Pony League??

Soooo, even though I'm up in the sticks in Wisconsin, I still manage to follow my baseball team with a sort of religious fervor.. And boy oh boy has this been an interesting little week. Let's start with John Ely walking off the field after only getting two outs... Head in the game much?? I love the guy, but come on!!! Anyone remember Milton Bradley's debacle of last year?... I digress...

James Loney is an outstanding ball player, and was a bad base runner the other night.. He knew better but got caught in a pickle!! A pickle!! They call it a rundown in the bigs, but we all know what it is, it's a pickle :) so, between bad base running and our starting pitcher leaving the field after two outs.. Tie ball game, bottom of the ninth.. and Casey Blake on third.. I love him. I love that he did this. A veteran... Playing Pony League ball.. it was beautiful!!

Blake goaded the inexperienced pitcher into a balk.. When a pitcher balks,the pitch is nullified and each runner is awarded a base... In this case the base happened to be home plate.. So, the boys in blue win by a walk-off balk... A balk off if you will..

Ladies, according to the rules of baseball a pitcher must pitch the ball, he is restricted to a certain set of motions and one of two basic pitching positions before and during a pitch; if these are violated with one or more runners on base, a balk is called.

So the bearded Blake, wins by some magical Pony League sneaky play and it's kind of awesome! The next game, which was yesterday, the kid Ely hits the dugout with two outs :) and both benches clear as Russy Martin slides into second trying to break up a double play.. A walk off home run wins it.

I don't know much, but I know this team and its magic, every season brings something unexpected and spectacular.. They keep home alive and now that Dre is back, it's anyone's year!

The most beautiful place in my world is Dodger Stadium. It really is a sliver of heaven right here on Earth. I feel like God gave us this gift to enjoy and share with us. When they boys are winning and the sun is shining, there is nowhere else I'd rather be. I don't know when this love affair began with this sport, this team.. But I know that it is in my blood and makes up the very fiber of my being. From April through October I am excited and happy. I will watch any game, at any time and be happy about it.

I remember being a teenage girl, my parents had split and I was angry at them both for reasons that I couldn't understand.. I did the bounce back between them and when I was with my Dad, there were moments that were strained. We would turn on the ball game and all of a sudden, the lines of communication were open... It's the magic of baseball. Recently, my sweet Mama has taken a huge interest in the sport and it is just about the cutest thing ever to witness her excitement and answer her questions.

I don't know much, but I do know this.. Any man that wants to roll with me must love baseball. He has to be able to understand the gorgeousness of a 6-4-3 double play, or be able to talk me down from the tower when anxiety about our struggling relief pitchers or trades keep me up at night. He has to not be afraid of my anger at a blown save and understand why I'm in a fetal position after a devastating playoff loss.

I'm an irrational Dodger fan. I know this about myself, I know that it is complete silliness to love Jeff Weaver... Completely banana sandwich to think that we should have held on to Juan Pierre and let Manny go bye bye.. I believe that Casey Blake's batting average is in direct proportion to the fullness of his beard and no matter how much I want to, I just can't muster too much faith in Ramon Truncoso...

My Heart Beats Baseball

It's April.... April is magic to me. April begins the season of baseball... Baseball, a beautiful soap opera complete with sunflower seeds and statistics. The poetry of 6-4-3 double play, watching the infield shift to the right or the left, depending on which way the batter pulls the ball and then the ultimate slap.. an intentional walk. When Barry Bonds used to play, the bases would be loaded and they would intentionally walk him. They would WALK IN A RUN, the manager's thinking was that one run is better than 4 if he hit a home run.. Which, he probably would. Bonds hit a lot of those. Enough about him and the stinking Giants. It's in my blood to despise them, so I do. No other explanation necessary. I don't remember when I fell in love with this sport, or how I came to have such a passion for it, or at what age I became so emotionally invested in this team that when they lose, my heart actually hurts. Last year when Broxton blew the save against Philly, I hit my knees in distress. "There's always next year" started running through my head. I love baseball, I love the crack of the bat, the heckling of umpires, the smell of the stadium and the fact that to me, there is no better place on Earth than Dodger Stadium when the boys are winning. When the crowd is roaring and a home run gets hit, the place goes off. Tonight was special, tonight was Jackie Robinson night and all the teams wore #42 in his honor. Jackie was a Dodger and they pulled out a win tonight and that's no coincidence. Sometimes I wish that I was a normal girl who didn't care about a team or sports or winning a series, I wish that because it hurts bad when they lose.. But it's all good when we win again. Tonight was good, the bottom of the 10th inning, Blake Dewitt gets a base hit, the D backs intentionally walk Rafael Furcal to get to Andre Ethier. .. Let me repeat this.. they intentionally walked Furcal to get to Andre Ethier. For anyone reading this, Dre is a notoriously good clutch hitter. He had 6b game winning hits last season.. Six. And they walked someone to get to him, with runners in scoring position. Due to a wild pitch, Dewitt & Furcal advanced. Right handed pitcher faces left handed Dre and Dre belts one over the head of Chris Young. Dewitt scores, Dodgers win and everybody's happy. Tomorrow we face the G-Men.. ughhhhh division rivals and they always have our number... But for tonight I am going to sit back, relax and enjoy the small victory that just came our way. At age 10 I was jumping on our couch cause they had just one the world series.. 22 years ago... Who knows, maybe this is our year! I bleed Dodger Blue, I always have and I forever will.

