Monday Bacon: Fund me. No, Fund ME! NO-FUND ME!!!!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by tosabarbell

In the never ending quest to be douche on the internet, an interesting little e-aggression was noticed last week. Now, to be clear, the main players weren’t the douche instigators. I believe they were used by a shit stirrer who likes to, well, stir shit. Duh.

We looked and looked for the original post that got these two parties involved ( who I have no idea if they know each other or not) but couldn’t so some of our interpretation of the exchange comes from piecing different posts together.

But let’s back track a bit. The Fund Me world of the Facebook has been growing for some time now. We’ve given money here and there to different causes. Some we know, some we don’t. Mostly athletes but sometimes for health causes that are started by athletes. We’ve given as we could, sometimes $10 and sometimes $50. Doesn’t matter. We give where we feel led to give and are happy to do it. Most times, athletes will state WHY they’re looking for the donation and those who show how hard they’re working for their upcoming event get our attention. I’m always amazed at how quickly five or ten dollars can add up for someone. It’s very cool. I’ve encouraged a few people to try the Fund Me route and am always pleased when I see dreams come true through the generosity of others. There have been a few Fund Me notices where the word “DESERVE” is used. F*k off, no one deserves anything. Not only will you not get our money, you just lost my respect. I’ve seen different folks say that their hard work makes them ‘DESERVING’ of some type of reward. Uh uh. See, that’s not how the world works. A whole bunch of folks work their arses off and still miss glory. It’s called life.

But for the most part, everyone is cordial and humble and really just wants a chance to make it on some stage in sport. We’ll help that cause as we can and send good wishes along the way. We heard story after story during the Olympics of folks who used the Go Fund Me route to get their loved ones over to Russia. Good on them. By the way, they never used the word DESERVED. Nope. They just said they’d really like to be there to cheer on their son or daughter or hubby or wife and asked if others would like to contribute. I guess in my eyes, that’s the purpose of this online funding stuff. Pretty cool.

But last week it turned a bit ugly thanks to one douchenozzle trying to make trouble. And he did. Well done douche. It seems one athlete started a Fund Me to help him get to a powerlifting meet. The asking price? $250. So no, he (and I have no idea who this guy is by the way) didn’t ask for some obnoxious amount of money to stay at the Hotel Sofitel and have limo service back and forth to the meet. He asked for help with some gas and food and I’m assuming a cheap hotel. He didn’t use the word DESERVE. He said please and thank you like a good boy should.

But at some point, douchebag decided to get others involved in this and brought up the idea that polite boy’s “cause” was BS and there are other organizations (and he tagged one) that DESERVE money more than him going to one meet. Uhhhh, huh? See, this other organization raises hundreds of thousands of dollars with their lifting events that goes directly to sick children. We believe in this cause, we donate to it and will do it again (don’t worry Eric, we haven’t forgotten about you!!) My ex has worked this amazing meet and will do it again. We’re all in on this one. So why one trouble maker would need to stir up shit and compare these two, seemingly pitting their causes against each other, is stupid. It’s disgusting and with other shit stirring going on in the interwebz world last week, I’ve had it. It’s not real, it’s the internet. Knock it off.

My point is this, we’ll decide where to put our money. It will include powerlifting meets, and cancer walks, and a homeless shelter, and probably a Strongman competition. It will also include WE Energies and dog food. And about 20# of meat each week unless my guy is on the road. WE’LL decide. I don’t need some douche telling ME where my money shouldn’t go. And I’m guessing most other folks do okay on their own too. Letting others create and envelope you in drama is silly. It’s high school and I didn’t play that game even when I WAS in high school.

So next time someone wants to give purpose to some other’s cause and include you? Please tell them to move along. Nothing to see here folks, we’re too busy being awesome for your drama. And for those working and working for a goal and asking others for a few bucks to help, good on ya. If we can help we will but at the very least we’ll send some strong wishes for your success.

True story.

We should not give away a moment to anyone who does not deserve it.

