Practicing Our Swing at the All Star Park Batting Cages

Hey there.  I'm not a huge baseball fan.  I just can't watch it and enjoy it on TV.  I don't mind playing it though.  Yesterday, my brother decided that he wanted to take my son to the batting cages.  Sure, why not?  The boy likes basketball and football but has not been exposed to much baseball so maybe this outing will spark an interest in the sport.  So I go pick up my brother and our cousin wanted to come along so the four of us are off the batting cages.

We went to the All Star Park batting cages in Bellflower.  Not a bad spot at all.  Being my first time there, I didn't know how much this would run me or what kind of equipment I needed.  We took some bats and batting gloves just in case.  When we asked the clerk how much, he said it was $35 for a full hour, unlimited pitches (11 at a time), free bat rental, and helmet rental.  And the best part was that we all could take turns and get as many pitches as we could get for that hour.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

I'm an awful hitter so I missed... and I missed a lot.  But that's alright because as the hour went on, my swing got better.  Not to mention my son's swing as well.  He doesn't have the upper body strength that we have so his swing was a little on the slow side as the hour went on, you could tell that fatigue was setting in.  However, when I asked him if he wanted to sit a round or two out, he refused.  We all told him that it's going to build some muscle on that small frame of his and that it showed good character to keep on swinging.  By the end, he definitely had a good time and asked if we could go back some time soon.  Awesome.

We left the cages saying how we all haven't been there in years, or never been there before at all.  This morning, my boy comes to me and says that his arms are sore.  lol  Mine are too.  I'm surprised that his hands are not aching a bit.  My palm and forearm are a little sore and I'm sure it's because I was using muscles I've never used before.

Perfect form!  Too bad I missed it!  

My cuz... he's been waiting 8 years for this moment.  lol

My brother the loser!  Swing and a miss!  hahahaha!  Where's the dingers you promised the boy?

My boy!  Taking a swing!  You can do it, boy!

Even though baseball is not the sport for me, it could be for my boy.  Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind going back to take some more swings.  If anything, it'll work out some of those muscles that I don't use and will better my hand eye coordination.  We all had a good time so I wouldn't mind heading back there with the same line up.  lol  Until then, later!

I Hate My Mailbox

ey there.  I hate my mailbox.  It's a crummy, old thing that is dangling from my door by a wire frame.  Don't believe me?  Look...

Not very attractive

Yup...  Held to the door by a metal wire

See.  I just don't like it.  I think it's lazy and a little on the hideous side.  I guess that doesn't speak very highly of me, huh.  lol  Anyways, I've been thinking of getting a new mailbox.  Maybe something a little more fancy, but definitely something a little more detached from the door.  lol  I've seen a few mailboxes that sit on posts that look pretty cool.  My only problem with that is that I don't have a fence and it would be pretty funny looking to see mailbox posts around the neighborhood and not have a fence nearby.

It's funny, actually, how you don't give it any thought when you buy a home.  You start thinking of changing some things around in your back yard, inside the house, and what not, but you never give your mailbox any thought.  I guess because it's just a box for mail and you figure that you'll give it a second thought at a later date.  But then that keeps getting pushed back because of many other projects around the house.  I know that I am definitely guilty of that. 

Next time you are driving by your neighborhood, take a look at the many styles of residential mailboxes that adorn your neighbors yards.  You'll be surprised at how many seem ignored by the owner.  I know I've ignored mine for far too long and I think it's time for an upgrade.  What do you think?  Is it worthwhile to have a mail box that suits the style of the family?  Later!

Blogger Still Not at 100% and Posts are Missing... Is Jason Behind this Firday the 13th Mayhem?

Hey there.  As many of you may have noticed... Blogger had been down for approx. 16 hours or so and it's still not 100% back up.  After checking the status of Blogger, I find out they had to "temporarily remove" posts that we posted after 7am Wednesday morning.  I noticed that something was wrong yesterday when I could not log in to leave comments on other blogs.  That's when I decided to log on my own to see if it was just select blogs that were having issues or if all blogs were having an issues.  When I couldn't log on because the "service was not available",  I was upset.

The first thing that came to mind was the whole PSN hack thing.  I wondered if there was an "unauthorized user" roaming the Blogger servers creating havoc.  I quickly dismissed that idea, though.  I don't think there would be anything to gain, other than being malicious and posting your own stuff.  Then I got a little upset.  I usually have scheduled posts lined up for Funny Fridays, but that's not gonna happen since I can't browse the internet today for Friday funnies.  Then it hit me...  IT'S FRIDAY THE 13TH!!!!  Is Jason behind all this Blogger mayhem???  Did he finally trade in that machete for an ultra fast Alienware laptop???  hahahaha!

