On the 10th, some of our customers at work were in town for our Users Group meeting. It’s become a tradition to have a karaoke outing while they are here so that’s what we did. A group of us had a great time talking, laughing and singing at Rhythm and Brews. I stayed out way too late for a week night, but I had fun. And yes, I was one of the crazy people who got up on stage and sang. Thankfully there is no video of my awesome performance, so I can claim that it was, in fact, awesome. HAHA!
On the 11th, we traveled to Columbus, MS for another varsity football game. I do not like playing against this team and I really do not like playing against them at their stadium. This game was no different. The Chargers didn’t win, but they played with a lot of heart. Alabama played at Missouri on the 13th so we watched the Tide roll to another victory at home. Saturdays in the fall sure are a lot more fun when your team is winning every week.
The Chargers played their last game of the season on the 19th. It was Senior Night, and our 2 senior football players that got to play (one was injured earlier in the season) both got hurt just before half time. It was hard watching them not be able to walk out onto the field with their parents during Senior Recognition. They both had to sit and let their parents walk to them. Broke my heart. The boys never gave up but came up short yet again. They were gracious in defeat and didn’t let the loss get them down. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know those boys and watching them play every week. It was sad to see their season come to an end and it will feel strange being at home on Friday nights (at least until basketball season starts). Even though their record wasn’t the best, they are all winners in my book. The next few years should be exciting as Hunter and his friends take the field with a little more experience. Good things are coming their way….wait and see. Alabama demolished Tennessee at Knoxville on the 14th so no going to the stadium for us that day. We watched at home again.
There’s nothing quite like Homecoming week in Tuscaloosa. The whole town has a different feel as everyone gets ready at the Capstone. Since the Chargers season was over, we went to the bonfire and pep rally on the Quad Friday night (the 26th). The kids and I (and Tamalon and Taylor Stroup) had a great time watching the pep rally and watching that big fire burn down. The weather was great that night – we didn’t even need jackets. The Quad was packed as usual and Eli Gold did a great job hosting the pep rally as usual.
The next day, the weather wasn’t quite as nice. A cold front moved through after the pep rally and it was windy and cold. We bundled up and headed to the Quad at about 10:30 am nonetheless. The kids sold candy bars (school fund raiser) before the Homecoming parade. Then we headed over to Bryant-Denny to sell some radios before the game. The game started at 7:00 pm so it was a long day to say the least. The Tide won big again, 38-7, over Mississippi State, so that made it all worthwhile. Katelyn and I headed over to the UA Arboretum on the 28th to collect leaves for a school project. I bet we walked 5 miles through that place looking at trees and leaves. We got what we needed and got to spend some good quality time together walking around and talking. It was a busy weekend, but we had a lot of fun.
Sometime during that weekend the idea of a trip to Sloss Furnace came up. Hunter’s class decided they all wanted to go before Halloween. Sloss Furnace, for those who don’t know, is a Historical Landmark in Birmingham where iron was produced years ago. It’s a museum now and it’s also one of the top 100 haunted places in the world. Every Halloween, it is turned into a haunted house. I’ve never been but I’ve always wanted to go so when the kids said they wanted to go, naturally I was in. I told them I would take them on Monday, the 29th on the condition that they all got up and went to school the next day. They agreed and the plan was set. Of the 9 kids in Hunter’s class, 5 wound up going. Four brave parents (including me) loaded them up after school on Monday and headed to Birmingham. All of the kids rode with me and they were highly entertaining on the way there and on the way back home. At Sloss, we went through the forest trail first. It took about 15 minutes or so to walk through the whole thing. There were a few times that we all screamed, myself included, but we all laughed too. We slid down the slide in the dark, which was fun, and walked through various mazes and had the “monsters” scare us along the way. When we finished the forest trail, we took a break and eat a little snack before entering the furnace trail. It goes through the actual furnace where the iron used to be produced and where many, many men died over the years. The “monsters” had fun with us in there too, scaring us along the way. Hunter, in typical Hunter fashion, had us all cracking up when he asked if the monster was saying “Roll Tide” instead of “hold on tight” at one point. All of the kids had a blast and declared that this must become a class tradition. Next year, we’ll have to plan a little better and do our haunted house tours on a weekend though. Getting up for work the next morning wasn’t easy. I was happy to see all 5 of those kids at school the next day too. They kept their promises. Here are my haunted house partners in crime on the way to Birmingham and before we went through the trails at Sloss.
That day was also the Fall Festival at NRCA. Katelyn won a cake in the Cake Walk and Hunter won an autographed picture of Nick Saban in the Silent Auction. I won a gift certificate to my favorite cupcake place in town too. It was a great lead up to Halloween for us.
On Halloween, I took my trick-or-treaters out as usual. Katelyn was Cleopatra and Hunter was Freddy Krueger (from Nightmare on Elm Street for those who aren’t horror movie fans). We trick-or-treated for a couple of hours before heading home with our loot. Both kids got a ton of candy and we ended our month with smiles on our faces.
High school football is over and college football is winding down. We have a couple of weeks before basketball starts up. I hope we don’t get lazy. HAHA! Here’s hoping your October had more treats than tricks and that your holiday season gets off to a great start! Oh, and as always, ROLL TIDE!!
No comments:
Post a Comment