shawnwright.blog

Season in review

2009-07-07T23:38:00.002-05:00

Darby's softball team finished their spring season last week, with tonight being trophy night. They went 8-2 in their division to take second place, shy of first by only a game. Their overall record was 12-4-1, with the 2 additional losses going to upper division teams, and the tie going to an older team (14U vs our 12U team). Not a bad season looking back, and probably the most diverse for Darby, who played 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, and C during the season (mostly 1B and SS). The most frustrating aspect had to be our narrow loss to a division team we had beaten handily earlier in the season. Had our offense not slumped that game, we would have tied for first at least, and possibly would have done better depending on the tiebreaker rules.

So all of that was the good news. The bad news is we're aging out of our division, so we'll have to play 14U next Spring. It's always tough moving up, and will be particularly tough this time around because all of our girls will still be in middle school, but we'll be playing teams with girls in high school. Fortunately our recent 14U exhibition game, which resulted in a tie (9-9), boosted our confidence a little. But we can't get overly excited because they were a first year 14U team like we'll be soon.

This Fall we'll only be playing a few tournaments. Hopefully Darby's grades will stay up so we can get into a conditioning routine and resume hitting and pitching lessons to be ready for those 14U teams in the Spring.

More pictures from the season can be found in the album.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Vacation pictures

2009-06-27T23:10:00.002-05:00

It took awhile, but vacation pictures have been posted to the family album. We spent a few days in Washington, DC and a few days in Philadelphia earlier this month.

Shelby saves a duckling

2009-06-16T23:15:00.003-05:00

Shelby chased down a duckling at the pond in front of the capitol in Washington, D.C. It had gotten out of the pond and couldn't get back in to be reunited with its mom. Pictures from the trip forthcoming.

Strings performance

2009-05-29T23:48:00.002-05:00

Shelby performing with her school strings ensemble during an awards assembly. Unfortunately, my memory card ran out of space in the middle of her solo. BUT, I had another, tape-based, camera going, so I will replace this video, though it will take a bit to do the conversion.

True. True.

2009-05-28T23:16:00.002-05:00

Not to advertise for them, but the Philavania.com "about" page has what must be the best definition of a true Philadelphia sports fan I've read.

We "...are under the impression that the Delaware Valley is the center of the Universe. In this respect, we are right. We got the Birds, we got the World Phuckin' Champion Fightin's, we got cheesesteaks and soft pretzels and hoagies and Tastykakes and all sorts of stuff nobody else has. We're kinda crappy but kinda awesome.

We never forget where we're from. We were losers for all those years (we're still trying to get over not being losers anymore) but we kept our heads up and stayed proud.

We get in fights at Eagles games with anybody wearing anything that remotely resembles Cowboys paraphernalia. When we find out that it's not a Cowboys fan but a horse-mounted state police officer, we still ask him if he's a Cowboys fan in a threatening manner.

We show up in the thousands to away games in cities like Tampa, San Diego, Phoenix and Minneapolis. We make so much noise that the other team's fans look around and say to their friends 'where the hell are these guys coming from?'

We used to go to Eagles games with our grandfather when we were 6 years old. We remember yelling at Cowboys fans even then. We also remember that guy in section 301 of the Vet with the beard in the tie-dyed overalls who started the E-A-G-L-E-S chant. May he rest in peace, and may his voice be heard for 100 years more.

We remember Harry Kalas. We've spent hundreds of hours talking to our friends in our best Harry Kalas impersonation. We loved that guy. We miss him terribly, but we're so damn happy he got to call that final out before he himself was outtahere. We think Harry would like that joke.

We love our city, we love our people, and we're proud of all of it--the good and the bad."

Shelby is Popular

2009-05-17T22:08:00.002-05:00

Shelby performing "Popular" from Wicked during the Lyric Academy Spring Cabaret.

