First down!

There's a first time for everything.

This past weekend, my alma mater Central Florida hosted the first-ever Conference-USA Championship game at the Citrus Bowl. We got tickets and drove over to attend the game. A coworker had given me a parking pass to one of the better lots, one that allowed us to do a bit of tailgating, so we put our portable grill in the back of my wagon, loaded up a cooler with burgers and sodas, and off we went. I'd never tailgated before - it was quite fun. I bet it's an absolute blast with a large group! Plus making our own burgers is much better than paying $6 each. The prices of stadium food and drink are nigh on extortion.

After my first tailgate, we went into the stadium. Our seats were up on the second tier, so while we weren't close to the field we had a pretty good view. I had only been to a college football game once in my life, and DD had never been. She got a bit upset the first couple minutes because of the noise, but she slipped quite easily into the groove and had an absolute blast. There really is nothing quite like seeing a game live - it beats watching it on television hands-down. Part of that is the interaction - between the bouncing balloons, cheers, key-jingling, and the wave, it was easy to feel a part of the action.

As for the outcome...well, that was the dark spot. The first half was very close and ended in a tie. The second half was pretty much all Tulsa - UCF turned the ball over four times, which was the difference in the game. Up until then, both teams were pretty evenly matched. So the final was Tulsa 44, UCF 27. Still, a good time was had. Traffic was a bit slow getting home, and although the game was at noon, it was dark by the time we got back home, making for a very full but enjoyable day.

Yesterday was a bit more laid-back, although I had to catch up on laundry and a few other items since I hadn't done them Saturday. I generally prefer not to do chores on Sunday if I can help it.

So now it's Monday, with less than three weeks until Christmas. So much to do, so little time...