Happy 7th Birthday, Matthew!

Matthew had his birthday party today - on his birthday!   How cool is THAT!


Friends and family gathered inside and out on the deck to wish Matthew a happy birthday!   It was definitely a house full of love! 

Matthew had a great time opening his presents, careful to send a heartfelt "Thank you!" to each person.  Matthew had a great time at his party - and so did the rest of us!  Parties at Amy and Greg's are always fun!

 

 Matthew told all of us that the only thing he REALLY wanted was a wallet.  I was hoping to find a place where I could buy a dozen wallets (probably plastic) for $15 or so.  If I found them, I would have wrapped them all up separately and signed each one from a different relative.  But then that's my sense of humor. 

I wonder what THIS present is......................

Could it be????

It IS!!!!!

THE WALLET!

(from Aunt Lori)

With money to put in it!

...and let's not forget the card!

Baseball is life!

Happy birthday, dear Matthew!

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The Help

As good as the book.  Really!

The casting?  Unbelievable.  I knew who every character was as soon as they were on the screen.  (Did I mention that I read the book?)

This book/movie was set in 1961.  I was 13 years old then.  There was certainly racial tension in the East in 1961, but thankfully, nothing like what was found in Mississippi.  I watched this movie with a heavy heart that any of God's children would have to feel what the ladies in this movie (and many like them) felt at the time.

Although the story was full of grit, character, and courage, there was a heavy undercurrent of sadness.  I felt it even more in the movie than in the book:  to actually see faces show the pain of racism - to see bodies portray the weariness of their daily existence - to see the hateful smirks and self-righteous attitudes of women who had (and were very aware of) the power to make life miserable for another human being.   I was silent - speechless - thoughtful - and grateful for the strength of the human spirit.

In the end, the story, for me, was about courage, about "right", and about human connections - regardless of race.  And most of all, about hope. 

Well done!

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Don't drive like a punk!

That's what Richard said to me when he got in the car last night!  Me?  Drive like a punk? Oh please!

And where were we driving???????

TO THE PHILLIES GAME!!!!!

Richard offered to take me to the Phillies game as an early birthday present.  It took me about a tenth of a millisecond to answer...

HELL, YES!!!!!!!

Thank you!  

I had never been to Citizens Bank Park and I hadn't been to a Phillies game in more years than I can count - probably at least 20 years. 

SO!  We went - Richard, Michael, Alex (Greg's son) and me!   And what an amazing time we had!!!!!!  I'm still smiling!

As you can see, we had GREAT seats right on first base - high enough to see everything but not so high that we felt that we weren't part of it.  (The picture was taken with Michael's phone so it gives you an idea but seems farther away than we were.)   We had a great view of the field, the main fantabulous scoreboard and all of the little scoreboards that were full of information!!!

AND... as if that wasn't enough... we each got a Placido Polanco bobble head doll (do we call them dolls???)!  My first bobble head!  I mean... really... Life is SOOOO good!  

I think it was all those years sitting on all those benches in all those bleachers - watching the 17,896 baseball games that my kids played in 954 different leagues (Okay, my numbers might be slightly off, but they're close!) - from T-Ball to Babe Ruth to college - that gave me this great love for the game of baseball.

When the kids were little, I'd let them play hooky from school (is there a statute of limitation on hooky???) and we'd go to the Phillies opening day game. What fun!  We'd take a big thermos of lemonade and some treats - sit high up in peanut heaven (with free tickets that we collected from the Phillies Franks packages) and root, root, root for the home team!

Our home team didn't fare so well last night, but Shane Victorino hit a home run in the 5th to ring the bell in centerfield and make my night complete!

I would have been really disappointed if we hadn't gotten to see the bell ring.  Like everything else last night, it was amazing!!!!

It was a fantastic night - one that I will always remember.  The seats were perfect, the weather was the best of the summer, the game was terrific (even though we lost - minor detail) and the company was even better!   Who could ask for anything more?

"Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.
A-roundin’ third, and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel."

Centerfield by John Fogerty 

P.S.  I did NOT drive like a punk!  :-)

Do you have any good baseball memories???

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