Three years ago today Debbie and I got married in Burtonsville, Maryland by Father Bob Keffer. I had a great time and unlike a lot of supposedly painstakingly planned weddings, ours went without a hitch. A great time was had by all I believe because people are still telling us what a great time they had. It was indeed a great day.

I gave Debbie my present this morning - a frame with 5 openings in it that contained 5 photos of Lillian, ordered chronologically. Debbie gave me a pair of Diesel shoes that were on my birthday list.

For our anniversary dinner we headed to Fune, the Chinese run Japanese sushi place in Ocean. Thinking that the deluge of free appetizers from our last meal there might have been a fluke, we ordered a pretty large dinner - 6 pieces of California Roll, 6 pieces of tuna roll, 6 pieces of salmon roll, a spider roll and a shrimp tempura roll along with 2 miso soups. Before I could say ‘wasabi’ the free appetizers arrived - free salad with awesome spicy dressing, soba noodles, pickled vegetables, sweet potato noodles, sauteed mushroom and onion and salmon skin salad. For those of you keeping count, that’s 6(!) free dishes!

These appetizers you see here were all taken care of

Our rolls came next and they were awesome. Sadly we were both so full already that we only ate about half of them. The rest was enjoyed the next day.

I think I like this place.

Caroline wanted to stop by and see the kid and we thought it would be cool if we got some chicken or something and had a little picnic at Dorbrook Park. The two closest chicken joints are KFC and a seedy little place called Chicken Kitchen. Chicken Kitchen is similar to a place Debbie used to go to all the time called Chicken Corner. The interiors for both places are so similar that they could be interchangable.

I arrived home from work at about 6:20pm and Caroline and Phil arrived 5 minutes later. We checked out the menu and decided on a 12 piece family special which came with fries and a large macaroni salad - coupon required. We placed the order over the phone and then left 15 minutes later to pick it up. Debbie had me cut out the coupon before we left.

We arrived at Chicken Kitchen 5 minutes later and discovered that I had cut out the wrong coupon. We decided to play dumb and it worked - our big bag of greasy chicken and sides were safe and we were off to Dorbrook Park.

Everyone seemed to be concerned about impending rain. I was more concerned about the amount of daylight we would have left for an outdoor picnic. It was approachine 7:20pm now and sunset was fast approaching. We found a table within eyeshot of the Sprayground and next to the field hockey fields. Dinner was finished right before the sun set and we spent the remaining time screwing around on the swings and jungle gyms of the massive playground.

Before we parted ways Phil and Caroline gave us some of the Italian cookies they had brought for dessert. I took a couple of those giant sandwich cookies with the fruit filling.

Debbie, Jay and I went to 10:30am mass at the school gym today. We intended to take Lillian but she was way asleep when it was time to go and Kristin said that she would watch her if she woke up. Debbie was initially reluctant but she then relented.

Church was interesting because there was some kind of radio broadcast coming into the church and it was loud enough to be heard along with the priest and lectors.

When we got back Kristin was carrying Lillian and they were walking in from the backyard. Lillian looked like she was having fun and we later learned that she and Kristin had picked a purple flower and she much to all of our delights, she had learned the fine art of blowing raspberries with her tongue.

By this time I was starving and since we had to go Checker-less 2 nights before I went out and grabbed some Champ’s and a large Diet Coke for Kristin.

After lunch I zonked out on the double papasan while watching the Oriole’s game on tv. I think I fell asleep during the 2nd and woke up in the 5th. Debbie, Kristin, Lillian and I had then decided to hit H&M at Arundel Mills because we had to get some clothes for the newly borm AJ Uhrig. Kristin went to grab some stuff from the information booth. Debbie and I stopped into the Gap outlet on our way to H&M and found some great stuff for kids. The place was a madhouse however so we decided to hit the H&M first and then come back. At H&M we grabbed a couple of items and then headed back to H&M where each of us bought a separate item, taking advantage of a 30% off one item coupon.

We had planned to hit a barbecue place Kristin had found called Andy nelson’s BBQ but they were closed on Sundays so I suggested Red, Hot & Blue. I was going to get some ribs one way or the other. We called David and met at the Laurel Red, Hot & Blue at about 6:00pm.

We were seated promptly at Red Hot & Blue and ordered the requisite onion loaf and drinks. Kristin was cold so I went back to the car and got her a Ben Sherman jacket and my XL Red Cross t-shirt. Then we ordered. Usually I grab a half slab of dry ribs but I felt like some variety and got the Delta Double - ribs and pulled pork. debbie got the grilled chicken sandwich, Jay got the jumbo pulled pork sandwich, David got a smoked sausage sandwich and Kristin got catfish and shrimp. Awesome.

