November 2006

I’m still somewhere over the moon over my beloved St. Louis Cardinals.  It’s such a complete surprise - not because I didn’t expect it from the team.  You gotta love the chances of a team with Albert Pujols, Jim Edmunds, Scott Rolen, Chris Carpenter, and MVP David Eckstein.  Especially when they’re coached by a baseball guru like Tony La Russa.

No, I’m totally surprised because of the year I’d been having - I never expected or hoped for anything good to come out of it…. I didn’t think it was capable of anything right or good.  It’s just been one of those One Damn… years - one damn thing after another.  My mom moved on to Heaven without asking me (guess she knew what my answer would have been, huh?), we had a few shake-ups and near melt-downs in our home businesses, we lost two pets, one was missing for nearly a week, my van decided running wasn’t in its best interest, the dryer thought that looked like a sweet idea and followed the van’s lead, then - of course - there are the crazy little things that happen on the norm. The type of things you come to expect when you have a large family.

Last night - after the pit bull incident - I figured it out.  Life has simply forgotten how to be reasonable!  And a quick look at the news lets me know that it isn’t just my life - it’s life in general.  So if any of us look around for or long for that thing called normal, we’ll be sorely disappointed.  We’d be twice as likely to find the Easter Bunny.

I’ve been reading an amazing book by Buzz Bissinger.  It’s called 3 Nights in August and it’s about the guru I mentioned earlier, Tony La Russa.  Kind of takes place inside his mind.  It’s a great, great book and I’d say so even if I didn’t bleed Cardinal red.

At one point, Coach La Russa is talking about his line-up.  Due to a torn hamstring, the Cardinal’s gold glove winning Fernando Vina was sidelined for months. The Cards had to call up a young man named Bo Hart.  He filled in and did his best - his “heart” made Hart a fan favorite.  But he wasn’t Vina….far from it.

At the time the book was written, the Cards had an upcoming series with their rival, the Chicago Cubs.  The Cubbies had a really strong team led by Sammy who was still at the top of his game.

La Russa knew that Vina’s absence in the line-up and on the field was going to hurt.  Hart had no shortage of heart and determination, but he did lack Vina’s talent and experience.

But, in one of the more telling paragraphs of the book, a lesson was given to all of us:

“….it’s another La Russa adage that you can’t dwell on what you don’t have and can take advantage of only what you do have, so Hart is starting and batting second.”

Spoken like a champion.

Joi

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After the final game, as the celebration was taking part on screen and in our living room, I realized something pretty cool.  After my dad passed away, his favorite team in the world (and one of his reasons for getting out of bed in the mornings!) the UK Wildcats won the championship the following season. 

My mom loved the Cardinal’s and knew baseball terminology inside and out - she knew all the players and had a good idea about their averages.  She also had a pretty healthy crush on Rolen.  And just like my dad, her beloved team won the very first season she was in Heaven.

And just like I did with my dad, I got to thinking, “What a shame she isn’t here to see it…”  - only to realize she had the best seat in the world. 

Has a website ever tortured your psyche by refusing to load properly? It’ll load halfway, then poop out before each and every image has fully loaded. Then you have to hit “refresh” and allow it a fresh new start. 9 times out of 10, that’s all it needed.  In fact, it’s been my experience that after the refresh it loads twice as fast.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve known days like that.  Days that are like a half-loaded webpage, you’re there but you aren’t all the way there…you’re thankful for what you have to work with, but can’t help but wonder what you’re missing!

Isn’t it a shame that our days don’t come with a giant Refresh Button?  Feeling run down, can’t muster up enough gumption to make a phone call (that sequence of words was dripping Kentuckian - if I’d thrown in a y’all you’d have heard the Bluegrass), can’t concentrate no matter how hard you try?  Hit the refresh button and nab a fresh start.  But, alas, we aren’t given that luxury —- or are we?

We actually have a magical Refresh Button, it just looks decidedly different that the one on the computer screen.  Our answer lies on the couch - literally.  It’s amazing what a little couch time will do for a body, spirit, and mind.  If you’re able to doze off and sleep for about 30 minutes, your benefits will be even sweeter.

When our girls were little, they’d of course get into arguments (”That’s MY Barbie!,” “Don’t look at me!,” “It’s my turn to help with supper!” etc…) - and when things got out of hand, I’d make the cute little culprit(s) take a time-out on the couch or in a big chair.  Inevitably, after about 10 minutes, I’d have different kids on my hands.  They’d remember themselves, calm down, and get up ready to start over.  I’d know when it was time to let them back up just by looking at their faces - a whole new calm would come over them.  

Same thing with us older kids - a calm will come over us if we put ourselves into “time out” when we’re out of sorts. 

…..Amazing, it just hit me - my girls honestly did fight over who’s turn it was to help make dinner.  Now it’d be as bizarre as Stephany running through the house with a Barbie in each hand, with Emily and Brittany on her heels screaming “They’re miiiiiiiine!!!!”

Either way, I wouldn’t recover from the shock.

Joi