Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum: The Reunion Tour

Yesterday (Saturday) my friend from high school, Lisa, was passing through town. Actually Lisa and I go back as far as pre-school, not all that unusual when you hail from Gibson City. Anyway Lisa and I went to lunch at the new Jupiter's Pizza and Billiards in southwest Champaign, scoping it out at a potential site for our 20th high school class reunion this coming summer. Yep, 20 years has passed since the Class of 1988 left the hallowed halls of Gibson City High School... we were pre-consolidation, no GCMS for us thank you.

It was great to catch up with Lisa. She lives in Indy with her kids Jack and Emma, and works as a meeting planner for Roche. We don't keep up with one another all that much, but always manage to have lots of laughs when we do. There is never any of the "Well why didn't you call me/email me?" drama, we just picked up where we left off the last time. I don't keep up with a lot of my Gibson City friends, so I truly do enjoy catching up with them and reliving our past. My childhood and young adult years in Gibson City were pretty much idyllic. Of course at the time I thought I had it so rough, but the older I get and the more people I meet I realize that I was so incredibly blessed to have been raised by loving and solid parents in a safe and loving community. I always knew that not everyone was blessed with as good as a situation as I had, but having met and been in relationship with adults whose childhood was not idyllic and seeing the effects that it has on them for the rest of their lives, even those that have been able to rise up from them.... Wow, all I can do is praise God for my good fortune.

So, you are all probably wondering what the heck the post title refers to. Well when we were in 4th grade our class performed the musical "Alice in Wonderland". Lisa and I were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, respectively. It was pretty much the beginning and end of my show-biz career. Seriously, I had no talent, I think one of the reasons I got the part of Tweedle Dum is because I was a smart kid and so I could totally handle all of my classmates calling me "Tweedle DumB!". I remember that musical like it was yesterday... I remember Lisa's mom calling my Mom and inviting me to go with them to Champaign to see "Lady and the Tramp" at the theater (the Virginia Theater by the way for those of you who care, and/or are old enough to remember when it was a movie theater) and then we could practice our lines together on the way there and back. After the movie we had ice cream sundaes at the soda counter at Robeson's Department Store. It was a huge deal... I didn't get to go to movies very often then, let alone practice my lines in the car. Anywho, so the pictures are of us now and as the Tweedles. Please excuse the current day photo... I took it myself and obviously at this close range the fact that I am slightly closer to the camera makes me look like a really "bid-headed" person. It was a comedy of errors taking that photo and Lisa was quick to point out "Well, you were Tweedle DUM!".

In a random twist of fate, that evening after reliving the 80's with Lisa over lunch, I went to Quest's (my church) annual volunteer party on Saturday night. It had a back to the future theme and we were encouraged to dress 50's, 80's or Future. I broke out my 80's outfit from Busey's 80's holiday party a few years ago and won the "best costume" prize. I didn't take any pictures with my camera, but I will post one here when they are available on Quest's website.

So that was my Saturday. Today's Kudos go to Lisa for only rolling her eyes slightly when I said she was going to be my blog topic and that I would be posting a pic of us from 4th grade... you rock girlfriend!

Editors Note: Lisa is in the middle in the second picture, and on the left in the first one, but hopefully you figureed that out. Also, you can see the "Mad Hatter" in this photo as well, played by Errol Rottman. FYI, Errol Rottman is a jet pilot in the U.S. Air Force now, and well if you grew up with Errol you would just find it odd that he is in part responsible for our nation's defense.

Christmas with the Fab Five... the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Well I hope everyone enjoyed a merry and blessed Christmas. Monday evening (Christmas Eve) I went to church at Quest UMC. Abe and Allison were in town for the holidays, and the children sang a couple of songs, which was a real treat. After church I head to Gibson City to my brother's house for dinner and what has become the traditional holiday ice cream drinks. Every one else prefers the grasshoppers, but I am definitely a Pink Squirrel kind of girl... I think it is because #1 it is pink, #2 it is called "Pink Squirrel"... how cool is that, and #3 Leave it to me to be unconventional. Besides, Jayne and Phil and the kids, we were joined by my parents, my Aunt Ann, and the Beck's (Al, Amelie & Taylor B) friends of Jayne and Phil's. Oh, and also Kyle Valentine... Ashley's former boyfriend and now buddy/friend. Evidently Jayne got Kyle a present for Christmas, even though he and Ashley decided not to exchange gifts, and Ashley has way too much fun referring to Kyle as "Mom's Boyfriend". It was just a very nice and relaxing time.

I spent the night at my parents' house, and my Uncle Bill, Phil and family and Jan and family joined us at about 11 a.m. We had every appetizer known to man for lunch, opened presents, and then dined on our traditional meal of steak, oyster dressing, sweet potatoes, corn and salads for an early dinner. We had pie for dessert, but I opted instead for date pudding (kind of like a chocolate spice cake) with caramel sauce... again another traditional favorite in our family. Jan and family had to leave right after dinner because Larry and Eric left early this morning with a group from their church for New Orleans. They will be doing some home building (framing and drywall) in the 9th ward for about a week.

It was great to spent time with my family, especially the Fab Five... my five nieces and nephews. The title of this post refers the t-shirt Lane got for Christmas and was excited to show me. Here is a picture of the front and back... I think it is great.

My mom totally fooled Jeremy by wrapping his ipod in a box about the size of a copy paper box. She also managed to get a laugh out of our generation by hiding our Christmas cash in the pages of magazines she has saved in the basement dating back approximately to the years of our birth, high school graduation and weddings. It was hysterical because my parents' basement is a pretty much a disaster of 25+ years of junk. It drives my siblings far more crazy than me. It used to drive me crazy too, but perhaps I have just mellowed, or maybe realized that when you are in your 70's the last thing you really want to do is clean your basement. One day it will by "our mess", and my parents seem to be totally fine with that! :)

I took the day off work today to recover from the Christmas craziness. Nathan stopped by for lunch on his way home to Chicago from Fairfield. I took down my Christmas tree while I had the free time, and haven't done much else. Back to work tomorrow... ugghh... but just two days before the weekend.

Editor's Note: The picture at the top of the blog is a very reluctant Fab 5 posing for a picture, they are lined up on the steps in age order... a la Brady Bunch.

The ULTIMATE Birthday Blog

So I guess technically this blog is a day early, but if ever there was a birthday "bloggee" to celebrate for a day plus… you can't really go wrong with Jesus, right?

Happy Birthday Jesus! The Messiah, our Lord & Savior, King of Kings, the Prince of Peace.

Jesus and I go way back, but we have definitely gotten reacquainted the last four or five years, which has been really exciting. Unlike many of my birthday bloggees, I didn't meet Jesus working at the Assembly Hall or Busey Bank, but he often shows up both places. I really try to take Jesus with me everywhere. Sometimes I am more successful than others, and a lot of times when I forget to bring Him along with me, He has a tendency to show up anyway… I like that.

God sent Jesus to me (and to you too) to rescue me from my sin… of which there is plenty (for instance see yesterday's blog, I am fairly certain that responding to "M-I-Z" with "B-C-S" is not so "love thy neighbor"... sorry Allison Sit). God sent him to mankind in the most humble of ways, a tiny baby, born a barn. I am a farm girl, and we raised livestock so I have spent a lot of time in a barn... some good times, some bad. Okay so I wasn't born in a barn, and I really don't have much of a point here I guess other than a "shout out" to all the other "barn kids" out there besides me and Jesus.

So Merry Christmas everyone. If you are traveling either near or far, stay safe. Be kind and generous of heart to those you spend the holidays with… be it friends, family, strangers or yourself. I wish you all a very merry and blessed Christmas, with joy in your hearts as you celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ and the Lord's gift of salvation to us all!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Brain Randle... he's a Christian you know... and I touched him!

Well as promised some game highlights from the Busch Braggin' Rights game. First of all, in case you missed Sports Center, the Illini won by one point. It was a very close game at the end, and I seriously had my doubts... but God bless 'em the Illini came through... keeping our perfect Braggin' Rights record in tact.

