Attend an NFL Football Game...Check!

14. Attend an NFL football game

It's been awhile since I checked off one of the items on my "Life List" over there on the right hand side of this blog.  But last Thursday night, I finally attended an NFL football game!  Some friends of mine have season tickets to the Baltimore Ravens.  They were out of town for Thursday night's game...so I got their tickets!  The seats were great...upper deck of the stadium, on the 50 yard line.  We could see the plays forming, but didn't feel too far away from the field.

I was amazed at how different a professional game feels from a college game.  And I've been to some serious college games (Williams-Brice Stadium anyone?  Death Valley, you say?).  But the fans at pro games are INTENSE!  Everyone was totally into the game...very little socializing going on at all.  Also, the players are soo much more athletic than college players.  The time outs are also a lot "slicker".  Meaning the videos were put together well; and the fan chants were a bit more polished.

I really enjoyed it!  Here are few pictures to document this milestone in my life!

The Ravens even have a Marching Band!

Player introductions

View of the stadium from our seats

Happy Page who could use some Make-up!

23/365 Football Food

Sunday afternoon football and men cooking in the kitchen.  Love it!

24/365 Navy vs. Maryland

Mids on the field during March On.  Notice all the red from the Maryland fans in the background.  Boo. This was a depressing loss for Navy.

A few bonus pics:

Some Jumbo-Tron Action

I love it when my J gets to come to football games with me

9/365 Getting Excited...

...for Navy Football Season!

Back from Feeling Dead...

Pardon my absence, I was recovering from a nasty stomach bug that hit me Tuesday morning. Last weekend was fun spending time with my parents, friends, and J. The Navy Game was a fun tailgate, but the game was super-rainy. The Brahms Concert went ok...at least the audience seemed to enjoy it! Our Brahms after-party was a success. My Sunday 16 mile run was fun as well. I started to get a little sniffly during the run, which I attribute to allergies.

After being a bit stuffy on Monday, I woke up Tuesday feeling a bit feverish. My first thought- I have the flu! So I panicked. Once I calmed down, I decided to not go into the office and go to the doctor. Not the flu, but the fever was going up and I was feeling much worse. When I got home from the Dr.'s office, I realized it was a stomach virus. Yuck!

I slept most of Tuesday and on into Tuesday night. Yesterday, I felt better, but still couldn't be far from a convenient bathroom. So, I watched tv, movies, my iPod, read magazines...and tried to do a little bit around the house. But I was BORED!

So, I'm happy to be back in the office working today, for once. This weekend I have a "stay-in" date with J on Friday, a run Saturday morning, Navy tailgate and game in the afternoon (with rain predicted AGAIN!), and then a 17 mile run scheduled for Sunday. If the rain goes away, we'll be doing a "scenic monument run" in DC. I'm looking forward to that...I've always wanted to do a long run in DC since I live so close, but have never had the chance. Logistically it might be tough to get water/gatorade, but we're hoping there will be enough street vendors and convenience stores to replenish our handheld water bottles.

Hope everyone out there stays away from the stomach virus I had this week!

October Makes Me Happy!

There is just something about the changing of the seasons that is quite appealing to me. I think it must be the fact that I love change. Even so, Fall has always been my favorite season. Perhaps because summer temps are always so hot...and it is lovely to look forward to cooler days and cold nights in the sweltering days of August! I have waxed eloquent on my love of fall in at least one blog post each year... see here, here, and here.

I was thinking the other day that I used to have so many free weekends in the fall when I could just relax, throw open the windows, clean the house (there is just something about a clean house and pretty fall weather) and enjoy the season. Now, my weekends of late have been chock full of things to do. I really need to slow down a bit. The problem is that I love to be busy and tend to overbook myself. Now that we are done singing for the Jewish High Holy Days, I hope things will slow down a bit. While I am still running crazy mileage numbers, the only other "regular" weekend activity will be Navy Football games. While those require some prep-work...once we are there it is usually a fun and relaxing time.

This weekend is the Navy vs. Airforce game. My roommate Maureen's sister went to the Air Force Academy, and her brother went to the Naval Academy, so everyone meets up for the game every year. Her Mom and Sister arrive in town tonight, and we are planning a tailgate extravaganza for Saturday. It should be a fun time with yummy food...shrimp salad canapes, crab dip, beef, chicken, and veggie kabobs, homemade brownies, snackie snacks, and much more. Oh, and champagne of course! Since we now have Navy season tickets, Maureen and I have gone all out and acquired a 10x10 gazebo tent, more folding chairs, and some Navy gear. I've always wanted to be an avid football fan and tailgater...but never really had the opportunity. So, I think it's going to be a fun season!

On Sunday I've been roped into running the Metric Marathon as part of our Goofy Challenge Training. My running partner Lauren runs this race every year, and wants to do it again this year. It's 16.3 miles (26K). We are supposed to be running 13 miles that day. So, my options are run 13 miles by myself, or run 16.3 in a race with about 150 people who will likely all beat me. Hmmm. I'll take the race, thank you! The last time I ran 11 miles by myself I thought I was going to gouge my eyes out from boredom. And I was listening to an audiobook...

I've carved out some "Page" time Sunday afternoon post-race and post-race party. Hopefully I'll be able to do things like catch up on laundry, read my ever-growing stack of magazines, and rest. I definitely need that to recharge...