Payback is wonderful!

A knock on my door had me scrambling for my bathrobe as I had been online shopping in my jammies. My neighbor was standing there holding my Pyrex dish. I had given him and his partner the dish full of the delicious beef stew that I had made almost two weeks ago to ward off the cold of the Chicago winter.
Since I hadn't seen my dish since then, I figured they might have dropped it and were now guiltily searching for a replacement. It seemed heavy in my hands...and cold.
"I made you flan," my neighbor said as I looked down into the creamy dessert goodness.
I LOVE having gay men as neighbors!

A made-for-tv life

After my first week back at work, I was too tired (from the office Christmas party on Friday too!) to go out Saturday night, so I found myself channel surfing. Stopped when the TV screen was full of ocean waves. Yep, images of warm, foamy salt water will usually keep my attention - - if only momentarily.
Travel Channel?
No.
Lifetime. (For my foreign pals, it's a female-oriented cable station that features lots of romantic and dramatic movies.)
Anyway, the made-for-tv film featured a single woman in my age group who goes on vacation alone to Hawaii (thought I was the only woman who goes on vacation alone?!?!) and meets up with a handsome surf instructor who is SEVERAL years her junior.
Of course my thoughts went to Tour Guide and the lovely hot, sunny weather in Darwin.
Is it completely unfair that the lead character--the 'older woman' - -in this show was played by Heather Locklear?

I did go to Australia and I have proof!

Low Isles, about 30 minutes off the coast of Australia near Port Douglas. You can snorkel right off the beach. Several tour groups anchor off the coast and send their charges via glass-bottomed boat to the beach where we don equipment and hit the reef - - not literally!



So many fish, so little time to see and snap them all! Went snorkeling at the Low Isles on my birthday. How fun!



Raise your hand if you spotted the GIANT clam in the upper right corner of this somewhat hazy underwater photo.



Breaky with a view. Does it get any better than this? 9am Monday at the Soul 'n' Pepper in Port Douglas.




Not the average souvenirs at Market Day in Port Douglas, no sir!



Aboriginal paintings at Nourlangie Rock. Very interesting tour all around.



What a beautiful little instrument of death, huh?



Sunset at the Wharf in Darwin. I watched the sun rise in Port Douglas and it setting in the Northern Territory. Life's pretty good.



If you don't know this building, you seriously need to get out more.



This was my view from my apartment at the Archipelago in Port Douglas. Is there any question as to why I abandoned the crappy weather in Sydney to go back there?



Despite the loud screeching and 100-mile-an-hour rocketing past my balcony, I really loved these guys.



Market Day in Port Douglas brings out vendors in all shapes and sizes, even those bearing no trinkets to sell. If you have hands, you're a customer.



I'm taking my row boat and going home!



You can keep your drive-through liquor stores, I'll take the belly-up-to-the-counter type.



Can't get much fresher than buying the just-picked produce at Market Day.

If you want to see more photos, go to www.mjs.smugmug.com

First awkward steps back into reality

I walked out of the elevator and tried to remember which key fits the deadbolt on the door of the condo I've owned in Chicago for more than six years. It felt weird coming home after almost a month in Australia. I'd really immersed myself into life there and now I didn't know what to expect.
Dropping my bags in my living room, I walked to the kitchen and tentatively open the refrigerator like you would after a friendly host tells you to "just make yourself at home." Nothing much to eat.
Where to start? Since Thanksgiving is a postal holiday, I knew I wouldn't have mail waiting for at least a day or two and laundry could wait.
Too tired to think about getting anything done, I got ready for bed. Couldn't for the life of me remember how to turn on the bedside lamp and thank God I didn't have to set an alarm.
Woke up in the middle of the night and knew I had to pee. Muscle memory took me to the bathroom, but I really wasn't surprised to find myself fumbling around on the top of the toilet tank for the half-button to flush. (We have a lever on the side.)
This is home, huh?

