The Amazing Race

Alright, well I best start at the beginning on this one. Beth decided to plan an Amazing Race for all of her swim school instructors and helpers. We have a very busy summer with meets so yesterday was about the only day that was even a possibility. We didn't have much time to plan, but we went to work right away. Both she and I are huge fans for the show and took a lot of our ideas from there. If you don't watch the show, you are really missing out! Alright, so onto the race...

We had four teams. The Blue Team was Tanya, Grace, Taylor B, Erica, & Mareeka. The Green Team was Adam, Micah, Elise, & Willow. The Purple Team was Ashleigh, Evey, Kristi, Taylor E, & Emily. And the Silver Team was Alex (aka Francis), Andrew, Lilly, Nina, & Lindsey. Each team had a driver, but the drivers weren't really allowed to help. They were there to help us capture this exciting event on camera :)

The race started at the Rec. Center with a hula hoop task. Next up, Elton Hills. First was a Road Block. (A task only one team member can complete. We had five of them on the race so everyone had to do one.) There were four numbers
hidden on the playground. The kids had to find the numbers and use them to open a padlock. Apparently this task was a lot harder than we thought it would be. Once they finished that, the teams had to push a wheelbarrow, with one team member in it, for a prescribed distance.

After that, it was off to Jefferson. This is where Sarah and I were stationed. First all of the teams had to play some croquet. Okay, not real croquet. I had five wickets set up and different distances. I ended up having to move the wickets twice because it was way too hard and taking forever. Then was another Road Block. Each person had to pop ten balloons without using their hands or arms. Very smartly, they all used their feet and stomped on them. Inside the balloons were "surprises," like shaving cream, silly string, and sand. There was also a random fact in each one. Nine of the facts were true and one was false. They then took the fact they thought was false and ran it to Sarah. I clearly made the random facts to hard. I think two people went through all ten and one went through eight before they found the right one. I'm sorry guys!

Next up, Silver Lake Foods. First the teams had to beg money off of people to buy a bottle of pop. I think they all did this pretty fast because people were really nice. That is once the kids realized they should tell them they were doing the Amazing Race. The Road Block here was for one person to go into the store and find the prices for five items that Beth and I had picked. The items were A.1. Steak Sauce, Orange Sherbet, French Onion Dip, a loaf of bread, and a summer sausage. We had gone in earlier in the day and priced them. We gave the kids the size, brand, everything to find the right price. They then had to find the total and give it to Beth to get their next clue. I heard a rumor that some of them were having trouble with the addition process, but I don't know...

Then the headed to Silver Lake Park. The Road Block was to dig in the sand at a playground for a clue and next was the Detour. A Detour is a choice between two sets of tasks, each with their own pros and cons. This Detour was called Taste or Cent. In Taste, they had to each eat a tablespoon of caviar. In Cent, they had to count pennies. All four teams chose to eat the caviar. Gross! Next time we do this, we're picking something way worse than caviar. Possibly liver pate or pigs feet.

After that, the teams came to our house. They did their final Road Block first. We had six jars of baby food that they had to identify. I did provide them with a list of what they all were. They were bananas, beef and beef gravy, peaches, pears, squash, and sweet potatoes. Again, gross! Then they had to search my backyard for four packs of gum. Each pack of gum had an animal on it. When they found all four animals, they had to take the first letter of then animal name and spell a word. The animals were a frog, turtle, seal, and alligator. The word was fast.

Then came the final task... All the teams had to walk to Kellogg and got a pie made of whipped cream. We had hidden the names of six coaches and six little-known facts in the pies. The teams then had to match the coach with their fact. This took FOREVER! I guess we did a good job of finding obscure facts. Once they matched them all they ran to the finish line. The Purple Team won, then Blue, then Green, and then Silver.

It was a great race and we had so much fun! I think we're going to do another one in the fall, so let me know if you want to help with it :) We could not have done it without our parents, Matt, and Sarah helping us out. Hopefully they all had fun too. We finished up the night with pizza and DDR at our house. A few of us played a few rounds of Lynch Mob, too.

We have TONS of pictures that I'll post on Facebook when I get them all edited. This task is rather daunting, so it'll take me a little while.

Thanks for reading this novel about our Amazing Race :) Quickly before I go...

Boyfriend of the Day: Joe Mauer

He hit his first career grand slam today against the Tigers. Yay! It was uber exciting :) We won 11 to 1. Heck yes! It was a big day for Hubby #2... It was his first grand slam AND his first time being my boyfriend :)

We have back-to-back games on ESPN this week. Sunday and Monday night. I'm hoping we play some great baseball. Go Twins!

The Big Hurt finally hit 500... But we still won :)

Oh dear, I am a little behind. Sorry about that everyone... We shall devote this blog to the best team in baseball. I have to update you on three games. Whoops, I clearly had a busy week.

Alright, first up was Tuesday's game. I felt like I was in some crazy, alternate universe watching this game. Baker pitched great! He threw 9 strikeouts. Who does he think he is, Santana? As Lucy said, "a little nutty Baker turns out to be a superhero. Wow." Well said, Lucy. Well said. It was quite the pitchers duel that we finally ended in bottom of the 12th inning with Cirillo hitting an RBI single to give us the 2-1 victory. I will say that I'm a tiny bit disappointed that we couldn't get Baker the win after that incredible start. But I suppose it happens.

Boyfriend of the Day: Scott Baker

I don't remember that much about Wednesday's game. Well, other than the fact that I was sad that we lost. I watched the game with my family and we thought we'd come back and eke it out. But no such luck. Tiny Superhero had an RBI single in the 2nd inning. He got to third on a throwing error on a pick-off attempt. And then he scored on a passed ball. Haha!

Boyfriend of the Day: Nick Punto

We ended the series on a high note today. The fiance was back as the DH. Yay! We were down in the 1st inning by 4 runs. Due in large part to Frank Thomas hitting his 500th career home run. 10% of those homers have come against the Twins, by the way. But we didn't give up. Silva battled back and we played some good offense.

Jason Pear stole two bases today. That brings his total up to 15 for 15 this year. He has the most on the team now. We actually only had 4 guys get hits today. But they all did really well. Jason Tyner was 3 for 4 with 2 runs and 1 RBI. Jason Bartlett was 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 1 RBI. Michael Cuddyer was 1 for 3 with 1 run and 1 RBI. And Torii Hunter was 2 for 4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs. We had three homers in the game... 1 from Bartlett and 2 from Hunter.

Boyfriend of the Day: Torii Hunter

Tomorrow we play the Tigers. It's going to be Santana vs. Verlander. I'm quite excited!

Tiny Superhero is amazing!

If you missed the game last night, and missed the catch of the year so far, I feel bad for you. Holy Batman, was it ever AMAZING! Unfortunately, the Twins lost the game. We battled back so many times, but just couldn't catch up the last time. It was also sad because Guerrier finally had someone score on him :( He had his 14-inning scoreless streak snapped, and badly. He pitched a great 7th inning and got all three outs on only 7 pitches. But the 8th was not a good inning.

