As I said in my last post, I turned 32 on Friday. If you've read that post, you'll know that it caused some introspection and gratitude to come from my heart and mind right through my blogging fingers. It has been an interesting weekend, to say the least.
Friday started with one of the most uncomfortable IEP meetings I've ever been a part of. I won't even go into details, because those of you who don't live in the world of special education would be bored to tears. Suffice it to say, this wasn't a good one. The rest of the day went reasonably well. I did my usual work with kids and paper shuffling. I even stayed after school for about an hour to tie up some loose ends. Rudy took Caleb to meet Jan in Alma, because he was staying with her all weekend. She and my mom share taking care of Caleb on Razorback game weekends and she had volunteered for this one. To keep her from having to pack up and leave her house for the weekend like she usually does, she kept Caleb in Ft. Smith. From what I understand, they both had a blast.
When Rudy got home, he took me to dinner at one of our favorite indulgent restaurants, Cafe Rue Orleans. We came home stuffed to the gills, but managed to have a little birthday cake that he had kindly gotten for me. Around 9:00, Chad and Ronni Fellers got to our house to spend the night. They were in town for the Razorbacks/Ole Miss game on Saturday and spent Friday night with us.
The guys got up early on Saturday morning and played golf. Ronni and I slept in! It was a real treat for 2 moms. After the guys got home, Ronni and I went to the Promenade to do some shopping and then came home. We all got ready to go to the game and said our goodbyes. Rudy and I went to the Wilhelms' tailgate party and then walked up to the Alumni house for dinner before the game. We headed over to the stadium in time to witness the bizarre goings-on. It was Coach Nutt's first game back at Arkansas since leaving to coach at Ole Miss. The Arkansas fans were brutal to him. The boos were louder than any I had ever heard. Initially, I clapped for him - giving him the benefit of the doubt and showing some gratitude for the improvements that he brought to our University while he was here. My mind quickly changed, though. When he brought his team back out after warm-up to start the game, he held them back until our team came on the field. This classless act caused our team to enter the field to a chorus of boos, rather than the cheers that we always greet them with. His players proved to be as classless now as he allowed them to be when he was at Arkansas. I hated the thug behavior when it was our guys and I hate to see it from other teams. Now we have a coach who doesn't stand for that and I am glad. We ended up losing the game following a completely bogus offensive pass interference call that brought our fans out of their seats in disgust and anger. Then, Nutt proceeded to stay on the field long after the game was over. He was surrounded by cameras and milked it for all it was worth. By the time he finally left the field, most of the crowd was gone, his players and some assistant coaches had taunted our fans in the stands and he had officially lost any and all respect I ever had for him. I was standing outside after the game when 2 of the Ole Miss staff members walked by. One of them said, "I just love the looks on the faces as we pass by." As Rudy and I got to the elevator, I realized that we were going to have to get on with them and we decided to take the stairs. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold my tongue after a comment like that. We left the stadium disappointed and disheartened. The only good thing about the night was that the Wisemans and their friends invited us up to watch the game with them in their luxury box. At least we weren't freezing and packed in our seats like sardines.
We got home and it didn't take me long to crash in the bed. Rudy stayed up for a while, trying to avoid the Razorback message boards and playing video poker. After a celebratory Friday, it was a miserable Saturday night.
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