Mommy? Are you crying? Over a BASEBALL game?

In high school I dated THE cutest boy in school.  He played baseball.  When he wasn’t playing baseball, he played softball.  I knew the game.  I had watched my brother play Little League. I had even watched my dad play softball on a church team and I had spent many afternoons watching my dad’s beloved Dodgers on TV with him.  So, when I was asked to keep the scorebook for my boyfriend’s team, I didn’t hesitate.  I soon learned the numbers behind the game.  I learned that when the batter hit a ground ball to the shortstop and then was thrown out at first, that would be recorded as a 6-3 in my books.  Everything that happened in the game would be recorded in a series of codes and numbers.  This made sense to me.  If only real life could be as neat and tidy as the recording of the most difficult 5-4-3 double play.

Life moved on and so did that relationship.  After college in Oklahoma, I took a job in Arlington, Texas.  My first apartment was in North Arlington, just a stone’s throw away from the old Arlington Stadium.  It was 1983.  Many nights I would hear the announcer at the stadium from my apartment.  Some nights early in the season, I would open a window just a little so that I could hear a little clearer.  In those days, when our third baseman came to the plate, I would hear “Buddyyyyy Beeeeeellllll.”  As our catcher came to bat, I would hear, “Jim SUNDberg.”  Pete O’Brien was announced something like, “Pete OOOOOO’BRIen.”  I could hear the occasional fireworks from my apartment and I was drawn outside each time to see if I could see them from my vantage point. 

Soon, the lure of the stadium drew me in and I attended my first Texas Rangers baseball game.  It was my first ever Major League Baseball game…..and I was hooked.  I can’t remember what happened that night.  I can’t tell you who we played or who won, but I can tell you how it made me feel.  Maybe it was the fact that I had moved to a new city, had a new job and new relationships that left me yearning for something familiar.  I just don’t know.  All I know is that the ballpark offered that security, that familiarity, a reminder of something that had not changed.  The game was still the same…. and it still made sense to me.  It was like a big ol’ serving of my favorite comfort food.  Done.  I was a Texas Ranger Fan!

Sadly, if I had known at the time of the heartbreak and the disappointment my new status as a Ranger fan would bring, I might have thought twice about it all.  But, I delved in full-steam and bought the Ranger shirts and picked a few games each season to attend, watched the television coverage faithfully, and supported my team.  The highlight of the following season came on the last day of the regular season (which goes without saying because that is all we ever played back then – there was NO post-season for us).  I had invited my dad to the ballpark on September 30, 1984 to see the Rangers play the Angels.  It was hot!  Mike Witt was pitching. We sat out in Center Field and we talked and ate hot dogs and sweated and enjoyed the game.  In about the 5th inning, we started to take notice of the pitching.  Mike Witt had a perfect game going.  We didn’t say too much out loud, but watched each inning and it soon became obvious that we were going to see something spectacular that day.  As it turned out, Mike Witt did pitch a perfect game that day and my dad and I were there to see it!  It was one of only 6 perfect games EVER pitched in the American League and WE WERE THERE!  Ok, that’s the good news.  The bad news is that Mike Witt pitched for the Angels!  We lost the game 1-0 on a RBI from Reggie Jackson.

So, that’s how it went.  The seasons became a series of moments to remember, but never seasons to remember.  The late 80’s brought Nolan Ryan to the team and we celebrated his 5,000th strike-out.  The early 90’s brought Nolan’s 6th and 7th no-hitters and construction began on a new ballpark.  The first regular season game was played in our new ballpark on April 11, 1994.  We lost.  That season, the Rangers actually won the division (with a losing record, no less) and qualified for the play-offs  To add insult to the ever growing injury for Ranger fans, the MLB strike began and no post season was played.  The Rangers qualified for the playoffs in 1996 and lost to the Yankees in the first round.  In 1998 AND 1999, the Rangers won the AL West title, but were SWEPT by the Yankees two years in a row in the first round.

By this time, I was completely focusing on my love of the GAME, admittedly, not on my love of our TEAM.  Once Max was old enough to enjoy games with me, we would go together.  One long-standing tradition is that we go to Opening Day.  We don’t miss it.  Ever since he started Kindergarten (he is now a sophomore in high school), he has been able to count on the fact that I am going to show up at his school at around Noon on Opening Day, and make up a bogus reason as to why I need to check him out of school (most times I am all decked out in my Ranger gear and not fooling anyone at all…but they play along).  Nothing beats the feeling of Opening Day on a beautiful Texas afternoon in the spring.  I love the smell of the ballpark food, the choked-up feeling I always get during the National Anthem, the pre-game jet fly-over, the sound of the organ during the prelude to “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”.  Opening Day brings all sorts of possibilities of rebirth and all disappointments of the previous season are soon forgotten once we are in our seats.     On a side note, Max and I have always been convinced that our Ranger Ballpark is the most beautiful ballpark in all of America.  And that’s something, right?  We may not have EVER had the best team, but gosh darn it we have the BEST ballpark.  And we would know.  We began a quest to visit all of the MLB parks when Max was about 8 years old.  Each season, we try to hit at least one new ballpark.  We have been to just about half of all of the ballparks in our country and we can still say that we DO have the most beautiful ballpark of them all, right in our backyard! 

