Rousseau in Chicago

Best Live Games

Sitting here on selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament I started to think about great sporting events I have attended in my life.  The Big Ten tournament is at the United Center this weekend and seeing all the college kids walking to the game reminded me of just how great it is to see history happen right in front of you.  Here are my top 5 sporting events that I have witnessed:

5.  October 2003 Game 4 NLCS Chicago Cubs at Florida Marlins

Aramis Ramirez' got the game off to a great start with a first inning grand slam off Dontrelle Willis which seemed to ignite the club into an 8 run game.  I was at the game with my YEO forum.  We were in Miami on our annual retreat and secured tickets through a broker back in Chicago.  The irony of the night was they were selling tickets at the door for about $20 bucks - far lower than the price we paid.  The game was worth it though.  I am normally not huge baseball fan, but for now this event makes it into my top 5.   

4.  November 2000 Monday Night Football Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers

In our quest to see as many stadiums around the country Brian and I decided to get Packer tickets and go check our Lambeau field.  Yes, this was a very difficult task heading into enemy territory, but we thought it was necessary.  We packed up Brian's car and headed up to cheesehead land with Bill and Ed.  When we got there we were all very surprised - the whole town was shut down and it seemed everyone was preparing for the game. And what a game it was.  In the pouring down rain we sat and watched a great football game that went back and forth with great catches.  A Packer overtime victory made everyone in the parking lot very happy cheeseheads. 

3.  1997 Rose Bowl Arizona State University vs. Ohio State

This game had the most painful 1:43 in my entire life.  After an exhilarating scramble by Jake the Snake to get into the end zone for an apparent game-winning score, Ohio State came back with a long pass to David Boston to win the game in the rain.  Immediately I was sobered and didn't know how that happened so quickly. 

2.  2007 NFC Championship Game New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears

An entire post is dedicated to this game....something about snow at Solider Field as the Bears win that makes it so magical. 

1.  1990 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls

To this day the loudest building I have ever been in.  The Bulls have struggled to over-come the dominating Pistons for years.   After this game, for the first time, it looked like we could finally do it!  Vinnie " The Microwave" Johnson was on fire the entire game, but the Bulls were able to over come and win this game forcing a game 7 in Detroit.  It was not to this year, but for the first time we showed we could win.  The next year we swept the Pistons in route to our first title - but this game was where the winning began! 

I'd love to hear comments on the best games you have ever been to. 

Back to work

Monday morning came very quickly this week after a long night (and morning) at the airport.  Will Cotter's birthday was Tuesday, but he was celebrating on Monday night at the Beat Kitchen at  a Pat Macurdy show.  I've never been a huge fan of Monday night concerts, but showing up to Will's birthday was more important than getting a little extra sleep.  The rest of the week was pretty much a blur as I was trying to catch up from being gone for a week in Florida.  Sandi went to Paul's birthday in Palm Springs so Aiden and I had a very quite weekend at home catching up on some sleep. 

South FL in February 2007

We finally made it back to Chicago early Monday morning after a very long night at the airport.  Aiden was  trouper after a long 8 hour delay in Fort Meyers.  Our original flight was candeled  on Saturday night due to a nasty ice storm in Chicago.  We finally got a window on Monday morning around 2 am.  The weather in Florida was great.  We spent the week with Jack and Eva at their winter condo in Bonita Springs which is about an our north of Naples.  It was sunny and 80 every day which made great weather for golf, running outside and some time at the pool.  Aiden loved all the fresh air!  He had his own pool to wade around in and bask in the sun....covered in 45 sun block of course.  Jack and I played two rounds of golf which I really enjoyed.  The new irons worked great!  It felt really good to be out on the course for the first time in 2007.  Sandi and I had one night out alone which we walked to a local Mexican restuarant nearby.  It was a great star filled night and  with some much needed alone time for the two of us.   

Cean and Caity came down from Sarasota to spend the day with us Friday.  It was great to see both of them and how well Caity is growing up.  She was great with Aiden the whole day. 