Deb Caletti

Training Log

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Friday Jams

Posted on March 7, 2014 by tosabarbell

Of course we can’t move on from The Arnold without talking about the Columbus, OH food. Before we even left, we picked up about 3 pounds of Ono Kine Grindz Char Siu Chicken, 5 BBQ Kalbi ribs, and one pound of grilled Salmon with mango salsa for the road.  We were able to avoid fast food crap on our 8 hour ride and came into Columbus full of yummy protein. We also had an amazing breakfast the next day with the rest of our meat and some oatmeal we brought along. Mmmmmm. Score one for the Hawaiians. By the time we rolled in Friday night I was exhausted. We passed a cute little sign about a block away of the Little Palace and thought about walking down but honestly, I just wanted a burger and a beer and my bed. So we had a burger downstairs in the hotel. We DID get some tasty beer and chatted it up with the very sweet bartender who had been working their for 27 years. I thought that was pretty cool.

The next day I saw a post on Terri Ventress’ FB saying how good the Little Palace was. Awwww damn, we missed out. But later that day, after watching the pro’s throw for a bit (in the warmth and sunshine, but I’m not bitter;) we walked over and had some snacks. The Poutine was the best I’ve had south of the border. SRSLY. And it came out quick. They had some great local beers and Matt enjoyed a smoked Saison which was new for us. The double cheeseburger sliders were the best in burger category I’ve had since leaving Texas. SRSLY. People in Wisconsin go to different places for the “best” burger and it’s shit. Well, maybe not shit. But it’s not the best. It’s bad burger meat. Cooked badly. Without flavor. Yuck. I’ve mourned the hamburger since leaving Texas and just about cried tears of burger joy upon my first bite. (Ya, I know, drama much?) It was a great stop and just a pre-cursor of things to come.

We had scoped out the Schmidt’s sausage house when KCon told us about it and knew we had to go. Yes, we waited for a while to get in…at a bar down the street. Wasn’t hard. And it was soooooo worth it…

Sausage fest buffet and creme puffs. Giddy up. The only bad thing was that the leftover sugar treats got trampled in the Games tent the next day. RIP creme puffs, RIP. The meal was so perfect I couldn’t even stand it. A hearty German beer topped it all off and it was such an amazing night. OH! While we were waiting for our sausage table, we popped over to the Hausfrau Haven for some wine and beer. It was an excellent stop and the bartender took great care of us, even telling us we needed some chocolate with our tasty bottle of Bordeaux so he brought us some. M&Ms, plain. Score.

At this point, it’s hard to pick a favorite. What we didn’t know, is that we weren’t done. After throwing on Sunday, we were talking with fellow thrower (and 3rd place winner!) Melanie and her hubby Dustin. Dustin was talking about some joint just a few miles away that makes grilled cheese sammiches with all types of nummies on them. Huh? You had Bigg at grilled cheese. Matt had the menu up on his phone in record time and said, ‘Ya, we’re doin’ that.’ (He’s decisive like that.) We exchanged digits with Mel and Dustin in the event that our timing worked to share the meal (which it did, and was awesome) and went on our way.

Upon entering Melt, you are bombarded with visual delights of past menu’s and holiday plastic light up thingies…

It was such a blast. They have great local beers on tap and in spite of bartenders who didn’t want to serve us (silly girls, we are big tippers. But not to you) we eventually settled into our table with Zac the waiter and he took good care of us. The grilled cheese sammiches were off the hook and it was one of the best post games meals ever! Both Mel and I went with the War Pig sammich.

It didn’t suck.

Though we had a sub par breakfast at the hotel before heading out, we shared it with our friend Jenn which made it one of the best breakfasts ever. Overall I’d give the Columbus food an A+. One for the books, but thank goodness I don’t live there or I’d weight 4000 pounds. True story.

OH! I guess we need some jams, being Friday and such.

Enjoy the weekend.

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

Virgina Woolf

Training Log

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Mahalo. Kiitos. Kamsa Hamnida. Thank You.

Posted on March 5, 2014 by tosabarbell

Arnold Girls

Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.

