Category Archives: Padres

May 4th – cat drama and night out with 15


This will have to be quick as I am fading fast.

The day started at the vet with Chip the peeing cat. As the vet examined him and started rattling off the list of test she wanted to run (and I saw my savings account draining as she spoke), she had the stethoscope on him and announced “Oh, so he has a heart murmur?!” WTF? No! Um…no? At that point even though my head was already filled with talk of replacing both litter boxes (they get put off by the accumulation of odors over time), adding another one (there should be two per cat IF you have room), buying all new litter (switching back to his all time favorite Fresh Step), talking to the boys about ways we can eliminate stressors in his mind (access to all rooms and keeping the vacuum in the closet when not in use – last thing he peed on inappropriately was that) and a host of other things like new food, brushing their teeth every night, giving him pain meds and possibly even anti-anxiety meds (a cat? Lord!)…….NOW she thinks he needs to see a kitty-cardiologist??!!!

Oh hells no.

I left him for the urine and kidney lab work and told them to give me an estimate for a later date on the heart work. Then I posted about it all on facebook and Thank GAWD my sweet kitty mama friends assured me that a heart murmur is something cats can live with. Three of them had kitties who lived into old age with the condition without any treatment. So, now I don’t feel so bad about telling the vet that I would be putting that off – make a note in chart if he ever needs any kind of surgery, but no thanks on the $1,000 worth of cardio testing. Yes. $1,000. For TESTS.

Love ya Chip, but no. Not now. All I want you to do is go back to peeing in litter boxes. There are now three bright shiny new ones in the house. All easily accessible to them any time of the day or night. I also got some Feliway to treat the areas where he did pee over the last week to hopefully deter him from using those spots again.

The most likely scenario (after his kidney extra came back clear of stones thank heavens – cultures wont be back until Monday) is that he was constipated over the holidays which put pressure on his bladder and made it either hard to urinate or else hurt and then most likely to sort of go without warning. So he associated pain with the main litter box, couldn’t always access the back up (in 15′s room and he shuts the door) and then once he peed on the floor he just kept re-using those spots.

So the theory is that new litter boxes, more of them, and fresh litter in his prefered brand should get him back on track since he should have no current issues that we could find.

Or, as I put to him today when we got home “See Chip? While you were out, we totally remodeled your bathrooms for you and even installed a whole new one! You are so spoiled :) “

Thankfully the day ended of a much brighter note. 15 and I went to our first Padres game of the year. It was awesome. We talked about everything EXCEPT schoolwork, and laughed our asses off at our mutual inability to read the Interesting Facts displayed on the BIG scoreboard for each player – OK, not *total* inability – just that we both had to squint like hell and alternate dominant eyes in use in order to make out what was up there! The Padres fell behind FAST in the 1st but then rallied back and the game was tied when we left in the 7th. We have both been in bed by 9:30 all week and after stupidly straining our eyes as we did with our nonsense, we were getting sleepy headaches. Even if the Padres manage to lose the game, it was at least a lot of fun watching them rally back and getting to know the new players one stat and Interesting Fact at a time :)

Today was blue like yesterday though more midnight/navy Padres blue – here we are with our game faces on before the 1st pitch. Sitting up HIGH in the cheap seats tonight:

This and that and a little Adam Lambert


What? You thought I could go two posts without saying the “A” word? Well, it’s not my fault!

Remember my kid who got all tied up in knots when I was hyper-ventillating every Tuesday night? The one who called me ‘obsessed’ and rolled his eyes and groaned and moaned and yelled in protest ” NO NO NO NO NO” when I downloaded Mad World as my ring tone? Yes, that kid. Well, that little turd has now taken to *requesting* the Adam CD that I made from all of the itunes downloads when we are in the car. And..get this…SINGING ALONG!! He walks around the house singing Black or White and Born to Be Wild. Seems I wore him down.

Then there’s the third generation in the family. My mom was so curious after reading all my posts that she finally made sure to watch the last week and found herself bitten with the Lambert bug. Apparently she quite enjoyed my last post with all the links to awesome Adam sites. Particularly the one with all the videos. Only, seeing as how she is not quite as internet savvy as some of us youngsters, she was having a little trouble surfing to the site and called me this morning to get a quick tutorial on getting there and picking which video to play. Why was she doing that? Why, to show her visiting from out of town girlfriend of course! Because what would two young at heart 70 something gals be doing together but huddling around the computer to watch videos of the latest/hotest young stud singer!!