Anyway, I hope everyone gets healthy (Castillo was spiked on a slide home, Cirillo's having knee problems, and of course, the fiance) and is ready to win today.

Boyfriend of the Day: Nick Punto

Was there any doubt? When you make the #1 Web Gem on Baseball Tonight AND the #1 play of the day on SportsCenter, you're going to be the boyfriend. Seriously... AMAZING!

If anyone missed Baseball tonight, the Twins/Blue Jays came was the top 4 Web Gems. It was awesome. And we had two plays from the Twins on SportsCenter's Top 10.

It came out of no where

I'll start out by saying that I was very impressed with how everyone swam this weekend. I got to be in charge of the 8 & Unders (my favorite!) and I had a blast. I've really missed working with them, so the weekend went great for me. They all did such a great job. Jack, Victor, Erin, and Rachel all made State qualifying times. Anna and Lily made some A times. I had lots of them make new B and C times too. It was quite exciting. Here are some of my highlights from the meet:

Monet, who just turned 6 at the end of May, swam this weekend. It was her first ever "real" meet. She did an amazing job and was totally adorable. Her first event was the 50 breaststroke. She had to go to the bathroom so bad she was crying, but she made it. And she got her first ever C time! Yay Monet!

Jack has really been working hard this season. It was so fun to see it all come together for him. He got his Champ times in the 50 free, 100 free, and 50 fly. Plus he has the 50 back in yards so he can swim that at the State Championships too.

I got to watch the older kids swim at night for finals. All of the relays also swam at night. It was really fun because we won a lot of them. Anyway, one of my favorite races to watch was the Senior Girls 400 Medley Relay. Jenna was our anchor and she totally ran this other girl down and touched her out. It rocked my world.

At the end of Saturday's finals, we were cleaning up our bleachers. Wyatt tried to throw an empty Gatorade bottle into the garbage, but he missed. It went right into the pool while someone was swimming. Katelyn had to go retrieve it.

Matt swam the 100 Fly in consoles on Sunday night. Not gonna lie, he was in 3rd at the 50 and I thought he'd die for sure. Instead, he basically even split it and came back for a race to the finish with two other guys. There were three of them all together and I had no idea who won the race. We all looked up at the scoreboard and it stayed blank. Then all three times flashed up together and Matt won by 2/100's of a second. Ha!

And to cap off my weekend... Beth and I had one heat off during the 100 fly, we were running upstairs to take a picture with Mom and Dad because we realized that all four of us had on the same shirt. As we were rushing up there, we saw Dad heading to the bathroom. We told him that he had to come upstairs because we didn't have much time. As all of this was happening, I was still heading toward the stairs. I was walking backwards and not paying any attention at all. I ran smack into a poll. Dad, Beth, and some totally random guy were all laughing at me. I'd like to say that it came out of no where, but I really can't. I know that place like the back of my hand. Unfortunately, I just wasn't thinking at all. It's okay though, I'm not hurt :)

I also had to say goodbye to the Lam family yesterday. They've been swimming for us forever and they moved to China today. I'm so glad they could swim in one more meet before they left and both Chris and Brandon did a great job. I'm really going to miss them!

That's all I've got for now. I'm going to go hang-out with Sarah. And, for the record, I went over 30 hours without Facebook. See, Nate, I'm not that addicted :)

And the teddy bear gets ejected

Well this is going to be a quick blog about my Twins and then I'll post about the swim meet in a bit. We got a series win in Florida. Unfortunately, my fiance is still in the hospital in Florida. Hopefully he'll get out soon and come back home.

Yesterday's game was certainly entertaining. It aired while I was at the meet, so I Moxied it and watched it last night. I was feeling like we won because of a few things. Matt had told me at the meet that Santana's first at bat made him laugh out loud. Megan told me that she loved Joe Mauer. We were ahead in the 4th inning when I got a text telling me that Santana got the win. So I knew, but all was good and it was still uber fun to watch. Here are some of my personal favorites from the game (I even took notes while I watched it so I wouldn't forget):

Santana hitting a triple in his first at bat. Heck yes!

Mauer hitting two home runs. Heck yes!

We had two "fake" web gems. Bartlett and Hunter both had great plays, but they just missed the ball both times. Bummer. So I got to see two different plays by the Marlins on Web Gems instead. Oh well, we won. Enough said.

And finally...

The home plate umpire was terrible. His strike zone was probably as inconsistent as I have ever seen. He called Cuddyer out on strikes and then Cuddyer argued with him. Let's keep in mind here that we're talking about Cuddyer. In my opinion he's one of the most non-threatening players on the team. I mean, hello, his nickname is Cuddly Cuddy. Well anyway, so the coaches got him calmed down and almost all the way back to the dugout. He then tossed his batting gloves on the ground at one of his coaches feet. I guess that was grounds for an ejection (what the heck?!?). Apparently the umpire thought he threw the gloves at him or something, I have no idea. So then Gardy comes out and argues and he gets ejected. I think the umpire was awful and I hope we don't have him again. Ever!

Oh yeah, and I can't forget. There was a fan that got ejected with a huge bag of popcorn. I don't know what he did wrong, and neither did Dick or Bert. It was sad.

And this all leads to the...

Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Bartlett

Jason Pear played really well the last two games. Within 24 hours, he had 5 RBIs (3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday). He also stole two bases yesterday. That brings his total for the season up to 11 stolen bases on 11 tries. He's amazing. Now if only we could get rid his error-proneness...

Fiddling with personal communication devices

The Twins have been in Florida this weekend for their final series against an NL team this year. Last night was pretty rough, not gonna lie. And it ended with a quite the scare. Morneau rammed into the Marlins catcher AKA a brick wall and was then taken to the hospital for x-rays and blood work. He was experiencing chest pain and coughing up blood. Apparently, he has a lung contusion (otherwise known as a bruised lung). He's still there tonight, but should be released in the morning and will hopefully be at the ballpark tomorrow night to cheer on the team and then fly home with them after the game.

The finace's injury happened in the top of the 8th inning. We had made a comeback and were tied at four. But, of course, Rincylinder screwed it up for us. He came in and gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the inning. We couldn't get it together and score in the 9th. It was rather disappointing. Stupid Rincylinder. I saw we oust him. In his last 10 games, he's only pitched 9.1 innings, but his ERA is 7.71. And his last two games have been AWFUL! Anyway, onto happier things...

Boyfriend of the Day: Justin Morneau

He still managed to touch home plate and score a run before leaving the field. He "fiddled with a personal communication device." And he gave a great effort in his run to home plate. What more can a girl ask for?

Now today's game was another story. Man was our offense on fire tonight. We scored 11 runs on 17 hits. The Marlins pitching staff definitely helped us out a little today. They threw for 8 walks. Haha! Pretty much everyone on the team contributed to the win and I have lots of choices for my B.O.D.

