Bats & Clippers

It stormed big time through the night. In fact, I woke around 3am to constant lightning and thunder. And just before the heavy rain began I had the wherewithal to get out of bed, head downstairs and turn off the irrigation system. I went out to the deck, too, to wind down the patio umbrella. No sooner had I jumped back in bed when the wind & rain started. We needed the rain. Bella joined us briefly. I ended up sleeping a little late, not getting downstairs until almost 600am. I completed my exercises as normal and spent a few minutes at the PC. Frankie didn't seem interested in getting up and going outdoors. Instead, when I opened the back door she headed back to her pen. Fine. I ended up leaving her sleep/rest while I carried on with the rest of my routine. By the time I finished meditation and a stretch it was nearing 650am. I headed out for my run in my brand new running shoes, their maiden voyage. As luck would have it, it started to rain again but barely enough to be called a sprinkle. But I certainly didn't want to get my new running shoes wet on their first day. I cut my run to three miles for two reasons, time and new shoe break-in. It was 725am when I got back to the house. I threw together a lunch then prepared a bacon & cheese omelet. It was extra delicious. I was off to the shower sometime near 750am. By the time I was leaving for work the sky was showing signs of clearing. Work was pleasant. Sometime during the morning I asked my boss about taking Thursday as a comp day. Worked for him and sounded good to me, Thursday being the next best thing to having Friday off. During lunch I drove to Lowe's where I bought a forked spade, fertilizer, and some florescent light bulbs. To pay, I used what was left on my Company provided gift Visa card along with a $10 coupon sent to me via mail from Lowes. I paid the remainder with my debit card. While loading my haul in the Trooper I inadvertently poked a small hole in the fertilizer bag casting several fertilizer granules about the back seat. Oops! Back to work. I was back at the office just ahead of 2pm. I casually ate my packed lunch while picking up where I left off with work. Mid afternoon my boss stopped in just to chat. Shared that we'd be meeting with his boss Wednesday, both as a leadership team and then later with our engineers. The main objective to dispel negative rumors. I shared only the day before that without clear communication the rumor mill becomes reality, good or bad. And more often than not, bad. We'll leave it right there. I needed to leave work no later than 530pm to ensure I was home with plenty of time to make it to the Clipper game that Mindy's sister organized for the whole family. To that end I was very deliberate with the last hour or so of my day leaving promptly at 530pm. I arrived home by 550pm. The sky looked threatening as I drove home, but it dispersed quickly. Looked like a clear evening in the offing after all. It was quite sticky. I changed in clothes more suited for the warm sticky weather. We left for the ball game sometime after 6pm. We parked in the Nationwide arena lot directly across the street from the ball park. We entered through the left field gate and quickly found Jodi, Larry, and Gloria sitting at a picnic table close to the concessions presumably waiting on others to arrive. Bella and Jacob cited hunger. Mindy took Bella for pizza, and I took Jacob for fries and then something for me. I was happy to see they sell CBC IPA at the park, but I had already decided I wasn't drinking any beer. It took a long time for the concessionaire to deliver Jacob's fries. They were very inefficient. I got myself a hot dog and some popcorn. For one reason or another, we had to wait in different lines for different products at the same concession stand. That made little sense to me, but I am sure they have their reasons. We circled up with the family again 20 minutes later. By then, Julie and Katie were there. And not too long after that the Petite's arrived. Steve H., a neighbor who's also a fireman stopped by to say hello too. We headed towards our seats as game time neared. Our seats were along the right field line in row 6, pretty darn good seats. I didn't know it before hand but the Clippers were playing the Reds minor league affiliate, the Louisville Bats. Because of that, my loyalties went to the Bats. They had two players in he line-up, Chris Dickerson and Corky Miller who have each spent considerable time on the Reds major league roster. Dickerson cracked a deep homerun to right center leading off the game for the Bats. Just like that they were ahead. I smiled! There ended up being 15 of us at the game. Because of the heat, humidity and lack of a breeze, it was darn near unbearable. I was sweating good. Not only that, but my right eye was fiercely red and irritated, and it had been that way since mowing the lawn Sunday afternoon. Not sure why. Even the rarely used red-out drops weren't helping. But I survived. As one might expect, the kids got all sorts of concessions. Bella alone had pizza, cotton candy, cracker jacks, popcorn, and ice cream dots. Jacob had fries, cracker jacks, and nachos. I shamefully ate what the kids didn't of their cracker jacks and nachos. That left me feeling bloated. The Clippers eventually rallied and tied the game at 2-2 much to the liking of the home crowd, including all of our immediate group. Tom C. phoned Mindy mid-game. He was in the Time Warner suite watching the game. We talked about hooking up, but never did. After the bottom of the 8th inning we decided to say our goodbyes and leave for home. It was already after 9pm. The others stayed as we deparked. Leaving early afforded us a relatively easy exit. Most fans remained for the tight finish. Honestly, the outcome meant little to me, Mindy, or the kids. We arrived home 15 minutes later. I can't recall for sure but believe Mindy had the kids take showers. I took Frankie out back. Bella asked Mindy to pop popcorn. I ate a little of it, too, and then washed it down with an orange soda. I eventually fell asleep on the familyroom floor.