Red Sox FANatic

When you become a Red Sox fan…you don’t just do it half-way….it’s with your heart, soul and mind. It shows in your daily life, your job, your clothes, your home, EVERYTHING…it may take awhile for you to realize how much love you have in your heart for them….but you have this moment when it hits you….you are not just a fan of this team…The Team IS Your Family!!

That moment came today as I sat in my doctors’ office waiting to have my cast put on. I was giddy as a schoolgirl in her first crush as I watched him put on the RED cast. Yes…I said RED CAST. Ya see…my doctor found out that I was a huge fan and suggested we put on RED to which I replied with a gleeful look, “YOU CAN DO THAT??!!” He smiled. Well not to be outdone…I went home and searched till I found them, the temporary tattoos I found at Spring Training last year. And so I disobeyed the Doc…using a small amount of water I put the Boston Red Sox tat on the front. It looks real nice. I’m heading to spring training this week and hope this cast will assist me in getting autographs. You see….Manny isn’t the only one who can be goofy.

MannyAntics

I want you to take a good long hard look at this picture and tell me what you see....do those fans act like they are yelling at Manny for causing so much trouble?? HELL NO!!! They are just happy he HAS ARRIVED!! It never ceases to amaze me how the media focuses in on "the player" who can give them the most to write about...and I'm not talking about stats....I mean the "Manny-Rama" !!!

Manny heads out to participate in drills with his teammates and somehow takes a wrong turn???? Wait....I mean this isn't Manny's first trip to this park...doesn't he know the way to the field??? Manny cracks me up!! He is such a trip to watch and one of my sistahs off SoxSistahs Blog made the right analogy over on SurvivingGrady today: "It must piss HIM off that he's like they kid who doesn't have to study EVER and still gets all As."

Manny makes baseball look effortless...and THAT is the beauty of him playing. He knocks it out of the park, jogs around the bases then takes his place in leftfield....laughing with the fans, taking a leak behind The Monster, or picking the flowers (you remember the kid in T-Ball?). That is why I love Manny because he loves the game and the game loves him back....it's not that he lacks respect for the team or the game....he just wants to play baseball....ya know, catch the ball, throw the ball, and hit the ball...HIT IT REAL HARD!!!!

BullShit

Short post tonight as I'll be going into my surgery in the early morning for repair to my thumb. I'd post here what really happened but then the secret would be out. So instead I'll tell you "a story" of how I hurt my thumb.

So I'm sitting at this bar minding my own bees wax and all when this chick comes up to me asking if I got a light for her cig. I tell her no, I don't smoke those nasty things. She took offense to my comment and called me a choice word. I sneered at her and told her "it takes one to know one". Yeah I know, Real Mature(even in my stories, Im a smart ass). So I tell her she could probably light her cig from all the hot air coming out of her mouth. She doesn't like this comment either and begins berating me for my tattoo. WELL....ya know you can call me alot of things but do NOT talk about my tat. That tat was designed with love and care and devotion for 2 of the 3 things I love most, my state and my Sox. (the 3rd is my family) I stood up at this time and it was then I realized she was about a foot taller than I was (which isn't saying much since I'm only 5'2") So I stood on my chair to look her in the eye.

The waitress didn't know what to do cos she was this frail bony frame who looked like she'd seen some gangstah out of L.A. I shoved Mizz NastySmoker into the next table and jumped down from the chair before she could knock it out from underneath me. Well the gals at that table weren't too happy with all this as their precious fruity drinks were spilled all over the floor. So now I had 4 pissed off chicks at me. Then the bouncer came over and said I had to go...which was fine cos I was through drinking anyway. I headed to the door and just for shits and giggles, I shoved one of the fruity drinkers aside. She fell which caused one of the other ones to fall.....well Mr Bouncer wasn't laughing and grabbed me saying he was gonna have to call the POlice. I disagreed with this choice but he declared his Authoritie and held my arm very tight. So with all my texas might with my left hand I sucker punched him...well I tried but my hand hit the door and jammed my thumb.

What? you don't believe me??? you don't think I'd have the nerve?? or that Im not a smartass enough?? Well that story is better than the truth.

