Sunday Morning, 5 Days Left

5 days left with Finals week in my face as if I was a snack and Finals week was Shaq. Hey, that rhymes, funny how I can think when waking up sober for the first time in a long time on a Sunday morning. It was weird seeing people come back in the wee hours of the morning drunk, tipsy and high while I was trying to enjoy some sleep in my sickening state. As usual, the congregation met in my room and later moved next door. Silly drunks, but ya gotta love em, cuz at one time (actually, many times) you were with them, among them and one of them. I finished my English paper last night, and I feel really good about it, because it is now one less thing for me to stress or worry about. And of course, finals, along with some new found life drama has made this week potentially a little more stressful. Why does all stress in life come from school, work and women. They all come together. School stress comes from wanting to succeed to get a good job when you get out of school. Then work stress comes from either working harder than you should be or working too hard to make things good in life, to live comfortably. Now living comfortably is a good thing to work for, do not get me wrong. But I've been around people who have always told me go to school so you don't have to work as hard as I do to live comfortably. Now, my favorite stress is women, because it is a stress that you cannot control. You can control school's stress by doing your work, studying and doing good in school. Not waiting til the last minute is always a good thing. A friend once told me "Procrastination is like masturbation, it's all good until you realize you're fucking yourself." You can control work stress after school success. By getting a good education and following it up with a good job that is well paying, lessening the stress. It is a lot harder to control work stress, but it can be done in some cases. I can't control women stress, for me it is impossible. I've had bad luck with women for a long time, I think its part of that damn Billy Goat Curse. It's gotta be, those curses hit everyone up that it touches in many ways. I did grow up 3 blocks away from Wrigley and a frequent visitor of Cubs games and avid die-hard Cubs fan. I was 3 when the Cubs lost it in the 1989 playoffs. I was 7 when the Cubs let Greg Maddux go to Atlanta. I was in 7th grade when the Cubs broke my heart and got swept by the Braves in the 1998 playoffs after winning game 163 to win the Wild Card. I was end of freshman year and beginning of sophomore year when the Cubs led the Central division until September and dropped it like they had no hands. And then there was 2003, the best year of my life. Cubs vs. Yankees. The split of the Crosstown Classic. The elimination of the Cardinals by winning 4 out of 5. The absolute choke of the Houston Astros against bottom feeding Milwaukee which opened the door for the Cubs to win the division. That was the happiest day of my life, September 27th 2003. The Cubs sweep a double headeer with Mark Prior and Matt Clement clinching the division after a loss by Houston who hosted Milwaukee. I was at home, alone, but happy, celebrating with "We are the Champions" playing throughout the house and I was talking to everyone. I wish I was there to celebrate, I probably could have died happy that day, without a care in the world. Then, the best game that I have ever been to in my life capped my year. The series versus heavily favored Atlanta was tied 1-1 with pivotal game 3 being in Chicago where Cy Young (Mark Prior) faced Cy Old (Greg Maddux, former Cub). In a game that was delayed by the rain, Prior dominated as the Cub fans taunted the Bravos with our version of the Tomohawk Chop, it was the Bear Claw Maul. Come on, what more threatening, an Indian with an axe or a gigantic Grizzly bear hungry for a championship. I'd piss my pants either way. Back to the game though, when Prior finished that game, I was convinced the Cubs were going to win the World Series that year. Not next year, not next century, THAT YEAR! The Cubs won that series 3-2 in Atlanta and the celebration took place all night at my house. Then came those damn Marlins, those damn Marlins that I loved because they played hard, now they were here to play my Cubs. We got off to a hot start with a 4-0 and it looked again like we were going all the way. We lost that game 9-8 in 10 innings. We won the next 3 games to take a 3-1 lead to game 5 in Florida the day of my mothers wedding. The alcohol and the women took the pain of the loss away, but we were all sure the Cubs would win it in Chicago, it was as if they planned it that way. It was meant to be as the school bus I was on during a field trip passed Wrigley Field and the bus full of students randomly started singing Take Me out to the Ballgame at the top of our lungs. I was sure we were gonna win it tonight, and with my mom in Vegas, I was ready to go down there to celebrate. It was 1-0 until the 6th inning when the Cubs put up another run to make it 2-0. After shutting them down in the top of the 7th, even Sox fan Bernie Mac claimed the Cubs champs singing "Root, root, root for the Champs Champs!" instead of for the Cubbies. That gave me a bad feeling, but why, Prior was getting stronger and I was on my way to celebrate. When I got to the stadium, it was 8-3 Marlins, and all hope was lost. I missed the next day of school sick. Sick because I got caught in the rain and in the cold of earlier that day, and sick because that was the feeling that Cub fans had in 1945, 1969 and 1984. But this year was different, we had Wood...Kerry Wood. And at one point in game 7 we were winning 5-3 after Wood and Alou hit homeruns. I was convinced laying in my basement bed that we were gonna win. Then it all collapsed from there, and the Marlins won. Just like it all collapsed at the end of 2004 and the Cardinals, not the Cubs like everyone predicted, won the NL and gave up the Curse Breaking win to the BoSox. That gave me hope, Why not Us? 2005 style! I just hope that one day that the Cubs can take me back to that happy place again. What does this have to do with stress, women, school and 5 days left. Not much to the naked eye, but to me, it all ties together somehow, someway. Be there for the drive in 2005!