Football Time in Tennessee… with a side order of Drama

With the exception of UT, where we've been for about 8 years… our opening day at Vandy, Arkansas, Georgia Tech and Auburn were not as successful as perhaps we had wanted. No major fumbles or gaffes, but found that developing a following is going to take more than one game. There were small glitches and store signage that could have been better… but overall, the inaugural openings went about as well as they could have and we have lots of ideas of how to increase awareness and be creative with marketing. Fortunately, we won't have to contend with ALL of the universities with converging games on the same day again for the remainder of the season.

My duty was to be at UT since we have five stands there; the newest being in the renovated Terrace section.

Interestingly, with all the opportunities at five different stadiums in a day for a fumble…it was me that first bobbled the ball. I installed three small signs to the walls at the new stand in the terrace without asking for permission. to say they were hot over it is putting it mildly. hopefully we'll smooth that out to the satisfaction of the concessions management team. i felt terrible about it all night long. i know i shouldn't lose sleep over something completely out of my control… but it bothered me for two days.

we were able to enjoy the first half {which was much more enjoyable than the previous years' games since UT was playing much better. Thank you, Vols!} before we made the rounds again for inspections and to document the lines.

It had already been a long day, so I was happy to have a chance to leave after half time. We went out by way of the new addition. Neyland Stadium has never been one of the more beautiful architectural attractions on campus, but the renovations they've been doing to the stadium over the years have really beautified it. This past years' addition/renovation is by far the most stunning. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks??

I went home and did some things around the house and expected the hubs to be back home from arkansas by about one or two in the morning. He and his teammate left earlier in the day via private plane to avoid spending two days travel time. (it's a ten hour drive, and not really that much different to fly commercial… with layovers, etc. it's a real hassle to get to Fayetville)
I received a call at one… having just fallen asleep, it took me a moment to figure out that it was our house phone ringing. I stumbled to the phone, picked up and had this conversation with the hubs:
Hubs: Hey, sorry to wake you up, but i just wanted to tell you that our plane just made an emergency landing in Nashville. We lost electricity in the plane, and it's basically dead. We're renting a car and are driving back home.
Me: Seriously? Are you sure? It's pretty late… are you alright to drive?
H: Yeah, it was a group decision. We're up for it. See you about 4.
M: Okay, well, be careful!
click.

waitadangminute.

WHAT??

Electrical problems?

Emergency landing?

SERIOUSLY??

How did I miss that part of the conversation??
Now I'm wide awake. Musing over the fact that the hubs just escaped an early death (I know, melodrama reigns after midnight) and then I caused a stir at the stadium. Now I have another hour to rerun the day's events in my mind for another ninety minutes.
The hubs made it back safely at about 4. He woke me as he crawled into bed, but I was able to fall back asleep. I was awake again at 6:30 unable to fall back asleep. I got up, got my book and went to go read in the living room. I was able to sleep for another thirty minutes before the alarm went off for church.
Thank goodness for the Sabbath. We both enjoyed no agenda for the day and easily begged off going to Boomsday… the largest fireworks display in the world on Labor Day. Seriously, a must-see-to-believe event. 400,000 people. We were happy to let our kids go and enjoy. We went to a movie with friends after both enjoying a luxurious power nap.
Today we're back at it. Ready to conquer the world.