Eleven People and a Bird

Some days are so surreal the memories last a lifetime. Super Sunday was super. Football was only a small fraction of the moment. Some days will go down forever as a "Top Ten Day" of your life. Last Sunday was.

95 million people in the US watched the Arizona Cardinals come close but far away from an improbable Super Bowl victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game had a fantastic finish the rest was a blur.

Why was this day a Top Tener? It was the other 10 people and a bird I spent the day with.

The day started off a little overcast. I've been struggling with a virus that won't let go. It sucks me dry of energy but today the virus and I had a cease-fire. Joanie was a good saint and went to church on time while I recuperated with Michael at home. The recuperation went great thanks to some entertainment namely "Lost". I got Michael caught up against his wishes but at least now I can talk to him about it. I hope it doesn't ruin the bar for him.

I made a cameo appearance in Sacrament meeting to say the prayer then I went back to the Pre-game pre-party. Michael had the pre game show to watch while I was gone but soon it was back to Lost to finish it up. But soon the time table called for preparations to begin. I was in charge of the main entree and that meant starting hours in advance. My entree was a pizza worthy of a Super Bowl party. The dough took an hour alone to make from scratch. That dough soon became the edible container for pounds of ingredients: cheese stuff in the crust, pizza sauce with real garlic sliced into it, pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, all under to umbrella of pounds of mozzarella cheese. The pizza was slowly cooked to puff up the crust and bring out the flavors. At this point it was 4 O'clock but where was everyone?

We had three people and a bird but no one else. Our stomachs were crying for food so we dug in. Soon kick off was about to happen. The Cardinals deferred and the Steelers had the ball but soon thereafter Joan's father and brother showed up. In addition Joan's friends KP, Liz, & Kristin showed up. Everyone grabbed a slice of pizza and started enjoying the game. Next came my mom, Eric and Amanda. We were bursting at the seams with people and food to eat. Amanda soon there after made two great chip dips to satisfy those who didn't get enough pizza. The room had everything going on. People smiling, eating and watching the game or commercials for others. At the end of the first half Harrison took an interception 100 yards to paydirt and that signaled my next cooking endeavor.

Next on the list was the cherry on top or in our case Italian puff pastries filled with rich vanilla ice cream smothered in semi-sweet chocolate sauce mixed with toasted Italian hazelnuts. This took quit a doing to do the preparing before halftime ended. The pastries took 35 minutes to cook. Around the beginning of the 4th quarter everyone had their share of Italian heaven. When everyone was satisfied it was time to strap your seat belts on and enjoy the final act to this Super Bowl.

The room was split between Steeler and Cardinal fans. The only question would be who would cheer the loudest at the end? The game went back in forth but finally with 2:35 left Roethlisburger drove the Steelers to capture an unprecedented sixth Super Bowl title.

Soon afterwards the party-goers streamed out and it was just Joanie and I. Joanie is my cherry and she gave me another top ten day when we were married. This Super Sunday couldn't have been any better!