Mother's Day in Philly

2009-05-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

I made a surprise visit to Philadelphia over Mother's Day weekend. When I got in Friday night, I caught the premier of Star Trek with my best high school buddies. Then I spent the rest of the weekend with mom.

I took her to breakfast on Saturday before taking her to get a new cell phone, after which we headed to the Phillies game. She is the reason I love the Phillies like I do, but she hadn't been to the new ballpark yet, a problem I resolved at long last. Too bad the Phils didn't notch a win for her.

On Sunday, I took mom to get some new eyeglasses and to do some clothes shopping before picking up sister at the bus station. Sis bussed down from NYC for the evening so that the three of us could have a nice dinner together, something we hadn't done since high school, so like eighteen years. I know, shameful, but at least I'm finally taking care of business.

I was back on a plane Monday morning, but I think the short trip was enough to hold mom over until the next visit. Well, okay, so I'm headed back to Philly next month with the kids for family vacation, but you know what I mean.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

The Contrasts of an Evening

2009-04-30T23:40:00.003-05:00

These two pictures were taken about 45 minutes apart. The oldest daughter had a choir performance at school, followed immediately by a softball game. Actually, the softball game started while we were at the choir show. The coach placed her at the bottom of the lineup, so, due to our hustle (including a creative changing effort in the back seat of a moving vehicle), she didn't miss an at-bat, though did miss a half-inning in the field. She had a great performance at the choir show and a very nice ballgame that included a base hit and a couple nice defensive plays, one involving a diving stop at short.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Last Second Heroics

2009-04-22T23:35:00.003-05:00

Caption: Darby on third base just moments before stealing home
on a passed ball to tie the game.

For the majority of the game, we led 4-1 over a superior team (higher class, better record), but a few key mistakes on our part allowed them to catch up and overtake us, 4-5. As the visiting team, and with just a few minutes left in the game, we began what was sure to be our last at bat if we didn't get any runs on the board.

My daughter was lead-off batter that inning, and she was facing a tough pitcher with a killer change-up. Even though I warned her to watch for the change-up, she bit for her second strike of her at-bat, making myself and the rest of the parents quite nervous. Fortunately, the pitcher threw a couple balls to walk my daughter, who then stole second on the walk, taking advantage of the other team's laxness during the walk. Suddenly, there was a little bit of life in our effort.

The next two batters struck out pretty quickly, putting the pressure back on our team, but my daughter managed to steal third on a passed ball during the last at-bat. Things seemed to look up as we were back to the top of the batting order and our number one batter is typically very productive. However, she was recently ill and the last couple games her timing has been off. As such, she was down two strikes in short order. I remember looking at the clock and seeing that there was only 37 seconds left.

My daughter isn't known for her running speed, so when another passed ball came along, and the coach order her to go, I half-covered my eyes as I didn't think she'd make it in. But it was the classic play-at-the-plate moment. Catcher gets the ball at the backstop, throws to the pitcher covering home plate, my daughter arriving at the plate at the same time as the ball with a perfect slide, and the cloud of dust. The dust cleared, and the call from the ump. Safe.

I looked up at the clock again and time had expired. Everybody, parents and children, were jumping up and down at the last second heroic moment. I ran over to the dugout to give my daughter a great big congratulatory hug (though I had to wait for the crowd to clear). What a moment for her. She was glowing (such moments don't come often for her).

Once things calmed down, play resume. Though time had expired, since my daughter had tied the game, we were able to continue playing. Ideally in this situation, our number one batter would continue the momentum, the top of our order would drive her in, maybe a few more would follow, and we'd hold the home team in the bottom of the inning to win the game. Unfortunately that's not quite how it went.

Our number one batter struck out, ending the inning. The home team loaded the bases with no outs. And things looked quite dire. But thanks to some awesome defensive plays by several girls on the team, including a tag-out at the plate, we actually held them. The game ended in a tie, but considering the caliber team we played, it was a win for us. And it felt good, as all the girls were happy.

