Packers Win the NFC!

January 23 -- So the Packers beat the Bears to win the NFC Championship.  Hooray!!

Nobody is more surprised than I am that I am even writing about this right now.  (Then again, hardly anybody reads this so I guess it doesn't really matter if anyone is surprised or not.)  But seriously, this isn't really my kind of topic.  I mean, I am competitive -- that is certain.  And I like sports.  A lot.  But the ups and downs of major league teams does not typically fall high on my list of things which influence my daily life.

But anyway, before I ramble on and on about nothing (ha) I have to say that I have fallen head over heels in love with this football season.  And it's not just because the Packers won the NFC and are now headed to their fifth Super Bowl game.  I am enthusiastic because I am unbelievably smitten with how much my whole family loves the Packers.  I am happy because they are happy.  I know that sounds cliché but seriously, if it weren't for their enthusiasm, their camaraderie, their bizarre little mojo moves before and during each game, I would probably barely be paying any attention to the race for the Super Bowl.  After all, it's not like we live in Wisconsin where almost everyone is a cheese head.

My boys first started to follow the Packers because Brian did.  But now they are diehard fans all on their own.  And I think that's awesome.  Tessa has even become obsessed with watching the game and she roots them on as fiercely as a 13 year old girl can.  (It cracks me up though when I cheer loudly and she is like, "Mommmm, stop it!" as if, even though I am sitting in the privacy of my family room,  by yelling at the television set I have somehow managed to embarrass her in front of all of her friends.)

In this day and age when we are all running in six different directions at once, it is a wonderful thing to have something in our lives which unites us so intensely.  And I am unbelievably grateful for the opportunity to have us all rooting for the same team.  Connor said that during mass yesterday, he asked God to help the Packers win today.  I don't know who God was rooting for.  But I know I was just hoping for one more evening with all of us sprawled across the couches and chairs high-fiving and dancing and biting our nails in mutual support for our fierce band of talented green and yellow men.

That is the blessing I am grateful for.

Go Packers!