When We Never Expect It Part 1

My mom had her gallbladder removed a few weeks back. Prior to that visit we had to go to the emergency room because she was complaining of chest pain. My dad was at work so it was just us kids. While remaining as calm as we could we rushed my mom to the hospital where of course we waited for an hour and a half and then fortunately got in, found out it was not her heart but her gallbladder.

I remember standing next to my mom as she squatted on the emergency floor trying to hold back moans of pain. Her eyes were closed hoping as if we (her children) would not see her in pain.

I looked at my sister and brother and then thought about the rest of my family. I hate the fact that it takes time of peril for appreciative thinking to set in. It is foolish and selfish.

My mom had the surgery done the following week and when she came out the surgery, she laid there in an obvious amount of pain. That said, she was relieved it was all over.

Growing up, like any other, we see our parents go through patches of sadness and glee. We see glimpses of pain and relief. Through all that we rarely see vulnerability from them at least I saw very little. My mom and my dad I have only seen them vulnerable at very select times in front of me.

I understand why they are the "King and Queen."

Vegas

We took a short trip out to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving Break 2 night 2 days. Got there late Monday night due to our flight being cancelled. When we got there we wasted no time as we through our stuff in the room at the NY NY and off we went. We walked the strip then off to old town where we would spend the rest of night up until the wee hours of the morning. We went to sleep for 4 hours woke up and did it again. The second night we tried to pull an all nighter but fell 2 hours short. Fell asleep at 6am had to leave at 8am.

This is before the first night in Vegas began. I believe it was about nine pm when we got started.

This is the after shot about four in the morning.

You never know who will be walking around in Vega every once in while some Voluptuous,

gorgeous looking man will just pop in your photo.

Here we are off to catch a show before the long night. We saw Zumanity at the NYNY.

Fall 2008

I have had a good travel season this past fall. I went to some new places and saw some really amazing things throughout my travels. When you travel as much as I do, you have a lot of time to think and reflect on life. I realize with a lot of things some things, shun some things, learn to forgive, hold a grudge, ask why and why not, among many other random items that may pop into the brain.



I try to clear my mind when I am on the road. I try and forget moments or at least come to terms with those issues. I try to find the good in people I find otherwise. I think of the mistakes that i made and what i would do to fix them.



I read a book recently and it taught me a little about myself. It taught me about my insecurities, self esteem, and so much more about what I really am. I know its kind of funny that a book can tell you who you are, but this one just opened my eyes to some things about me. It it enlightened me, if you will.

At any rate, I am beginning to figure out some things as I age.

Baseball, Work, Baseball, Work

Well it has been a while but here is the update so far. Work, that is just super, right now, have I mentioned that I really like my job. For anybody questioning whether or not to work at Laramie County Community College, no question, take the job. Almost a year down and I still really enjoy my time here. The people here are great and over all this place is just a good place. As far as work goes I am just dandy.

Carrie and I moved in together and began for the first time if five years living together and for the most part I have enjoyed it. I just would like to sit down and hang out with her a little more, but hey that is the life I love and fortunately she knows my passion for the game. At any rate here is the mid season analysis.

Baseball is great, my team is pretty good and are playing pretty well right now as we are 33-4 . We have been beat once and beat ourselves three times this season. We need to continue to be better and really nail victories down after we take leads.

Our pitchers are getting much better, we need to gain consistency. We need to be able to throw the off-speed in all counts and locate. We need to be better with two strikes as we have given up too many hits with two strikes.

Our offense is solid for the most part. Our situational hitting is still lacking as we need to bunt better and effectively hit to the right side to move runners into scoring position. Our lower part of the line up need to draw more walks. Our top needs more stolen bases and bunt better as well. Clutch is the key right now, we need to continue to be clutch offense.

Base running is awful. We need to be better runners as we have given up too many outs due to poor base running. We need to take better leads and get better secondaries. We need to steal more of third base and quicker.

Defense is getting better. Outfield needs to work on the angles to the balls. They also need to continue to work on their arm strength. In field still in need of work. Angles, the approach, the de-cleat, and coming through the ball seem to be big issues. Catching is okay, but our exchanges are still slow from glove to hand. Our feet are still not as fast as I like them but our arm strength is holding us over for the most part.

