• We lost our most celebrated player…  FOR THE SEASON.
• Our new pro-bowl quarterback had the [statistically] worst game…  OF HIS CAREER
• We had other key injuries…  THREE OF THEM (yes, three MORE)
• Our consistently amazing special teams unit made a huge error…  THAT MAY HAVE BEEN FATAL
• Our defense looked good all game, but when it mattered most…  THEY CHOKED
• They were not playing a normal Sunday day game, it was a night game…  ON NATIONAL TV
• It was not any game, it was against the Packers…  PUBLIC ENEMY ONE

I’m going to try and answer some common questions often asked after a game like this…

Q: What positives can you take out of a game like this?
A: Well, I didn’t die while watching it, and that’s always a good thing.  (Good for me anyhow)

Q: Can the team bounce back next week and win big in their home opener?
A: Nope.  They play the Superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.  The only thing the Bears can hope for is a Steelers team that gets arrogant and fails to come ready-to-play.  But, hey, this is not just a good team — these are the Superbowl champs!

Q: How big is the loss of Brian Urlacher?
A: Brian who?  Never heard of him.

Q: Should Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner be fired?
A: Football is about the fans, and I’ll tell you — the fans do know the sport.  I personally think Ron is just plain boring for our offense.  If we’re not going to win I at least want us to be exciting…  We have some speed, we have a top running back, and we have a [supposedly?] pro bowl QB.  Lets roll!

Q: Want to make a season record prediction for the Bears this season?
A: No, but I will anyway…  I predict they will start 0-1.  The only noble thing to do is predict that they will go 18-1.  Fifteen wins during the season, 2 wins in the playoffs, and one in the Superbowl!  The only loss being that abomination in Green Bay at the start of the year.  (But if they went 8-8 I wouldn’t say I was surprised)

Q: Would you trade Jay Cutler back to the Denver Broncos for Kyle Orton and some dog food coupons?
A: No.  That is a ridiculous question…  Well…  How much coupon savings are we talking here?

……end of my self interview…… wait, one more thing…..  no, wait, the self interview portion of this blog post is over……

I am doing the rest in bold.  Why, because the Bears lost and I am pouting so I can do what I want!

Oh man, I just remembered…  I am trying to work on being less obnoxious, so off with the bold!

Well folks, the bottom line is that my beloved NFL team the Chicago Bears lost this September 13, 2009 to the Green Bay Packers (see what I did there – all the keywording, it is so Google (Hi Google!) will know my blog post has info about that exact game).  We lost the game, we lost good players, we lost confidence, and I lost my mind…  Oh boy…  Another NFL season is upon us!

HELLO EVERY PEOPLE!!!  I A WISH A YOU ALL A HAPPY HOLLYDAY FROM AMERICA COUNTRY!!! I am come to America country to a spread some cheer.  But Morat a say WOOLY SHEEP I a not know it a be this a cold .  If Morat he a want a cold, he a stay in Liswathistan.  So I a go to two two people house with Christmas cheer.  It a sound like soap but more fun that a soap.  Morat take boxes to people house number one and they a like very much.  Then, Morat he a go to house number two to take boxes to little people and another surprise for night of games soo… EVERYONE WINS!  While with the little people, they a give Morat a big surprise… a man of a bones who a sing and a dance to my favorite a song.  Every people a know what this is, yes? After we open the boxes, the little people make a slimy alien man for Morat.  But Morat a not know what happened to the alien before he a leave.  Morat also give a back of pig ride to one litttle people and she a make a stink in face of Morat.  I a say Wooly Sheep (excuse my a Liswathistani please).  Then, Morat had to say good night so little people a get ready for sleep and everyone else watch the Chica-go and Bay of Green play the ball foot.  Morat say Happy Christmas… Merry Year New and may you all a get coal for a the fire.

Sunday is usually my favorite day of the week, but our last one ranks low on a list of my favorites.  First, the kids started out the day by being terrible.  Our 4-year-old Sammie was excited to see the snow – all 20 flakes of it that fell that morning – and she asked her still-half-asleep parents if we could go sledding.  My husband groggily mumbled yes, apparently thinking she was saying something else.  Later when we were up and about, I told him what he had agreed to, and so we then had to find something else comparable in my daughter’s mind to sledding.  Giving them an outside toy, we bundled the 3 oldest kids and sent them outside, the oldest of whom wanted to stay inside – which began her downward spiral.  She went outside reluctantly, but as soon as she came in, she threw a major tantrum about who-knows-what.  This set off the other two – our toddler was upset because her almost-9-year-old sister was acting totally out of her mind, and our 4-year-old…  well, I guess it’s just that she never misses an opportunity to act like a nut.  My husband dryly called it “Trickle-Down Crabonomics”, which I find the perfect term to describe the volatile cause-and-effect relationship between siblings in a large family.

Somehow, we were ready to leave the house for our favorite Sunday brunch, and we were only 7 minutes past schedule, not bad.  The kids cheered up in the car, and they were good during the entire meal, but unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the quality of the food.  It seems our favorite brunch has gone down a few steps in quality, to say the least.  They used to feature an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet with delicious selections that varied from the usual scrambled eggs and bacon usually featured at these things.  They even had a little table with chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly, and pizza for the kids.  They had a make-your-own-omlette bar, which had a variety of ingredients, from spinach and feta cheese to onion and green peppers.  Our favorite was the pasta bar – the chef makes fresh pasta right in front of you, and the alfredo is simply delicious – something even all the kids agreed upon.  We’ve been visiting this brunch for about a year now, and slowly over time, there’s been a downgrade in quality.  At first it wasn’t that noticable – cloth napkins going to paper, the end of the kids’ table, little things here and there.  But now, it’s down to a line of silver servers containing things like scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy and a make-your-own omelet bar with about 4 ingredients: one kind of cheese, bacon, mushrooms, salsa.  No more onion, no spinach, no feta…     and certainly no pasta bar, our favorite part.  And I never even got to try the marinara.  Well, anyway, that’s enough about that – another victim of this economy, I guess.  I know their menu is based upon the number of reservations they get, so maybe if the reservations somehow increase, so will the quality of the food again.

