259-headed to memphis

this is the first day of my first trip to memphis to see my brother who moved there last may. the flight was easy, only 1.5 hours and as soon as you land all you see are fed ex planes. apparently, this is there hub.

first thing we did was head to the batting cages:

we wowed the kids with our hitting prowess.

apparently in the south old guy just can't get enough of the frat life so they form secret societies and hide them under the guise of philanthropy. then they throw a big ten-day long festival patting themselves on the back and culminating with the crowning of a queen and king. of course jester's were there to make people laugh by hiding behing masks and groping women. i was lucky enough to witness all the shenanigans since joel's band was playing the party. too bad joel didn't tell to bring dress clothes, so i had to go to the mall and buy some stuff before we went. hey, at least we got to use the "we're with the band" line and got in for free. anyway, for making fun of these guys it sure was a fun party (especially the band).

260 - hookey

i kinda played hookey today, but why not? i was scheduled to be at the warehouse today, but finished by 11. so why head back downtown. no reason, so i went home and started to pack for my getaway to memphis!

it was the last night before i left, so of course i took missy to las pinatas so she doesn't miss me so much. i'm so lucky to have a girl that can be made happy with food.

it took 14 innings, but the cubs own the cards.

261 - ava lyn komp

i started my second league today in hamlin park. maybe if i play a couple nights a week, my swing will come back quicker. it wasn't bad tonight since i figured out i needed to stay back a little more instead of lunging forward. surprisingly, i didn't make an out tonight, but didn't really hit the ball hard either. my athletic ability seems to be leaving me. the other team barely showed up and it looked bad losing to 8 guys, but we eventually kicked and in to gear and won easily.

i also want to say congratulations to a good friend on the team kelly komp. we have been playing ball together since we were in little league and he just had his first baby in may. a girl named ava lyn. i've known kelly since little league and one of the best things about summer is playing softball with him. he is a superb human being who surely will be a superb father.

262 - blowout

a juggernaut offense last week turned into a kitten of an offense this week. somehow, we managed to only score two runs against a team that lost to the team we beat last week 29-24. i guess that is softball. you are either finding the holes or you aren't personally, i can't be happy with a ground out to the pitcher and a 6-3 double play. ouch. i gotta get my swing back together. either that or lose the extra ten pounds around my waist so i can swing a bat the way i used to. i got a good start on that, though, by heading for $1 dogs and $2 beers at northstar after the game.

263 - beat the heat

the first heat wave of the summer has arrived and we are without air conditioning in the bedroom. the landlord put new windows in the bedroom right before winter, but never replaced the air conditioner (we only have window units). of course, we don't think of this ahead and only get out butts in gear when they are sticking to each other in the middle of the night. so, today we had to run out to home depot and find an a/c unit.

i don't know if it was because of the rush of people buy a/c units or that home depot planned it this way, but they only had two models available, both by LG. if this was by design, this is a sweet deal for LG. i'm not sure, but i thought the whole idea of these big superstores was to give you a wider selection. i guess not. next time i'm headed to the local hardware store (like i usually do).

i really like to do things myself, it gives you a little bit more satisfaction. of course, you always run into a little bit of trouble. i got the a/c unit all the way home just to find out that it wouldn't fit because of the storm window. so back to home depot it was to find some wood to retro fit the window frame. of course, i can't find a piece that matches my measurements (well, not technically), but i do remember from middle school shop class that the dimensions are always smaller than what is listed. can someone please tell me why that is? it makes no sense. ironically (or not), the piece fit perfect in the window and something that should have take 15 minutes took all night. so was that little piece of satisfaction worth it? definitely.

264 - memorial day

the parents came up to chicago to have a cookout for memorial day. i can tell they really want some grandkids, but in the meantime they'll have to settle for chance, who had an adventurous day getting to know his 80-pound 'cousin' atticus. atticus could take chance out with one swipe, but don't tell chance that. he doesn't care how big you are, if he doesn't like how you're sniffing, he'll let you know about it!

265 - returning the favor

two days in a row to wrigley field. this time with the ellis' who probably had the hottest wedding ever in st. louis last year. they just bought a condo in wrigleyville and i had a couple extra tickets so we did a 'couples' thing by going to the game. that's when you really know you're getting old. when all your friends start wanting to go out in groups of couples. missy and i are in total denial. we don't want to grow up. so we keep these things to a minimum. but today was fun. sunshine, cubs, beer and hotdogs. not to mention the nachos. it was like a flash back to the days on belden when ellis and i lived of the 7-11 nachos across the street. if it wasn't for the cheese and chili machine who knows if ellis and i would even be friends.