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Weekend
Saturday morning I took Sebastian to Barnes and Noble. We're utterly broke, of course, but I had $75 in B&N gift certificates. I told him I'd buy him one book, and a book or DVD for myself.
It didn't work out that way. I wanted to get a Jenny Linsky book for him (some have recently been reprinted), but they didn't have it in stock, so we ordered it. In the meantime I picked up an extra copy of Three by Finny from the discount table for $3.25 for myself; if you haven't read anything by Jack Finny, you should. He specialized in what I'd call nostalgia fantasy, about the late 1800s and early 1900s, although his most famous work is Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a most out-of-character book for him.
Sebastian played with the Thomas train track in the children's section while I looked for another book for him. I ended up finding two: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, the author of the classic and wonderful Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. And then I saw another book that I simply HAD to buy: Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger! It was a small book of his famous storysong, one that Sebastian has been listening to since he was a baby. Sebastian loved the book immediately, made me read it to him several times that day, and "read" it himself, to boot.
He also found a stuffed "Little Engine That Could" for sale in the children's section, and begged for it so pitifully that I couldn't say no.
Later on Saturday Teri's brother took us to see a baseball game, along with a bunch of other people. He'd won a box suite for a Pawtucket Red Sox game at a charity auction.
I should explain that the PawSox are the minor league farm team for the Boston Red Sox.
This was Sebastian's first baseball game, and mine too. We were kind of excited. I also got kind of worried when I heard that the suite included UNLIMITED hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn and chips, soda, and ice cream. Would I be able to resist?
We found the stadium without too much difficulty. The traffic wasn't bad at all until we got close to the stadium - and when we did, we found that there was a totally empty lane for the use of VIPs and box seat holders! We sped by the slow-moving traffic, and I could only imagine how some of those drivers felt.
Our reserved parking was very close to the private box suite entrance, so we walked right in. The suite itself was a little small (it was supposed to hold 20 people) but nice; it had a private bathroom, a sink, two refrigerators stocked with soda and ice cream, and giant bowls of potato chips and popcorn. I cracked fairly quickly and had a Sprite.
It was astonishingly sweet - almost unbearably so. I was surprised that my tastes had changed so much in just three weeks.
Oh, here's a photo of the suite. The two blurs are Teri and her mother.
Outside the door were private seats right on the field. We were warned that we were absolutely forbidden to go out on the field; if anyone did, we'd all be ejected.
The view was amazing. We were perhaps twenty feet from first base, with perfect views of the pitcher and batter. As Teri said, we were spoiled for all future games.
Here's Sebastian standing in the outside area. As you can see, other box suites were next to ours, with their own outdoor seats; we were at the end of the line. Those dangling things in the back (if you can see them) are baseballs and plates and things that people hang from above for the players to sign. That's called "fishing". Sebastian got a signature on a baseball, and later, a baseball player shook his hand. Of course, Sebastian had no idea who he was, nor even what a baseball players does.
Here's Sebastian with a souvenir "paw". He loved it, and spent much of the afternoon and evening "power-fighting" the other kids with it. Because they only had "#1" foam hands, they kept ganging up on him. His response was to gleefully shout "You got me!" and drop to the floor. I believe that they were all a bit older than he was, by the way.
I gave the issue some thought, and finally told Sebastian that I knew how he could win with the paw. He was very excited to hear that, and so were the other kids; they all wanted me to tell. But I took Sebastian into the bathroom (the other kids listened at the door, but I spoke too quietly for them to hear), and told Sebastian what I'd figured out.
The paw was a terror weapon, of sorts (although I didn't use that phrase). It was much bigger than the foam "#1" hands. So the best approach (I told Sebastian) was to roar as loudly as possible and jump towards the other kids with the paw aimed straight at their faces.
Boy, does that sound irresponsible now! But I did emphasize that he must NOT actually hit them - just scare them.
It worked incredibly well. The other kids scattered in terror. Before I knew it, they'd all hidden themselves behind a row of chairs where Sebastian couldn't get at them.
I should make it clear that none of them were crying, or anything like that. They were all just having fun.
In the meantime, the food arrived. How could I turn down my first chance to try a real baseball stadium hot dog (particularly a free one)? I couldn't. So I fell off the wagon and had a frank. It was huge and excellent.
While getting it I couldn't help but notice that the burgers were big and smelled good. In for a penny, in for several pounds; I had a hamburger, too. And then another, without the bun. To my surprise, I liked the burger without the bun more than the one WITH the bun. As I said, my tastes have already changed.
I might have been okay if the freezer hadn't been full of absolutely delicious ice cream bars. I ate two of those.
There were about five or six kids in the 4-6 age range (Sebastian being the youngest), and they were causing general bedlam. Suddenly, though, the room fell silent: two mascots had walked in! I've rarely seen Sebastian with such an expression of amazement and delight. The mascots signed lots of things, and posed for pictures.
The PawSox were playing the Buffalo Bisons, who despite their name are the farm team for the Cleveland Indians (but are based in Buffalo New York, which is very confusing). The game was quite exciting. For some reason I found it amusing that a dyed-in-the-wool geek like me can enjoy a baseball game. The Sox took an early 2-run lead, quickly upping it to three runs, but the Bisons came back with two runs an inning or two later. Later in the game the Sox picked up another two runs, bringing their score to five, but the Bisons got another two runs: 5-4.
At the top of the 9th inning the Bisons got a man onto first base, the potential tying run, although there were already two outs. The next batter hit a long ball to left field, but an outfielder caught it, ending the game.
Sebastian hadn't watched all that much of the game, of course. He's still too young to understand that sort of thing. But towards the end of the game he came out and sat with me, and I took this picture of the two of us. I look terrible, but that's why I want to lose weight.