Castillo was 2 for 4
Mauer was 2 for 4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs
Hunter was 3 for 6 with 2 runs
Kubel was 3 for 4 with 3 runs and 2 RBIs
Cirillo was 4 for 5 with 1 run and 2 RBIs
Bartlett was 1 for 3 with 3 RBIs
Silva pitched 7 innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits

But today, my choice is...

Boyfriend of the Day: Nick Punto

There is only one reason for this pick and it has nothing to do with his hitting (he was 0 for 4 with two walks). This is solely because of the effort he put forth when running from first to score on Mauer's double in the 3rd inning. He was totally booking it. His facial expression is so intense and completely priceless. Oh, good times.

P.S. If Hunter had actually hit for the cycle (he was only a homer away), he totally would have been my choice. But alas, he did not. So close, yet so far away. Close, but no jelly beans. Sorry.

I'm not going to blog tomorrow because I've decided to take on Nate's challenge. He challenged me to go 24 hours without Facebook. Considering the fact that I went over 24 hours without it a few days ago, this really shouldn't be too hard. I'll probably blog about the swim meet and tomorrow's Twins' game on Monday. See you then!

Nate Inspired

I was reading Nate's blog from the other day and it got me thinking. He posted his favorite "game console games." This has inspired me to want to make lots of Top 10 lists. So over the summer, I will post them every so often. My first one will be video games, in honor of Nate. Keep in mind that I do not play games very often and have a fairly limited knowledge of the subject.

Janet's Top 10 Video Games

10 - Dr. Mario for Nintendo
9 - Where in the World (or U.S.A.) is Carmen San Diego for PC
8 - Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt for Nintendo
7 - Pac Man Fever for PS2
6 - Aladdin for Super Nintendo
5 - Dance Dance Revolution for PS2
4 - Guitar Hero for PS2
3 - Mario Party for N64
2 - WarioWare Smooth Moves for Nintendo Wii
1 - Donkey Kong for Super Nintendo

Now that that's done, I'm off to pick up some children at the pool. Have a great day everyone!

My kidlets

Well, if you can even believe it, I went over 24 hours without internet access. I'm still unclear on exactly what happened, but it's fixed now. I didn't check my e-mail, I didn't go on facebook, and (horror of all horrors) I didn't blog. It's a little crazy for me, not gonna lie.

I could catch you all up on all sorts of things. But I won't. I'll just blog about the biggest thing that has been going on in my life this week...

There is a family that I know through swimming. They have six kids, who I absolutely love. Jenna is 15, Ilana is 13, Ben is 12, Jacob is 11, Bobby is 9, and Monet just turned 6. I helped them with driving not this school year, but the one before. I drove the younger three to school in the morning and then picked up the older three from school in the afternoon and took them where they needed to go. I've also stayed with them for a week before when both of their parents were out-of-town.

Anyway, I'm driving for them again. All six kids swim so I take them to and from various practices. Ben and Jacob have piano lessons once a week and this week Jenna also had Driver's Ed. I had to type up a color-coded schedule to keep track and make sure I don't leave any one behind.

On a few of the days, I only have about 2 hours between when I get home with the last set of morning runs and when I start the afternoon runs. One of those days was yesterday. Instead of coming home, Beth and I both hung-out at their house for the afternoon. They have a new pool, so we spent the whole time swimming with Monet. It was a blast! It's been a while since I have just had fun in a pool. I'm totally paying for it today though. I'm scalded, as Beth would say. Of course, I usually get burned at the beginning of the summer and then I will be tan. Hopefully it's the same this year.

This weekend is the Rochester Invite. I'll be coaching a lot, I'm sure. It's okay though. I haven't been to a meet since the State Meet in March. And it's Monet's first meet. I'm uber excited. I taught her how to do backstroke starts this week and we worked a lot on her dives. I'm sure she's going to do great.

If you've missed the last two Twins games, you've missed some interesting baseball. Both games were great fun to watch. The Mets had a really rough outing on Tuesday. I felt kind of bad for them. They had the same number of errors as they did hits. Oops. Last nights game was awesome. We were back to Twins' baseball with some great base running and solid defensive plays. Baker had a strong outing and then the bullpen did their job. I hope we can keep this offense going!

Tuesday's Boyfriend of the Day: Johann Santana

He pitched a complete game shut-out and allowed only four hits. He didn't walk a single batter and got one strike-out. Then, we had the batting side of things. He drew a walk and then hit a double later in the game (he ended up scoring, by the way). It was freaking sweet. And Bert had to shave his head because of the shut-out. Haha!

Wednesday's Boyfriend of the Day: Justin Morneau

I'm sure that I'm biased, but I really liked his defense today. The triple with a run and an RBI just padded it :) Hunter was a close second with his 2 run homer though.

P.S. Brooke had her baby today. Yay!

"The Harlem Globetrotters showed up at Shea today."

My Twins had a rough game last night. *Tear* Silva didn't start off too bad. And he had some great defense going on behind him. We had some trouble getting the offense going and Rincon had a tough time too.

There were definitely some highlights from the game though. All of which happened in the 5th inning. The Twins came up with three amazing defensive plays to get the outs. First, Cuddyer caught a fly ball at the wall. Then, Castillo fielded a ball behind his back to get the force-out at 2nd. And finally, Jason Kubel made a running/diving catch in left field for the final out of the inning.

All three were Web Gem nominees on Baseball Tonight. Castillo came in at #8 and Kubel's catch was #3. Yay! One of the commentators on BT said, "Yeah, the Harlem Globetrotters showed up at Shea today." The other guy didn't get it at first, it was pretty classic.

Both of those also made the Top 10 plays on SportsCenter. Castillo was #9 and Kubel was #5. The SportsCenter chick said she liked Kubel's catch better than the one that was #3. Yay! SportsCenter chick was full of good quotes. After the highlights from the 5th inning she said, "But then the Mets were killing the Twins anyway." Haha, I cracked up!

Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Kubel

Um, duh. With a catch like that, he's the clear boyfriend today :)

Wicked Weekend

Oh my wow. I had a totally amazing weekend. This is going to be a mother of a long blog, but you're going to have to deal with that. I just have so much to talk about! I'll start at the beginning... Friday night.

Everyone came down to Rochester on Friday night for a slumber party at my parents' house. We played a little Guitar Hero and a lot of Lynch Mob. Oh how I heart Lynch Mob. We also started a new tradition of doing scratch-off games around the newly dubbed "Scratch-off Table." We went into town to buy some at Kwik Trip. Nate, Brandon, Sarah, and I were still inside and Beth and Matt decided to leave us. When we went outside, Brandon said, "I'm sure they're sitting somewhere right now where they can watch us and laugh at us." I started looking around and found them in the BWW's parking lot. The dorks.