So don’t blame me for all the AL posts. I’ve got multiple generations demanding it :-)

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So you know how I was going to ‘relax’ yesterday after the walk? My plan after throwing in the laundry was to turn on the Padres game and doze off peacefully to the sounds of a ballgame (my favorite thing to do on a Sunday summer afternoon). Well, the best laid plans and all that…as I finished watering the backyard just before my planned nap, I get a call from MusicMan with the offer of free tickets to go to the game in question courtesy of one of his friends. Apparently this guy’s employer has season tickets which he gives away to customers/clients etc but that als occasionally end up with the employees. 6 seats. Right. Behind.Home.Plate.

Tony Gwynn Jr in the on deck circle

Tony Gwynn Jr in the on deck circle

Little T at bat. Yes, we were this close!

Little T at bat. Yes, we were this close!

Home run leader Adrian Gonzalez.

Home run leader Adrian Gonzalez.

We got there late and wished for extra innings so that we could enjoy as much time as possible in those seats. Team down 6-1 in bottom of the 9th and it wasn’t looking good. Then they hit. And hit. And hit. and suddenly it’s 6-3 with one out and the tying run at the plate and what does he (pinch hitter David Exckstein) do? Swats the first pitch into the Western Metal building balcony for a 3 run home run to tie the game! We went NUTS. We had our extra innings! So, we stayed through the 13th, then finally had to give up and head home. Where we watched another 5 innings on TV until they finally ran out of pitchers quite literally and had to put the backup shortstop in to pitch. Hey, hegot two outs! But, then he gave up a 3 run home run an the Padres lost 9-6 in 18 innings. What a game!

Loudest nap I ever enjoyed :-)

Hello..hello..hello……..?


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I tell ya, if not for blog stats showing me that more peeps than ever are clicking in, over the past month or so I would think that I am largely talking to myself :-)

Now, I could start stomping my feet throwing a hissy fit and such and order you all to “COMMENT dammit!” but that would not be very accomodating. Plus, it would also be hypocritical ’cause I don’t comment very much around town either. And while I write in here mostly to get stuff outta my head and not really for attention..well…a little comment love now and then does not hurt. But you gotta give to get and I realize that I truly need to cut down on the items in my Google Reader. I skim way too much which is just not fair to some really wonderful friends. So this weekend I shall be marginally brutal and cut out some Reader items and also vow to drop at least a comment a day around bloggy land – heck maybe even 2 or 3!

So, here’s a few questions to spark some conversation (hey, if you are on WordPress, have you noticed that we can Reply to specific comments now? Totally cool)

Are you watching American Idol? If so, dare I ask what you think of Adam? I’ve been playing on another site where they discuss Idol and I am floored a bit by the Adam hate and blase opinions about him. I keep joking that you might as well call me Paula because I absolutely melt when he sings. I’ve bought all his Idol songs and listen to them at least once a day. Mad World and Tracks of My Tears are my favorites and I suspect that If I Can’t Have You will move up to the top. Yes, I do prefer his slower stuff as Simon predicted – that man is always right! I figured out this week why I love Adam so much though – he reminds me of Steve Perry. Same vocal range and same ability to get into a song inside out and pour his soul into it.

I described the last 5 contestants like this: 3 boring white guys who can sing, but otherwise are a dime a dozen (Danny, Kris, Matt with Kris as the best of that group), 1 gay glam rocker who is one of the best entertainers ever on the show (Adam) and one Latina teen rocker who is a firecracker of vocal ability (Allison). Can you tell I want it to come down to A vs A? What do you think of the Top Five?

Are you a sports fan at all? I love this time of year when baseball is getting started and hockey and basketball are in their playoffs. Tons of fun to watch. I’m rooting for the west coast hockey teams (Sharks & Ducks). I will root against the Lakers as long as Kobe is on the team so, I’ll root for the young MVP who has proved to be a stand up guy – Go Cavs! And of course, my baseball team is the Padres who are off to a rather miraculous start. We are going Saturday night with a group from work to get ourselves an old school 1969 jersey. The Padres are celebrating their 40th season all year with some really nice give aways.