The 3 Little Words that makes my heart flutter..

Its Valentines Day with love in the air and flowers being delivered everywhere. Lovers holding hands, stealing kisses and marriage proposals. Red roses will be abundant in tall vases to those who are in love. FTD and Hallmark must make a mint on this holiday....Godiva and local candy shops selling the latest craze of chocolate covered strawberries YUMMMY! Let alone the jewelry stores selling diamonds by the pound. With all this frenzy of hearts and love......

there are only 3 Little Words I long to hear.............. Pitchers And Catchers!

All I could think about was Truck Day. Don't you think it's odd that Truck Day falls so close to Valentine's Day? It's about the love of our Sox! My heart flutters at the thought of Tek catching Dice-K! Hearing about Lester back in Ft. Myers already? The boy has got True Grit!

Many new faces but the same numbers on the backs will be strange to see but it's a new team this year, that's for sure.

While other girls will be admiring their flowers, chocolate and jewelry, I'll just be anticipating Spring Training and the beginning of the 2007 season......The Year of the Dice.

What Dreams Cost

Going after your dreams is supposed to be good. They teach you about going after what you want out of life.....taking risks to reach it....what they don't tell you is going after your dreams can have negative aspects. Today I realized that.

Moving to Austin was part of going after my dreams and goals.....I had to leave behind my family in Orange. My granddaddy died when I was 16 yrs old during my senior year in high school. His brother, Vernon, sort of became that substitute for the grandfather figure in my life. My uncle Vernon passed away this Thursday almost unexpectedly. He had a heart attack recently but was doing fine. This man went to visit everyone all the time. He was driving around town up until he had the heart attack. This man was the kindest gentlest soul I've ever known. This man loved his family. He visited you when you were sick or in the hospital. He loved to drop by my parents home and have coffee. He will be missed...and that is an understatement.

I travel for my job and had this girls weekend planned for me and Soxonthebeach. I couldn't cancel this weekend. My mother phoned me Friday morning to let me know...that he had passed on Thursday. The funeral was this morning and I wasn't there. I wasn't there to cry. I wasn't there to hug his son's and tell them I was sorry. I wasn't there to put any flowers on his grave. I wasn't there because I'm here in Austin pursuing my dreams and making a new life for myself. I wasn't there because I'm here in Austin having a girls weekend with SotB and having fun. I wasn't there because I'm here in Austin.

One more death in my family that I wasn't there for....my feelings are mixed. I got to see Uncle Vernon every time I went home for a visit as he would visit my parents on Saturday mornings for coffee. I will miss him.

Loyalty

I felt the need to re post something I posted in my Sox Sistahs Blog. With the beginning of a new season and my latest tshirt coming from josh's line of clothing, I feel compelled to explain it all.

The one question I get asked when people find out I am a Red Sox fan and a born and raised Texan: Why? Why the Red Sox? Where’s the connection? What about the Astros or the Rangers? Where’s your loyalty to your own state’s team? So I tell them…you want to blame someone or something…blame Roger…blame Roger Clemens and blame the passion of the Red Sox Nation.

In a state where Football is God…I became a baseball fan. I am not sure if it came about when I rode my bike to the Little League ball field to watch my friends play or because of the high school ballplayers in their tight white pants. Perhaps it was because I became enthralled with the way a ball came across the plate where a wooden bat connected and whacked it hard over the pitcher and shortstop, falling short of the centerfielder, while watching the batter haul ass around the bases trying to make a triple. Maybe it was how the catcher “sits” behind the plate calling the pitches, while the runner on 1st tries to steal 2nd. Or just that I enjoyed the sound of the ‘thump’ of the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt from a fastball pitched. It really doesn’t matter because at some point in my younger life, I became an avid baseball fan.

Diamonds

They say diamonds are a girls’ best friend

Perfect in shape and form

brilliant color reflecting in the admirer's eyes.

Each one different than the next;

yet all bring the same feelings,

the same joy, the same smile

when a man steps up to the plate and

Finally says, "Play Ball!!"

