What a weekend.  Four days off from work, and it felt like I blinked and it was over.  We had a really nice Thanksgiving with family and of course the food was amazing. 

On the drive home from our feast I received an invite from an old high school friend to join him on a trip to Madison for the Gophers vs Badgers football game on Saturday.  It was a last minute invite, but the situation couldn’t have been more perfect.  I was really looking forward to this game, because the Gophers are better than they’ve been in years and the winner got to play in the Big Ten Championship game! I didn’t have any real plans after Thanksgiving this weekend anyway and my friend already had a ticket and arranged for a place to stay.  It was set up to be the weekend trip of the year.  Not only was I about to get to go to a great football game but it was a 5 hour road trip.  If I were somehow able to sleep the entire ride there, I might get 5 hours of consecutive sleep.  Not to mention the possibility of a solid nights sleep overnight for the first time in over 9 months! Sure this is a slight exaggeration. (Emphasis on slight) Somewhat to my surprise, I was even able to gain full approval from my wife, although she prefered me leaving and returning Saturday to leaving Friday and returning Sunday. It was going to be the perfect weekend.

Spoiler alert, I didn’t go.  Yes, I politely passed on this incredible opportunity.  Ok, maybe incredible is a strong word, but before Mac was born, I would’ve accepted this invite 99 out of 100 times!  Who wouldn’t love to road trip and relive the old college days while cheering on your squad in an opponent’s town, right? The truth is, I had already been looking forward to spending this weekend together as a family.  Four days off of work and even though we had no plans, other than to be together, it was exactly where I wanted to be.  A typical week is always so hectic, that it’s rare that we are all able to be together other than maybe the few hours between work and bedtime. I didn’t want to miss a chance to spend my weekend with them. 

As far as the Gophers game, we were able to watch the first half of the game out with friends here in town and the second half just the three of us.  Unfortunately, the Gophers lost.  But when it comes to spending family time with Mac and mommy, I won.