Athletics

I was thin and wiry when I was growing up. Bean pole may be an accurate description. Both of my parents were athletically-inclined, and so they signed me up in sports to channel some of my energy.

I think I might have mentioned previously that I was in soccer for a summer when I was 6. I didn't take to it, preferring to turn somersaults along the side than to actually run around after the ball.

In the summer before 3rd Grade, I signed up for softball. It must have been one of the first years they offered it, because there was a range of ages on my team. We were the Demons (which was ironic, because the next year, we were the Angels).


I played softball from that year through my sophomore year of high school, when my competitive fire had nearly died out and I just didn't care anymore. During that span, I played every single position on the field. I had a pretty good eye, and could be counted on to get on base either by walking or a bloop single. I didn't like the outfield (incredibly boring when playing other girls my age).

My sister came along three years after me and got most of my parents' athletic abilities. Her summer softball teams played in national tournaments. I made the All-Star team once. I did hit at least one inside-the-park home run, though. :o)

My other sport was volleyball. I started playing in 7th grade, and by the time I hit high school, I was a decent setter. My junior year I made the varsity team, mainly because I had a badass floating serve. My team wasn't very good, though, and as a benchrider, I only got to play when the starters either one the first two game or lost them (usually the latter). I got chewed out once by the coach because I had a bad game (blowing a serve in the 3rd game when we were already 0-2 in the match and "not cheering enough"). It was almost enough to make me quit midseason, but it definitely killed my interest in volleyball for my senior year. That year, I was a volunteer 7th grade coach instead. Much more rewarding and less hostile.

Until I was 5 months pregnant with my son, I played volleyball recreationally after high school. Once he's older, I plan to play again. Look out, world!

Childhood: The Most Embarrassing Post I'll Probably Write

I'm not sure quite how it got started, but I was kind of a sensitive kid. Some kids are afraid of the dark, others, monsters. I was terrified of those and of having nightmares. It was so difficult for me to fall asleep, for fear that I would have a nightmare. To comfort myself, I either asked (or made) my sister sleep in my room, slept on the floor in my parents' room, or in a nest of blankets in the hall outside their room. (I wasn't kidding about the subject of this post).

For many years, anything disturbing I saw would haunt me at night. I have my nearly-photographic memory to thank for that. In order to get some sleep, I'd "watch" a movie in my head until I fell asleep.  Eventually I grew out of the need for closeness and nightlights, but some things still trouble me. I still have a picture in my head of a corpse I saw while learning about civil rights in 8th Grade.

More neuroses: I picked out a daybed so that I would be "protected" on three sides, even though my bed was always against the wall. I took turns putting socks on each foot, because I didn't want one sock to feel bad. I still have to have all closet doors shut before I can comfortably go to bed.

I'm sure there are others, but I'm just repressing them. If you always thought there was something "off" about me, you were right.

Band

I started playing the saxophone in 6th grade. I don't know what possessed me to pick up the sax. After all, I clearly remember wanting to play the trombone because they sat in the front row at the UW Band spring concert. But by some whim, I chose the alto saxophone. I remember learning to play Hava Nagila in 6th Grade Band. That should have been a warning to me that every sax part I got for the rest of my playing career would be very, very boring. My band teacher kept things "lively" by getting frustrated and throwing music stands. No joke.

Fast forward past junior high and uninspired performances (despite how much "potential" a substitute director said my 8th grade band had. I learned to despise that word). I was never a great or outstanding player. I didn't practice often, and playing in front of the director (which was necessary to move up into a better band) made me nervous and squeaky.

It was in high school marching and pep band that I found my true interest. I attended marching camp the summer before 10th grade, where the rest of us marching band newbies learned how to mark-time-mark and about-face. I felt so proud in the hot polyester uniform marching down 8th Street in the annual Rapids parade. I also remember singing "I'll be there for you" on the bus there to a friend of mine who recently ended a relationship.

I was in marching and pep band all three years in high school (note: despite the name, Lincoln is a senior high). My pep band director (and friend Kendra's father) chose fun music for us to play. I also really got a kick out of dressing up with the themes he chose. Sci-Fi/Space was always fun. One year, I dressed up as Princess Leia (and so did Kendra - and friendship blossomed :o). My saxophone-playing cohorts, Andrea and Becky, and I had a lot of fun choreographing our movements to the songs (something later bands seemed to think they couldn't do. "What? Move to the music?!"). 25 or 6 to 4 was a favorite, as was the band's theme Call Me Al. Everyone danced to that one.

One fun thing about the band was the annual trip to participate in Band Day at Camp Randall Stadium during a Badger football game. That was chaos. Dozens of bands, thousands of kids, instruments, chaperones, etc. One year, a friend brought a stuffed Fozzie Bear doll and got lots of chants of "Foz-zie Bear!" from us. We also always played when we shouldn't have. Oh well.