This game is just always lots of fun. Half the arena in orange, the other in gold and black. I have yet to go to a Braggin' Rights game that wasn't filled with lots of emotion, and this one was my seventh. This year besides basketball, football took center stage as well as the Illini faithful enjoyed turning the knife on the Mizzou football fans, pointing out how they got hosed out of BCS game, gleefully chiming in on the M-I-Z-Z-O-U cheer with our version, M-I-Z... B-C-S!

To offer you a little background on the post title, I have to go back a number of years. I was taking the Fab 5 (my five nieces and nephews) to an Illini basketball game and Lane asked me "Aunt Jane, is Dee Brown a Christian?". I replied that I didn't know and later Lane said, rather out of the blue, "Brian Randle, he's a Christian you know!", which for whatever reason just tickled me, and to this day we can't discuss B.R. without throwing in the "He's a Christian you know" line. To further explain, turns out that we live in a very small world and Lane goes to church with Brian Randle's Grandma's best friend, Virginia. Lane helped Virginia to her car after church one day when she wasn't feeling well and she later got Brian's autograph for Lane, to thank him for his kindness, and Lane being Lane had a discussion with Virginia about Brian's faith... it turns out Brian is a Christian.

Okay, so back to the game. It was crazy. Very close the whole time, and Nik, Karen, Sarah J and I even developed a high fiving routine. We were sitting in two rows of two so the routine was high 5 the person in your row, high 5 the person in front/back of you, then high 5 diagonal, Nik and Karen down low, and Sarah J and I up high. We were on edge, and even threatened to make Nik go to the bathroom at the end of the game because when she went in the first half Trent Meacham or T-Meach as Karen calls him, went on a 3-point shooting spree, and we really could have used he offense in the second half. I managed to get B.R. to make a couple of free throws by reminding every one that, and I quote "B.R. is a Christain, and Christians make their free throws, especially this close to Christmas!" Yep, those words came out of my mouth... completely silly, but hey whatever I could to for the team, right.

Also there was a very intense moment when during a timeout the short referee (I can't say what Karen called him all night) came over and just started going all nuts on assistant coach Jerrance Howard, yelling and wagging his finger at him. Never did find what that was about, but it was funny to watch, and we didn't appreciate someone giving "our Jerrance" the business. Not quite so funny was B.R. fouling out... again the short official... he didn't seem to like B.R. last night.

Well despite Brian fouling out, the Illini managed to pull off the victory. It was the best Braggin' Rights celebration ever. The folks in the next section took off (kudos to them) so we slid over into their seats where we could hang over the rail and "Woo Hoo" the entire team as they headed to the locker room. We got to "High 5" nearly every member of the team, including B.R., and Nik and I even got to touch the trophy as they brought it over to us. Somehow in all the excitement I managed to snap this photo of Brian as he was heading over to High 5 us. As you can see he was soooo excited. I know that he didn't have the game that he wanted, but it was great to see him so excited to have gone undefeated in his Braggin' Rights career too. That kind of excitement just makes you smile. It was awesome... we totally got Brian Randle sweat on our hands... how cool is that.

This morning as we were telling Sarah J good-bye in parking garage we told her we hoped that it was worth the 8 hour drive... her response... "We won, and I got to touch Brian Randle, he sweat on my hand... totally worth the drive!" So that pretty much sums up the Braggin' Rights game.

Merry Christmas to all, especially Brian Randle!

Whoever Draws The Short Carrot

Yesterday I headed to STL for our annual trip to the Busch Braggin' Rights game, Illinois vs. Mizzou. I will get to the basketball in a separate post, but I first wanted to share a bit about the part that is more important than basketball. I know, you my reading public are shocked and amazed there is something more important than the basketball! I love Bruce Weber, Jerrance Howard and Brian Randle, but that kind of love simply pales in comparison to the love I have for Nikki, Karen and Sarah J. These lovely ladies have been my Braggin' Rights buddies for a number of years and each of us looks forward to our holiday basketball trip every year. Sarah J gets special kudos in this blog because she schleps all the way from Vicksburg, Mississippi (an 8 hour drive) for approximately 16 hours of basketball and girl talk.

We arrived in STL late in the afternoon on Saturday, just in time to get settled in our room and relax a bit before it was time to hit the FREE Happy Hour in the lobby of our hotel, the Drury Plaza. I had the idea of doing an ornament exchange to get us revved up for the holidays, but was woefully unclear on the directions, so Nik showed up with an ornament for each of us, while the rest of us had more of a "grab bag" (bring an ornament, leave with an ornament) thing in mind. Nik just gave each of us her ornaments, but then that meant when we proceeded to "exchange" either Sarah J, Karen or I would give, but not get, so that Nik wouldn't leave emptied handed. Gee how should we decide who was "out"... well that is easy, whoever draws the short carrot. After two beers, and a tequila sunrise (yes we sang the song) brilliant ideas such as the now infamous "short carrot" just don't stop.

After knocking back free drinks and snacks we made the walk to the arena, arriving just in time to spot Nik's Dad and our friend Nathan each sitting in separate box seats and wave heartily at them. Okay, so they each got their tix for free and had free food and drinks, but our seats were far better. We were just off the corner of the court near the Illinois bench, in the first two rows of permanent seats, just across the aisle from where the Illinois team enters the locker room. The game was awesome, like I said more on that another post, and afterwards we opted to bypass the bar scene in favor of some real food (happy hour snacks were just not going to cut it) at Friday's. At Friday's we managed to have half of their staff wait on us, but particularly enjoyed Ray, our flamingly gay waiter that talked us into the fried green beans... yummy! Ray scored way big with me, besides joking that cocaine is what made the fried green beans to addicting, he separate our checks without us having to ask, and even split to the green beans that we shared among the four checks.

Back at the hotel we stayed up far too late... giggling like school girls. We discovered you can see me in the game program, sitting in our seats last year. We discussed the fact that Nik's slightly creepy downstairs neighbor brought her soup this week when she was sick. Nice of him I guess if he wasn't trying to use the soup to get her to date him. She hasn't eat the soup yet... and we joked that hopefully it isn't Chicken Rufies Soup!

After free hot breakfast the hotel this morning we hit the road. Sarah J back to MS, and the rest of us to Central Illinois. It was great to hang with the girls, remember good times at the Hall, and of course keep our perfect Braggin' Rights record in tact. I can't wait for next year.

JIMMMAAAYYY!!!!

Today the Cardinals announced that they are trading Jim Edmonds, my baseball boyfriend for the past seven plus years, to the San Diego Padres. Oh Jimmy, Jimmy... how I hate to see you go, we have shared some wonderful times... but they say it is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.

The Jimmy moments over the past seven years have been countless, but I will attempt to describe what exactly James Patrick Edmonds has meant to me. First of all, Jimmy is not an easy man to love. He strikes out a lot... but when he doesn't, oh my, he has been fun to watch. His nickname is "Hollywood", a reference to his So Cal roots, as well as his movie star "hey look at me" attitude. That by itself makes Jimmy an unconventional choice for me, typically I gravitate towards more of the "No-nonsense, buckle down, don't look at me, it is all about the team" kind of guy. Jimmy does everything with flair, and he has just totally sucked me in. Besides the monster home runs or the most dramatic and amazing catches in center field, which you expect to have flair, Jimmy strikes out, jumps out of the way of a pitch, fidgets in the outfield, talks to the media and gets injured with flair. Again, I am not one who usually goes for the dramatic type, but somehow it works for Jimmy, and for me.

It is bittersweet to see Jimmy go, he has brought me so many fond memories, but if trading Jimmy frees up some cash for pitching I have to go with what is best for the team. It saddens me a bit that Jimmy won't retire as a Cardinal, but as a So Cal guy, spending his final year(s)? in baseball close to family and friends makes sense, but he will always be a Cardinal to me. It probably is best for the team, dumping some of his outrageous salary and giving them more flexibility. Jimmy is my age, one of my "Boys of '70 (born in 1970 same as me), and that is relatively old in baseball terms. His bat just isn't what it used to be, and various injuries in recent years have kept him from taking the field everyday.

