What Would Johnny Damon Do?

Take a look at this picture...another player has sold out for money over personallity. While I applaud the Yankees for signing their "next Bernie Williams," I'm shocked that Johnny would be willing to give up the hair, the beard, and lifelong cult status in Boston if he would have signed with any other team in baseball.

 

Remember that four years ago Bernie was still hitting .333 and scoring and driving in 100+ runs.

 

Good for Johnny, as we all know how desperately he needed the money.

Mind over matter

Fortunately, the picture above and Cingular's newest cell phone gimmick are not the type of rollover I'm about to discuss.

Yesterday afternoon, our little one decided that she was ready to rollover (front-to-back). We recently had been wondering if she was normal or just uber stubborn as she decided to skip rolling over and went straight to sitting up last month.

The funny thing is, four of us (my parents, Gina, and I) were all standing around her and none of us saw her do it the first time.

Did you flip her on her back? No. You? No. Hmmmmmm...did Casey nudge her over? Was there a gust of wind near the ground we didn't feel?

How did she get on her back???

However, Nattie squashed all speculation as she did it a couple more times for us. It was pretty cool.

Now if we could just get her to do our laundry, life would be good.

216!

Just to let everyone know, Gina bowled her career high game (216) and series (517) on Saturday night. Her previous high game was 185. Her only open in the 216 game was in the first frame.

As of Saturday, my average was 61 points higher then hers (183 to 122), but she beat me in the three-game series by 36 pins (i.e. she carried my dead weight and then some). We ended up winning all seven points.

Just like hand grenades & horseshoes

Natalie graduated to a whole new level this week...cereal. However, her aim still leaves little to be desired.

The $72.50 seats didn't hurt...

...but I must admit I was also very impressed with the NHL's new rules put in place this year to increase scoring. Last night my dad and I watched a good fight in the third period and saw the Wild score six goals.

That's right, I said six.

It was a lot of fun. If you enjoy hockey at all and get a chance to go see a game, I'd definitely suggest doing so.

P.S. I apologize for not getting tossed from the game. The subplot would have made this story far more interesting. For a good ejection story, please refer to "Kick Ball Glory."

Hot Shots Tourney

Last night, six of us got together to have a Hot Shots Tournament. In the end, the final standings looked like this:

Jon 4-1*
Brian 4-1
Shane 3-2
Luke 2.5-2.5
Super 1-4
Rory .5-4.5

*(Jon won the three hole playoff with Brian)

Highlights of the night included a 185 yard chip in eagle for Super and a sixty yard chip in bogey for Lucas (after putting his first two shots in the water)

It was a lot of fun...and the first time I have missed the PS2 since I sold it a year ago.

1543.2 miles...

Natalie did it. She survived a 1543.2 mile road trip over the course of seven days to Chicago, the St. Louis area, back to Chicago and home. The trip also included a Ben Folds/Rufus/Bee Lee concert (however, we left before Ben Folds took the stage) and multiple walks/trips to the doggie parks with Casey. It was a blast, as Matt, Morgan and the Kientz family were all wonderful hosts.

P.S. About 3.22 seconds after this picture was taken (at Wrigley on 8/11), one of the main reasons I wanted to see the game, Duffballs captain Albert Pujols, deposited this Greg Maddux pitch into the left center field stands. As you can see by the picture, Matt and I were very fortunate to have nice seats.

Boys beat the Gils

The boys (Rory and Brian) beat the gils (Amy and Gina) once again in Euchre on Friday night. While the gils (those who can breathe underwater) talk a good game, they don't necessarily play one.

Their "winter hot streak" has long ended and the boys are now completely in control of the lifetime W-L record against one another.

The boys have even accomplished this while an investigation continues into whether or not the gils cheat while they are playing.

Nattie's off the hook...

In a recent photo taken, Nattie was all smiles as she knew very shortly she was off the hook of any formal ceremonies involving her for quite a while. Yesterday, she was baptized (my brother Matt was the godfather and Gina's sister Beth was the godmother).

When asked, Nattie said "While Rory is helping me soak up the joys of always being the center of attention, I am looking forward to a break from that. I'm thinking I might catch up on some of my favorite English novelists and work on my dissertation about why babies cry. I'll probably resurface sometime around the holidays for my cameo in the 'family picture' the 'rents have planned. Until then, poof...just like that, I'm gone."

Hell Has Frozen Over...

Earlier in the year, I had looked for a driver "I could stomach," primarliy so I could jump into the conversation from time to time about NASCAR with Rick and Jo.

Unfortunately, the race that day came down to the last couple of laps where Gordon won the race but Busch won the Cup. It was exciting (surprisingly) and I enjoyed it (even more suprising). At that point, I thought I might be starting to become a closet NASCAR fan...something I NEVER thought would happen.

This year, I have actually been paying attention and my driver (Matt Kenseth) has slowly been turning his season around, which has been fun to watch. I have learned about strategy, etc. and it is much more exciting then I ever thought doing circles around a track could be.

This week, for my birthday, I bought myself the hat shown above. So, I am doing it, I am coming out of the closet...people, I AM A NASCAR FAN! There, I said it. I'm even in shock of the statement...but I feel so much better.

