Go crazy! How appropriate is it that in the same year that Cardinal great Bruce Sutter (the last Redbird hurler to throw a strike to win a World Series) was inducted into the baseball hall of fame, rookie reliever Adam Wainright threw strike three to win the Series!? I was eleven years old when the Cards last won it all. Like most boys that age I worshipped baseball. I played little league. I collected baseball cards. I watched every game on KPLR-TV. I listened to Jack on the radio. Until last night I almost forgot how it felt to watch Darrel Porter sprinting toward his battery mate in celebration. Last night it was Yadier Molina and Wainright, but the feeling was the same.
I am not alone in this feeling of jubilation. Millions of Cardinal fans across Missouri and the Midwest shared in my joy. For us, Cardinal baseball is more than a summertime diversion. It is what we look forward to all winter. It is what we talk about all spring. It is what we focus on all summer. And it is something we all look forward to celebrating every fall. Sure, the Yankees have more World Series wins. But New Yorkers don't live and die with their team's wins and losses. They expect their overpayed collection of primadonnas to produce results. They boo their own players when they fail. They call for their manager to be fired after every season in which they fail to win it all- despite his record of success. In Missouri, we forge an intimate relationship with our team. We welcome cast-offs from other teams into the Cardinal family. Many "has-beens" have enjoyed the remainder of their careers in St. Louis when otherwise they would have been forced to retire. Larry Walker, Scott Spezio, Jeff Weaver, Will Clark, Mark McGwire, Dennis Eckersly, Bruce Sutter, and Roger Maris all came to St. Louis to end their careers in a town where they would be appreciated. Second in World Championships only to those reviled Yankees, the Cardinals have proven again that guts, teamwork, and determination- not the highest payroll in professional sports, are all a team needs to succeed. And a faithful fanbase. Fans that have been there for their team in good times, bad times, and everything in between.
Last night I felt like an 11 year old boy again. So did the men on that field. Everybody who has played baseball has fantasized about winning the World Series from the time they first swung a bat. For the Redbirds (and we the fans living vicariously through them), our dreams have come true. Congrats Cardinals! And thank you.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
148
Question: What is the significance of the number 148? Is it:
a. My average score in bowling?
b. My average score in golf?
c. My weight?
d. My total cholesterol?
e. Both c and d?
f. None of the above?
If you guessed "e" you are correct. I just got the results of my first ever cholesterol screening and couldn't be more pleased. The test took place only 18 hours after I ate 11 slices of pizza for dinner at Cici's. Apparently, the low-fat diet Bethany has us on the rest of the time is working out pretty well. In fact, her cholsterol is 149. Yes, I beat her- and yes she is ticked. We were both sure that my love of red meats and all-you-can-eats would have put my test results in the 200+ danger zone. But alas, I am fit as a fiddle and at age 35 impervious to fat. Oh, and I'm dead sexy. Don't forget it.
a. My average score in bowling?
b. My average score in golf?
c. My weight?
d. My total cholesterol?
e. Both c and d?
f. None of the above?
If you guessed "e" you are correct. I just got the results of my first ever cholesterol screening and couldn't be more pleased. The test took place only 18 hours after I ate 11 slices of pizza for dinner at Cici's. Apparently, the low-fat diet Bethany has us on the rest of the time is working out pretty well. In fact, her cholsterol is 149. Yes, I beat her- and yes she is ticked. We were both sure that my love of red meats and all-you-can-eats would have put my test results in the 200+ danger zone. But alas, I am fit as a fiddle and at age 35 impervious to fat. Oh, and I'm dead sexy. Don't forget it.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
China Doll
Some of you have heard rumors about Bethany and I adding to our family, so I thought I would make an official blogger announcement. If everything goes as planned, we are going to adopt a baby girl from China. We have been approved by the agency to continue the adoption process after they reviewed our application. (Being Naughtons didn't scare them off!) We have moved on to the third step of the process which is to get all of our legal documents together such as birth certificates, marriage license, passports, letters of reference, financial statements, etc. After submitting these papers, the agency will conduct a home visit and then will sign off on our final approval if they see no problems. After that we will have to correspond with the State Department, the Chinese Embassy, and other agencies to work out the details. After all the t's are crossed and i's are dotted, we wait. We wait until the Chinese government approves the adoption and then we hop on a plane to the far east. There we will meet our baby, take her to the hotel to stay with us, sight-see in China for two weeks while waiting for the final paperwork to be completed, and then return home with our new daughter.
