Dream (Five Minute Friday)

This post is a part of Five Minute Friday, hosted by Kate. Where we get the word, write for 5 minutes, and then link here with lots of other writers - all sharing hearts and encouraging each other.

DREAM
Do you have a bucket list? I do. It's a hodge podge of things I want to do or places I want to go and such. Includes watching a sunset in Hawaii, visiting Australia, taking my kids to Paris, seeing Mount Rushmore, hiking in the Grand Canyon, seeing the Alps....
and until last week it included going to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Last week I got to put a big check on my bucket list. My alma mater, Vanderbilt University has a fabulous baseball team. They won the CWS last year - national champions! I wanted to go last year, but timing, end of school, and exorbitant airfare prevented me from making it happen.

welcome sign at the airport in Omaha

So, when Vandy made it back to the CWS (8 teams go), my friend and colleague who lives in Omaha messaged me. "Are you coming?" I was admittedly on the fence. How would the logistics work? Could the girls stay with their dad and stepmom for a few days outside of our normal schedule? Could I get a flight?

And so I decided I would try. Step 1: ask about kiddo coverage. Their dad graciously agreed to have a few extra days. YAY! next: check airfare. I found an amazing deal - bought those tickets in a hurry.  Step 3: figure out work stuff.  I am a telecommuter - my friend has everything I need since she's a telecommuter for the same company, plus she has an extra room at her place and set me up like a regular office.

I decided to go even if Vandy didn't make the finals. I might never have the opportunity again. My friend bought tickets to Monday and Tuesday's games. I had a return flight Wednesday night because I needed to get the kids Thursday.

and then -- VANDY MADE IT TO THE FINALS!! JACKPOT!

and so - off to Omaha I went. LATE flight Sunday night. And we arrived later than we were supposed to. I will spare you the airport drama in Chicago. I am still trying to forget it.

My friend picked me up in the wee hours. Monday afternoon we headed over to the stadium. I saw all the great photo spots.

only Vanderbilt and University of Virginia flags left standing tall. The other 6 teams had already been eliminated. 

Road to Omaha statue

Got my T-shirt. Went to the pep rally picnic. Went in and found our seats. Met up with a friend (he drove in from Dallas) who I had not seen since graduation.  (17 years ago... ). And then we watched the game. Cheered until we were hoarse.  End of game 1: Vandy wins!! One win away from the championship.

Tuesday, we went to dinner at an "Omaha pizza dive".  It was DELICIOUS! And I discovered fried ravioli.  I also found some CWS postcards to send home - to the girls and to my folks and to some UVA friends...   Tuesday night UVA won. I was hoarse and I was sad. If Vandy was going to win, they would do it without me there. OR WOULD THEY?

My friend said "can you stay?" And so I called Southwest on the way back to her house from the game. "Can I swap to the Thursday AM flight?"  and yes, I could.  No change fees. Small airfare difference.  WHOA! OK, I am in!!  And then another friend, who had driven in from Denver with her kids, asked if I wanted to go with her.  So I said yes. We got tickets Wednesday morning in the lottery drawing and were 8 rows behind the enemy dugout that night. We cheered loud and proud all night long. Our team fought hard and played their hearts out, but at the end of the day, Virginia prevailed. 4-2.

We cried. We cheered. Virginia was the better team that night, but I am still so proud of our guys. Returning to the national title game after winning the year before is no easy feat. And there's a pile of statistics running around somewhere about how evenly matched Vandy and UVA are, so we are all pulling for a rubber match next year.


After the game, we walked out of the stadium and waited for the team to board the bus. They finally came out after the press conference, tears in their eyes. But holding their heads high. The fans cheered and said thank you. The team stopped, the guys took photos with us and signed balls for kids and were classy all the way.

with Rhett Wiseman, who was drafted by the Washington Nationals

With Dansby Swanson, who was drafted first overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks

Several of them have played their last game in the Vandy pinstripes. They're headed off to the pros and I will cheer for each of them on their journey. Several will be back, and we have another banner recruiting class.  So maybe we WILL get that rematch next year. And maybe, just maybe, I can add "see my team win the national championship in person" to the things I've checked on my bucket list.

Even with the loss, college baseball in Omaha was better than I dreamed it could be. It truly is the "greatest show on dirt" and I would do it all again in a heartbeat, even knowing the outcome.

#AnchorDown #VandyBoys

I also got to meet David Price, former VandyBoy and now pitcher for the Detroit Tigers

Fear (Five Minute Friday)

Writing over a week late, but needed to get this post out there.

