In the spirit of Memorial Day weekend, I thought I'd send out thanks to all those who have served our country. I wanted to post a few of my flower macro photos in red, white, and blue, but unfortunately Christina's white roses aren't in bloom, so, you're stuck with red and blue for now:
Does the last place team in a softball league win some kind of award?
We were mercied again last night. 17-7 in 6 innings. Of course, it was 9-7 before I came out of the game.
We had a lot of people there... we actually batted 12 instead of the 10 playing the field. So, when Brian asked if I minded coming out I didn't really care. Besides, I made a throwing error from short to first early in the first inning and was pissed anyway. On the offensive side of things it was a good few innings. I went 2-2 with a single, an in-the-park home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
The in-the-park home run has to be one of the most bizzare ever. The 3rd baseman fielded the ball cleanly. Now you explain how someone can get all the way around on an infield grounder. Obviously there was an error. There was someone on 1st and she tried to get the lead runner and threw the ball past the second baseman and into right field. Then, apparently the right fielder wasn't paying attention... so he took a while coming in to get the ball. Then he held onto it and then he just tossed it in lightly to the cut-off person. Not sure what he was thinking... but I knew what I was thinking... keep running. So, I made it all the way around. My Web Gem of the night I guess.
So, we're 2-7 with one game to go next week. At least it's against the only team we actually beat on the field. For the year, the stats are:
Chalk up two more losses for our spectacular softball team!
We had extra guys there last night so I didn't play the first half of the first game. Which, since they mercied us in the 5th inning by 20-0, ended up being the entire game. I'd normally bust out my broken record and say it was walks that killed us, but it wasn't that game. They just hit the ball really well and found gaps. Plus, I didn't play... that was the difference.. yeah. Problem is they were a bunch of rednecks who ran their damn mouths the entire game. At least when we win we know how to do it with some class.
I did get to play the whole second game though and it was much closer. At one point it was 11-9 until we gave up 7 runs. We ended up losing 18-9. I did go 4-4 though with two singles, two doubles, two runs scored, and three RBIs. Also didn't really make any mistakes in the field either playing shortstop again. I did bobble a ball in my glove just long enough that after stepping on second base myself for the first out I couldn't get it over to first fast enough to get the other out. It doesn't take much delay to miss a double play in softball with those 60' basepaths. People get down there in a hurry.
Anyway, the team we played in the second game was a lot nicer than the first team, so everyone had a good time despite the loss. Having an 8:30 game and a 9:30 game made for a late night though.
Work today was crazy... running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.
Anyway, at least tomorrow's Friday, right?
Our first and only double-header of the season is tonight. It'll be nice playing for two hours instead of just one on a normal Thursday. It'll also be interesting to see which position I end up playing tonight. Short or third is fine by me I guess, but all my natural instincts and movements when the ball's hit are for short. In fact, last week I caught myself sliding left from third to cover second base when it was hit into right field and acting as the cutoff when it went to left field. It's a lot more boring to just go stand on third and watch everyone else move the ball around. But third is more fun for testing your reflexes and reaction time on grounders. Who knows... I just hope we don't walk a bunch of runs in tonight... that kills any chance of winning usually.
We got our pool passes in the mail today for Chestnut Hill's pool! It opened last weekend, so we expected them soon anyway. Now to get in pool shape... heh. The new guy that started with us at Public Health, Matt, and I are going to start going to the PE Center on campus after work and lifting for a hour or so a couple days a week. I suppose anything will help, right?
Well, I think now that the baking sun in Columbia is letting up I'm going to go wash and vacuum my truck. It's been almost two weeks! heh.
Since I'm sitting at the computer cropping and working with pictures I've taken the last couple months I thought I'd post a couple.
We have a blue jay that's been hanging out in one of our Bradford Pear trees this spring. In fact, I was out in a lawn chair and she hopped right along the ground and stood right next to me. She's also buzzed me a couple times while I was out back filling up the bird bath. We just figure she's defending a nest in one of the trees. Cheesy wood frame on the picture compliments of me:
There's a bigger verison on my Pbase site. Has a lot of noise in the background still, even after running it through a noise reduction filter in Photoshop.
Also, another kind of bird has made a nest in the eaves above our front porch. The babies hatched within the last couple days:
Chalk up another loss for our softball team last Thursday. We lost 16-9, but probably gave up 8 or so runs on walks again. The league would be a lot more fun it if were harder to walk (4 or 5 balls) a batter instead of easier (3 balls). Oh well. I went 1-2 and a walk. 1 RBI and no runs scored.
At least my back is improving. Usually it feels better by the next day but I can still feel it today from when I tweaked it two games ago.
My Mom wanted pictures of some of the flowers she planted while she was here, so here's a few shots:
The two shades of red were a bad idea. Especially since the pansies in the front flower bed are another shade all together. Didn't really think about that one I guess. Oh well.. the pansies are all pretty much as dead in front as they are in the one picture above where you can see the planter on the porch full of dead pansies. Tomorrow's project is to tear up that front flowerbed so that it's bare. Whether anything else gets planted there will depend on how serious Christina's pledge that she'll help with the watering and maintenance is this time.
As for today, Michelle and Ben are getting here soon and staying with us tonight. We haven't seen them since New Years, so it'll be nice. They has a wedding to go to here in Columbia. Should be getting in around 4ish Christina said.
Wow did I mess up my back last night. I've only had more back pain than this once in my life while working at Cedar Point after riding their big wooden roller coaster. That time I could barely get out of bed and they gave me muscle relaxers. This time I can at least move around but it's all slow going.
My back had been a little sore all day... maybe I slept wrong or something. But even warm ups throwing the ball around before the game last night and I was starting to feel it. After a couple innings I pulled myself out for the rest of the game... still hurts this morning. I'm hoping that a steady dose of Advil and some ThermaCare heat packs will do the trick.
As for the game, we ended up losing, but it was a fun game this time. The other team was pretty easy going and cracking jokes the whole time. We only lost 16-11 and that's after we gave up 10 in the first inning on just about all walks again. Brian, our coach and pitcher, had given up 8 runs through walks and hits before we got our first out even. So, take away the horrid inning of walks and we could have won that game. For the part of the game I played I was 2-2 with a double and a single, one RBI, and one run scored. I did make one fielding error by only knocking down a grounder through the middle instead of getting the out, but my mobility sucked with the back problems so I pulled myself the inning after that error.
Fun day yesterday. Picked up a hitch for the truck Friday and put it on yesterday afternoon.
The install went pretty well, but it had to look funny to the neighbors with me out in the driveway and the rear bumper sitting next to my truck. Next to install is the transmission cooler which I also picked up Friday. I'm sure it'll take forever just like the hitch did. They said the hitch install was about a 40 minute job. More like 90 for me...
We also went over to our friends Brian and Debra's place for a cookout last night. Had a great time there... paying for it a bit this morning though. They probably had 15-17 people there and we were one of the last to leave around 12:30 or so. I have no idea what I'm doing up this early.