Going 'home'

SYDNEY, AU - -I've got a little bit of time before the shuttle comes to take me to the airport to fly back to Chicago. I should say 'back home', but it's getting harder and harder to leave Australia because it feels so much like home to me. I guess seven visits in as many years will do that, huh?
Of course, in a bit of finger-wagging, Mother Nature has given me a very beautiful day to leave. Jeez! Couldn't it rain or be windy or something like that? Even the infamous Australian flies aren't bothering me today.
I must say, I did have a nice sendoff last night with two German colleagues who are doing business in Sydney this week. We had a nice dinner and then moved up to the Horizon bar on the 36th floor of the Shangri-La hotel for drinks. What was really the perfect ending for the evening was when we downshifted to the Observer Hotel (really casual local place) and heard some nice live music. My colleagues saw a bottle of whiskey that looked interesting and decided to try it. Turns out, Slate whiskey is from Chicago!

Last day in paradise

PORT DOUGLAS,AU - - I've just finished my last breakfast at the Soul 'n' Pepper. Okay, you caught me, I ordered a strawberry smoothie as dessert after brekky simply because I didn't want to leave yet. Nothing like a 2-hour breakfast to start your last day off right.
There was something about the bright orange flowers on a nearby tree set up against the backdrop of a fresh green coconut palm and a baby blue sky that made me want to pack a bag and move right in.
As you may have guessed, now the melancholy has started to set in.
My flight to Cairns leaves tomorrow morning at the ungodly hour of 5am! On Wednesday, I fly back to Chicago. Back to a reality that has nothing I want in my life (okay, maybe my family...and the Cubs, but that's about it).
As abrupt as the hemispheric change will be, I guess it's a good thing that I'm spending one day in Sydney before leaving for Chicago. I don't expect it to be warm, but it certainly won't be freezing like my home. Long pants? Yes. Gloves? No.
When I get home, I think I'll start planning my next trip. How many days till Spring Training starts?

Back where I belong

PORT DOUGLAS, AU - -Yep, I did it. I flew back up to Cairns and shuttled back to PD. I couldn't help it. Here I was in Sydney, one of my favorite cities in the world, but I was absolutely miserable. Granted, it could have been the weather (chilly, windy, rainy) or it could have been the traffic (I wasn't driving, but I couldn't sleep for the car noise).
It was raining when I flew out of Sydney and raining when I landed at Cairns, but in Mother Nature's wonderful way of agreeing with my choice, the rain in Queensland provided about a half a dozen waterfalls for me to enjoy on the ride up to Port Douglas. And it stopped raining just as we pulled into the Archipelago (my hotel). Take THAT! Sydney!
While it has rained a few brief times since I've been here, the temperature is averaging about 10-12 degrees C warmer than Sydney so I don't really care about precip! Today, it's crazy hot with a scalding blue sky so I'm quite happy. I may even book another trip out to the Great Barrier Reef or maybe up to the Daintree Rainforest, I can't decide.
As for TG, I considered going back to Darwin, but decided against it because 1) it's terribly expensive and 2) it could be considered stalking since we only knew each other a short time. BUT, he did invite me to be a friend on Facebook (so I've got that going for me!)
The Central Hotel (tavern and hotel) had a free screening of "Fool's Gold" last night in its backyard garden patio. The movie was filmed in Port Douglas last year when I was here (but I sure as hell didn't see any movie stars ;-((. I almost cheered when Matthew McConaughey's(sp?) character walked into the front door of the Central Hotel to get a drink. Later on, he was on a speed boat that shot past the waterfront restaurant Soul N' Pepper and it really made me proud to be here. Guess I'll have to buy the DVD so I can look for more locations.
Too beautiful outside to be indoors on a computer, so I'm outta here!!!

