Much done on a Saturday

So I woke up at 8:30 this morning and got dressed ate cornflakes and worked out. But wait, the day gets MORE interesting...*kind of*
After running around, dropping off overdue Wii games (Lego Indiana Jones...sweet stuff), buying new movies (13 for $48...wow), getting my eyebrows waxed, and dropping off library books I got my new phone.
I got the SWEETEST phone...an LG Env3. My sister has an Env2 and this new model is much better. Bigger screens on the inside and outside and a FULL QWERTY KEYBOARD! Wow. No more multiple button pushing! I've already started to pimp out the phone (so to speak) with Indians and Grady Sizemore wallpapers, Orioles (the bird not the baseball team) tones for texts and a Star Wars ringback tone. If you want to hear it, just call me. :) I'll be getting more neat ringtones and wallpapers soon...LOVE THE NEW PHONE!
After that, I went home and low and behold, the brother calls and wants the sisters to come hang pool side with the nephew. Two great things occurred from that - a) me looking GREAT in a bikini and b) more great video of Coleton.







ISN'T HE THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!!??? Best thing was, we had him almost ready to jump off the side of the pool with him saying, "Ready?" So cute. Who taught him the word "ready?" Aunt Teresa. Word.
So later after I was cleaned up and doused in Hawaiian Tropic After Sun body butter (smelling like I've been dipped in a pina colada) I went outside to unsuccessfully take pictures of lightning for Stan's weather blog (HUGE FAIL!!!) and low and behold WHAT DO I SEE?!



AN ORIENTAL LILY!!!!!! I planted those about a month ago and here they are popping up out of the ground. I'm surprised I haven't killed them! It's the first plant that has successfully grown in the ground after I've planted it. No, paper towel lima beans don't count. I'm psyched for more to come up but patience must rule...damn it. I'm currently caring for two house plants, a jade plant, some peppers and the lilies. Grow little greenies! GROW!
Bonus video: Rachelle playing Wii hula hoop with Coleton. HIL-AR-E-OUS!!!!

Things I can't change

My name is Teresa. Pronounced Tree-sah...not Tear-A-sah or Ter-S-ah or even the normal way...it's Tree-sah. And I'm going to say this right here, right now...there are certain people in my life who never utter my name. Not in greeting, not in a sentence, not in a joke...never. People I've known for years. It's depressing.

I'm growing more and more adventurous as I get older. I don't understand what it is. I can't explain it, but if you had seen me ten years ago (when I was 15...oye!) I was not the outgoing person I was today. I didn't tell people what I thought (unless they were family) and didn't try new things. HELL! I wouldn't even try new foods. Is it an age thing? But that can't be it because everyone I'm around doesn't change like this at all. They are the same people they were four years ago or more even if they don't want to admit it. I don't know why I'm more adventurous/stupid/willing than before and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing at this point. The worst part is...people aren't willing to be adventurous with you. You have to go it alone 90 percent of the time.

People (most people I know or give a damn about) have carved out their own pieces of themselves in me and I can't rebuild that back. Think of a tree. Someone writes their initials, someone writes their name, someone knocks a huge piece of bark off and suddenly you don't have the same tree. The structure has changed. The stress points along with the breaking points have changed. Sometimes it's a beautiful tree, handcrafted out of the finest oak with the lightest of touches and with the finest tools known to modern man...and other times its a kid who just took up wood widdling. I'd like to think I'm more of the former than the latter...but sometimes I can't wrap my head or heart around it.

I'll never be able to change the fact that my childhood home is half a nation away. I can't change how I grew up or what effected me the way I did and I'm not going to apologize for that. I hold my childhood hometown in high regard, though others would like to tear it down piece by piece. Sorry...you can't penetrate the bubble that is the 'dena.

I'm always changing and adapting to what's around me. I think that's my father in me. He could go anywhere and want to learn the culture, language, ethics, history, etc. about the area and have no quams about it whatsoever. I'm the same way. I'll pick up a book randomly and get engrossed in the subject matter...doesn't matter if it's physics or fiction or how to train a dog. I will learn, I will want to learn more and I can't help it. It's not a bad thing...to be sure. It just leaves you feeling like the guy in Quantum Leap.