NFC Championship In Chicago

After a great regular season the Bears had a buy week in the first round of the playoffs.  I didn't go to the divisional playoff game against Settle which turned out to be a terrible day.    After the win, we were very excited about the NFC championship game.  There was snow in the forecast so it was shaping up to be a great game.  Sandi, Dave and Sue were all fired up for the game.  Dave flew in from New York and Sandi and I  went to North Face on Saturday afternoon to get some new gear for the game and it was loaded with Saints Fans getting the necessary warm clothes for an outdoor game - no dome here!

The Chicago Bears are the 2007 NFC Champions!  Watching the beloved win the first big game in a long time was as satisfying as the recent years losses have been excruciating.  We had a great afternoon at Solider Field with cold (but not brutal) weather with some snow before and during the game to make it really special.  January 21, 2007 will go down as one of the greatest sporting events i have personally witnessed.  Sandi came along with Sue and Dave.  There were Bear fans all around us with two Saints fans sitting right next to me.  The 3rd and 4th qtr of this game were absolutely amazing!  Bears Defense, Bears offense.....i don't even remember Brees having the ball except for the safety.  The biggest mistake you can make as a rookie is to taunt a really pissed off linebacker in the second half of the biggest game of everyones life!  The Bears took over the game immediately after that big play. 

I received the letter informing me I did not win the lottery for Super Bowl Tickets on Friday before the NFC Championship....I really could have used the weekend to hold on to the hope of gong to south beach for the Super Bowl. 

Bear Down!

XMAS 2006

So, are we bad parents because we dressed our baby up as Santa for Christmas?  Yes, thats right, Aiden had a full Santa suit for Christmas Eve at Jack and Eva's house (Sandi's parents).  We were back at their house this year after a brief stint in White Eagle for Christmas 2005.  It was great to see the whole family again many whom I do not see during the year so it is fun to catch up.  The funny thing is seeing all the kids that grow tremendously each year.  Pretty soon, Aiden will be running around with the older kids in the basement.  We did our annual grab bag gift exchange and ate until we could fit no more.  The Bears were on this year against Detroit.  They won, but did not look like a team ready to take the playoffs by storm.  Sandi, Carrie and I showed up early this year to watch the game and miss the traffic from the city.  We got back to our place early that night since Sandi and Carrie were not feeling well.  Once again both of them are sick for the holidays.  I've got to remember next year to get them extra vitamins from the start of December.  This year my big gifts were a brand new set of Calaway irons which I have had my eye on for some time.  A few audio books, the shredder I have been looking at, a watch from my Mom and a gift card from Dad round out the loot.  Everyone is always so generous.  I bought Sandi a down coat and the flat iron she has been coveting for some time.  Looking forward to New Years Eve at Soldier Field to possibly watch the final game of Brett Farvre's career!  He was a great player, but I'll be happy to see him no longer stand in the way of the Bears. 

Scottie's Back!

Scott Fenwick came back to the states for the holidays to see his family, friends and girlfriend.  Sandi, Aiden and I drove out to Flossmoor to hook up with him, Sarah, Gretchen, Dan, Aaron and Carrie.  It was great to see him and hear some of his stories from Romania.  He has been there for almost two years with the Peace Corp teaching high school.  It sounds like he is really ready to be back in the USA.  Turns out there was another motive to his visit:  He proposed to Sarah on Christmas Day!  Congratulations to both of you! 

Crab Night 2006

Another great Crab night was had at 845 W. Monroe last Saturday night!  The usual characters attending included Dan and Gretchen, Brian, Jen, Kathryn and Gavin, Reyna and Andy, Sue and our newest edition Aiden!  Our tiny little condo accommodated 13 of us just fine (at least for one more year - come on Rob you gotta sell something one of these days!! - we need more room for Crab Night!)  This year the crab arrived at noon (thanks FedEx!) as it usually does ready to eat.  We went with the casual set up as Sandi wanted to use her sponge crab one more year.  We're drinking a little less these days as we only went through about 10 bottles of wine (no where close to the record 17 bottles at Crab night 2003!)  It was great taking a little time out of our busy schedules to spend time with friends and catch up.  Looking forward to continuing this great tradition! 