Tour guide

SYDNEY,AU- - I'm writing this from Sydney, but my mind is still in Darwin (even my cell phone refuses to change timezones).
When I called Tour Guide, I got his cell phone voicemail so I told him that I'd love to have drinks with him and he should call me. After I hung up, I realized that he might have trouble calling me internationally and he might not remember what hotel I am staying in and he might not know my last name! Yeesh!
This guy is smart. Not only did he keep the tour manifest from my trip (so he had my last name and my hotel), but he saved money by just calling me at the hotel!
We met at my hotel (he said if he met me at a bar, there would definitely be 'some other bloke' already sitting with me) and walked about a block in the hot Darwin night.
Great conversation filled the evening with talk of the Cubs (yes, he'd LOVE to see a professional game as he's played softball in Australia); travel (he's only been to the US one time and that was as a camp counselor in upstate NY); rugby (he told me the basic rules and the difference between rugby union and rugby league...can't remember now, though); and how much he loves his job.
What made the evening so wonderful (for me, at least) was the amazing fact that this was finally a guy who ENJOYED CONVERSATION with a woman! I didn't have to ramble on like an idiot just to fill the void. TG was very attentive, keeping eye contact with me all evening. (Of course, I found out later that he didn't want to let me see him checking me out!) This was by far the most comfortable evening I'd spent with a man in...I don't know how long!
Since we traded turns buying a round of drinks, I wasn't sure if this was, in fact, a date. I guess I'm old-fashioned in American ways where the man pays for everything. But when he walked me back to my hotel (after both of us admitted we didn't want the evening to end) and asked if I didn't mind getting 'picked up' by a bus driver, I knew there was definitely interest beyond casual conversation.
Since I consider this a 'family' blog, I won't tell you how the date ended (or when), but I got an email from TG and it definitely made me smile. Did I mention that TG is 28 years old?!?!?!
Oh, one more thing: I've been in Sydney for less than 24 hours and I've heard the name of an Australian town that TG mentioned (new to me), heard an old song from the Blues Brothers movie (exact song that TG and I talked about) and the Jetstar customer support person who helped me book my flight to Port Douglas had the same name as TG.
Strange, huh?

Small world

SYDNEY, AU - - Here I am in one of my favorite cities in the world and I'm depressed. Okay, it could be because it's overcast, cool and windy here. But I know that's not it. I feel like there's a great party going on somewhere nearby but I can't go. Or at least I thought I couldn't.
I've just booked my return flight to Port Douglas TOMORROW! I didn't bring enough springlike attire to stay in Sydney with this definitely-not-beach weather, so I'm outta here. Also, I have friends there (and also in Darwin, which I'll get to later), so I'd rather be there.
As I walked into this internet cafe to download my flight confirmation, I saw a work colleague from our home office in Frankfurt! Small damned world! He said another colleague will be here next week so we made tentative plans for the three of us to meet for dinner the evening before I leave for Chicago. Nice to see him, but I really didn't want to think about work yet.

Kakadu...or however you spell it

DARWIN, AU - -No, I did not get eaten by a crocodile but I did see HEAPS of them! In addition to being scary as shit, they're really beautiful (even from 3 feet away!) I took a boat tour and was in the midst of about half a dozen (that we could actually see in the murky water) of the man-eating creatures. Fabulous!
Things I learned today:

• This area is called The Top End, the NT or the Northern Territory (which is pronounced by EVERYBODY as 'Northern Territree')
• A billabong is a pond. But I really don't think the creators of "On Golden Pond" ever considered adding crocodiles, adders and poisonous snakes to their movie.
• Kakadu National Park should be spelled Gangaju but some stupid European spelled it wrong. Figures!
• When an Aboriginal person dies, his/her name and or likeness are not to be used for a period of time. Apparently, doing so prevents his/her spirit from moving on from this world.
• The white-breasted eagle (another beautiful creature!) is the animal that the Aboriginal people believes carries the dead person's spirit to the next world. Therefore, these are highly respected and valued animals.
• Another Aboriginal bit: in their lore, evil spirits have four fingers, good spirits have three. Just so ya know!
• Termites know how to live right. They build fabulous cathedral mounds.
• Electrical lines are strung not on wood poles, but on steel ladder-type poles because 1) aforementioned termites, and 2) when the annual burning is conducted according to Aboriginal tradition...um, oops! wooden light towers go bye-bye!
• How can you NOT love a country with a city (a small one) named Humpty Doo.

Oh, did I mention the tour guide wants to talk sports with me? Apparently, he'd love to go to a baseball game. I have his number.

