Baseball (and I'll say softball) quotes

"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime."--Babe Ruth

"Any time you think you have the game conquered the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose." --Mike Schmidt

"This game is really crazy. Nobody can understand it, and there a lot of things that happen that you can't control." --Albert Pujols

"If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy, I hate to lose." --Derek Jeter

"You gotta have fun. Regardless of how you look at it, we're playing a game. It's a business, it's our job, but I don't think you can do well unless you're having fun." --Derek Jeter

"I am more valuable to my team hitting .330 than swinging for home runs." --Roberto Clemente

"Speed is a great asset; but it's greater when it's combined with quickness - and there's a big difference." --Ty Cobb

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." --Ted Williams

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." --Ted Williams

"Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off." --Bill Veeck

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." --Rogers Hornsby

An unfortunate record

Unfortunately I went about 40 hours straight without sleep this week. I know why and am not writing about it because it really doesn't matter. All that matters is that I am sleeping well now. Even making up for it, I think. That is one record I hope not to break.

I'm moved

I have been staying at my new place for over a week now. It is fully furnished, and I like it a lot. It's not organized yet, but it will be eventually. Needless to say, I'm happy with the move.

I'm moving!

I start moving tomorrow, as in June 2, 2009. I'm staying in my nice little city, just moving across town. Walking distance to work, and I will definitely walk to work on nice days. So, I'm stressed with the packing and moving and logistics, but it will all be fine. I'm mostly excited; I just need to breathe.

Cubs game #1 of 2009

Last Sunday, three friends and I went to Chicago for the Cubs game. They played Houston and unfortunately could not pull out a win, but we did get to see a couple of homeruns. We had bleacher seats - left center field, 10 rows up. It was a beautiful day, and I can't wait for the next time I will be at Wrigley...October 3, 2009!

Join the club

That is what I am going to say when I hear, "I am busy" or "Well, their busy" is used. Join the club. I'm not sure if people are assuming that I am not busy, but they clearly don't know me very well if that is the assumption. Or maybe they aren't busy people. I have heard that if you want something done you should give it to a busy person and it will get done. Generally it does. So maybe "I am busy" is just an excuse. If you can't handle the responsibilities you have taken on, admit it so the tasks can be redistributed. Not a big deal.

Allergies

I got allergies for the first time 2 years ago, so for 2 years I have dealt with them in the late summer and fall. Now I think I have developed spring allergies. Pollen, maybe? All I know is I feel much the same as I do in the fall, but this time my eyes burn and water, too. For the second time this week my eyes have really bothered me, so I bought some eye drops tonight that are supposed to help the symptoms. I'll try them tomorrow morning and see if it helps. I'm happy that I haven't had to deal with allergies for my whole life, but I could have held out, oh I don't know...forever...to get them.

Chase the dream

From the movie Miracle:

Lou Nanne: "Pretty lofty goal, Herb."
Herb Brooks: "Well, Lou, that's why I want to pursue it."

Dream big and go after it. That's how I want to live.

Expectations

It should be no surprise to most people that I have high expectations. At work. On the field or court. In life. I occasionally remind myself that not everyone sets the bar as high as I do. I don't always live up to the expectations. In fact, I have failed numerous times. But with failure has come the opportunity to learn and grow and try again. I will continue to set the bar high, knowing that disappointment may follow. But if I aim, I am going to aim high.

Rock and Worship Road Show

Last night a group of friends and acquaintances and I went to the Rock and Worship Road Show in Cedar Rapids. John Reuben, Tenth Avenue North, Hawk Nelson, Sanctus Real, and MercyMe put on a great show with the best message in the world. There was a seating section at the front on the main floor, and there was a standing section behind that. I was 2-4 rows back (We moved back a little as the evening went on.) in the standing section. Not bad at all. And when Hawk Nelson's lead singer came into the crowd, I was only a few feet from him. Very cool.

