Who Dat Kid

The week going into the New Orleans Saints playoff game with the Vikings I feel the need to give a little background on the term, "who dat?!"
In the 19th century, long before Drew Brees and the Saints, people frequented the bars in New Orleans to hear live jazz. The audience, if the band was good, shouted, "who dat?" Much like today in New Orleans, you don't go to the bar for a specific band, you go in because you hear the music. So if the audience liked the band, they wanted to remember the name and find them the nexttime they were out at the bar. The term evolved to be a form of appreciation. Who dat came to mean, awesome, great band, rather than a literal question. The term fell out of favor for years.
High school students brought Who Dat back as a way to cheer for sports teams. It became a chant, "who dat, who dat, who dat," much like, "go, fight, win." It is shouted after an amazing play like you might yell, "Yes," after a sweet catch on the football field. So now, when the Saints play the Vikings, you know why Saints fans will sport Who Dat Saints shirts and will shout, "Who Dat," after Drew Brees throws for touchdown. Imagine New Orleans, a dark smoke filled bar featuring live music. Listen and you can hear the full sound of a brass band, a gravely voiced singer and the drums driving the rythm. I can see women and men, dressed for the night, nodding their heads, dancing and slapping their tables, glasses and bottles wobbling, shouting "Who Dat," like a lively "Amen," in church.
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Who Dat Kid
B had his first middle school wrestling meet last Sat. We were nervous for him because in middle school he has to wrestle against his own team just to get mat time in the meet. Only the best kids wrestle in the meets. The lesser wrestlers occasionally get matches, but only starters wresle for team points. B would be forced to beat out 8th graders with the same training and more experience in order to be a starter. We knew B had two serious contenders for his position including an 8th grader with a wrestling pedigree. The 8th grader's sparring partner since the age of four (when he started club wrestling) is his top 5 in the state of Michigan older Brother. The other contender absolutely owned B last year, never losing a match when the two went head to head. The team holds wrestle offs every Wed. to determine the bench warmers and the starters. Nobody knows the coaches decision until the day of the meet. Brandon lost his wrestle off with the 8th grader 10 points to 9...
The day of the meet Aaron and I watch the lighter weight classes, hearts fluttering. We watch from the stands as B pulls off his sweat suit and starts to stretch and warm up. We smile at each other because it looks as if he will get at least one macth. B goes out on to the mat and I am as nervous as I would be if I were wrestling myself. My hands shake a little my heart pounds for him. B goes on to win by pin in the second round, at which time I can finally exhale.
Next round and B stretches and warms up again. B not only got a match, he is one of four 7th grade starters. His wrestle off with the 8th grader simply determined that B would wrestle in the weight class he weighed in for and the 8th grader, being the stronger wrestler, would bump up a weight class. It was easier to exhale the second match as B pinned the boy in less than 30 seconds, 23 to be exact. The 8th grader wasn't getting the same results at the higher weight class. He lost both matches. So B and the 8th grader flip flop and B takes the higher weight class. This time the 8th grader gets a win and I sweat with worry. B goes out, his thin 5' 7" 107 Lbs frame looking goofy compared to the compact muscular competition in full on puberty complete with hairy underarms. Aaron's head is shaking, lips pursed, the same look he has when we watch U of M football, not good. The whistle blows and B strikes fast and hard. The boy, although potentially 8 Lbs heavier, never leaves the mat. B pins him in 26 seconds.
One of the parents of an 8th grader, that watch B wrestle his first season 3 years ago...the season he won only one match out of over 30, came over to tell me how impressed she was with how much he'd learned. I told her we were very proud, that he'd worked hard and earned it. She responded, "You should be. All the 8th grade parents were asking, "Who's that kid?"
Who Dat B!

Unlikely Stella

So, any blog followers know that:
Aaron and the boys hunt and that for them, killing a deer is not only a thrill, but meat in the fridge
and that I try like heck to avoid smashing deer everytime I close at work. I have destroyed a perfectly good, completely paid off vehicle smashing a deer that could have been shot and eaten the previous hunting season
we are not fans of PETA

A week ago
Aaron and I were on the screened in back porch
when we noticed a brown spot on the hill in the backyard
a brown spot that had green glowing eyes
a longish nose...
ya, it was a deer
in our backyard
seriously wrong backyard

Aaron spotted her
yelled
walked out toward her
she didn't move
threw a snow ball at her
she held her ground
we got a camera
with a flash
and shot at least ten pictures of her
she sat still
and glorious

Baby G came out and shot at her with his finger gun complete with Star Wars sound effects
and she gave a "I am a glorious beast and I am bored with your antics stare."

The next morning
she was still there bedded down on the side of the hill in the same spot
a youngish doe
probably about a year and a half old
looking at us
without a bit of fear
B walked out toward her and shot more picutres

The next night
she was back
I named her Stella
after the song Stella by Starlight
Aaron named her Tar Tar
after raw meat
she has been deamed Stella Tar Tar
she comes back every night
she sleeps away from her pack of friends
although they come pick her up every morning and search for food together
and she is so used to us
being out on the porch at night
that when we don't show
she does
meaning ahe comes to the screen door
and taps her head against it
and peers in to look for us

How this house
of deer hunters
and non=deer hunters that believe in thinning the heard and natural selection
became her home of choice?
Ironic
she has become our pet
next thing you know
we'll be feeding her
like we do our dog

It Has Been Forever But I Am Still Here

I'm sitting here in the library bemoaning my break up with big evil cable company.
My Child loves the library in that he loves to check out book but he does not like to stay in the library to read them.
He is seven and big on personality
he cannot stay quiet for extended periods of time

So I am stuck without access
and I am frustrated

So much has happened over the past few months
mostly
I got to save a life

yes, I donated stem cells on Dec 16-17
what happens when you save a life?
it makes you think about your own
makes you want to treat your own body better
makes you want to be a little good fairy and spread more goodness around the world
makes you wonder if someone might save yours if you were in need
makes you think a lot
and because I don't know the life I saved
I think a lot about him too
I know he's not American and I am guessing lives somewhere in Europe
I know he's in his late 50's
I know he fought back from near death in Sept
so I know he really wants to be alive
I know I won't be able to meet him for 5 years
(why I know he's not in the US, Canada or Mexico)

I wonder a lot about him
but mostly I don't even know what I am thinking
I just know there is joy that I was able to help
and hope that my help works

more later...
probably when my tiny
but very big seven year-old is no longer on winter break