It's Almost That Time of Year

One of my most favorite times of year ... COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!  Can you feel the excitement (if not just humor me people)???  While I am an avid sports fan, I am still a girl (duh).  Which means I understand the importance of looking good while watching a game and/or tailgating.  I wanted to share something I am loving these days .... Original Retro Brand .... cool styles and super super soft and comfy!  No they are not paying me to endorse them (although I would gladly accept some free apparel) I just love their stuff and oh yeah their founder is an ARIZONA alum (me too)!  Here are a few things I like ...

I have this shirt ... bonus it makes my boobs look big!

I think this would look lovely on Dee and Casey

I might need to get this one for my brother ... or me

Anyway - browse around!  The t-shirts aren't cheap but they are worth it, especially if you like soft t-shirts with a vintage vibe!

**All pictures courtesy of http://originalretrobrand.com/**

Life at Our House

People always ask what we have been up to and I always say - not much - just the usual chaos that is life!  Seriously, that's how I describe our life - see below for a recap of the last few days....

Thursday - Mr. ESPN bought I-Phones for him and me ....

Friday - took the day off and packed for the family - headed to Tucson to meet up with our good friends the Cottrells for a U of A football game .... Mr. ESPN becomes addicted to his I-Phone.

Saturday - drag our kids all over campus, tailgaited with the Cottrells, froze our butts off at the football game, Mr. ESPN can't hardly put his I-Phone down

(some pics from Saturday)

 At the hotel before the game - all of our Mini-Wildcats

 Bia wanted Daddy in her picture ... who enjoyed it more?

Chatty and Ainsley join the group

These two are like "peas and carrots" (Forrest Gump)

Bia, me and Wilbur 

And an attempt at a family shot ...

Sunday - breakfast with the Cottrells before heading north, lunch and then Chatty's soccer game and finally home ... then back to the phone store to exchange my phone. I know, I am probably the only person on Earth who didn't like the I-Phone ... got a Blackberry instead and still don't know how to use it.


Monday (today) - ran 9 miles, volunteered in Chatty's class and did more laundry - does it ever end?


And now it is almost time for Chatty to get off the bus and I still have a ton of thing left on my to-do list! 

Thursday Tidbits from the ESPN Household

Some interesting tidbits I learned today:

• If you wake up a little before 5:00 to go to the gym for a 5:30 class (and hit snooze for 10 minutes) and arrive 1 minute late the entire class will be full ... this was at 5:31 AM not PM people - WTH? (I worked out on my own at the gym and got a good work out - probably because I was fuming about missing the class!)
• If you come home from the above incident at the gym it is possible Chatty Cathy will be loving and kind when you walk in the door and later turn into a horrible monster and pitch a 15 minute non stop whining, crying, fussing fit that started when she told you you had no rock n roll music in your car (which by the way you do via CD's, Radio and XM) .. which causes you to be running late to work which means you can't stop for a fountain Diet Coke
• The toilets in the restroom at work seem to always flush before you are done wiping which means you still have to manually flush by pushing the button (not to mention the spray on your fanny!). Also in this restroom only one of the stalls has a door that remains closed while doing your business. The rest open at random moments. Do you realize how hard it is to squat and hold the door with your hand and wipe quick enough so your fanny doesn't get sprayed?
• Lunch with guys often includes random discussions. Today's involved buffets at titty bars and how guys can't multi task in this type of situation, i.e. eating and watching
• It is possible for your second child to inherit the severe fit throwing temper tantrum gene of her older sister (it was proven tonight by Sweet Bia - not so sweet tonight - girl's got some serious strength for an itty bitty thang!)
• It's horrible when a starting quarterback gets hurt during his first series of a National Championship Game ... I feel so bad for Colt McCoy ... great guy and cute too (plus it just makes for a crappy game)!
• In the ESPN house it is possible for the children to get distracted by a sporting event while they are eating and/or doing their homework. Like I said above, they seem to inherit all of these lovely traits (they obviously haven't inherited or learned the multi-tasking traits of their momma)!

Holidays and Birthdays and More

I think I am officially back - or whatever that means - this past week was a whirlwind. You would think since I had 5 days off in a row I would have felt refreshed - not so much. Then yesterday I came back to work and it is crazy busy here this week. Our Thanksgiving was great - good food, family, good friends, good wine - what more could you ask for. Only problem was I sent home all of the sweet potatoes with our guests and forgot to save some for Mr. ESPN -oops!

