Drew Brees - Our Hometown Hero

Drew Breesed into town Friday for a book signing of his new book, Coming Back Stronger; Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity. Drew is no stranger to Greater Lafayette - he spent four years flinging the pigskin here, bringing his team to an eventual Rose Bowl appearance in 2000. Since then, he makes trips back here frequently for fundraisers for his foundation, the Brees Dream Foundation, which funds underprivileged children's participation in a Purdue sports camp, along with other charities. He also just "hangs out" with kids from local selected children's organizations. I was fortunate to have been the co-director of one such organization in 2008, and met Drew at a bowling event for kids. Backpacks with Drew's signature were given to all the participants, and some children won big prizes like bikes. All the kids received lunch and bowled with the future Superbowler. It was a thrill to meet one of Purdue's greats, let alone the NFL quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.

The biggest impression I had at the time was his friendliness and open accessibility to the public. Contrary to what the sponsoring credit union, PEFCU, which sponsored the event had said to us, Drew did want to pose for pictures and sign other things (like the backs of kids' shirts, their hats, footballs, etc.). We were told he was to be seen, but not touched. I saw Drew lift one of our group's children onto his shoulders and pose for pictures. I used the one I took of them for a brochure to promote our cause, helping children whose parents had cancer. How can you not love the guy?

When Drew came back this time, it was as the Superbowl XLIV MVP from 2010. He drew huge crowds from both sides of the Wabash River. Usually his appearances are exclusively for the big hitters or the kids. This visit was for the public - his public. At the bookstore, people came early to buy his book and get "tickets" for the book signing. Older people like me who saw him play at Purdue or who taught him in school. One such gentleman was his Business Ethics teacher. Drew looked up from the stream of books and jumped to his feet when he saw Judge Meade. "How are you doing? Are you still teaching? I really enjoyed your class!" Drew was every bit the polite and respectful student from a decade ago. When I approached him, I gave him a gift bag containing Krannert School of Management apparel. Drew was one of our own graduates. You know, something to change up the normal Saints garb. I also slipped him an old brochure I had made up starring him and the kids from my former organization. Judy, my co-worker took a photo of the encounter.
Drew looked great as always. Boy do I need to stay on my diet...

Drew's public also included current Purdue students who could relate to their fellow Boilermaker, and little kids who dreamed of playing football on the big turf. I know Drew has fans all over the country, but we have so many concentrated fans per square mile that we're like family.

What does this have to do with learning Spanish? Nada. Nada thinga. Rosetta, I promise I'm coming back. Now that I have an upcoming trip to Spain and Italy, your words of wisdom will come in mighty handy.

Until manaña,
Jane

The Day Mike Rowe Came to Town

Wouldn't you know it, no one knew Mike Rowe from Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs was on campus until he had shaken the dirt of our little town off his feet. Okay, some people knew it, like the student in the forensic entomology department who arranged the visit. All their staff probably knew, but the rest of us were oblivious. This makes me sad on many levels.

1. I work just a few buildings down from where he spent the day.
2. I met his neat mother a few months ago at a writer's workshop, and she and I have corresponded a few times. She graciously helped me procure an autographed photo of Mike for my oldest son, Sean, a senior at Purdue. It says "Keep it Dirty, Mike." It's one of Sean's prized possessions.
3. It would have been fun seeing him - even though he was probably knee deep in dead pigs and maggots.

I'm not a big TV watcher. In fact, I hate it, except for a few shows. My down-time, if there is such a thing for a working mother, is reading or writing on Antonio, my computer. However, Marcia, my name for our television, is top dog of the house. She's blaring away from the instant the kids or hubby hit the door. Her steady line-up of stupidity makes me want to commit telecide. BUT, our meeting ground is the Discovery or History Channel. By God, you actually learn something on those channels! I am engrossed in every episode I see of Dirty Jobs because Mike edifies real people with real jobs and teaches all of us how complex (or disgusting) their work actually is. The night after I watched the episode about gathering goose down from the dead duck up, I hesitated a bit before I lay my head on the pillow. So many lives for my comfort...

