“I don’t expect to be treated like a fool no more.”

 ”And in remembering a road sign
I am remembering a girl when I was young
And we said
These songs are true
These days are ours
These tears are free
And hey
The cross is in the ballpark”

–Paul Simon

As 2009 (and the decade!) comes to an end, I thought it would be nice  to reflect on the past year considering I’m a huge fan of “end-of-the-year” lists! I’m not a fan of personal info on my blog but I think the following is pretty benign. Also, 2008 was such a horrible year, that I was determined to make 2009 awesome. I think I succeeded… Here are some month-by-month highlights (consider this my supremely annoying Christmas card!):

January

• Quit my job
• Turned 26 (sayonara quarter century!)
• Went to Madrid with my BFF

February

• Enjoyed living the unemployed dream before it got boring and tedious

March

• Started my awesome blog!
• Went to Arizona for Cubs Spring Training, baked in the sun for what I would later find out would be the last time I could do that. Thanks for the tan Arizona!

April

• Another exciting Cubs season began…

May

• As quick as the Cubs season began… it was already over.
• I learned the value of couponing thanks to all the frugal blogs out there on the information super highway! Not sure how much I saved but if my CVS receipts are any indicator, my year-to-date savings there alone is over $800!

June

• Went to Las Vegas for the first and last time
• Went to my first Cubs-White Sox game on the scary southside

July

• Can’t remember much about this… I can only assume this means that I went on the traditional midyear/midsummer bender

August

• Started grad school!

September

• Reunited with my long lost lover and became engaged!
• Went to Seattle with my family for an awesome Bears-Seahawks game

October

• Formed a legendary karaoke band, “Annette”

November

• My long lost lover moved in and I said goodbye to my beloved single life forever

December

• This  month flew by, I have no idea what happened in December besides Christmas and going to Pittsburgh with my Dad for an awesome Steelers game!

So that, in a nutshell, has been my year. I look forward to making 2010 even more awesome, if that’s possible. Thank you also to all of you, my readers, for making my blog and my year worthwhile! Have a fabulous New Years, be safe, and I’ll see you again in 2010!

I love baseball and I love going to baseball games.  When I go, I always keep score (unless I’m sitting in the bleachers, because that’s more of a straight up boozing time).  Keeping score keeps me involved in the game, and I like looking back on what has happened throughout the game.  For instance I will say, this guy is 0-3 so he’s due for a hit; or wow, the Cubs suck because the Pirates pitcher who is hitting .109 just hit a home run off Carlos Zambrano.  Stuff like that.  On the scorecard I list the players name, number, and batting average.  My mom taught me how to keep score and she always added the batting average so I got that from her.  This is not a common practice and I don’t know why not– it’s vital information! 

I always keep every score card, and my dad and I joke that we will send them to Cooperstown one day.  At the end of a season, I usually have around 30 – 40 scorecards.  I like to look back through them, it’s like looking at a picture book– it helps you remember some things you may have forgotten.  Sometimes it’s a great game, a horrible game, or a funny quote you wrote down that you forgot about.  It’s just another slice of my personal history that I like to hang on to.

When I think of all the scorecards I have kept in the past 10+ years, 2 immediately come to mind.  I was at Game 6 in 2003 (if you’re a Cubs fan you need no further explanation, if you’re not, it’s the “Bartman” game), and I kept score.  I was still living with my parents then so the card is somewhere in their house.  I have not seen it in years and it is my sole mission to locate this (although if you could see all the crap in their basement you would know this is not an easy task).  I can picture the top of the 8th inning on my scorecard, all those little diamonds filled in…  dreadful.  I think I want to find this card because I still don’t believe that really happened.

The second card is more recent– one I kept last summer which now hangs framed on my wall (see pic).  It was Rich Harden’s first game pitching as a Chicago Cub.  I was there with Biggie and Harden pitched a great game, but our bullpen blew it.  The game went in to extras and Biggie and I, irate,  left to go to the bar.  Later after the game, we were walking by Wrigley and a group of people were congregated by the players parking lot.  Biggie said it was Rich Harden they were getting autographs from.  I’m not big on autographs but I dashed over there and shoved my way to the front of the crowd.  I thrust my scorecard in front of everybody elses baseballs and scraps of paper.  I said “Rich, you pitched an awesome game, you should have gotten the win.”  He grabbed my scorecard, signed it, smiled, said thanks, then walked away leaving many fans disappointed, and angry with me!  A shining example of how it pays to be awesome!  So I have a scorecard of Rich Harden’s Cub debut signed by Rich Harden.  In baseball memorabilia, I think this could be a pretty important thing.  So if I ever need some money, I could throw it on eBay.  But who am I kidding, I would never do that. 

Keeping score is fairly easy, but at the beginning of each season I am usually a little rusty.  It’s kind of like riding a bike I guess.  A really fucking sweet bike with a basket, bell, the works.  Americana if you will.  I urge you to try and keep score at the next game you go to.  Or, invite me and I’ll personally help you learn! 