FEAR
I had the chance last week to laugh in the face of fear. Not everyone gets an opportunity to do that, but I did, and it was fabulous.

The Nationals hosted an event called ladies night on Thursday, June 18. I went with a bunch of my Nats friends and we had a blast. There was some chaos and confusion due to a ginormous thunderstorm, but my Nats ladies and I make the best of things - and hey, baseball, friends, and food? Nothing mixes better for me.

I added to the fun by debuting my "Nats dress" which I made. It turned out pretty well, I think - but I am not quitting my day job and taking up as a seamstress anytime soon.

We hung out at the reception. I danced with Abe Lincoln. And then while we were standing around chatting before the game, Mike, the Nats in-game entertainment host wandered by. We hollered at him and said hello. And then out of the blue, he looked at me and said "hey, do you want to throw out the first pitch tonight?"

I paused for a split second. And then I said YES. Because who says no to throwing out the first pitch at an MLB game? Not me. Why did he ask me? I'm pretty sure it was the dress. People talked about it all night. So score one for my dress.

I followed Mike and some other staff members down to the field. And then it set in. REALLY set in. Ummmm ... I have NEVER thrown a baseball before. Yes me, super fan extraordinare. So, what better way to debut than in front of 25,000 people?! HA HA. GULP.

What am I getting into?!

 What was I thinking? As we stood on the field waiting for "the time" I got to meet Mr. Lerner, team owner. He liked my dress. We took a selfie - because hey, if I am doing crazy things, why not ask for that too? My friend Michelle worked her way down close enough to the field to capture all this nonsense on camera. She's a gem. And you will see in the photos that I decided to shake off that fear - by laughing. because as my mom always says, if you can laugh about it later, why not laugh about it now?  I did a LOT of laughing that night.

My pitch-buddy was Blake Treinen. He's a relief pitcher for the Nationals. I gave him fair warning. He asked me if I was ready and I told him no. "I've never thrown before. ever. So I will never be ready, but that's ok, right?" He responded with "Just get it in the neighborhood and I will bail you out."

Blake was so kind - he made me forget about my nerves for a split second. And then I remembered about that 50 Cent pitch for the Mets. My thoughts went like this:
            Surely I can't be that bad, right?  Well, so what if I am? The worst thing that happens is the whole stadium laughs at me. Ok. My friends are up there, so that's 20 folks that will love me through the embarrassment. Good. I can do this. OH  MY WORD I CANNOT DO THIS.



Then it was time.
Step 1: don't mess up the line from home plate to first base. Ok, good, I stepped over that and didn't fall.

Step 2: find a good place to stand. I knew I couldn't throw all the way from the rubber . I wasn't even sure I could step up on the mound and not fall. I was wearing flip flops. (not throwing shoes in case you wondered). OK, found a place to stand. Close enough to the mound to not be wimping out, but on the grass. I thought that was safe.

Step 3: ask Blake if he's ready. He was. He smiled. GULP. GULP.

Step 4: wind up. HA HA. I had no idea what I was doing at this point. My hands were sweaty and I was petrified. I heard a cheer somewhere.  (Turns out that was all my awesome friends cheering my name. I LOVE YOU GUYS).

Step 5: throw. ok, I survived. WHEW. It bounced once. And then was "juuuuuuuuuuust a bit outside". Well through the left handed batters box. But in the general neighborhood of home plate. At that point I just laughed. and laughed.  All the way back to meet Blake for the ball signature (THANK YOU BLAKE) and the photo with Screech. My hands were still sweaty and I was still shaking, but I did it.

I threw a baseball. In front of 25,000 people. And I did not totally embarrass myself. And I laughed about it.

And you know what? It was FUN! And it is a night I will never forget. Ever.

(all photos courtesy of either my friend Michelle or the Washington Nationals. Used with permission).

Post is a part of Five Minute Friday. Hosted by Kate.

Tomorrow (Five Minute Friday)

Tomorrow is a very special day. Two of my wonderful twitter-turned-real-life friends are getting married. So, this post is for you, Sam and Elaine.

Dear "Mr. Sam" and "Miss Lainey":

We wish you a beautiful day filled with sunshine and smiles. We wish you lots of great hugs, dancing and laughter. May some of your pictures turn out well enough to hang up in your home and may the rest make you laugh enough that you want to print them too. May all the readers get through their assignments without tongue twisting. But even if we do, may everyone understand the heart behind the words if they don't sound just right. May you dance as if no one is watching, even though we all are. May you enjoy the celebration with friends and family - know that we all love you so much.

