There has been lots of stuff going on lately, but all good stuff! Last week our baseball team got a few wins but then had our 11-game winning streak stopped when we lost both games of a double header to drop to 11-4. However, we came from behind to win tonight at home to advance to 12-4 on the season with another game Wednesday, then one Friday and two Saturday. If we can get out the rest of the week with only 0-2 losses, it'd be a success, I think! The team has been playing well, especially pitching and in the field. Our bats are coming along (12 hits tonight), so we'll see where that takes us. We have some tough games coming up. I'm sure the tournament draw comes up in a few weeks, so every win is important for seeding.
After baseball Saturday I had poker in Wadsworth as a part of the Wheeler Poker Tour with some friends I met through Craig from work. The series is pretty sweet. We play a "No Limit Texas Hold'em" tournament once a month at either Craig's house in Akron or Steve's house in Wadsworth. We probably average 10-12 people per tournament, and we keep stats every night - who gets knocked out, what time that person got knocked out, and who did the knocking out, etc. - and keep standings throughout the year based on calculations and rankings. Last year I won the regular season championship, and in the end-of-season championship tournament, I placed 2nd, so I had a successful year. This season I started off poorly. The first tournament I played in 2 or 3 months ago didn't start well. I had other things on my mind and didn't play my game and ended up getting knocked out first. But since then I've placed 4th (in the money, 12 people) and 1st (12 people) this past Saturday when I put in $20 and went home with $96.50. The current standings were sent out yesterday, and I'm in 2nd behind Craig. I'm playing well right now and look forward to the next tourney on May 8th, I believe.
My first slow-pitch softball league of the year starts this Sunday in Lakewood. My woman's best friend's boyfriend asked me to be on the team, so that's how I got into a league so far from home. It's going to be exciting, though, as I'm finally getting back into decent shape and have been getting active again. I can't wait to get up to plate and swing the bat a little and run around in the outfield chasing fly balls, one of my favorite things to do in the Spring! It will also be great having my girlfriend Jenn there cheering me on, too, which is something I've never had before and makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Haha! I just need to make sure I don't try to do too much and impress the new teammates I will be meeting (or Jennifer). I just need to relax, have fun playing the game I love, and play the way I know I can, and it'll all be okay.
Speaking of Jennifer, things between us have been going very well, too. We had a good talk the other night that I'm thankful for, and we will be better off because of it. She makes me so very happy, no matter if I'm at home watching the Cavs and getting a random funny text message or when we're together and she tells me I'm a "goof" to my face. We just have so much fun together (and even when apart, sometimes). Oh, the nerve she has. Haha! But seriously, though, she treats me better than anyone I can remember (okay, maybe my parents treated me better than ANYONE). She has so many things that I want in a woman, and it's refreshing to see it in her. It stinks that we only get to see each other on the weekends since we live 59 minutes apart; but we make it work for us, and that's all that matters! .. Right?
Ahh, crap. I just remembered that I saw one of my best friends at the baseball game tonight. I'm busy in between innings, but I wanted to catch him after the game to say "Hi" but I totally forgot by the time the game was over. Darnit! If you're reading this, Dave, try to stay after next time if you can so we can chat some, if you want. Anwyay, I think that's all I have for tonight. I'll catch everyone later.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
April 27, 2010
April 21, 2010
Two Frustrating Dreams
I had some funny dreams last night, and I wanted to get them on paper before I forgot. The one that was the most frustrating was the first one I had. Some friends and I had just parked my car in a parking garage and were walking through the garage on our way to Jacob's Field (well, Progressive Field, I guess) when we saw a few juveniles pointing at us, smirking, laughing, and then running off in the direction of where we parked. I told my friends I believed they were about to do something to our car(s) after noticing we were tourists/guests, but my friends thought I was crazy. I just had a gut feeling, though, and went running after them. However, I couldn't find where I parked my car, so I took the steps to go up a deck to see if my car was up there. Just when I started walking up the stairs, I got a call on my cell phone from a guy who was talking with a slurred voice and asking me questions about a Service Request I had just submitted for work with Oracle (a company we use for many of our products).
