Goodness

So we had our first snow of the year Tuesday night. I caught on when I saw a student tweet a request for a snow day on Wednesday. … I headed for the sliding glass doors at our deck and -- sure enough -- the ground was already covered with about an inch of the white stuff. As much as I hated to admit it, it was a pretty snow.

It was even sweeter Wednesday morning, as I was getting ready for work, when Phoebe came bounding into our bedroom, shouting, “Daddy, you wanna see the snow!?” … She then took my hand and pulled me across the hall to her bedroom window where she pointed out the window. “See!”

For a few moments I gained a whole new appreciation for snow.

* * *

We went to our last ‘Cats football game of the regular season. A 62-21 win.

But the best part for me was spending it with Phoebe.

As we were getting ready for the game, she put on one of my team hats and asked if she could wear it to the game. She was so cute in it, I couldn’t say no. I helped her tie her hair in a pony tail, adjusted the cap to fit her little head and then taught her how to put her pony tail through the back of the cap. To my surprise, she wore the cap for the bulk of the game.

As usual, we started with the tailgate. Today’s buffet was nachos. And the band is better with each week. … Phoebe also couldn’t wait to get to the inflatable slide, a popular destination for the kids at this year‘s tailgates.

After the halftime performance … Kates headed home, while Phoebe stayed with me for the rest of the game. As the ‘Cats ran up the score, Phoebe wanted to go to the park adjacent to the stadium. She ran and played for the rest of the quarter and the first part of the fourth.

With a few minutes left in the game, we headed back into the stadium and watched the rest of the game from a fence behind one of the end zones.

When time ran out, we headed onto the field. We listened in on Coach’s post game talk to the team. And Phoebe was delighted, as always, to be on the field. … We walked home, and she held my hand the entire way.

After checking in with Kates, I needed to run some errands and asked Phoebe if she wanted to take a ride with me. It wasn’t my intention when I took her along for the ride, but about halfway through I realized she had been quiet for some time. I looked at the rear view mirror, and she was asleep. … Back at home, I unbuckled her from her car seat and carried her inside to her bed.

Kates and I woke her up about an hour later so she could eat supper and get her bath. Had we left her, she might have slept through the night.

When we did put her to bed for good tonight, I gave her a tight hug and thanked her for the great day. “I had a lot of fun with you today,” I said.

“Thank you, Daddy. I had a lot of fun, too.”

I can’t think of many things better than that.

* * *

Now Kates and I are sucked into “Serendipity.” … She found it on TV and whatever plans we had for the rest of the night were thrown out the window.

Have I mentioned how much we love this movie?

Judge me all you want.