Many Cards fans will remember the classic Jimmy moments, and I too will never forget; the walk-off homer in Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS to take it to Game 7, "The Catch" in Game 7 of that same NLCS, the amazing over the wall catches against the Reds, and the one running up Tal's Hill at Minute Maid Park, or jumping on the couch in locker room in San Diego after Game 1 of the Division Series in 2006 giving away the "game ball", stepping up as the team veteran to rally the troops to the unforgettable 2006 World Series Championship run. But the three most special Jimmy moments I have were far more personal. First, was in a game against the Cubs when the Cards were getting killed. It was so bad Nikki left during play to get a drink... Nik never leaves during play if she can help it. Jimmy was up to bat and I said to Karen "You know, if Jimmy loves me... he will go yard." I no sooner had the words out of my mouth, when Jimmy belted an HR. He was a bright shiny moment, on an otherwise crappy day. Jimmy does love me. The next Jimmy moment was before a game when Jimmy and another "Boy of '70", Mark Grudzielanek aka "Grudzie", the man with the most amazing blues eyes ever to take the field, were warming up. They were lined up along the first baseline ready to run out to the field and back, and Nikki and I were watching them, noticing they were chatting with each other. I leaned over to Nikki and said that I knew what Jimmy was saying to Grudzie, and they were about ready to take off running... "Okay Grudz, on your mark, get set, go... the winner gets Jane's heart!". Needless to say it was a tie, and they had to race again, and Nikki doubled over in laughter. And of course the best Jimmy moment was when I met him and got his autograph at Winter Warm Up a few years ago. I had dressed up as Jimmy for Halloween that year, with my co-worker Linds as my heckling Cub fan holding a sign "Jimmy Throws Like a Girl!", and gave Jimmy a picture of said Halloween. He was so nice, kind, and genuinely amused by my touching tribute... certainly no Hollywood attitude with me.

So it is with mixed emotions that I say good-bye to Jimmy. I will miss you so, but wish you only the best in San Diego. It is an end to an era, alas I say good-bye to another Cardinal boyfriend. I have only had a few Cardinal boyfriends over the years, Tommy Herr when I was 12, and Andy VanSlyke when I was 16, and now Jimmy in my 30's. I am sure I will love again, but who will my next boy be? I am headed to spring training in March, so maybe some new sparks will fly at Roger Dean Stadium. Who knows?

Farewell James Patrick Edmonds... a part of me will always love you! For one last time let me passionately yell.... "JIMMMAAAYYY!!!!!"

Editors Note: Here are couple of links to various things Jimmy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxnDc1N-PBE&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKWqYQBXmCE&NR=1

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Domer... D^2

So today is another birthday blog. I don't know if any of my readers enjoy the birthday blogs, but I sure do. So today is Don Dahl's birthday. Happy Birthday D^2 (that's D Squared)

Don was one of my Busey Bank co-workers for about 4 years... he was there for most of the Chris Phillips and Lindsey years. Working with Don truly was a joy. I have never met anyone so positive, and just wonderful to be around. If Don was having a bad day you never knew it... I can't say the same for myself... many times when I am having a bad day the world knows because I sure to tell them. The ability to not complain, is one the things I admire most about Don, that and his faith. I don't think that it is any small coincidence that after working with Don for four years I made a point to find a church and a faith community. For that I will never be able to repay Don.

Don is also one of the funniest and fun people I know. He doesn't realize he is this funny and fun, that is why he is so funny and fun. Don lived in a house with six or seven other guys, their house was known as "The Dome". Several of his house mates took to writing funny things on Don's lunch bag (he packed his lunch the night before, and the wrote on it after he went to bed). They wrote things like "Don Juan DeMarco Dahl"... or my personal favorite "Hi Jane!". Keep in mind that at this point I had not met any of them, although later Roach and Frank and became my buds, and I would often write back to them via post-it notes sent home with Don.

Don was my absolute favorite participant in Secret Santa at the office. We don't do Secret Santa anymore, and actually I am relieved... it just isn't the same without Don and Linds. Christmas in the office was great with Don because he would anxiously await for the Christmas music that was piped in to play "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by the Jackson 5... he totally rocked out to that song... I miss that.

Don just got married last Saturday. I was in Chicago so I missed the wedding. I am sure it was beautiful. I haven't met Mrs. Don yet, but I can't wait. I am sure she is rather fabulous, and I don't doubt that she realizes how lucky she is to have caught D^2.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Don Dahl. Don't tell Roach and Frank but you will ALWAYS be my favorite Domer!

Do You Have An Elephant In Yours?

So I am back in C-U and tuckered out from the weekend in Chicago visiting Nathan, and going to the Illini game at the United Center. So, the much anticipated bathroom story from our evening of pizza and beer drinking at Piece Friday night. So we all made a trip to the restroom before leaving Piece... we had several drinks and it was very cold outside. Anyway, as we were in the ladies room I hear Nik ask from the next stall... "Do you have an elephant in yours?"... what are you talking about, well Nikki shows me the artwork adorning the hook on the door, this cute little elephant.

Bathroom graffiti I can endorse. So we wanted to show Nathan, but draggin him into the ladies room not really appropriate, so I got out my camera, and then got a few looks from the women coming into the bathroom as I was packing up my camera. Needless to say giggles ensued, and then Nathan was wondering what was up when we caught up with him at the front door, doublin over in laughter.

So the game at the United Center didn't really go so well, the Illini lost, but the CTA bus we took was filled with rather entertaining Illini fans... a regular party bus... and we were sitting about 10 rows below Michael Jordan at the UC. I seriously would have thought he would have better seats at the UC, his statue is out front and it is referred to as "The house that Michael built", but he was far from center court, slightly beyond one of the baskets. Actually, beside the fact they were not in a box, our seats were actually better than Michael's. Nathan's buddy Scott joined us at the game and he quickly gained points by thinking that Nik and I were still in college since we were from Champaign, and I don't think he had been drinking. Later Scott said to me "Oh, so you are the one who leaves all the comments on Nate's blog." To which Nik said "Yep, this is the Jano Fabulous."

After the game we took the bus downtown to check out the lights and do a little shopping. Nathan completely outshopped us girls, another reason we like him so much. We stopped at Starbucks for a warm beverage, Nik got a tall, Nathan a grande, and I was in serious need of caffeine so I opted for a venti. The put them on the counter at the same time, and I commented that it was like baby, mama, and papa bear. Later when shopping Nik thought I said something and I said no she heard the two guys coming out of the store we were passing instead. Nathan said "Wow, what does that say about your voice, Nik mistook men's voices for you!" I simply replied in a very gravely voice, "Well I am Papa Bear!"

After running away from the ridiculous waits at Cheesecake Factory and Weber Grill, we went to dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. We had to wait there as well, and were all getting very droopy, tired and cranky but perked up a lot when we got to sit down and eat. The food was great, and the company even better. We headed back to the Blue line after dinner, and went back to Nathan's. It had been a long day, and we had done a fair amount of walking so we got comfy, and settled in front of the TV for a bit before we all pretty much crashed. Sunday we got up, grabbed a quick lunch, and then Nathan drove us to the train station.

It was such a good weekend, and we all had a great time. We decided that we really need to visit more often and plan to go back up to see Wicked, go to Wrigley, and take the Architecture cruise on the river. I am thinking it will take several trips.

On the way home Nik and I were talking about how we had such a good time just hanging out, and not really doing all that much. I said that is a sign of good friends... you don't have to entertain each other with activities, you just entertain each other with fellowship.

So that was my weekend. A good time, and a nice getaway.

Piece Out!

Live from Chicago, its Saturday morning! Nik and I parked the car at the University Park Metra station, and arrived downtown at about 5 p.m. last night. We met Nathan a block up the street and then the three of us headed to Nathan's to drop off our bags. Nathan's condo is very nice, and is just a short walk from the Logan Square El stop on the Blue Line.