We attempted to get on the road by 8 o'clock on Saturday morning. We were on our way out of the driveway at 8:20. We thought that was pretty good. Well... That was until my mom called us and had us turn around so that my dad could check the air pressure in the tires. It was low, by the way, so he filled them all. We finally headed down the driveway again and then Matt called. He told me to stop at the end of the driveway and that Dad was "racing" down to fix the chains that were dragging off the carrier. We turned around and the Explorer was barreling towards us. I think we finally were on the road a little before 9.

The drive down was super fast and really fun. We played a bunch of games (that we had modified slightly for car play). We played a lot of Smarty Party. Beth, of course, murdered us all at that game. We also played 25 Words or Less. I don't think Sarah ever got to do a card, but it was really fun. Brandon, Nate, Sarah, and I won. We stopped for lunch at an A&W in Edgerton, WI and then headed into Illinois.

I would simply like to say that drivers in Chicago are INSANE! If you don't break all kinds of traffic laws, you will die. I have never really driven in that kind of traffic before. I was very stressed and scared out of my mind. But I'm pretty proud of myself for doing it, not gonna lie.

When we got to downtown, we headed to Navy Pier. We pretty much booked it down to the end, took a few pictures with the anchor, and raced back to the parking garage. We then changed and raced down the curvy garage (yes, I did think I was going to throw-up) and over to the theater. We got lost because Bertha couldn't find us in time. We ended up on Lake Shore Drive in tons of traffic. Thank God that Brandon can read maps, he got us to where we were suppose to be. We parked in the ramp by the theater and then I changed quickly. We rushed to the restaurant (in the rain and dress clothes) and were incredibly thankful that they held our reservation even though we were 30 minutes late.

The restaurant was beautiful. It was called Italian Village and had a really neat ambiance. There were murals of Italian countrysides and villages on the walls. Complete with little lights in windows and a moon over the river. The food was good and the pina coladas were amazing. Haha. Nate ordered dry pina coladas, but still got changed for alcoholic ones. They were the best I've ever had, but probably not worth the $7 he had to pay for them.

Next up, the theater! We headed back over to the Oriental Theater for the 8 o'clock show of Wicked. We got there at about 7:40 and took lots of pictures outside. They're all on Sarah's camera, so I'll post them on facebook as soon as she does and I steal them from her.

The show was totally amazing, of course. They did a lot more with lighting and special effects than they did when I saw it in Minneapolis. The woman who was Elphaba was completely amazing. She had a really strong and gorgeous voice. The show was so good, in fact, that it will get it's own Top 10 later in this blog.

We hit the road right away after the show. After we got lost, we finally headed out of down town. But because we needed some more drama while driving, we wound up next to a trolley full of drunk people. They were making faces at us, checking us out, offering us beer, and trying to get us to roll down our windows so they could squirt us with their water guns. Haha!

I drove into Janesville, Wisconsin, where we finally stopped for gas and for some people to change (the people who weren't talented like me). Haha! At that point, I had driven the whole trip so far. I decided it was time to let someone else take the wheel. Brandon drove from there back to Minnesota. Nate drove for the last hour or so of the trip. We got home at 5:45 this morning and I went straight to bed. Yay for sleep!

It was an amazing weekend and was definitely worth all the driving, stress, and running around like a crazy person. I loved the road trip, the singing along to the Wicked soundtrack, the games, Navy Pier, dinner, and seeing the best musical of all time! I can't wait to do it again :)

Memorable quotes from the weekend:

"She's a silent killer. Like Gonorrhea." - Brandon (about Sarah, while playing Lynch Mob)

"It's not a van. It's a crossover vehicle." - Matt
"Oh, so it's transsexual?" - Nate

Smarty Party Card: Top Protestant Denominations
Susan's answer: Catholic

"I hate Chicago." - Janet

"Don't die of boredom... like I would." - Janet (to the toll booth worker)

"Not gonna lie." - Janet et al.

Chicago Road Trip Top 10

10 - Bertha
9 - Brandon (almost) falling down the stairs to the subway
8 - Everyone changing into their dress clothes in the parking garage/car/stairwell/between other cars
7 - Me changing from my skirt, top, and dress shoes into my sweatpants, t-shirt, and Crocs while driving through downtown Chicago in traffic
6 - Us rushing EVERYWHERE we went
5 - Dinner at the Italian Village and Nate's pina coladas
4 - The Booze Bus
3 - Playing games in the car
2 - Almost rolling backwards down the parking ramp entrance
1 - Seeing Wicked

Honorable Mention - Beth being the only one to find the exit of the bathroom on Navy Pier, our amazing speed walk down Navy Pier, all of the picture taking, playing Bunco in the car with Sarah, driving in Chicago, and the rain.

Wicked Top 10

10 - The creepy cat on the ceiling
9 - Glinda's quotes about her name ("It's Galinda with a ga." and "It's Glinda. The ga is silent.")
8 - The tears. Yes, I will readily admit that I cried during at least 3 different songs.
7- All of the cool stuff they did with lighting and special effects
6 - When they make it rain on stage during "I'm Not That Girl"
5 - "Popular" - it's such a clever song with great lyrics!
4 - All of the made up words in the play (disgusticified, braverism, etc.)
3 - "For Good" - It's one of my favorite songs in the show. Watching this number while sitting in between my sister and one of my very best friends is an experience that I will never forget.
2 - The "Wizard of Oz" references (see note below)
1 - "Defying Gravity" - it's the best musical number in the show. When Elphaba flies and the cape goes up and all the lights are on her. Oh man, it's so cool!

Wizard of Oz References

"Lemons and Melons and Pears." - Boq
"Oh My." - Nessarose

"There's no place like home." - Elphaba

"I do hope they find it, I'm horrible with directions." - Glinda (after sending Dorthy down the yellow brick road)

"... Or you'll never see your Auntie Em and Uncle what's-his-name again!" - Elphaba

"Let the girl go. And that poor little dog Dodo." - Glinda (to Elphaba)

Twins Games

I'm just going to post quick about my Boyfriends. And, to clarify, they are still just boyfriends of the day NOT boyfriends of the hour, Ben! I have to post for Friday's, Saturday's, and today's games.

Friday's Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Bartlett

Because he had nothing to do with our slaughter.

Saturday's Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Bartlett

He had a hit, an RBI, a run, and a stolen base.

Sunday's Boyfriend of the Day: Justin Morneau

He had 2 hits, 3 RBIs, 3 runs, and of course the walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th!

I haven't watched any of these games yet. I'll at least watch this afternoon's game, though. Just give me some time :)

So you think you can dance?

My favorite summer reality show is back and now in full-swing. I love "So You Think You Can Dance?", probably because my goal in life is to learn how to dance and so I'm really drawn to both movies and TV shows about dancing. "Strictly Ballroom" is one of the best movies ever, by the way :)

I started watching the show last summer during the second week after they got to the Top 20. This was the first year I watched the audition process. Just like on Idol, I'm not a fan of the auditions. Unlike Idol, SYTYCD makes it pretty painless and gets to the Vegas round quickly.