I did follow the Astros, that is, until Roger. I attended Lamar University, a local college in Beaumont, Texas where the baseball program was as important, if not more important than the football program. (by the way, Lamar is the alma mater of Kevin Millar) Coach Jim Gilligan made it that way and still does today. Following baseball, I heard of a baseball phenom at UT, Roger Clemens. I followed Roger to the Red Sox and watched him succeed. So blame Roger…he is the reason I became a Red Sox fan. So now you ask, why didn’t you follow him to Toronto or to New York (gasp!)? Because after following Roger to Boston…I became a more avid fan of baseball but even more so…a fan of Red Sox baseball and became a part of the Red Sox Nation. How can you watch the BoSox fans and players and not get caught up into the passion of it all? One thing I learned was Boston loves the Red Sox.

Make no mistake, I am a Texan so unlike some in the Red Sox Nation in Massachusetts, I still love Roger and follow him from afar, wishing him well even when he was playing for the enemy. So there, that is my story of how a die hard born and raised Texan gal became a Red Sox fan. And if you want to judge my loyalty or whether I'm a die hard Red Sox fan..just ask any of my friends, they'll tell ya.

Signed,
Texan By Birth
Red Sox Fan by Choice

FRIENDS

They come in and out of your lives…..for a reason. Some friends stay for a lifetime….also for a reason.

You have your childhood friends. These are friends who either you grow up with due to you live in the same neighborhood, attend the same school or church, or your families are friends. You form bonds, close bonds. You share everything with them, they know everything about you. Or they think they do. Then you grow up and go off to college or workforce. I had lots of friends in school, close friends who I thought would Always be there for me. The one friend I remained friend was my friend, Deb, who went to church with me but another school. Our mothers were friends before we were born and we all remain close even today. One story stands out that will explain why: We were raised in a church that shunned dancing. One of the local bars created a Teen Night where teens could dance alcohol free. So of course, I wanted to get in on the action cos I loved to dance. I went with my friends and while on the dance floor I looked across and saw Deb! We laughed abit and then promised not to say a word. To make a long story short, parents find out everything and my mother found out and I got grounded. Some parents find out everything but much later….so Deb is sitting eating breakfast at home before school when her mother asks her if she knew what I had done, ya know the “dancing” sin. My friend Deb looked right at her mom and said to her, “Well I was there too.” MY FRIEND, Deb stood up for me because she wanted her mom to know that I was not a bad person.

You make friends throughout your adult life from college, work or just through other people. I made a new friend in college, Pam. She was a school friend of Deb’s. She stood by me thick and thin with so many relationships and she loved my son as much as me. I introduced her to alcohol…although that’s not something to probably brag about. I reconnected about 5 years ago with an old high school friend who I was very close to, Rene. I have another friend who I met through work years back who lives near here. Don’t get me wrong I have a lot of friends here, but these are the people I know I can count on besides my family.

But that wasn’t enough, now we make friends on the internet from all across the nation, all ages and cultures. I have met so many people off a couple of Red Sox boards, some who I have gotten to know quite well, some I have gotten to be good friends with. Janet has become one of those who I've gotten close to. We have this agreement...what happens in Ft. Myers, stays in Ft. Myers. We used to have the same cell phone service but she's changed....I think I may have to change cell phone services or up my anytime minutes. It's funny how something as simple as baseball can bring two people together to become close friends.

We allow people into our lives. Some we let stay, some we don’t. Some stay for awhile. Whatever the time frames, friends are in our lives for reasons we may see and reasons we don’t. Because of the internet I have friends from California to Massachusetts, from Canada to New Zealand. Everyone needs Friends…..if you say you don’t, you’re lying.

Play Ball!!!!!!!!!!

