Pace Makers

According to my Fitbit, I only got 3,082 steps today. Four hours in the car will do that.

I can tell you honestly that I think 3,000 of those were pacing during the entire 4th quarter of the Vikings-Saints game. And 82 of them were the result of continuously jumping up and down – while screaming for extra cardio – during the last 10 seconds of the game.

As we Scandihoovians say... Uffda and SKOL! Wow.

Glad we got home in time to witness it!

Had a good time yesterday at the wedding for my high school BFF's daughter. I took it as a good sign that when Julie and I posed for a picture, we had Viking purple hair! This the last picture of us when we are both under 50. Her birthday is Tuesday. Maybe purple is our transition to becoming blue hairs?

After the reception and dance, hubby and I drove up north another 2 hours to Siren to sleep at a hotel. This morning, we went to check out my mom's new Diggs, er digs, in Grantsburg and take her to breakfast.

I was hoping that by bribing her with breakfast and some groceries, she'd cheer for the Vikings today. But as much as she loves purple, I don't think I can change her ways at this stage of life. Can't blame a girl for trying.

By the way, her little apartment is a nice fit for her. She said she likes it, is meeting new friends, and is the warmest she's ever been during a Wisconsin winter. The old, big house was always drafty and a lot to heat. So that was good to hear. And great to see her looking well!

We also made a quick pit stop at Burnett Dairy to see my twin for a minute (she was working) and snag some ice cream. Who cares if it was 20 below zero?

We got on the road after 1 p.m. so had to listen to the football game on the radio for the first half. As we appeared to be running up the score in the first half, one of my sisters texted me to see if I was happy. I said we were "conservatively optimistic" because, well, we're Vikings fans and have seen many a blown lead and disappointing losses.

Turns out I wasn't far off the mark.

What a disappointing turn of events the second half was as the Saints came out scoring and picking apart our offense. Been in this position before, believe me.

With 2 minutes left, Jim turns to me and says, "You know what's going to happen, right?" I said, "Yep, it will come down to a field goal and we'll miss it." Since that has happened twice in playoff games – and Jim has been there for both!

When we actually made the fieldgoal, I said, "A minute 30 seconds is way too much time for Drew Brees." I was right about that, too. The Saints did come back and score. At that point, we were so mad about blowing such a glorious first half – while simultaneously hoping for a miracle.

When that last play happened with 10 seconds left, I was literally jumping and screaming at the top of my lungs. College Boy was embarrassed ("Mom, I have friends here."). I think I might have pulled a muscle. And may have had a heart attack. I have no voice left. And I can't stop watching replays of that last catch and run by Diggs.

As I mentioned last week, beating the Saints in a playoff game is a longtime coming since the "bountygate" business back in 2009. Who knows how we'll do against the Eagles next week in the NFC Championship game. Today was just a huge dose of much-needed karma.

My heart is still racing. That's a good sign. At least for today, well for a whole week, it's not broken.

This ol' purple-haired lady will take that any day.