Uphill Battles

It's been said that we cannot pretend to know another person's journey until we've walked a mile in their shoes. Or perhaps, pedaled a mile on their bicycle.

I came across this gentleman this morning on my commute to work. It was windy and the temperature was hovering around 15 degrees – the high for the day.

I could only imagine what a frigid uphill battle he was facing on this stretch of road. In fact, this may have been the easy part of his journey. In jeans and flannel jacket, he wasn't dressed for recreational exercise. But I have no idea where he was headed or how long it would take him to get there.

Or if he was even struggling. Maybe he was exhilarated by the below-freezing breeze. Maybe he just had to get to his next-door neighbor's.

We don't know. We can guess. But we really don't know.

I've had my share of uphill battles. Some I've made public and some, not so much. Each and every day there is something that appears in the form of an uphill climb. It might be a little hill, or it might be insurmountable. My goal is to level off some of those big hills so that I am on a steady course.

It IS a battle. I try to hand it over to God. But I don't always let him take it. He reminds me that He doesn't make junk. He doesn't care if I am a size 6 or size 16. He loves me as I am. And I need to love myself.

Can you imagine how freeing it would be if the bike was going in the other direction and we were coasting down hill?

That's what it must be like when one is at peace with herself. I can't pretend to know. I can only imagine.

But I hope to get there one day.

Can't Predict Everything

Personalized messages come in all sorts of formats these days. But it gets creepy when it seems the cyber world can read your mind.

Just talking about the weather – while in our living room – and bam, the little forecast reminder above pops up on my Facebook page. How do they (whoever they are) know I am concerned?

Do they know hubby had to put oil dry on the ice-rink driveway so I could get up the incline and into the garage after work? Do they know that we were slightly hesitant to drive to the boys basketball game tonight?

I bet they had no idea what a crazy night on the court we were in for!

Let's just call this Super Tuesday. Nothing to do with elections but everything to do with a sporting repeat of Super Sunday.

Remember how the Patriots were down – way down – at halftime? Remember how fired up they were the second half after the coach went Gaga on them in the locker room?

Well, meet the Assumption Royals, aka Patriots.

We hosted Pittsville tonight and they had a player who could not miss during the first half. Seriously could not miss. Needless to say, our boys were down 30-16 at the half. Here we are with this super winning record this year and we were trailing a team we beat by more than 10 points the last time we met.

Not sure what our coach said to them during the break, but they, like those Patriots, came out fired up to take back the game! And so they did.

They actually caught up and with a score of 46-46 at the buzzer, they (like those Patriots) forced the contest in overtime! I knew then that we would win for sure. The script was already written, right?

And we did. 58-52. Wow.

Predictable, yet not. Just how I like it!

A Pretty Super Sunday

In case you didn't catch us on TV, Mr. Austin and I had a pretty good time at the Badgers basketball game. I should say SUPER good time since it was Super Sunday and all.

I knew had seats behind the bench but I didn't realize the only thing separately us from the big guys was a row of 6 chairs. Now that was a pleasant surprise!

The only downside sitting there is that you can't see much on the other end of the court because the scorer's table and players are in the way. And well, the players sitting right in front of us are pretty tall, too. But really, to FEEL their excitement and not just SEE it, is sooooooo worth it!

I didn't have my good camera with me or need a zoom. I still got some neat shots from right where we were sitting! A few highlights...

First we had to get our pregame mojo on at the famous Wando's bar in downtown Madison. Of course, we walk in and hubby knows the owner, because "Wando" is from Rapids and Jim coached him way back when he played Legion baseball. Always a small world when you're married to Jim Austin.

It was a pretty cool place, though. And easy walking distance to the Kohl Center.


A couple pregame photos were in order, too. Did I mention I had to buy yet another hoodie? I swear to all that is holy – or hoodie – that I did not have a red sweatshirt to wear! I pretty have Badger t-shirts and that's it. So I had to purchase hoodie #53 on our way out of town Saturday.

Looks good though, right?

That's how far away the bench was! 

Our friend Sandy, who got us the tickets!

Team introductions! There goes Bronson Koenig!

And there's Nigel Hayes.

Some action before halftime. It was a close game the whole time. As much as I love the movie Hoosiers, I certainly wouldn't dream of cheering for them!

Break in the action. The backs of the Badger warm-ups had names representing Black History Month. Everything from Hank Aaron and Muhammad Ali to Barack Obama and Rosa Parks. Pretty cool.

Time out on the court! There were a lot of TV timeouts so I never knew if things were live or people were watching commercials. Still have to sit down to watch to make sure we weren't sitting there picking our noses or something on camera!

Head coach Greg Gard gives some advice to D'Mitrik Trice before he subs in.

The obligatory cheerleader picture for Carter.

Nuns having fun. They were hilarious to watch!

And let's not forget Bucky! As a bonus sighting, sitting in the foreground in the red hat is former Wisconsin player Rashard Griffith, who currently enjoys a mentor role with frontcourt players. Sweet.

Quick side huddle while the play clock gets readjusted.

Koenig shoots free throws. Yes, he's my fave.

 Pep talk to stay in it to the end!!

When the bench got excited, we couldn't see but we knew it was something good!!

Ethan Happ (#22) takes a well-deserved break after scoring 20 points.

Badgers win, 65-60!

They extended their home winning streak to 19 games! How cool to be a part of that!

After the game, we said our goodbyes to Scott and Sandy, then pretty much raced back to Rapids for the Superbowl. Dropped off our suitcase at home and picked up the brownies I made Saturday, then headed over to our friend Chet's house for his 32nd annual Super Sunday party.