I hate doctor's waiting rooms...mostly because strangers are staring at ya wondering why you are here, hmmmmmmmmmm. I hate virtual waiting rooms because the dang thing sits and goes hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I had to work Saturday morning so I could not get on early which meant I had to wait and wait and wait.... Finally I decided to forgo the Saturday, July 21st game I wanted with the White Sox (thanks to my new SG friend Kelly she scored us tickets for the Friday game) and got 2 tickets to the Wednesday game with the Kansas City Royals...of which I am going to the Monday night game too with my LaMotfer gang. SO I decided to not be greedy again. I have 3 games I'm attending while in Boston this year. Plus I am going to all 3 games of both series while the Boys are in Arlington, Texas. AND I am going to the 3 game series in San Diego this year!! (Yay another Park!!) A total of 12 games in all! I say it every year that I will cut down on my tickets but I don't. Well I had planned on it for Texas but when a friend offered up he and his gf's home for me to crash at and they'll go to the games with me...heck that's saving me money from hotel bills! I can't turn that down.

Tickets for the Texas games don't go on sale till March 2nd...Texas Independence Day when I am going to be in Florida at Spring Training!!!! Jeeeeeeeeez...how come they want to make it so hard for me??!! It's ok I got it covered...I got someone buying the Opening Day series tickets and I'm paying them later. I got People!!

I'll be going to a couple of Astros games as well this year as I always do...getting to see Loretta over there. Yah Baseball Season is near and I CANNOT WAIT! 162 Games of Die Hard Pleasure and Pain....You are welcome to join me. If you approach my front door and you hear screaming and yelling and cursing....no worries...the baseball game has already started...don't knock just come in and grab a seat!

Random Post

So I'm on the countdown of my upcoming Spring Training trip. Nothing else seems to matter at this point but flying into Ft. Myers on March 1st and meeting up with 3 of my friends there at the airport. Our agenda is filled with many important events that will take place....going to baseball games, drinking, getting autographs, drinking, getting my cast autographed, drinking, walking on the beach, drinking, going to the SFAC charity dinner and drinking, drinking, going to Mona Lisa's bar and drinking, drinking, oh and did I mention drinking? Of course I'm just joking around about the drinking so much. Many things to watch out for are: foul balls and thrown bats, drunks on the road, and panthers. We all hope for a Schilling sighting again this year at the dinner.

The group I am meeting are off another board whom were a part of my 1st "internet serial killer" group of friends. It is amazing how we all became such good friends over the internet. Of course, being me I don't hang with just one click so I have now made friends with some on the SG board as well and cannot wait to meet them this summer...well I will get to meet Kelly at Spring Training! And come to find out Kelly already knows Cyn of my other friends! Small world!

All I know is in one month I will be flying for a little R&R to watch the Boys begin the Season and I'll hopefully get to see Dice-K pitch in one of the first games as a Red Sox....and my mouth widens to a smile right this minute.

no philosophy or thoughts of wisdom tonight from Tex.....just good ole' random posting about something I love.

Red Sox Nation

If you would have told me 3 1/2 yrs ago that I would be planning annual vacations alone to Boston and spending any extra money I had in florida without seeing the beach, I would have told you HogWash! As I wrote on my original post last year, I fell in love with the Sox because of Roger....Because of a man who many in Boston loathe. So even though I was devastated when he left the team...I could not hate him. I couldnt hate the man who brought me to a place where I feel at peace...where I feel joy and laughter while watching them play. I can't hate him. On my first trip to Boston, I was with 3 other girls for a baseball trip. We went to games in Philly, New York and Boston. I have to say that when we got to Boston I was thrilled to be there. The day I walked into Fenway blew my mind. Walking up to the field seeing the diamond come into view.....then the Monster!!! I just stood there in awe.

From that day on I knew...I would be back again....and again. I met some great people each year but the oddest thing happens when you meet Red Sox fans: You become a part of a much bigger family than ever imagined, The Red Sox Nation. I have my own family who I love dearly. No one will replace them. They don't share the love I feel for the Sox....they tolerate it and even think its endearing. One of my niece's once asked me if my room was decorated like the show "Fever Pitch". I laughed and said, "of course not" (Well not my bedroom but shhhhh, what she doesn't know won't hurt her).

