Holy sweet action, Batman!!

Though the teams I like/pull for have not advanced to the Final Four, I am a potentially VERY happy camper.
JN and I are entered in two pools -- one through JN's work, and a national one through my nephew's baseball team fundraiser.
JN's work entry is a bracket I filled out; the other one consists of randomly-assigned teams.
I'm kicking tall ass at both!!

With JN's work bracket, I'm currently in 5th place -- but if my teams win out and Georgetown wins it all (how's that for a ballsy pick?), I'm guaranteed a tie for first place!
Then it would come down to total points scored in the championship game....I have 124, the other guy has 154.
Considering the guy I'd be tied with is a total dick, this would be way sweeter than just the 100+ bucks we'd pocket.

The other pool is crazier -- as of right now, we're winning the grand prize!!
This is a NATIONAL pool, so the fact that WE are winning right now is insane enough.
What really knocks me over is the amount of the grand prize: 1000 big ones!!
Yeah, that would make life just a bit easier right now.
The problem here is we have to hope UCLA (the only team we have left) goes all the way and scores a LOTTA points....PLUS we have to hope the tickets close to us don't have any teams left.
We can't view the other tickets, so we just have to cross our fingers and hope.
We're not nearly ready to count the money yet, but just being this close is SWEET.
And no, there's no bucks for second place -- you gotta win it all.
The odds? Not good.
But oh, mama, it's fun to think about.

I don't think there's any way we could win both (since one needs Georgetown to win and one needs UCLA), but I'll gladly give up the bragging rights at JN's work in exchange for 1000 bucks.
I'm humble like that.

In other good news, I managed to lose 1.4 pounds last week, so YAY!
(Love that digital scale.)
Gotta keep my ass in gear....I just realized I have 434 days until my goal target date of 6/1/08.
(Yes, I'm counting down.)
No more slacking!

Nothing for me to bitch about today?
Strange.
Enjoy it while it lasts! :)
I'm sure that will change pretty quick....

7 days, 2 hours and 40 minutes until my Cubbies Opening Day!!
WOO HOO!!!!

The Oscar countdown begins!

I get excited over the dumbest things sometimes.
Why do I get so freaked over the Oscars?
No clue.
But it's like Super Bowl, Part II for me -- lots of junk food, cancel any and all plans for the day, because I'm CAMPED in front of the TV all damn day!
I gotta watch all the arrivals, all the pre-show crap....it's incredibly silly.
Normally, knowing you have a problem is the first step to recovery.
Not in this case for me, apparently -- I know it's ridiculous, but I can't HELP myself!
And it's not like I've seen all the movies....I've only seen a few, like most years.
It's just the spectacle of it all, and I'm an awards show junkie anyway.
But nothing's like the Oscars for me.
I blame my mom, for getting me so celebrity-obsessed at such a young age.
I hope I'm not doing that to my boys.
And to JN, all I can say is thank you for putting up with me....and I'm really sorry.

We just refinanced the house AGAIN yesterday, but we were able to pay off almost all the evil credit cards along with it, so I'm encouraged.
It's gonna cost us about $100 extra out-of-pocket, which we should be able to handle in a few months....but it ain't gonna be easy getting there.
But as long as we get there okay, we should be sitting in much better shape in general.
Damn those credit cards!
If we can live like we don't have them and NEVER use them again, we'll be okay.
I finished our taxes yesterday too, and we'll be getting a little bigger refund than I thought, which will help.
I'm so SICK of dealing with money anymore....thinking about it, worrying about it, planning for it, planning around it.
It's like half of my day, every day.
I sometimes wonder: If we hit the lottery (like I've been praying for years now), what would I do with myself? What would occupy my thoughts/time/energy?
I'd probably obsess about JN and the boys, which wouldn't be much fun for anyone.
Maybe it's a good thing we stay poor, huh?

Happy Oscar weekend!
I have no predictions, but there are three things I'm really pulling for:

1. Jennifer Hudson was un-fucking-believable in "Dreamgirls." I was kinda skeptical heading into the movie (someone else's suggestion for Girls Night Out), and there were times in the movie I thought really dragged, though it was good. But when she belted out "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," I sat there and cried in my seat, in spite of myself. She needs to win on that one song/scene alone.
2. Martin Scorsese needs to win this year. My God, just LOOK at the man's work....he really should have won a few times over by now. This is beyond being the Susan Lucci of the Oscars; he just flat-out deserves it, and I didn't even see "The Departed." I just know. I love you Clint Eastwood, but *enough* already.
   