The Top End

DARWIN, AU - - Tomorrow I'm off to Kakadu National Park. Wish I could tell you what I expect to see but I haven't the faintest idea. Which is a very much how I feel about Darwin so far. Haven't the faintest idea.
It does remind me of Perth (which I visited a few years ago). It's a small town with not much tourism and pretty much no sophistication whatsoever. Not to say it's a bad place. I mean, how can you dislike a place that has a bar called "Duck's Nuts"?
It seems most of the tourism here revolves around crocodiles (which are apparently all over the place despite the fact that I haven't seen one). I did see a fantastic shirt with fake blood all over it and read "I survived a croc attack in Darwin." Just lovely!
Oh, did I mention that it's hot here? Yes, it was hot in Port Douglas, but Darwin is missing the lovely tradewinds that kept things wonderfully pleasant and liveable in PD. Darwin is drink-tons-of-water and don't-worry-about-a-shower kind of hot and sticky. Deodorant manufacturers must make a mint here!
Oh, speaking of Port Douglas, it seems I'll be making a return trip. I've been checking the weather in Sydney (my next planned city) and it will be CRAPPY! We're talking about cloudy and cool pretty much EVERY day! I certainly didn't fly all this way to bundle up in long sleeves and jeans. No sir! I've been checking the flights and I can skip town (back to Port Douglas) for about $140 USD.
I'm soooo there!

Something to be said for presentation

PORT DOUGLAS, AU - - "Eggs and toast" was the listing on the menu at the Soul 'n' Pepper restaurant. Simple, but just what I wanted this morning after my birthday.
What arrived was much more than the basic greasy-spoon dish. A huge pile of fluffy yellow scrambled eggs decorated with a touch of fresh chopped parsley sat aside two inch-thick squares of raisin toast. Nearby was a tiny grape tomato split in two and a sprig of dill (?) for decoration. In the corners of my square white plate were dustings of paprika that illuminated the shape of the dish and drew attention to the food within its boundaries.
Maybe it wasn't the food so much as the view just past my plate (sorry, no picture yet). As I looked past the eggs, toast and my flat white (a mix of expresso and silky smooth creamy foam), I saw that what was just a few individual rocks dotting the beach a few minutes before became a rock-filled bay as the tide roared out. No crocodiles in sight, despite the sign warning of their presence (in English and German). A tour boat heading out to the Great Barrier Reef sent a fresh froth of wave into the tiny bay that formerly featured a tiny beach.
Sitting under the multitude of coconut palm trees and sail canopies that make up the eating area of this establishment and enjoying the plumeria-scented tradewinds, I felt no reason to leave...ever.
That is brekky as brought to you by the Soul 'n' Pepper restaurant in Port Douglas, AU.

Australia - -beautiful country and more ways to kill you than anywhere else!

PORT DOUGLAS, AU - - Christel (who, along with her husband, Wolfgang, owns the lovely little hotel where I'm staying) and Bronwyn (the housekeeper - -yes, they only have one) and I were sitting around discussing travel in Australia.
During a tiny break from her usual online work, Christel looked up the hotel where I'll be staying in Darwin when I leave Port Douglas on Thursday. "Very nice," was Christel's comment. She had traveled to Darwin years before ever meeting Wolfgang and has always wanted to go back.
"You know you can't swim up in Darwin," mentioned Bronwyn, very matter-of-factly. "Because of the crocodiles."
Ya gotta love Australia! Always something to keep you on your toes!
And, yes, the hotel does have a swimming pool.

