Journey to Super Bowls Past

For once, I got up with enough time to not only have a decent breakfast of Banana Pancakes and half a grapefruit, but to work on writing, too. Kathleen follows Darren in his demon form to the tangled Technicolor garden surrounding the villa. There, she encounters a strange old woman who may know what the evil Lady Sylvia is after and why Darren took off...and a way to get in the villa.

Work was, once again, busy as heck and not much fun. I don't know what got into people this weekend. Our customers remained rude, obnoxious, and demanding. One man fussed noisily over not getting his cereal on sale, despite the fact that the sign clearly stated that you needed to buy four boxes of cereal to get the sale. People were in a hurry. People didn't want to bag or really do much of anything. I was ready to tear out my hair - or tear them all to shreds - by the time my relief arrived.

At least we were still doing samples. I had a rather nice little lunch. In addition to the roast beef, Italian organic soda, mini chocolate chip cookies, and French bread and salsa from yesterday, this time, they added bits of crab cake and rolled up deli meat and cheese.

I couldn't wait to get out of there. When I got home, I changed into regular clothes and my Eagles jersey and rested for about a half-hour before heading to Dad's. Jessa said yesterday that Dad and Jodie invited Rose and her boys and Mark and Vanessa over for some food and a quiet little get-together to watch the game.

Nothing is ever quiet on either side of my family. Mark and Vanessa were there when I arrived, but so were Jesse, Dana, Erica, and several neighbors, including one couple with an adorable baby son. Rose, Craig, and Khai arrived just before the game started. Another set of neighbors came over during the beginning of the first quarter, these with Khai's buddies Mary and Emily. Jessa and Joe arrived later. Jesse and Dana announced their engagement (after dating seriously for five years). They won't be getting married for another year or two, until Dana is out of college.

I also got to admire all the remodeling Dad and Jodie have done. The living room looks great. The faded, dated stenciled paint job was replaced by deep brown wooden walls, a fireplace, more of Pop Pop's (Dad-Bruce's dad) artwork, and a really cool book-themed wallpaper on the doors to the walk-in supply closet. The kitchen was basically left alone except for to paint over the stenciling.

There was tons and tons of food. I lost count of everything I had. I saw black bean dip, shrimp scampi, a broiled version of Jodie's amazing ribs, buffalo chicken dip, tortilla chips, two meat and cheese trays (one with grapes), mini cupcakes from the Acme, a Dutch apple pie, Craig's tasty tomato mac & cheese, a delicious lasagna, Caesar salad, French bread with butter, and bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, among other things. I probably tried a little bit of just about everything. Which was likely a mistake. I'm full as heck now. Jodie even gave me a plate of leftovers to take home.

I mostly played in the den with the kids while the game ran in the background. They chased each other around. We drew pictures first on Dad's dry-erase board, then on actual paper with markers and crayons. (They drew someone called Freddy the Fox pirate from some video game. I drew Han and Leia arguing in the beginning of Empire Strikes Back. I always thought those two were hilarious.) We built houses and more Freddy the Foxes with Legos.

When the amazing half-time came on, we danced to Coldplay and Beyonce and Bruno Mars, along with Craig and Mary and Emily's mom. We talked about our favorite Star Wars characters and what music we liked. (Emily was shocked when I told her Harrison Ford had played Indiana Jones as well as Han Solo. Her mind was so blown, she had to tell every adult within earshot this new tidbit of information.)

I left just as the second half was starting. It was getting late, and I did have to take the bike home. Besides, most of the families and several other folks were going as well. Oh, and incidentally, while the Panthers tried, Cam Newton just couldn't get past the Broncos' defense. The Broncos finally won Super Bowl 50 24-10.