The Word Series

Props to Novel-T, which has created a lineup of American literature-inspired T-shirts. The baseball-themed shirts feature iconic characters and writers, like Hester Prynne, Moby-Dick and Captain Ahab, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and writers Whitman, Poe, and Thoreau. Each "jersey" features an icon befitting the player, like a whale (duh), a Captain's "C," paintbrushes, and a raft. My favorite is the international "no" circle/slash for Bartleby the Scrivener, who would, of course, "prefer not to." Clever, clever stuff. English teacher squee out of control, basically.

Even better, Novel-T donates $1 of the purchase price of each shirt to 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills. Now that's a team I can get behind!

Bringin' the Heat

'Scuse the baseball analogy, but I'm fixin' to make it do double duty in a sec. Today was opening day of fall ball for both Frick and Frack, since Frack's softball opener was rained out Thursday night. So it's been a loooooooooooong day at the ballpark. BallparkS, that is. Up early to take Frack to her away game, then 1-1/2 hours in the growing heat. By 10:30 we'd already reached the high 80s. Thankfully, the girls won, 9-2, so those hours of sweating it out in her polyester triple-knit uniform--with pants, no less--were worth it. Took her sweaty self home for some lunch, then off to our home field for Frick's baseball opener at 1. By then it was 92 degrees in the shade, with humidity of 63% or more, so the heat index was 101. Since Frick's now in junior baseball, we're talking seven innings of slow poaching. Thankfully, we had hitters and they had weak pitching, so we got called after the third batter in the sixth because of the ten-run rule. Yay!

Back home to find--instead of blessed air conditioning--a HOT house. The fan's blowing, but nothing's cooling. This happened the other day, too. Yegods. Flipped the breaker back and forth, praying that it'll start blowing cool, and hightailed it out of there for a Panera Bread. Free Wi-Fi and unlimited iced tea refills. And they've brought back blondies! Thanks to the Lord for tiny mercies. I may survive until bedtime after all...assuming the air kicks on.

Later, Sooners!

Pretty, ain't it? That's the BCS Championship trophy, and the Florida Gators just won another one, putting away the Oklahoma Sooners 24-14. So, Big 12, how does it feel to get your butts chomped?


A little advice for next time, teams from the midwest (are you listening, Ohio State?)--when a gator clamps down on its prey, it DOESN'T. LET. GO. There's a reason they call it a "death roll," folks! Remember that next time you talk smack about Florida football!

Staying Young

Happy B-Day to me! Normally birthdays involve lots of soul-searching and whatnot, but I think the best advice for staying young is courtesy of baseball's legendary Satchel Paige:

1. Avoid fried meats, which angry up the blood.
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
3. Keep your juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
4. Go very gently on the vices, such as carrying on in society--the social ramble ain't restful.
5. Avoid running at all times.
6. Don't look back--something might be gaining on you.

Champs at the Tramp!

Family fun today--got to attend the C-USA Championship game between one of my alma maters, the University of Central Florida, and Univ. of Tulsa. Frick and Frack ate it up. Plus, we got to shake the house, doing the bounce to Zombie Nation:

Not only does our new stadium bounce, but our marquee RB, Kevin Smith, moved up to #2 on the NCAA All-Time season rushing list--right behind Barry Sanders. We romped and stomped: 44-25. Liberty Bowl bound! Go Knights!

Heard in the Bleachers

Little League. Bleachers. Moms and dads and sibs. Always an interesting sociological mix, especially in our community. I'm paying attention to the game (mostly), trying not very hard to avoid overhearing the conversation on my left, conducted by slim, toned wives with far more expensive shoes than I. You know, the ones with $100 haircuts and blinding diamond (plural) wedding sets. Here's what I hear:

"...you should take your shoes off."
"They don't take their shoes off?"
"No! It's incredible."
"Not even on Friday? That's cleaning lady day."

At that point, attention switched to the conversation on my right. Red Sox vs. Indians fits much more comfortably in my sphere than the concept of a "cleaning lady day." I'm the cleaning lady around Chez mimi. All the days are potential cleaning lady days. Key word: potential.

Which reminds me...time to throw some more laundry in the washer, lest DS be sent onto the field Tuesday night with the horror of grass stains for all to see.

