We are the Champions; An Emotional Day at the Ballpark

Sometimes I begin to write a blog post but I get distracted or too busy to finish, and by the time that I come around to work on it again, either the topic feels irrelevant or the inspiration has dwindled, so my little blog sits unupdated for several days.  Is "unupdated" a word?

Anyway, I am sitting here now- laptop on my lap, children asleep, glass of wine on the table beside me- and I vow to not put down my computer until a blog post is complete.

So, do you ever have one of those days when you are just plain weepy, and even the slightest emotion, whether happy or sad, makes you cry, and once you begin to cry you just can't seem to stop?  Of course, I am speaking to my female audience.  My male audience can't personally relate, I'm sure, but you two men know what I'm talking about (Hi Dad and Devon!), right?

Saturday was one of those weepy days for me.  Devon was at work, and I had a full afternoon of driving my minivan/taxi-cab to various destinations.  Fred Meyer for a poster board (for Joe's extra credit science project).  Drop Devon off at work.  Back home.  Fred Meyer for a black ink cartridge (also for Joe's extra credit science project).  Back home.  Fred Meyer for cyan, yellow and fuchsia ink cartridges (I knew I should have just bought them all during my first trip to the store!).  Back home.  Three separate hair salons in hopes of getting Joe a haircut within 25 20 15 minutes.  Drop Joe off at his coach's house without a haircut.  Back home.  And finally, it was time for me and Max and Lucy to make our way to the little league fields to watch Joe's team play for the Championship.

The activity at the fields caught me off guard. I guess that I wasn't really focused on the fact that this game was sort of a big deal, but I'm talking about balloons, banners, flags, a hot dog cart, an announcer, packed bleachers, and two teams of boys who were beyond excited to be at the big game.  The players were each announced as they ran out of the dugout and a six year old girl sang the national anthem.

Okay, so, these non-exciting photos of Max and Lucy give absolutely no visual depiction of how exciting this event was, but I'm using them anyway because they are the only pictures I've got-  see, I was a total mess.  I could not stop crying.  I stood in the back with sunglasses on, wiping my tears, trying to control my facial muscles, while people avoided me because no one knew why I was crying.  It was rough.  If you were there, you might have offered me a hug, and then you might have thought to yourself, Pull it together, girl!

And the mama within me was so proud of Joe and all the other boys, so some of my tears were happy.

But mostly I think that I was sad because Devon was missing the hoopla.

And I missed my family.  My brothers' little league games were such a big part of my childhood, so I was feeling nostalgic...

Whatever.  I cried.  A lot.

Grandma Donna and I were constantly texting Devon, reporting the game and the score.

And just as I was beginning to feel composed, a group of our friends arrived unexpectedly to cheer for Joe.  More (happy) tears!

Joe's fan club had doubled!  And then you won't believe who managed to take a lunch break and borrow a car and show up during the 4th inning!!!  Happy happy!

Aside from my unbalanced emotional state, there was a game happening, and it was a battle.  This league only plays 6 inning games, and going into the 6th the Rangers (Joe's team) were down 1-4 to the Giants.  The Rangers were batting, and they were able to get a few hits and earn a couple more runs, making the score 3-4.  With two outs and with a runner on first, the batter had 2 strikes.  Our chances of a victory were slipping away...  BUT then- the pitch- the hit- the cheers- the ball-  going, going, GONE!  HOME RUN!!!  The entire Rangers team exited the dugout and crowded home plate waiting for their MVP to make his way around!!!  Two runs scored, the Rangers lead 5-4!  Oh! My! Gosh!  Do I even need to mention the tears???  I wasn't the only one crying- the Giants' pitcher had big tears streaming down his face.  Emotions were high, I'm telling you!  The Giants had another chance to get ahead, but their efforts were futile, and the Rangers were named THE CHAMPIONS.  Oh yeah, "We are the Champions" played on the speakers.

I stopped crying.  Devon went back to work.  Joe got a haircut.  My taxi-cab service made its final stops for the evening.  Joe deemed it "the best day of his life."  And he eventually finished his extra credit poster.

I suppose it is "all in a day's work," as it is said.  Being a mama is no joke!