So, Mike, I'm sorry our paths didn't cross this time, but it'll be fun seeing you in our local episode when it airs. And we even had leftover barbecued pork you could have taken home!

Español De-railed by Graduation

Any excuse will do when you really need one, but having 200+ people drop over last Saturday night is pretty good one I think. It was like planning a wedding, only without a bride and not knowing exactly who or how many people would show up. Thankfully, we had two other couples co-hosting with us, who pitched in cleaning up our 1oo year-old barn, decorating and helping prepare the food, including 125 lbs. (too much) of smoked pork loin. It wouldn't be an Indiana graduation party without pork!

Personally, I worked like un hombre, if I must say so. Something I'm not anxious to repeat, I might add. I sweat like a man and swore like a man. SO MUCH WORK, weeding, shoveling, lifting, hauling, mulching, washing, cleaning. What was I thinking when I volunteered our house for the party? Hey, at least the place got cleaned up for the summer...

We relived our football season through photographs and sheetsigns. It was like another huge tailgate party. Several of my son's classmates are going on to play football in small colleges - it will be fun keeping tabs on them.

As a result, español has taken a back seat. "Get in the back, and be quiet! We'll get there when we get there," I say to Rosetta. "We've got to get through graduation season." In a small school like ours, that means going to almost every senior's party. Good thing we like pork.

Things, glorious things - cosas en Español

It's been a long time coming, Rosetta. Finally more nouns have arrived on the scene. I furiously wrote down my new vocabulary as the pictures flashed by:
jugete - toy
paraguas - umbrella
anteojos de sol - sunglasses
medicamentos - medicine
escalera - ladder
joyas - jewelry
fruta - fruit; vegetales or verduras - vegetables
carne - meat

You never know when you'll need to differentiate one thing from another. You don't want to ask for carne in a farmacia (pharmacy). At least I wouldn't. Rosetta took me through many stores: ferreterias (hardware stores), supermercados (supermarkets), joyerías (jewelry stores) and panaderías (bakeries). One of my favorites was of a girl saying to her father as she was leaving the house to go shopping, "Necesito dinero," with her hand out. Some things are just universal.

Seinfeld Episode

It's too bad the Seinfeld series is over because I have a doozy of an episode they could have used. My husband, Doug, and I went to the movies last Friday night. Afterwards, we stopped at Lenny's Sub Shop.

Guy at counter: "Hi, welcome to Lenny's. Sorry but we don't have any cold subs right now. Unless you wanted a tuna sub because the guy that runs our slicer cut his finger and the Health Department said he can't slice anything for 10 minutes until it's sterilized. We do have hot subs, though."

Me: "Do they have fingers in them?"

Guy: "Of course not, this isn't Wendy's."

Doug: "How about a Philly. What's on it?"

Guy: "Roast beef, cheese, onions - you can also get lettuce and tomatoes on it.

Doug: "Any mushrooms?

Guy: "Sorry, no mushrooms. A lot of people ask for mushrooms, but for some reason we don't have them."

Doug: "Okay, give me the Philly with the works."

Guy: "Sorry about the slicer. I'll give you the sandwich 1/2 off."

Doug: "Are the cookies any good?"

Guy: "Yea, I eat them all day long. Pick one out and I'll throw that in for free."

We wait and wait and wait. Another customer walks into the store. A big gal with a big appetite.

Guy: "Hi, welcome to Lenny's. Sorry, but we don't have cold subs available tonight. The slicer is, uh, temporarily out of service."

Gal: "No problem - it's freezing outside and I want something hot. How about a Philly? What's on it?"

Guy: "Roast beef, cheese, onions and you can get lettuce and tomato if you want."

Gal: "Do you have any mushrooms?"

[I swear I am not making this up.]

Guy: Sorry, no mushrooms."

Gal: "Okay, I'll take the Philly with everything. It had better be big because I'm a big gal and I'm hungry. I'll take a large Coke too."

We're still waiting and waiting for Doug's sandwich. Then it dawns on us that it might take a while for a one-handed sandwich maker... Meanwhile, the gal takes her cup to the Coke machine and presses the metal bar for ice. Nothing. She moves it to the soda dispenser. Nothing again.