Nattie Lou Who?

For those who have not heard the final details, here they are:

Natalie Louise
Born - May 31, 2005
Time - 6:37pm
Weight - 7lbs 12ozs
Length - 20.75 inches

Gina and Natalie are doing very well and we are extremely excited for this new chapter in our lives.

You can't make this up!

 

After some delay (mainly because we were fortunate enough to get a new transmission put into the Passat we just bought), we were finally set to get the wagon tomorrow night.

Gina's dad had picked up the car this morning and brought it over to the detail shop to get prettied up. The appointment was for this afternoon so the shop moved the wagon to the street.

As luck would have it, an Explorer's accelerator stuck while driving on the same road my car was parked on this morning. I don't quite understand the whole story at this point, but I do know the Explorer ended up running into my car (taking out my driver's side mirror and causing a door of some sort to fall on top of the hood) while attempting to stop.

While the damage is not substantial, the wagon is now headed to a body shop, further delaying the arrival of it into our garage. Thankfully, the shop was very apologetic and is paying for all the damages. Rick even joked that we may get a "break" on the detail work as well.

Sometimes, you just have to laugh because you can't make a story like that up. After the Messerschmidt's and us have dealt with issues on all four of our cars in the last month...the fifth one this morning was just icing on the cake!

(Disclaimer: The photo above is a dramatization, it is not my car)

Screwballz repeat!

In a unforeseen turn of events, the Screwballz (Gina, my mom and dad, and my aunt and uncle) won the last twelve points of the season (we needed to win at least ten) to outright win the championship this year and repeat as league champions.

We finished with a 70-28 record (33-16 in the first half, 37-12 in the second half). By taking the last twelve points, we won both the first and second half titles, thus eliminating the need for a bowl off for the championship in two weeks.

Last night, I bowled the first 600 series of my life (after just missing with a 597 two weeks ago). I bowled 205, 212, and 203 for a total of a 620 series. The night boosted my season average to 178 and assured myself the league's most improved bowler award this year.

Gina also had a good season, improving to a 130 season-ending average, even though she had to bowl around the bowling ball in her belly for part of the year.

O Captain! My Captain! (on hold)

 

As of March 18, the woman you know as "G" will offically have a new title...Captain Gina.

 

We recieved the offical word today. From March 13-18, Gina will be at River Boating School in Memphis, TN.

Over the last four years, Gina has completed the nearly 3,000 hours on the river required to become a captain and only a test remains for her to complete her requirements.

Please congratulate her on her huge accomplishment. If I understand correctly, she will become only the second female captain in the history of the Padelford Packet Boat Company.

3/19/05 Update: Gina was a trooper and made the trip to Memphis this week, but unfortunately only passed three of the four tests. She was within two questions of passing the fourth. So, her dreams of becoming a captain have temporarily be put on hold until later in the year when she will go back down to retake the tests.

But, she should still be very proud of what she accomplished, trying to do this 30 weeks pregnant.

Joe or Brian?

It was thought that I was recently spotted in Ft. Meyer's, FL.  Turns out it was just Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan.

Get in my belly...

 

After months of speculation, Baby's gender is still unidentified. A Valentine's Day ultrasound did not reveal anything that the parents, Gina and Brian, did not want to see. The baby weighted in at 1lb 14ozs, had a heartrate of 152 beats per minute, and has decided that it will be finished cooking a few days earlier then expected, as it's due date has been moved up to May 25th.

Mike Doughty CD...finally

Date Mon, 14 Feb 2005 11:35 AM
From "Mike Doughty HQ"
Subject: HAUGHTY MELODIC out May 3!

A note from Mike Doughty:

Hi, People. At this point, after years of threatening and teasing about a fully-realized solo record coming out (who do I think I am, Axl Rose?!), my ATO debut, HAUGHTY MELODIC, is done at last. It'll be released on May 3rd.

I've been working on it since December of 2002, when I first flew out to Dan Wilson's place in Minnesota for what was supposed to be a weekend-long writing session, and realized that he should produce the album. For two years, I flew out there whenever he had a little time -- for five days, a week, two weeks, whatever he could spare -- and did a song or two, or added some instruments. It kept growing and changing, and at last I have something that I think is really beautiful.

So I wrote a bunch of songs about yearning and redemption and happiness and hope, and Dan and I concieved this sound, a very colorful, ornamented sound that combined melancholia and psychedelia. We got a bunch of fantastic musicians from Minneapolis and New York to make it happen.

A chance encounter with Dave Matthews, an old friend, at Bonnaroo 2004 resulted in me being signed to his label, ATO. I couldn't be happier -- ATO is a good bunch of solid, artist-oriented people.

Mike

HAUGHTY MELODIC tracklist:

01. Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well
02. Unsingable Name
03. Madeline and Nine
04. Busting Up A Starbucks
05. White Lexus
06. American Car
07. Tremendous Brunettes
08. I Hear The Bells
09. Sunken-Eyed Girl
10. Grey Ghost
11. His Truth Is Marching On
12. Your Misfortune