Twenty-six hours we'll never get back

2009-04-19T13:52:00.001-05:00

Thursday morning I dropped the eldest daughter off at school and she was fine. Totally fine. The picture of health as far as I knew.

When she got home from school, she called me at work to say she had a headache and body aches. I had her take her own temperature while I was on the phone with her... 99.9. So, I had her take a tylenol and get in bed to rest. She had the flu back in February, and thus far it had seemed like a recurrence.

Friday morning the fever was up to 101.4. Given that it was Friday, I went ahead and called the doctor for advice, which was to take her in.

At the doctor's office a few tests were administered. Flu, negative. Strep, negative. Blood test were done but we didn't get results right away. At that point the daughter was complaining of pain everywhere, particularly in her abdomen, but she was not vomiting or anything like that. She did also get a couple antibiotic shots while at the doctor's office. But the doctor was concerned about her hydration and the nature of the infection, and decided to admit her to the hospital so she could be further tested and monitored.

I couldn't believe it. Twenty-four hours earlier she was at school and fine. The next day we we're on the way to the hospital. Ugh.

At the hospital they took a chest x-ray to make sure she didn't have pneumonia, which she didn't. They hydrated her by giving her a liter of IV fluids within two hours, keeping her on a slower pace of fluids and IV antibiotics for the rest of the stay.

We ended up being at the hospital for 26.5 hours, but left with as few answers as we arrived with. Miscellaneous infection of unknown origin. We have to visit the doctor today (a Sunday!) for another antibiotic shot. And tomorrow we have a follow-up appointment. The daughter hasn't had a fever since Friday and is feeling much better, but we sure didn't plan on such a big chunk of the weekend being taken up by a hospital visit.

Easter Weekend Activities

2009-04-12T23:53:00.001-05:00

It was a VERY busy weekend. Here are some partially representative pics. Saturday morning we went to the zoo, and it was amazingly beautiful. Just about the most perfect kind of day for the zoo. Crystal clear. Mid-sixties. Gentle breeze. I miss it already.

We could only stay a few hours at the zoo, though, as we had an Easter Egg Hunt. I was almost a bad parent in that we nearly missed the Egg Hunt, but we did make it in time. Barely. Okay, it started already, but we got some eggs, alright? Gimmie a break. Besides, the oldest decided en route that she was too old for egg hunts. And the youngest was satisfied with her booty. So, mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned.

After the Easter Egg Hunt we had a gathering at a friend's for some good times and an Easter... turkey? Sure, why not. It was very tasty. So much so that the youngest devoured a turkey leg the size of her head. And yes, she did finish it.

While somewhat displeasing on this holiday weekend, we also had softball practice. Daughter #1 was happy to receive her team hoodie. Mostly because it got chilly. Did I mention she hit me in the head with a softball? By accident she says, but I'm not buying it. It happened WAY too soon after I criticized her technique.

After softball we went back to our friend's where the celebrations continued until about midnight. Oh, and all of that was just Saturday.

Sunday was pretty traditional. Mass in the morning. Family meal in the afternoon. Laundry in the evening. Topped off with some Marley and Me. The girls were dying to see that movie and we missed it in the theater. Pretty sad stuff, but does it top the Turner and Hooch of my youth? Tough to say. Probably it does in some ways. But Hooch didn't live a full life. I think maybe that gets more tears. Though I must say, Marley gets points for having scenes in Philadelphia.

That's it for me. I'm exhausted. Happy Easter.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Windball

2009-04-09T22:43:00.003-05:00

What softball practice in 30-50 MPH wind gusts (yes, this is the same wind that's kicking up all the Oklahoma wildfires today) is like.

Aforementioned Piano Recital Video

2009-04-09T10:08:00.010-05:00

Darby performing Sonatina in C Major by Latour for her 7th grade school piano recital. Some mistakes, but she had a bad morning. Woke up late, didn't have time to practice before the show, etc. Pretty good all things considered.