So…… back to the timeline.   Life moved on.  I got married, and cheered on my Rangers.  I had 4 babies, and cheered on my Rangers (but more often from my sofa since getting to the ballpark was more of a challenge).  I went from “Boo”ing Steve Buechele at the ballpark, to dropping my daughter off at his house to visit her best friend.  I mourned Johnny Oates, ignored the steroid scandal, skipped the All-Star Game we hosted and cheered on my Rangers.

After my divorce, one of the first things I bought was a season ticket mini-plan.  Maybe I was once again turning to something familiar to ground me.   Maybe it was a desperate attempt to find myself. Maybe I needed to have my own place in the world. That place became Section 37 – Row 23 – Seats 3-6.  And that is where I have been, year after year, cheering on my team and hoping and believing that SOMEDAY my faithfulness would be rewarded.

And now, it’s 2010.  The Rangers won the AL West title and advanced to the play-offs for the first time since 1999.  And then my Rangers, who have only ever won ONE playoff game, immediately went two games up against Tampa Bay and returned home to continue the American League Division Series.  The whole city was in a tizzy over it.  At the ballpark, I was overwhelmed with the show of support for our team.  It was like nothing I had ever seen.  And, then the team did what the Rangers have done since I have been a fan.  They blew it.  They returned home and lost two games to Tampa Bay to force a Game 5.  This was a familiar feeling.  The familiar response to this would be for the whole city to turn and walk away and adopt a “we knew this would happen” attitude and go about our business and focus on other things.  But oddly, that didn’t happen.  Everywhere I looked I saw signs of support for the team.  The overwhelming mantra of the day became, “I Believe!”  It felt like the scene from The Grinch when the people of Whoville wake up and just decide to go ahead and have Christmas anyway, even without the gifts!  And so we watched Game 5, and hoped beyond hope that history would be made for our franchise that night. 

And then it happened.  The Texas Rangers WON A PLAY-OFF SERIES for the first time in franchise history!  For the First .Time. Ever.   It actually happened!

And so to answer your question, Kids…. “Yes.  I cried.  Over a baseball game.”

The American League Championship series brought the Yankees to town.  In the first game, the Rangers blew a 5 run lead in the 8th inning and lost the game.  Again, this city and these fans were undaunted.  Fans turned out in full force for Game 2 and we eventually watched our Rangers win 3 in a row against the hated Yankees!  Game 5 went to the Yankees in New York, but everyone had the feeling that was supposed to happen. The Rangers needed to return home  to win this in front of the hometown crowd.  Game Day for Game 6 was a BIG day in Arlington.  Big...Huge!   As I sat in my seats and the ballpark slowly filled up, I couldn't help but think about the day in which you could come into the stands and sit just about anywhere you wanted to sit.  Today, there would be standing-room-only.  The die-hard Ranger fans sat alongside the newer, but equally as excited, fans.   The old-timers wore faded and worn out Ranger shirts, while most wore the first Ranger shirt they had ever owned.  It didn't matter.  We were together in this and everyone was vested and welcome, no matter what the level of support up to this time had been.  The difference came with that last pitch. As the fireworks went off and the confetti swirled over old-timer and newcomer alike, those of who knew what this meant, who remembered the road we had traveled to get to this point, felt it all just a little deeper and the victory was just a little sweeter.

And so, once again, "Yes. I cried. Over a baseball game."

Doc in a Box

We had our annual school carnival Saturday and all of us were looking forward to spending the whole afternoon there.  As fate would have it, Chloe got hurt in one of the bounce houses in the first 30 minutes. It looked like her wrist might be broken and she was inconsolable.  I'm going to go ahead and preface this story by saying that I don't handle things like this well at all.  My older three kids rarely ever get hurt.  It helps that those three choose to be involved in very low-risk activities.  Musical Theatre and Show Choir are not known for being inherently dangerous.  Despite the complicated dance routines, very few students ever step-ball-change their way into Arlington Memorial's emergency room.  But then there is Chloe. She is fearless and boisterous and athletic.....and she gets hurt.  We nicknamed her Coco, not because it is short for Chloe, but because it is the Spanish slang for boo-boo.  And Coco gets plenty of boo-boos.


