ah. back in town, with a lot to write about. i guess i’ll just go in chronological order.
thursday: work was sucky, but gavin my hero volunteered to finish up the last couple hours of mapping work on friday, allowing me to leave town for austin on thursday night after our softball game. and speaking of our softball game, i had the most spectacular catch ever!! so spectacular, in fact, that i just have to brag about it. so spectacular, in fact, that i heard the sportscenter theme song in my head. so spectacular, in fact, that when i chose to go ahead and bat in the next inning even thought i could have just taken a walk (because the guy ahead of me walked…weird coed softball rules), the ump said “you better bat, after that catch!! did you even have your eyes open??” well of course i did! instead of describing it myself, i’ll just post this excerpt from betsy’s weekly game recap email:
The defense was so good, that one single web gem can’t be picked out, so this week we have a freaking Web Jewelry Store: Katie played a great 1st base all night…Brian must have magnets sewn into his glove…
The most spectacular of all goes to Sarah “Willie Mays” Graybeal. Her catch in left center field of a hard hit lined shot was nothing less then a thing of beauty. As I watched the ball fly, I thought it was going to be at least a double in the gap. Then, out of nowhere comes Sarah in full stride, arm stretched as far as it would stretch, and snags the bullet out of mid air. She looked like Andruw Jones ranging around Turner Field out there! Way to go, Sarah!!
it was awesome. i have never been so excited about my own play in a softball game as i was on thursday. anyway, after the game i headed home, grabbed my bag, and drove up to austin, arriving at leila and brian’s house a little after 10:30.
well, it’s lunchtime, so the weekend update will have to wait till this afternoon.
(12:37 p.m.)
we continue.
friday: i slept in until i heard alex get into the shower, at which point i got up, walked into the living room, and was accosted by mackenzie the mutt dog. leila and brian have had her for a couple months now, and she’s very well behaved except she likes to lick toes. a lot. that, and she goes absolutely beserk when she sees a squirrel out the back window. but she’s a cute dog.
anyway, brian had to work on friday but leila, alex and i headed out in leila’s new car (a fancy schmancy audi a4) to grab some lunch, check out the course for the triathlon i’m doing this weekend, and tour the capital. we watched both the house and senate conduct their business for a while and discovered that my digital camera is broken (a fact which does not please me one bit, but it’s under warranty thank goodness). when brian got off work we had dinner at an italian place and came home to watch a so-bad-it’s-funny movie called dark star.
saturday: we all got up and hung out for a few hours, making sure not to eat anything in order to be ready for a late lunch at the salt lick, an all-you-can-eat bbq place outside of austin. ohhhhh, it was so good. we ate, then came home and laid around groaning happily for the rest of the afternoon. that night, we went to a minor league baseball game! the round rock express play just north of austin, and are the triple-a team for the astros. it had been years since i’d been to a minor league game, and it was quite fun. at one point, the mascot stole the glove from the other team’s third baseman and threw it into the stands, forcing the third baseman to call for another glove from the dugout. later, another mascot that was basically a big inflated baseball rolled right over one of the other team’s coaches. it was really funny, but also makes me conclude that getting picked on must just be part of being a minor league baseball player. yet another reason they’re all trying to get to the majors. 😉 one other funny moment was when the mascot and the home place umpire broke out in a coordinated dance. hilarious.
sunday: yesterday was a relaxed day of lunch at the best hamburger joint in austin and driving around town with a stop at the university of texas to see if we could climb the clock tower. no luck, as apparently it’s closed on sunday. ah well. i left austin a little after 3 and was back in my apartment by 6:30…just enough time to change clothes and head to my soccer game.
my soccer team continues to amuse me by acting like a soap opera. half the team is still composed of immature just-out-of-high-school girls who constantly complain about the $25 cost of t-shirts and ref fees. there is still one girl who shows up every game but acts like she hates to play and refuses to play the positions that she’s best at and that help the team most. and just to make the situation more absurd, one girl who can’t be more than 19 or 20 annouced yesterday that she can’t play anymore because she’s 3 months pregnant. by a guy she hates. and she doesn’t want the baby, but doesn’t believe in abortion or adoption.
good lord.
anyway. today i’m really tired and really sore. and that, dear readers, is the story of my weekend.
(2:57 p.m.)
so christina has this friend who runs ultramarathons and hiked the appalachian trail. she linked to his webpage today and i decided to check it out. amazing.
meeting people from all over who have done all sorts of wild and amazing things is perhaps what i miss most about grad school.