Not Watching My Cubs

Some evenings, all I want to do after work is snuggle up with the pets and watch the Cubs game. Today I checked the broadcast schedule and saw they would be on ESPN. That gave me one of two options,..watch on the ESPN app or crash a friends house who actually has cable.

Love these shirts.

Not wanting to fix dinner, I nuked some leftover French toast, invited Mrs. Butterworth to join me and logged on to ESPN. I was naive in thinking blackouts only held true for where the game was being played. With the Cubs playing in Pittsburgh, I incorrectly assumed they wouldn't be blacked out.

As I blog, the game radio broadcast is streaming through my phone. The 20 dollar price tag for subscribing to the radio broadcasts is in a price range I can stomach. Most days cable service could remedy this situation, but I can't seem to stomach or justify the cost. Another option would be to move out of market and get MLB TV. That might be a little drastic though.

Time to sign off and flip the laundry. Try not to be to jealous of my exciting Monday evening.

When anxiety rears its ugly head.

It's been just over 10 years since anxiety and panic became and unwelcome part of my life. After some counseling and educating myself about my new "friends", I managed to find ways to cope and even discover some triggers that can be easily worked around.

But unfortunately there are times when being stressed unleashes an abnormal amount of anxiety that leaves me feeling edgy. That, my friends, was my February. I did what I could to mellow out, but there were still more days than not that I didn't feel like myself. If only I had a good answer to those who ask if there is anything they can do. Seeing that none of my friends are genies, I will gladly continue to accept their open ears and arms.

It seems like this time of year is always harder... seasonal affective disorder anyone? Can't just be a coincidence that my first panic attacked happened during February. Maybe I should start to consider a Southern getaway each February. Anyway, combine this silliness with too many abnormally stressful work days as of late and you get an anxiety-ridden Jane ready to flip into a panic attack at the drop of a hat. Yep, not exactly my idea of a fun time.

After a super rocky start to March... I know, only two days in... I'm still quite hopeful that feeling like myself again will be just around the corner. There is no logical reason for me to feel panicky during a simply meeting at work or while chit-chatting with friends(more like sisters). The kicker was today... when I couldn't even have lunch with myself. There wasn't a known trigger in sight, just my silly brain misfiring some flight or fight messages. Why couldn't I just relax and people watch during lunch?

Looking back to earlier today, I gotta admit that picturing myself dashing through Metro Center's parking lot trying to eat my Jimmy John's sandwich without losing any lettuce is fairly amusing. Had I given in to the illogical message and taken flight, then I guess some people would have had an amusing story to tell their family.

More than anything, I'm thankful I have close friends and family I can talk to about this because it would only stress me out more to think I was alone. By sharing this blog entry, I'm hoping to release some stress and bring some peace and calmness to what has become a very tired and rundown brain. I need the days of cracking myself up to start outnumbering the quiet days.

Paperweight Making at J. Draper Glass

Mom treated Laura and I to a little adventure at J. Draper Glass this weekend. She signed us up for the St. Valentine Workshop where we each got to make a heart shaped paperweight.

Here's a quick video of Laura rolling the molten hot clear glass into the colored glass, and then returning it to the heat, so the colored glass would melt.

After heating up the glass, we used the gigantic tweezers to pull and mix the glass which had the consistency of a slightly melty taffy. Two hands were needed to manipulate the molten glass.

There was quite a bit of heating the glass. It's a step that has to be done in between each step you manipulate the glass. The key is to keep the metal bar rotating and level, so it heats evenly and you don't lose the glob.

After this step, our teachers shaped the glass into globe, using a hollowed out piece of wood that stays soaking in water. The globe gets heated up again and then squashed and shaped into the heart (the teacher adds the cleavage by notching at the top of the globe).

In order to elongate the base of the heart, it gets heated up again and then you get to swing it around like a pendulum. Now that it looks like a heart, it's time to release it from the metal bar with a swift knock, and then blow torch the jagged edges.

I think it's safe to say our instructors were having as much fun as we were having.

Here's Mom's finished heart which included reds, oranges and mix of blues.

Laura went with an asymmetric blue heart with a hit of yellow and some cool bubbles.

I made a more traditional shaped heart with blue and white swirly twirlies.

Whether you're interested in taking a fun class we did or just looking for a cool piece of art, I suggest stopping by J. Draper's Studio. 

CubsCon2016 - Day 3

Day 3 at the Cubs Convention started without a headache and a breakfast of champions, stale two-day old donuts and a bottled frapuccino I brought from home. The ballroom events weren't of much interest to us, so the goal was head back down to autograph land and get as many autographs as we could before checkout time at noon.

We began our line waiting around 8:30 or so. There were definitely fewer fans this morning, but that still didn't guarantee you'd make it through two autograph lines in an hour. I started out getting Dan Vogelbach and couldn't help but mention how I'd love to see him hit a Vogel-bomb this year. He liked the sound of that!


