4 years?? really?

This isn't intended to be an overly sappy entry. For those of you who know me, you know that I'm not really the Hallmark type... The thing is, today was the 4 year anniversary of 9/11 and I didn't even realize it until later this morning... Even then it was like. Wow. 9/11. 4 years... really? Can the Niners really beat the Rams? Will the the Angels sweep the White Sox (the answer was yes! - sorry Karin and Geller). It actually wasn't until this moment at the park today, when I saw Emmy running in front of two lowered flags that I realized the importance of today all over again.

You see, I don't know if those flags were lowered for 9/11 or if they were lowered out of respect for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The point is that I, unlike thousands of people that were killed in both of these tragedies, am alive to see those flags, the feel the sun, to watch my kids run around a park. It reminded me how arbitrarily cruel life really can be... I am still alive today to enjoy life, just because I did NOT work in the Trade Center or live in the Gulf Coast. It reminded me to take time out of today and be thankful for everything, instead of resentful for nothing.

ANGELS!

When I woke up this morning, I didn't really have any good plans for something to do today. That all changed around 11am, when C asked me if we could go to the game. At first, I reflexively said no, then I started thinking... why not? we're in a pennant race. it's a 3 day weekend. we got nothing else to do... let's see what we can find? so I tried the web site. no dice. less than an hour to go before game time, you have to pick up the tickets from their office in BEVERLY HILLS... Since when is Anaheim that close to Los Angeles anyway... uh, yeah. anyway. Next, I called a broker. BINGO. $15 a ticket to sit 4 rows back in right field - done and done.

We raced over to the stadum and got there with 10 minutes to spare. It was "free-insulated-lunch-bag-for-school-giveaway-day", which is actually one of the most useful giveaways that I've seen at a park. C was pretty pumped about his Angels lunch bag. The only problem was that he didn't have his Angels gear on, so, of course, I had to get him a new shirt and a new baseball hat. It actually was pretty cheap, the shirt was only $7 and it's pretty dope. We found our seats and settled in for the game.

The game was great. A three run home run by Casey Kotchman landed just to the left of us. If you squint, you can see a large oafish dude in a blue Angels shirt leap up in the right field porch - that's me. September? Tied for first? You better believe I'm on my feet. Vlady also hit one out, but he hit his to left field. Nevertheless, the stadium was rocking! Even got to feel the typical Angel anti-relief for heartburn! The Angels were up 5-1 and Colon was cooking, but he hurt his back and had to leave. In comes Yan, Donnelly, Shields and the Mariners are soon within 2 runs... YIKES! Not sure which is worse, being there or watching things unravel on tv... Anyway, fortunately, Frankie closed out the ninth and the Angels held on for the win. Just another halo victory, I guess!

Well the whole day was a blast. We got completely cooked in the sun out in the outfield. We ate 30 lbs of stadium food - pretzels, popcorn, ice cream sandwiches, hot dogs.. But it was totally worth it. I have to say, it's a total blast to have a kid that loves to go along with his dad's whims, b/c dad has a ton of them and sometimes, once in a while, they're actually pretty fun.