This week was when we saw the Top 20 paired up and saw their first dances. Not gonna lie, I was pretty impressed. I have my favorite couples (Lacey & Kameron and Jesus & Sara) already picked out. Of course, this can, and most likely will, change several times over the season.

Last night the first elimination. The judges really confused me. They were talking about how America got it wrong and the wrong people were going home. But the three couples in the bottom were the couples that the judges were the hardest on on Tuesday night. Nigel kept saying that America didn't get to see their full potential and that it was too bad. Well, I'm sorry if you didn't get to perform in your specialty, but to win you're suppose to be an amazing all around dancer. So, in my opinion, too bad for you!

I was incredibly pleased with the bottom three couples. And I think the judges did pick the right dances to send home. Ashlee just didn't step it up in her final "Dance for your life" performance. And Ricky was arrogant and annoying. I can't wait to see what will happen next week!

Alright, onto the Twins game. While we were standing in the church parking lot after the Council meeting, Nate told me that we were down 2-0 in the 7th inning. I was anxious to get home and watch the game. I won't bore you with the details, but we were down 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th inning. I was pretty nervous, but knew that we could pull it off if we just got the bats going. I had told myself that if Castillo could lead off the inning by somehow getting on base, we'd be okay. And what do you suppose he did, well he got on base of course!

The offense really came alive in that inning and we came back and won 3-2. Yay Twins! It's unfortunate that we can't seem to get Santana the run support earlier so he can get a win, but I won't complain about a no-decision for him on a win for the team. Heck yes!

Boyfriend of the Day: Michael Cuddyer

I loved his triple in the 9th inning. It was very exciting!

I'm excited because Erik invited Beth, Matt, and I over to his house to watch one of the Yankees vs. Twins games next month. He just moved here from out east and is a huge Yankees fan. I'm totally stoked to watch with him and his wife, Sara. Go Twins!

Simply Spectacular

So before I get to the AMAZING Twins game, I need to vent.

#1 - Our air conditioning is broken. My house is almost 90 degrees right now. I hate it. Opening windows isn't doing anything. Grr. I guess I just didn't appreciate it enough. Hopefully my dad can fix it tomorrow.

#2 - My dog is sick. He left us four piles of diarrhea/vomit on the carpet before we could even get him outside. He is know outside, still getting sick. I feel so bad for him. Now my house is hot and smelly. Yuck!

#3 - ESPN doesn't like the Twins. We get sucky coverage. It makes me angry. All together now... East Coast bias!

Alright, onto better news. The Twins game tonight rocked my world! I'm so jealous of Ashleigh because she got to go. There is just so much great stuff to say about the win tonight. Our offense was on the ball tonight. Cuddyer went 3 for 4. Ford hit his first home run of the year. Morneau and Hunter hit back-to-back homers in the 3rd inning. Bartlett stole a base (he even got a shout out from Gardy in the post-game press conference). Mauer threw someone out trying to steal and had a hit. And we had some great defensive plays. But there is clearly only one choice for tonight's B.O.D.

Boyfriend of the Day: Carlos Silva

Silva pitched a complete game shut-out tonight. He was on fire. His wife gave birth to a baby boy yesterday (Justin) and then he pitches his second career shut-out tonight. Yay! I cared more about the defensive half of the innings than the offensive half once we got toward the end of the game. It was definitely exciting. Tomorrow we get to try to sweet the Braves.

Stupid Drivers

So there I was [where were you?]. I was on my way to Soldier's Field Pool to coach the Gold Group this morning. I was driving south on Broadway and I got to the intersection with Civic Center Drive. Now, at this intersection, there are rail road tracks. There is enough space for one car to fit between the intersection and the tracks, but only one car. There are signs that tell you DO NOT PARK ON TRACKS!

Alright, so I got to the intersection just as the light turned red. I pulled forward to the crosswalk and stopped. I then noticed that a train was going to be coming. I knew I was fine because I was well off the tracks. But then some old guy pulled up behind me. He was stopped square on the tracks. It took him a minute or so to even realize there was a problem. He then kept inching towards me and honking his horn. I tried to move as far forward as I possibly could without being too much in the intersection.

Well, to make a long story short, I apparently didn't do enough for him so he rear-ended me and pushed me into the intersection. Then I had people driving the other way honking at me for being in their way. Grr! I was so irritated. So the light finally turns green (after the train goes by) and the jerk speeds off down another street. On the positive side of things, good think I have a plastic car so he just sort of bounced off :P

In other news... I totally forgot to tell you all yesterday that my incredibly smart sister tried some of Howie's puppy ice cream. I told her that it was like eating dog food. She said it tasted like dog food.

And an update... A few weeks ago, Howie got a hold of my bra and chewed it all up. Even though it was pretty funny, I was really upset by the whole thing. My sister happened to tell my parents about it and they felt bad for me because I said that I couldn't afford to buy a new one (Haha, yeah, poor college student. Oh wait, no, poor college graduate?). Anyway, today my mom bought me some new bras. Have I mentioned lately that I love my parents. I really, really do :)

My Wicked Weekend starts in two days. I'm uber excited. The curtain goes up in about 77 hours. Heck yes! I cannot wait.

Happy Birthday Howie!

Today is Howie's first birthday [insert awe here]. I can't believe that we've had him for 10 months now. It seems like just yesterday when Matt, Beth, & I made the trip down to Iowa to get him.

We didn't throw Howie a party or anything, although we probably should have. We did, however, give him a nice, big rawhide as a present. He has almost eaten the whole thing already. We also bought him this puppy ice cream. It's peanut butter flavored. I'd say he heartily enjoyed it.

While I was watching the Twins game, I saw a Jimmy John's commercial that I had to rewind and watch again. Yes, it was that good. I was hating the commercial until the very end when cannibalism kicks in. Oh good times.

The game tonight was great! Yay Twins! I told Beth that I was going to make her beloved Jason Pear my anti-boyfriend after his stupid error. But I'll be nice. It was nice to see Mauer get a few hits. And the fiance finally had an RBI again tonight.

Boyfriend of the Day: Luis Castillo

He had 2 RBIs off of 3 hits. He definitely came up big when we needed some offense.

And the Dundie goes to...

Well, I've officially arrived. I've been told that you're not really a teacher (or a coach) until you get invited to your first birthday party. And that finally happened. Rachel's mom, Lisa, e-mailed me last week and asked if I'd come to Rachel's 8th birthday party, which was today.

I knew all of the girls there except for two. Most of them were swimmers, but I knew a few from subbing at Bamber. I walked in and they all went nuts. Lisa kept calling me a rock star. I, obviously, do not think of myself as a rock star, but I think it's cool that kids look up to their teachers like that. It definitely makes me feel good about what I'm choosing to do with my life.

