Wendy DeCora.com

The Hawkeyes managed to beat Northwestern at Evanston this afternoon. No minor feat considering it was Northwestern and things generally end badly there as well as the fact that we played as bad, or even worse, than we did in the first quarter last week. Thankfully, we pulled it together and got some great interceptions towards the end to not have to face overtime. Two more home games and if we win out we could be bowl eligible, not that I think we really deserve a bowl, nor will I go any bowl game. I’m glad we’re winning, but this is clearly a rebuilding year for the team.

Speaking of last week, my mom didn’t make it over to Iowa City for the game as she was attending my cousin Neal’s last home game for Central College. Taly used our available seat since her Jerry & Sara already had Jenniffer & Donor’s seats for the game and Kinnick policy is “if you have a heart beat, you need a ticket.” I went to the game with the Steeles and we parked at the union ramp and enjoyed a brisk morning walk across the river to Frosty’s tailgate (mmmm deep-fat fried) before the game. It was nice to see Chad Smith visiting from California and even more fun to get to be catty with him during the rec show. The second-string drum major is just so sad.

While sitting alone sans mother was kind of dull for the first half, especially since the game looked rather lost for most of the time, I did enjoy the extra space. My seats in the north endzone provided a nice vantage point to watch Kirk totally lose it on the ref at the end of the half that got everyone fired up. I really thought he was going to haul off and just punch the guy the longer it went on.

At the end of the third quarter, when it was looking much better for our heroes, Jerry let me know there were some empty seats around them, so I ran over to their section on the west side for the fourth quarter.

Here’s Sara & Taly in the stands:

The view of where I normally sit in the north endzone:

Stupid overtime. At that point Taly was getting a little fussy, so Sara took her down to the concourse to walk around. It was really cold in those seats because that area is shaded by the press box, so we made the last-minute decision to run back to my seats for the overtime (and the warmth.) I think the people we sit next to thought I was crazy. Diane (who sits above me ten or fifteen rows) thought I’d left the game completely. Funny.
Jerry and I warmed up and we won and it was generally awesome.

After the game we did a little post-game tailgating and then headed back to the Steele abode as a bunch of their family was coming over to visit. I ended up staying and getting to enjoy all the really great food and fun times with the family, of whom I’m a bit of an adopted member since Jerry & Sara’s wedding in Jamaica five years ago. It was a full house of Jerry, Sara & Taly; Jerry Sr. & Wendy; Uncle Mike, Janelle, & Sam; Rod & Elaine; Heather & Taylin; Grandma Irene; and me.

Everyone had fun playing with Taly.

Jerry grilled a ton of chicken breasts that Sara had marinated in this really amazing marinade.

Heather made fabulous baked potatoes and a great cake, and apparently all the women had made pies. I hear the pies were good, I passed to save room for the cake. The cake was for Taylin’s sixth birthday.

I got home around twelve hours after I’d left home and it was a really great day.
There are more photos on flickr.

And because there never seems to be enough Taly, here’s a little video of her entertaining us with her animal sounds and crawling about.