Packer fans

Well, at the risk of stepping in something no one wants to smell, I'm attempting to honor a request.  A few weeks ago, when I wrote about how life has a way of continuing, despite what or how we may feel about it, one of the girls commented to me about how I need to write something for each of their birthdays...  Well, here goes (Shout out to Sarah!) nuthin'...

When I was younger; much, much, much, younger I used to get pretty excited about what in the grand scheme of things are pretty trivial.

Like sporting events.

I've always been a huge Bears fan.  In fact, one of the cooler sports nerd things that has happened to me, was when Diane and I (and my brother and sister-in-law) met Walter Payton at a restaurant he used to own in Aurora.  We walked in and instead of some teenage host/hostess, there he was, greeting people like old friends.  We chatted briefly and shook his hand but the funny part was when Diane tried to show him how a simple hand shake can be used to establish dominance.  We had had some discussion about a news story (or something) on the topic that we found interesting. Anyway, when she tried it on Walter and explained to him what she was doing and why, he got this little gleam in his eye and squeezed her hand just enough to show her that her trick didn't work.  We all had a good laugh and a great evening.

So back (more or less) to the point, when I was younger, I used to hold... oh, let's call it... a wee bit of animus towards, in particular, the Green Bay Packers.  And their fans.  If you watch football, you know the type.  Camo, blaze orange, cheese hats, beer bellies, runny noses, frost filling in their beards.  And then there's the men.

I used to make fun of them unmercifully.  But, as I got a little older, a little more mature (what? I'm mature dammit!) and a little wiser I realized that many people I like, some I even love, are, in fact, Packer fans.  Some of them don't even live north of the Cheddar Curtain (I know, right?!?) a fact which always amazes me a little.

Which brings me to the topic (you knew I'd get back here eventually, right?) and that, is Sarah.

This involves one of my favorite Sarah/Caitlin stories and it may, at least in part, explain why Tobi, the Jack Russell terrorist (not an autocorrect) became the way he was.  Oh wait, no it doesn't, he was that way from the start.

We had just moved in to the house in Wonder Lake.  Caitlin invited Sarah up to spend the night (or possibly weekend.  Either way, the length of time is not germane to the story) and the next morning, Caitlin thought it would be a good idea to "test" the Invisible Fence we had installed to limit Tobi's terrorist activities to our yard.  I mean, after all, we didn't want the neighbors to hate us.

At least not right away.  Let me earn it for crying out loud.

So Caitlin went outside the Invisible Fence and called Tobi to her.  He dutifully trotted over toward where she stood, he wasn't fully trained on the fence yet, until he hit "the line".  At which point he yelped, turned and ran back in to the house.  Caitlin felt horrible.  Even though Tobi used to bite her feet (and for whatever reason, only her feet)  and regularly chewed up her clothes, she never wanted to hurt the little jerk (and I mean that in the most endearing sense) and when she saw him react that way, she ran over to him and picked him up to reassure him.

Well, that's what she told us anyway, lol...

So, to put the candle on this cake, Sarah, I hope you have the most amazing birthday ever!

I love you!

Peace