The Band Day my senior year was definitely the best. We had a great group of friends on the bus, had a great time at the game, and got away with pretty much anything we wanted on the way home. We hung our uniforms from the overhead racks so the driver couldn't see what we were up to (though I believe s/he didn't care). It was all good, clean fun. We tried to see how many people we could cram into a seat (12, I believe), and found that we could flip over and under one of the back seats. We had a dance party by the glow of the red light above the rear door. Ah, such fun.

The Rapids wrestling team is really, really good. They've one the D1 state title or come in second all but one year since the early 90s. And every year, a pep band would be sent down to state to cheer on the wrestlers and fans. My senior year, they were going for their 4th straight title. Andrea made a sign that said Quad Squad, and we cheered their way to that victory. By the end of the evening, we had a new in-joke: thump (as in, a pin)-yeah! (crowd cheering)-*click* (Andrea taking a picture). Thump-yeah-click!

Other band-related memories: One evening after a marching band performance, a bunch us heard there was supposed to be an aurora borealis that evening. We went to the football practice field after halftime and sure enough, that was the only time so far I've ever seen one. It was amazing.

I tried out for drum major one year. It was probably a lack of confidence and weak voice that did me in.

My friends Renee and Laura played awesome bells. Our cadence was great, especially with Bill leading the way.

Trespassing on the main football field after a game, we found that 2 somersaults = 5 yards.

It can get really, really cold in the evenings. So cold, in fact, a few years we created fake "fires" to keep us warm on the sideline until it was time to play at halftime.

Childhood: Christmas

Christmas with my family, for as long as I remember and until I started dating my husband, followed this pattern: Christmas Eve with Mom's side (my grandpa's birthday) in Iola, Christmas Eve service at church, our own family gift exchange first thing Christmas morning, then packing up everything for Christmas at my Dad's side in Waupaca.  When I was really young (under 6), I remember going to very extended family gatherings.  As I got older and started to get more cousins, Christmases moved to my grandparents' houses.

Certain gifts I got stick out, like the year my uncle Steve gave me a chemistry set (awesome!) and my sister a My Pet Monster (totally appropriate).  He was also the one who gave me my first New Kids On The Block cassette tape and a VHS tape of the first season of South Park.  Always wanting to corrupt and inform, Steve. 

You know how certain foods or smells can bring memories flooding back?  If I haven't had 7up in a while, my first taste will immediately take me back to Iola and Christmas.  It was there as a mixer for the adults, but for me, it was the only time in the year when I got a drink of it. There would also be lutefisk, lefse, sandbakkels, and krumkake (can you tell I'm part Norwegian?).

On my mom's side, for most years, it was just my older cousin Jimmie, my sister, and me.  This led, generally, to us getting very bored after the presents were opened.  Invariably, we either went outside and tormented my sister or whatever little kid happened to be along that year, or else we went into my grandparents room and broke the bed.  I think we had a streak of several years where we'd be bouncing around the room and *bang*, the bed would break.  My grandparents also had a set of Mr. Scent markers.  We'd get ourselves a little dizzy sniffing those, and occassionally, throw them at the wall to see if we could leave a mark.

Christmases on my dad's side were much more boisterous affairs.  Lots of aunts, uncles and cousins would fill the place.  We'd eat lunch, chat, then tear as one into the presents. Few memories stand out, likely because every year was pretty similar to the last. Same people, same handmade ornaments of my great-grandma's on the tree, same sledding. Well, there was the year we were sliding on snowtubes and Alissa went onto the ice. For a few years early on in my life, an ice skate would be passed around between my dad and his sibilings and cousins as a gag gift.

2011 Badger Rose Bowl

31 Dec 2010 - The day dawned extremely foggy. We had a flight from Madison to Chicago that was to be the first leg of our journey; we found out that the same flight was canceled several times yesterday because of similar weather conditions. That was worrisome, but we packed up Felix's stuff and drove to Fond du Lac, where we met Vicky and Cindy. Steve and Vicky are watching Felix while we are in California. It was hard to see him go, because we've never been away from him longer than a workday. {Felix was nearly 18 months old.} On the way back, it seemed less likely that our flight would be on time, if at all. We borrowed an I-pass from Cassie and hit the road for Chicago almost as soon as we got home. The fog cleared as we went south, but turned into heavy rain around Chicago. At least flights were going in and out. We tired to switch to an earlier flight, but apparently they don't let you fly standby anymore. We went through security (ugh), then decided to have a nice early dinner at the Macaroni Grill restaurant in our concourse. Nick got pizza and I got chicken and pasta. While we waited, we played Dominion, called to say hi to Felix, and tried to relax a bit before our 6:45 flight. Mom and Dad flew out on the 29th and will pick us up at the airport when we land. We left at 7 pm and flew in at 10 pm (CT). We met up with Mom & Dad, when went to the hotel (Anaheim Hilton). Quickly discussed our plans for tomorrow, then called it a night at 12:30 am CT, after 16 hours of travel.