Piano Recital

2009-04-09T08:46:00.002-05:00

Blurry and way too distant camera phone shot of daughter #1 at her school piano recital this morning. Similarly distant and blurry video forthcoming.

Like father like daughter

2009-04-06T08:50:00.001-05:00

I took one look at my little one as I dropped her off at school this morning and I could tell immediately that something was wrong.

What's the matter? I asked...

Nothing. It's just morning. And Monday.

Ah ha. I KNEW there was something wrong. She's too much like me. What she said was exactly... EXACTLY how I was feeling right at that moment.

Wow.

Heaven on game night

2009-04-05T23:19:00.001-05:00

So what do you do when you're not at home and there are three games you want to see on TV at the same time? Well, the low tech and decidedly more appeasing solution, at least for tonight, was to hit the nearby kick-butt sports bar with LCD TVs at every booth, plus plenty of bigger TVs around. Thanks to the empty booth next to us, and the large TV above us... three games, no problem.

No sn'ews is good sn'ews

2009-03-28T11:24:00.002-05:00

Parts of Oklahoma got more than a foot of snow in yesterdays' blizzard. Metro OKC was promised anywhere from 1-6 inches depending on when and what channel you watched.

I prefer the actual outcome... a dusting on rooftops and lawns.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Update
Hmmm... perhaps I spoke too soon... twenty minutes later and it's snowing again.

Softball Mayhem Begins

2009-03-26T23:01:00.001-05:00

We've been practicing for awhile now, but tonight was the first game, and certain schedule mayhem awaits as the season progresses.

We got off to a great start. For forty-five of the seventy minutes we were in the lead. But a series of "rookie mistakes" allowed the opposing team to run-rule us in an inning, giving them the lead. Even so, we pulled back to within one run with less than ten minutes to play. And with five minutes to play, daughter number one was at bat with the bases loaded. She did get a hit, but a play was made on the force out at home, preventing the tying run from scoring. In the end we lost by that one run, but all the issues we had can be fixed, so there's not too much disappointment for a first game. We're supposed to play in a tournament this weekend, which has a four-game minimum, so we will be all softballed out in less than a week.

The weather was very uncooperative and unspringlike tonight. Somewhere in the upper forties I believe with a 20+ mph wind. Though we were all bundled up, it was still darned cold.

Also of note, we actually had batting practice for an hour before the game. At that time, our ONLY pitcher (eek) was still at a track meet over an hour away. So who was going to pitch in her stead? You guessed it, daughter number one and her six weeks of pitching lessons. Boy did that make her nervous, and boy was she relieved when our pitcher arrived about five minutes before game time. We warmed up her pitching arm between at-bats at practice, and it was promising but spotty, though it would have been interesting to see how it would have gone for her, nerves aside.

Update
2009 softball pictures will be added to the album as the season progresses. In the mean time, there are tons of pics from the 2008 season.

New Glasses Redux

2009-03-26T11:11:00.001-05:00

Daughter #2 is getting her fourth pair of glasses in two years today due to losing her last pair. She loves the fashionable frames as you can see, so I'm starting to wonder if actually lost her last pair or if she just "lost" them. Hmmm...

Cute but Awkward

2009-03-24T17:28:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed having the opportunity to see the girls try on their junior attendant dresses this evening, though I can't say it wasn't a little bit awkward considering the dresses are for their mom's (my ex-wife) upcoming wedding. Probably more humorous was either Shelby's propensity to hug the mannequins (annoyed that I didn't take a picture of that) or my embarrassment with being the only guy in the bridal shop.

Cruz-in to Witch Mountain

2009-03-14T23:23:00.001-05:00

The girls and I attended a private dinner/function which included a nice set by Edgar Cruz. Afterward I took them to see Race to Witch Mountain, which was pretty entertaining, and highly recommended for tween parents everywhere.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

The whole classic story

2009-03-09T22:54:00.008-05:00

(Update
Some photos have been uploaded to the album.)

