Snapping out of it

So, I don't contribute much to "our" blog, but I figured I'd make my wife happy by making some contributions.

So, it's Wednesday, and I just now decided to get out of bed, shower, and shave. I went into depression after the Utah game on Saturday, and haven't been able to venture into the world since. Well, at least figuratively speaking. I did make it to church the next morning (wearing the "U" tie and all, as I figured I had to teach the young men about loyalty and dealing with adversity). And at the Utah senior banquet Sunday night, I relived it all. I really did think about calling into sick the next morning, as I work with quite a number of Y fans - and I was pretty darn confident the week before that the Utes would humble the cougs. But then I remembered what a hard time I gave to a co-worker who called in sick in November 2004 when Bush was reelected. I had no choice but to step up. Fortunately, everybody at my work was much more gracious than I expected (or than I probably would have been). Yes, the first day was the toughest - but downloading my frustrations with some fellow Utes gave me some free therapy.

Well, I'm deciding to post today because a friend of mine passed along a blog from Sabrena - somebody I went to high school with. She wrote a great blog post about Utah being like a co-dependent boyfriend (link: http://suitespots.blogspot.com/2007/11/why-utes-are-like-co-dependent.html). It was a great read - and she hit the nail right on the head regarding the biggest problem for the Utes on Saturday. It was also nice to read her own observation that, had the entire team played with the intensity and passion that Steve always brought, the Utes would have been much happier Saturday afternoon. I couldn't agree more.

It was kind of interesting reading through her blog and seeing her links to other blogs. I saw a lot of familiar faces from old friends from high school - whom I haven't seen in a long time. Coincidentally, I just recently ran into a good high school buddy whom I hadn't seen in years while I was in Colorado at a Utah game. It was great to catch up with him, and we've gotten together a few times since to catch up on old times. Zac happens to be an artist - a painter - who has always been amazingly talented, and it sounds like the rest of the world is beginning to appreciate just how good he really is. He's booked practically an entire year out by people and companies to do paintings. Fortunately, he actually really wants to do a painting of Steve - as he's been following his career for a while, and he happens to be a big U football fan. He's hopeful that doing a piece like that could open some new doors for him to more (and wealthier) players (Steve's friends with Eric Weddle, Alex Smith, Kevin Curtis - and each of them have their friends, etc.). I'm really excited that Zac's wanting to do this. It will be a great gift for Steve and his family.
If you get a chance, you'll want to take a look at his website to see some of his work: www.zacharyproctor.com.

So, between the blog I read, my hour-long conversation with Zac, and driving our youth downtown to see the lights (listening to some of their funny stories), I couldn't help but zone out for a while, thinking about high school. I was asking myself questions like: 'how did we get around so well without cell phones??' or 'how did my parents not kill me or themselves?' or 'why didn't we do normal things for fun?'. Ah. The memories, huh?

But, just like the post-game depression, I realized that I was better off just snapping out of it.

Jamie, me, Wynn, and Savanna at the game from hell