Potential stowaway

PORT DOUGLAS, AU - - Okay, now I'm in one of my favorite towns in the world (even though it's changed some since Hollywood discovered it last year while filming "Fool's Gold.") It's been an unusual trip so far, I must say.
I'm having a harder time than usual down-shifting from 'work mode.' I still walk entirely too fast for a beach stroll and I can't help but think of what's happening at my office.
Another odd occurence will happen tomorrow. Okay, it's not odd that its my birthday. I've grown accustomed to that. What's strange is that for the past three or four years, I've been fortunate enough to be able to spend my special day snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef and I might not be able to do that this year. I must say, though, that visiting the lovely rainbow-hued fishes doesn't suck. In fact, there aren't many better ways to spend one's birthday. Not in my humble opinion anyway.
The Wavedancer, the boat that usually transports me and about 50 other people out to the Low Isles, is out of commission (maintenance) until well after I leave Port Douglas. Strike one.
Sailaway, another tour offering to the Low Isles, is booked up with a private party. Strike two.
Tallahook, a third tour operator with a lovely 25-person maximum party size, accepted my booking this morning and confirmed that I would be picked up at 8:45 tomorrow morning. And then, at 4:15 this afternoon, they called to say that since they didn't have enough people (I guess it would've been a VERY private tour), they were cancelling my trip. Strike three...
Or is it?
I've decided that I'm going to pack a bag for a boat tour, stroll down to the marina, and jump aboard any boat heading toward the reef.
Wish me luck!

A latitude adjustment

SYDNEY, AU - - Perspective can be a funny thing. In Chicago, if I have to wait five or 10 minutes to have my order taken in a restaurant, I get all pissy. In Australia, it's just 'island time.' (Okay, it's a BIG island. Work with me, people!)
I just had a late breakfast at The Gumnut, a funky little cafe with an adorable courtyard dining area. 'Adorable' being defined as full of fallen leaves and dead flower petals; a corner garden that hasn't been pruned or watered since the last typhoon; and uneven tables that, in a past life, were ancient Singer sewing machines. Oh, did I mention that said garden includes ants and the occasional tiny-but-quick iguana? It's a tiny place but just gorgeous!
Oh, and another thing...it's about 62 degrees and gray skies. But do I care?
See what I mean about perspective?
Gotta go get a bet down for the Melbourne Cup (biggest horse race this side of the equator) and then tonight I have a massage scheduled.
It's called VACATION!

Long time, no see

I know, I've been a bad blogger. Missing in action. AWOL.
Usually, that's because there has been nothing in my life worth reporting, but I don't have that excuse. In fact, maybe it's because too much has been happening to have time to write.
My apologies.
After watching a personal-record 56 regular season Cubs games at such cities as Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Toronto, St. Louis, Miami and Milwaukee, my baseball watching is over for 2008. Okay, the playoff games are on TV in my living room as I write (but I'm not watching!)
My Cubs, who had soooo much fun playing a little boy's game for so many months, took everything much too seriously and got swept out of the playoffs in the first round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Having been a Cubs fan for about 25 years now, I have grown a thick skin to their disappointments. This year has been strange, though, with the number of people offering their condolences. But I'm over it...probably because I've had too many other things on my mind to wallow in misery over baseball.
My employer, for whom I've been an external consultant for more than 10 years!, has decided to make me 'internal.' The plusses, as my boss so carefully explained it, are the fantastic benefits (okay, the health insurance is incredible), potential educational benefits and job security. I had to choke back a laugh when she said that last thing because...um, did I mention that I've been in this job for more than 10 years?!?!
The minuses, as I see them, are a MUCH lower salary, fewer vacation days, and a job title of "office administrator." Seeing as I have been called the 'office manager' for 10 years, I certainly wasn't signing a contract that lowered my title. What kind of bullshit were they trying to pull?
Trouble is...the internal position wasn't just an option. It was the ONLY option if I wanted to stay employed there. The prior contract (which both my boss and I knew was totally illegal) was formally declared illegal by the company's legal representation so now something had to be done.
I lost the war on the salary, won the war on the job title, did get a signing bonus and I am eligible for both the year-end bonus and also the annual cost-of-living increase for 2009.
Then there's the small matter of vacation. Having collected about a billion frequent flier miles, I finally buckled down and booked what's quickly becoming my annual trip to Australia. I say 'finally' because I normally book my November trip in March or April, but I held off (see Cubs activity and job status) and didn't book it till July.
Since my internal status officially began Oct. 1, I don't qualify for all the vacation time that I've already booked. My boss (in an unusually generous mood apparently), added five vacation days to the six I would qualify for and two sick days so I don't get clobbered with unpaid time off. She was quite clear that the additional vacation days are for this year only.
Which brings me to the only really fun news that's kept me from posting and that's my annual run-away-from-home!!! There's something about getting an email from the other side of the planet saying how 'happy we are that you'll be here' and 'we'll catch up over a couple of bottles of Australian wine' that really warms my heart.
Why is it that the people I've worked with Monday through Friday for 10 years treat me like shit, but the people I see for one week per year only four or five times ever can make me feel so special?

