Grab Bag Friday: Bear Down, Bears!

As my dear friend Reba pointed out after Wednesday's blog post...I really ought to spend at least some time addressing the issue of this coming Sunday's important event.

I've never been a sports fan. Went to the University of Notre Dame for two years & never went to a single football game. That kind of girl. But. As fate would have it, I married a huge sports fan. Not just any sports fan. A dedicated, loyal, true-blue Chicago Bears fan. This Sunday is a HUGE deal in our house.

So, some interesting Superbowl-related links for you:

FOOD
First off, and most importantly, food. In my mind, football food is the best part of any game, especially the Superbowl. And especially this Superbowl! Since the Bears made it to the game, we decided to splurge and order REAL Chicago pizza directly from my favorite Chicago restaurant. Check out their website and you will see why I CAN'T WAIT for Sunday!!! I'm practically salivating right now. The story of the origin of the restaurant is kind of cute, too.

BEAR VS. COLT
In the spirit of pure silliness, we've been watching a lot of Bear vs. Colt in our house. Talk about goofy (& somehow hilarious)! Every day, there is a new video of a person dressed as a bear and a person dressed as a colt going head to head in some lame competition. My personal favorite is video #3, where Bear & Colt challenge eachother to a Dance Dance Revolution duel. So now you know I have an odd sense of humor! NOTE: Bear & Colt do some mildly mean things to eachother (shoving, pretending to give a stuffed animal as a gift & then taking it back, etc.) so if you're the kind that likes to shield your kids from negativity, you may not want to watch it with them. Oh, and you can vote for who you like better, Bear vs. Colt. My husband, Kevin, votes for Bear, oh, 20 times a day. He would appreciate if you would do the same.
WALTER PAYTON
Walter Payton is Kevin's all-time role model & hero. Please check out the Walter & Connie Payton Foundation. Among other things, they run a Chicago school supply drive in the Fall to make sure that children in need are able to start out the school year with the proper school supplies. These are the small things that make a huge difference to a kid.

"Children have always brought a tremendous amount of joy to me and I feel that if you can catch them at a young age you can really change a life. There are a lot of studies that show that one act of kindness to these children has a 40 percent chance of making that child have a completely different outcome in their life. What you hope is that you can get a kid to believe in something and to believe in themselves.” -Walter Payton

You can read Walter Payton's bio here.

IN OTHER NEWS
It's coooold outside (at least it is here in Maine)! Please remember on
these cold days that there are many people who don't have enough money to heat their house, or to have good, healthy meals. In my community, Freeport Community Services is having a Food & Fuel Drive to raise money for people in need. Today and Saturday, Sue Mack and Rev. John Ward-Diorio are going to STAND OUT IN THE COLD FOR 24 HOURS! to remind people driving by that there are a lot of people who need your help this time of year. Look for similar drives in your community & ask what you can do to help. For more information on this particular drive in Freeport, please visit Freeport UCC's website.