Cougar Tail

I've been meaning to blog about how we spend half our Saturdays. BYU football games have been a Hawkins tradition for several decades, so when I married into the family, I also married the BYU football games. I've truly enjoyed them and the time I get to spend with my in-laws. It's also been nice that they've won most of their home games (who wants to pay to see your team lose?). Check out these two "super fans" that look as though they've walked straight out of a gift shop:

Twin brothers separated at birth? Close. Devan and Bevan have similar names and favorite colors. They've been friends for years and even stood by each other through the "Crowton years". Match made in heaven.

Before the game starts, the players do some islander war dance called the Haka. I've heard it translates to "we're coming to kill you". I wish I had a picture of the last home game. The other team was on the other side of the field... praying. It was very ironic. Where are we? Provo?

We went down to where the players go from the locker room to the field. You would never know it from the noose-bleed section, but these players are all so YOUNG. It's a hard reality when you turn 26 and you realize that all college athletes are younger than you (and more in shape). I thought that "prime-of-life" was when you turned 30?

This beautiful thing is called a Cougar Tail. It's a 2-foot-long maple bar donut and it's only sold at BYU football games. Clever name? I love maple bars but even this is too much for my non-college-athlete self. It splits well between 3 people. Is there such thing as a striped cougar? That donut would be drizzled with chocolate. Mmm...

It's just what you do.

Once again, the manly members of the Hawkins family fulfill their yearly passage into the wilderness hoping to emerge victoriously with their proud kill. Months of planning goes into this expedition. The permits are purchased, the orange hats get organized, the guns get cleaned, and the bullets get shook to see if the gun powder is still in there (would it go anywhere?). Their permits were for the northern Utah area which included Wolf Creek Pass, which is coincidentally just up the road from where we live. We invited them to the cabin so they could "rough it" in style for a night. They all woke up at 5:30 this morning to get an early start. I woke up as well, stumbling around towards the smell of manly bacon and eggs with my eyes half closed. Once again I contemplated the fashion combination of camouflage vs. orange (silently, I've learned just not to say anything out loud). There were a couple deer in our back yard as usual and I mentioned that they could just shoot those deer right now and go back to bed. None of them seemed to hear me. Bevan packed about 2 dozen bullets (what's the limit?) into his fanny pack along with his daily ration of bologna sandwiches and mini-candy bars. Normally I bum around wishing I could go along... but this year I've decided to enrich my feminine self by going back to bed.

Here's a cute picture of Bevan. Notice that it's still dark outside. PS There are now 7 deer in our back yard

Dogs, Mice, and (stomach) Bugs

Every once in a while, we're asked to dog/housesitt for my boss and his wife. They prefer us to do it because
A. we like playing with their dogs
B. we know how to use the wood-burning stove
We really like it because it's always an adventure. They always give us some money for groceries, so we eat well. They also have cable, so we didn't miss any conference... or football. The dogs are fun, but can be a handful. The one yellow lab will not listen to anybody but my boss, so every time we went outside, she'd take off for a couple hours. This was getting pretty annoying... until we found something called a leash! They never use leashes, but sometimes, it's a necessity. Problem solved. It ended up being a pretty rainy weekend, but the dogs loved it all the more. They LOVED playing in the mud, and I LOVED drying them off and mopping up after them. And people think kids are messy.

Yesterday morning I was making some breakfast back at our own house and a small mouse came running along our kitchen counter. It's that frosty time of year when all creatures find refuge in a warm house. It freaked me out for a second, then I realized I should probably get rid of it. I though about catching it and then killing it, until it stopped where I could see it. He looked at me, and I looked at it. We had an understanding. It was a gross, filthy mouse covered in germs and disease... but it had a will to live! I caught it in a cup, put the cup in a lunch cooler, and drove into town. I released it where Bevan catches his carpool in the Prospector district of Park City. He'll be happy there. Lots of garbage to rummage in and cigarette butts to chew on. I was satisfied with my sense of humanity, but it's time to put out the traps.

Speaking of vermin, Bevan caught a stomach flu a few days ago. It made him sick to his stomach and even had to stay home from work due to the nausea. I've always had this "toughen up" kind of attitude and never showed much sympathy. I wonder if it's how I was raised? Hum...? My darling husband then gave it to me. Ugh. Who needs to toughen up now? Sympathy anyone?