Sunday 6-10-07

I woke up around 5:30 because it was getting light and I am totally in the habit of getting up early. I ventured out of my room to see if anybody was awake and of course my mom was sitting in John’s old chair reading. I decided to go for a long, brisk walk to wake up and check out the old neighborhood. Besides, it was gorgeous outside and I wanted to enjoy it. First I walked down the street I grew up on and noted the changes to the houses and how big the trees are. I could recall everyone’s name that used to (and still did) live in each house. Then I walked thru the common area and headed toward my old high school. I went by Brian’s mom’s house where he was house sitting. His car was out front, so I felt compelled to do something to it. (Sometime I want to be just like the Destroyers!!) All I could think of to do was to put his wiper blades up……lame I know……poor planning on my part. I continued on my walk and started to walk around Parkway North High school. As I passed the pool, I noted how familiar the smell was. I had taken swimming lessons there as a child and later went to school there so I have had many hours around that pool. It is a good smell that I found comforting. Then I decided I needed to go potty so I relieved myself out behind the shop classes. As I walked back through my mom’s neighborhood I passed a couple of older women out walking. I gave them a big friendly Columbia MO “hello” and they all pretty much gave me the cold shoulder. A lot of west county people are snotty! Back at the house my mom inquired about how my walk went. I gleefully told her “well, I vandalized a car and peed on the high school!” She did not act surprised; I guess she knows me pretty well by now.

My old roommate Sarah was in St. Louis for the weekend and we made arrangements to go to the Cardinals baseball game at the new Busch Stadium. I had not seen the new stadium at all and was excited to get a chance to see it as well as a chance to give my kids a memorable afternoon. We got down town with relative ease and found a parking garage 2 blocks from the stadium that was only charging $5 to park. We purchased the kids tickets at the window. Only $7 for general admission seats if you are 15 or under……so far this is cheap entertainment! Sarah arrived with my ticket after the 1st inning was under way and after many hugs and greetings, we headed into the stadium and straight for the ladies room. Of course I had to go!! We then went up into the cheap seats where we were advised we could sit anywhere there was a vacant seat. Lots of people said they were waiting for others so we spent the next 10 minutes hopping from row to row until we finally sat down without anyone complaining. Actually it was a bit raining, and we were up under the upper section of seats and stayed nice and dry and we had a very good view from where we were. I think every seat in that place is a good view. I really like the new Busch Stadium. It reminded me of Wrigley Field only it is nice and new and clean. After watching a few innings Zoe decided she wanted a big pretzel so we hiked out to the snack bar. It was only $5 for the pretzel and another $2 for a small tub of cheese for dipping. OMG, so much for a cheap outing!!! However, that was not as shocking as the $7.50 per beer they were charging and the fact that EVERYONE was drinking a beer. I am an accountant and I would love to see how much money they make on beer sales in a year; it has to be astronomical. I estimate that on beer sales alone at the stadium in one year they make over $22,000,000!! Malcolm spent his mad money on a giant roasted turkey leg which pretty much grossed me out. We also had a big bag of cotton candy that made all 4 of us ill before we were done with it. As the game neared the end, we snuck out early so we could beat the traffic out of down town. Again, worked like a charm and we made excellent time back to Creve Coeur and Grandma’s house.

We loaded up the car and hit the road again, this time headed for the bike race at Winghaven in St. Charles county. If we drove fast, we would be there just in time to see most of the Cat 1 race. We saw John Merli who gave me a big hug and seemed thrilled that I was expecting. He truly is one of the sweetest people in the world. I saw many other friends there and enjoyed being immersed in bike race land. I really do love bikes and bikers!

On the drive back to Columbia we stopped at KFC and sampled the chicken snacker sandwiches. Here is our review: The spicy one is hot and it was Malcolm’s favorite. Zoe preferred the honey barbeque one that is really too sweet for my tastes. The cheesy one is just plain gross and no one liked it (of course Malcolm ate it anyway). It has liquid cheese topping…..eeewww. The plain one is the best in my opinion.