Anyway, we weren't getting anywhere with our conversation, and after what seemed like forever of trying to understand him and giving him the same answer over and over, I found myself at the top of the steps on the roof leaning against a dry-erase board shielding me from what was behind it (what was on top of the roof). Then the person on the phone asked me something about the Vietnamese president, and I vehemently responded that I don't get into politics. Then I looked up the steps in front of me, and stepping up to a podium was the Vietnamese president himself, Nguyen Minh Triet. This freaked me out, and I jumped, knocking over the dry-erase board, allowing me to see the huge crowd on the roof of the building as well as all the cameras and other hoopla. I was shocked so I ran back down the stairs asking the guy on the phone what was going on. All of a sudden, I could hear the guy on the phone clearly and in perfect English, and he proceeded to tell me that he was just keeping me on the phone as long as he could since he was calling from one of those phone numbers that charges an insane amount of money per minute. I was furious and hung up immediately! I never found my car or my friends, and thus never saw the baseball game.
I woke up at around 2:00 AM from that dream and was really glad it was just a dream. Then I fell back asleep shortly thereafter just in time for my next dream. I don't remember all the details, but I remember starting out some guy was at my house and stole somebody from me and was holding that person hostage at his house. So one night I got on a bicycle and rode over to his house to save the stolen person. As I was pedaling down his driveway, I looked to my right and saw the person through a large glass window, sitting on a chair, tied up and gagged. I also noticed that the bad guy was not at home, only the hostage. However, out of the corner of my eye on the left, I saw the shiny glare off of something down by a swingset further down the dark driveway. So instead of pulling up to the house, breaking in, and taking the person to safety, I speedily ramped down to the left and picked up what looked like a gray laptop computer. Once I had the laptop, I forgot about the person in the house and secretively crept off the property, taking the laptop back to my house.
The next day the man came back to my house looking for the laptop computer. He was furious, banging on my kitchen door with all his might! So what did I do? I stood on the other side of the door and pounded back! Then he'd pound on the door, then I'd pound on it again. This went back and forth for a while, even though I was really scared standing up to this guy on the other side of the door. After a bit, I finally had the idea to call 9-1-1, since I was being robbed, assaulted, or whatever else he would have done had he gotten inside. When he looked through the little window in the door and saw I was on the phone, he went around to the front yard. I didn't realize it, but the front door that leads to the yard was open, and all I had was the clear glass door. I saw him walking dejectedly off my property. So me, being stupid and cocky at the same time, banged on my door. Duh! So he looked back and saw that there was just the little measley see-through door between me and him. He ran up to the door and reared back like he was going to punch through the door. But he stopped halfway through his motion and walked away. I was safe! Then I woke up, and it was about 4:30 AM.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
Anyway, we weren't getting anywhere with our conversation, and after what seemed like forever of trying to understand him and giving him the same answer over and over, I found myself at the top of the steps on the roof leaning against a dry-erase board shielding me from what was behind it (what was on top of the roof). Then the person on the phone asked me something about the Vietnamese president, and I vehemently responded that I don't get into politics. Then I looked up the steps in front of me, and stepping up to a podium was the Vietnamese president himself, Nguyen Minh Triet. This freaked me out, and I jumped, knocking over the dry-erase board, allowing me to see the huge crowd on the roof of the building as well as all the cameras and other hoopla. I was shocked so I ran back down the stairs asking the guy on the phone what was going on. All of a sudden, I could hear the guy on the phone clearly and in perfect English, and he proceeded to tell me that he was just keeping me on the phone as long as he could since he was calling from one of those phone numbers that charges an insane amount of money per minute. I was furious and hung up immediately! I never found my car or my friends, and thus never saw the baseball game.
I woke up at around 2:00 AM from that dream and was really glad it was just a dream. Then I fell back asleep shortly thereafter just in time for my next dream. I don't remember all the details, but I remember starting out some guy was at my house and stole somebody from me and was holding that person hostage at his house. So one night I got on a bicycle and rode over to his house to save the stolen person. As I was pedaling down his driveway, I looked to my right and saw the person through a large glass window, sitting on a chair, tied up and gagged. I also noticed that the bad guy was not at home, only the hostage. However, out of the corner of my eye on the left, I saw the shiny glare off of something down by a swingset further down the dark driveway. So instead of pulling up to the house, breaking in, and taking the person to safety, I speedily ramped down to the left and picked up what looked like a gray laptop computer. Once I had the laptop, I forgot about the person in the house and secretively crept off the property, taking the laptop back to my house.
