THE Football World Championship Game

...otherwise know as the Super Bowl.

This year, the Super Bowl coincided with Simon's birthday, and weeks before the Seattle Seahawks even made it into the playoffs, we decided to host a Super Bowl Birthday Extravaganza (cue echo..).

Well, as luck would have it (though really, we all know it was skill!), not only did the Seahawks make it to the Super Bowl, but it was a crushing victory.

Simon was granted a birthday wish that probably any 12 year old birthday boy in Seattle would want-and had a grand time while doing it.  He's seen a Super Bowl before (even if it meant having to stay awake until 3am in London...), but whether you're an expat (of either the local or national sense), or a Seattle native...Sunday was pretty special.  And not just because he looked better in the wig than I did!

Keep Calm and Cheer on Wilson

Showing our 12th Man Pride

Crisis Averted

As incredibly knowledgeable as Simon is about American culture/pop culture/history/politics, I often forget that he is not 'of' this country.  There are subtleties that can be lost on him-and I usually don't recognize this until said subtlety is indeed lost.

Take the below photo.  After 18 months, we finally got around to uploading the first photos from our road trip that started in July 2012.  Anyhoo...after uploading this picture, Simon decided to post the picture on Facebook, and simply comment about where the photo was taken (Faith, NC...yes: Faith), and the occasion (July 4).

July 4th

Hours later, when I was pottering on FB, I noticed this photo was posted on his timeline without any commentary (namely...something about the irony of us posing in front of a Rebel flag on July 4th, it being the wrong flag, oh-look how odd...something.  anything).  And, I had a minor meltdown.  Perhaps I was being a bit too sensitive, but I freaked out realizing that my friends (of many different races) would see this posting of us in front of this flag-and think the worst.  What I observed (mid-meltdown) was that Simon really didn't understand my reaction.  And...this was a learning moment for me.  So, I had to explain the origin of my freak, and ask him to either comment on the photo to provide some context, or untag me.  He gamely did this (phew. crisis averted), but I could tell that there was a bit of surprise (confusion?  something else?) from him in the conversation.

Note to self:  no more pictures in front of Rebel flags....