Cubs clinch Central Division 2008

Think I'll just let the pictures tell the story...

A good laugh

While enjoying a Chicago Cubs' comeback win over the Phillies, I happened to get tapped on the shoulder by a guy from Texas. He asked, "Are you Jenny McCarthy?"

No, he didn't seem drunk.

(Google her.)

I'm on Fay's side

MIAMI, FL --Yes, the Cubs won two of three from the Florida Marlins while I was in the Sunshine State (where they delayed the start of Sunday's game because they thought it might rain!)

I saw the Cubs play at the Marlins last year, too, but several things must've slipped my memory or I might have reconsidered the trip this year:

• The Marlins have cheerleaders (never a good sign for a baseball team).


• They play in a stadium built for and named after the local professional football team.


• When you go to the concourse to get food and/or drink, there is no radio play-by-play to listen to while you order your $10 chicken tenders and chips. The TVs at the concession stands have video of the action but no crawl at the bottom to tell you how many outs or the inning or the score!


• During the break between innings, all of the scoreboards in the stadium shift from baseball info (i.e. score, number of hits, errors, lineup, etc) to advertising. ALL OF THEM!

BUT

• As I mentioned, my Cubs won two of three games.


• While staying up in Hollywood (about 20 minutes northeast of the ballpark), I spotted one of our second basemen and a centerfielder coming out of the ocean. And, yes, they look every bit as good as you'd think.


• The Marlins have a group of seriously overweight fellas called the Manatees who dance to some crazy music between innings. Very minor league, but pretty funny just the same.


• You can get a pretty decent selection of food at Dolphin Stadium, you just have to know where to look. It seemed that practically every concession stand had a different selection including pizza, hot dogs, italian sausage, chicken tenders/wings, rum runners, wine, beer, dippin' dots, etc.


• Despite the preparations for tropical storm Fay, my flight out of Miami went off on time!

Farewell Scooter!

From August of 2007 until June of this year, Scott Eyre was as solid a relief pitcher as any team could ask for. In fact, Eyre put together a Chicago Cubs club-record 33 straight scoreless appearances.
And now his days in Cubbie Blue are numbered. And I don't understand it or agree with it.
The left-hander was designated for assignment today to make room on the roster for Kerry Wood. Teams have seven days to pick up the remaining $1 on his contract. There are no doubts that some smart general manager will sign him as good lefties always find work.
Eyre knew he was on the chopping block last week at the trade deadline. I think we all knew it, too, when a televised game showed him sitting in the bullpen looking like someone just ran over his dog.
He didn't get traded then and I don't understand why the Cubs are releasing him now.
Yes, we have two powerful left-handers in Neal Cotts and Sean Marshall. But when the going gets tough (i.e. playoffs?), do you want an inexperienced pitcher who will probably try to throw the ball through the batter or a mature hurler who can handle the pressure?
And let me say something about chemistry and how important it has been to this team this year. We've got good guys who enjoy working together and it shows. Eyre was always a 'good clubhouse guy.' He didn't mind when then-new-manager Lou Piniella called him 'Stevie Ire' all last year. In fact, Eyre was so disturbed by the reality of leaving his buddies that he broke down during an interview with Comcast today.
Teams are allowed to expand their rosters in September and I don't understand why we couldn't find somewhere to hide him till then. Send Ronny Cedeno down to AAA or Neal Cotts.
I'm really afraid that we'll need a dependable left-handed pitcher and we won't have one in the bullpen. Because we let one get away.
It's wrong.
Very, very wrong.