Intro
I've been back from Toronto for a little over a day, though I'm still crazy tired. The trip was probably not the best idea given the times, but it seems to have been worth it looking back from this short distance.

Premise
After my 2006 inaugural World Baseball Classic experience (see game summary, trip summary), it seemed a no-brainer to attempt to attend the second WBC. However, it was not without its twists and turns.

I went, in 2006, with a like-minded sports-loving friend and all was right with the world. It was in Phoenix, a town I enjoy, we participated in tons of great sporting events, and I got make the short trip to Tucson to see my ailing grandmother for what turned out to be the last time. With minor exception, looking back a few years, it was a really great trip.

Prelude
The intent was basically to do it all over again this time around, only the WBC folks decided to mix it up on us, having the first round of the classic in cities outside the United States. This became known as the first problem. While we could have caught the second round in Miami or the semis/finals in San Diego/L.A., there was a bit of risk in not fulfilling what I felt was the key goal of this endeavor... seeing Team USA. I mean, I'm all for seeing some great baseball games, but in less than a month, I'll have a number of options in that regard within a few hours drive. Why make a long plane ride if you're not going to see Team USA? So, given that Team USA COULD have lost in the first round, the only logical choice seemed to be to pack for Toronto.

The second problem this year was that my previous WBC travel partner became decidedly unavailable (though later quite the opposite, however not in time to join plans already in progress). So I had to find a new travel partner that understood the merits of making an international trip to see a baseball game. Not an easy task in my part of the world (college football country). But I did convince a close college friend, who has attended a number of ballgames with me in the past, that this would be a worthy trip.

There was a third problem as it turned out, in that my friend wanted to bring his wife. I don't mean that to sound like "it was a problem that he wanted to bring his wife". It's just that I knew his wife wasn't as into sports as he and I, and so the problem became a fairness issue, or how to balance the trip out with non-sports activities.

So I created an itinerary that was reasonably well balanced, I thought, with the WBC game, an NBA game, and a trip to Wayne Gretzsky's restaurant on the one hand, and museums, shopping, and a theatre show on the other. Well, you know what they say about best laid plans. Which is not to say the trip wasn't rounded and excellent. It just didn't quite go according to plan.

Before getting into the trip details, I must note that there was actually a problem four... my friend did not have a passport. And there was some uncertainty as to whether he could get one in time. Fortunately, he was able to do so, averting a trip planning crisis.

Adventure
Thursday morning I hit the road for Dallas. It was decided early on that, living in different parts of the country, we would all meet-up in Dallas and fly to Toronto together. I don't disagree with this plan in retrospect, but the three plus hour drive with road construction threatening to delay your trip doesn't exactly relax you. Traffic delay and parking uncertainty overcome, I made it through security in short order and met up with my friends with great anticipation of a remarkable trip ahead. Aside from long waits in airports, the Dallas to Detroit to Toronto flights were mostly uneventful. Well, there was the incident involving beef jerky, but that's mostly just embarrassing and revealing of my ignorance, so we can skip that part.

The customs line in Canada was not too bad, though I thought the Canadian border agent was noticeably less nice to me than he had been to my friend's wife. Not that it made a difference. It took us no time at all to find a cab to take us to our hotel, though I did feel like the driver took a longer route than necessary, having studied the map a little ahead of time. The cab fare was our single biggest cash expense of the trip. Almost everything else we paid via credit cards, as was recommended on many travel sites.

The hotel, a Holiday Inn, wasn't particularly fancy, but it would do fine. After we checked-in, we got situated in our rooms and then met for dinner and to discuss the itinerary for the next day. Dinner in the pub and grill attached to the hotel hit the spot just fine.

The next morning we met downstairs and began our short walk to a breakfast place down the road. Called "Over Easy", the food there was quite tasty with hearty portion sizes. Breakfast concluded, we walked across the street to visit the Royal Ontario Museum.