The whole process could take over a year and a half, although we hope to speed that up with timely submissions of documents, etc. I think it is fate that has brought us to this crossroads. When Bethany was giving birth to Alex his heart rate plummeted and I saw panick in the nurse's eyes. After the ordeal was over, I commented, "We're never going through that again. Next time we'll adopt a little girl from China." Little did I know then that for four years we would try to conceive another child with no success (although it was fun trying!) only to arrive at the decision that adoption was for us. Fate. Karma. Destiny. Call it what you like. But its just like Momma says, "Everything happens for a reason." I think we were meant to save a baby from a life in an orphanage without the love of a family.
Wish us luck, and don't be surprised if we ask you to write a letter of reference for us. We appreciate your support and love.
PS: Do you know what they call Chinese food in China? Food. Who knew!?
The whole process could take over a year and a half, although we hope to speed that up with timely submissions of documents, etc. I think it is fate that has brought us to this crossroads. When Bethany was giving birth to Alex his heart rate plummeted and I saw panick in the nurse's eyes. After the ordeal was over, I commented, "We're never going through that again. Next time we'll adopt a little girl from China." Little did I know then that for four years we would try to conceive another child with no success (although it was fun trying!) only to arrive at the decision that adoption was for us. Fate. Karma. Destiny. Call it what you like. But its just like Momma says, "Everything happens for a reason." I think we were meant to save a baby from a life in an orphanage without the love of a family.
Wish us luck, and don't be surprised if we ask you to write a letter of reference for us. We appreciate your support and love.
PS: Do you know what they call Chinese food in China? Food. Who knew!?
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Chi-town Part 2:
On Sunday, we got a taste for the real Chicago. First, we successfully rode two subway/El trains into the heart of the city. We made our way fairly easily to the Field Museum in downtown Chi-town. The museum is right beside Soldier Field and there just happened to be 60,000 people wearing Bears jerseys headed in the same direction. So all we had to do was follow them.
At the museum we saw Sue, the most complete T-rex skeleton ever found. Alex and I had previously read several books about Sue and the saga of her journey to the Field Museum, so we were very excited to finally meet her in person. She was beautiful. We also saw a lot of her other dinosaur friends, a bunch of mummies, hundreds of animal specimens, meteorites, ancient artifacts, and Lucy, the oldest known hominid skeleton in the world. It was a very cool experience. Little did we know how uncool the rest of the day would be.
At precisely 3:00 pm we decided to catch a train back to our car so we could hit the road to begin our 7 hour trip home. Of course the Bears game ended at 3:00 and of course 60,000 drunken, yet happy Bears fans crowded into the streets and the trains at the exact same time we did. The train ride was so crowded that the woman standing next to me for the 40 minute ride got to know me a lot more intimately than she ever would have liked. I felt like apologizing, but I just couldn't look her in the eye after passively violating her for such a long period of time. Finally, to her great relief, we reached our stop and spared her any further indignity.
Within 30 seconds of finding our van and leaving the parking lot, our fate was sealed. My navigation skills were no match for the insanity that is post-Bears game/ road construction Chicago traffic. We took a fateful turn onto what we thought was our path home. How wrong we were. When we finally realized our error, we were headed straight back into the heart of the city and we would have to drive thru all the traffic we hoped to avoid in the first place by taking the train. Again, we took a corrective turn, this time putting us on a path toward the interstate that we so desperately needed to find. After heading south for several blocks, Bethany said she felt like going west for a while. I found a road that appeared to take us west AND toward the interstate. It would have taken us there- eventually. Unfortunately it also took us through one of the roughest parts of inner-city Chicago.