May you remember that tomorrow is about you - not about the rest of us. Focus on each other, enjoy the ride. For tomorrow begins a new journey together - may every day be an adventure. Some will be fun, some will be amazing. Some will be less fun, and some might even be lousy, but always you will have each other. There will be tough times for sure - may you trust each other enough and lean on each other to weather the storms and come through to the side of the rainbow.  And for all your days from here on out: may there be more ups than downs, more smiles than tears, more hugs than stompy feet, more kisses than complaining. Thanks for letting us share in your beginning with you.

Congratulations, my dear friends. Hugs and kisses from all 3 of us.

Love,
Jen, S & A



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Also linking at Five Minute Friday.

Relief (Five Minute Friday)

Relief. 

This is what I feel on Thursday nights when the kids go to bed. We have made it through another week of homework, piano lessons, soccer, meal preparation, school and work. I breathe easier on Thursday nights. The weekend awaits. When we can sleep in (because 7am IS sleeping in). When we can stay up late (8:30pm IS late). 

Friday nights sometimes stink in my house. Kids can be crabby. More than once we've all crawled into bed at 6:30pm and just collapsed from the exhaustion of a "regular" week. Work for me, and school for the littles. The grind of the routine  wears us out. To the breaking point. And we need the weekend to rejuvenate.

In sweet, sweet spring, we can leave it all behind and head to the ballpark.

Sometimes, we have a Friday night baseball game. And like their mama, my girls love a good trip to Nats park. The Friday crabbies don't usually come on baseball nights. There's something about nachos and cracking bats and baseballs thumping into catchers mitts. It takes the crabby away and instead we find our sweet solace. We snuggle down in the seats with stuffed animals and blankets and scorebooks. Pencils and Uno cards and notepads.  And we watch. We listen. We cheer. We sing. We dance. And on those Friday nights, relief sets in ... that our little family of 3 is in our home away from home and all is right in our little world. 

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

Linking up over at Kate's place with the rest of the Five Minute Friday crew.

Where we get a word, we write for 5 minutes (no edits, no backtracks, typos are permitted and never chastised), and then read the words of our fellow writers, and leave them a little love.

Join us. 

Good (Five Minute Friday)

Five Minute Friday - where we stop for 5 minutes, throw some thoughts on the screen, and then go share in the words of friends.  You can see all of this week's FMF posts at Kate's place. And you can find us online every Thursday night tweeting with the #FMFParty hashtag.


GO.
A few weeks ago I got to be a guest poster over at Citizens of Natstown - about how baseball is always good.  So when GOOD was the prompt for Five Minute Friday this week, I was a bit stumped. It was opening day for the Nationals this week and frankly baseball has been on my mind. We returned from our Spring Break adventures and I was solely focused on baseball.

Baseball season is my happy place. Work is chaos and school is getting frantic as the end of the year approaches. And when I need a break, my beloved Nats give me what I need.

The first few games this year have been a bit rough. Some defensive miscues. Some early season rust. A few of our main guys on the Disabled list and some of the fans are restless. A few have hit the panic button. HELLO, we play 162 games. And hopefully more. So on game 3 it is not yet time to panic. Unless the stadium is on fire (which it is not. And even if it was, they would find somewhere else to play.)

And today, on my late lunch break as I was listening to the game, I found myself sucked in to the crazy. Trying to defend my team from our own fans. Fans who were calling for player benching and manager checking and marketing phrases and I don't even know what.

And then I stopped. because they were were invading my happy place. Baseball is good for me. baseball is a break from the world of chaos. And so I decided ... I am going to exercise my mute functions on twitter. I am going back to the radio to listen without the temptation of a device that can access social media if a game gets nuts. Because while I love chatting with friends online when the games are going great, I am not going to let the crazy take away my good.

So - if you don't see me online during a game, chances are it has nothing to do with me missing the game, and everything to do with me making sure the game gives me what I need.

STOP.

Nats Clubhouse Social

I was honored to be one of 27 people invited to participate in a new (and hopefully recurring) event with the Washington Nationals. The invite started as an emoji tweet about 2 weeks ago and caused some very interesting discussions wondering what might be happening. I got an email telling me I was allowed to bring one guest (a +1) and the instructions were to meet at the gate at 6pm. 21 of the 27 invitees were able to make it, so there were about 42 people there in total.

I was in the first bunch to arrive at the gate. Early, because the waiting was killing me. 

Kyle came out, introduced himself, and we headed on the unknown adventure.  First stop: check out the field. THE GRASS IS BACK! (this is exciting. Opening Day is close and after the Winter Classic and the brutal excess of snow, the grounds crew was behind... but we are looking good now!)

