Anybody Warming Up Down There?

Ok so last night Bobby Cox calls for Bob Wickman in the ninth to "nail it down" for Tim Hudson. Huddy pitched a GREAT game against the Twins. 7+ innings. 3 K's. 1 walk. 2 hits. AWESOME. I've been concerned lately about Timmy. His last few outings were a little less to be desired. But he seems to have gotten back the form he had from earlier this season. Whew!

So, anyway. Blue and I are watching the game together. I still sit in amazement that she is a Braves fan. On top of that, she really knows her stuff! Every game we watch together, she'll say something that girls are not supposed to say while watching a Braves game.

OTHER GIRL - "YAY! He threw the baseball, and that other guy with the bat hit it!"

MY BLUE - "Man, if Francoeur would just go with the pitch, he'd have a sure double off the right field wall!"

OTHER GIRL - "Do they sell peanuts at the game?"

MY BLUE - "Bobby needs to intentionally walk this guy to put a force on at second. Watch, he'll do it.

OTHER GIRL - "That guy's cute!" (NOTE - Blue SOMETIMES qualifies for this entry as well, but for the sake of this blog, I exclude her from this statement)

MY BLUE - "I'm so glad Chipper's back from the DL. The lineup really takes a hit without him in it."


You get the point.


So - we both see Wickman warming up in the eighth when I say to Blue...

"PERFECT! WICKMAN'S UP! I CAN'T BELIEVE BOBBY IS GOING TO THROW THIS GAME AWAY!"

Blue, the eternal optimist (you have to be if you wanted to survive through the 80's as a Braves fan) says to me..."NOW YOU JUST QUIT IT! He's pitching much better. He really is! He’s gonna come in, and nail it down for Huddy."


...right. (Insert smart-alick sound effect now)


The banter goes back and forth throughout the entire 9th inning. Blue and me. Back and forth. She's starting to get a little upset at my demeanor. Seriously. I can tell. But I had to keep it going. After all, he WAS blowing the save.

One out and six batters later - the save was blown. Just like I had predicted. yay. go bravos.



Sigh.



Now that a few hours have passed...I got to thinking about the game last night. And how we can look at what happened and apply it to how we live our life everyday. (I'm like that. Sometimes it drives people "batty", but whatever...)


Life throws us "curves" everyday. Sometimes we need to "take a pitch" to see what the offering is. (I can't STAND it when Francoeur swings at the first pitch...AUGH!) It's too easy to judge folks and situations these days. We look at how people dress, act, speak, etc. and automatically decide whether or not this is acceptable to our lifestyle. It's too easy to fall into that trap. But we all do. Sad but true.

I posted earlier about the clothes I wear. Sometimes, people look at me and decide really quickly that I must not be a man of God. This is SO untrue. Just because I act/look the way I do, doesn't mean I don't follow the Book.

And to tie this up into a neat little bow for you...

Cox will bring Wickman in again tonight probably. They face the Indians (Wickman's old team) in Cleveland. Wickman will get another chance to save a game. Just like all of us. We get a chance everyday to be saved...and sometimes we blow it. Sometimes we don't. The coolest thing about God is he continues to give us a chance everyday. And just like Bobby Cox won't lose faith in Bob Wickman, God never loses faith in us. He'll keep calling for us in the 9th. This is ULTIMATE! Some people consider this job security. I call it Job ( http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible,_King_James,_Job ) security.

So it's our responsibility to "get ahead in the count".

"My love is strong enough to last when things are rough"

Love. Peace. Harmony.

Bryan

It's been TWO MONTHS?!?!

...seriously. Wow, talk about dropping the ball. I've pulled a Bill Buckner.

Just remember this...

Bill Buckner was a career .289 hitter (not bad) that led the National League in batting in 1980. He was an All-Star in 1981. And led his league in AB/SO Ratio four times! I could go on, but you get the point, I'm sure.

So much to catch up on...so little time. Work beckons (ewww). As the months creep slowly towards summer, the national Pepsi intake index grows. Which always means my work week grows.

Growing with Pepsi is good and bad. My arms grow. This is good. My paycheck grows. This is good. My ego grows (because I'm the BEST 2nd shift merchandiser in the city...YAY ME!). This is good?

My back pain grows. This is bad. I see Blue a little less. This is bad. I spend less time with my younguns. This is bad?

So, with this being said...it's been a really busy time for me the last couple of months. I know, I know. This is no excuse. Considering the life my pal Chill Pastor leads everyday, he still gets his Blog done. I have no excuse. I'll do better.

So last night me and Blue are chattin'. You know, talking Love. Money. Music. Braves. We HAVE priorities, you know? We've been into this discussion over the last few days about my face. Now when you read that, you freaked, right?

I've had this patch of fur under my lip for sometime now. I can't even remember when I started growing it. I don't grow facial hair very well. I'M STILL A MAN, though. Just have a few defects. Don't we all? 'Cept Chill. And Blue. Ok, now I'm getting too soft....

So anyway, Blue tells me that she kinda wants to see the old Bryan. The one from DHS. Of course, there is NO possible way I could ever give her that wish. I weighed 130 lbs. dipping wet. Drove a beat up VW Beetle (UNC blue, btw). And was ALWAYS a member of the FP. You know, the Fashion Police. Right. (Insert laugh track now, please)

The ONLY thing I could do to "try" to grant this wish, is to shave my "soul patch". Something that has grown very near and dear to me. It's a part of me now. For a while. And I like it. 'Cept the streaks of grey/white in it. That part is TERRIBLE. Other than going to the local Krogers and buying some Just For Men (from the leader in men's hair coloring), there's really nothing I can do about that.

So Blue's gotten to the point of being so tired of hearing me complain about the grey, she suggests shaving. Making my face nakey.

Um. no.

THAT LASTED. five minutes.

So I got myself up from my chair. Went to the bathroom. And ShAvEd.

Now my face is nakey. I have to admit it’s a weird feeling. But I kinda like it.

My kids think I look younger. This is good. There's less time grooming in the morning. This is good. Blue's kids don't care one way or the other. This is good. OH -

Blue likes it. This is GREAT!



Insert Job 6:29 Now. =) (YOU have to look it up. Gives you an excuse to grab that Book for a change)



Ok...so I'm off to work. Yay. The new/old look ready to tackle the world. Wish me luck. My face needs it.

By the way - did I mention that I asked Blue to marry me?

I love you Pup!


Bryan