RIP HALEN!

In the most important news, we had to put down Halen. I have had her for 8 years. she was the best dog anyone could ever have. All she asked for was to be petted, a great friend.

In her later years arthritis had caught up with her as well as some form of senilaity and she was on 3 pills. The quality of her life was not that great anymore, so we decided it would be best for her to keep a watch on us from above.

I really miss her A LOT!!!! She was my first dog. AS many of you may know I got her to be my guard dog. When I was living downtown on Iowa Ave I had someone break into my apt. So Amber and I made the trip to the dog pound, cuz rescue animals are the best! We walked through the kennels and Halen was the only dog jumping up and down in hers, she was telling me to pick her. WE have been best friends ever since. I like to think she had the best life as a dog.

Halen got to go to work everyday with me, she loved riding in the car and always wanted to go for a walk.

We all miss her, Kona is lost too.

Stupid Sports Illustrated!!

Haven't you ever heard of the SI cover jinx???

For those who are confused, the Hawkeyes are on the regional cover of Sports Illustrated this week. The jinx is that the object featured on the cover will go on and lose. I do not appreciate this. I have had 2 close heart attacks, I can't take it anymore!

A bridal shower

SO with the wackiness of the wedding planning, it was time to have a shower for Amber. It was held at a family friends house. IT was a Mexican Beach theme. WE played the "purse" game and then opened some gifts, and then ate some grub. a good time was had by all. MY favorite gift that amber received was the Magic Bullet, I am soo jealous.

Is it all tricks and no treats??

Saturday October 31, 2009, Indiana at Iowa. Amber comes in town to go to the game with me. WE start the day off with a little tailgating.


Then I have to get to the stadium, I am so anal. We get there early, Amber gets a pretzel and I try one of the walking tacos, which is a mistake as I end up burping this for the first half.


This game is supposed to be an easy one, but when Indiana scores first and takes the lead and then keeps adding to the lead, it becomes clear this is going to be a tough game. The hawks finally score and we go into half time.

The highlights of halftime were the 1980 final four team and coach Lute Olsen and the marching band, being Halloween and all the band performs a Michael Jackson show, and as expected they do thriller. But this time it was different the band dances!! I was only able to catch a small piece of that but here it is


Halftime is over and now it's time for the longest 3rd quarter in hawkeye football history. I believe in this quarter alone Stanzi threw 4 interceptions...in total on the game he throws 5. AHHH can this get any worse??

Finally with about 13 minutes left in the 4th quarter things start to go our way. Sash rescues a fumble and takes it to the end zone for a touchdown. Then the next play Stanzi makes one throw and it is good for a touch down, and we proceed with this luck on the next posession and get another touchdown. I almost had to kick amb out as she had not been to any of the games this year, i thought she was the bad luck.

The hawks turn the game around, come from behind and win the game 42-24. the game had loads of contoversy, Indiana felt they were robbed of 2 touchdowns, blah blah blah. We came to play football, so we win!! GO HAWKS!!! 9-0 baby! first time in school history!!! The pressure to be undefeated is just tooo much. I think I almost had another heart attack, I am too young for this crap. I just hope they can carry on and win against Northwestern

My first Heart Attack

Ok so I really didn't have an actual heart attack. However watching my beloved Hawkeye football team about caused me to have a heart attack on October 24th, when the team traveled to Michigan State for another night game.

The game was close and back and forth, until late in the game when MSU scored a touch down to take the lead with only about a minute and a half left in the game. We needed a touch down to win the game, a field goal wasn't going to do it.

So I was at home by myself, poor Josh had to work an Iowa volleyball game. I was so nervous, i was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, I couldn't take it. Then Josh came home. Volleyball was over.

Iowa had managed to march down the field and make it within a yard or less of the goal line. It was 4th down and there were 2 seconds left on the clock. Iowa had taken its final timeout. Ahhhhh, I am dying just writing this. Are we going to win and go on to make our record 8-0 for the first time ever in school history?