We spent a good four to five hours at the museum, which resembles New York's Natural History Museum. As far as content, the ROM seemed more thorough in some areas than the NY NHM, but less thorough in others. I realize this is an unfair comparison, but I've been to both and so can't help but compare. Following our visit to the ROM, we walked back to the hotel for a short break before catching a subway ride downtown.

The plan called for a touristy visit to the CN Tower, Canada's largest structure, and one of the largest structures in the world, followed by dinner and an NBA game. Unfortunately, I didn't buy Raptors tickets in advance, which turned out to be a poor decision. I was trying to keep the agenda somewhat flexible, and I thought for sure in a city like Toronto with SO MUCH to do, they surely wouldn't sell out a basketball game for a team that wasn't in contention (sure, we sell out our very non-contending Oklahoma City arena quite often, but we just got the team, so we're still so darned excited about it). While I did have a plan B, it was based on a fairly narrow time frame, which also turned out to be problematic.

Well, the CN Tower portion of our day went quite excellently. Having been atop the Empire State Building (yes, even the 102nd floor), and as splendid as that was, I have to say the CN Tower experience might be just a tad better. I mean, wow. The views were spectacular... the city, Lake Ontario, the glass floors, etc... just amazing. Well, okay, the glass floors were just plain scary, but they added a dynamic to the experience not achievable in New York. You should have seen my reaction when trying to step out onto the glass floor when someone else jumped on it, making it shake. Did I mention I'm not great with heights?

We followed our tower observation with a meal in the aptly named 360 restaurant. Very much like the former "Nikz at the Top" restaurant in Oklahoma City, the 360 rotates, giving you a 360-degree view of the city and lake while you enjoy your high-priced meal. The atmosphere was remarkable and the food was excellent (also like Nikz). But we couldn't linger too long because we had to execute plan B following my NBA miscalculation.

The plan involved enjoying a show at a local mystery theater. Unfortunately, as we left CN Tower, we were notably behind schedule and needed to walk a significant distance to make the subway (I led us in the wrong direction, north instead of east, meaning we had to go to the St. Andrews station instead of Union Station costing us valuable time). Looking back on this, we should have just caught a cab and we would have been fine I think. Though it didn't take us long to figure out the value of cabs. When we finally reached the subway, we noticed how impractical it was becoming that we would actually make it to the mystery theater on time (thus keeping it a mystery in a sense). So we began discussing Plan C. Trouble is, I hadn't written a Plan C, so we were having to make it up on the spot.

Plan C became the let's just walk back to the main entertainment district and catch a movie plan. Seemed reasonable enough. It was a Friday, Watchmen had just come out, what a nice fall-back. So, we got off at the next subway stop, walked probably about as far as we did going from the CN Tower to the subway, and we got in line for tickets. We new we were too late for th 7pm showings, and that we'd have to wait for 9 or 9:30 showings, but we should also have accounted for the possibility of sell-outs. Ugh. As we were in line, we saw the marquee message that read "The next available showing of Watchmen is 11pm". There was nothing else even showing until 9:45, and we weren't sure that one was worth the wait. So, Plan C was turning out to be as much a flop as A and B. We stepped out of line and went to the book store cafe next door to contemplate the evening.

Not much discussion was needed before we determined the details of Plan D. It was stunningly simple and at that point the most value we could achieve without further spinning our wheels. (Technical note: Much of this aimless bouncing about would not have occurred if I had been able to use my splendid smart phone... but U.S. mobile providers have criminally high [IMHO] international data roaming rates, and so I was very much lacking in the actionable intelligence gathering abilities I'd come to rely on in the states.) Plan D was to, in fact, head the heck back to the hotel and get some sleep because we were bloody tired anyway. At the time I was disappointed with this plan (because hey, I don't sleep anyway), but once I got back to my room, I enjoyed it quite a lot. And this time, we caught a cab, so our trip back to the hotel was quick and without further walking.

