Lazy Sunday? Nah... Outdoor Sunday.

Had a nice walk with Sparky this morning through Springdale. I thought I'd see all the random wildlife I could, but I was surprised to see a crane fly up and out of the prairie grass. Based on photos I've seen on the internet, I'm pretty sure I saw a Sandhill Crane.

This afternoon Tom, Jim, Sparky, and I headed over the Washington disc golf course. I don't think we could have asked for any better of weather. Not too hot, breezy, and partially sunny, so we didn't bake. This small pic is the basic outline of the course.

You can thank Sparky for this overview, I attached my Garmin watch to him. He went 3.02 miles. I'm guessing us humans were somewhere between 1.5 to 2 miles.

Below is a zoomed in portion of Sparky's trails. I had him on the 25-30 leash, so he had ample opportunity to zig-zag his way from disc to disc.Did anything note worthy happen during today's outing, well if you consider my disc getting caught up in a tree and Jim getting down for me?... then, Yes.The Pekin course will be in our near future and I believe is planning on bringing his camera to help capture us taking on the hardest course in the area. My hope, being prepared with a camera will somehow eliminate all the mishaps.

Oh, and I mowed the grass before it starts to rain again.

And if you're curious, yes, Sparky is knocked out!

Disc golf fun

Got home tonight after work and had ants in my pants, so I called Tom to see if he'd be up for a little frisbee golf. He and Laura met me at Bradley Park and then Jim joined us for the back 9. It was a beautiful and fun evening... AND, we even got to test out the new water discs Tom gave me for Christmas. With the hose Laura found while picking up trash, Jim is fishing out the floating disc.

Yes, it's my disc, but no, I did not throw it.

Are You Ready for Some Cheese?

Andre Dawson. Need I say more?A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Dawson Game Day Photos

I don't recall how many times I've shared Andre Dawson stories over the past week. I do know that I smile every single time. How about I share some of the highlights other than the license plate and add in a few photos of the event?

Gates opened at 5:00 and Tom & I booked it around the ballpark over to the Pepsi Picnic Plaza. It took everything in my power not to say anything to Dawson as we flew past him on the concourse. Why the hustle? Had to get the picnic table view!

I had the chance to ask Andre Dawson several questions during two days of festivities. In front of an audience, I went with the following: 1. You're in the front office with the Marlins, do you get to interact with the young players?
2. Have you ever thought about coaching?

The answers to these questions and anything else I heard while being a fly on the wall had me glued. I enjoyed his story about Nolan Ryan pitching him high and inside to get him off the plate, but Dawson just fouled off the balls, leaving Ryan to simply tell him that "You're crazy!"

He spoke about getting hit with a bean ball during his 1987 MVP season... the rage of trying to get to the pitcher, the stitches, sitting out only 2 days, and having a leaky upper lip. I totally got him to blush when I mentioned, "Glad it didn't ruin your beautiful smile."

One of the most memorable conversations was the last one, when Tom and I got our picture taken with him. Tom was headed down to Florida the next day and was scheduled to see a Florida Marlins game, so we asked Dawson if he could suggest a place for Tom and his buddy Jeff to eat. Mahogany, Dawson's restaurant, was closed Monday and Tuesday, so that was out. We'll pick it up here...

Dawson: Where are you staying?
Tom: I don't know yet.
(Dawson's eyebrows raise in astonishment and disbelief.)
Tom: We'll be driving up from Orlando.
Dawson: How much money do you want to spend?
Tom: It doesn't matter, just looking for something good.

At this point, you can see Dawson following the roads in his head and voicing his concern for not wanting to send the boys past the ballpark just for a place to eat.

I was completely amazed that he was willing to help out, instead of simply just naming a restaurant. He gave Tom some verbal directions to the Grille's location at the Aventura mall. Absolutely super cool!

Still Waiting

So, I got the images from the people I attended the Dawson cocktail party with, but they were all fuzzy in some form or another. Let's pretend my smile is so big with this one that the flash crazy reflected off my teeth and screwed up the photo. I'm still waiting for the official IPMR photos, hope I get them soon!

Squirrel Wrestling

This morning I had a bunny, chipmunk and squirrel all hanging out in my front yard. The squirrel was quite amusing to watch, wish I knew what he was trying to accomplish.

License Plate Missing

So, a car has two license plates, but now I only have one of my favorite CUB 8 plates. I switched out the plates a couple months ago with generic ones. My goal was to get Dawson to sign one when he came to Peoria. As you can see from below, mission accomplished. But the other plate is no longer in my possession. What was I going to do with it, so I asked Dawson if he would like it. He looks at and says, "Illinois". My comment, "It's yours if you want it." He simply nods his head, says yes, and sets it down in front of himself.

Diamond Embedded Baseball Cards?

Soooo, I shaved about 20 years off my age and started collecting baseball cards again. Tom and I frequented our local shop, Baseball Card City, many times in the early 90's. I have boxes of baseball cards to prove this.

Over the last decade, I'd stop in a couple times a year to see if Randy, the owner, got any new Andre Dawson cards in. Yes, Dawson has been retired from the game, but they still make baseball cards for greats like him.

Earlier this year I stopped into Baseball Card City and got the scoop from Randy on what was going on with the Topps 2011 packs that mentioned Diamond Giveaway. I bought a pack with hopes of "winning the lottery, but that didn't happen. Then I found out Tom was going to collect this set and I followed suit... still in the hopes of finding a rare card.

The second series of the set just came out and Tom and I split a box. There are a handful of insert cards in each box which provide you with a code to enter online and unlock a card from any of the 60 years Topps has produced cards. Once you unlock cards, then you can trade them with people online. When you're happy with the cards you have, then you pay the shipping and handling to have them shipped to you from Topps.

Tonight I was completely flabbergasted to unlock a Diamond Embedded Bronson Arroyo card. it's quite rare, only one was made. hehe!

Yard Work... Sometimes Startling

I've found many a startling thing while doing yard work at my house over the years. Raking leaves to discover a dead squirrel in the front yard. The cow bones buried in the front flowerbeds. And who can forget the massacred bunnies (thank you Sparky).

Tonight was a much smaller creature, but for an insect, it was on the larger size and quite unexpected. I've never seen one standing still before.