Friday, I woke up feeling really crappy...balloon head, stuffy nose, watery eyes, the whole nine yards. In fact, I even wore my glasses to school, which doesn't happen often. Read: ever.
See? I don't even look like I feel that great. And I totally didn't. I suffered my way through class, and went on about my business. Saturday, I woke up feeling about 70 times worse. It was 7 am, I felt crappy, and the last thing I wanted to do was go sit and freeze at a baseball field for 5 hours.
Except I was really excited to go. I watched a tutorial on how to open a champagne bottle (I've never had to do it before) and then made some mimosas to take to the game. Had I known how cold it was, I would've made Irish Coffee. Mmmm, that sounds good right now, actually. Hmmm....
When we got to the park, N's old coach was unloading his gear two cars over from us. He and N started talking, and he told N, "You can't use any of our signs. It's a league rule. And it's also a rule that you can't get any of my players out or hit them with a pitch or do anything to keep them from winning." N and I just laughed, but now that I think about it, he looked a little nervous.
His team? They're undefeated. They've been together for two spring seasons (although they'll have to break up after this season is completed) and they really work well together. So, when we held them to zero runs in the first inning, I knew that was huge. When N's old coach went over to talk to the home plate umpire (which, apparently, you aren't supposed to do) and argued with him about strike zone and how the balls coming in weren't strikes, but N was grabbing them and making them appear to be strikes, the umpire got downright ugly and told him to get out of his face and not talk to him anymore. That kind of caused N's old coach to blow his top...and the game went downhill from there.
Both sides were argumentative...but on the other team's side, the parents were getting in on it. At one point, the umpires both said, "One more word...any of you, and you're out of the park." They meant business.
After we held them to zero runs, we "run ruled" them. We scored five to end the inning, and the boys were ELATED! They came back and "run ruled" us in the following inning, and when one of our coaches asked a question about the batting order (they can drop a player they're missing to the bottom of the rotation in case he shows up, but if he's not there, it's technically supposed to be an out), N's old coach jumped on the defensive bandwagon and stayed there for the rest of the game. His son was late, another kid chipped a tooth, and the order got messed up. He was kind of being crappy, yelling, "What? Do you want me to take an out?" and our coach was like, "No. I was just trying to figure out where we were in the rotation. Calm down."
Y'all. Our Giants beat the Marlins! We won 8-7 (I think), and that was a HUGE win for us. I was talking to our coach after the game while the boys were eating a snack (we had another game right after) and he said, "It was personal. He wanted to beat me so badly." All I can say is, personal or not, our Giants have grown by leaps and bounds in the past week or two. It's insane, and I'm so excited to be able to see their progress. That win did so much for their morale...and it was so much fun, even if it was entirely too tense. I looked at the schedule and announced that the Marlins are also our last game of the regular season. Oh man. That's going to be a good one!
We played the Cardinals next. They were the first team we played this season, the game where they "beat" us, but lost because they didn't have enough players. They asked some Marlins to stick around and help them not have to forfeit, but even with two Marlins, we had to lend them two of our players... Essentially, we won both games on Saturday, so our boys were flying high! The best part? The newest member of our team has never played baseball until he started with us on Monday. Monday he got hit by 3 pitches and told his mom it was the best day ever. Tuesday, he had his first game, and proclaimed THAT the best day ever. Saturday, he scored a couple of runs, AND made the final out to end the second game...just by holding his glove up in a Sandlot-esque move.
Best. Day. Ever. His grin was so huge, I thought his face was going to break in two. I love that he's having a blast.
After the game, I gave my shoes to N so he didn't have to wear his cleats to lunch, and drove home in my socks. I crawled directly into bed, and slept for 3 hours. I woke up, got N ready (he had come home while I was napping), and we went to babysit my two favorite kiddos and their friend. While N & the sweetest two year-old I know played pirates (N with an eye patch, bandanna, and sword was a sight to be seen...and totally precious), Chuck It, Chicken (super cute board game), and watched "Wreck It Ralph," I painted nails in patterns, washed their snack dishes, and listened to the girls play "art school." Then it was bedtime, so I got the girls situated while N read his new BFF a book and tucked him in. N smiled the whole time.
He had a blast. He won't admit it, but he did. And I even paid him, which made him happier...then I reminded him that he owed me $30 for a stupid Under Armour hoodie fiasco, and he laughed. I wasn't being funny.
We came back home, discussed donuts in the morning, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to beat him in the sleep race once again...
Aubs
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