unexpected good fun

The kids are gone for the weekend. It's so quiet and boring when they are gone all weekend, I know I should enjoy the silence!! We have an engagement party to go to in Chicago tonight. And it was just easier for Mike's parents to take them for the weekend. Cal went to an overnight birthday party last night at a hotel with indoor waterpark. They even got a limo ride to/from the waterpark. Geez, what are they going to do for this kid's 16th birthday. I can see it being like "My Sweet 16" on MTV. Ah, the joys of cable and trashy TV, but for as much as I rarely watch TV, one juicy trashy show every once in a while is all in good fun. Anyhow, Cal got dropped off after lunch, and Mike took Cal to meet his parents so Cal is staying there tonight.

Last night after meeting my dear friend at a scrapbooking store on my end of town, my aunt called and asked if I wanted to go to some Brewers thing. Mike had been in a terrible mood all week, and planned on staying in to watch the netflix movies he got this week. So I figured, what the heck, I'll go. So to the Riverside my Aunt Lorie and I went (for the second time in 6 days for me!). It was called "Bob Uecker's Winter Warm Up". I had never heard about it, and I like to think I stay on top of news, sports, and upcoming shows (Cracker in Madison and Illinois the first week of Feb, for example & Morrisey coming to the Rave in April), etc. Anyhow, the Riverside is pretty small, I'm thinking it was private invite or something only for sponser/employees of sponsors (my Aunt got tix through a friend's husband). You could pay $500 to eat and mingle with the Brewers beforehand, but yeah, we didn't do that. Anyways, it was really fun!! While I have to say Bob Uecker is an outstanding announcer, he is the worst interviewer I have ever seen. I don't know if it's his old age, if he had been drinking, or if he's always that awful. Anyhow, the Brewers were there, and they made it fun. There was a great comedian, too. Can't remember the name of him...they did a Family Feud like game show between the Brewers. Then they had a "Hot for Hardy" show, a spin off of the Dating Game for JJ Hardy. They showed highlights from the season, and I know this sounds ridiculous, but it was just amazing and emotional to see the replays from the final games; the excitement and pure craziness--just awesome. While at home all summer we did watch (at the very least, listened to) every game that was broadcast on TV, watching it on the big projection screen at the Riverside was just so much cooler. I wish we would've gone to more games. Well, now with the season tickets, we'll be going to lots of games this coming season. Hopefully they are just as good of a team.

I am such a goof. Who else in the world gets excited over paper, stickers, and sports to the point of doing little dances and "oot-hoot!"'s over sports. Okay, now that I probably put 75% of my blog readers to sleep...sorry. Now I am going to subject you to pictures of them. But I convinced Mike we have to stop at Gurnee Mills on the way to Chicago so I can go to Archivers. That's a good end to a blog, isn't it???

Mark Antanasio (owner) and Bob Uecker


Jeff Suppan and Corey Hart--this one's for you, Laura : )

Ryan Braun and Bob

The team, owner, GM, etc...

these guys rock! Oh the winners of the Feud game got "Tenntucky" t-shirts and bratwurst (the winners are wearing their shirts : )