Ok, we finallygot some sleep

The last post I made was right after Aiden came into our lives.  Oh, how fast the last 3 months have gone by.....who am I kidding!  Sandi and I are finally getting a little sleep.  Granted, Sandi has taken the blunt of the over-night comforting of our baby boy, but when the baby is awake the whole house is awake.  Aiden has been adjusting to our house really well.  He really loves to be home.  This being said, we have really exposed him to many trips in his short life.  At one month old, Sandi had to fly to Orlando for a conference so he and Mommie flew down to the FL with Grammie.  Thank God my Mom could go for the week because I was not able to take the time off work.  A few months later Sandi and the little traveler flew out to San Jose to see Roxanne for the weekend.  As I write this post I am sitting on Dad and Millie's couch in Scottsdale with my little family sitting right next to me.  Yes, we put him on a plane again.  He is not adjusting very well to his different environments, but everyone is really happy he is here.  I'll post some updated pictures along with this post so everyone can see how he is growing up.  Hopefully it won't be 3 months before I check in again.

Our first born

Aiden Charles Rousseau came into the world Sunday morning at 11:25 am.  It's hard to describe the feeling I had as he screamed for the first time.  I was very emotional in the weeks leading up to his birth.  I could not help but think about the kind of father I was going to be, how he was going to impact my life and more importantly how I was going to impact his.  Excitement does not complete the range of emotions I was feeling.  When I saw him for the first time the feeling was very surreal.  Fantastic! 

It was a typical Saturday afternoon on August 12th.   Sandi and I had just spent the morning together catching up on the week.  She was feeling sleepy so I decided to run some errands.  Right when I walked into ACE hardware she called my cell and told me she thought her water broke.  At that moment I was surprisingly calm, finished my shopping and headed home.  I knew this was no time to get excited, but I truly was.  I still had to get gas and get that confounded child seat in place.  Amazingly all went smoothly and I showed up at home to Sandi getting ready for the hospital and timing contractions.  Dr. Friedell said to go to the hospital and get checked out.  We were apprehensive to call anyone just in case we were sent home with a false alarm.  In about an hour we were in the delivery room ready to go.  Little did we know ready to go would have to wait.....a long time.  We got into L&D right at 8 pm Saturday night.  We called everyone on the "need to know immediately" list and began to wait.  Luckily Jennifer came to the hospital and stayed with us.  Later Sandi told me how much she appreciated Jennifer being there providing some experience and levity for us.  In lieu of a mother figure for Sandi, Jennifer played the role magnificently.  There is no substitute to having family around during life moments like this one. 

After a long night in the hospital - no one was really sleeping.  Sandi was in the hospital bed and Jen and I were in the big purple chairs....actually really comfy.  The doc prescribed the epidural around 11 pm which allowed Sandi to be comfortable all night.  At about 7 am, the hospital staff began the preparation.  They rolled all kinds of equipment into the room.  The plan was to start pushing around 10 am.  The problem was Friedell was no where to be found.  Sandi was so great during the whole process.  She fought through some really bad nausea and had our son out in no time.  Friedell finally showed up and Aiden was born! 

The one thing an event like this makes you realize is how much you love your wife and how important your family is.  Sandi and I have lots to learn about Aiden but we have definitely learned we love him more than anything. 

We're Getting Close

Where has July gone?  Thankfully this month has been going by very quickly.  With heat in the 90s and the humidity following closely behind, Sandi has not been very comfortable in her last month of pregnancy.  The little guy is moving around a lot which makes it feel like he is tap dancing on her bladder.  She continues to be really strong through this, but 8 months of pregnancy will drive any sane person crazy.  We finished all our classes last week, so now we know infant CPR, breastfeeding (you should have seen the two of us trying to keep a straight face during that lecture)  and have gone through all 4 stages of the great expectations class.  The office has been transformed into a nursery complete with sliding french doors, a new dresser, bassinet and room for the glider.  All in all, I think we are as ready as possible 

The weekend of the 14th, Sandi and I did a western suburban tour.  Friday night we went out to Elgin to one of Sandi's co-workers house for a birthday party and poker tournament.  It was a really long drive out there but the poker tournament was pretty fun - even though I was out shortly after I got in.  Saturday night took us out to Plainfield to Aaron's house for a party for Scott Fenwick.  Scott has been in Romania for the last year and a half working with the Peace Corp.  It was great to see him and catch up some with a few of the other Bolingbrook guys.  Fantasy Football is right around the corner.