Opening Day Link Up: the Importance of Baseball, Love, & Fashion

I'm linking up today for a special Baseball Opening Day Party with Venus Trapped in Mars and Marty with the Party and I thought I would share some all to often overlooked important Fashion Tips for your above average fans. I mean those fans who know that Opening Day is Christmas Morning! I also am sharing with you my love of the game so guys, skip to the bottom!













For the occasion today, I am sporting my team colors although this is not the all important Opening Day shirt. That one will not make it's appearance until Monday.









And the mandatory "I'm going to Opening Day!" Ticket shot. These tickets are almost impossible to come by! I get them with my season plan.







A few things about proper fan accessories: too much is just enough!







I Ranger-ify every part of my life!







From my Christmas







To my office.







And when it comes to being a fan, I am nothing but a big kid!







I even sport my colors at concerts.







This was Rascal Flatts 2 summers ago and one of my Rangers blankets and handbags went with me!







People know I am a big fan so they give me stuff, like baseball dinnerware!

















I have been known to bake special Rangers Opening Day cupcakes. They are the BOMB! (Alcohol infused, naturally!)







Of course I have shoes that I painted. I actually have a new pair planned for this season but they won't make an appearance for Opening Day this year because I haven't started on them yet. :(

And hats (with my buddy Trish).



For baseball fans there is no day more exciting than Opening Day. Everything is new and fresh and every team has hope, even the Cubs! The grass smells a little nicer, the tailgate party is a little louder and the fans all love one another. (Unless Phillies fans show up. We won't love them.)



I started out a Cubs fan when I was a kid and my first game was at Wrigley when I was about 8. I have always loved baseball better. When I was little, I would go into my grandfathers bedroom and watch the Cubs play on a black and white TV with rabbit ears while the rest of the family would watch the Fighting Irish play football on fall Saturday afternoons. I didn't care that the Cubs were out of the race, I just wanted to see the game!



We moved to Texas in 1980 but before we moved, we visited at spring break. My first memory was of Buddy Bell bat night at the old Arlington Stadium (RIP). I still have the bat and if you look really hard you can still see the signature. It has been by my bed for years for "home security".



My Rangers love really took off during the V-ball days when Bobby Valentine was manager. That was the late 80's when names like Ruben Sierra, Nolan Ryan and Julio Franco dotted the lineup card. I was obsessed. When I left for the University of Texas, one of the last things I did was drive to Arlington, where the new Ballpark was going up, and try to decide if Austin was the place for me or I should stay closer to home. To decide I had to be with my current love, the Rangers to help me through it. Tough call but I left and they stayed faithful and pretty awful!



Luckily, I could get most games in Austin and I watched and sometimes I drove home to see the Rangers...oh and my family.



My brother gave me my first mini-plan 10-game pack in 1996. I cried. For most of the time since I have had a 10 or usually 20 game pack of tickets. These tickets get me Opening Day and post season options. In the last few years I have averaged well over 30 games a season, not including Post-season. The Ballpark is my second home.



I have sat at the Ballpark and cried over a stupid man who broke my fragile heart, celebrated winning our 1st playoff game ever, celebrated winning our AL Championships, and several World Series games. This season I get to go to Opening Day with the love of my life on his birthday!



This game, this team has been a better friend than some of my long gone friends and a better lover than all but one. Can you be romantic about baseball? Sure you can. At one point I had a baseball themed wedding planned. I don't think that will happen now but I am going to hold out for a Rangers wedding cake should the day come.





My life has become full of a lot of things in the 35 years since I was first introduced to the game at Wrigley Field. People have come and gone. Homes have changed. The world has changed in ways I can't describe. (Microwaves, cell phones, laptops, iPads, GPS, and who knows what else?) but baseball has always been there just like James Earl Jones said!













So, I hope to see you at Rangers Ballpark this summer! Come say hi, and invite me to your tailgate! I'll bring the cupcakes!



Go Rangers!!



XO









Simply,

Laura

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Enjoy the Ride!

Simply,
Laura

Never do it today!

I suffer from a disease. It's called idontwanttoitis better known as procrastination.


I can manage to get 99 things done at work but the minute 5 o'clock comes I want to go home, relax, and read a book or watch TV. This drives my significant other nuts because he comes home and wants to work on everything in the house until it's done then start again tomorrow doing it all over again. I'm serious, my kitchen has never been so clean for so long.


It sounds like the perfect storm doesn't it? To be fair, there are many days...no most days, when I am mentally drained. I have 6 employees who report to me, my director to keep happy and the VP. Not to mention a slew of angry people who had accidents and suffer from iwantthisnowitis.


To be honest, most nights I come home and just can't think. So, like any warm out member of middle management I put off until the weekend!


Except that we are always running on the weekend and sometimes I just want to do nothing. Nothing only happens when I get sick.


So what am I procrastinating? Well, I have cleaned out two closets halfway. Now a normal person would have cleaned out one closet completely and moved to the next but that would be boring!


Even when I clean I do it in bursts. I will start in the bathroom then have to take something to the bedroom where I see a towel that belongs in the kitchen so I take the towel back and then I notice the floors are a mess so I start to clean them and before you know it, I have forgotten about the bathroom!