After heading back we gave Lillian a bath and packed up the million thingswe had. Jay was doing some packing and sorting through a bunch of junk he had collected over the years. One of these items was a s’more snowman candle that Debbie gave him for Christmas a long time ago. Jay decided the best thing to do with this was to light it up and then toast marshmallows on it. It was brilliant - although the heat was a bit concentrated and I ended up with a few firemallows, it worked pretty well.

We left a shade before 9:00pm and got back after midnight.

Debbie and I woke up about 6:30am or so when we heard Lillian rustling around in her Pack n Play. I changed her and Debbie fed her. Then she went down for another hour or so. I tried to go back to sleep and I couldn’t so I started messing around on the laptop. Later at around 9:30am we went for a walk around Krisitn’s neighborhood and we walked through park behind Kristin’s house that I didn’t know existed. It contained of several baseball diamonds, a snack bar, baseketball courts, tennis courts and a tennis/handball wall. Sadly much of it was in a dilapidated state - due to lack of funds for maintenance I guess. It was at one time a once glorious park.

We decided to hit Anne’s Dari-Creme for lunch while Kristin baked pies and banana bread. We got a whole cheesesteak for Jay, a whole double dog with everything for me, a half cheesesteak for Debbie and half for Kristin. Also in the mix were fries and shakes. Very healthy and nutritional.

We leaving for Bengies at about 5:30pm I think.

Actually it was more like 5:34pm when we left. Mr. and Mrs. Mihalcik were coming back from New Orleans after a slight delay and Kristin was going to pick them up from BWI while we gave Lillian her bath. We didn’t want to leave without saying hello to them so we did. I showed Mr. Mihalcik the Hample Glove Trick before leaving.

We got to Bengies a shade after 6:00pm and found D changing some lights right by the ‘Bengies’ side of the snack bar. After talking to him for a bit we went inside and I discussed some website/mailinglist/domain name busines with Wes. When we were finished D ordered me up a chicken tender pizza with extra cheese. While I was waiting I also grabbed a medium popcorn and sodas and went back later for Twizzlers (which are still in my car) and a strawberry ice cream bar.

The newly pregnant Ilana and Doug arrived and we both stayed for the Tazmanian Devil WB cartoon and ‘Valiant’ which I liked better because it was about WWII carrier pigeons rather than just some random animated pigeons like I thought it would be. The rain held off for the first 15 minutes or so but the drops became bigger and we were forced inside the car for the rest of the show. At about 10:30pm after intermission we fired up the car and left.

Jay was still home when we got back and I gave him the remainder of the pizza.

Finally, the day I had been waiting for was here. A month or so ago Jay had mentioned that he had received tickets to the August 26th game vs the Oakland A’s. It will probably be his last Orioles game before he leaves for Monterey so we decided to go with him. I bought a couple tickets for Debbie, Lillian and I and I made sure they were undercover just in case the sun was out that day.

Robert and I had made plans to go super early so we could attend Batting Practice. I found out that season ticketholders get into the main seating bowl 30 minutes earlier than regular ticket holders, and Jay’s tickets were bought from a season ticket holder so I borrowed them from him. The plan was for Robert to drive me to the game and then Debbie and Jay would take my car when he got home from work - that way Lillian would have the car seat to ride in.

Rob and I left the house excitedly at about 4:30pm and we made extra sure that we had both our tickets and parking pass. Everything was set - everything was perfect. We hit Camden Yards at about 4:50pm and walked over to Pratt Street to pick up some sodas and peanuts from the vendors. I was feeling great. Then the call came - Robert’s phone rang. It was Debbie asking the dreaded question of the day. “Did Ming take his car keys with him?” Holy Crap - I felt in my left pocket and there they were. Without my car keys Debbie couldn’t drive my car to the game and since no one else had a car seat base Lillian wouldn’t be able to come. I slowly started to panic quietly and started walking down the street and I no-so-confidently told Robert that I would figure something out. We couldn’t go back because we wouldn’t be able to leave the pre-paid lot we were parked at and re-enter. Plus I didn’t want to miss those extra 30 minutes we were going to be getting with the season ticket we had. Kristin suggested I take the Lightrail but since I had zero command of the Lightrail system I didn’t feel confident about it. Our options were beginning to run dry. A solution then appeared. Maybe Jay could leave work early, drive down to Camden Yards, park really quick and then I could hand him the keys through the fence gates at Eutaw street. It sounded like a huge longshot but I had to try. I dialed up Jay and was greeted with a recorded message saying, “The number you have called is busy - please try again.” Sh*t!! I tried again… and again.. and again with the same results. The second I hung up from that call I heard Rob on his phone greeting Jay. It turns out that I had his old work number. I talked to Jay and explained the situation. He thought for a bit and then said that he could be at Camden Yards at about 6:45pm. Instead of the ‘keys through the fence” idea he suggested that I buy a $5 student ticket so I could leave the stadium, give him my keys from Russell Street and then reenter. It was brilliant. Rob and I walked back to the ticket windows, got the $5 ticket and then went to go stand in line at Gate A.

