The Samuelses' Mantras

For those of you who don't know, my family has a long-standing tradition of putting the cart before the horse.

We do it pretty routinely and it usually works out pretty well for us. For example, last year when I was applying for my editorial job, I spent a lot of time on my now-company's Web site, reading about all of the employee benefits. As I read more and more about them, I kept getting more and more excited. Brian (being the nice husband that he is) was concerned that I was going to get my hopes up and then get disappointed. So, my dad, being the sage that he is, quickly pointed out to Brian that I was merely putting the cart before the horse and that all would be well. (Of course, it was.)

This is pretty much how most of us Samuelses live our lives. Mom and Callison are a bit more conservative, but Dad and I pretty much exemplify the saying. Basically, the bigger the risk, the greater the reward. Sure, you can have a great reward without too much risk, but you'll maximize your reward if you have a bigger risk.

So, during the 2007 football season, we pretty much started talking about going back to Chattanooga for the FCS National Championship game after we beat Michigan. So, we had made our hotel reservations in about late September. So, you might be saying to yourself, "Wow, that's really putting the cart before the horse!" But, truthfully, it just maximized the win (and trip) when App. pulled out the threepeat.

It should, therefore, be no surprise to you that we made our hotel reservations for this year's championship game in February. (Yes, February--we wanted to stay in a good hotel downtown!)

Of course, hotel rooms can always be cancelled, so perhaps we didn't go full-force.

Until this morning.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have now purchased 5 tickets for the game in Chattanooga. (Keep in mind, that App. still has 1 regular season game left and three playoff games to win before they make it to 'Nooga!)

Will it pay off? There's no telling right now, but if the Apps pull it out and go for the fourpeat, our victory will be just a little bit more sweeter than everyone else's. :-)

App. beat Elon on Saturday (in the rain, snow, and crazy whirlwinds) and we had a fantastic time! They've now clinched their autobid for the playoffs and at least a share of their 4th (in a row) Southern Conference championship. If they beat Western Carolina on Saturday, they'll have the title outright and a No. 2 seed in the playoffs (guaranteed homefield advantage until Chattanooga).

Also, for those of you who aren't routinely blessed with his presence, here are some more Jay-isms to get you through life:

"All you have to say is 'no thank you.' No other explanation is needed."
"You don't have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep."
"Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee."
"Prior planning prevents piss-poor-performance."
"Why wait at home when you can wait in the stadium?"
"CHEATERS!"
"Oh no! How will I ever get out of this parking lot with all these other cars?"
"Hell no, you're not cutting in front of me."

Oh, and how can I forget my mom's primary Ellen-ism:
"Well, I wanted to go to ___, but Jay decided that we need to go to ___ instead."