The next day the man came back to my house looking for the laptop computer. He was furious, banging on my kitchen door with all his might! So what did I do? I stood on the other side of the door and pounded back! Then he'd pound on the door, then I'd pound on it again. This went back and forth for a while, even though I was really scared standing up to this guy on the other side of the door. After a bit, I finally had the idea to call 9-1-1, since I was being robbed, assaulted, or whatever else he would have done had he gotten inside. When he looked through the little window in the door and saw I was on the phone, he went around to the front yard. I didn't realize it, but the front door that leads to the yard was open, and all I had was the clear glass door. I saw him walking dejectedly off my property. So me, being stupid and cocky at the same time, banged on my door. Duh! So he looked back and saw that there was just the little measley see-through door between me and him. He ran up to the door and reared back like he was going to punch through the door. But he stopped halfway through his motion and walked away. I was safe! Then I woke up, and it was about 4:30 AM.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
April 20, 2010
Blog, or Call Girlfriend? Blog!
Haha! So tongue-in-cheek! Don't worry. Earlier tonight my Facebook status read "Andrew Marcum is doing laundry, vacuuming his house, putting things away, having dinner, and then writing a short blog entry on his day off from extra-curricular activities." I got all that stuff done except writing an entry for this blog. I got sidetracked watching Tosh.0 on Comedy Central for a few hours after watching some Colbert Report before that (while laundry was being done, etc.). Anyway, I lost track of time. I told my girlfriend I'd call her in a few, but I was brushing my teeth and realized I hadn't owned up on my Facebook status, yet. And we all know how important Facebook statuses are! Oh, some of that wasted time was spent on www.Lamebook.com, too, which is a rather funny site if I do say so myself.
I knew if I called my girlfriend right away that I would not get back on my computer to post my blog, so I figured I'd give everyone (well, the few people that read this) an not-so-important update. I got lots done today both at work and at home, including returning my new Mizuno spikes for a different size. Now I'm all ready for softball season! Last night's baseball game at Fairless was alright. We won 4-3 to advance to 9-2 overall, but it wasn't pretty. We were up 4-0 going into the bottom of the 7th when we had 2 errors that led to them scoring 3 and making it a tense finish. But we won, and that's all that matters. We get them again tomorrow night (Wednesday) at home for a chance to get our 10th win in a row. *Knock On Wood*
That's all I had for now. I just wanted to get on here and say "Hi", not that anyone is really reading this anyway. But some day it will be fun to come back and read it, right? Haha! Off to call the woman. Later.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
I knew if I called my girlfriend right away that I would not get back on my computer to post my blog, so I figured I'd give everyone (well, the few people that read this) an not-so-important update. I got lots done today both at work and at home, including returning my new Mizuno spikes for a different size. Now I'm all ready for softball season! Last night's baseball game at Fairless was alright. We won 4-3 to advance to 9-2 overall, but it wasn't pretty. We were up 4-0 going into the bottom of the 7th when we had 2 errors that led to them scoring 3 and making it a tense finish. But we won, and that's all that matters. We get them again tomorrow night (Wednesday) at home for a chance to get our 10th win in a row. *Knock On Wood*
That's all I had for now. I just wanted to get on here and say "Hi", not that anyone is really reading this anyway. But some day it will be fun to come back and read it, right? Haha! Off to call the woman. Later.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
April 18, 2010
Bad Food, Good Company, and More Baseball
It's been a good weekend thus far. Friday after work I headed up to Solon to be with Jennifer. For dinner we went to Champps with her three best friends, Danielle, Lauren, and Nicole, along with Lauren's boyfriend Chris and Danielle's new boyfriend Peter, who we were there to meet. It was a good night of talk, and not so good night for food. I ordered an appetizer (buffalo chicken strips) and an entrée (Havana sandwich), and Jennifer had an entrée as well (chicken ranch wrap). Jennifer's Cherry Coke was very flat, and she had to settle for a normal Coke, a drink she does not like at all (she prefers Pepsi big time!). Then I didn't get my appetizer until the rest of everyone's meals came. To make matters worse, with my entrée, I asked for my favorite food, mashed potatoes, instead of french fries. When my meal came, the mashed potatoes were lukewarm, dry, and very crumbly. Also, the Havana sandwich I ordered was not hot, either. Lucky for me, the assistant waiter asked if I would want my appetizer taken off the bill since it wasn't brought before the other food. Normally I wouldn't have asked for such a favor; but since he offered, I would have been stupid not to have agreed. Overall, though, it was a great night to hang out with everyone and meet Peter, as well.