Anyway, the party was really fun. All the girls wanted to show me what they painted. I took some pictures, ate a cupcake, watched Rachel open her presents, and then headed off to work. It was a good day :)

Our summer schedule for swimming started today. I never like how broken up everything is, but I do love coaching outside. Today was a gorgeous way to start the season! Here's what the schedule looks like for me:

Mon: 6:45 to 8:45 AM, 9:45 to 11:45 AM, & 3:45 to 6:45 PM
Tues: 5:15 to 7:15 AM & 3:45 to 6:45 PM
Wed: 6:45 to 8:45 AM, 9:45 to 11:45 AM, & 3:45 to 6:45 PM
Thurs: 5:15 to 7:15 AM & 8:15 to 11:45 AM

Since the Twins had an off day today, there is no B.O.D. However, I would like to give out a few awards. I honestly have no idea why I am doing this, but whatever. They all have to do with conversations I am having right now or things that happened today.

Nate gets an award for being very on top of things with his thank you notes. 8 days is very impressive!

Matto gets an award because he's freaking funny to talk to when he's had a few drinks. Don't worry folks, he's WELL over 21 :P

Matt gets an award for being the most random person to talk to tonight. And for telling me to be more unsupportive.

Jenna gets an award for telling me to come over to her house anytime. Yay for not having to be invited. Of course, I probably never would do it, but it's the thought that counts.

Lucy gets an award for replying to all of my crazy facebook messages today! I believe we have 5 threads or so going. Haha.

Jill gets an award for cheering me up.

Sarah gets an award for the best conversation over a picture that Amy posted on facebook. Yay!

And my final award for the night...

Laura gets an award for being my best friend in the entire world and because she loves me "oddles."

And the bear goes to the dentist!

Late last night we decided that we could try and go back to the Dome today for the Twins game. We called Megan at like 12:45 and woke her up to see if she could come with us. The four of us were planning to go, but with all of our different schedules, we knew it would be hard. She was suppose to be in DC, but plans changed and so today worked.

Side note: Matt got hungry last night and we decided to go to Hy-Vee. It was about 2 in the morning and there wasn't a single other person shopping there. Which was probably a good thing considering the fact that I was wearing my pink flamingo pajamas.

Matt and I picked Megan up around 11 this morning and headed up to the Farmington Exit to wait for Beth. While we were waiting, I climbed out the sun roof and took pictures. It was quite fun. Then Matt decided that Beth would get there faster if he opened the window and yelled at her. Megan and I could not stop laughing. Beth finally got there and we jammed out to "Before He Cheats." It was not very musical. I'd call it more screaming at the top of our lungs, but it was sure fun!

The game was really, really good. We finally beat the Nationals! Woot woot! There was definitely some drama and some good laughs in the game too. How about that over-turned home run in the first inning? And when the short stop threw towards first after the ball had fallen out of his glove. Priceless. Plus, I finally got to see Neshek pitch live. Yay!

Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Bartlett

Jason Pear definitely had a good game. He says that batting second gave him some confidence even though it really shouldn't matter. However, Beth thinks it was because she was there. Either way, I'm good with it. He had 3 hits, 2 RBIs, and 1 run. Heck yes!

Beth has come up with a few new nicknames. So here is our updated list of Twins nicknames. The fans around us kept giving us weird looks when we'd yell them. Haha. I love it!

Jason Bartlett - Jason Pear
Carmen Cali - Dwayne
Jeff Cirillo - Suwihwoh
Michael Cuddyer - Cuddly Cuddy
Lew Ford - Prancer [insert carousel music here]
Jason Kubel - Jason Kubel Khan
Justin Morneau - The Fiance, Hubby
Pat Neshek - Neshekel
Nick Punto - Tiny Superhero
Juan Rincon - Rincylinder
Jason Tyner - Jason Jason

And in other news... Here are some of our wonderfully funny quotes from today:

"With this rack? I don't think so!" - Beth
"Eww. Lubricate's a dirty word." - Beth
"I think riding a motorcycle is too close to spooning." - Beth
"Jason Pear are you in there?" - Beth talking to her new poster

Tomorrow... The summer schedule starts. How excited do you all think I am that I get to go to the pool at 6:45 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays and 5:00 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays :)

Cuddy!

Steve was on the news last night. It was exciting. He was talking about the Century Senior Party. My favorite part of the interview was that he was wearing his Orca Staff shirt. Haha! Heck yes for free advertising. I also found one of his comments wildly amusing, but I won't go into that.

I didn't do anything today. Seriously, pretty much nothing. I did, however, take time out of my clearly busy schedule to watch the Twins game. I was so excited that we didn't give up a run in the first inning. And then I was excited when we took an early lead. But that was pretty much all I could get excited about today.

Boyfriend of the Day: Michael Cuddyer

He had yet another outfield assist. I think that brings the total to 13, the next closest to him in the AL is at 9. Yeah, and he's totally underrated. I just do not understand why Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter never talk about him. Seriously, it's getting annoying. Whatever, he's amazing.

After the Twins game, Beth and I watched the Belmont Stakes. It was freaking sweet. We were routing for Rags to Riches because we wanted a filly to win. I was screaming at the TV. It was muy exciting when she won :)

Alright, that's about all I've got. I will most likely be hitting up an open house tomorrow, so maybe I'll have some exciting story from that to tell you about. Probably not, but we can hope.

Dome Dogs & Mini Donuts

I'm not totally sure where to start on this one. I guess I'll go back to last night. I was invited to go play Bunco at Jennie's. I had heard a lot about Bunco before that. Basically, every teacher I have ever known plays Bunco. I figured I better get in the mix. I had a blast, it's really fun. I would love to get a Bunco group going next year, maybe once a month or something. Super fun!

When I got home, Matt and Beth were playing Guitar Hero. Even though I was hesitant to join them, I eventually did. Pretty sure I went to bed at 5:45. It was light outside. Whoops. I woke up around 11:30 to get ready for today. We went to see "Ocean's Thirteen." It was really good. Definitely better than 12 and up there with 11 for me. It's very funny and back in Vegas. So far, so good. I've been very impressed with all of the thirds that have come out this summer.

When the movie was over, Matt and I quickly made a "Circle Us Bert" sign for the game. Of course, we ended up forgetting the sign in the car, but oh well. I had so much fun at the Twins game. Even though we lost, it was a great game. I was definitely a little concerned when we were down 8 to 0, but then we scored some runs and had the chance to stand up and cheer.

Matt, Ashleigh, & Sarah

Sarah & I are ready for the game to start

The gals

It was really fun to be at a game for the first time this season. This is easily the closest I have ever watched the Twins. I can probably count the number of games that I've completely missed on one hand. I love it. So it was really fun to be at the Dome. Great food, great friends, great time. Joe Mauer made his return to night. The crowd went nuts every time he did anything. Silva had a very rough outing today. Thank goodness Ortiz was able to come in and pitch some solid innings for us.

Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Kubel

Kubel came through for us and hit a three run homer in the 7th inning. That sparked a little come-back. It wasn't enough to win, but it was something. I have a good feeling about tomorrow's game :)

When life hands you lemons...

... throw them back!