Can you even believe I am going to work out with a personal trainer on Saturday?!! I go to an old friend’s 40th b-day party last weekend and end up with a damn trainer! Heads may have to roll ;-) It’s actually a group session and the trainer *assures* me she can handle a total work out wimp who should best be described as ‘couch potato’ at this point. Have you ever worked out with a trainer? Do you love it? Hate it? Why?  And will you give me mouth to mouth when I pass out? ;->>

Date night


Batting practice balls caught on Opening Day 2009

Batting practice balls caught on Opening Day 2009

The Good: Arriving early and watching both teams during batting practice. We sat in an area of right field called The Porch which is prime home run target area for left handed hitters. One of the balls was hit by Brian Giles and was actually a ground ball down the line, but a Padres pitcher retrieved it and tossed it up. Then about 5 minutes later Adrian Gonzales launched one that hit the empty seat behind us and bounced into Sports Boy’s hands. Nice! It was a blazing hot day and the game started at 4pm so after the Padres hitters were done we went up to our seats which still gave us a great view of everything, but were blissfully in the shade. The Opening Day ceremonies were full of pomp as always. It’s the 40th anniversary of the team so they trotted out stars from each decade to throw out the first pitch and had a huge marching band form the number 40 in the outfield. Meanwhile it was so ODD to see not one sign of #51 anywhere. Trevor Hoffman was THE current Mr Padre and not seeing his image or any highlights of him was so bizarre. I cannot wait until he retires so we can claim him as ours again.

The Bad: Well, the team that lost 99 games last year is off to a similar start :-( For the second opener in a row, they lost. Now, I will point out that since the team moved to Petco Park, they had won the first 3 openers – and the opponent was the Giants. Last year the Rockies took them down and this year it was the hated Dodgers.  So I recommend making sure the Giants are our opponents next year. Also, I *really* didn’t lile sharing the day with Dodger fans. I mean – ICK! There were too damn many of them. Not as many as I’ve seen in the past, but still..too many. We had four sitting right next to us and they had the audacity to boo all our 40th anniversary ceremony highlights and honorees. C’mon now! You come to out stadium and boo our history? Wrong wrong wrong. And also evidence as to why I normally refuse to attend Dodger games.

The Ugly: So we were sitting in the really nice section with in seat food service. And since we were in middle of the aisle seats making it kind of a pain to get up to go anywhere, I didn’t mind using the service. We ordered in the 4th inning. And waited. And waited. The people next to us who also ordered at the same time got up to chase down the server. Which resulted in them getting their food but ours was still missing. Finally in the middle of the 8th inning the guy comes back and asks “What did you order again?” UGH! Never mind!! At that point though we were hungry we also knew we could get out and get food somewhere else faster!!  They guy was nice as could be and very apologetic and gave us skittles and water but man..what a mess! Clearly the in seat service crew was NOT prepared for the sold out opener which is kinda stupid since EVERY opening night is like that! But hey, it gave us something to focus on while the team was losing :-)

Move 2008 – Week 28 and food for the baseball lover’s soul


A great week (finally!) when I met all my goals by Friday. Not only did I make it through an avg of 5-20 mins aerobic sessions, but I also increased my arm weight reps from 150 per routine to 180 during two of them.

After 2 hours of yard work mostly trimming way overgrown shrubs and filling two containers with debris, I decided to reward myself with a Padres game. Oh wait, first a photo of a flower on what is really a weed on the slope, but which is really quite pretty and I have no clue what it is! :

The yellow flowers bloomed at the top of an over 4 foot stalk growing at the top of the slope on the side yard. I took that picture from insied the wall of the flowers which are just on the other side, but have grown so high that they are visible over the top. If the stalk itself was not so gangly looking and kind of ugly, I’d be more inclined to let these grow! I still might…not really in the mood to climb to the top and pull stuff out!

MusicMan brought home some corn plants yesterday so we are brainstorming what to clear out so they can be planted.

Baseball – the motivation last night was the celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the 1998 National League Championship season. Given that was the year I made the final leap away from the Dodgers to the Padres (Piazza was traded away that year and he had been my main motivation for still keeping an eye on the Dodgers) I have a lot of memories of that season. 7/25/98 is when they first started playing Hells Bells for Trevor Hoffman as he came in to pitch. He had 51 saves that year (his uniform number!) and Greg Vaughn hit 50 home runs which the first time ever for a Padre player (not ever matched). The image of over 50,000 fans at Qualcomm stadium waving white towels was repeated over and over. Including the night that the Yankees completed their World Series sweep over the Padres. Except that the fans didn’t care. They stayed out there and waved those towels and cheered and cheered until the team came back out from the clubhouse (once the Yankees had gone into theirs to celebrate) and the fans of San Diego got to show their appreciation to the team one last time. Not one fan left and not one player stayed in the clubhouse. It was a big season not just for the team but also for the city as just a few weeks later the referendum passed to allow construction of a downtown ballpark – what would become Petco Park.