Gal: "Hey, excuse me, but your Coke machine isn't working."

We just burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Guy: "Sorry, this happens all the time." He flips a switch and the machine starts humming.

Gal: "It's okay, but please stop saying you're sorry."

Guy: "I'm sorry."

We strike up a conversation with the gal while we're waiting because we are now bonded in this bizarre sub shop Seinfeld episode and we all know it. Turns out that she sat behind us at the movies. She didn't like Ironman 2 whereas I loved it. In walks another customer, a college student all decked out in black motorcycle garb.

Guy: "Hi, welcome to Lenny's. Sorry, but we don't have any cold subs right now. The slicer isn't working."

Motorcycle guy: "Is Ben working?"

Guy: "No, he left earlier tonight because it was so slow. He'll be back tomorrow, though."

Motorcycle guy: "I'll just come back tomorrow." (He probably gets free subs from Ben.)

If Lenny only knew that they were literally working short-handed and giving away the store that night! But I must say that my Seinfeld episode was every bit as entertaining as the movie and a whole lot cheaper!

Phrase of the day: Deberíamos triturar eso. We'd better shred that.

I Got It From My Mama

Mother's Day is closing in, and this year I am totally prepared for it. I'm leaving town. I'm not sure who is to blame: Hallmark, FTD, the economic need for a post-Christmas boost. Whatever it is, mothers are led to believe that they are SUPASTARS and should be treated as such on Mother's Day. It's taken me 23 years of motherhood to get over that notion. The truth is everyday is Mother's Day if she has a child. Expecting the BIG CELEBRATION is unrealistic and usually ends in mom being grumpy and let down.

Don't get me wrong, my family is great. They've bought me flowers and trees and mulch and brunches over the years. But my best days of being a mom are days when the kids are having fun with each other. Like the other night when my two oldest were dancing in a campus bar with their friends to celebrate the end of finals, and the song "I Got it From My Mama" by Will I Am came on. They started dancing with each other and laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. They told me about it later. What a great Mother's Day tribute! Now I can leave town.

Actually, I'll be with my mother-in-law and younger daughter watching Chelsea run a mini-marathon in Indianapolis. Chelsea is running for TEAMFOX, the Michael J. Fox foundation for Parkinson's research. She's raised a good chunk of change and is dedicating her run to her grandfather. I'm leading her cheering block. A great way to celebrate Mother's Day - in a mom's classic role as #1 cheerleader. That's another great thing about being a mom. You can celebrate their victories like they were your own.

Speaking of my mama, I'm long overdue for a visit home. After the race I'm heading northward to visit my mama and papa. No BIG CELEBRATION, just some relaxing family time. When I found out that my brother will be there too, I told Mom, "Gosh, you're awfully popular!" She replied, "Yep, one day a year."

Phase of the day: Llama a tu mamá. Call your mother.

Quiero un asiento de ventanilla

This has been a busy week, but every mother who has children in school knows that Chaos reigns King in Spring. Plays, musical performances, track meets, tennis matches, golf games, academic awards, prom, hurry up and learn everything you were supposed to last semester, senior trips, graduation parties. Help! It's no wonder the pharmaceutical industry is showing healthy profits in a recession...

My stress reliever has been a new-found interest in an old love of mine. I rediscovered this love at the University of Dayton last month. Not a guy. Running. Twenty five years ago, pre-children, I found running in the morning was my only break from the action of my hectic job. Right out of college I was a sorority consultant and flew around the US helping chapters with recruitment and officer training. I was on the job day and night. My runs were MyTime. I'd forgotten how wonderful it was to have the wind on your face and hear the birds and breathe in lungfuls of fragrant flowers. Running hurts more than it used to, but it meets so many needs: peace in nature, healthy exercise, time with God. Plus it's free.

Although I really enjoyed my classes at the Y, now that it's spring, I need to be outside - to feel the rain on my face and sweat on my brow.

Phrase of the day: Quiero un asiento de ventanilla I'd like a window seat.