October 21, 2004 - 4:58 p.m.

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Adopt a Soldier!

SO the Red Sox did the impossible last night. They came back from an 0-3 deficit to win the ALCS title, something no other team has ever, ever done. And that's truly exciting, in a way that tons of other people have explored in a much more eloquent manner than I ever will.

But they did something much bigger than that over the course of this season, at least here in my corner of the world.

They made me care.

I have never been a sports fan. Not of any team in any sport. Sure, I'd root, root, root for the home team, but just because they were the home team. Not because I felt any special affinity for them beyond that. And I've certainly never been athletic, try though my father may have to change that. Instead, I grew up clueless about the nuances of baseball, annoyed that my mom, the biggest Sox fan I know, always insisted on turning on the games in the car when I'd rather be listening to music on the radio.

And yet...This week, I've been identified--by my mother--as a member of Red Sox Nation, one of the many who stayed up through the extra innings of the ALCS games, eyes glued to the TV, watching the miracle unfold. And by the end of the night last night, miraculous in its own right, I could correctly identify a ball over a strike, even without the magic of the yellow-outlined strike zone of the ABC broadcasts. I understood. And I held my breath. And when that last Yankee out happened last night, I let out a yell that could have woken the baby (but thankfully didn't) without a single hesitation, no thought but "Thank God they won!!!"

Go ahead. Tell me I've jumped on the bandwagon. But see if you still feel the same way when I've got my radio tuned to EEI all next season.

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I haven't been posting because I've felt too damn crappy. All this staying up to watch the Sox probably hasn't helped. But today, I can't breathe through either nostril, I have a cough that rattles the windows, and my head weighs more than my iMac. My health meter is severely low. Were I a video game character, I'd be in serious trouble. Though I don't seem to have a reset button anywhere. And this sucks, because Erica is visiting from Wisconsin, and I'm home instead of out with her and my mom. And Saturday is my first Jennifer Sanity Preserving Day to Myself, during which I'm scheduled to take what sounds like a kick-ass crafting class, and I've got no oomph. Like the J-Man in Say Anything, I'm just not up to full "yeah" strength. Not good.

Chicken soup and a couple good days of rest. That's all I need. I might as well ask for a golden egg.

Off to make eggplant lasagna. Because that's what we do when we're sick--we make fancy dinners for everyone.

At least there's no game tonight. I can watch my Gilmore Girls tape (yes--I even sacrificed GG in favor of Johnny Damon) and go to bed early.

At least I can dream about it, can't I?

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