Hall of...Dirty Laundry?

Last night in the Orioles/Red Sox game with Curt Schilling on the mound, Orioles announcer Gary Thorne (easily my favorite hockey play-by-play guy of all-time, who also does O's baseball) mentioned that he had talked to BoSox backup backstop Doug Mirabelli about Schilling's bloody sock from the 2004 playoffs (when Schilling pitched following minor ankle surgery with blood on his clothes a la Roy Hobbs) and Mirabelli told him that it wasn't blood on the sock. According to Thorne (who, though I love him, often seems drunk during most games a la Harry Caray), Mirabelli said the red substance on the sock was "paint." Mirabelli has since denied telling Thorne that information, but nonetheless it started a little controversy about the authenticity of the gutsy pitching performance by Schilling a few years back.

Here's my take on it:

Who the heck cares? As far as I know, it's not illegal to put paint on your sock, and we know that Schilling had an ankle injury and had it worked on, so it's not like anyone questions that he was playing in at least a little pain. I'm really not going to lose sleep over this so-called "controversy" mainly because IT WAS ALMOST THREE YEARS AGO. Get over it, fellow baseball fans. The one thing I might lose sleep over however (now that "throw out anything week" has passed), is the fact that the sock in question is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Why is this again? Why do we put someone's not only dirty, but BLOODY sock in the Hall of Fame? This is a shrine to baseball we're talking about. There's a bloody sock in a glass case in the shrine? Am I supposed to get excited and tell my children "There it is kids, the famous Schilling sock," years down the road when we're there? I think my child would actually turn to me and ask, "Why on Earth is there a sock with someone's blood on it here?" He/she might even ask, "Did we actually pay money to come here and look at dirty laundry?" I've never been to Cooperstown, but when I go there do I need to be worried about turning a corner and seeing a puddle of someone's playoff vomit or chewed up sunflower seeds encased in shiny glass? Or do I have to worry about explaining to my wife why Carlton Fisk's protective cup is hanging next to a picture of him hitting his famous mid-70's dinger down the foul line?

Get serious, Major League Baseball. A bloody, dirty sock. Something associated in cartoons as being like the most awful-smelling thing in the world. Encased in glass. Covered in blood. And dirt. Taken from someone's sweaty foot.

Get serious.

"Throw out anything week."

Though I'm not the kind of person that requires a lot of sleep (I'm usually up at 5 a.m. every morning to work out or see how the Tigers did in their East-coast game that ended at 1:00 in the morning), I am the kind of person that loves sleep. I love naps and I love quality sleep, and I love the fact that I can fall asleep pretty much right away no matter where I am or what time of day it is (which Dawn hates). And now is the time of year when I love sleeping with the windows open. But at the same time, it drives me nuts.

For the record, I love it that Cooper sleeps in the same bed as Dawn and I. It's really funny when he's cold and needs to sleep between our heads or burrow in between us. Or when he's too hot and has to go to the end of the bed away from us or go downstairs for a drink and walk around. It's also cute when we're talking or watching T.V. and he can't get settled in and he keeps sighing and moving around all restless-like. No, I like having him in the bed at night. Except when the windows are open. And ESPECIALLY during "throw out anything week" in our neighborhood.

You know what I'm talking about -- when everyone (admit it, you've done it) is driving around looking at everyone else's trash and thinking, "Hey, couldn't we use another little end table? It's a little bit beat up, but we could put it in the spare room." It's a great time of year for a homeowner or someone with a lot of junk, because it not only gives you an excuse to clean, it also gives you an excuse to break your own stuff when you throw it out to the curb.

And it's funny how many people are out and about taking other people's trash during this week. It really is amazing. I told Dawn that I could probably make five functional gas grills if I went around taking every gas grill I saw on the curb. Maybe that's what people are thinking when they flock to the streets to burn up more money in fuel than that which they are saving by getting that piece of dryer duct from my junk pile (not necessarily creating an army of gas grills, but with that same mentality nonetheless), so perhaps I'm the one that's not taking advantage of this week by going out "junking," though I do have a lot of fun peeking out my window seeing what stuff people are taking from me...and then feeling a sense of regret for throwing it out because it apparently had a value higher than what I had designated as -- "garbage."

So I love "junk week." And I love sleep. I just don't love them at the same time this week. Because last night everyone and their kids were coming by in the middle of the night with their trucks and trailers and sifting through my trash. And Cooper was going crazy with the growling. At first it's kind of funny -- he's a 15-pound dog, growling from our bed in the dark, 50 feet from the curb and curled up in a ball. Least scary dog ever, growling to keep people out of my trash. Then it's just annoying as it happens over and over again and eventually - BARK! - scared to death...what is going on?..."Cooper, no!"...wife is tossing and turning..."What time is it?"...- BARK! - sitting upright..."What the?"...noises outside..."Cooper!"...snapping my fingers will shut him up... - BARK! - grab his nose..."No Cooper."...3:35???..."Have I slept?"...shoulder asleep..."Why am I sweaty?" - BARK! - loud noise outside..."Cooper!!!"

Yeah. It's like that. All night. Until 4:10 and I can't get back to sleep. So I get up and blog.

At least the Tigers won.

Life is Good.

I haven't posted in a while just to say, "things are good." So here you go. Life is good. Dawn and I are doing great, we learn more about one another every day, and our marriage does nothing but grow stronger. Further, she is helping other peoples' marriages gain strength at her new job. In case you didn't know, she is now a Donor Relations Specialist at America's Family Coaches, having started there late in March. She likes it, and continuously points out the value in knowing she's really helping people. I'm really proud of her.

Things in my life continue to fly by too quickly for me to appreciate. I'm still working at FBL Financial Group, enduring some of the major changes that have happened in the past few years (re-structuring, downsizing of video needs, Bo and Derek leaving). I don't know what the future has in store for me from an employment standpoint, all I know is that this is where I am and I need to work hard to keep working hard. I was recently asked to be part of Grand View College's adjunct faculty in Spring 2008, teaching ten weeks of a one-credit lab on non-linear video editing (more specifically, Apple's Final Cut Pro). Instructing is something I haven't done in a while, so hopefully I'm not too rusty. I did some guest lecturing at GVC this past year and that went very well and I was able to familiarize myself with some of the students, faculty members and equipment at the college. I'm looking forward to this little change of pace come January.

Since spring is here, I'm trying to stay committed to getting little projects done around the house that have been sitting stagnant for quite some time. That will make it a busy summer, but since there aren't a ton of weddings to attend like summers past, it should be a productive one.

Dawn and I joined a small group during the winter which has been a lot of fun. Everyone else in the group attends Prairie Ridge Church in Ankeny, a young church that's really into the small group scene. It's been a great way to get to know new people and discuss The Bible in a less "churchy" way with people with whom you can relate.

I've been doing a lot of "hanging out" lately with old and new friends, which has been cool. Andy and Aimee recently had a little house-warming/Guitar Hero II party, and I got to hang out with the two of them and Dustin and Cody again. That was a good time. I also went to Derek's on Friday for some bocce ball/grilling/sitting around the fire with other men. Met a couple of cool guys there and got to hang out with KJ again. Now this week, the Braytons will be in town from Pensacola and we'll get to hang with them a bit after a little end-of-week camping trip with five other friends.

So that's that. Lots of stuff going down, not enough time to sit back and evaluate how good life is. But it is.