Last night Nathan took us to Piece, a couple of El stops away, for dinner. We had some great pizza, and Nathan and I had several great beers. They brew their own beer at Piece, and darn it was good. I started out with their seasonal beer "Festivus"... it was porter/stoutish with cloves etc. It was oh so tasty, and I liken it to beer version of the Gingerbread latte at Starbucks. My next beer was one of the best I have ever had "Dark & Curvy" a great German dark wheat beer aka dunkel hefeweisen. Nathan had the "Worryin' Ale" and some other beer I can't recall at the time. It was great to try some new beers with Nathan, and there is a bathroom story from Piece that I will share later... it is pretty funny.

We headed back to Nathan's after pizza and beer and just hung out for a couple of hours. We were talking about various C-U tv broadcasters and sports directors etc. when out of the blue Nathan asked "Have you seen Hilary Duff lately? Do you know if she got a boob job?" Completely random and so completely Nathan... Lordy I have missed that boy! :) After a brief internet search Nathan found the picture of Hilary that lead to said question... yep, I am thinking she did.

Okay, off to the United Center for the game. Go Illini

Livin' the High Life: Happy Birthday Christopher!

Another birthday blog... these really are my favorite posts. Today is Chris Phillips' birthday.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Chris used to work with me at Busey Bank a number of years ago. He is a native of the greater Detroit area, but was in C-U for a few years when his now wife, then girlfriend/fiance, Megan was getting her masters degree at the University of Illinois. The picture to the right was taken at Chris and Megan's wedding with Lindsey.

Anywho, I really loved working with Chris. He and Lindsey used to fight like brother and sister all of the time, launching paper clips and rubber bands over the wall they shared and I was usually "the Mom" and had to mediate their fights and tell them to settle down.

Chris and I hung out a lot when Megan moved to California for her job a couple of months ahead of Chris. Chris is a big hockey fan, and since that was one sport Nikki and I really knew nothing about he volunteered to go with us to an Illini hockey game and teach us the basics of hockey. We learned about the blue line, icing etc. I am still no hockey expert, but everything I do know I owe to Chris.

Chris also was my Crane Alley Happy Hour buddy and agreed to try everything they had on draft, a new one ever week, until we worked our way all the way down the tappers. He moved after about four different beers, but I loved that Chris was game and just as excited to have Miller High Life as he was Sierra Nevada. Chris introduced me to Bell's, a beer from his home state of Michigan. We can't get it here anymore and it just kind of sad... Bell's Oberon was kind of like a Blue Moon but better. Another drinking story involving Chris was when he went out with Nik and Karen and I several of our napkins would stick to the bottom of our glass/bottle when we picked it up to take a drink... for whatever reason we were all rather fascinated with this phenomenon and to this day when the napkin sticks you "Haven't lost your drink chee"... it sounds so stupid now, but it was great at the time.

Chris and Megan moved back to Michigan a little over a year ago, after living near Oakland, California for a few years after their time in C-U. They welcomed baby Stella in March and although I have yet to meet her in person, from pictures I can see she is just the cutest, sweetest little baby ever. I always thought they were the cutest couple ever, and now they are the cutest family.

Oh another random Chris thing... I was talking about having a lilac bush to which he responded... "I love lilacs, they are just so fragrant!" It was such a girly comment... it was just enjoyable to hear something so girly come out of the mouth of hockey player... I like it when someone has layers like that :)

I miss having Chris around. Happy Birthday Christopher... your Wolverines may have beat us this year, but look who is in the Rose Bowl! :)

Everything is Coming up Roses

Congrats to the Illini football team on their bid to the Rose Bowl! The last time the Illini were in Pasadena I was sporting the female mullet, Madonna was new on the scene, and I was too young to drive. Best of luck to Coach Zook and the team in sunny California. Go Illini!!!!

The Best Chauffeur I Ever Had

Yay! Another birthday blog! December 1 is my friend Kendra's birthday (okay so as I type this it is still November 30, but hey an extra couple hours to celebrate Kendra is fine by me). Happy Birthday Kendra Martin!

Kendra is one of my former Busey co-workers. She recently left to work at another bank, and I must admit I really do miss her. It was particularly poor timing too, because she left about a month before the Season 4 premiere of Project Runway so now we are forced to discuss every episode by email... it just isn't the same.

There are lots of reasons to love Kendra, one of my favorite for some reason is that even thought she is a rather petite lady... dang that girl can eat! You would think it would be annoying- a skinny girl that pound it back like a man and stay thin...but on Kendra it is endearing.

Kendra was a godsend to me this past spring. When I was in a cast and on crutches for six weeks, and could not drive because the cast was on my right foot, Kendra picked me up every morning, drove me to work, dropped me off at the front door, then parked the car, then after work went and got the car, picked me up at the front door, and drove me home. She did this for six weeks, and it is a kindness I shall never forget. The best part was that I did not have to ask her to do this, but she volunteered. It was kind of funny, after about a week we had our routine down to a science, how to maneuver my back pack, she would carry in my mail every night when I got home, she would hand me my back pack when she dropped me at the front door of the bank, I took to saying "Thanks Mom", it was like she was a mom dropping her kid off at school. Thanks again Kendra you have no idea what a blessing you were to me.

Kendra married Wyatt a couple months ago (their wedding post is back in September)... she married a Cardinal fan... she has good taste in men. One of my favorite Kendra stories when Kendra, Allison and I were heading off to "Girls Lunch" one day. We were going to cut through an area of the bank that is restricted from customers so we needed to go through a door that we had to punch a code on the key pad to get through. Kendra arrived at the door first and then just stepped aside, Allison and I didn't think much of it, figured Kendra couldn't remember the code, punched it in and then just went on through. A few seconds later Kendra said that she realized that she had just stepped aside to let us open the door for her out of habit because she is just so used to being with Wyatt and he always opens doors for her. She was slightly horrified in case Allison or I thought that she thought she was "entitled" to having us open the door for her. We just laughed and said we thought it was so sweet that Wyatt always opens her door and that he shows her that kindness. Now that didn't stop us from teasing Kendra about this endlessly and taking every opportunity to race ahead of her and open every door for her in a most dramatic fashion.

I have lots of Kendra stories, but those are a few of my favorites. Happy Birthday Kendra!

Good Morning Baltimore!

I worked the musical "Hairspray" at the Hall tonight. I loved the movie this summer (even enjoyed the original movie from way back when too), and the stage production did not disappoint. It was fabulous, the performance was great, and I already knew the songs would be to die for. My favorite part of the stage production was Penny... I thought Amanda Bynes was great in the movie, but the stage Penny was incredible, she was so over the top something that works on stage, but not so much in a movie.

Anywho, great show. The movie is now out on DVD.... WATCH IT, you will be glad you did.

Happy Birthday Sarah J

November 28th is my Sarah J's birthday. Happy Birthday Sarah J!

So Sarah J, her name is Sarah Jersey. I am not exactly sure how or why the "Sarah J" started, I don't think she was one of multiple Sarah's at the Hall at the time (if she was I have completely forgotten any other possible Sarah's), but for whatever reason she is and will forever be Sarah J... I rarely refer to her has Sarah or Sarah Jersey. I often refer to her as "my" or "our" Sarah J... what is that about. I guess Sarah J is just special that way.

I met Sarah at the Hall. She was an usher supervisor at the Hall in the late 90's, early 00's.. the super student supervisors years when I managed to find all sorts of co-workers that have since become some of my dearest and closest friends. Sarah J is a research civil engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She grew up north of Chicago, so she is a Yankee by birth, but is very much becoming a Southerner. Sarah J spent this past school year in C-U starting work on her PhD at University of Illinois. It was great to have her so close by this past year, and I REALLY miss having her close by. She so got me saying "Y'all" and I really miss that.