I was sitting behind the dugout and first base and had a wonderful view. I love how the current Padres are sitting at the top of the dugout to watch the ’98 players. There were plenty of tear producing moments, but having general manager Kevin Towers bring out the jersey of the late Ken Caminiti….

..well…

The other cool thing is that in the month of July hot dog and sodas are only $1!!! So I ate dinner for $3. The team lost as usual…oh well. It was still a nice evening.

This Week In Baseball


Ok, not this week really since I have done NO baseball updates at all this season. But, today was such a fun baseball day that I have to. First the LL team played, and lost, a 1-0 game. But, it was good because it was so well played that as a fan you had to enjoy it. A player who has not pitched in two years was forced into action due to injuries and he did so well! Plus, Sportsboy had one of his best days on defense playing 2nd base for all 6 innings and not letting anything get past him. He even threw out a runner at home. And broke up a double play by taking out a kid a lot bigger than him. Well, most kids are bigger than him, but still…football skills definitely showed up there!

Tonight we were treated to an outing at the Padres game by the LL manager in one of the Western Metal suites. All you can eat food and beverages and great seats out in left field. The kids who got there early were treated to some batting practice balls. All of us were treated to a fantastic and rare Padres victory. The team has been rather horrid so far this year making me not feel so bad about missing so many games with all the other things we do! This was only SB’s 2nd game and my 4th. We saw a little slice of history as Greg Maddux won his 350th career game and Trevor Hoffman saved his 530th. Two sure first ballot Half of Fame pitchers. It was a lot of fun. I really miss going to games like we could when we had the season tickets. It’s just such a fun outing to go to the games. Anyhow, a very good baseball day overall.

On a side note – congratulations to shermeister who recorded blog hit #19000 today!! Woohoo and thank you so much to my loyal readers. It’s always nice to know someone out there is reading this stuff :-)

This Week in Politics – quick book reviews


I’m stealing from my Goodreads reviews :-) Here is what I wrote in December after finishing Hillary Clinton’s Living History:

I am so glad I read this! For a non-fiction book, it almost reads like a fictional story. Hillary dose a great job describing the people and places in her life. Those eight years in the White House I think she traveled more than she was home. All her trips are well detailed as are her impressions of the countries and leaders who she meets. You can feel her pain during the Lewinsky affair as well as her struggles while trying to develop a health care plan during the first term. One thing is for sure – this is one strong lady who can certainly take on any opposition and be an effective leader. **Adding on now** This book also answered the question for me as to why Hillary stayed with Bill after everything. Is some of it politically motivated? I cannot shake that notion entirely, however, I really do get that these two are truly best friends. As she describes it in the book, when she and Bill met in college, they started a conversation that has never stopped. And I do believe that. I am sure that at the end of each day he *did* talk to her extensively about what was happening in the world and his role in determining outcomes and changes. I get that she view her particular handling of the First Lady position as something much more in depth than most and that it could easily be counted as training ground for the Presidency.  She played a very active role at home and especially in her constant travels as an ambassador/humanitarian.  However, did she write this book purely to share her side of things for historical purposes? No, I don’t think so. I am quite sure she had an eye to her own budding career in politics and knew that prospective voters would pick this up to get to know her. Yeah, my cynical side coming out. Doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a great read.

On to Barack Obama and his first book, Dreams of My Father:

The perfect way to get to know this soon to be Democratic Presidential nominee. Written well before he was in the national spotlight so the cynicist in me stresses that there were probably very little ulterior motives other than sharing his story about his struggle with his bi-racial identity. He comes across as so emotionally intelligent and thoughtful and able to look at himself honestly. He is also a beautiful writer. Very descriptive and able to convey emotions through his written words. Creative and imaginative, yet thoroughly rational and grounded. Wow, all of that wrapped up in a politician?! Well, since this was written in the early-mid 90s just after he graduated from law school, of course he has continued to grow and change I am sure. Some of that idealism may have worn off. But, I am not so sure about that. Either way, it was a very enjoyable read and an insightful look at one man’s struggle with race. **Adding on** I think reading this book while watching how he has handled his campaign really helps to explain his actions and reactions. Especially his speech in Philadelphia on race. It also made all those ‘elitist’ accusations flung at him look incredibly ridiculous. No way you can say that with a straight face if you read this book!  I was also reading this as the whole Wright mess was unfolding and it was interesting to read this tiny bit about his initial meeting with Wright and impressions of the church.  It certainly did not sound as if Wright had as much ‘influence’ over Obama as the media tried to portray. Of course, I still have not read book #2 which may reveal more on that topic.