For the record, I am still trying my best to smile and stay positive. But sometimes, it's really hard. All I want to do is cry and vent, but I won't. I'll just smile and put up with this crap. If anyone has suggestions for part-time summer jobs, I'm open to them. It looks like I could work Thursday afternoons, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Of course, if we have a meet, then I'm not sure. Grr.

Things keeping me sane right now:

#1 - Nick Punto commented on my last blog :P

#2 - I got my right CD from Big 9 today. Now that's good service! And they sound even better than I remember. Man do I ever love "Alleluia!" I can't not smile when I listen to it.

#3 - I get to see Sarah tonight AND tomorrow night. And then four days in a row next weekend.

#4 - I'm going to see Ocean's 13 tomorrow afternoon!

The school year is now over. It was by far the best year since I've been out of college. I am incredibly blessed to have gotten to work with all the students that I did this year. Whether it be the 2nd graders in the "class from Hell," or the Kindergarteners at Bamber that showed me how much I love "play time," or the Century choir kids. I am so lucky, I really am. I got to meet people and make some friends that I hope to have for a long time. I can't wait to see some of you again next year. And those that graduated, congratulations. And keep in touch.

I watched "Pleasantville" today. I haven't seen it in a really long time. I'm a fan. It's a good flick.

Yay Twins!

It rained today. I like the rain. I got quite wet in the rain. It made me laugh.

I finally got my hair cut today. I think my last hair cut was back in December. Whoops. Anyway... So I've been growing my hair out for a while now. And until about 8 hours ago, it was the longest it had every been in my entire life. You see, my hair grows incredibly slow. We measured once and my hair grows four times slower than average. It's really a pain, but there's nothing I can do about it. Oh, I digress. I had 2 inches cut off today. That should take approximately 8 months to grow back. Yikes! But I actually think that I really like it. Time will tell, I guess.

When the mail came today I was SUPER excited because I finally got the Century Big 9 CD. I rushed down the stairs, put the CD in my computer, hit play... And heard the Winona choir. So I had to look up the company online and call them. The guy was really nice about it and said they'd send me the right one immediately. Hopefully I get it by the end of the week. I cannot wait to listen to my favorite choir EVER :) And they were so amazing at Big 9, I can't stop smiling just thinking about it!

And, to top off a really good day... The Twins pulled out a win in Anaheim! It wasn't looking so good when we were down 4 to 0, but never give up on the Twins. There are three good choices for my boyfriend today. Kevin Slowey got his first major league win. It was a very solid outing for him. Michael Cuddyer went 3 for 4 with a 2 run home and 3 RBIs. And...

Boyfriend of the Day: Nick Punto

His 3 run home run got us the lead. After that, we just held on. It was nice to see him come up with a clutch hit. I think most of us watching were ready for a bunt, and then he hits it out of the park. It was pretty darn exciting. I especially loved the text I got from Nate right after it happened. It said, "Punto Pride."

We're gonna win, Twins?

It was another disappointing game for the Twins. That's our fourth loss in a row. We just have no offense. Well, except for Torii Hunter. He hit another home run tonight. On the bright side, our pitching was better tonight. And I have high hopes for Slowey tomorrow. I'm ready to see him pitch again.

It really kills me when we play out west. Dang it's late when the games get over. Although this is much earlier than last night. Thankfully, tomorrow is an afternoon game. I should even be able to watch it before work. Yay! Oh how I love finding joy in the little things :) And our tickets are purchased for Friday night. I cannot wait!

Boyfriend of the Day: Torii Hunter

Even though we appear to be iin an offensiive slump, Torii hiit a home run last niight and another one toniight. He's the clear choiice.

Finding Nemo (and the silver lining)

"Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold." - Maurice Setter

I got this quote e-mailed me today as my "Daily Inspiration." I really like it. It also kind of fits with my new outlook on life. I have to say, I find myself smiling a lot more just because I refuse to let things bother me. It's great.

I subbed at Century this morning. It was pretty darn weird to sub during finals, not gonna lie. I gave an honors biology final and then a regular biology final. After the test was finished, we got to watch "Finding Nemo." Oh how I love that movie. It's one of my all-time favorites. I was there for four and a half hours, which means I got paid for a whole day even though I was gone by noon. That's always exciting. I got to say "hi" to a few choir kids and Connie on my way out, so that was fun. Plus, Kelly and Ashleigh and Molly all came and said hello. Kelly even wrote me a "love letter" that one of the students brought me during 1st hour. It made me smile.

After that, I headed over to Bamber to finalize some things with Brooke. She showed me where all of her files are and showed me what we're going to use for homework next year. I have decided that I really, really like her. She's amazing and she's taking all of the pressure off of me. Basically, she said I can do whatever I want and then she'll just do whatever I decide to go with. I can use anything of hers that I want to, but I can also use whatever I want. I totally love it. I am just so excited. But I bet you didn't notice that at all :)

I am finally going to a Twins game! Woot and a half! On Friday night, Ashleigh, Matt, and I are going to drive up and Sarah's coming too. I absolutely cannot wait. So while all the Century seniors are sitting through a long, boring graduation ceremony. I'll be cheering on my team at the Dome. Heck yes!

Speaking of the Twins...

Did anyone watch the game last night? I clearly should have given up on it and gone to bed, but I just can't do that. Oh how quickly the game went from tied at 1-1 to one of the worst losses I can remember. But don't fret, I love my Twins, even when we lose 16 to 3.

On "Baseball Tonight," they said that the Angels were killing the Twins. Beth proceeded to list words that they should have used instead of killed because that's boring. So here you go: massacred, demolished, destroyed, murdered, slaughtered, crushed, bludgeoned, tortured, steamrolled, or clobbered. And all of this leads to...

Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Bartlett

Why, you ask. Because Jason Pear had absolutely nothing to do with that horrific loss! The good news, it's only one game. Hopefully we got that out of our systems and can play better tonight.

A happy person...

... is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. - Hugh Downs

Well I have definitely been realizing recently that I have been very negative as of late. It's really pretty pathetic of me. So much has been going so well in my life this year. I've loved being back in the classroom, subbing has been this huge blessing, I've had a wonderful time with friends, both old and new, and things have been going generally well. I have always considered myself to be a fairly positive person. But in these past few weeks, I feel like all I ever do is complain. It's really only a handful of people who have had to deal with me, but still, I feel terrible.

I guess it's finally hitting me that I can choose my attitude. I can choose to be happy. So my new goal is to find what's good in every situation. I would ask you all, my faithful blog readers, to hold me accountable to this. I just want to keep smiling no matter what life throws at me (which is usually curve balls, in case you forgot).

I have a passion for teaching. It's what I've wanted to do for as long as I can even remember. And yet, I have some people who are very important to me who don't get it. On Friday when I was having a total breakdown, I came across a quote that I wrote down quite awhile ago. It's from the movie "Million Dollar Baby," which I haven't even seen, by the way.

"It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that no body sees but you."