My very first Orioles game

For the first time in my life, I'm thrilled to be alone.
My week-long vacation started today, with the first of two trips to Kansas City, Mo., to watch baseball games an already overwhelming success.
I started out at about 9 a.m., this morning and hit the road after a trip to Starbucks for Apple Chai and Hot Chocolate and a trip to fill up the tank. On the road I was able to complete two more discs of “Water for Elephants.” I anticipate I will have more of it done tomorrow.
As I was driving, it occurred to me the great plains are really just bald pieces of land. I was thinking about Maryland, the Orioles, my brother and how much I would love to be there, I thought of the trees – the non-existent trees that might have long ago covered the roadsides. How much more gorgeous Kansas would be with more trees. It makes me want to go out and buy one for the yard...
Because I arrived in Kansas City before I could check into my hotel, I decided to hit two knit shops before heading back to the hotel and then to Kauffman Stadium. The first, called The Studio, was so hard to find thanks largely in part to the inaccurate Mapquest directions. Thankfully, I nailed down the only knitter in KC at a QuikTrip and got to where I was going. :) Once I got to The Studio, it was hardly worth my time to go in it. The yarn selection was terrible, there was little to no roving (wool or other fibers that are ready to be spun into yarn), and the patterns were mostly outdated or not in style. I was NOT impressed. I bought two sock patterns, a single scarf and blanket pattern, the latest edition of Interweave Knits and a needlepoint thing I'll do for Ashley.
Urban Arts and Crafts, the second stop was MUCH better, though selection was lacking in the yarn department. Centered mostly on beads and scrapbooking, the yarn and fabric sections were almost like an afterthought. I got two scarf patterns, a blanket and quilt pattern and a stamp that does block quotes (very cool). The real find was the quilt pattern. It's the traditional “Double wedding ring” quilt turned upside down and made more modern day. With a single ring, it's called “Single Girl.” I can embrace that...at least a little bit.
So after getting lost twice, I make it to the hotel to find a nice king-sized bed and room for myself. For $50, it's perfect. I change into my O's gear and head to Kauffman Stadium while talking about small town grocery stores with Stan.
Once at the stadium, I am an orange blot in a sea of many shades of blue.



I find only a handful of Orioles fans in my mist, but that doesn't really bother me. I'm not exactly known for being shy, quiet and without a opinion. :) My seat – Section 142 E 6 – was three rows away from the field and half way between home plate and the end of the foul line. Seeing as I got 30-plus minutes to burn, I grab my glove and head further down the outfield line to...uh...scoop out the talent. I didn't get to see Nick Markakis warmup though. :(



After eating a foot long hot dog and getting the stat book ready, the game was on. Though the Royals started out strong, there weren't much for my birds who smashed them 9 to 5.
The best part of the night, along with messing with the Red Sox and Yankee fans in front of me was having a little girl mess with me.
When the O's kicked into high gear and scored four runs ahead of the Royals, a little girl about five years old in the row behind me started to cry her eyes out because her team was behind.



I felt so bad because while she was crying I was yelling for my boys to do their best. I figured I would make it up to her. When the guys in front of me pointed her out, I turned to her and said, “It's okay. I'm sure we're going to lose anyway.” Which wasn't exactly a false statement. :S So whenever the Royals would rally up and she would sing and dance or say, “Let's go Royals” I would shoot her a funny angry look at tell her to “Quit it” or “Stop..Stop...I mean it...Stop.” Or if a runner was picked off at first base I would look back at her in shock and say, “Ok...that's it. Tell them it's not funny anymore” and she would laugh. That made me feel more human, more maternal. She stuck with her Royals the whole night and never lost faith despite the score. I moved over to her seat after the game and shook hands with her.
“You know, even though your guys lost it was a really tough game for us. I bet you will beat us tomorrow.” To this she replied, “Yeah...we will.”
Following her, her mother and her grandparents out of the stadium, we separated slightly and when I moved ahead but still in sight, I could still clearly hear her taunting me.
“Let's go Royals...Let's go Royals...”
This was my first Orioles game and for so many reasons it turned out to be the perfect game. Beaming from my win, from the time spent near such great people in Kauffman, I walked to my car and tomorrow I'll be beaming when I walk back into the stadium, hopeful for another win and for more taunting from the boys and girls in blue. And for the record, GO O'S!