A.A. Milne

Well, I have no idea how big or small my heart is, but I DO know that I am so very thankful to so many for opportunities to help me find success. The only order my thanks comes in is the first, all others equally have a piece of my heart that will be forever grateful.

Thank you to my Bigg man, who built me a gym which allowed my work commute to be about 15 seconds and allows me to avoid the challenges of finding time to get to the gym to train. For his strength and protection and his love of living (and eating) large in competition. There are people who are able to make a relationship go without understanding the other’s passion, I’m thankful I’m not in that situation. The amount of times I heard, ‘What do you need baby’ these last couple of months is uncountable. There are so many little things that Matt takes care of that takes pressure off of me I’d need an entire blog post for just him. But it’s important to say that I know he does it and I’m so thankful to him and for him.  I wouldn’t be throwing at all without his encouragement to give it a try even when HIS competition took him halfway across the world (where he was kicking ass until that other bicep tendon blew…damn tendons!) He is my light and my life and supporting my throwing and helping to financially make it happen is just a blip of what he does to make me who I am. Love you Bigg.

arnold awards

Brian Huntley and Rich McClain and the entire GLSAA crew that took on the enormity of throwing a Highland Games amidst the largest sports festival in the world. I have no idea what it takes to do such things. I DO know that spending a day on the field; in a snowstorm; with an Arnold title on the line; moving from event to event with just enough of a break to snack or TT but not long enough to “get cold” (heh) means that all of the behind the scenes organization issues were planned for; executed; and quite honestly, kicked ass. The tents; the heaters; the smooth check in; the quick rules meeting; the swag; the roaming the groups to check in with the judges; the JUDGES (I’m probably biased but I think ours was best;), the prizes; someone (I think it was Kelly) showing up with bottles of water JUST when needed in spite of HER throwing. Everything. This was one of the most amazing sport days of my life (and I don’t think I’m the only one) and that Rich and Brian along with their team stepped up to make it happen is quite overwhelming to me. Thank you doesn’t even begin to cover it but it’s a start. I’ll always be grateful. Thank you.

Again, thank you to our Judge Stephanie (I hope that spelling is correct or at least close) and our helper (whose name I’ve forgotten. See, when I tell you people that I suck at names I’m kinda not kidding.) The Sciscoe family for their shagging and wiping down of implements and standing up our Caber and I’m sure other things I didn’t see that just made our life easier at each event. That was incredibly selfless of you all who could have just stood around and relaxed while we shagged our own stuff. Thank you!!

My ‘support staff’ of KCon and Little Con. Not only flying in from Michigan to basically stand around in the snow all day to watch me throw stuff, but taking good care of us and making sure we had the best pre-game meal and fun times that were possible. Spending time in their light was a gift. These are intelligent, funny, silly and sensible, beautiful, amazing ladies who took their task so seriously of making sure we had a good Saturday night that it was impossible to fail in making that happen. Thank you ladies, May 10, we’ll see you then.

