I'm sure I'm not the only one who's amused by the fact that this summer is on pace to be one of my absolute best ever. It doesnt match up on paper- the amount of "grunt work" I've put in, the hours, any number of less than ideal details of my circumstance. All I can tell you is that I havent been this energized, focused, driven, motivated, joyful, thankful, and filled with momentum in a long time.
Two nights back I started to attempt to recount everything that has been so good about the past week but I failed miserably. So instead of a chronological listing off of events, I'll try for my own sake to be a bit more general. For one, Leo found me a lefty glove and it's a pretty nice one. Ever since, I have been knocking down doors to get people to play catch with me. From experience over the past two days, I can tell you that playing catch in 99 degree weather (Tuesday)- or even 89 degree weather (yesterday)- feels more like playing soccer in 65 or 70 degrees. Or maybe it's just me. I do run around quite a bit at work, and I mean that literally... working or playing, it seems like half of the time I spend in motion I'm running. In fact, while I was playing catch with Grant (clubhouse attendant) yesterday on the field, the interns were sitting around talking about what an Intern Calendar would look like, and decided that my pose would be mid stride (running). Anyhow. I'm working my arm a good deal these days, and I'm feeling it. I seem to get a little overexcited every time I play, and there's always that one launch where I throw it just a bit too hard or a bit too far for my arm's current looseness. It throbs from the elbow up to the shoulder, mostly at those two points. Then it gets worse until about 30 minutes after I'm done playing. Falu told me I should go see the trainer.. and I'm thinking it's probably not a bad idea. Figure out some stretches at the very least.
I'm getting to know both Dom and Falu in particular better every day. It's a point of confidence for me to even just know that they're around for the latter half of my day most days, and I am realizing the value of positive interactions, how much energy I get from them, how they impact my mood significantly. These guys, as far as I've experienced them, are always good for some positive energy.. not trying to sound new age-ish. Jack, Michael, and Andy (not players) also tend to leave me feeling encouraged. Now that I'm consciously starting to realize this, I try to gravitate towards these people more and more as they build me up. The Christian connection with Dom and Falu is a key one though.
Yesterday was excellent. On top of playing catch and running around a lot, it was pure fun. We had put together World Cup Night and our promotions were themed around soccer. Highly entertaining night! Before the game we let kids on the field for a free dribble so I got to hang out and get really hot running around with little kids for 45 minutes. We all wore soccer jerseys and encouraged fans to come decked out as well. The between-innings games were a blast, serious entertainment.. we had a sumo show down where two girls got in the sumo suits, dribbled soccer balls around cones, then ran and threw themselves into human sized soft bowling pins while racing each other.. and they did it up, one of them laid the other out and then got owned by her opponent at the end after jumping into the pins. There was a diving contest to see which kid could do the best overdramatic fake fall. We slingshotted a soccer ball at a kid wearing goalie gloves out in left field. Oh it was just a great time. Raffles, launch-a-ball, etc. Vuvuzela sound effects :) ...and our group's latest thing is putting our hands in and on the count of 3 singing Blame It On The Rain. Yes, I love my life. That's how we ended the night last night once everything was broken down after the game. So all of this was extremely fun, but the thing that made it SPECIAL was that the Sidders took time out to come. Greg Sidder is the new pastor at my parents' church up in Maine- I wrote about visiting them when I was in CA- and they are in the process of a cross country trek from Temecula to Yarmouth (almost there guys!) ...... amazingly, they had enough time to spare last night and kind of on the spot decided to swing by Brockton as they were staying in Dedham that night anyhow. It was great for me to be able to share what I do with the Rox with them. They're fantastic people.
Michael Bowden is doing so well.
Today is my day off. This inevitably means that the Sox are out of town, and so I'm not going to Fenway. I am however going to Worcester to actually watch a full Rox game. I understand very much why no one else I work with would dream of going to a Rox game on their off-day, and I know that someday I too might want nothing to do with the team I'm working with at that point or baseball in general when I am allowed time off from it, but that's just not where I'm at. Grant in all his wisdom very recently insisted that whenever I am fortunate to have a day to myself, I find something to do that is far removed from the Rox. I'm really interested in the team though, especially as I meet more and more of the guys on it. I dont get to watch games, and on the two occasions where I've been afforded that luxury, I've still been working (running the scoreboard) so my attention was on the very basic technicalities of what was going on as opposed to being able to have the full experience of minor league baseball. Falu is comping me ticket and I'm good to go! First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm. Before that, I need to get myself to a bank, purchase a FAN, and get over this stomach ache. Today will be a great day. Baseball, and I'll get to use my camera. Why not, right? I miss spending time with my camera. Night games are tough but I can get there for warm ups while it's still light out. I got about 4 hours of sleep last night (up too late facebook chatting. not sure what in the world i was thinking.. and then automatically awake and alert at 6:15am) and I'm hoping i can improve on that tonight. Tomorrow I work with Leo and John among others... we're split staffing so half of us are working an event today (the team is away) and half of us are working tomorrow. Tomorrowwwww... is movie night put on by the Town of Brockton. Or is Brockton a city? I dont even know.
I had a less than restful time at home but I got to see a LOT of people who are entirely important to me, from my parents and Grandma to my best friends from both elementary school and high school respectively (and their families, who have had huge impacts on who I am today, no question). Got to see Robin, and spent time with JVP... and even went down to Camp Agawam where Pat is working and had lunch with him and some campers there. It was cool to run into his friend Brendan, who's from Belfast in Northern Ireland and who I had met last fall when Pat and I went over to travel Ireland. Pat is now sporting a Brockton Rox hat. So good to see him... we're both so busy this summer, I dont know the next time we'll have a chance to spend time together. Too bad neither of our schedules will allow us to hit the Glasgow Celtic vs Sporting Portugal at FENWAY this month. That would've been so sweet.
That's my non-recap. Every day is the perfect combination of routine and newness. Nothing is mundane (...ok, sweeping the mulch off of the walkways every morning isnt exactly my FAVORITE part of the day, I'll be honest).
...and, an accident just happened right outside my house. Gonna go check it out. Thanks for your prayers, I'm getting so much out of life.
PETEY COME BACK SOON :(
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