3. "Little Miss Sunshine" needs to win EVERYTHING it's up for!! I haven't seen another movie like it in years -- maybe ever. It's one of those rare movies that has everything in it....it surprises you, it touches you, it makes you laugh, it makes you cringe. The story is great, the writing is incredible, and the acting is excellent. If you haven't seen it yet, GO as soon as you possibly can.

Well, there you have it.
Nothing like an uneducated, biased list of worthless opinions come Oscar time, right?
And yes, I'll be right there with you, criticizing everyone's clothes/hair/jewelry/shoes/purses -- it's even more fun when you know NOTHING about fashion, like me!
Enjoy!

The good, the bad, the ugly

First, the good -- school was cancelled today! It's so damn cold, it was even too cold for the Eskimos who run the school system....incredible! I appreciated those extra couple hours of sleep, believe me.

The bad -- it's so damn cold!! Right now it's -4, with wind chills in the -30 range....when it's this cold out, the dog refuses to go outside. While I can't really blame her, I'm sick of cleaning up after her -- which means me forcing her outside, while I go along. Not my idea of a good time.

And the ugly -- what else? My Bears. Dammit. Here are my overall impressions, before all the talking heads sway my opinions:

• Rex was awful. Just awful. At times it wasn't his fault -- his line didn't give him enough time, and the play calls were sometimes pathetic (especially that drive with 5:00 left in the game), but at the times he needed to go deep and stretch the defense, he was woefully off. It could have been the wet ball, but that didn't seem to bother Peyton.
• Losing Benson was catastrophic. When the Bears do well, they balance the running plays between Benson and Jones, and having Benson go down early was bad news. Too much Jones is not a good thing.
• That drive at the end of the game was ridiculous. With no timeouts, the clock running, you need two touchdowns, WHY would you throw a 5-yard pass over the middle?? Was that Rex's decision, or Ron Turner's? Either way, that about made me come outta my skin, I was so pissed. THROW IT DEEP -- what have you got to lose at that point?
• The defense was at times flat, and couldn't cover the short, underneath stuff. They kept covering deep, which didn't make any sense to me -- Peyton clearly wasn't going deep in that rain. If they'd moved those deep guys up and covered the middle better (and not stayed in zone so DAMN MUCH), they could have shut down the Colts' ability to get 5-10 yards each play. Where was Ron Rivera there? Already talking to Jerry Jones?
  
• The party at JN's friend's house was fun. I only got annoyed a couple times, and was able to see just about everything -- we missed the last 2 hours of pregame which I wasn't thrilled about, but the food was good, and the chit-chat was minimal. The best part was when Devin Hester went the distance to open the game -- we were all screaming and hugging like maniacs! I almost passed out, seriously.
• The commercials were good, overall. The one that really stood out to me was the Robert Goulet one -- laugh out loud funny, period. There were a couple creepy ones, which was unusual, and most were just mildly entertaining. But they didn't disappoint.
• Prince was UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE!!!! He was even better than I thought he'd be, as I was afraid he'd do all new shit -- but there was plenty of Purple Rain stuff, and even a couple covers from the Foo Fighters (!) and Jimmy Hendrix. He looked great, he sounded great, and the show was kick ass....like Kathy Griffin says, it delivered like Dominos!!
• If the Bears had to lose, I'm glad they lost to Tony Dungy and the Colts....they're a classy team run by a classy guy, and that does take some of the sting out of it.
• I loved hearing Lovie say right away in the post game this is just another step closer to where they wanna be, and that next year they'll be ready. It makes me feel good to know he's not all down in the dumps, lamenting the loss....he's already looking at how to do it better next year. That just kicks ass.

So there you have it, my worthless Super Bowl wrap-up.
The ride over the last 2 weeks has been awesome, and it was all worth it.
What's gonna piss me off now is hearing all the damn Packers fans around here talking about how the Bears "still suck," and hearing all the talking heads patting themselves on the back and saying "I told you so" about Rex and the outcome of the game.
If nothing else, I was hoping the Bears would at least cover the spread, but they didn't.
That sucks.
How long until pitchers and catchers report??

It's almost here!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going *schizoid,* just waiting for tomorrow to get here.
The two weeks leading up to the game seems to be almost as much fun as the game itself.
Almost.
I just hope they make a good showing....the Colts scare me, and I think the Bears CAN win, I'm just not sure they WILL.
But HOO-DOGGIES, is the anticipation fun!
How cool would it be if this was the beginning of a "dynasty" of sorts -- we could do this every year!
Okay, I can't get ahead of myself....we gotta win tomorrow first.

