As Requested {INVINCIBLE Update}

I wasn't going to do fantasy football updates {because I figured no one cared}, but someone approached me at a wedding yesterday and said, "Emily, I've been checking your blog to see how fantasy football is going! How is it?!"

Turns out there's people who actually read this thing!

~~~

Week 1 for INVINCIBLE was not fun. We played RyDawgs {B's ten year old cousin}, and we lost. By 18 points. I was not happy.

So I told B, "If my guys don't step it up in week 2, then they're all getting traded."

B laughed and said, "Oh yeah! Who are you going to pick up? Because the players who are available are not any better than the ones you have!"

My players must have heard me, because in week 2 INVINCIBLE looked like a completely different team.

Not only did we win, but we earned the highest score in the league. The highest score in the league! Now that is an accomplishment!

{Did I mention that we played Old Timers? Aka Brandon's Parents!}

I decided that this may never happen again, so in my head I'm pretending it was the championship.

I even slept in my 'Fantasy Football Legend' shirt on Monday night.

Gardening Lesson #3

Since PaPaw lives too far away to come see my garden as often as I'd like {the ride in the car would be hard on his back}, I've been mailing him pictures of my tomato plants each week.

He called me right after he received the first set of pictures...

"That's a fine lookin' garden you got there, young lady!"

"Thanks, PaPaw! I guess you got the pictures..."

"Now Emily, you got some of my cages, right?"

"Yes, PaPaw."

"Now when you put them cages up you're gonna have to get some stakes and tie 'em down. If you don't that wind'll knock 'em right over! Just go to the store and get you some stakes. You'll need two stakes for each cage. And don't get the metal ones, they'll be too high {pricey}."

"Okay, PaPaw."

"And Emily, you'll need to get you some of that Seven Dust. That'll keep the bugs from eatin' up your garden."

"Okay, I'll go get some."

"And make sure you're usin' that Miracle Grow."

{three weeks in the ground}

{First blooms!!}

Stakes, Seven Dust, and Miracle Grow...

"Thanks, PaPaw!"

Gardening Lesson #2

The day after I planted my garden I went grocery shopping. As I walked through the produce I grabbed a few tomatoes and thought, "Oh, I bet these will be the last ones I buy this year!"

Silly me.

I called my dad after a week or so of watering, fertilizing, and watching my tomato plants grow.

"How much longer until I have tomatoes to eat?"

"Oh, it's going to be a while. Probably around twelve weeks."

"Twelve weeks?! That's like three months!"

I was shocked.

{After two weeks in the ground}

I guess I'll be going back to the store for more tomatoes.

Gardening Lesson #1

Before planting my garden I talked with my dad about the best way to get the soil ready. After several conversations I had a step-by-step plan, and Brandon agreed to help me.

We came home from church on Sunday {several weeks ago}, and Brandon went outside and got started.

I glanced out the window and noticed he was not doing it according to the plan. I rushed outside to stop him...

"B, my dad said that the first thing we need to do is..."

"Emily, what I'm going to do is just take off this top layer..."

"But B, my dad said that we should..."

"Emily, just trust me. This will work too."

And it did.



{After one week in the ground}



I am slowly learning that my dad's way isn't the only way.

Pivo Draft

Now that the league has officially started, let me introduce you to my team!


...Drum roll, please...

 

 

*INVINCIBLE*

{Get it? inVINCEable? As in Vince Young, VY,  the guy I explained my love for here?}

{Team Logo}

{Now I know that VY hasn't exactly lived up to the above definition in the past few years, but I choose to focus on the positive moments in his football career. I hope that when people think of me they, too, choose to focus on everything I've accomplished, instead of my failures.} Okay, moving on...

 

Since I already had the best team name and logo in the league, when draft week came I could focus all my time and energy on getting the best players {because some people think that's what matters}.

 

I decided I was going to do "research" while Brandon was gone last week. When he got home on Friday I showed him my "notes".

{Page one. I had six pages of "notes"}

 

He took one look, laughed and said, "What website did you copy this from? Because I know you didn't come up with this on your own."

 

Well...so what if I copied it down. The truth was I didn't know that much about the NFL. I've usually based a player's status on three things:

 

1. Have I ever heard of him? {If I have heard a player's name enough to remember it, then he must be good.}

2. Who did he play for in college? {Former Longhorns rank higher than anyone else.}

3. Is the player attractive? {This one is self-explanatory.}

 

Even though I had a lack of experience with the NFL I still wanted INVINCIBLE to be successful. But I soon realized that no matter how many articles I read or how many fantasy rankings I studied, I was never going to feel prepared.

 

 

As the countdown expired I began to panic. I was sitting on the couch with my computer in my lap and my "notes" spread out around me. Oh yeah, and I was wearing this shirt:

{Mom bought this shirt for B several years ago, when he was on a championship winning streak.
I just knew it would bring me luck!]

I glanced down at my "notes" and realized I had no clue what I was doing.

 

"B, I'm so nervous! I have no idea who to pick! I don't know anything about any of these people!"

 

"Emily, calm down! You have the third pick. You know Arian Foster is going to go first. Next will be either Ray Rice or LeSean McCoy, and you'll take whichever one is left."

"Ok, but who do I pick after that???"

 

"You'll have time to figure it out..."

 

{Let me remind you that while Brandon was guiding me through this process he was picking his own team, as well.}

 

I got Ray Rice for my first pick. And I don't remember the order of my picks after that.

 