At every red light we stopped for, more and more disenfranchised urban youth stood idly by, studying our cute little minivan with the daisy petal steering wheel cover and matching CD holder on the visor, hoping for a little excitement in their otherwise unfulfilling lives. Trash blanketed the sidewalks, bottles with brown paper bags wrapped around them lay in the gutters, and dozens of sets of curious eyeballs bore down upon us at every intersection. No Toto, this didn't look like Kansas anymore. In my paranoid state, I encouraged my lovely wife to treat stop signs more like yield signs and red lights more like green lights. She readily complied and eventually we saw an overpass for the interstate. There was just one problem. The police and fire departments had the road blocked ahead, leaving us no way to reach the interstate. At this point, I felt an urge to cry. It was now past 5:30, the sun was starting to slip behind the tall buildings, and I realized that we had about half an hour of daylight before our simple navigational error had a real chance of becomming something more than just a funny story to blog about. I somehow saw a cross street on the map that we used to link up with the highway, and by 6:00, we were finally able to breathe a big sigh of relief as we left Chicago behind.
We were finally headed home. In the first few hours of our trip back, not much was said. I may or may not have had a nervous breakdown at some point in the city. Let's just say at one point I begged my bride to pull over and help me find a way on the map to get us the hell outta there. When she declined, I may or may not have temporarily lost my tenuous grasp on sanity. Only when we were an hour or so out of Chicago, did she acknowledge that maybe she could have been more sensitive to the fact that I was curled up in the fetal position, laying on the floor, rocking back and forth, sucking my thumb, and saying "I'll be a good boy, Mommy. I promise," over and over again. Maybe, she said, she should have pulled over one of the first 50 times I asked/ pleaded for her to do so. I don't do well in an urban enviornment. I can admit that. Ask anyone who knows me. And Bethany knows me.
When we arrived at home at midnight, we all got out of the van and kissed the ground. Well, I did anyway. I told my family that I love them and that I was sorry that I don't travel well. They said they love me anyway, and we won't have to go to Chicago again any time soon. I was real glad.
Now I can look back and laugh and recall all the fun we had when we weren't utterly lost and scared out of our minds. Chicago- I'll see ya in about 20 years. I think I'll be ready by then.
At the museum we saw Sue, the most complete T-rex skeleton ever found. Alex and I had previously read several books about Sue and the saga of her journey to the Field Museum, so we were very excited to finally meet her in person. She was beautiful. We also saw a lot of her other dinosaur friends, a bunch of mummies, hundreds of animal specimens, meteorites, ancient artifacts, and Lucy, the oldest known hominid skeleton in the world. It was a very cool experience. Little did we know how uncool the rest of the day would be.
At precisely 3:00 pm we decided to catch a train back to our car so we could hit the road to begin our 7 hour trip home. Of course the Bears game ended at 3:00 and of course 60,000 drunken, yet happy Bears fans crowded into the streets and the trains at the exact same time we did. The train ride was so crowded that the woman standing next to me for the 40 minute ride got to know me a lot more intimately than she ever would have liked. I felt like apologizing, but I just couldn't look her in the eye after passively violating her for such a long period of time. Finally, to her great relief, we reached our stop and spared her any further indignity.
Within 30 seconds of finding our van and leaving the parking lot, our fate was sealed. My navigation skills were no match for the insanity that is post-Bears game/ road construction Chicago traffic. We took a fateful turn onto what we thought was our path home. How wrong we were. When we finally realized our error, we were headed straight back into the heart of the city and we would have to drive thru all the traffic we hoped to avoid in the first place by taking the train. Again, we took a corrective turn, this time putting us on a path toward the interstate that we so desperately needed to find. After heading south for several blocks, Bethany said she felt like going west for a while. I found a road that appeared to take us west AND toward the interstate. It would have taken us there- eventually. Unfortunately it also took us through one of the roughest parts of inner-city Chicago.
At every red light we stopped for, more and more disenfranchised urban youth stood idly by, studying our cute little minivan with the daisy petal steering wheel cover and matching CD holder on the visor, hoping for a little excitement in their otherwise unfulfilling lives. Trash blanketed the sidewalks, bottles with brown paper bags wrapped around them lay in the gutters, and dozens of sets of curious eyeballs bore down upon us at every intersection. No Toto, this didn't look like Kansas anymore. In my paranoid state, I encouraged my lovely wife to treat stop signs more like yield signs and red lights more like green lights. She readily complied and eventually we saw an overpass for the interstate. There was just one problem. The police and fire departments had the road blocked ahead, leaving us no way to reach the interstate. At this point, I felt an urge to cry. It was now past 5:30, the sun was starting to slip behind the tall buildings, and I realized that we had about half an hour of daylight before our simple navigational error had a real chance of becomming something more than just a funny story to blog about. I somehow saw a cross street on the map that we used to link up with the highway, and by 6:00, we were finally able to breathe a big sigh of relief as we left Chicago behind.