My next line was for Stage B. There were stages A through F. Stage F was for kids signings only. Some people "won the lottery" and found an autograph voucher in their welcome packets for the Cubs core team players. Ya know, the likes of Cy Young Award Winner Jake Arrieta, Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant, and many more. Then there were the free-for-all stages that Tom and I lived in because our "lottery win" was a $5 off coupon when you spend $50 in the team store. Below is a photo of Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg who actually did double-duty on Stage A because Jorge Soler was unable to make it.He's going to make a good ambassador for the Chicago Cubs.

Tom did a good job cleaning up on autographs and got 5 within the time I got 2. Here he is below with Jeimer Candelario, which I managed to snag while I was waiting for Dan Vogelbach.

I opted to be one of the first in line for the 10am signing by Steve Trout and bounced hopped over to get Eric Jokisch's autograph.

While I was still holding my place in Steve Trout's line, Tom got his 3rd autograph of the hour and had noteworthy conversation with Dan Vogelmonster. Pretty sweet sig from a kid we've been rooting for ever since he was a Peoria Chief.

After I got Steve Trout's autograph, Tom asked that I stand in Randy Hundley's line and get a card signed for him. I thought it would be easy-peasy, but little did I know that I'd be standing in the slowest moving line of the weekend. Even with a free voucher, I was concerned if I'd really get an autograph... would Hundley keep signing past his allotted time? The answer, yes! 

It was about 5 after 11am when I got to meet Hundley and there was still a quarter of the line for him to get through. He made a comment to me about how he wasn't sure what he'd done to go over time. I kindly explained to him that it was because he was taking time to talk to all of us, which was really friendly and unexpected, plus he was helping make our day. I received a gigantic smile in return.

Above is the completed home plate, which thanks to Tom's help has 33 signatures (30 players, 1 organist, 1 agent, and 1 front office employee). 

It was a definitely an Epic Sibling Weekend! 

Closest we would get to Jake Arrieta, Joe Maddon, and Kyle Schwarber... and the only pic of the two of us together. Living in the moment is pretty fantastic!

CubsCon2016 - Day 2

The second day of the Cubs Convention was slated to be a filled with autograph seeking and games galore.


I was a little slow-going waking up with a thumping headache. As I tried to clear my head, Tom took the plate and headed to the lower of the hotel to get Matt Szczur's autograph. He told me it was a must have for the plate, so who was I to argue? Too bad Szczur decided to smush his signature in the bottom corner of the plate.

While Tom was staking out the autograph table, I snagged us some seats for Cubs Jeopardy. Tom opted to stay in autograph land and missed some great laughs, but he did snag Randy Hundley's autograph on the plate for me.

Jeopardy was an absolute blast... in part because of our fantastic game show host Pat Hughes, the voice of Cubs radio. He is so sharp, although this next bit doesn't reflect his wit. At one point while the two teams were thinking of the answer, Pat had a brain fart and called on an audience member who had raised their hand. The fan answered correctly and Pat immediately said, "Why did I do that!?!?"

Here's a list of the two teams:
Hitters included Bill Madlock, Jose Cardenal, Bobby Dernier, John Baker
Pitchers included Lee Smith, Scott Sanderson, Jim Lieber, Scott Eyre

Bill Madlock had a couple of the best answers. He's on the far left. At this point Madlock was laughing because he simple pointed to himself when he answered. Yes, he was the player who won back-to-back batting champs in '75 & '76. Pat Hughes got a kick out of it and mimicked the pointing, while the crowd couldn't help but laugh.

I had such a blast watching Jeopardy (I was actually brought to tears of laughter), that I was on a mission to get signatures from all of the participants. With Tom's help, I managed to acquire 7 of the 8 players!

It was nice to have something to talk about with each of the players. I recall having trading cards of Scott Sanderson (not pictured), but don't ever recall seeing him play, so I had to let him know that I would have given him the MVP for the pitchers for being quite the baseball trivia buff. Then he shared with me the reason Lee Smith didn't answer a single question and was laughing the whole time... well, as Scott mentioned, Lee whispered in his ear something along the line of, "I don't know why they have me up here, I don't know baseball trivia."

I also had a fun conversation with John Baker (not pictured). I mentioned how he and Dernier really shouldered the weight of their team because Madlock only answered a couple questions (yes, he was the answer to those questions) and Jose kept testing the bell to see if it worked or answering partially read questions. The answer of Ron Santo was not even close for the question "The ex-Cubs broadcaster and player who "touched them all" to clinch the 1993 World Series." Jose sure did give us all some laughs! As a true competitor, John just kind of shook his head at Jose's shenanigans, and commented how he would have answered more questions right if Dernier hadn't kept placing the bell so far our of his reach. It was classic!