Busy and busier

Lately I have been coming home and spending the majority of my time working on things that need to be tackled. Some are projects or tasks that I have waited too long to start. Others are just housework items (which is not my favorite but never goes away). The next few weeks will be even busier. I will be coaching multiple days over the next few weeks and will participate and help coordinate an event for YPN. And then there is work and exercise. I already get up to go to a class at the Y 2 days per week, but I should get up each morning to run before work. (Ok, so 'each' is a stretch.) The Bix will be here before I know it, and I need to get some miles in. And if I tell myself I will run at night, I am fooling myself. I am too busy at night for that.

Note: I am not complaining. I love all the things I do. I'm hoping that writing all of this down will help clear my head.

Swamped

That's what I am.

Softball and healing

I got to pitch tonight!!! I didn't throw all out by any means, but I got to pitch to the 14U softball team I help coach so that they could have live bunting practice. I loved it!

And I am clearly on the mend since I pitched tonight. I led softball practice last Tuesday, which involved a lot of hitting on my part. And I got to play volleyball last night. I did alright. I was sore today, especially my thumb. But I will be fine. And I will continue to play. Because that is what I do. And I love it.

Therapy

Physical therapy that is. I am working on strengthening my left wrist. The goal is to have me playing volleyball again on March 23. My physical therapist thinks that is doable for my wrist, but he said the issue will be my right thumb. I haven't worn the brace on my right hand since Tuesday morning, but there are still motions my thumb doesn't like to do. I have seen improvement, though, which is encouraging.

Since I haven't been able to do push ups at my class at the Y for 2 weeks, I have done extra leg or core exercises while everyone else did push ups. At least I haven't lost strength there. But I'm not looking forward to having to work extra hard to regain some upper body strength. Looking forward to it or not, I will do it.

Injured

A week and a half ago, I subbed for my friend's volleyball team. I walked away injured...in two places. I was convinced to go to the doctor, so I finally went on Monday. I have a sprained right thumb, so I have to wear a spica brace and take ibuprofen until the pain goes away. I also injured my left wrist, which is the third injury to that wrist in the last 2 years. An MRI showed that I have a ganglion cyst (also the third in that wrist in my life) and minus ulnar variance. I read up on it before I agreed to a treatment plan. I will be doing physical therapy to strenghten that wrist.

I hate that I can't play sports right now, but I want to heal well so that I can hopefully avoid future injuries or other issues. And it's kind of a big deal for me not to rush back into playing. Maybe I am getting wiser with age...

Lack of writing

I clearly don't blog very often. I mean to; it just doesn't happen. I have plenty to say and stories that I want to write down so that I don't forget them. And then there are times that I am too fired up about something that the best decision is to not write anything, the times when it is just better to keep my mouth shut. Perhaps I will write more, sometime when I have less on my plate and more energy at the end of the day. In other words, don't hold your breath.

No fear because I fear a bad summary?

This quote was displayed at church a couple of weekends ago. I like it, and I most certainly don't want to have a sad life summary.

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life is: could have, might have, and should have."
-Louis E. Boone

Live life

“The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.”
– Elbert Hubbard

Perseverance

I stole this quote from Jody's blog because I like it. And I hope it spurs me on when I get tired.

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” (Newt Gingrich)

Done for today

I should have more to say, but I just want to unwind. It's time for me to relax and prepare myself for a better week. It will be better as far as I can control it.

Daily choice

My heart and mind are racing today, racing for the change I desire to see and with things that need to be done. I'm listening to church on the radio this morning (I went to church last night.), and these lyrics by Beth and Matt Redman are affecting me:

"You give and take away.
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
Lord blessed be Your name."

It's easy to think about those words, perhaps even easy to sing them. But I'm not so sure how easy it is to live it out on a regular basis. Or at least immediately in the pain of life. Choosing to say, "Lord blessed be Your name" isn't always the first thing on my mind or lips when things are hard. It should be. At the end of the day, God is always on His throne regardless of the circumstances in my life and regardless of whether I caused the circumstances in my life or if they are beyond my control. God is worthy and deserves for my heart to choose to say this. But I believe that it will be a daily battle. A battle I must choose to fight and win. So here I go heading into battle...