WE are marching and pacing, and yelling at the tv....finally the timout is over and the hawks line up...the ball is snapped, Stanzi fires to McNutt in just outside the end zone, he crosses the line, TOUCHDOWN IOWA!!!!!! Hawks Win, and go on to be 8-0, first time in school history. Josh and I are jumping up and down, now we are yelling and screaming for joy. Is this happening??? SO awesome!!! GO HAWKS!!!

We then still haven't eaten supper so we go over to the Okoboju Grill for some eats, where we catch a snippet of the MSU coachs post game interview, he is about tears, he is a wreck. Ok so we listen to what he has to say and he says nothing good about the hawks and gives no credit to the hawks. He is a A-hole. If we didn't show up to play the game, you wouldn't have a football game, so give us some credit!!!

Anyway my near heart attack for the week, and I survived. Here is to thinkig the next game, which is at home versus Indiana will be an easy one.

In the mean time

WE need a bigger house we have no room for our crap. SO we would like to sell our house. WE have been busting our butts painting and cleaning getting the house ready to sell. SO if anyone wants to buy a cute 3 bedroom house in Iowa City, call the realtor!!!

46 Years

That's right, the Dick and Jud-ster have been married for 46 years. As of October 19, when they celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary. Sorry I didn't send a card, but here is a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

On the road again

You people and your demands for an updated blog.... I have a headache!

So we got Amber married....and the next morning bright and early Josh and I were on the road to cheer on the Hawkeyes as they played Wisconsin in Madison. It was an 11 am game, we were out of the house by 6. Lucky for us the trip takes just under 3 hours. We are die hard fans, if we had the time and the money I am sure we would go to all the away games, but hey can't have everything.

We arrived with enough time to go to the Hawkeye huddle and get some munchies. then it was time to go find our tickets at the will call window. On our journey we noticed that the police station was right across the street from the stadium, how very convienent.

We got our tickets, then had to walk all around the stadium to find the correct gate to get in. As typical away seats, we were in the top corner, it was a good aerial shot of the field. Oh well, we were in the house.


It was another game that we weren't sure about. It could go either way, and it was beginning to look that way. However some where around the 3rd quarter when the students were more excited about their "Jump Around" than the football game, I knew we would be able to pull out the win.

And win we did, woo-hoo 7-0 baby!!! this was awesome, the players went over to the nearest fans and gave them high fives. The Heartland trophy was on the line, and the Iowa players carried that back to the safety of Iowa City. GO HAWKS!!!

Can we call you Ma-Carthey?

It's official Amber is married. As many of you know Amber has decided that she wants to have her wedding ceremony on a beach. SO the first part of December we are making the trek to Tulum, Mexico, which is south of Cancun. However to eliminate the headache of getting married in Mexico Amb and Josh decided to get married in a lawyers office before hand. So on October 16, 2009 they became Mr and Mrs. Josh Carthey.

While getting ready, Amb realized she did not have something blue, so being creative i drew a garter on her leg in blue permanent marker.

There was a small gathering at the lawyer's office and then a family meal at the Button factory in Muscatine. Josh Berka couldn't attend as he was reffing a football game, we are busy people!

Blackout!

The next football game was the versus Michigan at home for homecoming. It was a night game and a blackout. In my opinion never works too well, but I guess it looked pretty cool on tv with the yellow pom poms that were issued.

Anyway we had lots of time to tailgate and wait for the game to take place. Jolene and I started around 2. It was a chilly day, but the sun came out for the tailgating extravaganza. We decided to make the hamburger hash that we had made years back. It is scrambled hamburger and hashbrowns covered with cheese. We also boiled some water for hot chocolate and cider. Herky even stopped by to say hi.




After filling our bellies it was time to bundle up and walk to the stadium. I think I was wearing 3 layers of clothes. I think at one point my feet were sweating.
For this game there was a lady singing the national Anthem. Her name was Jemia Nash, she has done broadway and some acting, I have never heard of her. Anyway the national Anthem is always performed by the band, only one other time it was not. I am kinda superstitous so wasn't to happy about this. She was a good singer, but I am one of those old people who like the song the way it is wrote, don't mess with the song!