Arnoldcon

Talk about strong, intelligent ladies…special and heartfelt thanks to go my fellow throwers. I was quite excited to get a chance to not only meet but throw with Terri Ventress. I had a chance to meet her on Saturday in the sun watching the Pro’s throw and the ginormous smile and hug that was immediate is so warm and calming that I instantly understood why she is so beloved among throwers. After throwing all day with her, the word I came up with to sum up Terri would be Matriarch. She is the center, not in a ruling sense, but with her energy. She not only is so highly respected as a person and obviously an athlete, but I watched all day as each of us checked in with her in some way. Maybe not even realizing it, but her grace and upbeat attitude while still keeping a competitive edge was one we should all strive to emulate. The high energy of Courtney McGuire was never ending. Her selflessness on the field only adds to her charm and without her, we would have been a more somber, colder group. She kept us going. All day in snow and wind and cold. I don’t have that gift, she does and I will forever value her for it. Seeing my girls Melanie and Shawna and spending another day with them is a treat. I don’t say that lightly. I’ve learned in life that even when we wish to spend more time with certain people, we need to hold dear the moments we get. This was one of those times. Knowing I’ll get to have some Scotland time with Shawna AND Mel makes me very, very happy. (Having amazing grilled cheese sammiches later on with Melanie and Dustin was bonus. Thank you!!) I had a chance to throw with Anita and Dawn last year and having their familiar energy on the field was comforting, see you in a few weeks at the Shammies ladies! I got to throw with Amy Jenkins, my first Highlander event down in Texas was with her sister (Sara) and Amy proved that there’s some class in that blood. She’s sweet, supportive, strong, and her constant smiles through the cold day were so appreciated!! Meeting Teresa, Bonnie, and Kelly (SO fun to meet some of the FB friends in real life;) and watching them work so hard through the last hammer throw helped keep me going. Teresa’s open stone flew like a bird, congrats! And our two Canadians Willow and Josee. My first experience throwing with a Canadian is with our friend Tammy and though she IS one of a kind, the hilarious; badassadry; beautiful; and determined traits seem to be those that they ALL share. I adore these women. They are honest and supportive and hard working and I could listen to them talk all day long in their Quebec’n accents and melodies of their words. I don’t know when our paths will meet again, but I know they’ll meet as friends and I look forward to that day. And that’s how it rolls with all of us. We left the field with new friendships which is the epitome of Highland Games. Aloha to all my fellow ladies, you’re awesome.

There are so many of you that sent positive thoughts or messages that when I started reading comments, messages, and my texts at the end of the day, I was completely overwhelmed.  My children, having them say they’re proud of me is one of the biggest gifts a mother could ask for. Jason, Jane, Jasmine, Brittney, Big Daddy, Swede, Mona (damn girl, we missed you), Amber, Jenn, Malia, Ben; everyone who liked or commented on Matt’s updates. Every single piece of positive energy sent my way was not only felt and carried me to the field, but enveloped me at the end. This is the Hawaiian in me, carrying energy from others (which also means I’ve needed to learn to leave the negative stuff to it’s owners.) But today, so much amazing energy and support was felt by me from each and every one of you. Whether I placed 1st or 5th, I understand that the positive vibes sent my way were heartfelt and I am so thankful for each of you taking the time to send them, even from as far away as Finland and Holland, even from some of the Strongest, thank you. There were a couple of you I was comfortable enough to confide in how much I wanted this and allowing me to be real and telling me to just “Go get it!” means the absolute world. Jason and Brittney, you da man.Thank you.

There are others, I KNOW there are. Brian Hare for his coaching during the off season and even ON the field while he was competing himself. Jessica Rabbit for her awesome energy and always asking how it’s going when we’d connect AND her kick ass Games Minion pic. Merle for his help and hugs. Jeff Armstrong for his help. Darryl for his hug. Ladies open winner Jocelyn Davis for her FB note of congrats, that was very sweet of her! Heather Macdonald for the cool HG shirt. I’m thankful for all of the athletes and organizers making it home safe an sound in spite of some awful weather affecting both drives and flights. Kirk Remer at Winners Edge Sport Performance in Pewaukee. I contacted Sally of Winner’s Edge and asked if Kirk would be okay if I came and did drills all winter at his place INCLUDING swinging my hammer around in the back room with beautifully sheet rocked walls trusting that I wouldn’t shoot the hammer right into them. These drills have kept me going and only having one or two days to actually get outside and throw in this Polar Vortex of a winter was a key in Sunday’s performance. Kirk, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And I’m thankful I get to be throwing again in a few weeks in Springfield…indoors, or at least out of the elements.

If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.

Meister Eckhart

Training Log

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24

Posted on March 4, 2014 by tosabarbell

The following takes place between 3pm…and 4pm. The events occur in real time.

Saturday, March 1st 2014.

Pre-24…our day consisted of watching the awesome Erin Valenti at a CF competition; braving the expo crowds for about 12 minutes that was filled with crazy people who wait in line for a free packet of protein; hugging it out with my old friend Jenn at the Hylete booth and storing our stuff by her; watching some weightlifting; finally getting to meet Bigg’s old friend ProStrongman and now thrower Rob Meulenberg and fellow NordEast thrower Jeff Kaste (awesome and very funny guys. Jeff took 3rd in his class on Sunday, congrats!!)

