Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Hopeful-United We Stand

After watching the inauguration of President Obama today I am feeling hopeful for our great country. Weather or not you agree with his views, you must admit it is pretty cool to think how far this country has come. Only a short while ago everyone was judged only by the color of their skin not by what kind of a person they were. I am proud to live in a country that has made such huge strides to improve the way people are treated.

Now if President Obama can just turn around the economy, end the wars and keep all the other campaign promises he made, we just might be better off at the end of the 4 years the American voters have given him. I for one can't wait to see what happens next.

I know some people are scared or depressed that the other guy didn't win. I choose to recognize that the American voters made a choice and hope that it is a great one. "United We Stand" is the way I look at it.

Monday, January 19, 2009

34 1/2 Hours

Michael and I left Saturday at 1 PM for Phoenix. We had tickets to the Cardinals game. We left the boys with my parents. Thanks mom and dad. So it was going to be a whole day and a half without kids. We made it to our hotel fine and checked in. Then off to do a little shopping. We spent a few hours shopping and then had dinner. I really nice dinner WITHOUT kids. The next morning we had to leave the hotel at 7 to get a parking spot at the game. We got a great spot. Right in the front row by the exit of the parking lot. We got to the stadium before any of the restaurants opened so we people watched for a while why we waited. While we were waiting I saw a Cardinals cheer leader I had to take a picture of she was a cutie.

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Next we had some not great breakfast. Places that are not usually open for breakfast, don't make good breakfast. After breakfast we did more people watching. It still amazes me what some people will walk around in public wearing. All I can say is they kept us entertained for hours. Our next stop was the line at Margaritaville for a table for lunch. It was around 10 AM at this point and the lines at all of the restaurants were getting really long. We got lucky and only had to wait for 15-20 minutes for a table for 5. Then we had to wait for an hour for Michael's dad, brother-in-law and nephew to show up. We had a great lunch, we ordered the Volcano Nachos. HOLY COW. They are a pile of nachos at least 10 inches tall and at least that big around. I should have taken a picture of them but I was hungry and forgot. After lunch it was off to the stadium. Once again more people watching was required. The lines into the stadium moved quickly, we were in our seats with 20-30 minutes until game time. Here are some pictures from before the game.

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Finally it was game time. The Eagles came out first to a big BOOOOOO from the Cardinal fans. Then came the home team. It gets loud in there fast. Here are a few pictures of the Cardinals running onto the field.

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I'm sure most of you watched the game on TV so I won't bore you with a recap. But I do have to post a picture of the huge flag that was out during the national anthem. It was really something to see. We had a blast (except for the 3rd quarter it was pretty bad).

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As soon as the game was over and the trophy presented to the Cardinals we took off. We made one stop and had dinner then headed home. We got as far as the 202 exit ramp onto Country Club. We were sitting at the light waiting to turn onto Country Club when we got rear ended. Michael got out and talked to the guy driving the truck and got his insurance card then we moved to a gas station instead of blocking traffic. When Michael got back in the car with me he told me the other guy smelled like alcohol so I called 911 and reported the accident. We waited at the gas station and a DPS officer showed up. Then another one and then one more. They did a report on the accident and a field sobriety test on the other driver. He must have failed it because then they did a breathalyzer on him. He must have failed it to because they arrested him and took him to jail. Then one of the DPS officers came and told us the guy was going to be charged with a felony because he had his 12 year old son in the truck. It took us an hour with the police but is was worth it. That guy might have killed some one after he hit us if we didn't call the police. All in all it was a great 34.5 half hours for the two of us. Even if we did hit a few bumps (or get hit by them).