God, Country and Notre Dame

Our little sock monkey at the ND tailgate.

Sunday morning with Grammy and Daniel.

This past weekend TJ and I went to Notre Dame and met up with Rachel, Matt and Daniel, the cute fellow in the photo. It was a wonderful fall weekend. The drive on Friday was beautiful and we arrived to an unseasonably warm fall evening. We enjoyed some wine and cheese outside before dinner and the guys went out while Rachel, Daniel (who was done for the day at that point) and I stayed home for dinner. It was a genius plan, no crying and fussing, and Daniel was happy too.

Saturday started early with the tailgate setup. What a huge undertaking....so glad it was done by seasoned veterans. Our hosts, the Murrys, picked up everything at 8:30 in the morning and the party started. Now, I need to say that if you have not ever been to a college football tailgate you are missing something. What a herculean effort! Our hosts put on a great feast and it was well attended. We even got to catch up with old Columbus friends who were also there for the weekend, visiting their daughter who is a sophomore. Just imagine this day; start at 8:30 setting up, cook, drink beer, entertain, visit, walk around campus, drink more, eat more and then off to the game at 2:30. Cheer with great enthusiasm and passion for the next 4 hours, or more if the game goes to 4 overtimes like this one did, and then go to Mass with about 15,000 other fans of Our Lady. Pray with full voice and heart and then at 8:30 at night, a mere 12 hours later, go home for dinner and the post game festivities. I think/know my favorite part of any ND game is at the end when the football team, win or lose, stands in front of the student section while the band plays the Alma Mater and everyone locks arms and sways back and forth and sings together. It is inspiring, win or lose, they are a family united at the end. AND then the exit and walk across campus to mass after the game. There are at least 3 masses around campus after the game and each one has standing room only. I like to think that everyone is as passionate about God as they are about football.

I am never disappointed with ND. Such a wonderful place to spend a weekend, or 4 years for some.

TJ and I drove home on Sunday again in wonderful fall weather. We are really being treated with a beautiful fall. Every time we leave and come back I feel more and more like I live here. It still feels a little weird being a citizen of one country and living in another. I have a whole new perspective for anyone who is a foreigner, as I sometimes feel I am.

In the country part, the election is tomorrow. I know the Canadians will be following it as closely as the Americans. I will be happy it is all over, it seems like this has gone on forever. Now what will we read about in the papers?

Here is an experiment, I took a video of Daniel and will try to post it here for anyone who is interested. He sure is a cutie!