NFC Championship, Here We Come!

It was a gripping 1st quarter, but as the minutes passed by, it got easier and more fun to watch! Now we need to beat New Orleans in their house next week. That's a tall order.

Now onto the Playoffs

The Vikings cleaned up in their final game of the season against the Giants and thanks to the Cowboys beating the Eagles, we secured the #2 seed. I'll be very interested to see what team shows up in two weeks (the Sunday Night Football team or the Sunday afternoon team) and who we'll play. If a team can come in and upset New Orleans, I think we can make it to the Big Game in Feburary.

And what's up with the Pro Bowl being played in Florida on February 1? Hopefully our eight Vikings pro-bowlers won't be playing because they'll be focused on the Super Bowl the following Sunday.

On a slightly different note, we had apps duty for the final football game. I was feeling quite ambitious and Kyle was supportive of my efforts, so we made 4 new receipes and created a wonton themed spread--Mini Bacon and Cheese Quiches, Mexican Beef and Green Chilies Wontons, Crispy Chicken Wontons and Chocolate-Banana Wontons. We baked all of them, although the dessert recipe called for the wontons to be fried. We should've followed that direction. The quiches were okay; the chicken wontons needed some more flavor in the mixture (we think more soy sauce), but the beef and chilies wontons were very good.

It looks as though there seems to be some sense of adventure in me after all. Who knows what I'll do next?

About those Vikings

I predicted they would go 12-4, but boy am I now disappointed with that potential finish given the phenomenal performance they had at the beginning of the season and the embarrassing showings in thier last three primetime appearances.

What's your take?

Are the Vikings going to make it past the first round? Get to the Conference Championship? Get to the Super Bowl?

Take the survey to the left and sound off by commenting here!

Favre Fever?

Gotta say...I've gotta fever. A Favre Believer Fever. And the game isn't until tomorrow night.
Oh...and I also love this current campaign by Sears. Is it in your market?

Sunday is Football and Family Day

I can not believe that I haven't written about game day since I started my blog. We are Vikings fans--100% (okay, I can not attest what team(s) Carl and Clair follow, but they don't live in Minnesota anyway). I don't know if we would allow a marriage in our family to a Packers fan--it would be just too incompatible and downright ugly on those two match-ups each season. It would be worse than a Catholic marrying a Lutheran--uff da (truly this is a joke--my Dad was Lutheran before he married my Mom, Kyle was Methodist when I married him)!

Gosh, about 12 years ago, eldest sister Jeanine started the tradition of building the season calendar and everyone would bring one appetizer or sweet treat to the Bassett home and watch the game together as a family. Back then, 3:00 and later games were pizza games. Each family would chip in $5 per head.

The weekly pot-luck eventually got cumbersome, so we moved to each household "owning" a noon game and bringing the entire food spread. Pizza games were still at 3:00 and evening games were preceded with a full dinner typically made by Jeanine or Mom.

Unless otherwise specified, all games are still at the Bassett home. When the Bassetts were in Switzerland for three years, we all took turns hosting at our homes. That carried on into the first season the Bassetts returned, but I'm pretty sure we have now settled in on the Bassett home or Mom and Dad's home for family celebrations, such as today.

Tuesday is Jeanine's birthday, so the family got together for game day in the parents' basement. There were 17 of us, 9 adults, 8 kids. Mom got a little carried away with the food, making sure she had some of Jeanine's favorites: taco dip and chips, corned beef cheese ball with crackers, cheese, sausage, apples, grapes, m&ms, peanuts, puffcorn, bacon wrapped 'lil smokies, veggies and dip, I'm sure I've forgotten something... At least we were able to stop Mom from making chicken nuggets because there was plenty of food and the kids were already done eating before she wouldn't even gotten them in the oven.

Baby Howie, Brooke, Steve, Jeanine

Jolene, Nick, Papa, Eric

What's left of the food

Even though this is our weekly get together and there is some chatter catching up with what everyone has been up to, we actually watch the game. And what about the kids? They are left to their own devices, and for the most part, they know the drill and don't walk in front of the TV during an active play.

Millie, Cate, Henry, Jack and Max playing legos

The Vikes are off to a good start being 2-0. The first half has been challenging to watch as they don't break out until the second half. I am sure hoping the Favre deal is worth it. I am thrilled he's here, despite how odd it is seeing him in a Vikings uniform. We have a better shot with him than without him to go pretty deep into the post-season. And how awesome is Adrian Peterson?

We are ready for some football!

A normal week

I just noticed it's been over a week since I last posted.

Obama is now the president-elect. I waited almost two hours (between two different polling places--don't ask!) to cast my ballot. I was so proud to be standing among so many others who were eager to have their voice heard, no matter which candidates they support or which views they hold sacred. I am not going to wax poetic about the historic significance of this election and results; I leave that to professional writers. I'm just glad we didn't have to wait late in the night to know who our next nation's leader will be. Although, here in Minnesota we have to wait until December 19 to learn who will be our Senator for the next six years. At least we won't have to endure additional political ads while we wait for the election judges and others to work through the recount process.