I hadn’t seen Jenn for two years and it felt like only 5 minutes had passed. Good friends like these are a treasure, she’s a gem. AND she got in trouble from her Ma for this picture I put up on the FB, heeeheeee….

jennarnold

We were able to connect with Rich McClain and help hand out some Primo Chalk before splitting for the hotel. OH! Matt got to catch up a little bit with ProStrongman Nick Best and it was a treat for me to meet him. We ALSO were able to get a Finn hug from one of the amateurs who competed the day before that we’ve met on our European travels. That was fun. And then got the hellz out of that place. Loud; people; yuck.

3:00 pm After dropping off our stuff at the hotel and a bit of a phone recharge, we made our way the block and a half to the throwing field where the Pro’s were throwing. We happened to walk up right as eventual overall Champion Dan McKim stepped up to toss his new North American record light hammer of 155’8″. Uhhhhh, awesome! Andy Vincent (the Games Minion’s favorite) was kind enough to pop over and say hi in between hammer and WOB and both Bigg and I thought that was incredibly cool of him. I got my first Merle Lawless hug of the season and that’s always awesome, heh. We got a chance to watch Adrian, Danielle, and Kristi during their WOB demo and as always, I’m in awe of the how effortless they make these look. It was a treat. I was able to chat a bit with Jim Wendler who I have only met once or twice while working down in Texas and he was gracious enough to remember me and give me a “good luck” for the next day. He’s a good one, of course badass, but honest and grounded and I’ve always been impressed by him. We got to see some great WOB throws by the guys and enjoyed listening to David Webster on the mic but got hungry.

4:00 pm  We walked over to the Little Palace for some snacks. We had poutine that’s the best I’ve had south of the border, sliders that rival a good Texas hamburger (even Herd’s) and some great beer. It was perfect!

5:00 pm  Back at the hotel, we made some coffee ( we always bring our beans and press pot when driving to games) and just chilled for an hour or so. We had dinner plans with KCon (one of my pilots) and her sister (Lil Con) and room mate (Adopt-a-Con) around six or so and just enjoyed some quiet for a bit. I was incredibly sleep deprived coming into this day and decided that I’d stay up a little later to avoid waking up at 3:00 am and then not getting back to sleep before the competition. Hoped that an 11pm or so night night would at least give me 5 good hours of sleep before waking up on Sunday. That was the plan.

6:30 pm- 10ish  We ventured over to German Village, a great part of town with tons of shops, pubs, cute brick homes, and Schmidts Sausage House. Giddy up. We put our name on the list and took off to explore. It felt SO good to walk around again in 40+ degree’d weather. We found a fun bookstore and then stopped into a bar for an amazing bottle of wine and a beer for my guy. It was such an enjoyable evening and we slowly made our way back to Schmidts and had a little bit of time to scope out a local candy shop before eating. Schmidts was everything we’d hoped for and the buffet was amazing. Overall it was such a great evening and spending time with KCon is ALWAYS a gift. I’m so proud of these ladies, they’re a culmination of what every young woman should strive to be. Tons of laughs, good stories, sausage, some sugar, and hugs. Perfect pre-game evening.

10ish-1 am  We got back to the hotel and chilled a bit. I passed on playing a game (we also bring dice and card games everywhere we go) with Bigg in the event that I lost and carried that to the field with me. Yup, I’m THAT superstitious. Heh. Around 11:30 I headed to bed and hoped to not see the world again (WITHOUT snow I was hoping) until at least 5 am.)

