The Big DumpTruck

That is all.

Labels: Red_Sox, sports

This is the poem I got for Mother's day this year. I did not expect a poem, but I was very happy to get it. It was written on a piece of foamy stuff with a magnet on the back so I can keep it on the fridge.

I started to write my mom a poem but it was not as good as this one so I just gave up altogether. I can honestly say that nobody has ever, ever, written me a better poem than this one, and I doubt they ever will.

My Mother's Day Poem, by Junior

My mom appreciates Mike Lowell
But I hope I make her complete
Without me there could be a hole
My mom appreciates Mike Lowell

We work together like some moles
But she also makes my heart beat
My mom appreciates Mike Lowell
But I hope I make her complete.

Labels: junior, love, Mike Lowell, poetry, Red_Sox

Here is the part of the website where I try to entertain you by making up a story and trying to convince you it's absolutely true. Well, I will place two true "truthiness nuggets" in the story, and your job will be to try to determine which those are.

I was eating lunch at Johnny Rockets at the Burlington Mall when I realized I'd left my wallet in the car. This was not cool because, well, Mrs. Rocket was staring at me with a bill in her hand and I couldn't very well tell her that I did not have any money. I scanned the restaurant to see if I knew anybody, and was shocked and amazed to see Mike Lowell eating a #12 with his family. It turns out Mike is a big fan of the "red red sauce" that they put on the #12, and he often eats there four or five times a week. Now me, if I was a big famous sports star, I would ask if they could hook me up with a bottle of the stuff, but maybe he just enjoys spending quality time at the mall. You never know.
But you thought I was going to ask Mike if he could cover my bill for me, right? Wrong. I could not do that. But what I could do is ask Mike if he was interested in buying my watch from me. It's a Timex Ironman Triathlon watch with Indiglo, so you can tell what time it is in the dark. I told him I'd sell it to him for $19.65, which covered my bill plus a hearty 10% tip. (Only 10% because Mrs. Rockets forgot to bring me my fries and she forced me to do the ketchup all by myself instead of doing the first pour for me. Beeatch.
Mike inspected the watch for wear and tear and told me he'd give me a full twenty for it, which was fantastic. I didn't want to give Mrs. Rockets the extra 35 cents, but I felt it would be awkward to ask her for it. But then, Mike Lowell paid for the watch using giant handfuls of change. I'm not even sure how he got all that change into his pockets. He may have been carrying it in some sort of man bag. And you should totally not make fun of him for carrying a man bag because on him it would look very very cool, unless it had some kind of Hello Kitty design on it. I'm not saying he's partial to Hello Kitty, but really, could you blame the man? It's so damned cute!
So I handed Mrs. Rockets the twenty, and thanked her for a lovely meal. On the way out of the restaurant I noticed they had a giant gumball machine. I love gumballs, and couldn't believe I'd just tossed away that extra thirty five cents. All I needed for a gumball was twenty five cents, you see. So I made eye contact with Mike Lowell again and nodded toward the gumball machine. He got up from his table and came over to me, and used his manly baseball muscles to push over the huge gumball machine like it was so many Q-Tips. The ball on top shattered, and hundreds of gumballs flooded the entryway to Johnny Rockets. I gave Mike Lowell and thankful nod and as I grabbed a handful of gumballs, careful to avoid the ones with glass in them, I whispered "until next time."

Labels: fun, Mike Lowell, Red_Sox, restaurants

As you've undoubtedly heard by now, there was some kind of massive (nationwide) outage that impacted NESN and ESPN2 and therefore people who got up to start their day with a cup of coffee and the season opener could not actually see it on television.

We were among those who had to resort to listening to AM radio inside the house. Not cool, DirecTV, not cool.

Granted, we were already up at 6am, but I'm betting there were a LOT of people who set the alarm just that much earlier.

At least we won it, 10 innings later (not an easy win, and not a pretty one, but a win nonetheless).

Labels: angry, Red_Sox, television

It's that time, people. I have to make a big decision.

I've had the same license plate since I bought my first car. It's one of those old beat-up green ones. (I don't have two because you only needed one back when I got it. On my first car I had one of those airbrushed license plates of hot air balloons on the front. Sweeeeeeet!)

So after [does math on fingers] 21 years with the same license plate, I'm considering getting either one of those charity plates (Red Sox or the Trust one with the mill on it) or getting a vanity plate.