I clean in a very ADHD manner! I am lucky if I can even remember what I was doing when I walk from the kitchen to the bathroom to brush my teeth! I wish I were kidding.


Oh and Friday! Friday comes and I just don't want to do anything! It's like Friday has some mythical power drain. I will be sitting in my office thinking "I wish I were shopping!" I mean, after a long work week Friday is just a constant countdown to the weekend and hoping to find time to sleep!


Working out is another thing I procrastinate! Don't get me wrong, when I am on a roll, nobody is better at working out but I haven't been on a roll for a long time. I have this plan. I will walk until I get my leg strength up to mountain bike again but the bike needs to go to the bike shop and have a check-up and I never stick it in the Jeep and I forget to walk. How does one forget? Well, it's too cold or it's raining or I get home and I'm tired and there is a honey-do list. In a complete role reversal, I have the honey-do list instead of him.



Now, all of this sounds kind of lazy but I am not really lazy. Am I? I just want to do what I want to do and usually that isn't cleaning closets, redoing the bathroom floor and getting the garage cleaned out.

Well, I have put off getting ready for work long enough this morning. Time to get my face on and deal with Thursday!

So, do you procrastinate? What is your biggest challenge?



Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rangers: It's the end of the world as we know it

....and I feel fine. No really, just fine. Rangers season starts Monday and Rangers Nation is out of control. The Rangers are having a hard time being healthy, but I am not worried.



I have been so busy this off-season with work, friends and family that I haven't actually missed baseball. Truthfully I have a hard time seeing my friends and making time for them right now because we aren't in town half the time so baseball hasn't been on the radar. Worse than that, I haven't worked up much excitement for Opening Day yet. It will come.








My lack of enthusiasm has nothing to do with my Rangers starting the season without all of the above players, to name a few.

My apathy really isn't a reaction, seen too often on Twitter in the last few weeks, toward believing this season is over before it starts. I believe over the course of a season every team goes through a series of injuries that effect their performance. How that team reacts is a reflection of the character of the club. More than that, in Texas where it is really hot from June through September the injuries can take a mental toll on a club that can be rough to overcome. Maybe getting injuries out of the way early is a blessing?

So, my team starts the season with a lot of injuries. This could be a sign that they will be fresh for August. This could be an indicator that they will be strong in September and maybe they will go a long way into October. I don't know. Neither does anyone else but instead of worrying about it, instead of giving in to the endless "What If's" and constant knee jerk panic seen the last week on Twitter, I choose to let them play the season and see how it works out!

As far as my excitement is concerned, I have a life full of craziness right now. We are working on the financing of a new home while preparing to put mine (finally) on the market. When it comes to things to worry about, my worry is saved for "What if my house sells and we can't find our house? Where do we live?" I am pretty tapped out with that one.

My plan? First is making it to this weekend then a fishing trip and Opening Day, which happens to be my honey's birthday, do baseball comes in about 3rd or 4th. I just want to be able to breath and take life a moment at a time and when you have a full life, baseball is part of it but you don't spend hours talking about trades that haven't been made, hypothesizing about moves that can be made, studying cyber metrics (what the heck is cyber metrics?), panicking over a back injury or a rotator cuff tear (unless it's you hurt) and playing GM:manager in APRIL. Baseball is suppose to be fun and entertaining. Yes, it has it's moments of stress for fans but really, the start of the season is suppose to be the happiest time of the year! It's suppose to be a time when you have hope, the air is brisk, and the weather isn't well, 110! It's suppose to be the relaxing time of the season. It IS when you remember you're a fan and this is a game. So, my advice: stop stressing Rangers Nation and let the players play. We still have a lot of pretty decent guys who know how to hit, run, and throw and have a LOT of baseball ahead of us!

Go Rangers!



Simply,
Laura
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Enjoy the Ride!

Simply,
Laura

Twitter Tuesday: Who, What, When, and How? Nobody knows Why!

I was talking to a friend recently about how people think they get to police what you put on Facebook and Twitter. If you don't like what I post, unfollow. I tend to rant a little at times. As far as my Facebook, that tends to be my way of communicating with a few friends so I have edited the settings so most of the people are acquaintances and therefore aren't included in my "over sharing". I forget sometimes that I am not just talking to some close friends or family but some people I barely know who I just happened to cross paths with. Anyway, that conversation started me on my Twitter Tuesday where you can share in my thoughts on baseball and current events. What an enormous thrill. (Yes, I may be a little lacking in blog ideas right now.)


I Tweet sports. A lot.








Twitter Rangers Nation has been a little upset over all the injuries.




Random Rant:


News:








Ginger love







More baseball, sports and TV












Come on, who doesn't love Daryl?











Things that just confuse me!



Russia has been at the center of a lot of my rants lately!





Relationships


More Current Events


Asthma



Messages of encouragement, love, or just food!










Alrighty there ya go! The best (?) of Twitter lately. Happy Tuesday. I am stuck in meetings for the next 4 days so....pray!






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