Gate A opened at exactly 5:35pm and Rob and I went in. We headed to the entrace right next to the flag court and were held up by a season ticket holder whining about people being out in left field already. That held us up for a good two minutes. When we finally were able to go in I went down near the dugout for a bit and asked for a ball from Jay Gibbons who was fielding throws at first. No luck. Then Rob and I stood down the 3rd base foul line and waited for balls. I asked Tom Trebelhorn who was shagging flies in left for a ball. No luck either. Seconds later the guy 10 feet in front of me got a foul ball. Crap. Zack Hample makes it sound so easy and my respect for him went up one hundred fold. Rob stayed at the line while I moved to left and waited for the Orioles to rip something into left. No luck. I was starting to get discouraged. Then the A’s took the field for batting practice. A bunch of balls were ripped into left but I was not positioned correctly and didn’t come close to many of them. I started walking back to Rob down the line when I noticed a ball sitting 7 feet from the wall on the warning track. It was time to try out the glove trick.

I walked down seat by seat until I was positioned right across from the ball. I tied the rope to my glove and threw it out onto the warning track 6 inches short. I reeled it back in and threw it out again and knocked the ball back in perfectly. This was my chance. It was right about now I heard the little kids around me saying stuff like, “hey that guy has a rope tied to his glove!” and “wow that guy’s so smart!” It took me way too long to snag this ball because the slope of the track made the ball roll against the padding of the wall. I was able to knock it back out a few inches and 5 minutes later the glove enveloped the ball and I had it!

10 minutes later another ball rolled to the track. I made my way over and asked a big guy above it if I could take a shot at it. He said nothing so I assumed that he was pissed at me or something. I whipped out my glove, lowered it and 30 seconds later I had it. The big guy who I thought was surly gave me a compliment and the guy next to HIM looked at me and said, “How did you DO that?” and I showed him.

There were two more balls on the edge of the grass at the track and they wantd me to try and get them. I didn’t think I could whip my glove out THAT far so I didn’t try for them. I’m going to start practicing however. Another ball rolled over and got stuck really good under the padding but I wanted to make a try for it anyway. I tried for 3 minutes with zero luck - this ball was super-stuck. I saw another, more accessible ball to my right and went over to try but by the time I got there that ball was gone and so was the one I was trying to get before.

I packed up stuff because it was getting close to 6:45pm but another ball rolled to the wall. I was ill prepapared and set up too slow. By the time I lowered my glove to get that ball an Athletic’s pitcher had picked it up and tossed it to the guy next to me. He apologized but I told him it was no problem - he got it fair and square and I already had two balls for the day.

It was at this time that two ushers approached me and I thought I was busted. They were going to kick my ass out I thought or at the very least leave me with a very stern warning about throwing objects on the field. The usher informed me that I had been seen throwing stuff on the field and that they didn’t allow objects on the field. I showed him my setup - glove, rubber band, sharpie and rope. I asked if any of this stuff was illegal in the park. He said that they didn’t allow any ‘netting-like’ objects on the field and I asked him if rope counted as netting. “I guess so”, he said. “I’ll have to ask my supervisor.” I was directed to the guy next to him and he asked me what I was up to. I explained the glove trick to him to which he replied, “It’s allright with me I guess, you can go ahead and try but it’ll never work!” I told him that it had already worked and that I had gotten two balls with it already. He replied with a , “man I wish I would have thought of that.” and left. I was in the clear and sort of authorized to keep going. The cleverness of the trick won out. Thanks Zack.

I left the stadium at Gate E after getting a warning from the policeman that if I left I wouldn’t be able to get back in without a ticket. No problem. I walked down Russell Street quickly and as Jay came by Lee Street I tossed my keys into his open window. The package had been delivered and I headed back to the stadium.

Inside the stadium I rung up Robert and asked if he wanted any Boogs. Pork sandwich please. I walked down Eutaw and down to Boogs. The line was HUGE! I worried about missing the first pitch even though it was only 7:10pm. I got into line and started waiting…

…until a Boogs employee informed me that the line I was in was for autographs only. The food line was to my right and and it empty! I went down, placed my order and had it a minute later.