Chomped Again!

They romped.
They stomped.
They chomped.
UF basically owns OSU now. Can't wait to see what the boys at Gators vs. Buckeyes do with this one!
Go Gators--back to back b-ball champs!

Openin' a Can

There's something so satisfying about opening a can of whupass on loudmouths--loudmouth Midwestern football fans especially. Congratulations, Gators, on your National Championship! UF is now the only school in NCAA history to hold National Championship titles in football and basketball. Not a bad night's work, huh?

It was a great game. I'm just so glad my usual big game jinx was taking the night off. Florida's D dominated. Leak and Tebow ran the table on the Buckeyes. Poor Troy Smith of OSU will have to take comfort in his Heisman Trophy, because he won't be taking much satisfaction home from Arizona with him.

I freakin' love college football.

Go Gators!

The BCS computers have spoken, and it'll be the Florida Gators facing the Ohio State Buckeyes for the national championship. This'll be an interesting game to watch personally, since I lived in Westerville, OH when I was a kid. Daddy got transferred there. (We personally think of it as the exile in the wilderness for a number of reasons, flat Midwestern accents, dinner at 5:30 pm, and -40 wind chill being some of them.)

I remember being polled by some boy in my 5th grade class about that year's Ohio State-Michigan game and telling him "Michigan" just to be difficult (people who know me are not surprised in the least). But there's no doubt this year about my pick. The Buckeyes may have a great team, but I'm hoping the Gators CHOMP 'EM.

Hometown Girl

Tonight was so cool. The City of Maitland had a big celebration for the Little League team--parade, fair, fireworks. I have never seen postal trucks in a parade before, but we had 'em--along with guys on stilts, cheerleaders, half the Little League players on bikes, a couple of bands, Girl Scouts, and Shriners on those teeny little motorcycles. Slice of Americana.

Then we had food and speeches and fireworks. It felt like a real town instead of a 'burb. Saw all kinds of neighbors, watched kids run back and forth playing frisbee, made new friends. Just the kind of thing you want in a hometown.

Baseball. Best. Sport. Ever.

Maitland Rocks!

The Maitland boys cruised past Newton, PA last night in the Little League World Series--barring a series of spectacular occurrences, they'll make it into the semis. Woo hoo!

The cool thing is that the city is going baseball crazy--watch parties that even teenagers attend, signs and balloons everywhere, and people being nice (imagine that). Too bad every town can't get a dose of Little League fever!

Go Maitland!!

The Little League team from Maitland, FL just won its first game in the Little League World Series. They beat the Midwest Regional Champions from Davenport, Iowa 7-3. Woo hoo!!

It's fun to watch this batch of kids, especially since I know some of them. We go to church with Tanner Stanley and his family, and I went to high school with Trent Richardi's dad.

The whole town will probably be at the Mickey D's tomorrow for more "Maitland McFlurries" (vanilla ice cream with a pulverized hot apple pie--apple pie, baseball, get it?) to keep the boys in Williamsport.

This is so cool!!

Super Bowl Sunday!

Well, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and here I sit with bad cable. I suppose I could go to a sports bar to watch two teams I don't really care about play the game, but it's not that big a deal. The commercials are more fun than the game usually anyway.

On the menu at Chez mimi:

• Steak
• Baked potato
• Wedge salad with gorgonzola, bacon, and bleu cheese dressing
• Chex mix (store-bought this time; no time to make the family's world famous secret recipe)
• Hot dogs for the kids
  

You could make the argument that since this is the Super Bowl, you ought to serve all of your food in a bowl. That could mean:

• Ice cream (Ben & Jerry's Phish Food is a favorite)
• Cheerios
• Chex Mix (why buck tradition?)
• Ramen noodles
• Cashew chicken
• Cheese grits and sausage
• Salsa--or better yet, that killer queso dip you make with Velveeta and Ro-Tel
  

Nah, we'll stick with the steaks. The queso dip sounds good, though...

My office mate's husband is from New England, so they're rooting for the Pats to win. Maybe I should root for Philly just to be difficult. It's hard to get excited when there's no Florida team playing (thanks a lot, Jon "Chucky" Gruden). Thoughts?