I guess that's sort of what I'm doing right now. I am risking a lot to go after a teaching career. And it hasn't been easy, and it's not going to be easy. But it's what I've wanted my whole life and I am not willing to give up on that yet. I'm excited about teaching kindergarten next year and I'm praying that some sort of job will come out of it. And honestly, I have faith that it will. That's why I'm doing it. That's why I'm making sacrifices so I can commit to it completely even though it's only a part-time job.

I am not the person that I was in high school, or college, or even a year ago. I sometimes can't believe how much changing and stretching and growing God is having me go through. I wish it would stop a lot of the time, but then I realize that I like the person I am right now. (If you know me very well at all, you are realizing right now how big of a statement that is for me to make.)

I love my life. I love being single. I love subbing. I love spending time with my friends and being silly. I love blaring music and dancing in my car. I love falling asleep on the couch watching SportsCenter. I love eating Pistachio Pistachio ice cream right out of the carton. I love staying up till 6 in the morning talking. I love singing in the shower. I love playing Lynch Mob. I love taking random pictures. I love road trips. I love the theater. And I absolutely love my friends.

I'm ready for whatever comes my way. And I'm excited about where God is going to take me. I'm prepared for that to be somewhere completely different than what I'm planning, but I'm okay with that too. I have learned so far that His plans for me are ALWAYS better than my plans for myself. So I'm ready :)

My Weekend

It was a good weekend. I got to spend time with so many friends. I laughed A LOT. It really was just a great weekend, not gonna lie.

I went to Laura's open house last night. I felt bad because I was running really late. I think I finally got there at like 7:40 (it only went until 8). They had really good food and I got to enjoy time talking with friends. After the party started to wind down, a bunch of us retreated to the basement to play our favorite game, Lynch Mob.

People sort of came and went, but it was Ruth, Laura, Paul, Aaron (their cousin), Nate, Ben, Sarah, Susan, Matt, Rebecca, Anna, Brianna, and me. I had a blast! I really just love this game. Every single time I play it, I have fun. I got to be all three of the big roles multiple times. I got lucky a lot. And I got to be a criminal (my favorite role) quite a few times.

Sarah, Susan, and I finally left about 1 (so I didn't feel bad for being late anymore) and headed to Susan's. We set up the air mattresses and stayed up talking until about 4 o'clock this morning. We slept for a few hours and then got up and ready for today. Our first stop was Perkins for breakfast where Mariah met up with us.

Laura had a meeting until 2 so we waited for her to head to Arlington. I think we finally left the Perkins parking lot at like ten to three. Susan, Sarah, and I hid in my car and had Mariah tell Laura that we left because we were sick of waiting. Laura believed her. Haha! We drove to Arlington and hit up Nate's graduation party.

Mariah, Sarah, and I raided Nate's closet and took fun pictures in his clothes. We talked to friends. We got rained on. And we ate really good food. It was really fun. I definitely lucked out with good parties this year. But I still don't like them :) On the way home, we tried to play "Hey Cow," but we only found cows one time...

I'm home now. I'm tired. I'm probably going to head to bed. I have more to say about some revelations from the weekend, but they might have to wait until tomorrow. Quickly before I go though...

Saturday's Boyfriend of the Day: Carlos Silva

I watched the end of the game with Ben and Nate so they had some input on this decision. Silva pitched a complete game (so 8 innings) and allowed only 1 run on 5 hits. That's a very solid outing. If we'd only had (a tiny bit of) offense. Grr.

Boyfriend of the Day: Carmen Cali

I'm picking him because he still has an ERA of 0.00. And I'm tired and have no other ideas. I'm praying for a better game tomorrow.

Maybe open houses are growing on me...

Alright, so here's my funny story for the day...

I slept in this morning and then got up to go to Lucy's open house. I definitely figured that I would go in, drop off her gift, look at a few pictures, eat a little, and then leave. I didn't figured I'd know anyone, so yeah, I didn't plan on staying. When I got there, Dustin was pulling up at the same time. I was totally relieved.

Anyway, now here's the funny story. So I walked in with Dustin. Lucy's mom then asked me if I was Dustin's mom! Hahahaha! I was shocked because I get carded still for R rated movies and am confused for a high school student ALL THE TIME. When I said no, she then asked if I was his sister. Lucy had to tell her who I was and then she remembered that she met me at school. Oh good times.

I loved the pictures up at Lucy's open house. They did a really nice job with all the boards and posters and such. And the Barney costume was one of my favorites! So I talked to some choir people when I first got there and then I ran into Denise Ring. I have known the Rings for ever. Beth and Rachel were best friends from pre-school until middle school. They even went to the same college. I used to babysit Rachel and Leah in elementary school too. It was so nice to catch up with both Denise and Roger and hear about how the girls are doing.

The other fun story is that I apparently now have three potential boyfriends. Haha. One of Lucy's neighbors wants me to meet her sons because I could date any of them. I find it rather hilarious. And I got to talk to a lot of choir kids and say goodbye to Mary. So I'm very glad about that.

Alright, that's all I've got. I'm off to Laura's open house in a few hours and then I'll be having a slumber party at Susan's house with Susan and Sarah. Tomorrow, we get to make the long trek up to Arlington for Nate's party. Heck yes! Hopefully I will see some of you then!

I'll blog again when I get home on Sunday. I should have two B.O.D.s for you then. Go Twins!

B.O.D.

Well the game is finally over. Man it was a late one tonight! I hate when we play on the west coast because the games usually go until almost midnight. And tonight we went into extra innings. Geez. But all is good because we came out on top! Whoo hoo.

Slowey had a solid start. He only gave up one run in six innings pitched. Not too shabby. He definitely had me nervous a few times, but he pulled it out :)

Boyfriend of the Day: Jeff Cirillo

The final score was 3-2. Two of our runs were driven in by Cirillo. There is really no other choice tonight for the Boyfriend :) I do have to give Jason Pear mad props for his play though. I was really hoping it would be a Web Gem, but they only did three tonight :(

Knocked Up

Beth, Matt, and I went to see "Knocked Up" at the theater today. Man is it ever funny! I laughed out loud so many times. I would highly recommend it. It's definitely one that I'll buy when it comes out on DVD. Like I said, hilarious. If you liked "40 Year Old Virgin," you'll love it :)

It's that time of the year again... Graduation open houses. I have to say, I'm not a huge fan. They can be so awkward. I'm going to four this weekend and that might be the only ones I make it to this year. Depending on when (or if) I'm working next weekend, I might make one or two more. It's still unclear.

My brother and I are going together to the one tonight. And my parents and sister will be coming later. And I'm going with friends to one of the ones tomorrow and the one on Sunday. That is the way to go :) I always feel bad for the graduates too. They have to talk to EVERYONE, but can't talk to anyone for too long. So much pressure :P The year I graduated, I had way more fun at other people's than my own. Haha.

Alright, well this was short. I'll put up my B.O.D. after the game. It'll be a late game. I really hate it when we play on the west coast! I'm off to finish putting together some graduation gifts. Yay for Mom making me do it :)