I begin meeting fans on line on the Red Sox message board and met many of them at Spring Training in 2005. The next thing I knew I was flying off to be at Opening Day just to celebrate with them, I didn't even have tickets! These people became friends off this board and were actually Friends! AND they wanted to be MY friends TOO!! They opened up their arms and welcomed me as a fan...never questioned my loyalty to the boys.....never doubted me. They opened their arms, their hearts, their homes, their pocketbooks...ok well maybe not their pocketbooks...BUT several of them gave me a bed to sleep in when I got into a jam. This Motley Crew or LaMotfers as we're called are dear to my heart. My friends here in Texas laugh at me saying that I'm going off with my serial killer internet friends. One of the girls and I have gotten to be pretty good friends and have used each other's homes for mini-vacations like for Austin City Music Festival (HEY I do like other things beside baseball), games at Anaheim and this year at San Diego! She's even coming in next month just to have fun...no baseball or music involved...well ok we will be going to see live music. I just can't believe how in a matter of a few years I have so many new friends all thanks to the internet and my passion for the Red Sox. This year our group is meeting for our 2nd annual July Gathering at the Game. 30 of us will gather and bring havoc upon Fenway....well maybe not havoc.

This year I started posting over at Surviving Grady at the coaxing of Soxonthebeach....and wouldn't you know it...this group is JUST as friendly and warm!! I will be going to games this year with a new group of friends I've yet to meet...you know who you are!!! I love this fan base and it's none like I've ever seen.

The Red Sox Nation reaches across our entire country....it may be transplants who've moved or it may be those like me....who for some reason or another became a Red Sox fan, scuse me....a die-hard Red Sox fan till they day they die.

Saying Good-bye

How do you tell someone good-bye? When you know you'll never see them again as they were... You think about the last time you saw them. about the last thing you saw them do. Remember their smile, their eyes...

We lost a great member of the 2004 World Champion Red Sox Team today....to the Indians...THE INDIANS!!! He endeared himself to the Red Sox Nation with his die-hard work ethics. He played harder than any other player I can think of on that team...and it showed because Trot Nixon's hat and uniform seemed to NEVER be clean. He reminded me of a little boy whose mother just put on his Sunday's best and he couldn't wait to get home to play and get dirty...even if it meant in his best clothes. Played his heart out with everything he had, with no regard to injuries, with no regard to anything BUT helping the boys win the game!!
Trot understood the team concept that many other athletes do not get. He understands what his job is and does it. Trot was also a family man as it showed when his determination to get home on 9-11-01 for his son's birth. I remember watching the last game Trot played...I was watching it on tv. I remember him turning to the crowd and making a grand gesture of good-bye like he knew...he knew that this was his last at-bat. So that is my good-bye to Trot...

But that is baseball and not real life...how do you tell someone good-bye who you'll never see again because life cheated them. But you didn't know that it was the last time. Today was 5 years my 11 yr old nephew Dustin was killed in a snow skiiing accident. He was a little boy but a mature man inside. He got dirty as dirty could get....found all dirt holes anywhere within 10 miles of the house. He loved to fish and play all day. But he was unique in the sense he stood for what was right and insisted his friends did too or they would be history. My last visit with him was short and sweet. I wish I could go back and talk to him. I would tell him how much I love him and what he means to me...but I cannot.

How do you tell someone good-bye when you know you'll never see them again? You live your life so that they'll be proud to meet you when you go.

Winter Storms

I guess most of you have seen the winter blast blown in from the North Pole across the Nation. I was going to post some pictures from around Austin, however, due to this little thing copyright laws, I couldn't copy and paste them here. Ooooops!
Having an entire city and almost county be a standstill for almost 3 or 4 days because of some ice on the road must sound absurd to anyone in the New England area. I mean they shut down most government offices, even the Mail didn't run!!
But they had the Governor's Inauguration and Ball....don't get me started.

Trying to take advantage of the time cooped up in the house, I used some of it wisely. However, working two jobs with one of them involving so much traveling and a high stress job made me stop and think. I mean I am not lazy at all, but I started realizing I needed time to decompress. So even though I have this really big project I needed to do....I wasted my last 2 days surfing, posting, watching the tube, cooking, sleeping, chatting, and anything else that would keep me from working on the project.

Now after getting the much deserved rest I so needed, I am ready to conquer this project. I've learned if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of anything else in your life.

