TOP TEN WAYS TO GET YOUR SON-IN-LAW MAD AT YOU

10. Usual mother-in-law stuff

9. Some more stuff

8. Forget that it's National Sleep In Day (the day we fall back) and wake everyone for church an hour early.

7. More stuff

6. Ask him to run to the store for ice, call him and ask him to get 10 more things.

5. Turn on the coffee grinder while he's trying to sleep.

4. Mention how you always liked the high school boyfriend. (Seriously, he was a nice guy, but I always knew that wouldn't work and I knew the minute I met you that you were right for my daughter. Honestly. Cross my heart and hope to die. Can we move on now?)

3. Have a picture of the high school boyfriend and daughter at prom sitting on the piano.

2. Some other mother-in-law stuff.

And the number one way to get your son-in-law mad at you:

DON'T HAVE THE DVR SET CORRECTLY AND THE END OF THE PLAYOFF GAME DOESN'T GET RECORDED!

It's so sad to see a grown man sulk and try to pretend he's not mad at you while your daughter is still in the room. For self protection, you end up following your daughter around the house, keeping her between you and the son-in-law.

So, you're thinking that anyone can make a mistake. Well....you see, it was done before. Jenni and Tim's alma mater (and where they now teach -- Northwest Missouri State University) was in the Division II national football playoffs last year. They did attend the championship game, but asked me to tape it. Northwest lost to Grand Valley, but it was a close game with a lot of action occuring in the final minutes of the last quarter. This was the part that didn't get taped:

After Grand Valley took the lead 21-17 on a 35-yard screen pass, Northwest had 4:15 left to attempt a second straight come-back win. Lamberson, who set a NCAA Championship record for most completed passes (33) and attempts (49), hit three different receivers to put the ball at the Northwest 40. Senior fullback Mitch Herring hauled in a five-yard completion and moved the chains to the 17-yard line. After a spike to stop the clock, Lamberson seemed to connect with sophomore E.J. Falkner in the back of the end zone but Falkner was unable to drag his feet inbounds. Lamberson was sacked on the next play before Robinson came up just short.

Even though they were there in person, they wanted to see the tape, I guess so they could wallow in misery of a close loss. But they couldn't because I didn't allow for a long game and the tape stopped too early.

As far as last night's game, they DID see Taguchi's homerun. They did see the Cardinals score two more runs before the recording ended just as the game went to the bottom of the ninth. They just missed the Mets final three outs. That's not so bad is it?

Is it?

Well, anyway, while they are still sleeping on this Saturday morning, I'm making apple-stuffed French toast and making sure there are no pictures of the high school boyfriend left lying around anywhere.