And all in all, things could have been worse. I've only gained 0.2 of a pound since Wednesday.
It didn't work out that way. I wanted to get a Jenny Linsky book for him (some have recently been reprinted), but they didn't have it in stock, so we ordered it. In the meantime I picked up an extra copy of Three by Finny from the discount table for $3.25 for myself; if you haven't read anything by Jack Finny, you should. He specialized in what I'd call nostalgia fantasy, about the late 1800s and early 1900s, although his most famous work is Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a most out-of-character book for him.
Sebastian played with the Thomas train track in the children's section while I looked for another book for him. I ended up finding two: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, the author of the classic and wonderful Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. And then I saw another book that I simply HAD to buy: Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger! It was a small book of his famous storysong, one that Sebastian has been listening to since he was a baby. Sebastian loved the book immediately, made me read it to him several times that day, and "read" it himself, to boot.
He also found a stuffed "Little Engine That Could" for sale in the children's section, and begged for it so pitifully that I couldn't say no.
Later on Saturday Teri's brother took us to see a baseball game, along with a bunch of other people. He'd won a box suite for a Pawtucket Red Sox game at a charity auction.
I should explain that the PawSox are the minor league farm team for the Boston Red Sox.
This was Sebastian's first baseball game, and mine too. We were kind of excited. I also got kind of worried when I heard that the suite included UNLIMITED hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn and chips, soda, and ice cream. Would I be able to resist?
We found the stadium without too much difficulty. The traffic wasn't bad at all until we got close to the stadium - and when we did, we found that there was a totally empty lane for the use of VIPs and box seat holders! We sped by the slow-moving traffic, and I could only imagine how some of those drivers felt.
Our reserved parking was very close to the private box suite entrance, so we walked right in. The suite itself was a little small (it was supposed to hold 20 people) but nice; it had a private bathroom, a sink, two refrigerators stocked with soda and ice cream, and giant bowls of potato chips and popcorn. I cracked fairly quickly and had a Sprite.
It was astonishingly sweet - almost unbearably so. I was surprised that my tastes had changed so much in just three weeks.
Oh, here's a photo of the suite. The two blurs are Teri and her mother.
Outside the door were private seats right on the field. We were warned that we were absolutely forbidden to go out on the field; if anyone did, we'd all be ejected.
The view was amazing. We were perhaps twenty feet from first base, with perfect views of the pitcher and batter. As Teri said, we were spoiled for all future games.
Here's Sebastian standing in the outside area. As you can see, other box suites were next to ours, with their own outdoor seats; we were at the end of the line. Those dangling things in the back (if you can see them) are baseballs and plates and things that people hang from above for the players to sign. That's called "fishing". Sebastian got a signature on a baseball, and later, a baseball player shook his hand. Of course, Sebastian had no idea who he was, nor even what a baseball players does.
Here's Sebastian with a souvenir "paw". He loved it, and spent much of the afternoon and evening "power-fighting" the other kids with it. Because they only had "#1" foam hands, they kept ganging up on him. His response was to gleefully shout "You got me!" and drop to the floor. I believe that they were all a bit older than he was, by the way.
I gave the issue some thought, and finally told Sebastian that I knew how he could win with the paw. He was very excited to hear that, and so were the other kids; they all wanted me to tell. But I took Sebastian into the bathroom (the other kids listened at the door, but I spoke too quietly for them to hear), and told Sebastian what I'd figured out.
The paw was a terror weapon, of sorts (although I didn't use that phrase). It was much bigger than the foam "#1" hands. So the best approach (I told Sebastian) was to roar as loudly as possible and jump towards the other kids with the paw aimed straight at their faces.
Boy, does that sound irresponsible now! But I did emphasize that he must NOT actually hit them - just scare them.
It worked incredibly well. The other kids scattered in terror. Before I knew it, they'd all hidden themselves behind a row of chairs where Sebastian couldn't get at them.
I should make it clear that none of them were crying, or anything like that. They were all just having fun.
In the meantime, the food arrived. How could I turn down my first chance to try a real baseball stadium hot dog (particularly a free one)? I couldn't. So I fell off the wagon and had a frank. It was huge and excellent.
While getting it I couldn't help but notice that the burgers were big and smelled good. In for a penny, in for several pounds; I had a hamburger, too. And then another, without the bun. To my surprise, I liked the burger without the bun more than the one WITH the bun. As I said, my tastes have already changed.
I might have been okay if the freezer hadn't been full of absolutely delicious ice cream bars. I ate two of those.
There were about five or six kids in the 4-6 age range (Sebastian being the youngest), and they were causing general bedlam. Suddenly, though, the room fell silent: two mascots had walked in! I've rarely seen Sebastian with such an expression of amazement and delight. The mascots signed lots of things, and posed for pictures.
The PawSox were playing the Buffalo Bisons, who despite their name are the farm team for the Cleveland Indians (but are based in Buffalo New York, which is very confusing). The game was quite exciting. For some reason I found it amusing that a dyed-in-the-wool geek like me can enjoy a baseball game. The Sox took an early 2-run lead, quickly upping it to three runs, but the Bisons came back with two runs an inning or two later. Later in the game the Sox picked up another two runs, bringing their score to five, but the Bisons got another two runs: 5-4.
At the top of the 9th inning the Bisons got a man onto first base, the potential tying run, although there were already two outs. The next batter hit a long ball to left field, but an outfielder caught it, ending the game.
Sebastian hadn't watched all that much of the game, of course. He's still too young to understand that sort of thing. But towards the end of the game he came out and sat with me, and I took this picture of the two of us. I look terrible, but that's why I want to lose weight.
And all in all, things could have been worse. I've only gained 0.2 of a pound since Wednesday.