~~~

INVINCIBLE

Eli Manning

Quarterback, New York Giants

Julio Jones

Wide Receiver, Atlanta Falcons

Hakeem Nicks

Wide Receiver, New York Giants

DeSean Jackson

Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles

Ray Rice

Running Back, Baltimore Ravens

Michael Turner

Running Back, Atlanta Falcons

Jermichael Finley

Tight End, Green Bay Packers

Reggie Bush

Running Back, Miami Dolphins

{I almost didn't take him, because he goes against my whole team motto. He won the Heisman in 2005, instead of VY. And he had to give it back a few years ago, so VY should have won in the first place.}

Antonio Brown

Wide Receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers

Peyton Hillis

Running Back, Kansas City Chiefs

Jason Witten

Tight End, Dallas Cowboys

Jay Cutler

Quarterback, Chicago Bears

Greg Little

Wide Receiver, Cleveland Browns

Justin Tucker

Kicker, Baltimore Ravens

{Any Texas kicker who kicks the game winning forty-yard field goal in the final seconds of the final game against Texas A&M deserves to kick for INVINCIBLE.}

Vince Young

Honorary Quarterback, INVINCIBLE

{Yes, I know he got dropped from his team.}

 

And I have to pick up a defense

{It's all part of my strategy.}

~~~

So there you have it... The 2012 Pivo League Champs! {Ha, I wish!}

Our season starts tonight! I'll be watching the Cowboys vs. Giants game, cheering on Eli Manning and Hakeem Nicks. Hakeem better get over his foot problem fast! {Jason Witten is only a back-up for INVINCIBLE, and he's currently injured.} 

Alright, INVINCIBLE...Don't let me down! 

 

  

Weekend Update

This weekend was one of my favorite weekends! Brandon came home Friday after being out of town all of last week, which already made Princess and I happy. Add in a few college football games, good food, the Texas Longhorns, and my first ever fantasy draft...

...Now that's what you call a good weekend.

1: Chili dog, 2: Princess's football season collar, 3: Longhorns taking the field,
4: Princess {and B in the background} in their game day attire, 5: Our first Longhorn Network experience



The first weekend of college football for Brandon is huge. I knew this. And I wanted to make sure that we made the most of it. I knew our weekend would be spent in front of the TV watching football, and the one way I knew I could make it even better was by planning our menu.

I decided to carry on my parents tradition of having 'game food'. All weekend. I went to the store on Friday and bought everything we needed for nachos, burgers, and hot dogs. Oh, the hot dogs.

When I was younger my family ate the same thing during almost every Texas football game. Mom would make a pot of chili, Dad grilled hot dogs, and when everything was ready Dad would say, "The concession stand is open!" If we got hungry again in the fourth quarter? That's when they'd bring out the nachos. It was their little way of bringing a bit of DKR right into our living room.

So... On Saturday I was really looking forward to the hot dogs. Like I almost made them for breakfast.

After spending the morning watching Game Day and eating way too much we showered and got ready for our game. The Texas game. Russel {Brandon's friend from work who is also a Texas Ex and loves Longhorn football just as much as we do} came over, and we headed to the Texas Exes watch party.

Me, Brandon, Russel

The party was held at a local bar, and if I couldn't be at the game then this was definitely the next best place to be. We were in a huge room full of fellow Longhorns, watching the game on a giant screen, singing 'The Eyes of Texas' in a crowd of burnt orange.

We. Were. Loving it.

After the game, which Texas won, we started making plans to go back next week. It was just such a good feeling to be in a room full of people who understand, who get it, who know what it's like to yell Texas Fight  at the top of your lungs in a crowd of 100,000+. For the first time since we've lived here, I felt 'at home'.

And let me tell you, that is a good feeling.