Ms. Fixit

So here I am in my tiny galley kitchen, hand-washing my dishes, when I hear a CLUNK! Apparently, I did not fully close my garbage/recycling pull-out drawer because the weight of the can at the very end of the track fully dislodged the one remaining screw and POP! went the whole unit.
If I was my mother, I would be looking around for the nearest X/Y chromosomes owner to remedy the situation. But, alas, I live in the world of independent women (of which I am the queen, by the way!)
Instead of curling up on the sofa watching the All-Star Home Run Derby like I planned, I crawled into the bottom cabinet to investigate. After removing the garbage and recycling cans as well as the front door of the cabinet and wiping down the inside of the cabinet door and floor (I AM my mother's daughter ya know), I re-attached the two wayward screws and added two more for extra security.
TA-DA! One fixed cabinet.
Now to see about that dragging shower door...

Fur over feathers

ST. LOUIS, MO. - - I guess if your bald eagle won't meet its handler on the pitcher's mound and instead lands gracefully in right field, you know your birds just aren't right.. From the St. Louis Cardinals' perspective, the Fourth of July weekend didn't go as planned.

But for my Cubs, things were almost as good as could be. Only a Kerry Wood brain cramp in Saturday's game kept the Chicago Cubs from sweeping their arch-rivals.

Former Cardinal-turned-Cub Jim Edmonds must have felt right at home when he received a hero's welcome in his first at-bat on Friday. He even tipped his cap to the Cardinals fans in appreciation. Well, that's where the lovefest stopped. Edmonds, in a desperate attempt to prove himself, really couldn't get anything going offensively.

Hey, speaking of offensive, I have to mention what happened to me at my hotel in St. Louis. I'm wearing a Cubs t-shirt and riding in an elevator with a 60-ish man who's apparel does not indicate any team affiliation whatsoever. We never spoke until he looked at my shirt and said, 'Another Cub fan?! You're gonna lose tonight.' I was pretty floored by his rude outburst but held my cool and said simply, 'Have a wonderful evening.' Of course, after my Cubs were victorious that night, I really wanted to find him and blast him! (no such luck)

Anyway, sights of St. Louis from my July 4th weekend:

What does it say about the team when it's top two bullpen pitchers take over at short during batting practice? Answer: they know how to field their positions!

Derrek Lee got some pretty good swings in the cage, but left much of the offense work to his teammates over the weekend. The red-head outside the cage is Matt Murton, who is now a former Cub (sad to say).

Next to singing 'Go Cubs Go,' this three-man celebratory flying bump is probably my favorite thing about Cubs victories!

Pitchers Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly have a little strategy talk prior to Sunday's game. No, Demp, I'm not listening in!

Busch Stadium, like many new ballparks, pays homage to its historic heroes. This one is Hall of Famer Stan 'The Man' Musial.

Maybe Ryan Theriot always wanted to be a pitcher? Or Mark DeRosa wants to add 'catcher' to the myriad of positions he's already played for the Cubs?

If you grew up watching the Cubs play the St. Louis Cardinals like I did, you recognize the player that is represented with this statue. Ozzie Smith was one of the most acrobatic shortstops I've ever seen and frequently ran out to his position and reached his spot with a flying somersault. Seriously, this guy was a nut...but fun to watch!

Dad

Today is June 27, 2008. It was 21 years ago today that my dad died.
If my math serves me, I have lived half of my years on this earth without a father.
I got married --and divorced-- without his wisdom. I'm convinced, however, that I would never have wasted those five years with the wrong man if my father had been there to pull me aside and simply ask, 'Are you sure?'
I know he would've been proud of me when I was a sportswriter despite the odd occupation for his youngest daughter.
Now? Ten years into a job that frequently insults my intelligence and hurts my pride?
I'm sure he'd be pleased that I'm financially secure but he'd be worried about my happiness, both professionally and personally. He probably wouldn't say anything. He'd just give me that look that said, 'Are you sure?'
I haven't been sure about anything for a long time, but I frequently ask my dad for advice. At times I think he's nodding when I've made strides to move toward a career that sparks my interest and challenges me.
My dad was never one to give out answers. He preferred his kids to figure it out, just like the geography quizzes he popped at dinner occasionally.
He'd be pleased that I travel, that I'm not sitting at home waiting for a life to come to me. I often wonder how he'd feel if I decided to stay at one of my home-away-from-homes and not return to Chicago.
I really had only begun to know myself as an adult when my dad died, so how could I expect to know him? I would've like to have known him as a young man, to see what kind of man I should meet.
Of that I'm sure.