As you can see from the pics, I had a fun conversation with Jon Leiber, and luckily, Tom was at the front of the next line to take these pics. I simple wanted a pic with Jon, and next thing I know, I'm sitting behind the table chatting and cackling. Gotta say, it was nice to hear his experience of the convention and how he was enjoying the time as much as us fans.


Like I said, Tom was in the line next to me. At this point, I was about halfway through Jon Leiber's line, only moments away from getting knuckles from Lee Smith while Tom took a much deserved seat at the front of Ron Coomer's line.


During the 11 o'clock hour Tom and I scooted upstairs to here a good portion of Joe Maddon and coaching staff take questions from the audience. Prior to entering that ballroom, we happened into Trevor Cahill and Clayton Richard signing in an empty ballroom, and then Neil Ramirez on a radio commercial break. Close to zero wait time and three more sigs for the plate!

[Insert pictures here] (Oh yeah, I was living in the moment and have zero pictures from these happenings.

After the coaches talk we weaved our way down the three escalators to get back to autograph land for the 1 o'clock hour. Despite the fact that I line hopped like a fool, I managed to get 4 autographs! Here's my craziness:

1. Standing in Dallas Beeler's line, but he was a few minutes late.
2. I hopped to Scott Sanderson's line because he came out early and it was moving fast.
3. Tracked down Tom in the Bill Madlock to alert him that he'd better get in the Pedro Strop line if he really wanted Pedro's sig. I swapped places with Tom and acquired Madlock's auto. (Note: Tom did not opt for Pedro's autograph... silly goose.)
4. Got back in Scott Sanderson's line, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Jay Johnstone hopped up on stage to sign with him. I acquired both.
5. Speed walked around the back of all the lines growing for the 2:00pm players so I could come full circle and get Dallas Beeler's sig. Tom and I were lucky to be a couple of the last people in line.

Here I am with Dal-las Beel-er... clap, clap... clap, clap, clap. Yes, I walked up to the table quietly chanting his name and he very humbly hushed me. It was fantastic! "Please don't start a chant!" he said with the look of a deer in the headlights. I proceeded to have a talk with him about our Twitter interactions, which also involve the chant. Really hope to see him in the Bigs next year.

Now for one of the craziest turn of events of the weekend. Tom's autograph goals for the weekend involved getting Pedro Strop (that didn't happen) and above all else, David Ross. Rewind to Day 1 as we perused Vendor Alley and how I happen to be in the right place at the right time. I overheard a fellow say that he didn't need that, go ahead and give it to the next person or kid.

I approached the gal behind the table and inquired about what they were talking about, and it turned out to be a Fast Pass for the autograph lines. I kindly asked if that was something this kid at heart could possible have? To my surprise she said yes, and all I had to do was pick a line we'd want to zip to the front of. Line E at 2:00pm please. David Ross was guaranteed to be in Tom's future. If only I could have waited in line with Tom to capture a better photo.

We bounced around the autograph lines for a couple more hours, and discovered that while we had each gotten upwards of 10 signatures during the past 4 or so hours, others had been waiting in Ben Zobrist's autograph line for that same amount of time. I'm not saying I wouldn't want Zobrist's autograph, but being able to meet so many more players was right up my alley. Safe to say Tom agreed...here is is with CJ Edwards Jr.

After a successful day of autograph seeking, it was time to get off our feet and watch the Cubs play their version of Family Fued. I squatted us some seats while Tom waited out Adam Warren's line to get one more signature on my home plate... Tom was one determined man!

Cubs Fued had quite a few good exchanges between the players. So glad we got seats close enough to hear their comments not spoken into the microphones. One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing how the guys interact with each other. The have great camaraderie. As for the pic below... Yes, that is Clark, the teams mascot, on one of the teams. He is fabulous at Cubs trivia, which he also proved earlier in the day when he showed up at Jeopardy with white board and marker in paw.

To wrap up a successfully fun day we hoofed it to Burrito Beach. We needed it even out all of our line standing with some walking, plus our bellies were once again requesting a real meal. Could have been the hunger, but as far as I'm concerned, they had the best guacamole I've ever tried.

Our plan was to kick our feet up in the hotel room and head down to the ballrooms around 7:45 for the 8pm Cubs Bingo. That plan changed when we got back from dinner and saw the supersized ballroom almost packed to the gills shortly after 7pm. I suppose if we had the name Jon Leiber we could have showed up at 5 minutes 'til 8pm and still gotten a table, but unfortunately we weren't part of his entourage. Waiting in the room vs in the ballroom wasn't a big deal, and I was tickled pink to see one of the players & family join us fans for some of the festivities.

Above is the closest I came to winning a game. My hopes were up for about 30 seconds. Too bad Tom or I didn't come home with a Sandberg or Hawk flag that once flew above Historic Wrigley Field. That would have been epic!