Spoiled & Sunburned

Dad, Me, and Papa Joe at Game 1 of the Lone Star Series

So, Friday afternoon, the three of us headed west to Arlington for some fun with the boys of summer! Have I mentioned that I LOVE BASEBALL?!?!?!? :~) These intrastate rivalries are always the best because there's so much passion among the fans in the stands . . . Are you an 'astro' or 'ranger'? It was rather obvious by the team jersey's, hats, pants, etc. As you can see by our picture, we were a house divided. Growing up in the Dallas area, we mostly went to Rangers' games - back in the good ol' days with Nolan Ryan pitching, Steve Buechele, Ruben Sierra, & Pete O'Brien knocking them out of the park, and Pudge steady behind home plate.

But, for the last 15 years or so, I've been more aligned with the Astros - mostly because they're National League. I think everyone should have to at least try to hit the ball with the bat. After all, they are being paid MILLIONS to play a game for a living! :~) (please excuse the rant!) What I've decided to do with this "split" in my thought process is that I root, root, root for the home team . . . whichever ballpark I might be in for these games.

This worked well for me last weekend since the Ranges gave the Astros a rather large loss on Friday night. This means my team won!! It was an amazing game. We had just about everything you can have during a game in those 8 1/2 innings, and the Rangers came out on the happy end of the 16-8 score. YEA!!

During the National Anthem, we had a helicopter flyby since Armed Forces Day was on Saturday. There were 4 helicopters, and this was the last of them leaving the stadium.

This may sound strange to you, but I've always enjoyed watching the grounds' crews at baseball parks. It amazes me how they mow patterns into into the fields. (especially the huge socks at Fenway) So, I usually snap a picture or two of them smoothing out the sand with their chains or watering down the field. A fresh ballpark is SO pretty!

Now, to the title of this post. . . the "spoiled" part. I don't think I've ever mowed the lawn. Growing up, Saturday morning chore time consisted of my sister and I doing our individual lists, my mom doing the stuff we couldn't, and my dad doing the yard work. The extent of my yard work was when I planted a garden back in junior high. My parents bought the supplies, tilled the earth, took care of the plants, and picked the harvest. I'm pretty sure all I did was put the seeds in the ground. Not the most difficult part of gardening! Like I said . . . spoiled.

All this to say, Saturday morning I actually MOWED the lawn!!!! At least part of it. (Sorry, no pictures of that memorable moment) I learned a couple things about mowing: concentric circles aren't as easy as they look, mowing on a slope . . . a little scary!, and it's DIRTY work when the wind is blowing the cut grass back on you. YUCK!! Let me just say, I have a WHOLE new respect for the grounds' crews at the ballparks! :-)

Being a pasty white (i.e. Burn & Peel rather than tan) skinned person, I have avoided direct sunlight without MUCH sunblock for most of my life. After my lawn-mowing debut, we washed our cars since it was such a gorgeous day. (which, by the way, seems to be the most effective rain dance EVER . . . yeah, it rained most of the evening) To my surprise, my sunblock washed off my arms - apparently fairly early on during the car washing marathon. Needless to say, my arms are glowing!! :-) Oh well, it was a fun day in spite of the painful aftermath.