Because if I don't just cut the cord on my plate, I'm thinking I will have it for so long that I won't be able to get rid of it because it will be an antique. But is that a bad thing? Do people think "hey, that's an old plate" when they see an old style plate on the road?

I need your input, people. I have to renew my registration in March. Okay? Okay.

Labels: car, Red_Sox

Last night I passed the 25k mark. Now I only have to hit 50k before the clock strikes midnight and November turns into December. I think maybe I can do it. I had a really good rush of pointless prose last night, so that's nice.

Mike Lowell is staying in Boston, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm giddy for a few. He's my favorite player (Papi has a special place in my heart forever, but Mike Lowell is my boyfriend). In fact, that's how I refer to him. It's always "My boyfriend Mike Lowell." I saw a photo of my boyfriend Mike Lowell down at Disney the other day. I was pretty sad that he didn't do that the day after they won the World Series, but I would never question my boyfriend Mike Lowell's decisions.

Let's see, what else is going on? Oh, I was going to ask if anyone here owned one of those digital photo frames, and if you do, do you like it and would you recommend it? I am trying to write a Christmas list for Santa, you see, and I want one of those but I don't want Santa to spend a lot of money on it. It's not like I can't just pull photos up on my computer if I really need to see them. I just like the idea of having a photo frame on my desk so that I can just swap out the pictures with the weather.

Speaking of which, we're on snow alert. We may get [breathlessly] a snowflake or two. Junior is doing the happy 4th Grade dance. I tried to explain that the snow isn't going to stick, and that we don't have to track down his boots just yet. But damn, I had better track down his boots. I wonder if they still fit? Doubt it.

(Christine and Nicholle, you pay attention, okay? Nothing you buy will ever fit a whole year later, and you can't buy stuff on sale at the end of the season because you don't know what size they will be when it's time to wear it. This is the most ANNOYING thing about kids. They just outgrow stuff constantly. Sometimes, within days of you buying it, I kid you not. Always make sure you have at least ONE pair of shorts or one sweater that's a size larger than your kid currently wears because it's a sad day when you wake up and it's 90 degrees and they suddenly don't have any shorts to wear to camp. Ahem.)

Labels: clothing, junior, kids, Mike Lowell, nanowrimo, Red_Sox

Do you know how much I love you people? In 2004 my family watched the Sox win the world series from Walt Disney World. So we decided to do our part and go to WDW again so that the Sox could win the Series again this year. I am a giver.

I forgot my phone charger so I haven't been able to keep you up to date - I would have told you earlier but I was afraid you pranksters would TP my house.

I will be able to read all my mail and do a better update on Wednesday when we get back. We're off to the Magic Kingdom to see if they decorated with Red Sox balloons like it was the last time.

Labels: Red_Sox, Vacation

You know, it's nice to sweep. It's nice to be the team sweeping, not the team being swept.

Labels: Red_Sox

The look on Pap's face mirrors how I feel right about now. And I want to point out that I did take a picture of him standing there in a jock strap but Mr. Dump posted the picture he took on his iPhone over on Red Sox Soul because he got to the computer first and I didn't want you to think I was copying him.

Labels: happy, Red_Sox

It's hard to live an exciting life. First people want you to pose on a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese, then they expect you to attend ribbon cutting and key to the city ceremonies. It's all so much work. I live a modest life. I get up in the morning, and Mike Lowell brings me bacon and eggs in bed (over medium, bacon extra crispy but not burnt). After I eat he dabs at my lips with a linen napkin and tells me he's going to go get 4 hits for me in the game and I tell him "you do that, babycakes."

After that, I take a shower and brush my teeth like every other good American. I have to take a phone call from the President because he needs to know what color underwear to use that day. "Today is Tuesday, so look for the blue ones with 'Tuesday' written on the band." So now you know...if it wasn't for me, the POTUS would wear the same undies every day of the week.

To keep myself grounded, I updated the Still Life with Interview page on the site for the first time in about a year and a half. But you guys are totally worth it. Just click on the tab up there on the top left. I know, it's an iffy one, but I'm easing into these high-level updates, you know?

Labels: fun, lies, Mike Lowell, Red_Sox

Way to go, Buchholz. We'll try to give you a little room, and not be too harsh if you falter a bit in your next start, but we are looking forward to VERY GOOD THINGS from you. Okay?

