What's So Good About Cali?

First off...I hate Cali! I find that ppl over there are lazy, materialistic, superficial and stuckup. Ok...I know that's a stereotype, but ppl there certainly don't help to fix that image. Anyhow...really...what's so good about Cali that is making ppl want to move out there?! I know 2 girls who have moved out there. And now my sis wants to move out there. What do these 3 girls have in common? All to be with their bfs. Is that enough motivation to want to move to Cali? Or is there more to Cali?
My 2 friends moved out there without jobs lined up for them. I guess they just wanted to be with their bfs that badly. My sis wants to move there to be with her bf as well, but her real reason for going is so she can help him take over his family business. Yeah...it's like the blind leading the blind. I don't get the craze. I would say that maybe it's the weather, but that can't be true. According to the news, it's scorchering out there.
Well, for whatever reason it is...I hope they find it worth it. The last thing I need to hear is that their bfs dumped them and they're on their way back to Houston. Screw the west coast...it's east coast all the way!

27th Birthday!

My 27th birthday has come and go rather quietly…as I usually like for it to go. I’ve never really celebrated my birthday. It’s usually my friends who like to use it as an excuse and reason to go out and have fun and get drunk. But all that has slowed down since we’ve been out of college.
The day started with my friend Carlos, who I work with, IM-ed me to wish me a happy birthday. Then I get a call from Illenny. I felt a lil bad cuz I thought it was Eva…they both sound alike over the phone. But it’s always nice to hear from her. Then lunch came around. Scott was suppose to go to a lunch meeting but skipped and joined us for lunch when Carlos told him that it was my birthday. That was cool of him to do that. Over lunch, Chris found out. By the end of lunch, Elodie still claimed that I’m old…how sweet of her…hahaha. I am old now…at least I feel like it. Also during lunch, I receive a text message from Illenny again wishing me a happy birthday. Yeah…she really enjoys birthdays. I certainly don’t mind hearing from her. Always brings a smile to my face. Eva also called.
Before the work day was over, my cousin called. Lily also called me as well as emailing me. Then I found out that Carlos had sent an email out to a few ppl at work telling them it was my birthday so all afternoon ppl were coming by to wish me a happy birthday. Carlos really surprised me with all that he did for me. Then while I was having dinner with my parents, Alpa and Justin called. Pretty much everyone I wanted to hear from came through making my 27th birthday really special.
Despite my birthday falling on a Friday the 21st and having the entire weekend to celebrate, I just decided to stay low key this year. Saturday morning I met with Lily for Dim Sum and then went shopping with her at Memorial Mall. She had bought me a pair of cufflinks so I needed a shirt to go with it. Found a nice Perry Ellis shirt. At night I met up with Justin and Alpa to watch Monster House. They showed up 30 mins late…making me wait outside all that time for their slow asses. That’s the last time I ever do a movie with them. But it’s all good. The movie was pretty funny so no big deal. I’m sure if the movie sucked…I’d be pretty pissed having to wait that long for them. I tell you what…that was not a kids’ movie. Kids were crying in the theater... :(
So it was a good birthday. It was low key…just another day.

A Lesson Learned

Before leaving work and getting out to the softball field, I stuffed down two McDonald's apple pie and a can of Coke cuz I was so hungry and knew that I needed to put something in my system before going to play. Man!...that'll be the last time I chug a can of Coke before playing anything. The whole time playing softball, I had this incredible burning sensation that ran through my chest. It felt so bad! It's probably all that carbonation kicking in. Dang...it fizzled all inside my body....hahaha. Sure I laugh about it now, but playing with a burning chest sucks!
I kept burping the whole time. It was a lil embarrassing cuz when I was playing for my friend's team, I was out at right center with this pretty looking girl from the team. My burps were pretty loud. She heard a couple of them and laughed. I'm glad she enjoyed it, but I hope she doesn't think I was doing that to be funny. I think it was a lil rude on my part, but I had to get it out of me otherwise my chest would have bothered me too much to play. I told her that would be the last time I drink a Coke before playing and she laughed so I think she understood. I hope so.
Man...my chest is still burning! I think I'm gonna slowly give up drinking sodas.

Powerful Comeback!