So after the disappointing buffet – which usually means I don’t have to worry about cooking the rest of the day since we’re all so full, this was not the case today – it was time to watch one of the biggest Chicago Bears games in recent years.  It was for first place and against their rivals, the Green Bay Packers.  The Packers scored more than 12 times as many points as the Bears did, and my kids weren’t very good during the game, so it was difficult for their father to even watch the slaughter.  Our 2-year-old fell asleep early, which we thought was a good thing, but she was woken up by her oldest sister during the battle we had about her cleaning the bathroom that was trashed during the sleepover she had had Friday night.  So now we had a late-napping toddler, and we spent the rest of the day fighting about the bathroom with our oldest.  Next thing I know, it’s time for bed for everyone, and we never even got any parent-alone-time, ugh.

Oh, well, just because the day wasn’t all I was looking forward to still doesn’t make it a “bad day”.  It was a weekend, which means family day, and I don’t think those could ever be bad…  not like yesterday when I got to Walmart, unloaded two little kids, did some shopping and realized I forgot my credit card.  Had to set my stuff aside, bundle up the kids and go out to the car, but it wasn’t there either – it was at home.  So after re-loading the kids, going home, and re-unloading the kids at Walmart, I was more than a little irritated, not to mention extremely rushed now because I had to get to the school to pick up my oldest.  So no, I didn’t get all the shopping done, I was late to pick up my daughter, but at least I got her to Brownies on time.  Then I went to my meeting for 20 minutes, then left for a Brownie patches ceremony, then back to my meeting, kid in tow…  it was a hectic day, and I’m glad today is date night so I can spend some quality time alone with my husband and unwind.  Only problem there is that no housework gets done on date night, so big surprise, I’m behind yet again, sigh…  But then again, you probably guessed that based upon my lack of blog posting!

Of course you do, who doesn’t?  Besides, it’s Friday night, and you’re at home reading my blog!  😉  I guess you could be reading this at a later time…  But anyway, if you’re around my age or older, then you remember Molly Ringwald, a popular actress in the 1980’s from many teen-themed movies such as Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and the iconic The Breakfast Club.  If you were a fan of these movies as a teen or young adult yourself, you will probably feel old when I tell you that Molly Ringwald is playing a grandmother in her next role.  That’s right – grandma.  A woman whose kid has a kid.  Sigh.  While we’re on the subject of feeling old, I read an article the other day that had some interesting facts about the lives of students entering college this fall.  Each August for the past 11 years, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., has released the Beloit College Mindset List.  It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college.  For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.  Here is some food for thought with the rest of the list:

1. Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
2. Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.
3. They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
4. GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
5. Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
6. Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
7. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
8. Their parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard George Bush announce “tax revenue increases.”
9. Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
10. Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.
11. All have had a relative–or known about a friend’s relative–who died comfortably at home with Hospice.
12. As a precursor to “whatever,” they have recognized that some people “just don’t get it.”
13. Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.
14. Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.
15. Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.
16. Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
17. Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
18. WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
19. Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
20. The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
21. Students have always been “Rocking the Vote.”
22. Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
23. Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
24. We have always known that “All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
25. There have always been gay rabbis.
26. Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.
27. College grads have always been able to Teach for America.
28. IBM has never made typewriters.
29. Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the National Anthem again.
30. McDonald’s and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
31. They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.
32. There has always been Pearl Jam.
33. The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
34. Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
35. They never tasted Benefit Cereal with psyllium.
36. They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
37. Authorities have always been building a wall across the Mexican border.
38. Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.
39. Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
40. Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.
41. Macaulay Culkin has always been Home Alone.
42. Their parents may have watched The American Gladiators on TV the day they were born.
43. Personal privacy has always been threatened.
44. Caller ID has always been available on phones.
45. Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
46. The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
47. They never heard an attendant ask “Want me to check under the hood?”
48. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
49. Soft drink refills have always been free.
50. They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”
51. Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
52. Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.
53. The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily ration of rum.
54. The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
55. 98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
56. Michael Milken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate cancer research.
57. Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
58. Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
59. There have always been charter schools.
60. Students always had Goosebumps.

I hope I didn’t depress you, but remember, it’s not my list, so blame Beloit College and Molly Ringwald if you feel like an old geezer.  Why don’t we just forget about the list and toast our recycled bottles of Coke to life experience.

There have been several rivalries among spots teams over the years (Ohio State/Michigan, Chicago Bears/Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Cubs/St. Louis Cardinals to name a few). However, one of the most celebrated rivalries in all of sports is the extreme battle between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. It dates back to 1920 when the Red Sox sold one of the most famous sluggers of all time, Babe Ruth, to the Yankees. From 1920-2004, the team from Bean Town was unable to win the World Series. Many ‘Sox fans jokingly blame the deal; however, there were several more radical followers who faithfully curse the day the Babe put on the pinstripes. In order to curse the new Yankee Stadium, a Red Sox fanatic working as a construction worker, buried a David Ortiz jersey at the site. Although the jersey has since been unearthed and is going to be auctioned off for charity, I say FIRE THE BUMB!!!!

The Big Dig: The Yanks Uncover a Red Sox Jersey

Ironically, the curse seems to have worked IN REVERSE. Big Papi has batted an embarrassing .070 hitting just 1-for-29 since April 2. Hopefully, recovering the jersey will not have a positive impact on Ortiz’ average.