We were finally headed home. In the first few hours of our trip back, not much was said. I may or may not have had a nervous breakdown at some point in the city. Let's just say at one point I begged my bride to pull over and help me find a way on the map to get us the hell outta there. When she declined, I may or may not have temporarily lost my tenuous grasp on sanity. Only when we were an hour or so out of Chicago, did she acknowledge that maybe she could have been more sensitive to the fact that I was curled up in the fetal position, laying on the floor, rocking back and forth, sucking my thumb, and saying "I'll be a good boy, Mommy. I promise," over and over again. Maybe, she said, she should have pulled over one of the first 50 times I asked/ pleaded for her to do so. I don't do well in an urban enviornment. I can admit that. Ask anyone who knows me. And Bethany knows me.
When we arrived at home at midnight, we all got out of the van and kissed the ground. Well, I did anyway. I told my family that I love them and that I was sorry that I don't travel well. They said they love me anyway, and we won't have to go to Chicago again any time soon. I was real glad.
Now I can look back and laugh and recall all the fun we had when we weren't utterly lost and scared out of our minds. Chicago- I'll see ya in about 20 years. I think I'll be ready by then.
Monday, October 09, 2006
The Chicago Experience: Part 1
Bethany, Alex, and I drove to Chi-town this weekend to attend the Backer's Pet Expo along with my store's owners and about 10,000 other people involved in the pet business. The convention hosted 1500 exhibiting vendors and their products. In the two full days we explored the trade show, we still did not manage to see everything. It was amazing- and exhausting. Did you know that there are at least one hundred different manufacturers of clothing for dogs? Did you realize that some bakeries make dog treats in the shape of dog feces? Its true. We even saw a real, live pink poodle. They had everything. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for letting us go, Teresa and Ian!
After the second day concluded we travelled north to my old college roommate's home in the 'burbs. Our navigation skills were challenged by no less than 6 roads along our route all named Rand Road. It made what should have been a 40 minute trip last almost two hours. I thought I saw the north pole at one point. I know I saw a sleigh and some reindeer. When we finally arrived at Mark and Kelly's house I asked our gracious hosts why they felt the need to live in Canada. They said they live in the suburbs of Chicago. They claimed to be Bears fans but I believe Green Bay and Minnesota were closer. But we had a great visit and I had a lot of fun catching up with my friend and laughing about the college days. (Mark if you are reading this: Do NOT post comments on this blog about our time together as roommates. I may still want to have a career in politics someday!) We said our goodbyes and found our way home (with no further incidents) by two in the morning. Thanks for the hospitality, Kirchwehms!
We would have liked to have gotten a little more rest, though. We would need it the next day when we ventured into the Windy City. But that is another story for another time. All I can say now is that the subway, the Projects, and Da Bears were involved. Oh, and a lot of dead people and animals. Stay tuned...
After the second day concluded we travelled north to my old college roommate's home in the 'burbs. Our navigation skills were challenged by no less than 6 roads along our route all named Rand Road. It made what should have been a 40 minute trip last almost two hours. I thought I saw the north pole at one point. I know I saw a sleigh and some reindeer. When we finally arrived at Mark and Kelly's house I asked our gracious hosts why they felt the need to live in Canada. They said they live in the suburbs of Chicago. They claimed to be Bears fans but I believe Green Bay and Minnesota were closer. But we had a great visit and I had a lot of fun catching up with my friend and laughing about the college days. (Mark if you are reading this: Do NOT post comments on this blog about our time together as roommates. I may still want to have a career in politics someday!) We said our goodbyes and found our way home (with no further incidents) by two in the morning. Thanks for the hospitality, Kirchwehms!
We would have liked to have gotten a little more rest, though. We would need it the next day when we ventured into the Windy City. But that is another story for another time. All I can say now is that the subway, the Projects, and Da Bears were involved. Oh, and a lot of dead people and animals. Stay tuned...
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