Our weekend story starts on Thursday evening. That’s when I took Christine out to get her birthday ice-cream cone: mint oreo from Broux Nellie’s. (We had to get birthday ice-cream on the day after the birthday because Broux Nellie’s closed before we could get there on Wednesday.) After eating our ice-cream cones, we decided that the night really needed some more excitement. So we grabbed the baby, piled into the car, and burnt rubber for the Verona Public Library — a brand-new multi-million dollar edifice to books. We browsed the DVD section.
True confession: I’ve never watched Rocky. I’ve never watched any of the Rocky movies. Ever. Really. It was in the Verona DVD section. I checked it out. Christine checked out some episodes of Little House on the Prairie. So it goes. Daughter was getting a bit cranky, so we brought her home.
Friday night I started watching Rocky.
The real excitement happened Saturday. Around about 11:30, I left home and took the new Camry to get its first oil change. Truly a big moment in the life of our car. While I was overseeing this import milestone, Christine was at home frosting a cake (and decorating it with frosting flowers) for Katherine’s bridal shower. Around 13:30 I brought our car home with a shiny new oil filter and fresh clean oil. Christine fed Esther while I prepared lunch for the two of us. Christine continued frosting the cake while I took a nap.
Around 16:30, we left home for Esther’s first ever baseball game. The Pittsburgh Pirates were in town to play the major-league (and NL Central Division) leading Milwaukee Brewers. Christine and I enjoyed each other’s conversation during the 80 minute drive to the stadium. We parked at Miller Park as the first pitch was being thrown. We changed Esther in the back-seat of the Camry before walking into the stadium.
Esther was mesmerized by the events of the evening. We enjoyed watching Mark Suppan control the Pirates and J. J. Hardy cement the victory with a three run homer. We enjoyed the promotional $1.00 hotdogs and a $3.00 hot, soft pretzel. We also saw a Pirates pitcher earn himself an ejection:
The game got chippy after Hardy socked his three-run homer off Pittsburgh reliever Matt Capps in the seventh. Capps threw a 0-1 pitch toward the head of the next hitter, Prince Fielder, who managed to lift his shoulder at the last second and deflect the ball.
With Fielder on the ground, keeping his cool but staring at Capps, and the rest of the Brewers poised for action on the top step of the dugout, home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez ejected the pitcher. Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy came out to argue, but Marquez was in no mood to listen after seeing Fielder almost get beaned.
“Capps has got pretty good control,” Yost said. “If you look at his numbers (two walks in 15 1/3 innings), he’s not walking a lot of hitters. It looked a little fishy.
“If you can’t keep your composure and you throw at a guy, there’s a difference in throwing down low and throwing at your head.”
Miller Park has a retractable roof. That came in handy this evening. The temperature was cooling throughout the day as the breeze continued to pick up. By game time, the weather was quite breezy and chilly. The Brewers opted to close the roof, leaving the park warm and pleasant for the game. As we exited the stadium, we were buffeted by a continual wind. Fortunately, Christine had planned ahead: we draped a blanket over Esther and the baby carrier. She never felt a thing.
As we left the stadium parking lot, we listed to a podcast interview between John Piper and Bruce Ware. They covered such topics as particular redemption (about half-way down, under “Limited Atonement”), the New Perspective on Paul, and several of Dr. Piper’s books.
Three of the books that they particularly mentioned were What Jesus Demands from the World, Desiring God, and When I Don’t Desire God. I own the first one and knew it was available to read online. I don’t own the other two (I’d like to), but looked them up this evening and realized that they were also available to read online. I greatly appreciate the ministry of Dr. Piper and am truly thankful that his resources are available for free. Spiritual growth shouldn’t have a cover charge and I treasure the opportunity to learn from him even when I’m on a tight budget.
We arrived home after 2330. Christine decorated the cake some more while I uploaded photos and watched Rocky. Christine fed Esther while I finished Rocky. Christine finished decorating the cake, while I organized photos and typed this brief recounting of the fun we’ve had.
More adventures to come!