Our last day in Toronto started out with another breakfast at Over Easy. We had plans to try another place, but decided we liked our previous day's breakfast enough to do it again. Then we hit the subway (once we found the darned station... you know, in New York subway stations are VERY obvious... in Toronto, not so much... or is it just me?) to one of the bigger malls in Toronto to do some gift shopping. We just spent an hour or so walking around the mall and making our selections as we didn't want to stay too long, have travel issues again, and possibly miss part of the game, which was the reason for the trip to begin with. So, we got back on the subway and headed back downtown.

Lunch plans called for a trip to Wayne Gretzky's restaurant. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Trouble is, pretty much everybody else going to the game thought of that as well. This time I had plans B and C prepared as well, and we did have to go with C, as B was just as packed. My friend's wife had the excellent suggestion of Plan D (skip external lunch and just get hot dogs at the game). Being men, we ignored that plan and stuck with Plan C. And then it started to rain. And we had window seats and so we saw how wet the people were getting walking to the game. Wonderful.

After scarfing our lunch, we headed to Skydome (yes, I know it's called the Rogers Centre now, but to me it will always be Skydome), getting plenty wet and wishing we had listened to the wife. Thank goodness for domed stadiums. And we arrived at the stadium early enough to catch the tail end of batting practice and to take plenty of pictures.

We had decent seats (35 rows from the field, between third and home). But the lower-bowl was a packed house and I started to wonder if the more spacious upper bowl might have been a better option for comfort purposes (attendance was in excess of forty-two thousand, much more than 2006). There were some obnoxiously loud and drunk Team Canada fans behind us (many in the section agreed they were too loud and annoying, so it wasn't just us), and to the left of us there were a couple of French Canadians that I'm sure were talking about us in French, concerning our American flags and frequent cheering for Team USA in a Canada-friendly crowd. Also, they got up every ten minutes to get a beer (where did they PUT all that beer they drank?), though they couldn't go at the same time. Seemed like every five minutes one of them got up to go get something else.

ANYway, this was about the game. And the game was quite excellent. Unlike my last WBC game, which was a Team USA blowout, this game was close the whole time, with USA victory not assured until the last out of the last inning with a full count. You can't ask for better baseball than that. As a bonus, I got to see three 2008 World Champion Phillies (Victorino, Rollins, and Stairs -- though playing for Canada) perform well, AND I got to see my childhood baseball hero Mike Schmidt coaching third base. What was decidedly less exciting was the fact that I blew an opportunity to get autographs from Victorino and Stairs following the game because the game went longer than expected and I made dinner reservations much too soon afterward. Oh, and did I mention it was still pouring outside?

The original plan called for walking to dinner. With the length of the game and the rain, we opted out of that plan rather quickly. However, catching a cab outside of a building with thousands of people exiting turned out to be far more difficult than anticipated. We ended up getting rather soaked again before we finally got a cab. Fortunately, we made it right on time for our reservations.

Dinner at an acclaimed Italian establishment, was excellent, and the desert was WAY larger than I expected. And I hate wasting perfectly good cheesecake. But once again my planning didn't turn out so well, as we finished dinner much quicker than expected (unlike the previous night), and so we had quite some time to wait before the next item on our agenda, a show at the (in)famous Second City Theatre, where many greats of comedy got their start.

Of course, that show required another walk in the rain as there were no cabs to be found. Did I mention that I gave my umbrella a good hard look before I left OKC, but though surely I wouldn't need it? Well, even with all weather crud on the trip, it all turned out to be worth it, as Second City was amazing. As a huge fan of sketch comedy, I had long wanted to get a live look at where SCTV came from, and at the very beginnings of many SNL players' climbs to the top. And SC didn't disappoint. It was a completely amazing and funny show, and I am reasonably certain I will someday see some of those same stage actors on my TV set, whether in SNL or some other hilarious endeavor. If you're ever in one of the SC cities, don't miss an opportunity to catch a show.