1 Jan 2011 - I slept so soundly last night I didn't hear the fireworks at Disney at midnight. We got up at 5:15, then meet the folks at 6. We drove up to Pasadena as the sun rose, slowed only by the odd slaloming police car on the interstate. We parked at the stadium, then followed the mass of humanity toward the Rose Parade route. We found a place to stand at an intersection near one of Jay Macias's aunts (very friendly lady). We also saw Matt Bernstein walking around. we were near a good group of Badger fans, who joined Dad in cheering for the manure scoopers. ["Scoop! Scoop!] We left the parade after seeing both the Badger and TCU floats and bands. We made our way back to the car to tailgate. The day is beautiful - only contrails marring the blue sky and with temps in the low 50s. we had our bloody marys, sat on upturned plastic buckets on a red-flowered tablecloth. Ah, lovely. There seems to be many more Badger fans than our purple-clad rivals. Jim, Jess and Jess's family stopped by to say hi shortly before we went in to the stadium. About an hour before game time, we found our seats. As for the game itself, I'd rather not comment too much. Suffice it to say we did not look like ourselves; missed opportunities and a missed 2-point conversion left us short 19-21. Damn. We stuck around afterward for 5th Quarter and for the parking lots to clear. When we got back to Anaheim, we went to a sports bar called Clancy's for dinner. That was nice, but we all felt beat. we shared a quick drink with the folks before we called it a disappointing day.

At the Rose Parade

Emulating a statue

Ws!

2 Jan - We woke up around 6:30 and gave a call to see how Felix was doing. Great, apparently. Nick and I relaxed in the room for a while, then got ready. Around 9:30, we went up to Mom & Dad's room for some snacks. We checked out and went for a drive over to the Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney. It's been a long time since I was there and it's totally changed. We walked around the shopping area, then decided to go to the Jazz Kitchen restaurant for brunch. I got crab cakes, while everyone else got something with a similar creole style. After that, we drove up to Santa Monica in the rain to find a bar to watch the Packers-Bears game. The first we tried was packed with no parking, so we went to a hole-in-the-wall near UCLA. A few other tables of Packers fans joined us while we were there. The Packers won 10-3, putting them in the playoffs! Sweet! After the game, Mom & Dad dropped us off at our hotel near LAX {Hacienda at Sepulveda @ Mariposa}. It was raining, dreary, ucky. We said good-bye to them (they're driving to Las Vegas right now), then made our way via stairs (elevator broken) to our less-than-stellar room. (TV with no green, broken light bulb), but at least it's clean and there's a shuttle that will take us to the airport on Tuesday. We were still feeling pretty tired, so it's good we got food from the folks so we didn't have to go out. We may be more adventurous tomorrow, although we don't have a car.

Packer fans in UCLA-ville

3 Jan - It was still rainy and cold this morning, so we abandoned the plan of going to Knott's Berry Farm in favor of a trip downtown. We got a free breakfast, then relaxed in the room until about 9:30. Then, we walked to the nearest rail line and took that to our transfer stop. It took a while to figure out where we were supposed to be for the next leg of our journey, but we found it and it wasn't raining anymore. We took the bus downtown to Little Tokyo. Our first stop was for lunch at ZenCu. We got spicy tuna rolls, Philly rolls and crab rolls (all yum!) along with chicken teriyaki for Nick and Soba noodles for me. That was the first time I had them and they didn't do much for me. Oh well. We walked through the small Japanese Village Plaza, purchasing sake sets for Natalie and us. From there, I wanted to talk to the Flower Market. Not a bright idea, I must admit. The route took us through a very unsavory area, and to top it off, the flower markets were closed. Damn. Nick wasn't thrilled about either and I don't blame him. we walked on toward the bus stop that would take us back to the hotel, through the gorgeous historic district. We decided we needed to use a restroom, but instead of a gas station, I suggested we stop at a sukiyaki restaurant for sake and dessert. We shared a large sake, ordered mochi ice cream balls, and watched The Food Network on TV. Very pleasant. After we finished, we caught the transit back to the hotel, arriving around 3:30. We relaxed in the room and called to check on Felix. We read a little, then decided to get dinner. We walked to the strip mall kitty-corner from our hotel and got takeout from a Mexican restaurant. I got a veggie burrito and Nick got nachos. We watched an MST3K movie (Soultaker) on Netflix on Nick's laptop. Called it an early night.

4 Jan - We woke at 4:10 am PT, got ready, and were on our way to the airport around 5. Our flight was at 7, so we got some Starbucks for breakfast. Our seats were near the front of the plan, so we were among the last on. The flight was uneventful (caught a glimpse of the edge of the Grand Canyon) and landed in Chicago at 12:40 ct. We stood in line at the check-in counter to get our receipt for the flight we weren't taking, then got to the car and were on the road by 1:40. We can't wait to get home to see our little man!

{transcribed 1/29/2020}