7 Quick takes (Vol 47)

-1-

Do you know what this is? Do you, do you? Oh I am soooooo excited. This is my amaryllis. My mother gave me an amaryllis last Christmas. It bloomed and was lovely and I had such enjoyment in looking at it. But these are the kind of plants that last through more than one season....if you know what to do with them. And I had no idea what to do with it, I will admit. But thankfully my mom sent me some info on these lovely flowers. I did what the piece of paper said. I cut the foliage off when it turned brown and put the pot into the closet and wrote myself a note to take the thing out of the closet on November 1st.

I took it out on 11/1/09, put it on the counter, watered it thoroughly and waited. And I didn't have to wait all that long. Look what it is doing!!! It is sending up a lovely little green shoot. I am so excited.

-2-

So, I have been in Florida all week watching HHBL play baseball. And during this seven days I have eaten more fast food than I have eaten in the past year. And I have come to believe, after all the crap (sorry I said crap) that I have ingested, that fast food is like crack. You say to yourself, "I will just have this once. I can stop after this". And you are so lying to yourself. Lying, lying, lying. The hotel that we stayed at had a Dunkin Donuts at the other side of the parking lot. A Dunkin Donuts that had hot coffee for me every day....and my favorite kind of donut, a Chocolate glazed, and I could have a #8 which is their Sausage/egg/cheese on a biscuit thing that is.....


oh it is......


it is just delicious.

Starting Sunday morning I will be in serious detox

-3-

Why is it that when men are playing baseball, if the name of a player can legitimately have a "y" added to the end of it then they do. If someone calls and asks for "Danny" I know that it is one of the guys that HHBL plays baseball with. On his team here in FL they have Danny, Donny, Stevie (two of them), Ronnie, Johnny, Kenny, Benny, Romey (Jerome) and so on. It just fits.

-4-

Can you knit and score a game at the same time? Of course you can and I have the partially completed socks to prove it. The only time you will not find me knitting and scoring is if there is a night game in the stadium. It was just not enough light, although I usually knit without looking at the sock. So if you think you can't knit and score a game.....think again.

-5-

These guys are part of HHBL's team and they are great. I will tell you what I most appreciate about these guys. It is their generosity and their enjoyment of the game of baseball. They are always encouraging each other, and insulting each other at the same time. They can ramp up their game if needed but they understand when to joke around. And they are just as likely to be found complementing the other team for a good play, even if it was something that cost them an out or a run.

-6-

HHBL has been coming down to play in the Roy Hobbs World Series for about 7 years now, I think, but this is the first year that I have been able to accompany him. If anyone likes their Robert Redford movies then, yes, the Roy Hobbs baseball leagues are named after the character in The Natural. We love this movie around here, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. But while I was here in Florida I thought I would take the time to read the book of the same name, written by Bernard Malamud, on which the movie is based. Ummmm, if you ever loved the movie and take it into your head to do the same thing......don't. I hated the book, absolutely hated it. Well not as much as I hated "The Shack" but it was up there. The book doesn't end happily, it ends on a rather abrupt and downer note and I was just, "What!! That is the end?" I kept looking at the end of the book and wondering if they shorted me some pages.

Watche the movie, skip the book. I think that is the first time I have ever found that a movie is better than the book on which it was based. Oh wait, that isn't quite true. The book, or rather short story, on which A Christmas Story is based isn't nearly as good as the movie.

-7-

Come back tomorrow where you will see pictures of me doing something extremely silly and rather humiliating. I am so glad that there were that many people around to see me do this thing. Unfortunately HHBL has video of it so eventually I am sure that I will post the video. But for now you will just have to see the pictures. I have no problems laughing at myself...which is a really good thing.