I was thinking sometimes our lives get frozen for a bit...perhaps for a reason. Maybe we don't realize we need a change, a break... just long enough to see clear, through the hardness of life. Sometimes it comes from a winter storm....sometimes it comes from a life storm....but be very aware that it will come....be ready to thaw.

I Have a Dream

Today we celebrate not mourn Martin Luther King, Jr. I said celebrate! For because of him, we all can dream. I've included a couple of excerpts from his famous speech:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I was a young child when this speech was given and lived in a small rural town. It wasn't that my parents were prejudice. It was just the fact that certain races only lived in certain parts of the city so we didn't ever have contact. But then my father moved us to Jamaica while he was working on a construction job. Moving to an unknown country with a different culture, different lifestyle, government, people.... We lived in the middle of a small city called Mandeville. My sister and I attended the catholic jamaican school...we weren't catholic. There was a local church of which many of the Americans attended but NO....my parents were faithful to their religion and found a church of our faith...where we were the only white family. I remember walking into that church for the first time....dirt floors and stares at us. But we were welcomed with open arms...I loved that church! I made so many friends at school and even ran track...placed 3rd in a race once!!

Imagine my surprise when letters began arriving to me from friends in the states about my hometown schools integrating....I laughed. They spoke of problems and fights. I had none here. As much as I hated my dad for taking me away from my friends at that time if my life, I am so thankful for it today. I experienced what is was like to be new to a school and country so when I returned, I jumped right in making friends. There were a couple of the african american girls who didn't like me...I guess cos I was talking to the guys. But a couple of the other girls stepped up and took up for me and that was that.

When I was in my last semester of college and having to take a speech class, I used King's speech to talk about reaching dreams and goals. My dream and goal was to graduate college and to be the first in my entire family to do so....I did it. So many take for granted things handed to us. I think you appreciate it more when you have to work for it. I think King wanted the african american people to DREAM so they could work for it.

A dream is a dream until you put it into motion....

What dream do you have that you are waiting on?

Cleaning out the Past...

So I decided to do the post I was going to do for New Years but was derailed.

Spring Cleaning: You're supposed to do spring cleaning in the spring right? But why wait till spring? Plus why would I want to stay inside during the spring and clean, especially during baseball season! So I call spring cleaning: New Year Clean UP.

It goes quite nicely with New Year's Resolutions because while you're thinking of what you want to do better or differently, clearing out things you want to rid your closets or house of helps you realize what you need to rid your life of.

We allow or bring people or things into our lives that are not healthy or good for us emotionally. We don't mean to, it just happens. Yah I know you can't rid your life of family for those who are quietly thinking of that family member who rubs you wrong. And if you're not the Boss you can't fire your lazy ass coworker. So what to do...what to do?

First, the healthy stuff:
I've been slowly making changes this past year so this one is not so hard for me, with the exception of drinking my dark beer. (I bought some Michelob Ultra Amber) I'm learning that eating healthy can taste good. It CAN!

Next is Exercise, the 8 letter word that should be a 4 letter word: You've heard the phrase: you snooze you lose. Well if you don't use your muscles, you'll lose them...well they'll just go flabby. You don't have to join a gym to exercise...just get some tennis shoes on and go walk. You don't have to powerwalk...just WALK. Add some light weights or exercise bands and you can keep your upper body strength in shape for years to come.

NOW for the real Clean UP
Getting rid of those people or things in your life that you know are holding you back. You know what they are and who they are. Limit your time around them. Stay away from those negative people. I think that's what I was doing when I moved to Austin. I was in this relationship that wasn't horrible, it just wasn't good for me and my true happiness. In fact, I had settled for mediocre. And that my friend is something No One should do. At my old job in my hometown, one of my coworkers realized that I was settling and one day as I was preparing to move to Austin and talking about leaving and my ex...he said to me "XXXX(calling me by my last name), Never Settle, in life or in love" I sat there KNOWING what he meant...and wanting to live that...I smiled and said "I won't". Upon getting settled into my new cubicle in Austin, I wrote on a Post-it "Never Settle" and stuck it to my computer. It remains there today.