Mike and I took Chloe home and propped her arm up on some pillows and iced it down.  She alternated between being calm and settled one minute, and then an emotional ball of mush the next.  She had a major meltdown at one point when she realized her injury might prevent her from attending a friend's birthday party at the roller-skating rink the next day. We finally determined that we should get it x-rayed and began to discuss where to go.  Mike suggested Care Now, his Urgent Care Facility of choice.  I mentioned another place that I had frequented occasionally and I decided we should take Chloe there.  It was off the beaten path and a little bit of a drive from our house, but I remembered that it had been fine for getting school check-ups and there was never a wait.  I made the final call and we loaded Chloe up and headed out to the clinic I had chosen.  On the way, Mike tried to explain to Chloe what was going to happen and how they might have to manipulate her arm to get the x-ray and that it might hurt a bit.  I quickly changed the subject and gave him a "look" (since kicking him under a table wasn't an option while he was driving) to stop with the scary talk, lest she completely break down before we even get there.


We walked into the clinic of my choosing and it was clean and nice and, just as I had so wisely predicted, there was no one else waiting to be seen.  At this point, I was feeling a little smug and extremely proud of my choice, as I thought of all the suckers who must have been waiting for hours at Care Now, while I walked right up to the counter of my little hidden gem of a clinic. I gave Mike a little "told you so" glance and confidently walked up to the counter to check in. I moved the tacky little vase with the plastic flowers to one side and searched in my purse for a pen to use to sign in. When the lady working the front desk took my forms, I accidentally handed her my pen.  When I realized this, I said, "Oh wait, that's MY pen!"  Then,  I added (just to point out the clinics' shortcomings so that they might be able to improve their customer service in the future), "There were NO pens sitting out for me to use."  Without even looking up, she pointed to the little vase that I had pushed aside and then to the sign on the counter that clearly  read, "THE FLOWERS ARE THE PENS."  Well, of course they are!  They got tired of people walking away with their pens, so they chose to tape a big fake yellow flower on the end of  each one and arrange them in a clear vase filled with green marbles.  It was an ingenious plan really.  I had no desire to even touch one of the blossom-enhanced writing utensils, much less sneak one into my purse to take home.


When Chloe's name was called, we all made our way back into the patient area of the clinic. We were greeted by the front desk lady, whose job description obviously read Receptionist / NURSE.  Now that she was standing up, it was surprisingly evident that she was about 6 feet tall.  She was quite an imposing figure, rather gruff and downright scary.  Add to this the fact that she was already ticked at me for my little pen comment, and we had the makings of a really great experience for all of us.  She examined Chloe and then announced to us that the Doctor would be in shortly to look at Chloe's arm, while she would go and get the x-ray room ready. Then, she looked at me and asked, "Does she know that I am going to have to move her arm like this.....and like this .......and like this........and it's probably going to hurt?"  Well, I guess she knows NOW!  Chloe's eyes got so big and the tears started to flow and I looked over at Mike and suddenly HE had the "told you so" look and he said, "And you were worried about ME scaring her?  I'm thinking if you had let me finish, I could have broken that news to Chloe a little more delicately."  And then I'm pretty sure I heard him whisper under his breath, "I'm SO glad it wasn't MY idea to come here."


The Doctor finally came in and he was as laid-back as the nurse was scary.  He was an older gentleman, a little plump, and he walked with more of a casual shuffle than with the confident and determined gait you would expect to see in your trusted health care provider. (The old man character played by Tim Conway in the Carol Burnett show came to mind). He looked at Chloe's arm and announced, "Well, we hope it's not broken, but it very well could be!"  My attitude was quite sour by now and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, "Yep, that's pretty much why we're here, Captain Obvious!  Oh, sorry...DOCTOR Obvious!"  He left the room and McScary came back in to get Chloe for the x-ray.  She wouldn't let me go to the x-ray room with them because she said, "It's a real tiny room and you probably won't fit in there with us."  Seriously? Whatever! Surprisingly, the x-ray experience was pretty painless and Chloe came back to the room in good spirits.