Saturday back in Wooster I had a double header at home (Triway) against Smithville. Jennifer was with me, so she got to watch the games from the stands while I was with the team. I felt kind of bad leaving her by herself; but she loves baseball and enjoyed watching the games (or so I believe, haha!). Afterward, we both were exhausted and just hung out in my living room watching television for most the rest of the cold, overcast day. She fell asleep on the couch while I watched the Cavs beat the Chicago Bulls in the first playoff game. Then we watched Gladiator while we made routine trips to the basement to help complete her laundry, which I offered to let her do at my house for free instead of her paying for it at her apartment. It only made sense for me to help her save what would have been at least $9.00 of washer and dryer fees.
It's Sunday, and we're getting ready to leave for church in a little bit. (It's a good thing my church has an 11:30 service, 'cuz Jenn loves to sleep in!) It's going to be a busy upcoming week for me. We play at Navarre Fairless on Monday, home against Fairless on Wednesday (both are league games), under the lights at our biggest rival Orrville on Friday night, and then a double header Saturday against two good Mansfield-area teams. After our sweep of Smithville yesterday, we are 8-2. Our hitting finally came alive for 23 hits in 2 games Saturday, something which hasn't been the case much of the year as our pitching and defense has won us most our games. If we can combine our pitching and a new-found hitting approach, we could be dangerous. We'll see what happens! That's all I have for now. It's going to be a great week, I have a feeling.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
Saturday back in Wooster I had a double header at home (Triway) against Smithville. Jennifer was with me, so she got to watch the games from the stands while I was with the team. I felt kind of bad leaving her by herself; but she loves baseball and enjoyed watching the games (or so I believe, haha!). Afterward, we both were exhausted and just hung out in my living room watching television for most the rest of the cold, overcast day. She fell asleep on the couch while I watched the Cavs beat the Chicago Bulls in the first playoff game. Then we watched Gladiator while we made routine trips to the basement to help complete her laundry, which I offered to let her do at my house for free instead of her paying for it at her apartment. It only made sense for me to help her save what would have been at least $9.00 of washer and dryer fees.
It's Sunday, and we're getting ready to leave for church in a little bit. (It's a good thing my church has an 11:30 service, 'cuz Jenn loves to sleep in!) It's going to be a busy upcoming week for me. We play at Navarre Fairless on Monday, home against Fairless on Wednesday (both are league games), under the lights at our biggest rival Orrville on Friday night, and then a double header Saturday against two good Mansfield-area teams. After our sweep of Smithville yesterday, we are 8-2. Our hitting finally came alive for 23 hits in 2 games Saturday, something which hasn't been the case much of the year as our pitching and defense has won us most our games. If we can combine our pitching and a new-found hitting approach, we could be dangerous. We'll see what happens! That's all I have for now. It's going to be a great week, I have a feeling.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
April 14, 2010
Catching My Breath
I think I am finally getting over the sickness that came over me starting last Wednesday. Wow, it's been a week? Ugh. It started out being a badly-congested nose which I had to blow non-stop, it seemed. I literally sat at work with a box of Kleenexes at my desk next to me, and I went through two of those boxes. Needless to say, I had problems sleeping at night, having to wake up 4, 5, 6, 7 times each night because I was not able to breathe out my nose. Around this past Saturday, the congestion and stuffy nose slowly came to a halt, but I'm still in a state where I get very short of breath and oftentimes have to stop mid-sentence to take deep breaths in order to keep from coughing. The phlegm has built up, and "loogies" have been a common theme this week. I'm almost done, though!
My symptoms didn't seem to bother me too awful much Saturday when I ran in a 5K race in Akron with two co-workers, Dave and Ken. I ran a 24:35 which came to a 7:55 per-mile pace. My goal was to run a sub-8:00 pace. I did that, so I'm OK with it! The race was at the Portage Lakes Park at 9:00 AM, and then we had a cookout at Ken's afterward with Ken, his wife Kristen, and their kids Megan, John, and Ryan, then Dave, his wife Michelle, and their kids Ashley, Tank (Kyle), and Mildred (Samantha), and my girlfriend Jennifer. We had a blast! Jenn and I were physically exhausted when we got home, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
I sure hope my sickness clears up for this weekend, as this year's first softball league starts on Sunday. I'm playing in a Men's AA league in Lakewood with Jennifer's best friend's boyfriend, Chris. To make a long story short, we were supposed to play in the not-so-competitive league, but some things didn't fall through, and we had to move up one classification into AA. It requires matching uniforms, hats, pants, and such, but it will be a lot of fun playing up to the competition! I have everything I need except my shirt and hat, which Chris has ready for us when we see him Sunday (or before). Oh yah, the league is played on Sundays, done in double-headers, which is pretty sweet. I've always wanted to play double headers, because as soon as I'm done playing a softball game, I always say "I'm ready to play another game right now!" Well, I'll get my chance. Hopefully I don't embarrass myself. Haha! We'll see.
