It finally made sense. The moodiness, short-temper and overall aggravation finally made sense. As I was busy in my kitchen Saturday morning cooking soup and making pasta salad, cleaning coolers and checking my lists, it all made sense.

Winter seemed to go by really fast this year. Work kept me extremely busy, and when you added on the other demands of life, it was hard to keep up. I filled out my calendar with the Red Bull games as soon as the schedule was released. But honestly, it scared me.

I was finding it so hard to keep up with life how could I possibly add on planning, packing, driving to and attending games? And then the thought that all this would be complicated by my sons’ and husband’s (John) soccer obligations. The schedule would surely be daunting. I hoped for Spring to come and yet feared it’s arrival. The closer it got, the grouchier I got. The feeling of being overwhelmed was . . . well . . . overwhelming. It made me feel anxious and mean.

And then I found myself, on Saturday morning, dancing around my kitchen – without music!!! I had already been to the grocery store and Sam’s. I had the soup cooking, the pasta boiling, stuff for the cooler lined up on the counter and drums, banners, poles, etc. lined up in the basement. The list was two pages long – pulled together the night before when I finally found the time. But, I was dancing!!! Why? That is when it all made sense.

I was preparing to see my family members that I had been missing for 5 months!!! I was thinking of everyone who had responded to the Evite and looking forward to seeing them all – YOU ALL!!! I looked forward to seeing those who hadn’t responded or that would just stop by. And then the sun came out – just like a fairy tale. It was the makings of a wonderful day. I couldn’t get things packed up fast enough. Then, lead foot at the ready, we were off!!! I talked to Marc, Tim and Johnny from the road and that just made me more excited.

That ride gave me more time to realize how much this group means to me. I know we all have busy lives. I am not the only person who desperately needs more hours in a day to be able to accomplish everything. We bounce around, day after day, busily planning the next few things we have to do.

Eventually, we find ourselves on Saturday morning, preparing to go to the Red Bull’s match. We can come to Lot 15 and, after lots of hugs, break out our chairs and coolers. And then comes the best part – we get to just hang out with each other. I don’t know about everyone else but that time means the world to me. If the off-season were longer than 5 months, I think I could become dangerous!!

I would probably have been expected to write this first column of the year about the expectations for the team this season. Or perhaps a breakdown of which players did or didn’t do what during the game. On the other hand, I could have stuck with my “Cub’s fan” theme and discussed what it could mean for us this season that we had our first ever opening day with not only warmer weather, but also the sun (end of a curse?).

But I would like to focus on something really important – that I have many wonderful things in my life, and I am so glad I can count RagingBullNation, which means all of you. Sunshine, warm weather and a 2-0 win were just icing on the [birthday] cake, which we thoroughly enjoyed in celebration of our third year together . . . with many more to come!!

MAMA BULL