I'm feeling very sick and ill today...but I'm still fond of you.

What happens in Austin doesn't stay in Austin. Here are some shareable moments from the loss weekend. After countless attempts to get this picture, we were finally successful--somewhere between Temple and Belton. It took both adults holding the camera to get it. Yeah. How we got there and back without a wreck or a ticket? Divine Intervention. We're pretty.

I think the theme of the trip wasn't football. It was cameras.


The girls made us cover the XM because they thought we'd cheat in a game of name that tune. It didn't prevent us. In a widely acknowledged Blairian move, I changed the channel when the girls were taking pictures of some scraggly Buckeye fan who was losing the race to Austin. The odds swung heavily and almost stealthily in our favor. Tina and I won!!!


I think both of the girls got dynamite quesadillas. It was a special treat at Chuy's this week--the game fell on a weekend of the Hatch Green Chile Festival! Yum! Troy Aikman wasn't there this time. He missed out.


Aikman wasn't in Austin, but Bono was in San Marcos. Discotheque!


Buffas!


One of them has the right idea. One of them has been brain damaged by a lifetime of force-fed Crimson & Cream.

A rare pic where Lou is on the shutter end:


Tina after she stole all the pillows from the other side of the bed. This is the pillow hotel. It's silly how many they put on the beds, and how many different shapes and sizes they are. They were very soft, and she didn't give them back. It would've been a spectacular night of sleep if Contessa hadn't called too early in the morning to find out how many hot chocolates were to be brought for a wake-up drink.


The hot chocolate drinkage. It wasn't sweet enough. Maybe it had been made with a chunk of a semi-sweet variety instead of Swiss Miss. Who knows? It took milk and coffee creamer to make it drinkable. Thanks to a swift mommy move by Tina!


A Buckeye fan had rolled his whole house down and parked it outside the stadium. We got pictures in front of it:

There were several UT CB's on the other side of the home-on-wheels, trying to buy Buckeye leaves to smoke. They were desparate--they were down to stems and seeds.


The girls in front of Pease Fountain.




Finally in our seats, which came with with chair backs! They were the best seats I've had in a long while at a Texas game. We were reasonably close to the field and had a great view of all the sweater-vested people types. Yeah, that's an Earl Campbell Sausage in a blanket in my hand. Tina declined before I could ask if she wanted one for herself.

Two of a kind, if you overlook Tina's poor taste in allegiance:


Mack on the Godzillatron. This is an unbelievably ginormous HD display (of course, the biggest in the world. Would you expect less at Texas?) Notice the people in the stands at the bottom left corner of the picture. I think this is where he was on it telling everyone in the vicinity our offensive "gameplan." He also notified the Ohio State coaches that we weren't going to bother covering WR #11, at all, all night. You're welcome!


I remember this picture being taken at some low point for the Buckeyes. Probably when they missed their first field goal attempt. Tina won't admit it, but she was antsy about the outcome of the game until right before the half. Like I said, she won't admit it.


The dotting of the "i."


And the crossing of the "T." Those damn Ohioans would have you believe they invented and patented cursive. Whatever.


OK. At this point, I was making my best attempt to remain a good sport. It's a daunting task, especially if you sit where you are for a minute (and while you're doing it, think of how long a minute is and remember there are 15 minutes in a fourth quarter--and that they're football game minutes) and imagine the incessant yapping I was having to endure. Then for the kicker, realize that the screetching wasn't because the Buckeyes were winning, necessarily. It was more so about how the crazy Salvation Army-look alike band had dotted the "i." Of all the miracles of endurance, mother mary. I might have a book similar to Job about me written in The Millenium. I think you can see it all in my eyes. No? Happy Birthday, Tina.


Yeah, the final score is here and recorded for posterity. I choose to believe that Laura took it because it is also an announcement of when the Big 12 Championship Game is. She didn't want me to forget that the 'Horns will be in Kansas City for it this year.


And while we were gone, grout!



And they've started tiling my shower. It's fabulous!


current music: The Smiths: What Difference Does It Make?