Category / True Fan; baseball

by Bethe

World Series

I forgot to mention that I went to this little thing called the WORLD SERIES last week. When someone gave me the tickets behind home plate, I almost peed in my pants. But I’m classy so I refrained.

It was the greatest sporting event I’ve ever attended, and after 24 years as a Rangers fan, I cherished every minute. It doesn’t matter that we suffered a heart breaking loss. It was still amazing.
by Bethe

The good, the bad, and the ugly cry

Today started out very badly. I got up at 1:00 a.m. to register for my LAST TWO graduate classes. I had hoped to take two relatively easy electives in July… a simple 4-week session that might turn out to be a bit intense, but then I’d be DONE with classes and only have my thesis to write this fall. I could practically coast right into graduation in December.

But best laid plans, right?
I woke up at 1:00, only to be locked out of the enrollment site. I was trying to beat all the other students who were also gunning for those two easy classes. So I tried again at 6:00 a.m. And again at 8:00 a.m.  That’s when I got the bad news…
I can’t take those two classes, because I am not in that program. But the catch-22 is, I am required to take electives outside my program. And I’ve already taken just about every class my program offers. So I’m stuck. There’s literally  no summer classes for me to take. Which means I now have to take two classes this fall. And then DELAY my graduation until May 2010 while I finish that thesis.
That’s when the tears started to flow.
I had been so excited about the possibility of being finished with grad school in only a few months. I’ve been on this merry-go-round of demands for the past three years, and I’m tired. I haven’t had a good night’s rest in months. I’m ready to quit. The only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that I’d be finished in December. Until now.
So I cried. Those big, ugly, crocodile tears. The kind where the mascara runs down your face, and you don’t even care. Thank goodness my office has a door, so nobody else witnessed my extreme moment of weakness.
Thankfully, the head of my department is also my professor this semester, so after a frantic phone call to him, he started working to see what he can do (bless him). It looks like they’re going to try really hard to find me some random classes to take. But of course, these random classes won’t be nearly as easy as the other two.  I will continue to have no life this fall… something I thought I might get back. But no, probably not.
Thankfully, my very bad day got much better, because it was Opening Day for my beloved Rangers, and my friend scored me third row tickets for the big day. A few hours of sunshine and baseball helped me gain perspective (or at least helped the tears stop). My team won, and someday I may even look back on this little class scheduling snafu and laugh about it. 
But right now I’m just going to try not to cry. And I’m going to finish off the ice cream left in my freezer.
by Bethe

It’s that time again

It’s here! It’s here! Baseball season has returned! It’s just like an old friend… comfortable, familiar, happy. Thanks to a generous fellow fan, I scored a last-minute ticket on the THIRD row, and I can’t wait to sit outside and enjoy all the sights and smells of the ballpark. Even better, I’ll be playing hookie from work (with my boss’ blessing, of course). I love opening day.

I’m already craving a hotdog… must be time for some baseball!
by Bethe

Wednesday Ketchup

Apparently the “p” key on my keyboard is no longer working properly. It works, but I have to Pound it, and sometimes it still doesn’t work. It’s just lovely… my computer is slowly falling apart.
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Thank you to everyone who has sent me encouragement or prayed for me over the past few days. You’ll be happy to know my pity party was VERY temporary, and I’m back to my old self and feeling ready to conquer the world again. And, my quilting injury (on my face) is starting to heal nicely. It’s nice to have friends and family who care.
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I went to church tonight. I love my church. I love the people, I love their focus on ministry, I love that they’re Bible believing, outward focused, servant minded… and fun. I have grown a ton in my 4.5 years (gasp) that I’ve been there, thanks to some wonderful mentors and some encouraging friends who spur me on. So tonight I was at our singles’ worship/Bible study, and I walked out drinking my water bottle. Only when I got to my car, I realized I had left my water in the car. Which means I took and DRANK someone else’s water bottle! EEEEEEWWWW! Excuse me while I scrape my tongue and gargle some ammonia. I have no idea whose it was. Bleh. Gross. Shiver. Gasp.
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Tonight my beloved Rangers were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Not that I was delusional enough to think that they had a chance of making the playoffs, but something deep inside of me still felt a twinge of disappointment. Another year lost.

Okay, I’m over it now. I’m sure next year will be our year. Just as soon as we get some pitching…

by Bethe

Another celebrity! I’m on a roll!

Tonight I hosted the Rangers Suite for work (have I mentioned how much I love my job?), and DeMarcus Ware (a Dallas Cowboy) sat one suite down from me! He threw out the first pitch, and then came back and sat about 15 feet away for the rest of the game.

Granted, I have no idea who the heck DeMarcus Ware actually is, but the other folks in my suite assured me he’s practically a legend. One guy told me, “He’s the next So-and-So.” Of course, I don’t remember who “So-and-So” is, and I don’t really care. In fact, I only marginally follow the Cowboys. But this DeMarcus guy seemed really nice, and he was friendly to the folks around him, so I’m now a fan. I didn’t stalk him for an autograph like some of the people sitting near me, but I did sneak a quick photo.

The good news… the Rangers won… again! That’s two wins for me in one week! I’m starting to get the fever again… the RANGERS FEVER! Ha ha.

by Bethe

We lost, but it’s okay

The Rangers lost their home opener 8-1, but I didn’t really care. We never led the whole game… in every clutch situation, we blew it.

But I didn’t care, because I was having too much fun. About three hours before the game, someone gave me a handful of suite tickets to the game, so I got to bring my parents and a couple friends to hang out, eat lunch (and ice cream in a helmet!) and enjoy baseball.

I was supposed to go again tonight, but the game was postoned due to bad weather. I’m relieved, because the weather guy was predicting heavy hail, tornadoes and flooding. And since I’m a big scaredy-cat, I whimped out and stayed home. I think we’re clear now, although my dog is still a little worked up. He’s scared of storms, and I’m scared of having my car get hailed on. After all, Snowflake (my car) is sensitive.

I’m also posting some pictures from last week’s Mav’s game:

In this picture below, it looks like a giant pepper is balancing on my head…

by Bethe

Opening Day!

I’m so excited about my Texas Rangers’ Opening Day today that I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and haven’t been able to go back to sleep. My stomach is doing flip-flops as I think about how fun it will be to be back at the Ballpark, with all the familiar sights and smells and sounds… the crack of the bat, the national anthem, our first good play, the dot race, hot dogs and peanuts and lemon chills…

This day ranks just behind Christmas as my favorite day of the year. Probably because going to baseball games is one of my favorite childhood memories. The moment I step into a ballpark, everything seems comfortable and easy and fun. Nothing else seems to matter. For four hours, it’s just me and 40,000 other people like me getting to watch a baseball game.

Go Rangers. Play ball!