it's a hard knock life

I learned something about myself this weekend. I learned that I hate baseball. I always knew that I disliked baseball, however, this past weekend dislike turned to hate.

It may have been the 105 degree temperatures. It could have been the 2 miles I walked in that heat before the game. It’s possible that it was the gross food I ate beforehand at a restaurant with not enough a/c. Or it could have been the fact that I was sitting on a metal bench surrounded by hundreds of people so far away from the diamond that I couldn’t even see which team was at bat. Whatever the reason, I will never again tell myself that I want to go watch a baseball game.

I drove down to Dallas with a group of friends on Saturday to go to a Rangers game. It wasn’t the baseball game that enticed me to go to Dallas but rather the shopping. I had big plans to hit up IKEA, Sam Moon, Crate & Barrel and wherever else I thought I could do some damage. I viewed the game as a small sacrifice to make for my weekend of shopping fun.

Small sacrifice….ha! What was I thinking? First, we decided to park near the field before dinner and then eat somewhere close by. So we parked. Then we realized the nearest restaurant was more far than near. And we walked. Did I mention how hot it was?? Once we got to the restaurant it seemed as though the a/c was struggling. I had a menu in each hand fanning myself. I almost started crying when they sat me at a table right in the sun. After dinner we headed back to the ballpark only to sit on a metal bench for the next few hours. I really didn’t pay attention to the game much at all. Mostly I talked to the people around me. At one point I had to excuse myself and go to the gift shop so I could cool down. Toward the end it looked like our team had a chance to win. However, the game was almost over and if they scored another run we’d have to go into a 10th inning. So I started cheering for the other team. I was willing to see our team lose in order to end the game so I could go back the motel. Sadly (or happily…whichever way you view it) they did lose and I was able to leave.

The shopping was great though and, for the most part, made up for the misery of the game. I also had a blast with the group of people that I went down with. I laughed a lot and came back with some great stories.

I’ve always heard “dating experts” say that the grocery store is a great place to meet people. When I hear this, my usual response is to scoff at their advice and continue on with my day. I hate grocery shopping! I loathe grocery stores and cringe at the thought of going there. When I decide to make that dreaded trip to the store I make sure I know exactly what I want so I can get in and out as quickly as possible. Why would I want to meet someone at a grocery store? There’s always parents there with whiny children, people pushing shopping carts around in the same careless manner that they drive their cars, and pre-teen employees that are more into flirting with their coworkers than doing their jobs. That sounds like an awful place to meet someone new.

Well, my friends, I’m here to tell you that meeting someone at a grocery store is entirely possible. Before you jump to conclusions, my experience was not that great and I’m not falling head over heels for some random person I met while buying milk. But it wasn’t for lack of trying…on his part.

I was at a local grocery store buying a few staple items on my way home from work. As I was mulling over which brand of milk to buy I was approached by Larry. He seemed like a nice enough guy so I humored him by answering his questions as I continued shopping. I guess Larry wanted to move the conversation along when he asked me, “Is it true what they say about redheads?” Well, Larry, I don’t know. What do they say about redheads? At this point he started rambling off a list of things. I only caught a few of them. But one of the phrases he threw out there caught me by surprise. I just laughed, said it was nice to meet him and walked away. The conversation was not going in a direction I wanted to take it. He didn’t let me walk away that easily but eventually gave up. I walked out with a smirk on my face feeling good that I had an interesting story to share about going to the grocery store.

I’m still convinced that there’s got to be better places to meet people than the grocery store.

I grew up with brothers. I don’t think I would have survived growing up with sisters. I’m pretty sure that my mother and I were all the females our household could handle. This worried me a bit when I went off to college because I’d never had to share a room or deal with living under the same roof as other girls. So I prayed for patience and understanding. And, as an answer to my prayer (and proof that God has a sense of humor), I ended up living with these girls.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. But these girls ended up becoming like the sisters I never had. We graduated from college a little over three years ago and this past weekend we all came back together in OKC for a little roommate reunion. It was fun reminiscing about old times. They weren’t always fun times though. Like the time that Brandie decided to call a “roommate meeting.” That didn’t go over too well and ended with all of us yelling at each other. Or the times when we all needed to be in the bathroom getting ready at the same time. Mornings were not good in our apartment.

We had fun too. Like the time we had a water gun fight in our living room. Yep…our couch was wet for a few days after that. Or the time that I taped saran wrap across the doorway of the other bedroom and Ashley walked right into it when she woke up the next morning. We played a lot of practical jokes! Oh…and I can’t forget the time we had the fish wedding. That’s a story in itself though and I will save that one for another blog.

I’m sure glad that I’m not in college anymore. But it’s always fun to get together and talk about the things that happened back then.

So...finally after a few weeks of "any day now!" he has finally arrived. My nephew Benjamin James was born this morning! This is the only picture I have so far and it was sent to me via camera phone. I have to keep reminding myself that I live half way across the country so an immediate mailbox full of pictures is out of the question. haha. Congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law!

My family has a unique tradition. Once a year we get together and run a 5k race. It’s our form of a family reunion and a fun way for us all to get together and do something active. Then, afterwards, we sit around and complain about how tired and out of shape we are. The tradition was started by my grandparents back in 1981 and has been carried on ever since.



This year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of our run. It was a big deal. We had people in town from all over the country. Our story even made it into two newspapers. I spent the entire weekend with my extended family and I’m exhausted. There were some points when I was a little worried about the fact that I’m related to some of these people…but it was fun nonetheless. Haha.

My brother won the race! I ran and finished in good time….I cheated just slightly. I guess it’s hard to take a short cut and not get caught when you’re wearing the same bright lime green shirt that everyone else is wearing. I’m sure I’ll be hearing about it for years to come.