Touring Lambeau

Saturday Little and I attended one of the coolest Match activities we've done to date: toured Lambeau Field! I can't even begin to explain what great experience it was, but I'm going to try.

First of all, what Packers fan doesn't want to tour Lambeau? For that matter, for any fan to tour their team's stadium and facilities. I felt like a kid in a candy shop being the workplace of my favorite players and seeing all the behind the scenes details. I had no idea how much really went into their team and it was a great learning experience.

Our tour guide was Tim Terry, a former linebacker for Seattle who now works for Pro Personnel for the Packers. What a genuinely good guy! Before starting the tour, he introduced himself to the group and shook everyone's hand, Bigs and Littles alike, said nice to meet you and asked our names. If he didn't tell us that he was a former football player, I still could have easily guessed. He is a giant. Ok, everyone is a giant when you're 5'2", but for real, he's a big guy. When he shook my hand, his hand enveloped mine and my wrist. He led the whole tour with enthusiasm, knowledge and pride. Even if I wasn't a Packers fan, I'm sure I would have enjoyed walking around listening to him talk, learning all kinds of new things.

Throughout the tour, we got to see the weight room, cafeteria, the room with the Super Bowl trophies, the training room, one of the film rooms, their hot tub/cold tub area, the press conference room, meeting rooms, the mail area, the game day tunnel, the locker room and the field. One of the coolest parts of the tour was learning about the team's history. Tim made it a point to say how much the team's history is such an integral part of the team and franchise. He said they make sure that new players know about the history so they can appreciate the team more, but also make a strong connection with the past and the present.

Trophies

Workout room

Little's favorite part was getting to stand in front of Clay Matthew's locker. Matthews is her favorite player and she looked like she was ready to pee her pants. No worries kid, I was there myself. Seeing the team's lockers with the uniforms they wear on game day was super cool. Athletes are huge celebrities and in a small-ish town like Green Bay, the celebrity-dom is even bigger. Without the Packers, GB wouldn't have much, and those guys get near-idol status.

Since I ca't post the picture of her in front of the locker, this is the
next best thing. The receiving line's lockers.

I think my favorite part was walking through the tunnel. If there was one part of the tour that we really got to experience what the players do, that was it. Tim played pre-recorded cheers to really give the vibe, followed by an announcer asking the fans to welcome "your 13-time World Champions" and the door flying up. It was so exciting walking out to an empty stadium, just knowing that's what they do every week. What an adrenaline rush that must be! I seriously cannot even fathom the amount of excitement and energy the players have in those seconds as they run through the tunnel and out onto the field.

The tunnel looking from the outside.

These stands are jam-packed game days.

At the end of the tour, we met in a meeting room with two other men from the Pro Scouting team. Each man talked about their experience working for the Packers and gave inspirational and motivational advice for the Littles. I can only hope those kids understood what an impact that was and how meaningful their talks were. They talked about following your dreams and appreciating any kind of interaction you can have. They encouraged the kids to talk to someone at school they may not usually hang out with because you never know what kind of impact it will make on you or the other person. They all said how much they loved their jobs and that they never come to work stressed and never dread going into work. I thought that was such an incredibly powerful message. Is there any greater example of showing those kids to never settle for anything less than what makes you happy? One of the guys also told us how he was part of Big Brothers Big Sisters as a child. Those kids could look at him, see that he came from possibly a similar situation to them and now he works for his favorite team in the NFL. Although he said he wasn't much of a talker, he gave the best line I could imagine. He told the kids "You've got a lot of mistakes ahead of you, but you're going to do a lot of great things." They then got some real interaction with each of the Littles by going around and asking what each of them wanted to be when they grew up.

Needless to say, my Saturday morning was well spent. I can only hope Little had as much fun as I did.

Kathy Griffin Show

On Thursday, my sister and I saw Kathy Griffin live at the Weidner Center. Kathy is one of my favorite comedians, if not, the favorite. I had not seen her live before and was super excited to go.

The only downfall to the night was that they didn't have a screen up behind her like most concerts/shows I've been to. Our seats were pretty high up, so we couldn't really see her face that well. But we could still see her, and more importantly, hear her.

The two reasons I love Kathy so much are that she is so honest and super vulgar. As someone whose favorite word is "fuck," I can absolutely appreciate a person who has created their livelihood around this word and other vulgarities. She tells everything just like it is with zero filter. She doesn't embarrass easily and turns otherwise shameful moments into bits to make her audience laugh. Anyone who has the first televised pap smear sure has a lot of ovaries and that is something I respect. Thursday's show was not much different. She did a couple of bits that were, as she called them, "shame based."

