Reds 4, Braves 3.

A little back story...

About a month and a half ago, I got to looking at my finances and realized...wow...for the first time in nearly 4 years, I have most of hands out of the proverbial cookie jar and most of my business debt under control.

(recap: made lots of mistakes learning how to run a business, was staring $150,000 in debt in the face at the beginning of 2005 across approx 18 debtors, yada yada).

Thanks in large part to a new "job" I picked up in Jan. of this year, I've managed to knock said debt down to about $75k and 3 debtors (2 of which are due to have their hands removed by the end of July/August). To celebrate, I decided I'd treat myself to a baseball game involving the team I grew up watching with my grandmother, the Atlanta Braves. This isn't to say I believe that I've conquered my debt or that I don't have a lot of work left to do, but the halfway mark is a HUGE milestone for me.

So I went looking around for Braves tickets. Atlanta is about 5 hours from me. I figured that was probably out of the question since that would involve hotel stays and whatnot. Looking at their schedule, I saw they were visiting the Reds from June 16th-18th. And...it just so happens I have a pair of friends living in the Reds' hometown.

After a little discussion over arrangements, the day finally came for me to make the 3.5 hour trip to Cincinnatti, OH to visit Kaelis and Erimentha and to take in a baseball game. Evening starts off with a quick dinner at Penn Station (toasted sub sandwich joint for those of you unfamiliar) and then onto the ballpark we go!




It's been 15+ years since I've been to a baseball game...and this is what greeted us on the field.



Eri apparently snapped a picture of Kaelis and I w/o our being aware of it. I don't recall being annoyed by anything during the entire game, but she apparently caught me with the scowl I usually make when I'm annoyed...

That or she just caught me squinting due to bright lights or something. And that would also be Kaelis' "I'm almost amused" face.

Now that I think about it...this might've been when they started blaring some Ricky Martin music over the speakers...



This was the view from our seats. I managed to snag tickets that were about 10 rows behind and just to the right of home plate. I had figured since both the Reds and the Braves were hovering around .500 and not super close to contending for their respective division titles that tickets would be rather easy to come by, but I didn't really expect to get tickets this close for the price that I paid.



PLAY BALL! /joy /excitement



[mancrush]Chipper Jones managed to get to first base. This is a guy I've wanted to see play for a long time.[/mancrush]



Fireworks after the turning point in the game. Braves were up 2-1 and their pitcher (Javier Vasquez) was cruising along. The Reds' pitcher (Owings) came up to bat and Vasquez I guess figured he could just overpower the guy. He got cocky and served up a fastball right over the middle of the plate and naturally, the PITCHER deposited a three-run bomb into the right field seats. Vasquez actually pitched the entire game for the Braves as he had been efficient all night long (didn't even throw 100 pitches for the game against Owens' 110 pitches by the end of the FIFTH inning). That's what I love about baseball though...one little mistake like that can turn a game completely around in a heartbeat.



Final scoreboard. Last Braves' run came in on a couple wild pitches by a Reds' reliever. Braves left 8 or 9 men on base this entire game, so it wasn't like the Reds' pitchers were dominating them. Braves just couldn't clutch up and knock a couple more runs in.

And finally...



I have to hang my head in shame and let the camera flash make it look like I'm entirely bald. ENJOY YOUR VICTOLY FOR NOW KAELIS.

In all seriousness though, this was a good night for me. To me, it marks a turning point in what has been the story of my life the past 5-6 years as a struggling business owner (2-3 before that as a mostly successful one). While I know there's a lot more work that I need to do and the pace that I'm accelerating at in paying these things off thanks to some good fortune in business and with that "job" opportunity, it was very nice to be able to get out of the house and go to enjoy something like this knowing things are well under control and knowing that in doing so, I won't have to work for 3 weeks straight just to recoup what I spent in getting to this game.

I'm hoping to do this again sometime soon though, but first I have to turn my sights Northeastward by about 1100 miles in three weeks for the upcoming annual BBQ with Girlfriend, Kaelis, Mrs. Kaelis, Canuck, King Cranky Cat and...Girlfriend's parents. :)