Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...

will stay these Dawgs from their com- pletion of the appointed season! We did go to Athens - in the cold rain - to see UGA play Georgia Tech. Even though the Dawgs lost 45-42, we still had a fun weekend.

We went up to Athens on Friday evening, driving in the dark and in the rain. It was yucky, yucky weather, and only a prelude of what was to come the next day! We met Stacey and Joey Lancaster at the condo- we had invited them to go to the game with us. (Stacey and I were roommates in college.) This was the first time in almost three years that we've gone out without 1-3 kids in tow! One of Saunders's good buddies Martin and his girlfriend Alayna met us, too... Alayna had given Martin tickets to the game for his birthday.

We all went downtown to DePalma's to eat. There, we met Trey Sheneman (Stacey's brother, and my other college roommate), his fiancee Jennifer, and two of their friends. Unfortunately, DePalma's was a TWO HOUR wait, and there was no way mono-girl was going to be able to stand around for two hours before eating. So, we walked to Wild Wing, still had to wait thirty minutes, but we were able to eat some yummy wings there. The Lancaster/Jones families decided to take a big challenge at Wild Wing- we ordered a 50 wing platter of Wild West wings and Colorado Coppers! That's the biggest wing tray! Normally, I can easily put down sixteen wings, but with the swollen spleen, I could only get down seven. So, I let the team down. Stacey didn't eat many more than me, but Joey and Saunders put on a good show, so we were able to get finished with 40 of the 50 wings! We had a great time at dinner, laughing and reminiscing about crazy times when we all lived together in Athens. We went back to the condo, talked about - what else? - the kids for awhile, and then hit the sack. Martin, Alayna, and the younger kids all went out clubbing downtown, but the two old married couples were just too tired!

Saunders & Joey

Stacey & Me

Me & Alayna

Martin & Saunders

Jennifer & Trey

Trey's friends

On Saturday morning, we got up to a cold day and drizzly rain. We took showers and got ready, and then went to Zim's Bagel Bakery for a delicious Breakfast Special. We went back to the condo and put on even more warm clothes, and walked down to the game. Although it was hard, and I was almost in tears by the time we made it to our seats because my legs were so weak, I made it!

Wearing our ponchos

Ready for the rain!

Because of the rain, the Redcoats did not march on the field, so it was kind of a dis- appointing pregame show. It was Senior Day, and I felt bad for the Seniors running out in the rain with no band playing around them. Since it was the last regular season game this year, they did a lot of honoring during the game... honoring the baseball team for winning the SEC this year, honoring Vince Dooley by announcing the new athletic complex would be named after him, and honoring Larry Munson for his 43 years of announcing for the Dawgs! It was an emotional moment when they honored Larry Munson... he looked so old and confused for a minute or two, and I was afraid he didn't know what was going on. But then he took off his hat and waved it to the crowd, and his chin crumpled up like he was trying not to cry. Too sad!

Of course, the Dawgs did not win. The offense came out and put 21 points on the board with little trouble in the first half, so we went into halftime with a 16 point lead. At that point, being out in all that cold rain was worth it! After the half, there was a total momen- tum shift in Tech's direction. They came right out and scored a touchdown to start the second half. The offense battled back and put another 21 points on the board, but the defense just could not stop Tech's option. Also, in typical Georgia fashion, penalties really hurt us. I can think of a big pass play to Mohamed Massaquoi that got an important first down, but that was called back due to holding, and that led to us having to punt. Massaquoi had a big game, with three catches for touchdowns. Stafford even tied a school record with five touchdown passes, but they still couldn't conquer the triple option. So, the final score was 45-42. At least it was a close game! We still had a good time in spite of the rain, the cold, and the loss. As Stacey put it when we were leaving the game, "If anything can be miserable and fun at the same time, that just was."

After the game, Stacey and Joey hit the road back to Madison to relieve her parents, who were on babysitting duty. We packed up everything we had taken to the condo this season, which was a lot more than we realized! We looked like Beverly Hillbillies heading home! We stopped at RuSan's for some yummy sushi with Martin and Alana, then we started the long drive through traffic and rain back home. Although it took us longer than we thought to get home, it was so nice to sleep in our own bed last night, so it was worth it!