My trip to the Twin Cities to visit son David and d-i-l Kelsey:
Day 1-Friday the 13th:
As I drive from our turnoff onto highway 121, I pass a car in which the driver is crouched very low in the seat. When I pass, I can see that SHE is combing her bangs and has the mirror adjusting accordingly and is slouched in the seat. Ten seconds later I pass a second car in which the lady is dipping a tea bag into a small thermos. I've got to quit watching other drivers or I'll drive off the side of the road. The worst part of flying is getting to the airport.
I arrive in the Twin Cities on time. David picks me up, we stop for a bottle of wine for a party this evening and finally stop at a grocery store to pick up snacks because the party could start late (it does).
When I arrive at their house, the first thing I do is feed Stooey; the dachshund, who is very suspicious of strangers to put it mildly. He is kinder to the hand that feeds him so we repeat the routine daily and Stooey and I get along pretty well.
The party consists of D and K-aged friends. I'm the oldest person there but with so many young mothers and pregnant wives, as a full-time child care provider, I find I have street cred.
A few older folks do show up, the food and liquor is pretty good, and we all enjoy ourselves. That's just the weekend warm-up.
More tomorrow.

Seen on the back of a T-shirt at the fitness center this morning and dedicated to my teacher friends:

"The beatings will continue until morale improves."

On the back of a T-shirt seen at the Mets-Rockies game last night:

"If God had wanted man to play soccer,
He wouldn't have given us arms."

Mike Ditka, former NFL tight end and later NFL coach

Rockies-2, Mets 1
I am now 2-0 when I watch the Rox in person.

Bumper sticker seen this morning

"Jesus is coming-
Hide your porn"

This reflects the image of hypocrisy that I have of not all but certain conservative religions.

Sarah Palin was speaking in Denver the Monday after the death of Osama bin Laden was announced. She gave full credit to former President George W. Bush for the planning and carrying out the mission.

No wonder democrats pray for a Donald Trump-Sarah Palin republican ticket.

Today would have been my mother's 95th birthday but she passed away in March. I always called her if May 3rd was during the week and I always visited her the following weekend-weather permitting. Casper always hosted a big track meet that Saturday but the meet director knew I wouldn't be home that day. The only exceptions were when the kids played soccer.
When she died, she was in a lot of pain but fortunately went quickly. Her future wasn't bright but she was optimistic about recovery-more so than me. I wouldn't wish her back but I still have the urge to pick up the phone to call mom or to send her photos of the grandtwins.

Went to the Rockies-Pirates game at Coors Field last night dressed in two ski jackets and long johns. I wore my Rockies cap rather than a ski cap-big mistake.
It was in the high 40's at the 6:10 game start. The wind came up from the north and the temp went down from there.
First a group of five young ladies sat a few rows in front-one wearing a sleeveless T-shirt (over her winter coat, of course) with Eliza-Bitchin' Bride-Last Chance. I wondered what "last chance" could mean. Maybe I should have asked........Naaaaa. There was an elderly guy with a Rockies jersey seated the front row of our section. He had the name "Banner Jack" on the back. Every time they introduced a Rockies player, B' Jack would hold up a sign with the player's name and number and encourage fans to cheer for the player. That went OK for the first couple innings but the fans got tired of it. B' Jack got frustrated but didn't give up. A couple of innings later B' Jack announced as he was leaving the section but he would be right back. No one seemed to care but Jack. You know how old guys and their bladder are. People like this give us seniors a bad rep.
Just when I thought I had see almost everything, a vendor came by with a backpack that dispensed Margaritas-$7 (the guy in front of me had two). Later that guy talked a friend into going with him to the front of the section to encourage our section to do the "wave" (the most useless thing in sports). Through the intervention of a "higher being" it failed. Later another section started the "wave" and it succeeded. The "higher being" must have been at the concession stand.
After freezing for seven and a half innings, I left to beat the traffic. That succeeded and I made great time coming home until I hit a snow storm at the west end of the Denver Metro but the roads were fairly dry and I got home with no problems.
BTW-the Rockies won 4-1. Great night for baseball.