March 2014

March 2014
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Archive for March 2014

Flying Solo

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Renee Spindle

Yesterday was a fun day. Travel Man arranged for me to fly up to meet him in Oakland, California so we can spend some much needed time together this week. He’s a great guy.
You see normally when we are traveling together we’re most often taking a mini-vacation (I define this as 4 days or less). When we do travel together I really don’t think about much except packing my clothes and following him to the airport. Yesterday was a bit different though.

For this trip I will be with Travel Man for a few days while he is working in Northern California. So here’s how my morning went to get the travel day started. I drove myself to the airport, parked in long term parking, checked my bag curbside (always better to check a bag than carry on!), got through security fairly quickly without using the preferred frequent flyer lane (because I’m not with Travel Man), and got my iced tea and a magazine. Phew!! I know I can do this on my own, it’s just a good reminder for me when I do. We most often fly on Southwest Airlines for the great reward perks. If you are at all familiar with Southwest’s seating you know that there is no assigned seating, just assigned boarding designations. So, my Travel Man was not with me to get on the plane ahead of me and save us our seats together. I would be picking my own seat. This part of my trip is a new experience for me. I got a window seat of course as it’s always my favorite thing to look out the window when travelling. I was the kid on family vacations that never slept in the car. Always watching out the window and taking in the sights, and I’m still that way.

Travel Man was flying into Oakland from Buffalo, NY via Chicago. My flight was a short “up/down” (defined by me as less than two hours of fly time), Ontario to Oakland. I am pleased to report that there were no glitches in the travel matrix yesterday, and our meeting in Oakland was pulled off successfully. We were able to take the short drive to San Francisco and see both the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge. It was a bit of a stressful drive through the city, but a beautiful day for taking in the sights.

I’m a lucky, lucky girl that I am able to travel to where my husband will be working for the week. His schedule’s a little crazy right now and any extra time we can glean together is a blessing. I keep reminding myself that it’s definitely a bit of a different lifestyle. My Travel Mans’ mode of commuting from city to city is an airplane (or as we jokingly say a “flying tube”). It’s a different kind of life, but it’s our life. It’s important for us to make the best of it, and our precious time together. That’s my life lesson for the day.

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It’s a Baseball Kind of Thing

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Renee Spindle

Happy, Happy Spring to one and all. For all of our friends and family just chomping at the bit to see more green we’re sending you sunshine and warmth from sunny, Southern California.

Today is the beginning of a great 10 day countdown. It’s only 10 days until baseball’s opening day. Yay! I’m presently doing my happy dance. I love the game of baseball. Love to watch, love to cheer for our hometown team,(the Angels), love to gain some knowledge about the history of the game, and love to go to a live game every now and then.

In my younger, growing up years, I did not really pay attention to baseball, or have the love for the sport that I have now. I suppose that all changed when my kids started playing baseball and softball. Every spring baseball or softball would start and we’d be at practices and games from February or March until July. It’s one of those life thingy’s about a sport becoming part of your soul. If you followed your kids through any sports, for any number of seasons you know what I’m talking about.

During our hectic spring schedules family members would join us as their schedules allowed to watch the kids play ball. There were many, many years of supporting the love of baseball for my oldest son, Bryan. Bryan started playing ball when he was 5 (the t-ball era) and played right through his senior year of high school. He never stopped playing or learning about the game. As a matter of fact that’s how we were able to get Bryan interested in reading. Bryan learned how to read the team stats in the newspaper when he was 5 or 6. That lead to reading the articles about his favorite players or our beloved Angels.

My collection of baseball buttons through the years.

Bryan’s last time pitching senior year of high school

These days Bryan is the family’s baseball statistician. He has a great knowledge of the game, and can recall stats and details of the history of baseball that never cease to amaze me. Whenever we get a chance we watch a game together, and compare notes on our favorite players. We (Bryan and I) have decided that on the 31st of March we’ll hang our Angels flag out on the front of the house to celebrate baseball’s opening day.

One last baseball thought for the day from the movie The Sandlot– The Babe said, “Remember kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you’ll never go wrong.”