And Now The Week Is Done

Okay, so yesterday didn’t turn out as planned. Stupid Giants can’t read a simple script. But the Tigers did win! YAY! ALCS, baby! Game one of the American League Championship Series is Saturday. I gotta dig up my Tiger ears!

As for the Reds, next year! There was what ended up being a very costly running mistake in Game 3 by Brandon Phillips that cost them a run. Any kind of errors like that are so rare from Brandon, but this one, unsuccessfully stretching a steal into more on a passed ball, cost them a run that would have eventually won the game rather than put it into extra innings, where a rare Scott Rolen error allowed the final run. Phillips and Rolen just don’t do those things! But add that Reds Ace, Johnny Cueto left Game 1 after one batter and was eventually put on the Disabled List and slugger Joey Votto is not back to 100% after his knee surgery. There are a ton of reason they didn’t take their 2-0 series lead to the 3 wins necessary to advance, but if they had, were they too beaten up to get past Washington or St. Louis? Maybe the injuries were a “wait until next year” message anyway. As a fan, it was a great season and we Reds fans got to enjoy a week more baseball with our Boys of Summer than the fans of 22 other teams!

I’ve got a very full plate today. Playoff baseball has kept me from chores I wanted to do before Kelly gets here, so after blog and breakfast, I want to get the kitchen and dining room tidied up, so we have someplace to enjoy a cup, or gallon, of coffee. David is leaving for his last vacation week of the year either today or tomorrow, depends on the weather. Then it’s Girl Time! I can hardly wait!

But for now on this busy day, I’m going to join Mama M for Five Question Friday!

1. Did you have any homecoming traditions?

I was not a school-spirit girl at all in high school, so my tradition was avoiding it. I refused a few dates to prom and this girl, who wore a $35 t-shirt to my own wedding reception, never spent crazy money for a one-time dress for a teenager. Not passing judgment, but I thought dressing up for a high school dance was ridiculous at the time. I know Tori was a prom-maniac, but Rina thought the whole thing was silly. To each his own, right?

Taking 13 years and non-traditional to get my college degree, I never did anything for homecoming in college either. But now that Siena Heights has a football team, I’d like to eventually go to a game.  It doesn't have to be for Homecoming, since my university home was at a satellite campus.


2. Do you ask your spouse before spending money?

If I’m spending from the joint account, I don’t ask, but I let him know to make sure there aren’t outstanding checks I need to be aware of. He lets me know when he writes a check because I usually know the balance. We otherwise have our own funds and accounts so there’s no need to notify each other.


3. If you could be famous for something what would it be?

You mean I’m not famous?


4. Have you ever seriously thought you were going crazy?

Not really. I was in counseling when I was a teenager because I was having some issues with my relationship with my Dad. If anyone ever tells you that counseling is unnecessary for kids and that problems in the family should be solved without someone from outside getting into family issues, slap them upside the head. It probably saved me from actually going nuts, or driving off the defiance deep end. I got to vent, and my counselor was great in leading me to talk about the things that I needed to. I was able to start repairing our relationship and Dad, who'd become even more withdrawn from me because I was in counseling (with Mom’s support for me going) was starting to make an effort too. It took a few years, to fix, but we have an awesome relationship today. It worked and was totally worth the effort.

By the way, my Dad, some 30 years later, doesn’t remember that I went to counseling at 16, let alone that it upset him that I did at the time.  Me getting the help became the ultimate low point for us, but it ultimately fixed us.


5. How do you eat your steak? Burger? (as in, well done, medium, still moo-ing...)

I like my steak on someone else’s plate. I’m not a fan of beef.

I do like a number of things with ground beef! It’s a nice condiment; soups, chilis, even meatloaf. It just needs to be seasoned well so I don’t so much taste the meat on its own.

I do eat hamburgers. If in a restaurant and asked how would I like my burger cooked, and when we’re having them at home David knows; , I say “hockey puck.” You know those little crumbles that occasionally fall off the burger and get crispy? I like those! In fact I like them better than the actual burger. My burger has to be pretty close to burned beyond recognition if it’s more than a quarter inch thick. I prefer hamburger with an inch each of ketchup, honey mustard and sweet relish at home. David has called my hamburger a “condiment delivery system” and asked, “You really don’t like hamburgers, do you?” well…. They’re good if you can’t really taste them!