I met Rob at section 39 with the food. The Kristin seats were amazing! Behind home plate, right under the press box and just high enough to see everything. It was beautiful.

Debbie, Lillian and Jay arrived at about 8:15pm. I felt bad for making them late to the game but it turns out that Jay had to make a cheese dog before they left. The seats next to the ones Rob and I were in were empty and the ticketholders were clearly not showing up that night so Jay and Debbie sat down. A minute later an usher came by and asked to see their tickets. Rob and I whipped out our tickets and hoped that he wouldn’t check for the other two but no luck - Debbie and I left. We went over to see Ari and her boyfriend Tom 6 sections over and ended up sitting above them for the next 5 innings.

Lillian was good for the game and Debbie decided to was a good idea for her to leave during the 7th inning stretch. I walked them to Fan assistance to get our checked stroller and then I walked them to Eutaw street. When I came back I sat next to Robert and Jay and watched the Orioles lose 4-1.

On the trip down last night I heard that there was going to be a blood drive at the Warehouse and that Jay Gibbons would be showing up. This was great because I had been wanting to give blood for a long time now and where better to do it at Camden Yards. Not only would I be saving lives but I would be able to scout out the park for tonight’s batting practice.

I checked on the Internet for the details. The blood drive was going to take place from 7am-3pm and everyone who participated would receive 2 tickets to the Devil Rays game on Sept. 17th. That would have been an extra bonus for me except that Mike has tickets for the Mets that day. I hope maybe Kristin or Robert can use them.

I made a call to 1-800-GIVE LIFE and scheduled an 11:15am appointment. In the meantime I thought it would be a good idea to eat something so I made some oatmeal, bananas and green tea.

I left for Camden Yards at about 10:50am and made it to Lot A 20 minutes later. I followed the Bloodmobile signs under the Warehouse tunnel to the front, went past the restaurant and into the door maked ‘Camden Yards Offices.’ The receptionist greeted me and I told him I was there to give blood. He told me to go to the 4th floor.

On the 4th floor I was greeted by a man and an old lady who had me read a sign, then an entire booklet the blood donation parameters. Have I ever lived in Europe for more than 5 years, have I gottan a piercing or tatoo in the last 12 months, have I ever exchanged sex for money, have I ever used a needle for drugs or steroids or anything not perscribed by a doctor. I am happy to report that I can say no to all of those. Then I signed in and after signing in I was given a pair of those free Devil Rays tickets. Section 310. I was then diredted into the main donation room where about 6 people were currently giving. I went past them and checked out the free snack setup. Sodas, Famous Amos cookies and Utz pretzels. No bad.

I sat down and was then called by a Red Cross employee into a makeshift confidential booth. She took my personal info, blood pressure, and poked my middle finger to get a drop of blood to test. Then I had to answer a 30 or so question sheet with the same questions from the folder. Sex for money? No. Sex with another man? No. Drugs? I don’t do drugs. No tats or piercings.

She left to go grab something and I noticed that we were in the Oioles Advocated charity office and there was a ton of memorabilia on the walls. Baseballs in plexiglass wall cubes and bat displays. I took a look at the bats and noticed one from Brooks Robinson and a bunch of other former O’s.

I was then directed to a lounge-like chair where I was to give blood. I noticed the guy next to me was sporting a cold cloth on his head meaning that he had passed out already. As I sat down he passed out again to the delight of the Red Cross who rushed over and leaned him back.

I was swabbed with iodine for 30 seconds and then the big, long needle went in. Apparently the blood wasn’t flowing so they started moving the needed in and side to side while it was still in my vein. No luck. I think the whole moving needle thing got to me a bit because I started to fade. I saw a few stars and started sweating a bit. They took the needle out and asked if they could stick my other arm. No problem - but could I get a soda? A Coke with a circus straw was brought over to me.

My other arm was stuck and after a miniute of no luck some decent blood flow started. Then stopped. The needed was adjusted and all was ok. Then it stopped again. I was asked to uncross my legs - success! But only for a second. As a last ditch the nurse put pressure below the point of insertion to sort of force the blood into the tube and playfully complained that she had to babysit me. After about 10 minutes the flow had completely stopped and they gave up. Oh well.

I was thanked and then headed for the snacks. Another Coke plus some cookies and pretzels. I sat at a table near a Red Cross volunteer who was a huge O’s fan and two women and talked baseball with them. Then I left and headed to the team store in search of stickers. The Tejada and Roberts All-star jerseys I had gotten off eBay were there still and selling at a not so brisk-to-move-price of $149.00. No luck on the stickers which I wanted to put on Lillian’s helmet for the game.