I'll even forgive you for being called up so that there was no chance I would see you start at my first Pawsox game yesterday. (Holy crap, what a great place to see a game. Even though we got creamed by the Scranton Yankees. Even though our seats were in the middle of the row and the people on the ends didn't have a firm grasp on the art of letting people by.) Next year we will definitely grab more tickets earlier in the season. And I can't say that the fun of the day didn't have anything to do with the family we went with - thanks P, L, A and C for a lovely day!

Junior (and the other two boys) got the Pawsox team baseball cards, so we have the Buchholz card front and center today.

Labels: baseball, junior, Red_Sox

Sorry for the lack of posting. Did you notice? I was giving myself a little break from the computer, and when you do that, well, all hell breaks loose.

I could blame it on the Red Sox sweeping the White Sox in grand style. I mean really, if we can't win 30-3 in one game, we could have four 10+ games in a row. I'm okay with that, really I am. If you're looking for more in-depth analysis, of course, I defer to my resident expert over at Red Sox Soul. I'm just a back seat driver when it comes to this stuff.

School starts this week, and I think we're more nervous and excited about it than Junior is. He's moving to the LEAP program at the newly re-designed Southeast Math and Science Elementary school. We're bummed about leaving JA and all his best friends there, but I think this is going to be an amazing year for him. One way or another.

Labels: junior, Red_Sox, school

We attended out 2nd Lowell Spinners game in as many weeks (actually, more like a week because they were both Sunday games) with great GREAT tickets right behind home plate. I mean, right behind home plate. I will post pictures later, but you brave souls not afraid to go look at my flickr account will see a couple of them now.

We ended up sitting next to 5 players from the opposing team, the Tri-City Valley Cats, a single A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They were all pitchers, and they were sitting in the stands next to us with clipboards and radar guns. They were SUPER NICE GUYS given that they were "the enemy" and I swear, if the one who talked to us the most will be my favorite ball player if he ever gets called up to the majors. Mr. Dump tells me that based on the fact that they were just drafted and are already in the single A Penn League team, they are fast tracking up. I will have to find out their names so I can set up Google Alerts to tell me if they are ever in the news.

My heart belongs to the Boston Red Sox, but it can't hurt to have a favorite National League team, right?

Labels: baseball, Red_Sox, weekend

I am moving some of my archived photos over to Flickr, if they are good enough to live there. This one, taken the day after the Sox won the World Series in 2004, is one of my favorite photos ever, combining my great love of Walt Disney World and the Red Sox.

We watched the game(s) from our hotel room at the Beach Club Resort. The day after the win, we went to the Magic Kingdom, because as they say in the commercials, "I'm going to Disney World!" My eyes COMPLETELY teared up when we saw the entire length of Main Street, both sides, lined with Red Sox balloons. I could not have been prouder at that moment.

Oh, so anyway, Flickr has this thing called "Explore" that everyone wants to get into because typically only the best photos are in Explore. This photo was added, then dropped, and added and dropped again this week. If you look at the little picture over on the right that links to my flickr photos, it currently says 1 photo in Explore. If it says 2, that's a good thing. If you happen to have a moment, could you click on this photo to look at it in detail on the flickr site? You don't have to comment on it if you don't have a flickr account, but it would be really cool if I could get this one back into Explore.

Labels: Disney, photos, Red_Sox

Did Tina Cervasio just say a moment was captured by "hundreds of flashing photographers"?

Anyone else picturing a lot of guys in trenchcoats?

Labels: quotes, Red_Sox

Stupid Fenway tickets. Stupid waiting rooms and sold out games. Stupid not ever being able to take Junior to a Red Sox game yet, and he's nine.

So you know what? We picked up 3 tickets to a Sox/Orioles game IN Baltimore for September. Got onto their site, picked the game (9/8)...bing bang boom, done. So that's going to be a mini-vacation for us. I am going to find a fancy-pants hotel with a fantastic view, and I will get to enjoy a game in one of the parks I have ALWAYS wanted to visit. I am actually far more excited about this than I would be if I picked up 3 tickets for a home game.

If the step-kids are reading, sorry we didn't get 5 tickets. I'll have to owe you one...

Labels: Red_Sox, Vacation