Sarah is just way awesome. She is a engineer, and actually specializes in airfields and pavements... the farm girl in me appreciates a girl who can embrace dirt. I also love that Sarah J is a woman of both science and faith, and seamlessly seems to marry the two. Sarah J is smart and funny, and loves her Illini. She plans to met us in STL for the Illini vs. Mizzou basketball game next month. How can you not embrace someone who drives, what 6+ hours for Illini basketball. She did it two years ago as well... last year she was her in C-U so it was only the 3 hours. Sarah J is also an awesome cook, and we exchange recipes. She gave me the trick of using plain yogurt (well drained of course) to make spinach dip... so much healthier than mayo and sour cream and it really does taste just as good. She also gave me the recipe for the sausage, tomatoes and cream cheese dip... my brother nearly made himself sick last Christmas he ate so much.

One of my favorite Sarah J stories is going with her to look at a puppy last fall. Of course Sarah brought that puppy home and she grew up to be the infamous Daisy Dogg. Daisy has a new sister, Madison who I have yet to meet. Both Daisy and Madison were rescued, I love that Sarah J has a heart for those that need a home. So I could write a book about Sarah J, but I need my beauty rest.

Happy Birthday Sarah J!

Editors Note: So this post will hit the blog about 90 minutes before Sarah J's actually birthday, but I decided she is definitely worthy of celebrating and extra 90 minutes!

Good Fortune

I went to dinner tonight at Thara Thai with Larimer (he is one of my college buddies for those of you who may not be in the know). We decided to commisserate about the boys who have recently dumped us. We were both told by our respective exes... "You are so wonderful, you are such a great catch, it's not you it's me". If anyone reading this blog plans to break up with anyone in the near future... please, please don't use that line. Maybe it is true, but trust me your soon to be ex doesn't want to hear it and will so mock you about it a week later. Larimer brought me flowers... how sweet is he? Seriously, Richard never brought me flowers... not that I really minded, but just an FYI to anyone out there who might want to know... girls who like sports still like flowers! I am looking at my flowers right now, they make me smile. Thanks Larimer... you definitely get today's Kudos on the blog.

So the fortune in my fortune cookie (which was so delicious... a bit chocolately I think) was very appropriate for the occasion. It read "Appreciate the caring people who surround you." Wow, given this past week, could it be more appropriate? I am doing very well since breaking up with Richard, I know it is for the best, but it has been so much easier given the wealth of caring people who surround me. So, if you are one of those caring people, please know you have no idea how much you are appreciated!

He's Baaack!

Guess what? Today I got a phone call from Nathan, a real live cell phone call, not one of those poorly connected internet calls from Down Under. He got back from Australia (via Hawaii, he sucks) on Tuesday I think, spent Turkey Day in Fairfield with the fam, and was driving home to Chicago when he called. Welcome home Nathan, I have missed you and the "Good Directions" ringer on my phone. Nik and are headed to Chicago to see Nathan and the Fighting Illini at the United Center in a couple of weeks. It was kind of weird, it was like Nathan wasn't even gone. I got him all caught up on the Richard break-up, well I actually got him caught up on the whole Richard relationship, because as Nathan pointed out we started dating just before he left for Australia and broke up about the time he got back. Kind of odd isn't it, basically Richard was my trip to Australia.

This morning I met Allison Sit for coffee at Panera. She and Abe are visiting her family for the weekend. It was so great to hang with Allison. I have really missed her since she moved to Evanston after the wedding. We got all caught up on all sorts of stuff, talking for nearly two hours. Which I just realized that during that entire conversation we never once talked about the St. Louis Cardinals... that has got to be a record for me and Allison.

Inspired by the fabulous fellowship of my friends Nathan and Allison I spent the afternoon in the yard raking up the last of the leaves, and putting up my lighted Christmas wreath and garland and lights on my outside light. Friday night I put up my small Christmas tree and a few other decorations, and boxed up a bunch to garage sale in the future... I decided less is more this year. Right now I am cozied up on the couch, ripping some of my favorite Christmas CD's to my computer. It has been a good day... today I think the kudos go to Allison and Nathan... I know I overuse this word but it fits... they are FABULOUS!

Giving Thanks

Well it is just after 10:00 a.m. Thankksgiving morning. I really should be getting in the shower and heading to my Mom and Dad's house, but I have to work tomorrow so this was my one chance to sleep in. Anyway I thought I would do a quick post and list the many things I am thankful for. I will start witht the Four F's... faith, family, friends and freedom. Take any one of the four away and my life would pretty much cease to exist as I know it.

Now for the less obvious things, in no particular order, this will be a stream on consciousness thing so watch out! I am thankful for flannel sheets, bubble bath, pedicures, Nutrgena tinted lip balm, lotion. I am thankful for Starbucks, hot tea, flavored coffee creamer, chocolate in all of its woderful forms and turkey sandwiches. I would like to give thanks for wireless internet, warm blankets, DVRs, ESPN, BRAVO and HGTV, Gary Allan, Joe Nichols and Sugarland, Cher, Prince, Madonna, Nelly, and Bon Jovi. I am thankful for the run up the middle, the long bomb, going yard, the double play, taking a charge, a 3 point play the hard way, and a sweet 3 point shot at the buzzer to win the game. I am thankful for songs of praise, the electric slide, YMCA, children laughing, old folks snoring, and moving parties. I am thankful for hugs and kisses, high-fives, tearful sobs, sighs of relief and shouts of joy, and knuckle bumps. I am thankful for two jobs that most of the time I really enjoy, I am thankful that one puts a roof over my head and clothes on my back, while the other pays for all of my fun.

This list is never ending. I am so completely blessed. I am thankful for each of you, my wonderful readers. Please leave a comment and tell me one thing you are thankful for... even if you are one of those who never leaves a comment or it is New Years before you read this post. Happy Thanksgiving everyone... God bless you all.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: The Sporty Girl Version

So if you read yesterday's blog you know that Richard and I broke up. It has been crappy, but I have survived 24+ hours relatively intact with the help of some fabulous friends. I have also discovered two advantages to being a sports lovin' girl when it comes to break-ups.

#1 As a sports fan I am not completely unaccustomed to heartache; the Illini losses in the Elite Eight to Arizona in 2000 or the National Championship game in 2005, Rick Ankiel self destructing in the playoffs, Illinois losing to Michigan in the Final Four in 1989. I have loved and lost before and managed to survive. Now I am not a Cub fan so I am not used to nearly 100 years of heartache, but I think you get my point. Plus, let us not forget that sometimes the biggest of heartaches just only make the comebacks that much sweeter. Rick Ankiel the MLB outfielder is that much more special given the melt-down of Rick Ankiel MLB pitcher. As for the Arizona loss... it just made the amazing comeback against them in 2005 to get to the Final Four that much sweeter.

#2 Today I discovered that as a girl knowledgeable about sports you can completely trash your ex's favorite team, and all be darned if it isn't incredibly cathartic. Plus, trashing your ex's team makes you less pathetic and bitter than trashing the ex. Today I so trashed the Patriots and their coach, Bill Belicheat... it was really easy to do with the help of a die-hard Colts fan co-worker. Today's Kudo's go to said Colts fan co-worker... Mike Orton. Trashing the Patsies (as Mike calls them) was kind of fun. Okay, so maybe it makes me a bad person to do that but I really don't care. If it makes it any better, when Mike said he wanted Tom Brady to get hit really hard, I said that I didn't want him to get hit in the face because he is hott and I don't want anybody to "hurt the pretty"... so that makes me a better person, right?

If you can think of any other sporty girl break-up advantages please post them in the comments.

Learning How to Bend

On Thursday I worked the Gary Allan and Keith Urban concert at the Assembly Hall. I really enjoy Gary Allan, and he played a new song from his album "Learning How to Bend" which is pretty much the most awesome song ever... it speaks to me on several levels. Keith put on a great show too, however, it was somewhat lost on me when he invited everyone to rush the floor for the last few songs of his show. To any performers out there, you so don't make friends with the arena staff when you invite the crowed to rush the floor and you don't give us the heads up.

