Twins

I'll post more about our trip later, but really....

Dear Minnesota Twins:

You know I love you. I've been a fan since I was in dippers watching the games with my dad.

But how do you blow a 10-run lead? Morneau goes 11 for 14 and 12rbi, and you loose? Mike Muchlinski obviously blew the call at home and Cuddyer was safe...but beyond that... FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, can we find someone who can pitch the ball?

Please? I can't endure this sort of disappointment, especially considering the Vikings season hasn't even started.

Vacation - Part 1

The first part of our vacation was spent in Phoenix. This was Alex's first flight and he was so worried the airline would loose our luggage and he tried desperately to fit everything into a carry-on, but no luck. I swear the kid is a sixty year old man trapped in a little boys’ body. Really…what eight-year old worries about his luggage getting lost. He watch very closely as our luggage entered the security check point and after we passed through security, he patiently watched as the luggage was loaded.


One of his many wonderful attributes, Alex has the ability to start a conversation with almost anyone and everyone. I sometimes think he’s destined for a career in politics because he connects with people without great effort. The woman in the seat next to us was no exception to Alex's charm. She was kind and amused Alex by being so intrigued in his stories of the community center, baseball, his dog Chewy…you name it, Alex was an open book. The landing was a little jerky and Alex threw me under the bus once again. He looked at the woman in the seat next to us and calmly said “well, it’s still not as bad as my moms’ stops in the car”. She thought it was cute and even rewarded him by buying him a bag of M&M’s. Like the kid needed anymore rewards for throwing me under the bus.



I was really nervous about this part of the trip. Alex was meeting Michael – the guy I’ve dated for two years. I didn’t know how Alex would react and my stomach was doing somersaults throughout the flight thinking about this step in our relationship. The last thing Alex really needs is another guy being a disappointment so I've really kept him very separate from my dating life. Alex was very well behaved and made me very proud as I knew he would. I was never worried about how he would behave, I'm just worried about Michael bailing and having to explain to Alex (again) that he won't be seeing or hearing from Michael again. The first night was a little difficult as Alex started crying because “chewy was all alone”. Chewy was not alone, he was with a family in Sioux Falls, but Alex was upset. Michael is very busy and doesn’t eat at home often, so he stepped out to get groceries while Alex and I settled into our rooms. I tucked Alex into bed and scratched his back to calm him down – soon, I was out as well. Michael returned to find both Alex and myself snoring in the bedroom. What a nice way for me to show how much I missed Michael, huh.

Alex and I spent the entire afternoon at the pool on Wednesday. It was about 110 degrees during the daytime, so the pool was really the only thing one could enjoy that day. Later that evening, we went out for supper and then saw the new Transformers movie which is dumb dumb dumb. I don’t know what Alex’s intention was, but he insisted to sit between Michael and me. I wondered if it was a territorial thing – this is MY mom and she’ll sit here and Michael…you’ll sit here. Alex and Michael really got along great which was a relief.





Alex was snoring within a few minutes after we returned to Michael’s house leaving Michael and I to spend a little alone time. I’m still smitten over this guy. He took the Thursday off from work to see us off. I was driving his car to Anaheim and then back to South Dakota and we were starting this little adventure the next day….which I will write about tomorrow.

Fathers Day

Lets start at the beginning...

For fathers day, Alex suggested we take Grandpa to the Twins game. The Twins were playing Houston (zzzzz) but we thought it would be fun anyway. I told my dad A MONTH in advance to keep father's day open. He said "ok"

However, the Wednesday before the game, he said that he had booked a gig for the weekend. My dad is a musician and has been playing in bands since he was in his early 20's. Music has always been a HUGE part of his life and for most of my life, it's just been a fact that he was gone most weekends. He and I have always been close and when I was 16, I started playing gigs with the band and we spent allot of time together. It was frustrating, however, when the band took president over anything else in our lives. This time, I was putting my foot down. I told him that there is NO WAY he was missing the game - you're spending father's day with us and you're going to like it! I probably wouldn't have cared so much if Alex wasn't looking forward to the game with Grandpa - he made him a card and it was his idea to take grandpa to the Twins game. I wasn't allowing Alex to take the back seat because of a group of smelly musicians. If I had to knock my father unconscious and drag him to the game, I was prepared to do so. Fortunately (for him) he found someone to take his place on Sunday.

I joined the band on stage Saturday and then we drove to Minneapolis after the gig. Nothing like a 3-hour car ride to smooth things over!!

By Sunday, we were getting along just fine again and Alex was having a ball since he was able to bring a friend to the game.

Guerrier warming up



My boyfriend - Joe Nathan.



Alex giving me a look that says "mom, I'm trying to watch a baseball game...can you put the camera away"



Note the one eyebrow raised...the kid hates pictures



Ayala and Young were warming up and when they were done, he threw the baseball to Alex. This picture is Alex and his friend Josh.



My dad and Alex. Can you tell my dad also hates it when I get the camera out? Alex is looking at him and saying "I feel your pain Grandpa"



Alex on the field after the game. I did get a slight smile on this one - probably because he knows next season = outdoor baseball in Minnesota!!!!

Family

I love the way my family functions - and I'm not being sarcastic. A distant relative whom I had never met is traveling though South Dakota and wanted to visit relatives who would be traveling to my home town, which is about 1.5 hours away from where I live, so my aunt in Minneapolis worked to get her hooked up with a place to stay. Notice I did not say hotel - no, a place to stay as in our homes. Since we're leaving for California tonight, I volunteered my home.

So last night when I arrived home from work, there in my driveway sat two relatives who had been in the family for years, but none of us were able to meet before this weekend. They have been driving from Portland Oregon for the past two weeks and the woman (Vonnie) is a hoot!

But, like I said, we're heading out of town for a week so chow - have a wonderful July 4th - and I'll have lots of stories and pictures to share when we return

I Love You

While at the nursing home this weekend, this sweet old lady sat in her wheel chair watching me clean. Blue hair, weighted maybe 80lbs…she looks up at me and says in a sweet shaky voice “I love you”

Awe – warmed my heart.

I leaned in and said, “thank you, I love you too”

Her face suddenly grew this complete disgusted look. She started wheel away, but not before she turns around and says “pervert”

Next time, I’m just going to say thank you

Summer

I love summer! I love being outside - I love the heat - I love the mornings - love love love summer!

I've started summer classes - Human Resource Management and Marketing Management which are both fun and interesting so far. Trying to fit an entire semester of information into four weeks is always a challenge though.

Alex is totally in love with this series - Stink



We went to Barnes & Nobel yesterday to purchase two more books of the series and as always, walked out with way more than what we intended to purchase. We've gearing up for a supper fun road trip this summer. So far, here is the plan - flying into Mesa to visit Michael and spend a day in Phoenix, then driving his car all the way back to SD. Before heading to SD, however, we're going to drive to Southern Cali and visit Disneyland. Okay, I'm not excited about the Disneyland part - in fact, I would rather just eliminate it completely, but Alex is all jazzed. I've heard that it's all overpriced and really, not that enjoyable. I also want to take Alex to see the Grand Canyon....Sea World .... the ocean...and just make fun little stops along the way. I'm supper excited for the road trip - just me and my four-footer on the open road! A 22-hour road trip! Fun fun fun! I bought Alex a little Diary...excuse me, journal to write about our journey. This should be interesting folks....

Work Hard, Play Hard

But mom, I'm not even tired