They had a videographer (Matt) and also a photographer (Patrick) and an interviewer. (ACK. forgot a name!) These lovely folks asked us what we thought the night was about, and we all had ideas (none of them correct) that we shared. Focus group meeting? AllStarGame twitter mission? Taste the new food offerings? No idea what was actually about to happen. I knew some of the people who were invited and some of the +1s but met a lot of new folks too. 

just this selfie alone would have been worth the trip

Then they rounded us up and took us down the tunnel. We signed waivers. We took silly pictures along the way because we had access to things we'd never seen... 

AND THEN. The unimaginable surprise was revealed. "Come into the clubhouse, won't you?" I was flabbergasted. These are words you never expect to hear as a fan. Never. The Nats called it the #NatsClubhouseSocial and we got to see some pretty amazing stuff.  This was the view when we entered:

At first I just thought the jerseys were hung to decorate the room since the team is still at Spring Training. Then I noticed they were all the number 15. That was weird. THEN ... it sunk in as I read the names. The Nationals had customized jerseys made for us and hung them in the lockers. We each had a spot. My jaw fell on the floor. As did everyone else's. I managed to capture this picture while everyone was still processing what they were seeing.

Teddy and Bill came to hang out with us. Bill kept trying to wander to the food table, but we wrangled him back for a photo or two.

Valerie Camillo (Senior Marketing Director) was our emcee and she took us on a journey through the past 10 years and a look ahead into what 2015 holds in store. This is the 10th anniversary of the Nationals being back in DC and they are really trying to make it special.

This year is all about giving thanks to the fans and the community - celebrating 10 years of baseball in DC

80s night is on the calendar; breaking news about the giveaway = Nationals Rubik's Cube

We spent some time seeing the new advertising campaign. "10 years of ________" and here are a few of the shots:  Example, 10 Years of Memories.

We had Q&A with F.P. Santangelo (@FightinHydrant on twitter), the color commentator from MASN (Nats broadcasting). We got a tour of the updated Norfolk Southern Lounge with the new interactive scoreboard. The board will be synced with the live game action and all the parts move around like a cuckoo clock - but they are trains. And there is a new train track overhead with a model train that runs.

We returned to the clubhouse and the final guest was Mark Lerner, one of the principal owners of the team. We got to ask him how he was feeling about the season and what his favorite memories are from the past 10 years. I mostly tried to take it all in. We were encouraged to live-tweet the event, and facebook it (and instagram and snapchat - but I am not on those forums). At the beginning I was on my game. I posted a lot. And then I was overwhelmed. I couldn't catch what was happening and I was still pinching myself. So I stopped. And then caught up on the way home. 

I got to hang out with some old friends - all of whom I met through social media and Nats connections. Even my +1 was someone I'd met through the Nats and twitter.  I met some new friends. I tweet with them a lot - and had NO IDEA who they were in real life. Now I do. I went to a Nats tweet-up 2 summers ago and met a bunch of folks - but not everyone. For the Nats twitter community is large. And growing. I am thankful to be a part of that network and to have met so many people that I can now hang out with at games. 

When the agenda for the evening had completed, we had some time to goof around in the clubhouse. Who wouldn't take advantage of that?  (Pictures below)

At the end of the night, what I took away was this: the Nationals are really learning to engage their fanbase. They are listening. They want to know what we love and what we don't. And they want to make sure we love the team. It was a small group that got to go this time. Valerie said repeatedly that if it was a success they wanted to do it again. To do more. To continue to spread their message of "A SEASON OF THANKS." As a lucky participant, I hope that I represented ALL of Nats fans well. I hope that I cheered loud enough and said thank you enough. I hope that I tweeted enough of the breaking news. I hope that my interaction with the Nationals tonight was enough for them to see that this was a successful experiment. That the fans LOVED it. I hope that I did enough to encourage the Nats to do it again so that more fans can experience this: often, and soon.

The power of social media is strong, and you are an important piece of Natstown. So keep tweeting. Keep interacting. Keep cheering. The Nationals notice.

As for me, you can find me at the playground with my girls, at the Red Porch, or in section 405.

THE GOOFING AROUND PHOTOS

selfie with Teddy

how many Nats fans can we cram in the elevator at once?

sprawling on the couch (home to many Doug Fister naps)

ROARK. NOT ROARK

this is Rob, the guy responsible for the scoreboard sound synchronization, and also the National Anthem execution

my giant arms mean I can take a selfie with Bill, too 

I heard you get fined for sitting on the Curly W.
I took my chances!

Patrick the photographer

Lisa just realized she had a jersey on the wall

Laura and her jersey