Continuing the the "Men of Country Music" theme, Nikki and I went to Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield to see Jack Ingram an Dierks Bentley on Friday. That place is so small, even the bad seats are great seats. That concert was awesome... partly because it was free, but mostly because it was just awesome. Jack Ingram is just cool, and he makes me think of the former Illini basketball of the same name, who we fondly referred to as "Jackers". Dierks is pretty much fabulous. I remember I saw him just a few years ago at Canopy Club when he was an up and comer, and now he is pretty much a star. His show was so fun, and he played a bunch of my favorite songs "So Long" and "Domestic Light & Cold". He also dragged a girl up on stage and she was definitely wearing gold stripper boots with her jean skirt and "little white tank top". We definitely heard another group of girls saying "OMG, did you see those stripper boots she was wearing!?!?" when we were leaving the show.

Saturday I went to the Illini football game, and I must admit got a little misty on Senior Day. The last time I will see J Leman and Jason Reda at the Memorial Stadium... you can't help but get a little emotional. After the game I crashed and took a nice long nap, making up for two late nights in a row on Thursday and Friday.

Sunday I went to church, worked the women's basketball game at the Hall, then met Richard for a bit to eat before he left for vacation. Turns out it was our last date. Yep, we broke up and decided not to see each other any more... Dick and Jane we are no more. Without getting into details I would rather not blog about, I kind a saw it coming, the break-up is ultimately a good thing, but in the meantime it pretty much sucks in three major ways... really hard, really bad and wicked bad. On the plus side I have been reminded that my friends are ridiculously awesome... Nikki, Jenn, Jen and Jeanne have been very caring, supportive and fabulous.

So that has been my last couple of days... I will leave you with the words of Gary Allan from "Learning How to Bend".

I'm just trying to understand
It's all in someone else's hands
There's always been a bigger plan
But I don't need to understand

Crack those nuts... Smash that cake

So Saturday was a big day. In the afternoon I watched the Illini football team hand #1 ranked Ohio State their first defeat of the season. Okay, I should clarify, I watched the game on TV, not in person from Columbus. Anywho, Nikki, Larimer and Jake came over for the game and some lasagna. It was a good time, and I don't have many leftovers so I don't have to eat lasagna for the next 12 days. It was kind of cool watching a game with Jake, since he was a member of the team last year... he provided an "insider" viewpoint. Also, he quickly picked up on who to counteract the "announcers jinx". For those of you unfamiliar allow me to explain. The announcers jinx is when the announcer says this hasn't happened all day, and then it happens. For example "Well you know Bob, Illinois has been doing a bang up job protecting the football today.", and then on the very next play Illinois fumbles. You can totally counteract the announcers jinx if you catch it early enough in the sentence and then just start yelling things at the TV loud enough that you have basically drowned out what ever was being said. It was great to see Jake jumping in with a "Hey, hey, hey!" Anyway the game was awesome and we had a great time hanging out together.

After the game Nikki and I headed to Fisher for Jeremiah's 1st birthday party. It was rather exciting as well. The best part was Jeremiah eating his cake. Please see all of the photos below. In some of them he looks like a victim of a violent crime, but it is red frosting. Also, he isn't crying as you might think he is squealing with delight. There are a couple other photos of him playing with the back of wrapping paper trash, which was far more entertaining than any of his gifts, and of his new Illini sweatshirt (believe or not Nik and I did not give him that) which was perfect since we had beaten OSU earlier, and of John working furiously to get Jeremiah's new toy out of the box. Oh, and speaking of John and Jeremiah's new toy. It was a caterpillar that have various different learning games. One was to hit the different letters on its feet to spell words and learn phonics. John so tried to spell and therefore get the caterpillar to say "bad words". The best part is that when you try certain letter combinations, the caterpillar stops saying the letters and says "Oh, that tickles!"

So Saturday was a good day. The Illini cracked those nuts, and Jeremiah smashed that cake!

Cirque du Just do it already

So on Friday night I worked Cirque du Soleil Saltimbanco at the Hall. Although I greatly enjoyed the actual performances, the juggling, trapeze acts etc., I discovered that the whole gay, French, theatrical part is so completely lost on me. I am sure part of it was that I was working (read standing) so all of the extra theatrical stuff leading up to the actual performance just meant that much longer on my feet. The costumes involved in this particular show reminded me a bit of Teletubbies and/or Dr. Seuss characters... but not just a regular Sneetch, more like Sneetch on acid! Like I said earlier the actual performers were amazing, and there was one clown that was incredible. In the second half he brought a man from the audience on the stage and it was hysterical... part of that was just picking a really good sport from the audience though. Some of the other clowning got old pretty quick, but that happens to me at regular circus too... even as a child I had a bit of cynic in me. After about 5 minutes I would be "Yeah, yeah, yeah you aren't funny anymore, bring on the lion tamer and the Flying Rumba Brothers.", and as an adult it has just intensified. Also, there was a really cool quartet of bungee jumping trapeze artists, but the cracked out Teletubbies running around that lead up to this act and others, so not my thing. Although a good portion of this show was completely lost on me, most of the audience really enjoyed it. So if you are looking for a review, I don't know that I could give you one because obviously this really isn't my cup of tea. I was very glad I had the opportunity to work the show and see it, but I am very glad I didn't spend $65 to see it... I could go see both a baseball game and a football game for that!

Jeremiah was a bullfrog... Nate is a friend of mine

Okay, another birthday today. Actually there are two birthdays, my little buddy Jeremiah Todd turns 1, and my buddy and now supervisor at the Hall, Nate Harmann, turns 21!

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

J-Man as I fondly refer to him, lives in Fisher, IL with his Mom and Dad, Marla and John. The Todds are one my favorite families, and John is one of my co-workers at the Hall. I am super duper excited for Jeremiah’s birthday blog… I have never had the opportunity to blog about someone’s very first birthday. Anyway, J-Man is one of the best little babies ever. He is just so happy and mellow and relatively fuss-free. He also has some killer blue eyes too. Jeremiah is a St. Louis Cardinal fan, and an Illini fan, so what is not to love. As a matter of fact Nik and I (along with his parents) took Jeremiah to his first Cardinal game ever at Busch Stadium in May. Here is a picture of J-Man filling out his All-Star ballot.

Jeremiah has a blog too... all the cool people these days do. He hasn't quite mastered typing and spelling just yet, so his Mom Marla helps him out.

Happy Birthday Nate!

Nate is one of my co-workers at the Hall, and this season is technically my boss. He is a junior in the College of Business, and from Quincy. Like J-Man, Nate is a big Illini and Cards fan... I am sensing a trend among today's birthday boys. Nate went with us to the Cards game in April and was a dear and pushed me in my wheelchair on the way back to the car. It was an interesting ride... lets just say now I know why boys under 25 have such high car insurance rates. When we went to that game Nate told us that he and his roommates had just bought some baby ducks for their apartment... I believe my response was "Who are you guys?... Joey and Chandler... are you getting a chick too?"

Not that ducks and wheelchairs are not special, but one of my favorite Nate moments was when the Cards won the World Series last year. We had been working at the Hall that night so Nate came over to watch the end of the game with Nikki and me, since all of his college buddies are not really Cards fans. Nikki and I watching sports and getting "in to" a game is a bit of an experience, but watching us win the World Series is kind of crazy, and Nate was a trooper and just jumped right on board the crazy train. He went with us to Tumble Inn later that night to celebrate with our Cardinals buddies, and completely scored major points when he said upon walking in the door at TI, "Oh my, I am home!". I bought Nate a beer that night, completely losing the fact that he was only 19 in all of the excitement...oopps my bad. Nate is 21 today, so.... Nate, buddy... you are buying me a beer next time.

Oh, one other random thing about Nate. If any of you happen to watch The Bachelor, the current bachelor, Brad Womack... totally looks like Nate about 15 years from now.

Happy Birthday Jeremiah and Nate... I hope 1 and 21 treat you well!

Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy... B-I-L-L-Y!

Well today is another birthday blog. There hasn’t been one in awhile, and you know I kind of miss them. Today is Billy Gillispie’s birthday.

Happy Birthday Billy!