1:00 am  Two things happened that was both surreal and terrifying. The first was that an alarm (something like this with just the buzzing) like I had never heard started sounding from the hotel hallway along with a PA announcement that there was an emergency in the hotel and that we needed to make our way as quickly as possible out of there. As if waking up to that wasn’t bad and confusing enough, it startled my 340# beloved into literally LEAPING off the bed and up to get his bearings. SRSLY. Ever see a blur of a 340# Strongman leap across the room as the loudest alarm you’ve ever heard is going off in a hotel the evening before one of the biggest competitions of your life is about to go down? No? It’s not a pleasant way to wake up, I’ll tell ya that. We calmly gathered our wits (by calm I mean “Dear beloved, you better not say one Fing word to me right now because my heart is pounding and I’m tired and pissed off that I’m up at this time of night as well as being scared that our stuff is going to burn with the rest of the hotel.”  Calm like that) and our stuff and headed down the stairs where we met some other sleepy and quiet people. After going down a couple of flights a hotel staffer came through telling us that it was a false alarm and to go back to our rooms. OH! This was all happening while the alarms and announcements were still going off. Uhhhh, what? Yup. False alarm, some woman ran her shower for 45 minutes and the steam caused the alarm to go off. At least that’s the story we got.

1:30-3:00 am  We went back up to our room, quietly put away our things and I got back into bed. At this point, I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I just focused on relaxing and finally around 3 or so I was able to doze in and out of sleep.

5:30-6:30 am  Since I was up again, I scoped out the weather and was pleased to see that the snow had held off so far. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the snow will go North of us??? I decided that to try to force myself back to sleep and get frustrated, I might as well just get up.

7:00 ish am  We headed down to the breakfast buffet. OH! I’ve mentioned previously that I get nervous enough on Games day that forcing myself to eat a little bit is a chore. Well, not today. I woke up starving. Let’s eat!! I didn’t know what that meant but I’ll take it. Eating a hearty breakfast prior to a day on the field is much more pleasant than being so filled with nerves that I can’t even eat. As we were dishing up, I said good morning to Terri and Larry Ventress (more on she and the other amazing women later) and asked if they were able to get back to sleep after all the excitement. Her reply? “What excitement?” Uhhhhh, huh? Yup. Turns out they were going to let the 3rd floor burn. But not just them. The 9th and 10th too and who knows who else. All I know is the 6th and 7th floor (we were on 6) were woken up but not everyone was. W! T! Fffffff!!!! Srsly. At this point all we could do was laugh.

8:15-3:44pm  Games on. In the snow. Ahhh well, when I can control weather I’ll make something different. Till then, I’ll just play along. I’ve already updated my training log with my throws so I won’t repeat here. I’ll also be writing more on the day in general and competing with one of the greatest groups of ladies and how thankful I am for the chance to do it. At this point, 3:45ish, we were done. I was sitting in my chair drinking Rittenhouse Rye and chatting it up with my strong pal Shawna and Canadian arm wrestler Josee Morneau who I had already conceded victory to when I struggled on the hammer. The last Men’s group had finally finished and scores were being tallied.

3:45pm  Josee made her way back over to me and said that I had won by 1.5 points. My reply was that it was going to be close but I didn’t think I pulled it off. She quickly corrected me in her softspoken, French/Que’bec-in voice that no, she had just seen the score sheet and I beat her by 1.5 points due to her struggle on the WOB. She put her hand on my shoulder, smiled, and went back to her spot in the tent. I sat in stunned silence and Bigg (who was sitting behind me) put his head on my shoulder and said, “You did it baby.” It was a moment. My goal coming into this day was to keep to the top three in each event and see where it landed me. But after a good start I  began to think to myself, ‘ya know what Jules? We may get this thing done.’ And I guess we did. It was a thrill and I’m not gonna lie, I got misty. Glasses off, sunglasses on.

There was a small piece of me that still didn’t believe it until they called Josee’s name for second place. I was standing next to my friend and 3rd place finisher (Congrats again Mel!) Melanie and she looked at me with her huge smile and said, “JULI, YOU WON!” As I shook the hands of AD’s Brian and Rich and was handed my amazing trophy, I full on choked up. The next couple minutes are a blur until my Bigg guy jumped on stage and grabbed me for a victory hug. Okay, grounded again. That’s what he does for me. Lifts me up while still keeping my feet on the ground. Love him.

All in all, a pretty entertaining and amazing 24 hours. One for the books.

You rarely win, but sometimes you do.

Harper Lee

Training Log

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