Cubs Survivor

TORONTO, ONT., CANADA- - I titled this entry as such because it took one very-delayed flight, plus one CTA train plus a shuttle bus, plus another CTA train plus a taxi to get home. After arriving at 1 am on a Sunday, I felt like I had indeed survived another Cubs road weekend. But, as for Toronto...

It wouldn't be Toronto without the iconic CN Tower (which I kept wanting to call the CNN Tower, don't know why). Chicago and Toronto are very similiar cities and that's a reason why I would highly recommend it to Americans who want to go outside the US, but might be nervous about 'traveling.' Same language (add an occasional French spelling or pronunciation), drive on the right side of the street, similar food (plum sauce for dipping chicken fingers instead of bar-b-que), but it's all good.Formely called the Sky Dome, the Rogers Centre was the first retractable dome in professional baseball. It was state-of-the-art at its time, but I have to say that now it's kinda stuck between the old world of baseball (lines drawn the old-fashioned way) and the new wave of old-fashioned-looking-but-really-modern baseball meccas (PNC Park, Petco, Camden Yards, etc). Still, a nice place, made nicer when the dome is open.

What did I tell you about Toronto and Chicago being similar? Even the (formerly Blue) Jays have an old-school band outside their ballpark just like we have at Wrigley. These boys really 'got DOWN!'

Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster is from Gibson, British Columbia (on the west coast of Canada), but you'd think he grew up on the front steps of the Rogers Centre the way Toronto threw open its doors for him. Every time I turned around, he was being interviewed, even going so far as to do his Harry Caray impersonation for the local sports station. I asked him if he was planning to keep the beard (PLEASE DON'T!!) and he said 'only for the road trip. I need an edge.' Did I mention that ballplayers are a bit superstitious?


Kosuke Fukodome is normally very reserved, so I had to capture what was practically a tantrum when he struck out during Saturday's game. Sorry about the old guy's hair in the picture.

Couldn't walk through downtown Toronto and not get a shot of the Canadian flag. It's fitting that there's a crane right next to it as practically all of Toronto is under construction. They are building TONS of condominium highrises all over town. Strangely enough for such a green city, Toronto doesn't seem to be planning any parks or other green spaces between the buildings.

Bad reporter that I am, I did not find out the name of the artist who produced this little gem outside the Rogers Centre. Here I was thinking it was just a ballpark, but apparently there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

Sunday started out with a perfectly blue, sunny sky but by the third inning, clouds had started to roll in and quickly enough that the powers-that-be decided to close the dome in case of inclement weather. We're talking daytime turns to night. The resulting shadows caused the umpires to delay the game as the Jays pitcher was in bright sunlight while our batter was in shade (not a fair situation for the batter). Gotta say, the dome could've closed without anyone noticing because it didn't make a sound!

In grade school and also, I believe, in high school, both baseball teams line up to congratulate each other on a good game. Only the winning team does it now. I think we're missing out on a great opportunity to promote sportsmanlike conduct.

Oh, did I mention that my boys (oops, sorry, the Cubs) do this flying body bump thing with the three outfielders after a victory? It was pretty funny when they had to pull over Fukodome (who had just arrived from Japan) and teach him this earlier in the season. I guess the players don't celebrate like this where he's from.

The Jays have a mascot called Ace and a group of dancing, tumbling youngsters that are called the Junior Jays. They dance on top of the dugout before the game. Hey, it's better than cheerleaders!

Don't say it!!! Ryan Theriot isn't too thrilled with the umpire's call. It happens.

In the spirit of the environmentally friendly city of Toronto, a Cubs fan does his best to recycle. What was formerly a Sammy Sosa jersey is now (at least by name if not number) an ode to our rookie catcher, Geovany Soto.