said we'd only be staying for a short while, which sounded good to me. I was looking forward to an uneventful evening. Chrissy's mom was staying the night ahead of Sunday's family TG celebration dinner. Her niece Hailey was staying too. Chrissy's mom & Jake were sitting at a fold-up table covered in what looked like 500-1000 jig-saw puzzle pieces. The first 3-D jig-saw puzzle I've ever seen. I helped Jake for a while but tired of it quickly. I really don't like jig-saw puzzles at all. The challenge apparently inspired Mindy. After 15-20 minutes, she found her way to the table where I know she sat for a good two hours working on the puzzle along with others. While they puzzled, I watched part of the USC/Notre dame football game. I might even have dosed a time or two. Now near 1030p, I upped and asked Mindy if she was ready to head home. Chrissy joked that I always stay later than Mindy. I offered that Mindy could stay behind, but I was heading home. I was sleepy. Mindy would have nothing of it and readied for home. We headed home where we put Frankie to bed then headed there ourselves. Mindy wanted some snuggle time. At some point, I'm guessing near 1145p, I turned on the bedroom TV hoping to catch the final score of the USC/Notre Dame game. Instead, I caught part of SNL. At some point, however, Mindy snagged the remote while I was snoozing and turned the TV off.