As for the rest of what's going on recently, tonight our baseball team beat Manchester 5-1 to advance to a season record of 6-2. (I am an assistant varsity baseball coach for Triway High School, if you didn't know.) We lost the first two games of the season to Indian Valley, who are the defending state champs, but we have rattled off six straight since then. We have a double header Saturday at home against Smithville, so I hope we can continue to play like we have thus far this season. Well, I think that's all I have for now. I'll catch up more later.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
My symptoms didn't seem to bother me too awful much Saturday when I ran in a 5K race in Akron with two co-workers, Dave and Ken. I ran a 24:35 which came to a 7:55 per-mile pace. My goal was to run a sub-8:00 pace. I did that, so I'm OK with it! The race was at the Portage Lakes Park at 9:00 AM, and then we had a cookout at Ken's afterward with Ken, his wife Kristen, and their kids Megan, John, and Ryan, then Dave, his wife Michelle, and their kids Ashley, Tank (Kyle), and Mildred (Samantha), and my girlfriend Jennifer. We had a blast! Jenn and I were physically exhausted when we got home, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
I sure hope my sickness clears up for this weekend, as this year's first softball league starts on Sunday. I'm playing in a Men's AA league in Lakewood with Jennifer's best friend's boyfriend, Chris. To make a long story short, we were supposed to play in the not-so-competitive league, but some things didn't fall through, and we had to move up one classification into AA. It requires matching uniforms, hats, pants, and such, but it will be a lot of fun playing up to the competition! I have everything I need except my shirt and hat, which Chris has ready for us when we see him Sunday (or before). Oh yah, the league is played on Sundays, done in double-headers, which is pretty sweet. I've always wanted to play double headers, because as soon as I'm done playing a softball game, I always say "I'm ready to play another game right now!" Well, I'll get my chance. Hopefully I don't embarrass myself. Haha! We'll see.
As for the rest of what's going on recently, tonight our baseball team beat Manchester 5-1 to advance to a season record of 6-2. (I am an assistant varsity baseball coach for Triway High School, if you didn't know.) We lost the first two games of the season to Indian Valley, who are the defending state champs, but we have rattled off six straight since then. We have a double header Saturday at home against Smithville, so I hope we can continue to play like we have thus far this season. Well, I think that's all I have for now. I'll catch up more later.
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
April 13, 2010
Back to Blogging
It's been a long while since I've blogged about what's going on in my life. I thought it was time to start back up again for a fun change and to keep everyone updated on things. I've had another blog for almost two years that I started for topic-driven content (http://pitmansblog.blogspot.com), but I wanted to get back on the personal level with everyone. That way I'll also have more to talk about, I'm sure!
Ever since I got my current job almost two years ago doing what I've always dreamed of and wanted to do (working with computers), life has flown by. I'm having a blast doing what I do every day at work, I enjoy my co-workers, I'm staying involved and active in sports in my community, I became a homeowner, and I've met a wonderful woman, Jennifer, with whom I've been in a relationship since January, 2010, after meeting each other in November, 2009. I couldn't ask for a better way for things to have developed after graduating from college in March, 2008.
There have been some bumps, trials, and not-so-awesome moments along the way, but everyone has them, right? I'm focused on making sure I keep plugging away with a positive attitude, not letting things get to me, and trying always to live my life as Jesus would. Anyway, I'm ready to begin Staying Current, and I hope you can do the same!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
Ever since I got my current job almost two years ago doing what I've always dreamed of and wanted to do (working with computers), life has flown by. I'm having a blast doing what I do every day at work, I enjoy my co-workers, I'm staying involved and active in sports in my community, I became a homeowner, and I've met a wonderful woman, Jennifer, with whom I've been in a relationship since January, 2010, after meeting each other in November, 2009. I couldn't ask for a better way for things to have developed after graduating from college in March, 2008.
There have been some bumps, trials, and not-so-awesome moments along the way, but everyone has them, right? I'm focused on making sure I keep plugging away with a positive attitude, not letting things get to me, and trying always to live my life as Jesus would. Anyway, I'm ready to begin Staying Current, and I hope you can do the same!
Smile! May God continue to bless you.
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