Serendipity...

Sometimes the sun shines when it's supposed to rain... Sometimes a connection is made when the moon is full and the night ends with a beautifully painted pink sky. Sometimes, you find the perfect place at the perfect time and someone says the perfect, sweetest words that you've ever heard. Sometimes the stars line up in perfect formation and God smiles on us and says " This is for you.. Enjoy" Sometimes you are giuded home by a light and greeted with a very loud train, sometimes things make sense that really have no business making sense. Sometimes we take chances... and sometimes they pay off...

Why Women Are An Optical Illusion

I've put some serious thought into this matter.... Stay with me! Every morning I wake up, (Hopefully!) rub the sleep from my eyes, shake the dreams from my hair and set about my morning routine. The woman that greets me in the mirror is not the same one that faces the world every day. The personality is the same, feelings, emotions, all the things that make me me are there... but she looks quite different from the person you see at work, at play, at the gas station.. Wherever! It begins with makeup and hair, I fight with my hair every day to straighten out the wave that I inherited from my father, or I use a ton of product to enhance the natural curl that my mother has graced me with. Either way, it's not real. The color has been changed multiple times in 16 years, I think it was light brown once, but since I was a freshman, it has been, blue, purple, red, blond and finally blue/black... Next is makeup, foundation to cover the blemishes that I never had as a teenager, but as an adult, they pop up almost daily.. Like a new friend.. Joy. Eyeshadow to enhance my eye color, lipstick to make them appear more puffy and kissable :) Who doesn't want more kissable lips right?! the next step is clothing, a heftily padded bra to make it appear as if I have much more of a chest than I actually do.. Clothes that work for my curvy figure and last but certainly not least are shoes.... I stand 5'10" barefoot (according to my drivers license :)) and I tend to wear heels that make me about 6'2" or so... The girl who walks out the door is a tall, svelte made up lady who is ready to take on the world, she looks far different from the one who just woke up.
Why do we do it? Why do we put on the war paint and head out to do battle? Well, because it is a battle out there, we're fighting for jobs, men, to be taken seriously.. all of these things. We also feel better when we can out on a face and face the world.. Pardon my redundant use of the word face...
The illusion creates confidence, helps us to nurture that little girl inside who liked to play dress up. This past week, I was in close quarters with a guy who is prety special, and the idea of him seeing me without makeup was horrifying at first.. Until I realized that silliness was all in my head..
No matter how we face the world, we are all beautiful creatures of light. Women are magic and mystery, a pretty package to be unwrapped and discovered.. At the end of the day, when the pretty clothes come off, the war paint has been washed and my jammies are on, I realize that I'm just as comfortable with myself as I was before..
Weird food for thought, I've been going back and forth with this one for quite some time.

Life...

Life happens when we're busy making other plans... I never plan anything that way life can just happen. This time of year is tough for a lot of people and I get that completely. It's hard for me too, I miss my friends and family that aren't with me anymore. I miss the fact that my parents aren't together and there's still a part of me that feels broken because of that fact. However, we have a reason to celebrate. The birth of a savior, the message of hope that brings to a world full of hopeless people. We are given a short time on this planet. The holiday season is to be rejoiced, but somehow, we've managed to turn it into a time of stress. On the phone with someone today and when I asked how her holidays were, she replied that she couldn't wait for them to be over! Be nice to one another people. When we reach the end of this road, the only thing that's left are the memories we've managed to make with the people who love us. Granted, I'm full of sunshine kisses most days, and I can see how that's irritating to some of you!! There's nothing wrong with being completely in love with the life that God has given you. My grandad used to tell us to "Enjoy your life" and I'd like to thank him for that advice and let him know that I am.

Rejection sucks on so many levels... not a good time at all