Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Spent a week's vacation in Phoenix going to Spring Training games.  There was a big storm in the mountains so had to take the 15 out of San Diego instead of the 8.  There was 4 inches of ice plus snow.  Saw the White Sox, Padres, Cubs, and Indians play the Royals, Reds, Rangers, and Giants.  So fun... the Red's manager Hatcher tossed me a ball (see below), and I gave it to Ally.  We met up with my mom, aunt, and uncle.  Also Frank and Thelma came down from Sedona for the Giants game.  This is Padres vs. Reds game.  Padres won 5 to 2.

A Red's manager tossed me this ball.  Ally later got George Foster's autograph on it.  The black mark is where Volquez, the Padres pitcher, hit the ball.

The foam finger lives!

Thelma, me, Ally, and Izzy (or who we call Basenana) at the Indians vs. Giants game.

We also toured Ally's college again and spent a day in Sedona.  So fun!

The new Explorer did great -- wouldn't you know it though... a rock hit the windshield and it's got a big spider and a crack... geesh!  Gonna have to be replaced.  And on top of that the water heater went out while we were gone.  Fortunately Amy was here, and my work brought in some peeps to replace it... to the tune of $1,200!  It was 25 years old and everything attached was either rusted out or a violation and had to be replaced.  Seems we can't catch a break lately.

Cars, Cars, and More Cars

Well, turns out Liberty Mutual did total the Civic.  The final straw was replacing the entire driver's seat due to air bag deployments.  So, we ended up purchasing this 2005 Chevy Malibu from a friend, mostly for the girls to drive.  We were able to pay for it without a loan, so we have one less car payment which is good.

We had a rental in the mean time while the Civic was in the shop.  And I tried to be nice and backed up to let a car through while stopped at a traffic light.  No one was behind of me, but as I backed up a lady pulled out of stopped traffic into my lane.  So I hit her, and it did a little damage, and of course she had a Mercedes.  Ugh, our insurance company is going to have fits.  However, this is my first accident in over 20 years, but with everything else, who knows?!