Playing Like the Pros

All right, I admit it. I shamelessly stole the title for this post from our local newspaper's account of the Bloomington High School South football team's venture into the big boys' playground.

The Foodie Daughter has been the manager of her old high school's football team for the past five years and as her majors in college are Sport Marketing and Management and Sport Communication, she feels that this experience is good for her future career plans.

Obviously she has also been looking forward to this opportunity to be on the sidelines at Lucas Oil Stadium.

This time we were allowed the luxury of a leisurely stroll as we had plenty of time before our game started. As it happened, on this particular day, four high school football games were being played here, at the home of the Indianapolis Colts, with ours being the last one. The scheduled start time for our game was 8:15 pm. However, our daughter had texted us to let us know that they were running about an hour behind.

It is a beautiful late August day, so the large window on the north end of the stadium is open, as is the roof.


It's like being outside. This retractable roof is an architectural feat. The two panels weigh six million pounds and cover four acres. It takes about ten minutes to open or close the roof.



Inside/Outside.




This stadium was built in 2008 and has already won the chance to host the Super Bowl in 2012. That will be good for the local economy.

The Foodie Daughter borrowed my camera so she could document her time at this hallowed place.

Enjoy.

The Bloomington High School South Panthers take the field.

No! Don't run over the Foodie Daughter - and my camera!

How many people ever get to stand in the end zone of an NFL football field?

Cheerleaders in action.

I have the camera back in hand and the game begins. I would try to point out the Foodie Daughter down on the sidelines, but she is so small compared to the football players and coaches that I kept losing sight of her.

The daughter's boyfriend was also down there as well as he is a freshman football coach and they came along for the occasion.

And for the half-time musical interlude: the BHSS band presents the Beatles' Yellow Submarine for your enjoyment.

Well, what do you know? Sometime during half-time, they closed the window on the north end of the stadium. It was getting rather chilly.

Sadly, our team was losing, but the lights under the open sky are pretty.

Darn, they lost to the Martinsville Artesians, 10-19 and one of our star players got hurt in the process. But this was an experience they will never forget.

Wave to the Foodie Daughter and her boyfriend.

Would you look at the time! And now you know what I was doing while "watching" the game. I prefer to leave watching football to the professionals.

Ooh goody, they're closing the roof!

You are not going to see much movement in this short video, but it does go smoothly for something that weighs six million pounds! In this video you will also be able to hear the motors that move the roof sections.

I told that you that I shamelessly copied the headline from the newspaper.

We may even be down there in that photograph somewhere.

A Capital Evening

Yesterday my husband and I were in Indianapolis (or Indy) to watch the Bloomington High School South football team play at the home of the Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium. But more on that in a later blog post.

First, we had to officially celebrate my dear husband's nomination to receive the 33rd degree of Scottish Rite Free Masonry.

So I made reservations for two at McCormick and Schmick's in downtown Indy.

That was the easy part. Then we had to drive up there and find a place to park, some where between the stadium and the restaurant and then walk to the restaurant before our reserved time. Oh, and as it happened, this was also the weekend of the MotoGP race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) this weekend, so motorcycles of all sorts were cruising or racing through the streets of downtown.

The web site assures us that each restaurant is individually tailored and decorated to suit the tastes of the locale. Since this is the only one I have ever visited (and this is my first visit) I wouldn't know. Guess I'm just a rube.

The friendly waiter informed us that the menu is printed each day according to what is available. At the end of the meal I asked for a copy of the menu and he happily complied while cautioning me that the next time the menu would be quite different. That's okay. I think I grasp the concept.


After some thought, I finally ordered an 8 oz. glass of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, Washington.




My husband ordered a Whiskey Sour.

After perusing the daily menu, we both opted to start with a garden salad in an edible salad bowl. I ordered balsamic vinaigrette while my husband had bleu cheese dressing with his.

A hunk of freshly baked bread also arrived at the table.

Then our entrees arrived. I had ordered Maine Lobster from Boothbay Harbor, Maine. It's always nice to know where my food comes from. *Wink, wink*

At any rate, I chose to have the Caribbean Pan roasted Lobster Tail with Tropical Rice Pilaf. This also came with two skewers of pineapple (hush, I didn't think they were Caribbean either), red onion and green peppers. This was very good and somewhat spicy. Am I complaining? Nah. I can live with this kind of heat.

My husband ordered the Atlantic Salmon from Nova Scotia, Canada. This salmon was stuffed with Crab, Oregon Bay Shrimp and Brie and was oven roasted and finished with a lemon butter. Mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables rounded out the plating.

Hm, the bill reminds me why we only do something like this once in a blue moon. Oh well, how often does one's husband get nominated for such a high honor?

Well, we dilly-dallied long enough and it was time to head down to the stadium. That didn't mean we couldn't enjoy the sights along the way, though.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please observe this fine edifice before you. This is the current home of the Indiana state government.

Mr. Morton was an important person. Why? I don't know. Perhaps if I had edited these pictures inside rather than out on my deck I would know, but hey. Outside won. So some things will remain a mystery (at least until I go back inside and look at my pictures or do some research).

Maybe you'll have more luck than I and can read this inscription. And by the way, I apologized to the wedding party who were standing around while waiting for the photographer for making them move so that I could take this picture. But I did tell them that they looked nice. That has to count for something, right?

I'm guessing that the Civil War figures in here somehow?

Seems likely.

One of the things I have always found interesting is that both Ohio (where my husband and I are originally from) and Indiana were settled from the south up; meaning that the settlers came from the Ohio river and moved north into the territory. Thus, Indiana's first capital was originally in the southern part of the state before it was moved to its current central location.

Don't you just love government buildings and their monuments?

Let's see what this one is, shall we?

Lady with a book. Check.

Lady with a sword. Check.

Don't mess with her.

Ah, now we get to the heart of the matter.

Aha.

Gotcha, got to give credit where credit is due.

Yep.

What, me irreverent? Or is that irrelevant?

A tree. Why a tree? Because a tree. That's why a tree.

A solemn moment.

The south side of the Capitol building.

George, George, king of the jungle. Oops, wrong George. My bad.

Some important and life-changing inscription.

There's that Masonic emblem again. Hm, didn't that have something to do with why my husband and I were out celebrating earlier?

Wow, and another inscription. Too bad I can't read any of these out here on my deck. Alas and alack. Yeah, right.

And we're walking. Across a busy intersection in downtown Indy and I'm taking pictures. But that's just me.* Got to love that huge structure that straddles an entire intersection, though.

*Do as I say and not as I do, kiddies. I am a professional stunt blogger.

Next post: the big game at Lucas Oil Stadium

Minx: The Teenage Years

Our dear Minx has definitely hit the feline equivalent of adolescence. Suddenly he is questioning authority and pushing his boundaries. Any parent of teenage children is well familiar with this behavior.

Minx has his tunes on his MP3 player.

"Hm, the sound comes out of this thing?"

Notice that Minx is sitting on the table? Bad Minx.

Now Minx is calling his buddies.


"Do you mind? This is a private conversation!"

And we're still on the table.





Now Minx has found a box to sit in.





And another table to get up on. Bad Minx.






Minx is investigating the items on the shelves in the library.

Teenagers.