For those of you not in the know, Billy is the head coach of the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team. He first came to my attention as an assistant coach on Bill Self’s staff here at the University of Illinois. At that time I was just getting to know my good buddies Nikki and Karen, co-workers of mine at the Assembly Hall who were college students at the time. Nikki had quite the crush on Robert Archibald, while Karen was smitten with Damir Krupalja. I was feeling a bit out the loop, but was old enough that it was kind of creepy for me to have a crush on a 19-year old player, so I had my eye on Billy.

I could not really participate in conversations about the basketball stats of my “Illini boyfriend”, so I took to throwing in what color suit, shirt and tie Billy had worn when we would chat after the game. Karen and Nikki would talk about how many rebounds, points and fouls Robert and Damir had, and I would throw in tidbits about Billy’s “red power tie”. Anywho, Billy’s fashions ended up having quite the following at the Hall, and often times the color of his tie would often be an indicator of the teams success. We even took to scanning the sidelines while watching away games on TV trying to get a glimpse. Disaster struck when Billy trotted out some hideous brown suit with a peach shirt at Purdue one year. We played horrible, and went down in defeat. To this day we still refer to French blue as “Billy Blue” in reference to one of his blue shirts that brought the team unparalleled success.

About six years ago Billy was given his first head coaching job at University of Texas-El Paso. He was off to UTEP and what was I to do. On a bit of a dare I sent Billy a note at UTEP, wishing him luck as a head coach, and filling him in on our little game of charting his shirts and ties vs. the team performance, and telling him to NEVER wear the brown suit/peach shirt combo ever again. Well, lo and behold the good ol’ boy wrote back thanking me for my support. Since then I always send Billy a birthday card every year wishing him good luck on the upcoming season. One year he wrote back and even sent me the media guide for that years team. Billy is quite the rising star in the college coaching ranks, landing the head coaching job at Texas A & M after two years at UTEP, and then being named the head coach at Kentucky (yes that Kentucky… Adolph Rupp, Ashley Judd) after just three years at A & M. When Texas A & M played DePaul in the NIT tourney three years ago at All State arena, Nik was a sport and went with me to see the game. We hung out and waited for Billy after the game and he knew who I was before I even introduced myself, was super nice, cheesed for picture and once again thanked me for my support. When I sent him a note at Kentucky this spring congratulating him on the new job, he wrote back again… this time he had an assistant type the note, but he still jotted a handwritten “Thanks for the Support”.

Billy is the one who gave new Illini assistant coach, and former player, Jerrance Howard his first job in the business, as J-How was his administrative assistant/coach at A & M for three years. Billy is just an all around good guy, an awesome coach, and the blue eyes, Texas twang and killer smile and dimples don’t hurt either. One of my favorite Billy moments was watching an A & M game last year with Sarah J when Billy got teed up for laying down on the court in protest of a bad call. He didn’t really mean to be quite that theatrical, he has been squatting down in the coaching box, and just kind of fell back in exasperation. Afterwards he was super embarrassed and apologetic, and just ridiculously adorable. I hope he does well at Kentucky and can impress the Big Blue Nation, and they let him stick around for awhile. Kentucky blue really does set off his eyes.

Happy Birthday Billy!

A Perfect Duetto

So besides pandora.com, one of my favorites things is my Starbucks/Visa Duetto card. It is a Chase Visa card, but I earn Starbucks rewards that are loaded to the same card which essentially acts as a Starbucks gift card as well. I earn 1% of all of my Visa card purchases in Starbucks coffee. Unlike most credit card reward programs I can actually earn something I will use/enjoy in a relatively short period of time, as opposed to waiting 5 years to earn an airline ticket or something like that. Plus using the Starbucks rewards means I feel less guilty about my Starbucks addiction because I am not really using my disposable income for said habit.

Besides sharing the joy of the Duetto card with my blog reading public it is now my mission to share with all of the Starbucks employees out there about it as well so that when I want them to use my Starbucks card for my transaction they do it right and don't charge it to my Visa. Slowly I am explaining this to all of my Starbucks servers. This morning I had a lovely conversation with Ryan. I pulled up the window and said "Okay, please run this as a Starbucks card, I know it looks like a Visa card and it is, but it is a Starbucks card too... you have to trust me on this Ryan, it will work." Much to Ryan's amazement it did work, and I explained briefly about the joys and benefits of the Duetto card. We definitely shared a moment, he offered me a sample of their new coffee cake... my nonfat, sugarfree hazelnut latte taste extra special this morning. Kudos for trusting me Ryan!

Hit 'Em in the BallState

Okay so I am little tardy on the blogging... my bad.

Friday I went with Nikki to my first ever UI homecoming parade. The weather was a little drippy but not too bad. The parade theme was Orange Feve and one float featured a disco dancing Rashard Mendenhall... not the actual player but a Rashard-like mannequin sporting a #5 jersey and an 'fro. Good stuff. The through out some serious candy at this parade... I got a full size (2 cups) Reese's, several tootsie rolls, bubble gum and mini football. Okay so the football says TCF Bank, and I work at Busey, but still I love free stuff. I saw my friend Laurie from my church small group playing in the Marching Illini, and one of the floats had two orange and blue pool table balls, crashing into a red Ball State ball, and the frat boy riding shotgun in the truck pulling the float was yelling to the crowd "Go Illini, hit 'em in the ballState! Oh, I love a parade.

Saturday we tailgated a bit, and my brother Phil and my nephew Jeremy joined us, along with my former football player mentee, Jake. It was good to see all of my boys. Jake is a dear for dragging his college boy booty out of bed shortly after 9 a.m. on chilly Saturday morning to eat donuts and drink hot chocolate with me. He received a couple of phone calls while tailgating with us... his ringer... "A Country Boy Can Survive"... very fitting for my little Kansas buddy. Phil and Jeremy helped us kill a few more donuts, and Phil even had a beer with his donut... I would expect nothing less from my brother.

We had our "good seats" for the game, and I had forgotten just how sweet they are. I had a good view of my current football player mentee, Cole #61, on the sidelines. The last time I had those seats was the first game of the season and I hadn't been assigned a mentee yet. Cole is an excellent sideline cheerleader, encouraging the crowd to stand up and get loud.

Sunday I worked the Orange & Blue Scrimmage at the Hall. Former player and new assistant coach, Jerrance Howard was there. When he walked by with a group of recruits I told him "Welcome Back" and he stopped and chatted me up a bit. After the scrimmage he walked past again and told me "Thanks for helping out tonight". He is just so nice and charming... and his smile just lights up a room... welcome home J-How.

Afterwards a group from the Hall headed to Village Inn. We were sitting with Sue (my boss's boss for lack of a better term) and I was telling her about my sweetie. She was quizzing me about him and when I said his name was Richard... she just paused and gave me a funny look. I was like "Sue what's the big deal with his name being Richard". Her response... "OMG, you guys are 'Dick and Jane'!" I guess I have never thought of that before, probably because I never refer to Richard as "Dick". It is usually Richard, Sweetie, Hey You, or Big R which Nikki and Sarah J have taken a shine too. Evidently Nikki is kind of liking the Dick and Jane angle. Today at work were were discussing my lack of blog of late, and I said that I didn't get to it last night because I went to Danville to see Richard. Here response was as follows:

Jane went to visit Dick.

Jane did not blog.

Bad Jane!

To make up for it, I will probably be posting two blogs tonight. I hope all is forgiven :)

Editors Note: The picture is of my mentee, Cole Knuth #61, cheering on his teammates at kick off.

A Showtune of Gays

My college roommate Jeanne was in town for a quick visit on Tuesday/Wednesday. She lives near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida but was back in Illinois to help her Mom as she undergoes treatment for brain cancer. Jeanne said she was talking to her Mom's doctor and if you had to chose, this is evidently the brain cancer you want... it is treatable and the prognosis is good. That being said, I am sure Jeanne and her family would greatly appreciate any and all prayers you all would like to offer up on their behalf.

