Family Portraits

While on my lunch today, we took Nathan up to the clinic to get an x-ray of his sinuses to make sure he didn't have an infection. Well after the terrible-twos tantrum in the lobby for about a half an hour, they finally took us back to the second waiting room. Seriously, it was just another waiting room but back behind the closed doors. There was another tv and magazines and everything. We waited there for another 10 minutes and the technician finally calls us in to get the x-rays. First Jenna takes him in and they close the door behind them. Five minutes later I'm called in for backup. Nathan is not happy about what is trying to take place. I walk into the x-ray machine room they have for kids and it seemed like I walked into a janitor's closet with 1950's vaccums and hoses computers strapped to the wall. The pipes and cables looked like they were from the personality test from the State Fair or something. So they give me a lead apron to put on. I look over at Jenna and she has a full body apron going from her shoulders down to her knees. I look at mine and it looks like a waitor's apron that just barely went from my waist to the top of my knees. At least my car keys are safe I thought to myself. Nathan had something similar to what I had on, but he's so skinny it was sagging off his waist. Then we get in front of this light that puts cross-hairs over his face and we're told to keep him still. Nathan doesn't keep still. When he's sleeping it's like Curly from the Three Stooges running around in a circle on the ground, so when he's awake it's like trying to keep an alligator still. The technician starts poppin' off x-rays like we're at a photo shoot. She eventually runs out of cartidges or gets tired of the alligator bayou show goin' on in front of her and leaves the room to check the results. She comes back and says we have to start over. Jenna gets on the other side of the x-ray machine and tries to entertain him with videos from her phone. So Nathan and I are standing there with our aprons strictly designed to protect only the parts that make us male and the technician starts firing off the particle blaster again like she sees Galaxia on her screen in the other room. She leaves the room again and I swear my arms were hot. Not in that sense where you're like "man, feelin' the burn in my muscles from restraining this child." This was more in the sense of "Is someone roasting a chicken in here?" I don't know if that can actually happen but my arms definitely felt hot. Hopefully the doctor can tell if Nathan has a sinus infection and at the same time tell me if I have any problems with my ulna, radius, humerus, or clavicle. We all left the room the same way anyone would leave a janitor's closet they were forced into, quiet and feeling violated.

Torn Between Two Loves

My St. Louis Cardinals are what bring me back home. They have been my team for so many years. They've been my come-back, ace in the hole against my Cubs fan friends. Whenever they said something I didn't like, I could always come back with the World Series card. My Tampa Bay Rays are what make me call Tampa home. They exhilarate my love for defense and left me thirsting for more after last season. They are what bond me with my Cubs fan friends, a mutual ground that we can both call our team. Thursday's game was harder than I could have imagined. Every single play of the game was an explosion of joy, and a tearful let down at the same time. For the first time at a baseball game, I found myself cheering at every play that happened. I confused several people around me wearing my Evan Longoria jersey and my STL white and red baseball hat. Pat the bat, Yadie, Longo, Ankiel. I couldn't stop cheering. So when the game finally ended and my heart finally started to slow down, the man sitting next to me summed it up best. "Good news is you won, bad news is you lost." If you want to see some of the great views of the Charlotte Sports Park and the two best teams in baseball, check out our pics from the game.

Irresistible Force Meets an Immovable Object

Thursday is going to be sensory overload for me. We are going to see the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte. I saw the last "home" game here in Tampa in 2005 during interleague play and it was total internal euphoria and personal paradox at the same time. In a way, I wish these two teams were in the same league so I could see more games versus each other, but I guess it makes it that much more exciting when they do. Go Rays! Go Cards!...head's gonna explode!

On A Roll

For the longest time I've had a problem with several stores that are in business and I just can't figure out how. How they are so overpriced for crap that I can get at other stores for half the price. Well, So far I'm batting a thousand for predicting stores that will go out of business due to this problem. First on my list, and it has been there for so many years, was Circuit City. I can go on for days about this store and how bad it was, even after it's liquidation, but I say enough said and move on. Second is Linens and Things. I don't know if this was a nation-wide store, but a few minutes after browsing in there, and it instantly became inscribed on my list of future failures. That store too saw its demise and my batting average was safe. Well, I have another store on my list that is still going. I don't know if they've made an official announcement, but about 6 years ago when I lived in Illinois, I said Pier 1 Imports is going to go out of business. For the same reasons, this store will go down. Overpriced items just won't do. I'm no businessman, but to stay successful, you must be competitive. See ya soon at the Pier 1 liquidation.

Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet, and Watch

I finally got 'em all. I went to the eye doctor today and ordered a new pair of glasses. I haven't had a pair since I was about 14 and have worn contacts day in and day out since. I think my eyes need a rest. I wear my contacts for about 16 hours a day on average, sometimes more. I never really wanted to get a pair of glasses because I didn't feel like paying a whole bunch of money for something I might not wear all of the time. Well, since I have vision insurance now, I figured why not? I decided on this pair of Izod 375's in blue. This is the ONLY picture I could find of them on the net. Unbelievable. It's like the company tells these sites they can only use this standard picture. I really like them because they have a plastic side to the frame. My last pair were cheap metal and would bend, which pretty much warped them for life. I'll post again once I have them to write a better review of how they feel and look.

Endoscopy Today

Getting ready to leave for my endoscopy today, and I find it funny that I'm not actually worried about the tube they're going to be sticking down my throat. I'm actually more concerned about what I might say while on the anesthesia. You know when you have a night of drinking and are like "man, I wish I wouldn't have said that"? Well, this is like being super drunk, but around people with Ph.D's. Wish me luck.