One of the only times you will catch me blogging about football.

The Gators won the SEC Championship today...and though I'm probably not as happy as Tim Tebow, I'm pretty damn close.

When it comes to football (professional and college), I am extremely loyal. I love two teams and only two teams: Gators and Dolphins. No one understands my love of the Gators because I went to Florida State, but I can only chalk it up to this loyalty. As sad as it is, I'm emotionally attached to them. Maybe I associate watching them with my childhood, or maybe with how I spent many many weekends (everyone's favorite time of the week, and therefore a happy feeling). Anyway, I cry when they do badly and my heart jumps when they do well. It's a fact of life.

The Dolphins have been sucking for years, and the Gators were a bit, er...off last year, so when they lost to Ole Miss earlier in the season I dismissed their chances of doing anything too fantastic and vowed not to care about football, for fear of depression setting in every Saturday and Sunday. Then Tebow came along with this (over-played, but still sorta inspirational) speech: "You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you'll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season."

I still thought they had no chance. But I hoped. And since that day, they have kicked ass and done exactly what he said they would do. And I have been happy. Today, I cried the first three quarters of the game, but they pulled it out in the fourth quarter and won. And now they are going to the National Championship game. So while I've never seen the Dolphins make it past the first round of the playoffs (unfortunately, I don't remember watching football at the age of three or whenever they did it last), I will get to see the Gators play in the biggest game of the year for the third time. For that, I am thankful. Small victories, you know? ;)

In other news, it has been snowing all day here. It's also really really cold (which is rare when it's snowing, actually), so I refuse to go outside. I like looking at it from the warmth of my apartment, but having to suit-up and boot-up and brave the wind that numbs my face is not in the cards for today, I'm afraid. The snow is actually collecting on my windowsill, though. I was able to make a snowball and throw it at my boyfriend, all without changing out of the PJs! Again...small victories.

I did leave the apartment once today...to go to the gym...yeah, so I only went to the Bally which is located in the building, but it's something, right? Speaking of Bally, they filed for Chapter 11 this week. Hope that doesn't mean they'll close anytime soon, because I'll probably never work out. Let's face it, it's easy to get lazy in the winter.

This past week went really fast. The only major event was the previously-mentioned holiday work party on Thursday night. It was fun. Good food, good drinks. Pretty basic.

Because it was on a Thursday, I had to bring my clothes to work and get ready at the office. Some of the girls, knowing I needed help with my look, attacked my hair with product and bobby pins, trying to make me pretty. If you know anything about me, you know I never do my hair. I barely brush my hair, so to have it done was odd. It felt weird, but looked decent, I suppose. They actually got it to do what I was trying to get it to do for Halloween (stand up and look poofy in the back). Sometimes I feel like I fail at being a girl.

On another hair-related note, I LOVE Split Ends on The Style Network. It's just a casual watch for me, but as far as reality shows go, it's always really well done. Two hairdressers (usually totally opposite in look and personality from one another) switch salons for a few days. Drama ensues. Beyond fabulous. Think Wife Swap with scissors. Even Jon likes it.

One of those curling up on the couch sick days.

I've been a bit under the weather since Tuesday, but at least it's Saturday and I don't have anywhere I absolutely have to be. Don't get me wrong, there are places I would much rather be than lying on the world's most uncomfortable futon with a box of tissues and my cat, but I also need to get better. I have no choice but to rest and get healthy because on Friday, I'll be flying off to Florida!

Jon's brother Dave is getting married in what is sure to be a beautiful, gorgeous, over-the-top affair in Orlando. I can't wait. I've been to exactly two weddings (that I can remember - I don't count when I was a flower girl at two years old) and they have both been for relatively young, very religious couples, so they were rather subdued and quiet gatherings. No dancing, no meals, no drinks other than coffee and lemonade. I have a feeling this will be quite different! I'm sure I will take a million photos, so I will have to share a few of my favorites when I get back.

I'm also extremely excited to just get out of Chicago. I moved here last July and haven't left since, except to visit family in Iowa over Christmas last year. I'm spending Thanksgiving with Jon's family in Orlando, and my mom is coming up from Boca to visit for a day. Jon's friend (he is mine as well, I suppose but I met him through Jon so I still feel the need to say Jon's friend...is that weird? Do you do that too? Please share!) Dan is coming over from Tampa to see us too, which is so nice of him. I feel honored that my mother and her new hubby are willing to travel to see me and that Jon's family is willing to host me for yet another holiday week.

Anyway, I have this habit of getting sick right before I travel, so I am trying to get rid of whatever I have before I leave. I was sick for 2 weeks last time I was in London, sick for the majority of the cruise I took last year, sick last Christmas in Iowa, and a number of times when I went on vacation as a child. I vaguely remember being really sick when we moved from Iowa to Florida as well. Three days spent in a car loaded up with my favorite possessions, travel games, my mom and my brother, coughing and sleeping it off. It probably made the somewhat traumatic transition easier to handle, if I'm honest. If I wasn't so out of it, I'm sure I would have worried the whole time about leaving friends and family. I mean, I'd never even been to Florida before, and this was where I was now going to grow up? Weird.

So, it's been 11 days now since the election and it still doesn't seem real. I was lucky enough to get to go to the rally at Grant Park and be among the thousands of people that Obama spoke to immediately after winning the most important election of my lifetime. It was a wonderful experience. I meant to write about it sooner, but how do you write about something you can't describe in words? I can only describe it in smiles and tears. I cried many many happy ones that night and for days after. Whenever I would watch a news program and hear the phrase "President-elect Obama" my eyes would well up. I've never known what it feels like to vote for someone and have that someone win. I was 0-2 until this year, so it was a pleasant surprise. Don't get me wrong, my happiness is not simply an "I won" kind of feeling, but a general optimism that I know a lot of people around the world share with me now. Here are a few of my favorite photos from that night:

I can't say what he will change, but I look forward to seeing it play out. There is, I'm afraid, too much for one man to fix in four years, but with a little hope and a lot of good will, you never know what you're capable of. The difference between going it alone and having the world with you is like night and day. Let's all hope the night is over and the day is long.

As usual, I have so much more I could say, but I will leave it at that for now. I have some medicine to take and some blankets to curl up in.