"I'm done slashin' and started hackin'!" - Quote from Friday the 13th: Jason Infiltrates CampCrystalLake.com

Anyways, it looks like Blogger is back up and running but posts are still missing.  I guess it's better to be able to continue with the service but I really hope those missing posts come back soon.  I also began to wonder what happened to my give a way poll (PS3 game) and how many potential comments I may have lost.  Well...  as long I didn't lose ALL of my posts, I can't be too upset and it's not like it was down for almost a month before getting any material news on the service.  C'mon Blogger, get those posts back up!  Later!

A Happy Birthday and the Lakers Downfall

LAKERS GONNA WIN!!!  Oh wait...

Hey there.  The Lakers are out of the playoffs...  I think I can now talk about it without getting too upset.  This was the team that was favored to sweep the Mavs, if not win in 5 games.  What the hell happened?!?!?!  Now there's talks about them being too old, Kobe not being Kobe, Gasol having personal issues, Odom is too inconsistent, blah blah blah...  Listen, this is the same team that has gone to the finals for 3 straight years.  This team is still made up of pretty much the same guys.  So what the hell happened???  Don't know.  But just by looking at the team during the games, they just looked uninspired.  Kind of like they were saying, no worries, we'll win the next one, and pretty much just sleepwalked through the games and that kind of attitude bit them in the ass.  The great thing about the Lakers is that we measure the season's success by championships.  If we win the title, it was a successful season.  If we don't win the title, then the season was a bust.  It's really as simple as that and all Laker fans are spoiled by that mentality.  We expect to win and when we don't, all hell breaks loose.  I'm hoping that they'll be able to get their act together and make another run next season, but man... did we just stink it up against the Mavs...

Now, on to brighter days.  My birthday was yesterday!  The big 2-9!  lmao  I don't make a big deal out of my birthday, I never have, but the wife loves to make it a little festive.  This year, she did this:

Playing Black Ops, dad.  Oh yeah, and Happy B Day!

 

The wife is great at creating an atmosphere.  I know, I know...  Lakers were eliminated on Sunday, but we all didn't think that was gonna happen.  lol  So she carried on with her Lakers theme and prepared my meal of choice, T bone steak, mashed potatos and veggies!  Oh yeah!

The woman sure knows how to make a mean batch of mash taters!

Then we all sat together, had our dinner, and goofed around a bit.  Cause that's what we do.  The wife and I sat on the couch, watching the kids play with, wait for it...  balloons...  lmao  That's right, balloons.  I understand that the young one would want to bat around a balloon for kicks but the older kids were having a blast themselves.  lol

Oooh...  Balloon...

Almost... got... it...

Then it was time for the cake.  As the wife gathered everyone around the cake and snapped a few photos, she asked to take one of me and the cake.  I think it's some kind of tradition to do that.  lol  So I sat in the chair waiting for the pic and this happened...

Why so serious

Whoa...  what is that?!  lmao!  Hand me a knife and some evil cloak because there is definitely murder in those eyes!  hahahahaaha!  The wife wasn't too happy with that one so we took another.

A lot better

After I made my wish and blew out the candles it came time for the family portrait (which my wife conveniently decided she needed to take manually so that everyone comes out 'nice'  lol) 

Happy birthday Dad!

Baby says, my cake!

Awesome.  Awesome.  Awesome!  From the decorations, to the meal, to the cake, to the laughs.  A great b day spent with my family.  So why not go out to a "fancy" restaurant for your b day?  Eh.  I'd rather spend the time at home, messing around with the wife and kids than to have to "behave" at a restaurant.  The wife will tell ya, she jokes (well I think she's joking...) that I can be just as bad as the kids.  It just comes to show you that I like to have fun.  Regardless of what the candles on the cake say.  lol  Later!

Orchid Recovery Center for Women in Need

Hey there.  You know, I was chatting with a friend not too long ago about a special someone in her life that is in need of some help... You know, to point where she is being destructive to herself and her family.  It kind of got me thinking and since I have a small voice in the online community, I'd figure that I'd do a public service announcement for the Orchid Recovery Center. 

Drug abuse and alcoholism are not only harmful for the user, but harmful to their families.  Where it be a loss of self control or their hallucinogenic tirade, family members can be angered, saddened, ad confused as to why this is happening to their loved one.  If you see anything unusual and suspect drug use or alcohol abuse, you should look into checking them in at Orchid for Women for an evaluation.  It's better to be safe than sorry and people under the influence are not in the right state of mind to make the decision to clean themselves up.  There are many programs out there for people under the influence and for the family members that are trying to deal with their destructive ways.

Don't hesitate to ask questions and don't hesitate to look for help.  There are many resources for women to find the help that they need.  Friends and family members should urge them to better themselves and to see the damage that they are causing.  They don't have to do it alone and with help, they can get better.  Later!

Motivational Monday - Birthday

Hmmm... I wonder is that's why I forget how old I am...  lol