So today...as I cleaned house I cleaned the house of Tex...again. Cleansing is good for the soul they say. It also helps you to smell better.

One More Day...

So if you could pick one more day to re-live again, which day would it be? Would it be the day you got married? Or the day your first child was born? The day you fell in love with your significant other? Would you pick October 27, 2004? Would you pick a day? Or are you happy enough to not want to go back?

I can think of several days I would choose so that I enjoy those joyous feelings again. But the day I think I would choose even over those would be the Wednesday before my nephew was killed. It was January 15th, 2002. My sister's family was to leave early Thursday morning on a flight to Colorado for a church snow skiing trip. My life was on hold at that moment as I had just broke off a 4 yr relationship and moved back home to my parents at age 43. I was going to Austin for a job interview that week. I was supposed to drop by my sister's house to visit with them before they left but an old boyfriend called so I decided to go meet him instead. That old boyfriend ended up being a jerk like he was before.

Sunday while spending the weekend with a friend in Austin, I received a message on my cellphone from one of the local police departments from my hometown to call home. A message I will remember forever. Calling home I received the news that my nephew had been killed in a snow skiiing incident the afternoon before. My sister, her husband and oldest daughter were on their way home. I packed quickly and left. I don't recall the trip home although I drove through Houston.

The next week was long. Dustin was a unique kid. He had already separated himself from others as being an individual. He sought to know God's heart. Dustin sought to do the right thing and encouraged his friends to do the right thing as well. His funeral was attended by hundreds at our home church. Dustin touched the lives of so many. Dustin was my nephew and he was 11 years old but in those short 11 years he lived a life many an adult would be jealous of.

I imagine January 15th many times in my mind; what I would do if I could go back, but I can't. So I move forward and live my life with love, vigor and zest. I live my life with my family. I live my life so that I don't have to wish I could have one more day back.

Live Music Guy

I had my new year's eve post all figured out. I went on my trail walk to begin my new year and as usual I get into heavy thought while walking. I started thinking about how everyone dives into Spring Cleaning discarding all the things they don't need. So I had this whole post figured out discussing how we should do Spring Cleaning in our hearts, souls and lives each New Years.

But then....things happen to change your mind.

SO there I am on my last leg of the trail and it's kicking my butt cos I haven't exercised in about 4 months. All of a sudden I hear music....Live Music! I can't figure out what or where it's coming from....I round the curve and there stands this man with guitar in hand and harmonica in mouth playing his heart out. It's got a real jazzy flavah. I'm thinking to myself "if he thinks he's gonna make some change...no one has their wallets!" But then as I get closer I realize there is no bucket or hat for money. I realize that he's just simply playing for OUR Pleasure! Someone giving with no hopes of anything in return. People are buzzing by on their bikes, running in pairs, or like me just walking. Live Music Guy is playing his heart out...but I don't see no one saying anything. I see a big ole guy come up the trail towards him running...Live Music Guy takes his mouth off the harmonica and says in the most friendly voice possible "SMILE". The runner smiles really big. By then I am almost to Live Music Guy...and I am smiling big at him...again Live Music Guy takes his mouth off his harmonica for just a sec and says "Happy New Year" I return the salutation to him and turn back to walking away. All he wanted was to make me smile.

But then I turn my head back and shout back to him "Thank You!" He keeps playing that harmonica simply nodding at me with a smile.

I think my new year just started off on the right foot on the walking trail.

NYR

res·o·lu·tion (rěz'ə-lōō'shən)
1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.
2. A resolving to do something.
3. A course of action determined or decided on.






New Year's Resolutions


Ok I have to say that I HATE New Year's Resolutions....not because I hate making them....I just hate keeping them. Something Always Gets in Your Way in keeping promises to yourself. For expedience, I am using an acronym to discuss them. Most NYR's get made cos of guilt self-induced by the preceding religious holiday. Examples could be:

I resolve to be nicer to my family.

I resolve to not curse in front of my kids.

I resolve not to drink.

I resolve not to get arrested.





