Thinking randomly on a Tuesday...

☼ I have been having a lot of dreams set in my parents' old house lately. Very strange.

☼ My 10-year reunion is this coming Saturday. I got a new dress, and it isn't black, which is kind of a miracle. I'm sure I'll have some pictures of me and my friends lookin' gorgeous on Sunday, so I'll try to remember to post them :-)

☼ My birthday is next Monday! 28. Crazy how different my life is now than what I thought it would be. I have to say, I'm glad I'm not married with children as I always assumed I would be at this age.

☼ I have asked my Magic 8 Ball the same question every day for a week now. And every day it answers in the affirmative. That makes me happy. Not like I actually believe that it's seriously predicting the future, but it's nice to dream :-)

☼ Last week was the first week I haven't worked overtime since sometime in April. It's been nice being busy cause the time is flying, but it was also nice not having to work this weekend.

☼ My momma and daddy are getting into town on Friday!!! I haven't seen them since my birthday week last year, so I am very very excited. Even if I am going to be insanely busy.

☼ Part of the insanity? I just picked up another Sunday softball league. This one lasts through 8/15. My next team starts 8/8. I am hoping for no game time overlap. With at least an hour between games, since they are in different cities. I'm crazy.

☼ Speaking of softball, I took a line drive in the arm two weeks ago playing second base. It hurt.

I wish I had taken a picture of it after a few days. The bruise extended all the way up my arm, on both sides. I still have bruising and it actually still hurts a bit, two weeks later.

☼ Hoping I don't get any more disfiguring injuries this year.

☼ Also hoping work stays a little less crazy for a while. I don't think I can handle anymore crazy stress.

☼ It's been great for my diet though. Down 27 lbs now! WIN!

☼ As always, click the link up top to visit Keely, and find other random thinkers :-)

RTT makes me sad, because it means I'm still very far away from Friday...

*I've been on a rollercoaster the last month or so and I feel like it's starting to settle down. I'm sorting things out in my life at the moment and trying to figure out who and what I want to be. If there is a handbook out there for this, please, someone, let me know.

*Been feeling lonely lately. Spring. It does that to me. Stupid season. Doesn't it know I'm supposed to be independent and strong? Heh.

*Winter semester is over and I am off school for 4 months. I'd be psyched for all the free time but work is going to take over my life at least until the end of June, so, well...gotta do what I gotta do, I guess.

*I am free!! A week earlier than expected! I haven't really posted about any of this, and I'm sure I will soon, so you can just wait on that...


*Softball season is officially underway. My work team? Kicks ass. We had our first game last night and won 18-6, or something like that. And I made a couple good plays.
My other team? We have room for improvement :-) I have full confidence that we'll do it though. I need to hit the batting cages this week, at least once.

*My elbows are incredibly dry. I think I've become immune to all my usual fixes. Anyone have good lotion recommendations?

*I have a tan. In April. This is unheard of for me. (And yes, my tan is another person's ghostly white, but whatever. I have sensitive alabaster skin. Anything other than translucent, blue, or tomato red is a miracle.)

*Thanks to last week's Glee I am on a Madonna kick. So if you happen to see me, and I happen to burst into 'Express Yourself' or 'Like a Prayer'? Don't say I didn't warn you.

Softball + Lack of coordination = Bad idea. (Spin Cycle!)

Growing up, I was always athletic. Gymnastics, soccer, basketball, bike-riding and rollerblading for miles around the neighborhood...I loved it all. I was insanely flexible, in great shape, and had a good sense of balance (that unfortunately disappeared around the time I went from an A to a C).

That's me, in the center, back in my gymnastics days. I *think* I'm about 10 or11 here, but I could be way off.

 These days? Well, the flexibility died a long time ago (hence why I bought the DVD 'Yoga for Inflexible People'). Strength? To put it nicely, I'd be able to beat a kitten in a fist fight, but not many other things. And balance? Does righting myself fast enough to not fall over when I run into walls count?

I'm a klutz. I've accepted it. I also, up until very recently (see my new blog!), am incredibly lazy. So three years ago, when I started at my current job and heard about the softball team, I surprised myself by signing up. I think part of it was knowing that it'd be a way to get to know coworkers - I had just started, and I was coming off a job where I knew and liked almost everyone. I had played a couple intramurel games before, but that had been years before, and I was fairly sure I was going to be terrible.

So before the season started, I went to a practice with a friend's different team.
It didn't go well.

 

Do you love how I'm smiling? Yes, I am magical, thank you.

Anyway, the first year went as I figured. I sucked. I was terrible. By the end of the season, I was finally able to throw the ball from home base (I always played catcher, since it was the least important position) to the pitcher. Once in a while I hit the ball. I think I even scored a couple times. 

Season 2? I got promoted. Second base became my home, and while I wasn't good, I was improving. I started going to the batting cages, and making more of an effort to not....suck. When the season ended, I was fairly consistently getting hits, and occasionally making a decent play in the infield.

And this past summer...best yet. More of the same, just improving more and more. Sure, I have my off moments, and stupid plays, and mistakes, but whatever. It's a company team, it's fun, and that's all I really care about. We were regular season champions! Go Mud Dawgs!!

And I can't wait for the season to start this year :-)

********************************

For more sports-themed spins, pay a visit to Jen the Incredible @ Sprite's Keeper!

Alligator really DOES taste like chicken...

Well, another softball season over. We had our first playoff game tonight, and it was also our last.

HOWEVER.
How fair is it that a team that is 7-4-2 (Mud Dawgs!!) plays a team that is 14-0 in the first round?

I just don't get it.

I kicked some butt in batting practice before the game, I'm not going to lie. Too bad I apparently got it out of my system pre-game.

I made it on base once. I did a little dance to celebrate, much to the delight of the few spectators, and probably all my team members.

So, we lost. 15-9, or something like that. But we did come back in the 5th inning (maybe 6th...not sure) from 15-0, so I'm proud of us. Can't wait til next year!

Afterwards, we did our usual postmortem of beer (Captain and Diet for me, thank you very much) and gossip in the parking lot. This time, however, we had a few of our bigwigs from work (wonderful people, really -- I can't tell you how much I love my job and the people I work for) and after a couple drinks, Bigwig #1 says "I'm buying...who wants to go to Mr Joe's for burgers and beer?"
Naturally, most of us join in a chorus of "Hell yea!"

Mr. Joe's was packed, so we ended up at Fishbones, which is a pretty fancy place -- not my first choice of places to go when I am sweaty and stinky and disgusting from playing softball, but I will never complain about free cocktails and dinner.

I've never eaten at FB before...but on the appetizer list, I noticed a dish called "Alligator Voodoo". Naturally, this intrigued me quite a bit. I decided to order it.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Alligator = DELICIOUS.

Free alligator = Even better.

And so, on that very high note, I close out this season of Mud Dawgs softball with a little bit of sadness, but mostly pride that my team did well, and I improved IMMENSELY from last year.

With that, I am off to bed. Take care, friends!