Debbie and I packed up Lillian and her million items and we drove down to Kristin’s. Debbie had dinner ready when I got home from work and we hit the road at about 8:10pm. I called Jay at about 10:45pm and they had just finished Robert and Kristin’s birthday dinner at Matsuri and were heading back.

Robert is down in Point Pleasant at a beach house and he and his friends were stopping in Red Bank on their way to the city. He IM-ed me at around 2:00pm or so and I told him that when he got here to just park in our office lot so they wouldn’t have to pay. He was going to call when he got close but he and his friends just came up to the door instead. He introduced me to his three friends (I’m so bad with names - Stephanie, Carrie and Emily?) and we took a walk down Broad Street, hitting Funk and Standard and then spending some time in the store. While we were at the store a guy who was traveling cross country on a motorcycle was snapping photos of him and his inflatable red couch at his stops and he took my photo out in front of the store.

I had a pie in the sky idea today of maybe going to Citizen’s Bank Park for the 1:35pm Nationals vs. Phillies game today. There were three factors to consider however. First, since Ashburn Alley opened at 10:35am I would have ideally like to have left the house at 9:00am which meant going to 7:00am mass. That got blown when Debbie and I got up at 8:30am.

Secondly, I checked as many photos of Citizen’s Bank Park and the only seats that had any kind of shade were in the Hall of Fame Club and I couldn’t find any on sale.

Lastly, tickets were about $35.00. Factor in the $10 service charge and $10 parking and that equaled a bunch of money.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t hit Wrigley all those years ago.

I came up with an alternative however. It’s been over 2 years since we’ve been to a minir league game and in some respects they’re even more fun than major league games. There are no egos involved, no overpriced, multi-million dollar ballplayers and the accompanying overpriced food to pay for those overpriced players. The name of the game at minor league games is fun.

I ordered a pair of tickets over the phone and asked what time the gates opened for the 5:05pm ballgame. 3:30pm they said. I was hoping to catch batting practice and maybe get a couple of balls. Then I told Debbie that we’d be leaving at 3pm. It wasn’t until then that I actually told them where we were going.

We left almost exactly at 3pm and got to FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood about 30 minutes later. Event parking was a very, very reasonable $1 and that included a free coupon for a Coke Zero at the concession stand. We parked near the stadium and I walked to get the tickets from the Will Call window. Then we headed in. It was EMS night at the ballpark and the first 2000 fans received free First Aid kits. Inside the zippered pouch was a bunch of band-aids, Anacin and instructions on what to do in certain situations.

Debbie and Lillian grabbed some random seats in the shade while I went to look for our actual seats. It turned out that Debbie was sitting very near them and for the moment, they were in the shade. Then I took off to wander the ballpark, picking up my free Coke Zero and a bottle of water for Debbie. A bunch of Delmarva pitchers and fielders started warming up in left field so I went over there. A random ball got chucked and rolled to the wall beneath me. The Lakewood bat boy was running past and I asked him if I could have it. He replied, “That’s their ball, I don’t know” and ran off. A bit later #14 Carlos Perez tosses a ball at the ball I was waiting for hoping to plunk it marbles style but missed. I asked him if I could have it and he tossed me the newer one he had in his hand. On the ball was a nice Minor League Baseball logo with a batter on a starry background and stamped with a ‘Official South Atlantic League Ball’ stamp. Cool.

Right before the game started Debbie decided to take Lillian back to the car and feed her. I started keeping score and kept a mitt on my left hand just in case a ball came by. I also noticed two things: one - the sun was slowly creeping over us which was bad for Lillian’s delicate skin. Two - I saw a lot of kids in strollers. I didn’t know if they allowed them in but now I knew they did. I called Debbie to let her know and she brought Lillian back in a stoller. Because of the sun we moved from the third base side over to the first base side behind the Shorebirds’ dugout. I tried to keep score when I could and held Lillian for a few innings. In the 4th or so it was time for food so I wandered over to the ‘Extreme BBQ’ down by right field and got a pulled pork sandwich. Not bad for $5.00. I also got Debbie a cherry italian ice and later she got some chicken fingers.

The game ended up being a blowout - the Shorebird’s won 12-0 and ended up with a whopping 18 hits. The game ended at about 8pm. Leaving the ballpark was a snap.

An open invitation to anyone who reads this. Debbie, Lillian and I will be down on 8/24-8/27 and we’re heading to Bengies on Saturday 8/26. Please come along and join us - if you can meet us before somehow I can probably score you a free pass.

Probably features are most likley holdovers from this week which are: Valiant, Sky High and The Dukes of Hazzard.

D has also promised me a chicken finger pizza with extra cheese.