I could go on and on...Failure to keep those resolutions typically are because The Resolver did not decide on a specific Course of Action...meaning A Plan. If you want to reach a goal, you need to follow some simple steps:

* write it down ... cos you'll forget it

* be specific...ya can't just say "I'm gonna lose weight" HOW MUCH??

* make sure it is attainable...i mean can YOU really lose 50 lbs in 1 month??

* make sure it is a goal YOU want to reach...meaning don't do it for someone else!!

* have a long range goal with short range goals.....so you feel like you ARE accomplishing something till you get to the Finish Line.

* Reward yourself...no one else will!

* have a friend who will encourage and support you...as well as make you accountable....cos you'll make excuses!



See you expected silliness from me today....but I was just thinking how I reached this goal of mine a few years back....only to let it go to the wayside and now I'm in the same position I was in then. So it's back to the drawing board for this ole' gal!



I refuse to call it a New Year's Resolution though. I'm making a New Life Statement!!

If you do that...you don't have to make New Year's Resolutions each year and break them.

Redneck Christmas

Yah we did it! We went to Waffle House for breakfast on Christmas Morn in our PJ's. My sis and her family have been doing this tradition for years now and I joined them this year. My brother-in-law eats breakfast there on a fairly regular basis so the waitress knows them. As we walked in about 8am...Angie(their personal waitress) met them at the door with drinks in hand as we waited for a table. Me not being a regular had to put in my order.

As soon as we were seated she began taking food orders...I asked for a menu since I'm not a regular..soon as I put my order in...she said "That's your usual now" and smiled. Of course, family pics are taken before leaving and all. Angie says her family wishes she didn't have to work Christmas morning but she says she wouldn't miss it for the world! (course she wouldn't...she made about $200 in tips from about 4 families that morning)

Several families join us and we take up one side of the diner..finally we finish and head back to the house to Open Gifts! oh didn't I tell ya...the kids have to wait to open presents AFTER breakfast. It's the tradition now.

They've learned to eat fast.

and so it is Christmas....

It's Christmas time and while all are scurrying about grabbing sweaters off the rack and bumping elbows to get the last DiceK shirt....I'm happy sitting behind this screen writing. You see a few years back my family decided that we had lost our way in the meaning of Christmas. So we don't do the gift swapping between all of us. Don't get me wrong...the kids get gifts at our family gathering. We buy our parents gifts. With 5 kids in my family and so many grandkids, we don't buy for one another because we would be going either broke or receiving some stupid gift we wouldn't use. So now...we have our food, drink and fun gathering and play the game..."what's that baby's name and who's the daddy?" (don't ask...it'd take me a couple of blogs to explain it)

and so tonight I am headed off to buy me PJ's I can wear in public to eat breakfast in as my sis and her family eat at the local Waffle House on Christmas Morn before opening presents.

Ok bought some PJ's but not happy with them...so I think I am bringing them back today and buy some more. I don't recall being so obsessed with a New Year's outfit as this!!

ok Back with new PJ's! so I went all out...pj's, houseshoes and a new fluffy robe!! I will be the smartest PJ dresser at Waffle House.

Thanks Baggie for Everything!

It's not easy saying goodbye, especially when you still have so much more to give. Jeff Bagwell, affectionately known as 'Baggie', is retiring because his body says it's time to go home. His heart, spirit and soul are still very much on fire for the game but his body is telling him it's time. It's hard to admit that you're actually getting too old to play anymore so I admire Baggie for saying "I don't want to embarrass myself..". At least he gets it so that he goes out with a bang and memories for all of us to live on.

I remember him coming onto the team as I was excited that Texas got a Boston player since I was just becoming a fan of the team with Roger there. Bagwell wasn't sure about moving here but he became one of Houston's most beloved and admired players.

Baggie isn't going far as he will continue to work with the Astros in some capacity for their minor league teams in Round Rock and Corpus. I hope to catch a closer glimpse of him and perhaps get an autograph of a future HOFer hopeful.

Goodbye to one of the most devoted Astro players Houston will possibly ever have...he played with heart and soul. I know that Baggie will pass on this trait to the newer younger players in the minor league.