Our cuts and relays are getting better and I think the boys are starting to understand why we do not have to try to every bag every time. Saving a force does many things like keeps a double play in order, shortens throws especially when the play has been flubbed prior to the throw. Bunt defense is still shaky and needs to be sharpen. There have only been a few times teams have bunted on us but those few times have not looked the way it should look. Eventually we will get beat on that if it is not taken care of quickly. Rundowns are much better, we are beginning to limit the throws and also be more deliberate.

Coaching wise, I can tell we are getting used to winning and forgetting about the prize at the end. We need to keep grounded and not get complacent. It is up to me to ensure that complacency feeling does not take hold of my players or my coaches. I am finding myself become more savvy with count stealing and picking up rhythms of other pitchers and tendencies.

All in all, baseball, work, CT and me are all doing just fine for the time being.

Weekend Baseball Notes

I had a good weekend. I coach baseball here and am fortunate to have that as well as a normal job. We played our first games of the year this weekend. We played six teams in the span of two days and beat all six teams. The beginning of the year for most teams seems to be a bit shaky and at times we performed very shaky. We won the tournament and did a lot of good things, we also have a lot to work on.

Our offense was okay and performed well in situations where importance was at its peak. We still need to work on situational hitting and bunting. Base running has to be better. My team is fast and we ought to be able to exploit their exceptional speed more often. The potential from this team is great when we get everything to click. The scary thing is they performed very well to the average fan, I know what they are capable of though.

Defense was rough for the most part. The infield still has a long way to go, however I am not worried, as I have an assistant that is very well rounded and has proven his worth throughout the years. We also have players who want to get better and know what they are capable of and willing to let us, especially my assistant, guide them to their talent. Lining up cuts, finding the cut man, staying down on the ball were among the most notable flaws. More repetitions with one another will be very beneficial soon.

The outfield played pretty well. They still need to sharpen up a few thing but are well on their way to being a very good outfield. We have a lot speed and very good arms out there. Angles and drifting to the ball seem to be the most noticeable flaws. More repetitions will help that as well.

As with all of us getting more time with one another, player-player, coach-player, will help and sky is the limit from there.

The Small Details

I was looking through a yearbook recently and read the notes people wrote to me. As I read the notes, I could not help but revisit the memories of those years. 90% percent said something to the effect I am glad I got to know you and you made me laugh hard. A few people commented on my clothing that I would wear to school,(Short tight red shorts, unreasonably tight shirts, tube socks etc) others commented on how loud I was. hmmm.
I went outside the box my senior year and became a what was called a "Centralair" which was a select jazz choir. I was reluctant at first, "That stuff is for dorks," I said many times, only to have one of the greatest years of my life. Yes I sang and I danced. I met great people I had never met that I had gone to school with for many years.
I used to be a little more wild for a laugh.
I read through some other notes, some said "stay on the right path", "I know you will do big things". I had to look at who many of these people were and I began to wonder where they are now.
I get the chance to go back to my high school often. I remember walking through the hall acting as if this is my domain. I see many people that remind me of the good ol days. I remember the people with all their backpacks loaded nearly running through the halls to get to class, the cool kid group that everyone wanted to be like or absolutely hated. Generally in that group was the jocks and then there were the not so jocks but somehow had a letter jacket.
I see the signs for prom and the excitement that goes with that. I see the anticipation behind graduation. I see the little sophomores and juniors that can't wait to move forward.
As I sit and watch these kids I think about my college years and who will be who and so forth.

I wonder how many will hold on to the friends that they hold so dear right now. I wonder if most of them will be so naive as they continue. I know I know I came of that but not until I got out of college. I am now not naive and like to think I am wise beyond my years.

I remember those day in high school. I remember how little I knew and how much I thought of the details of things around me. I have noticed to pay more attention to the details around me. I read a book about taking in the surrounding and all the things beyond the obvious. I try to enact this as much as possible. You begin to see people in a different light and other in much of the same.

Needless to say my yearbook is back on another shelf and another day i will reminisce on those days until then I hope to see everything in another light.