Not unexpectedly, it was still raining after the show, so we caught a cab back to the hotel. Considering we were being picked up by an airport taxi at 6am, AND that we had to spring ahead for daylight savings, there really wasn't much time for sleep, so, after setting up a wake-up call, I had to hurry up and pack so I could get at least SOME sleep. Even though I don't do that much, the trip was starting to catch up with me.

The trip to the airport the next morning and the trip back through customs and onward to Dallas was unremarkable (though we finally got a big enough plane to stretch out in, oh, and we think we saw the mini-me actor at the Detroit airport), as was my drive back to OKC. But it had been about fourteen hours of traveling of some sort, so I was very much like a zombie upon my return. I picked up the kids from their mom's, got some to-go dinner, and went HOME. It was SO nice to be home. Though there are some things to miss about Toronto.

Conclusion
While I didn't get to know her as well as I would have liked, Toronto, in my experience, is an excellent place to visit. Very New York-like with plenty of international flair (it's a VERY diverse city). With its close proximity to the U.S., the lack of language barriers, and the general similarity of most things (except money, metrics, and temperature), Toronto is a fantastic alternative to Europe if money and time are an issue. I'm eager to bring the kids back during a future summer so we can do all the kid-friendly things I skipped-out on this time around.

Classic Teaser

2009-03-07T21:47:00.002-06:00

Got to see Team USA beat Team Canada in Toronto today... what a blast!

Fat Tuesday Farewell

2009-02-24T20:11:00.000-06:00

My daughter is giving up candy for lent, and this was how she said goodbye....

4-OMG-1k

2009-02-23T20:19:00.001-06:00

I told myself I wouldn't. I promised even. But I couldn't resist. And I am weak.

Now, I'm also disgusted. Which I knew I would be. Sigh...

So I recently received my end-of-year statement for my 401k. I knew it would be bad. I knew it. So I decided not to look.

But I did it anyway. I did the stupid thing of actually looking at my 401k statement this morning. That was a mistake. Now it has me thinking. And very few good things come of me thinking.

The downturn in the graphic represents a 30% drop from its high point last year. I realize this is not atypical of those in my position, but it's no less easy to look at. The graphic is actually slightly misrepresentative. The baseline value is not 0, as I didn't start my 401k in 2004. They're just showing the last few years. I started it ten years ago in my mid-twenties (like a good boy) and have been contributing up to the company matching amount every year since, doing what all the financial analysts said I should. I don't regret it. Mostly. And particularly not if things turn around, allowing me to reap huge dollar-cost-averaging-returns due to my continual dumping of cash into the downward spiral.

It hurts to think about it. But in the less than two months of 2009 alone, I have lost another 6% of my nest egg (bringing the total to 36%), and that 6% by itself almost equals my total contributions to the fund for 2007 and 2008 combined. Meaning the last two years of investment have been wiped out. Fun times.

Also, that 36% reduction in value nearly represents the sum of all of my contributions over the course of ten years (thank goodness for matching funds, profit sharing, stock splits, and the company requirement [at one time] to purchase corporate stock with 50% of the corporate match). Were it not for the corporate stock in my funds (ironically, considering the Enronian events of 2005), a great stabilizing force in my 401k, I might be nearly wiped-out today. This is not feeling any better to admit, in case you were wondering. But again, I realize this is not isolated to me, and that it is far worse for others. 20/20 hindsight might have had me shift 50-75% of my funds to bonds back in mid-2008 instead of only 10%. I treated my corporate shares as "bond-equivalent" which is why I only chose such a small amount. But I digress...

If I were a drinker, I'd wallow a bit in this via the bottle. But I am not, and so I shall blog-out-loud instead. I am, however, tipping my virtual glass in hopes that capitalism makes a comeback in the next decade or two, while I still have time to fathom an actual retirement.