…so I’ll start with the Cubs.  Because goodness knows in my own life, being an optimist is too exhausting.  I wake up feeling crummy, determined to make the best of my day, only to have had to step in to referree not less than 10 fights before I even make it to lunch.  And I’m not talking about MY lunch – that comes much later (if I’m lucky)  after I’ve served up umpteen helpings, cleaned up infinite messes, and responded to various other distress calls.  But the point is that at a time where I could really use my time and energy to focus on me and growing a healthy baby, much of  said time and energy is wasted on what feels like mundane, pointless referring and the like.

But with  the Chicago Cubs opening day mere HOURS away (ok, dozens of hours, but still countable by hours!), I came across the following article which did indeed fill me with cautious optimism  – not for my own summer, no, for there is no doubt  I’m going to feel like a huge pregnant balloon, warm beyond reason, lazy beyond doubt.  I know that I will have 4 little kids to chase around, and I will have to pry myself out of my chair a little earlier in the chase if I’m going to have any hope of catching them to stop the trouble or keep them out of danger.  The optimism isn’t for me  – it’s for the Chicago Cubs.  If you’re a Cubs fan, read the following, and tell me if you agree.  I especially like the line that says, “…allow me to put on the ol’ rose-colored glasses and search out reasons to be hopeful that 2011 will be a better year than 2010 for us Cubs fans.  For one, it can’t be much worse.”

Excellent point, that.  After all, I had to write off my Cubbies after watching what was the debacle they called opening day last year.  Not that I ever tend to give up on the team, I am a Cubs fan affter all, but well, if you saw them play, er um, “play” baseball on opening day of 2010, then you would agree.  Check out the rest of the reasons for optimism here as written by Bob Warja for the Bleacher Report @ bleacherreport.com:

10 Reasons for Cautious Optimism for the Chicago Cubs in 2011

And GO CUBS!!!

GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!

Well, I just went to check my countdown timer on my blog site; it should say there are mere hours left until the Chicago Cubs open their 2010 season…  but I can’t find the countdown timer on my site.  And I can’t find it in the widgets section either.  Since I have two kids fighting and one crawling around on the dining room table, I think it will be quicker to just write a little post about the opening day of baseball – I don’t include last night since the Cubs didn’t play 🙂 – rather than try to fiddle around with the countdown widget.

So YAY!!  Baseball season is finally here, and the Cubs open against the Braves today at 3:10pm Chicago time – I have made arrangements to shirk my responsibilities of making dinner, and hopefully the kids will be good for the first hour of the game until my husband comes home from work.  I don’t expect to watch all of the games or even most of them, but I figured I deserved a bit of a break for opening day – hey, it’s been a LONG winter without baseball, as always!!

GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!

(oh yeah, and GO Indians – just because they are an Ohio team who just happen to play the White Sux Sox today!!)

Well, baseball season is almost upon us finally, and I’m really starting to get the itch – not that I’ll be able to watch many games anyway since when we’re actually home to watch tv it’s dominated by Noggin and the Disney Channel…  but I can dream, right?

So the other day, I did a search on youtube.com for “Cubs baseball” so I could give my son an early taste of what he’ll hopefully enjoy watching with me all summer.  I found a gem of a song by Steve Goodman, a grammy-winning artist who passed away from leukemia at the age of 36.  Mr. Goodman was a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan his entire life, and sadly, his favorite team never made it to the playoffs during his lifetime.  They appeared in the World Series in 1945, 3 years before Goodman was born, and then they clinched the Eastern Division title for the National League in 1984 – securing a place in the post-season just 4 days after Steve Goodman passed away.

I always knew about Steve Goodman from the awesome song, “Go Cubs Go”, a song they play at Wrigley Field after every Cubs win.  I seem to remember hearing the song over the intercom at the end of a school day one year when I was growing up – principal must have been a Cubs fan…

But anyway, in addition to “Go Cubs Go”, Goodman penned and performed other musical works of art; some about the Cubs, some about Chicago, and some about neither.  Here is the one I found today and enjoyed, however bittersweet its title and message “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request”.  I chose to post this version of it, rather than the one that shows Steve Goodman singing it on the rooftops of Wrigley – that’s just too sad.

And just so that this post doesn’t end on a down note, here is the old favorite “Go Cubs Go” – let’s hope this is the year the Cubs make Steve Goodman proud!

CUBS OPENING DAY – 17 DAYS, SOME ODD HOURS – GO CUBBIES!!!

Shortly after this blog post is published, the countdown timer on my site will change – but that’s a great thing.  It used to count down until the Chicago Cubs‘ first game of 2009 Spring Training, but since that game is TODAY (!) that countdown timer will soon be edited to count down until the first real SEASON Cubs game of 2009 – YIPPEE!  So here’s to hoping the Cubs win today (and every day!), even though it’s just spring training!

Now I have to go see if I can find the first game of spring training on a tv channel in the rural expanse of Northwest Ohio!  GO CUBBIES!!!

We bought a new car back in November, and we’re very happy with it.  But I have to admit, there is a feature I forgot to check when car shopping – how is the reception for WGN radio AM 720?  Translation: will I be able to catch the Cubs games being broadcast all the way from Chicago?!?

Luckily for me, the answer is yes!  Since baseball season was over when we bought the car, it didn’t occur to me to check for this very essential feature in a vehicle.  But today, the radio’s ability was tested because as the family errand-runner, the only way for me to be able to catch any of the Cubs game was in the car between picking up kids from school, taking them to and from piano lessons, the library, etc.  Not only did the Cubs game come in, but it was even better than the lousy reception our old Ford mini-van picked up last year.

So BOOLYAH!  Now I am even happier with the new car and also ecstatic that I got to hear the Cubbies avoid a series sweep by the Milwaukee Brewers today.  To quote Harry Caray, CUBS WIN!  And to quote a friend named Morat, Everyone Wins!  Ok, everyone wins who doesn’t drive a Ford that is…
😉