Baseball at the Cove

Back in 1988 the Chicago White Sox built a stadium here in South Bend for their single A feeder baseball team. When the boys were little they loved to go to the Cove to watch the games and try to get autographs from the players. We'd get there early and they would hang around the fence behind the dugout with their baseballs and sharpie pens. After the game you could stay and the kids could run the bases.

When the boys got a little older they went to baseball camp there. For a small fee, and membership into Swoops Fan Club, they got to spend the mornings for one week each summer learning the game from the players themselves. This is where Ben first developed his love for baseball.

Last year Ben got his first job working at the Cove. He was the popcorn boy on the 3rd baseline concourse. Although it didn't pay much it was free admission into the home games and free popcorn refills for his buddies!

Well baseball at the Cove has come full circle. Who would have ever thought when Ben was just a little boy that someday he would be playing an actual game on that field. As starting 3rd baseman on the high school varsity team Ben took the field last week for a game. And as I watched him run those bases as a 17 year old I could still picture him running those same bases as a 7 year old. I felt many emotions but most of all I felt.......proud.



"And in today already walks tomorrow"

Prom 2008

Here is a picture of Ben from Prom night on Saturday.

Go ahead you can say it....I know you're thinking it....How HANDSOME is he?!?!? Very, thank you very much.

Here's one of Ben and his date with the whole group:





Amazing how a group of teenage boys can clean up! I guess they had a good time. Trying to get information out of my 17 year old son is just like pulling teeth. I ask the questions and he grunts the answers! Anyway, I do know that they had dinner at Houlihan's and that the prom was held downtown at the Century Center. Same location as my Junior and Senior proms oh so many years ago. Where has the time gone?

How I Survived Six Months of Winter

In a word....BARELY.

This is a picture of the view off my deck on New Year's Day. This is the type of winter I remember from my childhood. You know...fluffy white flakes, huge snowbanks to climb on, snowball fights and snow fort building. The type of winter we all dream of at Christmas time. Unfortunately, that's not the type of winter we have in northern Indiana.

Our winters begin in October and end sometime in April. And they are dreary. Grey, cloudy, wet, cold kind of dreary. And they last....for.....six.....months.

Now, it's no secret that I have been depressed since our move back to Indiana from Florida in 2006. But along about January this year I was so sad I couldn't take it anymore and decided to get help for this nagging glumness.

First up I went to see my general M.D. He listened to my complaints and prescribed Xanex. I got the prescription filled, went home, cut the pill in half, took it and promptly fell asleep. Now that's one way to get through six months of winter but not very practical for my life!

Next up I went to see a nutritionist. She listened to my complaints and prescribed a new diet. All organic and none of the good tasting stuff allowed. I bought the food for the diet and all the vitamins she suggested. Went home and tried to follow the plan. But honestly, how many of you eat prunes for a midday snack?!?!? A couple of hundred dollars and a week later I gave up the natural life and went back to my junk food existence.

Along about this time Mark got a letter from his Employee Assistance Program reminding him of the FREE services they offer. So I called the number and got an appointment with a counselor. She listened to my complaints and must have found the stories of my dysfunctional family entertaining because she had me come back the max amount of sessions....six. I kept going back because it was free and I kinda enjoying complaining to a total stranger. But in the end....I didn't feel any better. She referred me to a therapist.

My first appointment with my new therapist seemed promising. She listened to my complaints and my stories and actually had some good insights. After a couple of sessions she diagnosed me as having Seasonal Affective Disorder and recommended a light that I was suppose to buy and sit in front of 30 minutes a day. Off to the home medical store I went to purchase my light and got the sticker shock of my life. $200.00 for artificial sun!!! I can buy a plane ticket to Florida for that amount! I left the store empty handed and went home.

When Mark got home that night I told him the therapist recommended a trip to Florida. And so, in February I got a 5 day trip to Orlando and Walt Disney World. Instantly, the depression lifted. Now that's what I call good medicine!