A Dark and Stormy Night

       It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was howling in the willow tree and spooky shapes were reflected on the barn wall and, as usual, nothing was happening out here in the country. We have just been sitting here listening to the refrigerator run. Actually, we just got home from a football game in the Small City (about 40 miles away) so we are too tired to do anything else.
       It was a good game. Grandson #2 got to play every time the team made a touchdown. He is on the point after touchdown (P-A-T) special team. At six foot three and two hundred thirty pounds I guess it takes a lot of time and energy to move him and go after the ball. On extra point kicks you don't have much time so mostly it is wasted energy. They made five touchdowns so he got to go in a few times.
       Football season is very interesting. It starts in early September when the weather is still mild and the sun doesn't go down until later. By the time the season ends the weather is downright cold, the wind blows and the sun disappears right after dinner if you eat early enough. The real interesting part is that one week it will be warm and the next week cold so you never know what to wear.
       "Shall we bundle up and sweat to death or shall we go light and freeze?" Granny asks.
In my usual highly intelligent manner I say "Let's flip a coin and go with it!"
You can come just as close and maybe closer doing it that way than trying to guess what it will be. What we finally do is dress in layers so you can add or subtract depending on how far away you parked the car.
       There is a science to parking the car closer. You first have to look at who the opponent is and guess how many fans will show up. (This number is usually in direct proportion to how well the team is doing plus or minus 6 or 7 hardcore grandparents.) Then you decide how early you have to go to park close.
       Hardcore grandparents usually ignore how the team is doing. If Junior is playing they are going to be there. Wisdom is one of their long suits since they have already been through it with one of the grandkid's parents so they know the outcome doesn't matter that much but what counts is the support of just being there. There are sometimes scheduling difficulties that occur when more than one grandchild is in high school or when every night is taken up and the GP has other responsibilities. Sometimes the GP has been known to stay with younger siblings so Dad and Mom can go to the event. By now you probably get the picture. Now that you have had instruction we expect you to become a hardcore grandparent when your time comes if it hasn't already. (So start practicing now and don't forget the aerobics to stay in shape for walking from the parking lot to the event.)
        Well, as you can see nothing exciting or interesting ever happens out here. By the way, we did win the game so now we can go to bed and get on with the rest of our boring lives (pun intended, Oh, bad). Nighty-night from Ho Hum County where nothing ever happens in football or grandparenting.
Did I say - "We like it that way?" (I do!)