Catching Up

I've been meaning to post a new entry for a while now, but lately when I'm on the computer in the evenings I'm playing the overly addicting Civilization III. I've had it for a long time and I go through spurts where I play it constantly, then don't play it for months. I'd get Civ IV, but it takes a better graphics card than I have, turning the $50 game into a $125 investment. Maybe I'll check half.com or ebay and see if they have it cheap. I think that's the way I got Civ II.

Anyway, what's been up? Well, Saturday night was Ladies' Night at the PPT. We had 13 people playing (one guy's wife couldn't make it) and two tables, consolidating when 10 were left. It's darn tough to play against people who have no clue and would play anything (some people would lump me into that group!) but it was a lot of fun. I actually came in second, taking home $35. (Which was a great return on my $10. When you factor in paying for the wife as well, then not quite as good!) Caught some good cards including an ace-high flush.

Meron played pretty well too. She made the final table and actually wasn't put out--we got a call from the people doing Parents' Night Out at the church that Benjamin had been crying (for no apparent reason) for about 10 minutes straight. The kid hardly ever cries for any length of time, so she turned in her chips and she to get him. He was just ready for his mother, because he was fine after she got him and took him home.

Mother's Day went well also. Meron got a scrapbooking bag that she'd been wanting and the day off, as we went out for donuts for breakfast and pizza for dinner. We went out to see my mother and wound up looking through a lot of old photos. I'm not sure exactly how those came out, since I was playing wth Benjamin and his oversized Legos.

My fantasy team, after I posted an article saying I was starting a fire sale, has come on a little bit. I was 5 points out of last, now I'm five points out of third, though I'm still just tied for 7th (out of 9). I hope they'll continue to improve, but I'm still working some deals.

In real baseball, the Cardinals are starting to play some pretty good ball, though the series that starts tomorrow with the Mets will be a good indication of where they are at. They lead the NL Central by 1 game and have the third best record in baseball. Right now there is no doubt who the league MVP is. Mr. Pujols is up to 19 home runs, which is of course a record for this early in the season. He's been on fire, winning games with whatever is necessary. In fact, he almost tied up yesterday's game in the 9th, hitting it right to the wall. (Benjamin and I were watching that in our Pujols shirts. When he saw Pujols on the screen, he pointed to him excitedly, then pointed to the front of his shirt, the front of mine, and then the back of his. The kid is amazing, I tell ya!)

Then we have the whole Barry Bonds thing. It's been over a week since #713, and the baseball world is watching, though I'd have to say not breathlessly. In fact, if you took a poll, I bet 70% of people wouldn't be bothered if he retired today, one short of Ruth's total.

I'd be one of those. I love the history of the game, and even if it was someone else chasing 714, I'd probably have mixed feelings about it. I'd kinda like to see it broken, kinda not. But when you toss in the whole steroid issue, which, while not proven, is one of the few possibilities for such a late-career spike in numbers, and it puts me down on the "nay" side.

What really irks me, though, is when people say that everyone's out to get Bonds because he is black. I don't believe that at all. Barry has had years to build up some goodwill in the public, but instead has been arrogant, surly and an all-around jerk. So now he wants a little slack? It has nothing to do with the color of his skin, it has everything to do with his attitude.

On to other topics. I'm continuing to improve and I hope to someday this week take the Wiffle balls and bat out to the backyard and take some cuts. There's nothing like swinging a bat to make you feel good, unless it is my other motto: "Happiness is a pile of unread books."

We're planning our 50th anniversary at Wesley coming up next month. The church was founded in 1956 and we've invited back old pastors, members, etc. to worship with us and then have a picnic and talk about the old days. I'm looking forward to it. I've been there for about 28 of those years, so I hope to see some of those that I grew up knowing return.

Not much else I can think of, so I'll wrap up here. Have a great week!