Looking at the two books, and how we have seen both of their campaigns play out, their books really do give a pretty good background on them. While Hillary writes a lot about media and right-wing conspiracies and how much they hurt her, I still got the clear sense of the fighter in her so I am really not terribly surprised that she stooped to a lot of those tactics herself. It’s a shame as I feel it is tarnishing her long term image within the Democratic party, but not wholly unexpected. Meanwhile listening to all the things Obama has said this week after the all but decisive results from Tuesday’s primaries, and watching how he handled the dirt thrown at him, I clearly see the young man who wrote his book. He is standing back and giving Hillary her space and letting her have the opportunity to bow out gracefully on her own. Which I hope she does. I also kinda like the idea of her going for the Senate Majority Leader role. Harry Reid has been too passive. We need a fighter and Hillary sure as hell has proven herself to be one!

I’m taking a non fiction break and reading Harry Potter #2 and a John Grisham book before picking up The Audacity of Hope, but I am going to be bold and declare that I will have them all read by the end of June :-)

I’m over the cold just about. It lasted about 72 hours and then suddenly I felt better around dinnertime last night. After going through tissues like mad the last three days, I haven’t used a single one since I got to work today. Crazy. But, I am fine with that :-)

Opening Night 2008


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This is where I was at 5:45. Sitting in the sun watching batting practice.

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This is where Sportsboy was.

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Prepping the field for the opening ceremonies. View from our seats.100_0738.jpg

Traditional photo of Sportsboy with the scoreboard in the background on Opening Night.

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A kind usher volunteered to take this picture of us so I cannot complain about the quality :-)

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The usual festive explosion of streamers after the players are introduced.

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They honored all of the first responders who were there during the October fires and they were there to unfurl the traditional flag during the Star Spangled Banner. It’s so beautiful. Can you tell I took the picture during The Rockets Red Glare?

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National League Cy Young Award Winner for 2007 – Jake Peavy. Thanks to his shutout pitching and his two RBI’s at the plate, the Padres won 4-0 to start the year off with a victory over the Houston Astros. The only bummer was that it was not a save situation so our future Hall of Fame closer did not make an appearance. Otherwise we had a wonderful time – ended up moving out of these seats around the 4th to meet up some friends, then moved again in the 5th to say hi to the family who got us the tickets for the game and ended up staying with them the rest of the way. Yeah, it was a school night and we were both a little slow getting up this morning as a result, but it was worth it.

The ballpark was built downtown with the notion that it would spur development around and has it ever! It opened in 2004 and just 4 years later, the amount of building is tremendous. Every restaurant/club/bar we passed before the game was spilled over with fans. There are at least 3 times the number of places to eat there now. Condos are everywhere. I glanced around during the opening ceremonies and spotted people on balconies watching all around. If you visit San Diego during the season, you have to go to a game. It’s just so much fun!

/tourism ad :-)

Random Monday


For my friends who are Sex and the City Fans but who may also not have seen this yet. Made me squeal in anticipation!

**NEVERMIND!** The YouTube video has been taken down thanks to a copyright infringement complaint by New Line Cinemas. I guess I was lucky to see it while it was still alive :-> Movie comes out May 30th.

The no talking tactic was a success! My voice is back just in time for work. Now the cold is moving to my nose. So instead of being froggy, now I will be this guy:

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Charming eh?

A few worpress bloggers have been noting the new summary features on stats. Being the geek that I am, I always love those things but had somehow missed that I could summarize on the searches that brought people here. Now the bummer is that while the blog is over 2 years old, it has only been on wordpress since the late summer so the stats are not truly historic. Still, it is interesting to see that the #1 search *besides* some variation on trees flowers and birds is Obama’s Grandma. Given that my post on that was within the last 30 days, that is pretty impressive! Next behind that is “common yellowthroat” – I guess a lot of birders like that particular bird!

Countdown to Padres baseball: Spring training games start THIS WEEKEND!! Weee!! Of course, those are just on radio and I am not sure how much I can listen, BUT, the first telecast on channel 4 will be NEXT weekend! Can you tell that I am ready??