What I'd rather think about--Pt. 2

Today was a darn near perfect day. If I had to pick a day to live over and over again, this one would be in the running. It started with a lazy morning, then a couple of errands that worked, which means I didn't get stuck in traffic, and the stores I went to had exactly what I needed exactly where I thought it would be. Then, baseball.

It's no secret I love baseball. To me, it's the perfect sport--bleachers on a warm night, a cold Diet Coke, conversation with the other spectators, the thrill of watching my kid wallup the ball. I even understand the rules and can (mostly) follow the game.

After the game today (conjure image of 85 degree weather, a comfy chair in the shade, and a win by one run), one of the moms sent us these little baseball cards of our players. You'll see Luke is known as "Waffles" on this team. This is why: at the first practice, one of the players introduced himself as "Laken, like bacon" so the kids would know how to say his name. Unfortunately for Laken, all anyone heard was "Bacon," so Laken has been Bacon ever since. Well, Luke thought that was The Coolest, and he decided he should have a breakfast food nickname, too. So...Waffles. That is literally all anyone on the team calls him--coaches, players, parents. He is Waffles.

Except to me. I can't seem to stop yelling "Go Shmukie!" whenever he steps up to bat, which earns me the look of death from the plate. Sorry, Shmukie...er, Waffles. Moms are the worst.

Then, after an afternoon of baseball, I got to join my Mann on a triple date with some of my favorite people.

Anthony and Mary Mercado were in town for work/seeing their daughter, so we arranged to meet for dinner. Then the stars aligned, and Todd and Debbie Hansen texted to see if they could come see me. It just made sense to combine the fun and have a mini Clarkston ward reunion, so we did.

Todd was our bishop when we lived there, and Mary was my partner seminary teacher, so I feel like these people are my family. Heck, I could say that about anyone from the Clarkston ward--I don't know what it is about that little pocket of the universe, but it was our Camelot from 2003 to 2009. As a friend once said, "once a Clarkstonite, always a Clarkstonite." There is something about that ward and the people there that engulfed and embraced us, and I will always have tender memories of our time among them. Tonight was a lovely piece of that.

So, see? A perfect day.

Man, I love my life.