So, visiting with Jeanne is always a treat. First of all she showed up on my doorstep with a lovely bouquet of flowers. Her previous stop was her former employer, Rick Orr Florist, so Jeanne just whipped up the arrangement I have pictured at the top of this post to thank me for my hospitality. Jeanne has excellent taste, especially in flowers. She picks out all the flowers I never knew I liked.

We met our college buddy, Scott Larimer, for dinner at El Toro 2. Originally we planned to head to Boltini afterwards, but Jeanne was a bit tired so we just went back to my house to hang out and visit. I made chocolate chip cookies, then Rashid (Jeanne's ex-beau from college days) and his girlfriend, Isabelle joined us. You just can't beat great conversation, cookies and beer! (Abandoning plans for going out for drinks to stay in and bake cookies... yep that is pretty much my life now, and you know what, I kind of like it that way. )

Speaking of conversation, Larimer was telling Jeanne and I about something and said that a lot of his gay friends were there. Jeanne commented that we need a word for a group of gays. For instance you have a gaggle of geese, a pride of lions, a flock of sheep, and _______ of gays. At first Jeanne suggested a "condom of gays"... but she said that was perhaps to obvious or just unpalatable. We pondered a bit more before I came up with a "showtune of gays"... Jeanne and Larimer both declared me brilliant and said I would forever be given credit for that phrase. When Rashid and Isabelle joined us they readily agreed. It was a great night... kind of like college all over again but I have a bigger budget!

Hail to the Victors... Cesspool of the North

Just a quick update on my weekend. I went to East Bay camp near Lake Bloomington overnight Friday and for the first part of Saturday for Quest's small group leaders retreat. It was lots of fun, the camp was full of fall color and I did some of the God thing too. Saturday after lunch I headed home for a quick shower, laundry and minimal unpacking before Nik came over, along with our pal from the Hall, Allison Hocker and Allison's fiance, Bill. We had never met Bill before, he meets my approval. We all went to the Illini vs. Michigan game on Saturday night, after stopping at the Busey tailgate for some free food and drink.

What can I say about the Illini... ah the penalties and mistakes just killed us. It was so frustrating even the straight-laced grandmas types sitting near us were using "inappropriate language". There were a couple of middle-aged drunk fans sitting next to Nik. One would high-five Nikki all the time, even before high-fiving his buddies. The other seemed rather fond of giving Nik "knuckles". This guy was a little lit, when the Michigan fans behind us were singing "Hail to the Victors" he did change the last line of the song to "Hail, Hail, Michigan- cesspool of the North". It was kind of funny. Despite the loss the fly over at night was super cool, the jet fumes lit up the night sky. Also, the camera suspended on wires that comes in over the top of the quarter back was way cool too. For the first part of the game we could only see two of the four wires it was suspended on so we kept saying "how are they doing this" for the first quarter plus.

Richard came over for dinner tonight. My meatloaf was sub-par, as were the potatoes. Not bad, but not my best work. Richard didn't complain, I like that about him. I did totally rock the apple cake though... so it wasn't 3 strikes :)

How Much is that Doggie in the Dairy Aisle?

I went grocery shopping this evening. I went to Meijer. I don't particularly enjoy grocery shopping, I just wish things would magically appear in my cupboards and refrigerator.

Anywho, a rather odd siting at Meijer this evening, I turned the corner to head down the dairy aisle and I definitely saw a middle-aged woman carrying a small dog. What the...? Are dogs allowed in grocery stores? This one definitely was not an assistance dog, the lady was holding the dog in one hand and selecting yogurt with the other. I enjoy dogs, but I don't really want one sniffing the Yoplait I am about to buy. It is Meijer lady, not Petsmart, plus the temperature was pleasant, is isn't like you are harming your dog leaving it in the car. Pulease!

Hail to the Chief

Today was game day. The Illini got beat by Iowa 6-10... guess we didn't cheer loud enough. It was a pretty quick trip from our hotel in Cedar Rapids to Iowa City, and with the exception of stadium security not wanting to let Jenn in with her back pack/purse/kid supply tote, the Hawkeyes were rather welcoming. On the way to the game Abigail shared with us that "Trees can talk!" Ah, the things you learn from a 3-year old. Our seats were in the Illini section, in the east stands, even with the south end zone in row 79, aka the very top row of the stadium, in the corner. We were surrounded by J Leman's dad and various other members of the Leman extended family. Nik asked the approximately 10-year old girl in front of us if she knew J, and she replied that he was her cousin... Nik replied with "He is my favorite player, and I don't even know him!" The girl's mom and brother were very entertaining throughout the game high-fiving after each Leman tackle, keeping a tackle tally.

Nik and I gave Sidney a football tutorial. She is an excellent student and now knows the following: Offense is when you have the ball and are trying to score, you have 4 tries to go 10 yards, the little lines are one yard, the big lines are five yards, you have to cross two big lines to get 10 yards. Defense is when you don't have the ball and you try to keep the other team from scoring. The guys in black and white striped shirts make sure everyone follows the rules. They throw yellow flags if you are in trouble.

When Rashard didn't make it on 3rd and 2, Sidney said "Two little marks... that isn't very far, I could run that far!" When the band came out at half-time Nik told Sid that she used to play the trombone in the band. She asked Sid if she wanted to play in the band when she got older... no response... did she want to be a cheerleader instead?... shoulder shrug... or maybe you want to play football!... strange look followed by "I'm just not into that, I like to watch!"

The Illini just didn't have it today, they just didn't look sharp. We got all excited about the would be touchdown towards the end of the game, but it was called back because of an illegal receiver down field. Although we lost, this program is definitely making strides, after beating us the Iowa students stormed the field. Illinois football is definitely back on the map, defeating us hasn't caused the opponents to storm the field in a very long time.

On the way back to the hotel after the game Sid said "I know why they told on us!" Huh? When they didn't let us have our touchdown... the other team told on us because they didn't want us to win. Nik agreed with "Yep, if we had that touchdown, the Illini would have won the game". Sid then said "Yeah! Then I could have run on to the field!"

After the game White Mocha (or Dubby-short for "W" for "White Mocha") and the Lil Mochas went swimming at the pool. On the way to the pool the three of them serenaded us in the elevator with the following:

"Oh baby you, you got what I need, but you say he's just a friend, but you say he's just a friend, Oh baby you, you got what I need.'

Evidently the pool was not overly warm... according to Dubby, definitely some "shrinkage" :) After the swim we went to Leonardo's Lounge for dinner. The front desk clerk recommended it, and kudos to him. Besides some great pizza, the decor was completely fabulous and retro with red pleather circular booths, black padded pleather walls... very Vegas circa 1968. When we left we commented that it was getting crowded at Leonardo's and that it was a good thing we got there early. John's response (referring to spending just the right amount of time in the pool and hot tub) "Yeah, Dubby spent just the right amount of time in the Tubby."

Oh, our waitress at Leonardo's was wearing a rather low cut t-shirt. She was a great waitress, but John definitely referred to her cleavage as looking like she "had two bald guys in a headlock".

After dinner Sidney, Abby and then later Jenn came to hang out in our room. Sidney read to us from her 1st grade readers, and so Nikki and I got to "sign off" on her reading log. Also, Abby mentioned that her cough is gone, then pointed to her mouth and said "See?".

Okay, so it isn't even 9:00 and it is about time for this blogger to call it a night. Please see all the pictures posted below. It has been a great weekend, and fabulous to hang with the Thomas family. We hope to hit the road by 10 a.m. tomorrow, just after breakfast.

Editors Note: So the title of this blog "Hail to the Chief"... might not be what you think. John always refers to Jenn as "Chief". She asked John if she could wear one of his t-shirts for the game. He said yes, but only if she wore his "Chief" shirt. When we were explaining to Sidney that Chief Illiniwek isn't allowed to dance anymore, she later said... pointing to her mom, "See, we still have a chief, it's just that she doesn't dance much." Oh, speaking of Jenn, we decided she so needs her own set of yellow penalty flags for when Abby and Sidney "are in trouble and not playing by the rules"