The honorary captain was Chuck Long, very fitting for the Michigan game. Larry Station was also at this game, as he was being inducted into a Hall of Fame.

The game got underway. Michigan had a rough start to their season with some close wins, and in my opinion wins that should have been losses, so this game could go to anyone. They have a freshman quarterback.

WE stood the entire game, not very comfortable for someone wearing winter boots. It shouldn't have to be this way, but a Hawkeye fan has to cheer on their team. the game was close, but the hawks came up with the win and moved onto become 6-0 since a long time. GO HAWKS!!!


Then afterwards while enjoying a post game beverage. By the way it was the perfect weather for a beer, the longer the beer sat out the colder it got. Anyway....we were listening to the radio while waiting for Josh and then the car battery went dead, what fun that was. Luckily a happy hawk fan was there to save the day.

It's a Hawkeye Homecoming

October 9th, 2009. The annual homecoming parade in downtown Iowa City. This year I managed to catch the bus near our house and got downtown in record time. I met up with Jolene. I had brought along our 2 chairs. It was a little cool out but not too bad. WE stopped for some coffee before finding the perfect spot for the parade. We set up our chairs near the corner of Iowa Ave and Clinton St, in front of the Iowa Book store. We thought we had a pretty good view. So we enjoyed the parade for a while.


But then after awhile it seemed as if the crowd was getting out of hand. We were near the front row of spectators, until everyone kept creeping into the street. I don't think they understood the whole parade concept that the parade will pass in front of you, you don't need to keep creeping out and look at the parade coming down the street. IT was crazy, and the people smoking, bleck!

It was finally over. I guess I am too old for this? I don't know next year we will be prepared.

After we moved our butts from our parade location, we went to Jolene's car to warm up, it was getting chilly. Then we went back downtown to the pentacrest to wait for the Temptations to perform. The opening act was Augustana. They were your typical college band, ok, but not impressed.
The Temptations took the stage, and they were awesome. Ok so only one of the original members is still with the band. But they all knew the dance moves and sang beautifully.


Someday when I have nothing but time I will load some video of this.
It was a cold night, but time to go home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

OCtober 4th was Josh's 29th birthday. IT was a low key celebration. After seeing the Hawkeye Snuggie advertised on a sign, I told Josh don't be surprised if you get that for your birthday, and guess what Josh is now the proud owner of a Hawkeye Snuggie. The celebration ended with supper at Old Chicago and a huge Chocolate cookie, mmmmmm!!!

Arkansas State Football Game

Next up was the Arkansas State Football Game. At this point the team is 4-0. I however could find no one to go with me, granted I really didn't try that hard. I was offered to go sit in the press box, but sorry folks I am a football fan not a socialite. So I hauled my arse to the stadium and ordered a fabulous lunch of hot dog and pretzel!

What is the best way to stay warm at the game? A Hawkeye Snuggie of course!

Then there was some football happening, and we were playing ok.

And then we win the game and go on to be 5-0. WOOHOO!!!

so bear with me....

It has been way too long, so it will take a while to update the haps in the maske-berka world. I will continue where I stopped in chronological order.

So after the bachelorette party, the next day was Josh's 10 year class reunion and the Iowa Penn State game. SO I was sober enough to drive back home from Davenport in time to make the trek to Josh's class reunion.

The Iowa football game was at Penn State, but it was a night game, and it was taking place the same time as the reunion. I of course wanted to make sure there were TV's showing the game at the reunion and there were, so I was happy. I am not a social butterfly, so I decided to watch the game. Most of the people at the reunion decided to watch the game as well. There were a few who were mad that everyone was wasting their time at the tv and not enjoying the DJ.

The football game was off to a bad start. Then as we all know the infamous Adrian Clayborn blocked punt for a touchdown and the momentum shifted and the Hawks win in Happy Valley!!! Made for a great night.

So when the reunion festivities were over most people had to carry on at a bar, so everyone was enjoying themselves that night.