Alphablog - I

I is for Indians (of the Cleveland variety).

I became a fan of the Cleveland Indians by association. My grandfather was from Ohio originally, but moved to Arizona to help manage his emphysema. Despite the move, Grandpa John was a huge fan of them up until the day he died. To this day when I picture him, I imagine him wearing his original Indians windbreaker - he wore that thing year-round over his blue and grey henley t-shirts.

I always kind of semi-rooted for the Indians because of him, and then when Clinton and I actually went to Cleveland a few years ago to see a game, we had an experience that made me a life-long Indians fan.

Before we left, I asked my step-mom if I could borrow Grandpa John's jacket so he could "come with us" to the game. I kept the jacket on my person at all times - I did not dare pack it in a checked bag, but made sure to have it in my carry-on. When we got to the stadium, we walked around to check things out like we usually do, and they had a statue and a big mural for Bob Feller, a hometown hero (Check out this link for a good article on Bob Feller). It was a cloudy day, and as I walked around the statue a bit of sun burst through the clouds down to an old man sitting on the ground near the mural. I don't know if he was homeless or if he was maybe just waiting for the game, and I don't know how to explain this, but I just knew it was Grandpa John letting me know that he was there.

Eventually we made our way into the game - I laid the jacket down over the seat and bought Grandpa his own Pepsi to set down next to it.

I just know he was there, I could feel him watching the game with us. It was awesome. Sadly, the game ended up getting rained out! There was a rain delay at first, and it seemed like they would continue to play, and I still felt Grandpa John lingering - but once they officially called it, I immediately felt a change and knew he had gone back up. "Thanks for the Pepsi honey, I'm out of here!"

Ever since then, I've just known that they are my team and always will be. When we went home I told my step-mom all about our experience and about a year later she ended up giving me that jacket. It hangs in my closet now and only comes out when I go to games, on the anniversary of his passing, and if we're watching a game on TV I'll throw it over a chair so he can come watch with us if he wants to - but he's got a pretty good view anyway - better than the one from my living room, I'm sure.

Clinton and I at a spring training game here in AZ a couple years ago - and check out that beard!

My custom jersey.

Every year on December 23rd I take the jacket out and put it on for a few minutes and talk to my Grandpa John. It's been several years since he left us, but every time I put it on I can smell him and see him lounging outside in the sun, or standing with his sweatpant-clad tush next to the open oven - my eternally cold, pepsi-drinking, JAG-watching, don't-try-to-fool-him-because-he-can-see-right-through-you-and-will-love-you-regardless grandad.

Five Things

1) Debbie's Retirement
Last Friday was my mother in law's last day of work EVER. Pretty exciting! Her husband was out of town for work and I didn't want her to have to go home to an empty house on such a momentous occasion, so I had Clinton tell her to meet us at our place for dinner at 6 (but that was a trick!). I had the idea to do a little mini scavenger hunt leading her to meet us at her favorite restaurant. Since it was last-minute and there would only be about an hour from the time that she got home until she was supposed to meet us, I didn't want to make it too complicated, so I just did little poems instead of puzzles for clues.

After work we made a quick stop at Party City and then headed to her house to decorate the driveway/carport and place the clues, and then we headed to the restaurant to snag a seat, place the final poem, and wait for her arrival.

She was so giggly and happy when she arrived, it was so cute! She said that it was a really fun end to her day, so I'm glad we threw together this little last minute celebration.

After dinner we took her out to see a movie of her choice - Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2. It was a fun night for sure.

2) Saturday Night Shenanigans
I had to work Saturday but in the evening we spent some time with three of my thirteen nieces and nephews. Madison had a birthday recently and we got her a gift card to Hobby Lobby because she looooves all things crafty. The deal was that on the next free weekend, we would take her to spend it. Her brother Jaxon was with us too, but she wanted a girls night, so Jaxon and Clinton hung out at our place playing video games while I took Madi and Sydney to Hobby Lobby. She was awesome in there, I loved watching her! She was just blazing through the place throwing things in the cart left and right, ha! She made off with quite the haul. While we were there, the girls helped me pick out the finishing touch for Clinton's anniversary present, and it was so cute how excited they were to be in on the secret.

After HL and before heading home, I took the girls for froyo - they said no boys allowed! Sassy.

On the way home we stopped to pick up some Taco Bell for the boys, and after eating we all headed over to the playground at our apartment. Jaxon ended up hurting his heel playing, so I went back inside with him for more video games while Clinton hung back to play make believe firefighters with Syd and Madi. Later, Clinton told me that after they were done playing they went for a walk around the complex all holding hands, and Madi told him, "You're more than an uncle to me - and trust me, that means a lot! You're more like my best friend," and Sydney chimed in with, "Yeah, you're our best friend!"

Please excuse me while I just melt all over the place. Clean-up in aisle 1, we've got a Reissig puddle here.

Eventually we took them all home where the girls immediately jumped in the pool for some night swimming and Clint and I spent a little bit of time with my sister and her husband. It was a good night!

3) Clevelend Inidans
The Indians are in the playoffs! I became an Indians fan because my grandfather was one. He passed several years ago, but I have his old jacket and even got to bring it with me to a game at Progressive Field in 2011 - it was a surreal experience.

Looks like I'll be rocking my custom jersey and grandad's jacket for a bit! #tribepride

4) Sunday Family dinner
Sunday we planned on having Tom and Debbie over for dinner and to watch football and the Kids Cookoff on Food Network (cutest show ever, by the way). During the day my friend and her family dropped by since they were on our side of town, so that was nice. My husband is a total crazypants and riled her kids up as he always does, and her husband said that he's just waiting until we have kids so he can get them all worked up too. Agh! I'll have to keep an eye on that one... ha!

Dinner was Braised Short Ribs on Parmesan Polenta with Balsamic Glazed Toasted Asparagus, and Toasted Baguette. It was delicious.

5) Harry Potter News
I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT SOMETHING.

http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/7209

Enough said.