Sunday morning after church we we started focusing on our draft for The Pivo League.

I wonder what this could be??

Come back Wednesday to meet my first ever fantasy football team...

"The Pivo League"

On Friday evening after PawPaw's funeral services we were sitting outside when Brandon's Uncle Marc had the best idea ever...

"Hey, you know what would be fun? We should create a family fantasy football league...It would be just family, and we could each have a team. Everyone would have to participate..."

Not only was everyone willing to participate, but we were all excited about it. We immediately started talking team names, draft dates, top picks and buy-ins.

By the end of the evening we had everything decided...

League: The Pivo League
We decided the league name should have something to do with PawPaw because of when the league was created. PawPaw spoke Czech, and he enjoyed having a pivo {beer} at the end of each each work day; hence, The Pivo League.

Buy-in: $10
At first we weren't going to have a buy-in, but we all know that when there's money on the line things get little more interesting.

Draft: Sunday, September 2 at 3:00p.m.

Top Prize: The Pivo, AND all the money
I'm not sure if The Pivo will be a homemade trophy, an actual case of pivo, or both... I forgot what we decided. If it is an actual case of pivo then B's cousin, Ryan, will be getting a case of Root Beer instead. {He's ten years old} And since I'm not a fan of pivo, or Root Beer, I will be handing off my prize to someone else {assuming I win this thing}.

After discussing the details our conversation turned into...

"You know who's going to win this, don't you?.."

"I mean really, it's just going to be a battle between three teams..."

"Ryan will probably surprise us all..."

"Ha! I know Lavonne's first two picks! Ryan Tannehill and Stephen McGee..."

"Emily is going to do one of two things. She's either going to draft all the former Texas Longhorns, or she's going to take it seriously and try to win..."

{Draft countdown is current as of yesterday. My team name and logo will be revealed at a later date.}

I guess we will find out on September 2 which strategy I choose...

Our tomatoes are in the ground!

We finally got our first garden {if you call three tomato plants a garden} planted!

I wanted to plant some vegetables in the spring, but since we were gone for three months that wasn't really possible.

What I really wanted was to plant some of my PaPaw's tomatoes.

You see, PaPaw is known for his tomatoes, his 'improved porters'. They're the best tomato you will ever eat in your whole life. They're small, like a cherry tomato, and taste the best right off the vine.

Even when PaPaw was eighty-something years old he was still planting massive amounts of tomatoes. We're talkin' eighty-five tomato plants. And that's not even all he planted! He had all kinds of veggies growing in his garden.

PaPaw is now ninety years old, and I'm starting to realize that he won't always be here to plant tomatoes for me. And I feel like it's my duty, my responsibility, to carry on the tradition. I feel like while he is still here I need to show him that I can do it.

So I've been talking with him about it for a while now. We've talked about when to plant, what to plant, and how far apart the plants should be. He even gave me his "Texas Weather Almanac", something I will cherish forever.

Now back to the garden...

According to my "Texas Weather Almanac" the tomato plants needed to be in the ground by August 1st.

We were a little late.

On August 3rd I went to almost every nursery in Corpus looking for tomato plants. No one had them. A week later we were in Yoakum, and Dad and I tried to find some. They were sold out. We finally found some this weekend, and I planted them as soon as we got home.

This is just my practice garden. In the Spring I will be planting the seeds taken directly from PaPaw's 'improved porters', and hopefully I'll be adding a few other veggies to the mix. But it's good to start small, right?

P.S.-Those tomato cages...they were my PaPaw's.