If there is anyone I love more than Kathy, it is dear Maggie Griffin. Kathy's "93 year-old alcoholic mother." Kathy's impressions of Maggie are so hilarious they leave me rolling with laughter every time I hear them. During her show, Kathy told us Maggie's reaction to Miley Cyrus's VMA performance, her objections to moving into an assisted-living condo and, naturally, her warnings to Kathy to behave in Green Bay. "Behaving" to dear old Maggie meant not swearing on stage, not disrespecting the Church and not giving the Griffins a bad name. Not one of these things happened and it was brilliant. I laughed at all of Kathy's punchlines, but I think I laughed the hardest at the Maggie jokes.

If there is another thing that makes Kathy such a great comedian, it's that she has a ridiculous amount of energy. She brings so much energy and enthusiasm during her entire show, from the moment she runs on the stage to the moment she runs off. If you haven't watched one of her shows on tv or live, I mean literally running back and forth. I am half her age and just the thought of that makes me tired. Needless to say, I am not a runner. With such strong enthusiasm, the audience stays entertained and engaged throughout the whole show. You can tell she loves every moment of what she does and truly enjoys being on stage performing.

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful night. Go watch some Kathy videos on YouTube.

Sucky and Super Monday

It's been quite some time since writing one of these, so let's recap, shall we?

Sucky:

• My bodily ailments have been flaring up like nobody's business.
•  My allergies have been the worst I can ever remember all summer long. I've had to spend countless gorgeous days locked up inside with the air on instead of being able to enjoy the outdoors. I have never wanted to scoop my eyeballs out of their sockets or rub my nose off so bad in my life.
• My back hurts so damn bad I don't even know what to do anymore.
• My stupid leg just won't let up. I was camping Labor Day weekend, just minding my own business when Mr. Painful McAss Face Leg decided "hey let's totally interrupt her perfectly good weekend and cause her a sudden, excruciating amount of pain." In the middle of everyone, I just started bawling uncontrollably. How embarrassing.
• Recently, there has been some passive-aggressive tension among some people very close to me. It's just fucking stupid. I'm sure it will eventually blow over, but until it does, there is unnecessary drama, finger-pointing and hurt feelings.

Super:

• I got a surprise visit from Former Roomie! I had absolutely no idea he was coming in to town and was told to wait at home for a package when he just showed up at my apartment. It was the greatest surprise I could ask for and we got to hang out twice while he was home. We ate at Margarita's one night, which still manages to be our go-to restaurant. His last night in town we hung out at my and Man Friend's place watching a Packers pre-season game, drinking and watching stupid YouTube videos. It's amazing how you don't see each other for six months and you can pick up right where you left off as if a day didn't go by. 
  
• The same week, I got to see my favorite munchkin two separate days. I love the kid so much and like to think of myself as a surrogate auntie. We had so much fun playing, she and Man Friend got to meet, and I also got to catch up with her grandma, my Mom Friend. She decided she loved Man Friend right away because he let her climb all over him. 

• Little and I attended our first BBBS Match event. There was a picnic for any Green Bay matches who would like to attend. It was super cool getting to interact with other matches and see how many people were part of the program. Also, I had no idea there were so many people in their 40s, 50s and 60s who were Bigs. I was really impressed by that. After we ate (Little's idea of dinner consisted of half her scoop of pasta salad, three cookies and a handful of pickles), we chalked, played balloon toss, got her face painted and then joined in the Bigs Vs. Littles softball game. Little kept saying "The Littles are gunna kick the Bigs' butts!" To which I had to be honest and say "Yes, I'm sure that is accurate." And sure as shit, she was right.

  

  There's something so powerful and therapeutic
  about a balloon release.

• I participated in my fourth-annual Suicide Prevention Walk. I very actively fund-raised this year and raised more than any of my previous years for a total of $270 in donations. A total number hasn't been released yet, but more than $7,000 was raised just in online donations. Day-of donations and earnings from the raffle and silent auctions have not been included. Participating in the walks gives me such a sense of pride, and knowing I'm helping make a difference is so incredibly, overwhelmingly powerful. The growing success of the walk is the definition of bittersweet. It's so amazing seeing such a strong amount of awareness and support of people who truly and genuinely want to save someone's life.
  There is such a stigma attached to mental illness and suicide that it's never talked about, but that's entirely why the suicide rate is so high. With organizations like the Be the Light walk, we can help those in need and I am so proud to see the group exploding every year. But the growing number of people every year is heartbreaking. That means that more people are still taking their lives and we are still losing so many wonderful people. 
• I received some amazing news a few weeks ago. There is a possibility a wonderful change may be coming my way, but I can't post about it just quite yet. I know this is such a teaser, but I've been super amped, and feeling way more positive about myself. Hopefully more news to come soon.