Give or take a few years, Jim has been to almost all of them. I was missing a few of my girlfriends this year so I am glad the game was good to keep it interesting. Was mainly cheering for my numbers on a few pools here and there. Not a Falcons fan but I didn't think the Patriots needed yet another Superbowl ring.

Won 50 bucks, so we'll call it a successful night anyway.

Actually just a Super Sunday all around!

Great Danes... and Swedes and More

Our pregame festivities for tomorrow's Badger game began today. Sort of.

We're going to the men's hoops game with our friends Scott and Sandy from Green Bay. Since they weren't able to meet us til late afternoon, we headed to Mad Town a little earlier, checked into our hotel and met up with my high school BFF Julie and her husband Mark at the Great Dane.

The bar and grill is located right across the street from our hotel in Fitchburg. Very cool place -- and convenient.

The last few times we saw each other was for Carter's graduation party and then for her dad's funeral. So no time to sit and chat. It was nice to get this chance to visit... even if we are spending a weekend together at the end of this month for Camp Crop-A-Lot. The guys will miss out on that, though!

We said our goodbyes and met up with Scott and Sandy around 4:30 p.m. to go clubbing. And by clubbing, of course I mean supper clubbing. This is Wisconsin, after all.

Went to a place called Toby's Supper Club. Must be wildly popular since the not exactly large place was full of people at 5 p.m. already! Good food, too.

When we got back to the hotel, we walked back over to the Great Dane to catch up some more (haven't seen them since summer) and talk pregame strategy. Or something.

Am getting pretty excited about the game. I guess we are right behind the Badgers bench with nothing much between me and Mr. Koenig and Mr. Hayes. I'm fan-girling already!

Better get some sleep so I can look my best on camera. Go Badgers!

Fried-Day

If you ever wonder why my blogs are incoherent by the end of the week, this is it.

My mind is fried.

Some lack of sleep combined with work stress and a touch of sitting on my ass too much equals cranky.

I was relieved when the proverbial 5 o'clock whistle blew, signaling the end of the work week. Hubby and I went to a "good luck" party for a friend having an important surgery on Monday. Then we went to the Assumption girls basketball game, where the lady Royals soundly – very, very, very soundly – beat Pittsville, 73-14.

Nope. Not a typo.

The good thing about a runaway game is that you don't have to pay super-close attention and you have a chance to chat with girlfriends!

It would seem the next time the contents of the junk drawer in my mind start bouncing around, the solution for some serenity is quality time with friends and loved ones.

And a nice warm bed to crawl into by 10 p.m. on a Friday night.

Noted.

Shadow Dancing

I don't always put faith in a rodent to predict climate change. But when I do, the rodent is Punxsutawney Phil and it's Groundhog Day.

Logically, it's a scam. Look at the calendar on February 2 and spring is ALWAYS just a hair over 6 weeks away. We always hold out hope, though, that Phil will venture out and the back in his hibernation cave without a shadow in sight. Unfortunately, even on cloudy, sleeting or snowing days, Phil almost always sees his shadow!

Today was the same. So yep, no early spring. Though it is definitely on the mind!

I was thinking that while those furry forecasters were chasing their shadows, I am looking forward to seeing these types of shadows. A sure sign of SPRING!

Assumption baseball...

and Assumption softball!

And despite what the buck-toothed rat says, spring must be much closer than March 20 because there are Royal blue words on the calendar on Sundays in February that indicate "open hit" time at the batting cage! Bring it!

In the meantime, I will enjoy the quick-moving shadows on the basketball court as our Royals finish strong this month. The boys lost a nail-biter by 2 points versus Amherst tonight. Girls play tomorrow night and Saturday.

Then Sunday, well, that's special. It's super, even. We'll be sitting behind the Badgers bench hoping for a lucky day for Bucky! Look for us on TV. Noon tip-off. We'll be the ones in red.

Yeah, I know. Time for me to log off and go back into my cave to hibernate. Just 6 more weeks of me complaining about winter!

Square 2.0

Let's just pretend for a moment that January never happened. Today, February 1, is a new year, new month, new start. That's what was rattling around in my head today as I took the Walk of Shame.

Now this wasn't your ordinary Walk of Shame. (What kind of girl do you take me for?) This was the walk back into the 7 a.m. Weight Watchers meeting after 4 months OFF, ashamed at how much weight I gained back. Ashamed I failed myself. Ashamed I didn't stick with it. Ashamed I am almost back at square one.

On a positive note, since there allegedly is no such thing as "going back to square one," as indicated above, then I am only going back to, say, Square 2.0. Hopefully as an improved, more dedicated version of myself.

I can't categorically say we've all been there (at 1 or 2.0), but I would hazard a guess that a good number of us have – whether it involved weight loss or some other goal. What is beyond frustrating for me is that I found a program that worked in a natural, healthy way and I was the one who screwed up when I quit working it.

It's been a depressing few months as my midsection has gotten wider, my clothes have gotten tighter, the scale numbers have gone up, and my self-esteem has gone down. No one but me has declared my value is tied to a number on a scale or a piece of clothing. I have so many blessings in my life yet I have such a hard time moving my sense of self-worth beyond the scale.

Am I the only one wired like this?

It's obviously a sign I need to get a handle on some things besides my love handles!

The fact I used a Taco John's token to scratch off the code for my free Weight Watchers e-tools might be an indication of what a hot mess I am. But I excel at being a hot mess and turning myself into a mild mess. Just gotta START.

I'm changing the calendar. Not looking back. And hopefully this Square 2.0 upgrade will yield some better results.

One square at a time.