It looks like the team is back and in full effect. We played a great game today, defensively and offensively. The final score speaks for itself. 22-12. We played a team with the second best record. The team that we had lost to last week had the 3rd best record. So for us, it was quite a lift to be able to put this game away. It went all 6 innings, but it was so worth it.
It was 22-8 going into the bottom of the 6th and final inning. They had home field advantage so they got to bat last. Despite playing pretty good defensive in that last inning, they did a pretty good job in getting 4 more runs. They started to finally put the ball on the ground and that's what got them around the bases. But in the end we came out on top.
Today's game was too much fun! For the first time in a while, the team showed energy and was more cheerful towards one another instead of just sitting around expecting to win.
I think I did pretty well today considering how tired I was. I had played in an earlier game to help out a friend's team cuz they were short on ppl. Don't know what happened, but half of their team didn't show up until 15 mins into the game. Lucky for them, I had some of my teammates who was there just hanging out so I was able to get them to come play. I was disappointed in my lack of defense. I missed two balls out there in right center. I couldn't get to the ball in time cuz it fell short, but when it hit the ground, it took a nasty bounce so the ball completely got away from me. Happened twice...The second time bounced off my left knee. Good thing I had my knee brace on otherwise that would have been a stinger...ouch! Despite having players from my team, the team still couldn't find a way to win. I feel so bad for my friend's team cuz they have not won a single game this season. Well, can't say we didn't try. But then coming into our game, I was so tired. But I managed to pull through and come up big in the outfield. I had a ball come my way and had to make a huge stretch to get to it. Then I had a pop-fly come my way and was able to pull that in. I missed one only cuz the guy powered the ball all the way back to the fence and I played him wrong cuz I played too shallow thinking he was gonna put it on the ground. I guess I can't get them all. I sure wanted to though...to make up for last weeks poor outing.
At bat, I was 6 for 6 for both games so I'm pretty happy about that. Score three times and brought home 4 players.
I have to give props to everyone. Shortstop made some great stops and then throwing out the batter at first base. He even hit a homerun. Infield was good today. They weren't dropping balls like last week's game. Decision making was quick and sharp and effective. Outfield...we were catching mostly everything that was up in the air and coming our way. If it was a grounder...we were so quick to get to that ball and throw it back in to stop play. We all had each other's back out there. It really was a team effort today.
Well, one more game before playoffs starts. Can't wait for that!
O...definitely need to mention how wonderful it was that Mary to come out to support the team. She's one of the girls on our team, but she forgot to bring clothes so she didn't play. She said that she was gonna stop by to show support, but I expected that she'd leave early. She ended up staying the whole game watching us under the hot sun and heat. That's a real team player right there! It was so hot...I'm very surprised that she stuck it out with us the entire way. That's awesome!!!

Another Surprise Birthday!

I met up with some friends tonight for dinner, thinking it was only dinner cuz we hadn't seen each other for a while, but they managed to turn it into a surprise birthday dinner for me. Dinner went without a hitch...everything was just going as usual. But then at the end of dinner, I went to the restroom and when I came back, there were two envelopes and a small box on my seat. Then it hit me...it was my birthday gifts. But they weren't done. A few minutes later, a cake came out with a candle on it. It was a seven layer chocolate cake...wow...yum yum! They always manage to surprise me for my birthday. They enjoy it a lot cuz they know that I don't ever celebrate my birthdays. It nice that they celebrate my birthdays cuz if it were up to me...it would have just been another day. Actually...it's not even my birthday today. It's next Friday, but a couple of them won't be in town so they decided to celebrate it tonight. I'm not going to even say my age cuz it's starting to get depressing...hahaha...j/k.
It's funny cuz I don't celebrate my birthdays, but I do enjoy celebrating my friends' birthdays. I always like to buy them gifts, but when it's mine and they ask me what I like for my birthday, I never have an answer cuz I don't really want anything. I enjoy making others happy more than myself...within reason of course.
Well...all in all...I had a good time tonight.

Asleep On Defense Vs Defending Champs

It has finally happened! We are undefeated no more! As unbelievable as that sounds, we had our asses handed to us in today's softball match against the defending champs, losing 18-8. We had previously beaten them 18-11 in the first half of the season, but our fallout today was just humiliating. Defensively, we played like we were asleep. Offensively, not much better. The worst part is that we lost in front of a large crowd. Apparently this was a highly anticipated game and a lot of ppl showed up to watch this game. It's too bad we didn't put on a better show. To lose by 10 runs and play so poorly is just so humiliating.
Everyone of us had a part in the lost. We dropped balls left and right and couldn't make a decision on what to do with the ball to save our lives. Yes...I had a part in this too. I had a ball hit my way, but I played too shallow and the ball ended up going just over my head. That should have been an out cuz I had the speed to run back, but I miss timed the ball as it sailed in the air. The plays of our infielders absolutely killed us. I have no idea what was going on with our infielders, but we were missing catches and couldn't make up our minds where to go with the ball. Players weren't where they should been and so many times we had opportunities for double plays, but nobody could get to their bases on time for the play. We were constantly over throwing and that allowed the runners to advance. Did I mention we couldn't catch a ball today?! It was a very long day for us.
Offensively, we were no better. We had too many pop flies into the outfield. Their outfielders are too good to let the ball drop. I think they caught nearly all the balls that went out there...especially in center field. We just couldn't keep the ball on the ground. As consistent as I've been keeping the ball on the ground, I popped out at my last at bat. Bad timing cuz we were trying to rally to win the game...but no chance. The last inning ended too quickly for us. It was as easy as 1-2-3 for them. And before we knew it, the game was over cuz of the run rule. If a team is losing by 10 or more runs after the 4th inning, the game is over.
We had a taste of our own medicine today. We are used to playing games and ending it just after the 3rd ending due to the run rule. Game is over if a team is leading by more than 15 runs after the 3rd inning. We were always the team on that side of the rainbow...but not today.
I think we needed this lost. It shows that we're not as unstoppable as we think. Maybe this will make us better for the playoffs. I'm sure we'll meet them again in the playoffs so stay tuned. Who knows how that game will go.
O...I forgot to mention that I had an awesome slide into home base. I was on first base and on my way to second, I saw that they were having trouble fielding the ball after my teammate's hit, so I decided to go all the way home. The third base coach was yelling me to stop at third, but he must have seen my speed coming into third, so he gave me the okay and urged me to go all the way home. I did! Rounding third, my foot kind of got under me cuz the dirt was still a lil hard from the rain, but I managed to keep my feet in tact and coming just to home base, I slid...just missing the tag from the catcher. That was a cool feeling!