The in laws visit was good, although now I feel like my kids are going through detox ... I am sure you other parents can relate. Below is a pic from the last night they were here ... I don't know what happens, but we get so busy when they are here that I forget to take pictures ...

Grandma and Grandpa left on Saturday amidst tears from Chatty ... once she recovered we headed to our good friends the Cottrells to catch the U of A vs ASU football game. Other than the near heart attacks (due to the poor play by U of A at times) we had a fabulous time and we celebrated a victory!! Of course all the kids were decked out in their CATS gear.

As if that wasn't enough, we began decorating the house. Mr. ESPN still has more lights to put on the house ... that was all by Saturday evening. Sunday we had church ... Bridal Shower for Angie (it was so nice to have an afternoon away!) ... a little shopping .... "Jesus' Birthday Party" celebration at church ... dinner out at Oreganos for my birthday ... what a weekend.

Yesterday was my 35th birthday ... those of you who know me well know that Mr. ESPN is not so good with my birthday, in fact most years he fails miserably (not gift wise but just making it a special day for me). This year he made up for it. He and Chatty baked me cupcakes and bought me two tops from Banana Republic (that I like!). They also picked up Pei Wei for dinner last night and had the kids bathed by the time I got home from the gym. All in all a great day - thanks Mr. ESPN!!

Friday Facts and Findings

1. First - Chatty's first time riding the bus home from school today - hope it goes well!
2. Football - watched my first two games of the college football season last night - so glad to have it back on my television
3. Feet - sore, ran 6 miles on Wednesday morning (at 5:20 am no less!) and then 3 yesterday, good thing Friday is my day off!
4. Fried - our home computer. We have delayed purchasing a new one and now it looks like we may have to purchase two, one for the kids and one for us since this one is fried. Mr. ESPN is supposed to talk to his IT friend at work today to get some advice about what to purchase!
5. Future Bride - meeting the future Mrs. Kingston for drinks this afternoon and to give her the belated Bridal shower gift I have. The gift is different but fun I think ... will post about it next week.
6. Frustrated - got to work this morning for a 6:00 a.m. conference call and it was canceled ... UGH!! At least I can leave early right??
7. Fancy/Frilly - trying to decide what to wear and where to eat for out anniversary dinner tomorrow night. I am going to make a quick stop at a couple stores to look for something.
8. Food - my neighbor's nanny is making Thai food for us on Sunday night, I better take an extra dose of Prevacid so I can handle all the spiciness!
9. Fall - is it really coming to the desert? It isn't supposed to break triple digits this weekend! Woo Hoo! I never thought I would be so happy to see 95 degrees!
10. Friends & Family - looking forward to some quality time with both this weekend!

Have a great and safe Labor Day Weekend!

The Season Starts this Weekend!

Warning to my friends/readers who don't care for college football - go ahead and skip this post because all it talks about is my love of college football! I'm telling you this is your fair warning!

T Minus three Days until College Football starts ... who do you think is more excited, Mr. ESPN or me? Truth be told it is probably a pretty close competition ... he may win out but only by a slight amount. I tease him all the time that the real reason he married me is for my love of sports - I guess it is the southerner in me! He told me our Netflix subscription will end this week as we won't have time to watch movies with football on. Yes we are that couple that purchases the college football television package (and the NFL package) so we can watch all the teams we love. We have discussed that when we retire we are going to travel to different college stadiums to tailgate and watch games. We have several must see stadiums on our list (including but not limited to) the Big House (MI), Between the Hedges (GA), Doak Campbell Stadium (FSU), Death Valley (LSU), the Swamp (UF), TX Memorial Stadium (UT), among others. By the time we retire we will have several season's worth of stadiums on our list.

So in honor of the upcoming season leave a comment or post on your own blog the following.

• Favorite Team
• Team you Cheer for other than your Alma Mater & Why?

My answers:

• Favorite Team - Arizona Wildcats (mine and Mr. ESPN's alma mater); it's tough being a Wildcat fan because we haven't had the best of teams but hopefully we are finally turning the corner; Chatty cheers on the Go Cats with us and I think Bia might get into it this year too.
• Team you Cheer for other than your Alma Mater & Why? Florida State Seminoles; I am from Florida and my big brother and I grew up watching and cheering for them; I think he is the reason I love college football and sports in general; we still chat after a lot of the FSU games; Chatty loves the Go Noles too.

Can't wait to see your answers!