Pet Peeve of the Day: People who don’t let others off the bus/train first.  Did I already do this one?  Whatever, it’s worthy of duplication.

Quote of the Day: “City girls just seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile.” –The Eagles

I say a lot of weird shit.  I don’t call anybody by their real names (and if I do it probably means I don’t like you or know you that well), I make up some words, and say some unusual ones.  Here’s a vocab lesson to help keep you on your toes around here:

Vom: Short for vomit.  As used in a sentence: “A shot of tequila or Jameson makes me wanna vom.”

Annoy2k: I am fairly certain Biggie’s friend from college, Marcy, introduced me to the simple “annoy” to describe something as annoying.  I wanted to take it one step further, and the year was 1999.  Hence, Annoy2k, the most annoying of all annoying things.  As used in a sentence: “The Cardinals got DeRosa?  Wow, annoy2k!”

What’s tha date:  I’m not asking you what the date is.  It’s more like, I didn’t hear you/what’d you say?  As used in a sentence: “Wait, what’s tha date?”

Mobile: Cell Phone.  As used in a sentence: “Klinker, where the hell is my mobile?!”

Vale (Bah-lay):  It’s Spanish for ok, yeah, agreed, etc.  I use it quite liberally and whenever I feel like it.  As used in a sentence: “I will meet you there.  Vale.  Vale.  Vale, vale vale!!”

Euro:  No, not my favorite currency.  Urinate.  As used in a sentence: “I just chugged a bunch of water and now I gotta euro.”

Shit’s piece:  I was asking my Italian friend to provide me with some Italian terms and phrases I could use.  (He doesn’t speak English that well.)  So he sent me a list and on it was some Italian term translated by him to say “shit’s piece.”  I thought that was the most hilarious thing I had ever heard.  I knew he meant to say “piece of shit” but goddamn if shit’s piece isn’t funnier and more descriptive!  As used in a sentence: “That weirdo that kept stalking us at the bar was a fuckin’ shit’s piece!”

I also use a variety of Aussie phrases as I love Australians and strive to be more like them:

Jumper:  Basically a hoodie or sweater.  As used in a sentence: “It’s so cold, I better go put my jumper on.”

Runners:  Gym shoes.  As used in a sentence: “I wish I didn’t have a need for runners but I guess exercise is kind of necessary.”

Sunnies:  Sunglasses.  As used in a sentence: “I’m gonna wear my sunnies inside so people will think I’m a celebrity!”

And a term I made up based on Aussie-ness:

Flippies:  Flip-flops.  As used in a sentence: “I love wearing my flippies in the summer.”

I am sure I am forgetting some… but if you’re curious about what something I say means, just ask!  More often than not it’s just some nonsense…

Pet Peeve of the Day: The smell of blown out candles

Quote of the Day: “And she made a vow, to have it all, it became her new religion.” –Tom Petty

Growing up, I can distinctly remember a fascination bordering on obsession with two professional athletes.  The first is Darryl Strawberry, the second, Dennis Rodman. 

Darryl Strawberry recently released a book: “Straw: Finding My Way” which I intend to read.  I’m not exactly sure why I was such a fan of Darryl’s– he was a Met and I was a budding Cubs fan; liking any Met was certainly not allowed.  But, he played right field, where I sit at Wrigley, so I was easily able to cheer him on when the Mets were in town.  Perhaps I just liked his last name because I’d never heard anything so silly before.  I was a few years shy of 10 years old, but I was determined that this was the greatest baseball player there was.  I had a Darryl Strawberry shirt and a plastic “Starting Line-up” figure of him– my two most prized possessions. 

In the mid to late 90′s, Darryl’s career started to fade as his cocaine use went up, and my interest in him waned.  Luckily for me, there was a new Chicago Bull in town, and his name was Dennis Rodman.  All I wanted for Christmas in 1997 was Rodman’s book: “Bad As I Wanna Be.”  Luckily, I received this book (along with a Rodman Bulls jersey– another prized possession!!) and read it cover to cover in a matter of days.  This was surely not what my other 14 year old girlfriends were reading, but I was entranced by this man and his I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude.  Accordingly, I was the only girl on my 8th grade basketball team to receive a technical foul, and probably the only one who could ever be proud of such a thing.  “Bad As I Wanna Be” remains one of the single most influential books of my life, right up there with The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and On the Road by Jack Kerouac.  Quite the collection.  I fully expect that “Straw: Finding My Way” has a good chance to be added to this group.  I’ll keep you updated.

And, now you don’t have to wonder why I have a bit of an edge!

Pet Peeve of the Day: People who run to the gym and/or races (5k’s, 8k’s, etc.)

Quote of the Day:“Don’t let what other people think decide who you are.” –Dennis Rodman