Gift From A Friend

I will always be so grateful for the wonderful gift I received from my friend's wife. She gave to those who supported her in the MS150 a bottle of wine that came from her family's vineyard in Spain. Of course the gift meant a lot more to me cuz I was there volunteering for our bike club and supporting her. That whole weekend was spent supporting her. There were four of us...me, my friend, his wife, and a friend. The 4 of us had a blast. We all joined the company bike club together and trained for the MS150 together...but only my friend's wife actually did the ride. The 3 of us ended up volunteering. The only reason the 3 of us didn't ride is cuz the donation money needed to be raised by each person was a minimum of $400. That's way too much! I can't even raise $100 from my friends when I do my Komen Race For The Cure run.
We're so proud of her though...she was able to raise more than $700. For the 4 of us, it was our first time participating in the MS150. It's such an exhilarating experience. I met so many ppl volunteering for our club. I didn't even know we had so many ppl. We had about 250 riders and about 50 volunteers.
The ride's first day ended at LaGrange and the second day ended in Austin...for the finish. We volunteered at the LaGrange campsite. I was in charge of the drinks. That was fun. We had beer, gatorade, soda, and water. I think someone stole a few beer cases though. Then in the morning I helped to put out breakfast to feed everyone in our club before they took off for Austin. Didn't volunteer at the Austin site cuz we wanted to be at the finish line cheering on our friend. It was great to see her make it. We yelled at the top of our lungs. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Man!, that was awesome!
I want to actually ride next year. I just hope I can raise $400. I bet they'll probably raise it to like $500. They've been raising the cost for the last 3 years. I just don't have that many friends. And the friends that I have are shady. They'd never give up money for charity. I know cuz I've done so many and so many times, I had to come up with the rest to meet the minimum otherwise I'd have a guilty conscience and wouldn't be able to sleep at night. But whatever...that's not what it's about. It all about giving back. I don't know what it's like to have a health problem and I hope I never do, but at least I'm doing what I can to help those who do have complications to enjoy life. And if I ever had problems, it's nice to know that ppl are out there doing what they can.

Rain Rain, Go Away

It has been raining like crazy here in Houston! There has not been a day without rain for the past week. Even rained the 4th of July weekend and day! I'm sure ppl still partied and got drunk and popped firecrackers and everything like that.
I just miss playing my sports. We've already had to cancel 2 softball games because of the rain. And today's game was canceled cuz of the rain as well.
Haven't been able to play basketball either! I need to find a new court to play at. Somewhere there's a canopy or some indoor court. I know of a few places, but don't know how busy it is or if anybody will be there. I'd hate to drive out there and end up just shooting around. It's no fun playing 2-on-2 anymore. I like playing when it's at least 3-on-3. You can do more. More pick-n-rolls, more offense, more dashin and slashin...my specialty of course :) Well, that was until my knees started bothering me. It's been bothering me for like the last month. I refuse to see my doctor cuz he sucks! He just takes my money, tells me to get some rest and prescribes me medicine that's useless to me.
Nevertheless, it's been raining to much for me to play anything. Can't even go running. Unless I want to run in the rain. No treadmills for me. Treadmills are actually very harmful for your ankles in the long run. Can't afford to blow another ankle. Blew out my left ankle on the basketball courts 2 years ago and was on crutches for 3 months. That sucked! Then I couldn't get back to the courts until a year later and that was with 4 months of rehab. Self-rehabilitation of course...hahaha. Didn't happen in the rain though...sorry...I'm getting sidetracked with my rainy story.
Where was I???...o yeah...rain rain, go away! Let the sun shine again so I can play. I'm bored sitting on my azz everynight and do nothing but watching tv and reading.