SUPER

1 a: of high grade or quality

K's Drawing of our family Super Bowl Party

On Super Bowl Sunday last year,  I was confined to the couch.  A few days past surgery, I was incapable of attending, planning or executing a party.  J stepped in.  He bought appetizers, prepared them, served them to our girls as they sat scattered around the living room, watching a bit of the game, but much more interested in the food.  Sounds a lot like most Super Bowl parties, right?  It was a sweet moment for me.  J knew my limitations, wanted to make it a fun time for our girls and took care of everything to make it happen.

This year, we debated what to do for the Super Bowl.  With the Packers playing, our family has more of a vested interest.  J was born and raised in Wisconsin, a long time Packers fan.  I, on the other hand, was weaned on college, not pro, football.  It was the Crimson Tide that first earned my love on the football field.  But in the first years of our marriage, J introduced me to the fun that pro football could be.  It was a magical time to be a Packers fan - back when Brett Favre looked poised to be a legend, not a laughingstock, when he made it look like he was playing the game for the fun of it. Those days are long gone and J and I have less time to spend watching football on Sundays - and less opportunities to see the Packers televised.  But we are still, as a family, excited to see the Pack play tonight.

When the NFC Championship game rolled around, J and I talked about what we should do if the Packers won.  Host a Super Bowl party?  If so, how big?  We talked about keeping it small - maybe inviting some neighbors over.  We like many of our neighbors, but quite honestly do a poor job of forging better relationships with them.  This might be a nice opportunity to get to know them better.

But then we watched the NFC Championship game.  And it was so nice to just sit and watch the game.  A watched a bit of it with us, reading her book during some of the plays, looking up for her favorite commercials (a preview of tonight, no doubt).  K wandered in, watched a few plays, then went back to her room to play.  B stayed out of the living room, choosing instead to curl up with a book in her room.  J and I simply watched the game, with no small talk, no hostessing, no distractions.

After that experience, J and I conferred.  I admitted that I would really prefer to try to copy last year's experience, with a bit more help from me this time around.  I told J I thought would we would have a better chance of actually watching the game if it were just our family.  And this way, we could put the girls to bed at halftime.  He agreed.

Our girls were less than thrilled.  While my daughters fill the complete range from introvert to extrovert, they all, without exception, love a good party.  So when we told them we were having a family party, there was an uproar.  What's a party without a house full of people?  J and I held our ground.  This was what we had decided would be best and we were moving forward with it.  Given that first K, then J, then I have been sick since Monday evening, I am grateful not to be hosting a gathering - however small or large it might have been.  I am, thankfully, feeling a bit better today and J is well enough to run errands, which wouldn't have been possible earlier in the week.

Our girls' disappointment at the announcement of a family Super Bowl party did make us up our game a bit.  I bought football plates and napkins.  J is out buying Nashville's best cupcakes right now.  They will be accompanied by J's dad's Chip Dip, lemon hummus, cheese nachos, ham and cheese crescents, chips, crackers and the smallest of nods to nutrition in the form of baby carrots and celery to house dip or hummus. I have no doubt it will be a super evening.