We woke up to the lawn being coated with snow Thursday morning. Cate wanted to wear her snow boots to school. She also wanted to know when we were going over to Grandma and Papa's house to sing Christmas Carols and open presents. "Not yet, my dear."

As I was in Urgent Care on Thursday, I recounted that someone in our family has either been to the doctor, urgent care or minute clinic nine times in the past six weeks. A lot of money has been dropped on co-pays and prescriptions. While this has been an incredibly frustrating time, I have to look on the flip side. I am grateful we have good health insurance and that while we all may be having a bit of a bump in the road health-wise, all in all, we are fortunate our illnesses are minor and that we will recover soon enough. This phase is a good call for us to take advantage of the health care spending account benefits offered by our employers, so least we can minimize some of the little medical expenses that eventually pile up.

Speaking of illness, Max is the newest one to be sick in our house. T'is the season with the weather change, I guess. He's a sad, limp noodle who had been cuddling with me this morning until Kyle came home from Mass this morning. As soon as the back door opened, he perked up a bit and said, "Daddy!" So he crawled out of my lap and waited for Kyle to pick him up in his big, strong arms. They sat together for a bit, but then Kyle and Cate took off to watch the Vikes / Packers game at Jeanine's house, so he returned to me. Max sat with me for a little while, but after a while he slid out of my lap, grabbed my hand and walked me to his room. I pulled back the blankets so he could climb in and has been sleeping soundly ever since. Poor guy.

At least the Vikings seem to be holding their own against the Packers so far into this game. But of course, we haven't entered the 4th quarter--that's when we typically implode. I guess I was denying the fact that we have been 0-5 against the Packers under Coach Childress. It's time for a win, so then we've got a little something to be excited about.

The Season Opener and Perspective

I missed the season opener for the Vikings against their biggest rival, the Packers. It sounds like it would've been an interesting game to watch, especially during the final two minutes, as is the norm between these two teams. I got updates by someone via Facebook (you know who you are...thanks!) and enjoyed reading them as I started my way to the car after attending an Extraordinary Minister workshop at church.

Generally, I'm not an "evangelizer" of my faith. It's something I just am not comfortable articulating. But I will share this: As the time went by during the workshop, I concerned myself less and less with the game and found myself focusing more and more into the "teaching" Mass. It was as if God's grace showered me and stilled my thoughts for a while. Nothing else mattered for that period of time. Not my sore back, the uncertain condition of my aunt, the thought of going home to over-tired kids, the pressures of the new position at work, the score of a football game. I will remember that feeling of Peace for quite some time and I hope to reflect on it every time I am on the Altar to prepare to distribute the Eucharist at Mass.

It was truly an honor to participate in such a lesson. And I may just be willing to forego watching another sporting event someday to let God grace me again in the way He did this evening.

Other things from this past week

It's been a while between posts and things have been pretty busy around here.

Monday was our niece Thora Beth Jensen's first birthday party. It was celebrated during a waffle breakfast. She wouldn't even touch the whipped cream on the waffle because she doesn't like to get dirty. I foresee an easy potty-training phase for Kurt and Amy.

Last Tuesday, I attended my first Parish Pastoral Council meeting. I have signed up for a three-year term. Kyle is opting to refer to me as Madam Councilwoman instead of Madam Secretary. Ha!

Wednesday night, Cate enjoyed celebrated her cousin Matthew's 5th birthday by going to the Park at MOA with him. He didn't want to go on any of the rides, so she went on them without him. Afterwards, Matthew's mom hosted a party for him at McDonald's.

Thursday marked Cate's first day of school which was incredibly successful.

Also on Thursday, an announcement was made at work regarding yet another position change for me. I am swapping positions with a counterpart who will take over Email Marketing. Effective immediately, I am now the Manager for Online Programming which oversees the promotional presence and on-site search optimization for our website. I have a team of three which will soon increase to four. I am reporting to a guy I have worked for in a previous position, so I know exactly what to expect in that regard.

Friday night, my back went out while I was hoisting Max into bed by his diaper butt. Fortunately, Kyle hadn't left the house yet, so he helped me out and got the kids to bed.

Saturday, we entertained Kyle's parents and aunt for dinner. It wasn't the most flawless evening in the world. We barely got the house "fake-cleaned"; we hadn't started our food until they arrived; Jane couldn't eat 2/3 of what we prepared; Max played his usual antics of not cooperating at bedtime. After our guests left, I started having back spasms that I was more than willing to exchange for labor pains.

Today we stayed home and watched a lot of NFL at home while eating heartily. I promise to start counting my points again tomorrow.

And here we are, closing out one week and looking forward to another. Hopefully it will slow down soon. But somehow, I doubt it.

Clearly not a sports fan

Who, in their right mind, schedules a training on Monday, September 8th at the same time the Minnesota Vikings open their regular season against Green Bay at Packer Stadium? Apparently our pastor does. He's not from around these parts (he's formerly from the Diocese of Arlington), so he just doesn't understand.

Ugh.