The Super Bowl Dilemma seems to have finally reached a peaceful conclusion, somehow.
As late as yesterday afternoon, JN was still trying to talk me into bringing SJ along to the party.
It never got heated, but I wasn't sure how it would end up, since he had to go before we got it resolved.
But I heard him telling SJ last night that he can watch the game up in our bedroom while we're gone, so somehow he decided on his own SJ staying here was okay.
No idea how, but I'm good with that.
He wants to get to the party earlier than I thought -- 2 hours before kickoff! -- so we're gonna wind up paying the sitter more than I'd like, but I can deal with that.
So I'm looking forward to it.
Will there be a point during the party when I miss something and it ticks me off a bit?
Almost guaranteed.
But I'll be Tivoing everything here, so I may spend a good chuck of Monday rewatching everything.
I'm okay with that.
I can almost taste that Chicago food now....

And I thought it was cold the other day!
The high for today is 5, with a steady 20 mph gale, keeping the wind chill WAY below zero.
And that ain't even the worst....tomorrow, the high -- again, the HIGH -- is supposed to be -4.
Without a 15 mph wind.
HOLY SHIT!!
We will friggin FREEZE going back and forth to the party, but if the Bears win, we may not feel it on the way home!
At least, I'm hoping so....
The high for Monday is expected to be 1 *without* a 15-mph wind chill (I wonder if I can even hope for school to be closed?), but we should have the low teens for highs after that.
I'm sorry, but when 14 looks warm, that's just downright wrong.
Why do we live here again?

Anyway, I'm gonna Super Bowl Shuffle on outta here....let's hope as of tomorrow night, we can officially CROWN THEIR ASS!!
(Thank you, thank you, Denny Green....)
BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS,
MAKE EVERY PLAY CLEAR THE WAY TO VICTORY,
BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS,
PUT UP A FIGHT WITH A MIGHT SO FEARLESSLY.
WE'LL NEVER FORGET THE WAY YOU THRILLED THE NATION,
WITH YOUR 'T' FORMATION.
BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS,
AND LET 'EM KNOW WHY YOU'RE WEARING THE CROWN,
YOU'RE THE PRIDE AND JOY OF ILLINOIS,
CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!

Super Bowl dilemma....

Okay, so as I alluded to the other day, yes, we have a Super Bowl dilemma....only we could have a crisis over something so silly.
The Super Bowl is always a Big Deal in our house -- we're all football fanatics, and we love getting into the whole spectacle and everything that goes with it.
Usually, JN has to work, so that means the boys and I enjoy it at home -- we get lots of junk food, park ourselves in front of the TV, and veg the whole day. Last year, JN was home, and we had a great time all together at our house.
I actually REALLY enjoy that....I get as much or as little of whatever food I want, I'm not distracted/bothered by anything (the boys know they either sit and watch or go play elsewhere!), and I'm in my comfort zone.
My TV, my remote, my sweats, my couch.
Well now that our Bears are actually in it, JN's Bear-fan coworker has decided to throw a Super Bowl party at his house, and JN wants to go (since he's off work again).
I'm not OPPOSED to going, but I see several drawbacks to going:

1. JN's coworker and fiance have no kids....if kids were invited, that would be one thing, but this is a grown-up party, which means either A) we spend money we don't have on a sitter for who knows how long and bum the boys out we aren't watching the game with them (especially SJ, who really gets into it); or B) we bring the kids and I spend all day trying to keep them out of everything in a house with new furniture, decorations and NO toys. Both options suck.
   
2. There will be a bunch of people there -- some of whom we know, some of whom we don't. We'll be forced to be social -- chit-chatting, being nice, etc. Blah. Plus, a bunch of people means sharing seats/space around the TV/TVs....will we get a spot where we can even see well? Will people talk during the commercials (which I hate), or worse, the game?? And there's always some asshole in every crowd when watching football who has to discuss every play called, every bad play made, every mistake, etc. I CAN'T STAND THESE GUYS, and there will almost assuredly be at least one there.
3. It's the BEARS and PRINCE at halftime -- this is possibly the greatest Super Bowl EVER!! I don't wanna piss it away playing nice at someone's house full of people who I don't wanna get to know for fear of losing track of the game.
4. We WILL miss key plays, key commentary, and most of the commercials -- that's how it works at parties, period. Not cool.