After a few minutes, McObvious came back into the room and announced that Chloe's wrist was officially NOT broken.  He put the image up and started to show us how good it all looked and I was thinking, "Of course it looks good, that's the WRONG ARM!"  Turned out he had taken an x-ray of both arms for comparison.  We eventually did view the correct x-ray and it all looked good. So, McObvious announced that it must just be a sprain and then he started to walk shuffle away.  I expected a little more guidance or some closure at this point so I called out to him, "Is there anything we should do for it?"  He stopped and thought for a minute and then said, "Well, maybe you could immobilize it in a brace or something?"  I wondered if he was telling me or asking me at this point.  He started to walk shuffle away again and Mike, who was also not feeling like we had quite gotten our money's-worth yet,  suggests, "How about some ice on it?"  The doctor thought for a minute and then shrugged and agreed that ice might be a good idea.  McObvious started to walk shuffle away again, only to be stopped again by Mike asking the million dollar question, "So, what about activity?  She has a party tomorrow and she wants to go roller skating. What do you think?"  McObvious answered, "Well, I think that would just be asking for it."  McScary chimed in, "Unless she's just a REALLY good skater."

A Day Without Baseball is Like a Day Without.... Productivity, evidently.

I've spent every waking minute of the past two weeks gloriously wrapped up in Ranger baseball!  The last few days have been consumed with getting ready for the game....watching the game...analyzing the game. Yesterday, there was no game and I felt a little lost.  Here is how I managed to fill my day without the the 4 hours of baseball to look forward to........

• Dropped everyone off at school early and came home to check Facebook.  Noticed I had 388 friends and thought about how cool it would be to have 400.  Scanned my kids' friend lists to see if I could solicit a friendship from any of their friends (which my kids have expressly forbidden me to do - but I was bored enough to risk the fallout).  That felt lame and a little desperate, so I gave up and decided to be content with the knowledge that I had over 300 very close friends, including way more high school friends than I was actually friends with in high school.  Turns out, the popularity that eluded me in high school has finally manifested in cyber-space.  I'm virtually popular!
• Spent a completely unreasonable amount of time deciding on a new font  for this blog post.  I was going for something a little more spectacular than the over-used, predictable and boring Arial Black, and a little less fancy than a full-blown Lucinda Handwriting.  What do you think?
• Saw a promo for "30 Rock" in which Tina Fey announced she had just discovered her first gray toe-knuckle hair.  Wondered if I had any of those so I decided to check.  Couldn't find my glasses, but I didn't see any that were visible to the naked eye, so I think I'm good. 
• Had to run to Wal-Mart for a few things I needed for the Larson Carnival this weekend.  Made a note to go back anytime I was feeling fat or unattractive.  I left feeling pretty good about myself. 
• Thought about cooking an elaborate meal, since I had the time.  I looked up some recipes and one of them called for lemon zest?  I am not sure what that is, but I'm pretty sure if I used it, one of my kids would complain that their meal was a little too "zesty" and it's just not even worth the hassle. Got overwhelmed by all of the options so I ran to the store and picked up some pre-made hamburger patties that I ended up throwing on the grill.  I didn't cop out - it was just a really nice day to grill some burgers. Don't judge.
• Googled "Hot Flashes" and other sub-categories like,  "Spontaneous Combustion, "  "Has Anyone Ever Died from a Hot Flash?" "Aren't I Too Young for Hot Flashes?" (Turns out I'm not - greeeeaaaat).
• Counted the days until Spring Break..... it's 141, in case you were wondering. 

Never has TGIF been more applicable.  Thank GOD it's Friday and a GAME DAY!  GO RANGERS!

Finding the Funny!

"What was the best part of your day?"  "What was the worst part of your day?" 

For years, I have asked my kids that question over dinner.  I am sure the idea was not an original one.  I am almost fairly certain that I got the idea from a movie a long time ago.  However it came about, it has given us some fun things to talk about.  The best days are when no one can think of the "worst" part of the day.  The tough days are when no one can think of anything good that happened that day. Something I was reading recently prompted me to change the question that I pose to the kids.  So, the other night, we were standing around the kitchen island eating the pizza that was just delivered  sitting down to a healthy home-cooked meal around the table and I asked them, "What was the funniest thing that happened today?"  I guess I was expecting too much from the first night under their new mandate.  The answers were all things that were obviously funny, like someone tripping over something, someone spilling something, accidental gas emissions....all good dinner conversation, no doubt, but not really what I was looking for.  So, I challenged the kids to find the funny in each day.

 If everyone is laughing, then that is not the funny I am looking for.  The funny I am looking for has to be sought out, it has to be reached for, it has to be conjured up and pieced together from small moments in their day that add up to something amusing.  The ability to do this is not only a skill and an art, it's a coping mechanism that I have found to be invaluable in life.  If I can teach my kids to find the humor in every day life, I truly believe I will have given them a great gift and left a wonderful legacy.

This blog is for me, and this blog is for them.  It's my record of the funny moments in my family's life.  It's a record of all of those moments about which I have always said, "I should write that down!"   I invite my friends to read along if you like and I hope that we entertain you.  But, even more importantly,  I hope we inspire you and your family to Find the Funny!