Mother Nature's a bitch

In the two weeks since my last game, things have not gone well for the Patriots. After getting shellacked by the undefeated Saints a week after beating the Jets, they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against the Dolphins. It was under this dark cloud -- and with a one-game lead in the AFC East -- that we took on the Carolina Panthers.
Since the friend I was going with is dating a guy who attends Bentley University in Waltham, we drove down the night before, which saved us about 4 hours of sleep. After resisting the urge to jump off the Piscataqua bridge on the way down and having a few drinks at a party Saturday night, we headed to Gillette at about 9:30 Sunday morning.
It turned out to be a weird day; when we left Waltham it was sunny and beautiful and when we boarded the train two hours later, the sun was completely gone. Ah, the beauty of New England in December.
We finally made it to the stadium around 12:25 for a 1 p.m. kickoff, and made it to our seats with about 5 minutes to spare, leaving me just enough time to grab my beer and hot dog and settle in.
I sensed that the Pats' first two-game losing streak since 2006 had taken all the air out of the stadium, because throughout the first half, it was like a ghosttown as Carolina took a 7-0 lead as New England's offense struggled.
I kept thinking to myself, I haven't seen a loss all year, NOW is not the time, with the playoffs on the line!
New England lost two fumbles - including one by Randy Moss on his lone catch of the afternoon - and Tom Brady threw an interception in the first half before Kevin Faulk scampered in from three yards away just before halftime to tie the game.
Ben Watson's third-quarter TD catch gave us the lead for good, and even though Kendra was fairly cold sitting in a chilly drizzle, we tacked on two field goals and the defense stiffened for a 20-10 win that was fun yet boring.
We hurried to the commuter rail and headed back to Dedham, and I had received fair warning that it had been snowing in Maine most of the afternoon, which had me worried since I had been in an accident last February driving in a storm.
It turns out it was all rain driving through Mass. and NH, which wasn't bad, and we were over the bridge by 7:30 and at the West Gardiner tollbooth by 9:15, so I figured I'd easily be home by 11.
But once we hit I-95, it was nothing but ice, slush and snow, and I couldn't go any faster than 40 the rest of the way.
It was 9:30 when we passed the first Augusta exit, and when I dropped Kendra off in Old Town, it was 11:45. So much for getting home early!
By the time I had dropped Alicia's car off in Eddington it was 12:15, and after taking 20 minutes to get up her hilly, icy driveway, I was finally home at 12:55, and in bed just after 1:30. Hey, it would've been worse if we had lost :)
One more game vs. Jacksonville, and I decided not to go to the playoffs since it's a little too pricey.