Despite all this, that's where JN wants to go.
To complicate things, my mom called the other night and invited us over there for the Super Bowl....she wants to have me down for a belated birthday thing, and she thought the Super Bowl would be fun (she's a big Bears fan too).
I see no real problem with this plan -- it would just be us, so no throngs of people. And they would be focused on the game and the commercials -- while there would be minimal chit-chat, it should be manageable. We've gotta head her way anyway, so we're not spending any extra money going there (we should be able to bring the dog with us), and she'll buy/make all the food!
While staying at home would still be my first choice, Mom's is doable to me....we get the whole "Super Bowl party" thing without all the Super Bowl party bullshit.
And JN's reaction?
No way.
He said NO WAY to going to my mom's, yet is pushing to go to his coworker's.
This makes no sense to me.
Any drawback there is to Mom's is TENFOLD at his coworker's.
I think he's saying this for two reasons:

1. He feels as though he *should* go to his coworker's party, since he probably already gave him the idea we're going (which wouldn't surprise me) and we're such big Bears fans -- hard to come by in this area.
2. He wants his way, plain and simple -- my way and my family sucks, his way and his friends rule. Or something along those lines.

I suggested I could go to Mom's and he could go to the coworker's, which I knew would be met with disgust (and I don't really like anyway, since I wanna watch our Bears with him). But it would solve the problem.
So what will we do? No clue.
I'll probably give in (as usual) and go to his friend's, but I'll be wishing I was at home in my sweats, screaming at the TV with all my guys, eating my pizza rolls....
I'll keep you posted.

Miami bound!!

THEY DID IT!!!
I can't believe they actually did it!!!

MY BEARS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!

And not only did they pull it off, they KILLED the Saints, 39-14.
Holy crap!
I gotta confess, I wasn't sure they were even gonna be in the game, much less win -- everyone and their cousin took the Saints, and I wasn't real optimistic.
Wow, did they prove the whole damn world wrong.
I LOVE IT!!
They're gonna face the Colts, which bums me out a bit -- I've been waiting years for Peyton and Dungy to get to The Big Game so I could pull for them. They finally make it, and I've gotta pull HARD against them!
But I'm good with that....2 weeks from now, it'll be downright EASY to have venom towards them.
When the Bears last made it to the Super Bowl, it was Jan. 1986....I was newly 16, and my life was not in a good place in general.
I'm gonna enjoy every minute of this ride so much more now than I did then.
WOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My birthday weekend was wonderful....I ate lots and lots of Chinese food and other junk, laid around, watched a lot of sports, and did nothing in general (with no guilt).
I ask you, does it get any better than that??
I'm getting back on the healthy food train this week after all the insanity of last week, and expected to be bummed after getting on the scale this morning.
I got the second biggest shock of the weekend when I saw I'd actually LOST a pound!!
How the hell did THAT happen??
No clue, but I don't care, I'm good with that.
Hopefully after a week of being good and working hard, I'll see the same results.....
Otherwise, it's Chinese and junk food all day, every day!
WOOO HOOOO again!!

I'm just gonna go do the Super Bowl Shuffle now, thank you....

Daaaa Bearsssss.....

ROCK!!!!!
It's somewhat amazing they were able to pull that game out.
Did they deserve to win? Not sure. But they did!
Rex looked good -- not great, not mind-blowing, but good. Which is all he needs to be.
The defense, however, is gonna give me fits. I know they have injuries. I know those injuries are to key guys. But COME ON....does that mean the rest of them have to play like shit? SO irritating -- they are so much better than that.
So, the million-dollar question -- are they gonna beat the Saints next week?
I have a feeling if I asked the Magic 8 Ball it would say "signs say no." But I'm not giving up hope....they just may have another miracle wedged up their ass somewhere.

The visit at my dad's was nice. Although it's official -- my dad has become a grumpy, pissy, crotchety old man. He's always had a short temper, but WOW -- he's taking frustration to all new and ugly heights. The man seriously needs to CHILL OUT. But we all got spoiled to death, which led JN to feel guilty we didn't spend more on everyone.
Lemme ask you: Just because my family feels the need to go WAY overboard on presents (perhaps due to guilt over not being closer, or due to trying to one-up each other, or due to trying to show off how much money they have -- not saying they have ulterior motives, but certainly possible....could my family be capable of giving just for the goodness of giving? Magic 8 Ball? ....yeah, that's what I thought), should that make us feel bad because we can't? (It's not that we don't want to, it's that we CAN'T!!) I don't think so, but JN does. Wish I could help him out there -- if there's one thing life with my family has taught me, it's this: Get over it because you can't change it, and LET IT GO.
I should stitch that on a pillow or something....
Yeah, like I have time to do that.