All I can think of is AHnold

So I went to the doctor yesterday to have a growth on my right thumb looked at. It's been there for more than a year, but lately it's been bothering me a little more than usual.

I thought it was a ganglion cyst, but imagine my surprise when the doctor told me it was a tumor! But no worries -- it's something called a Giant Cell Tumor, which are 99.9% benign.

The doctor stuck a needle in my thumb and said one of two things would happen: It would either pop, meaning it was a cyst, or it wouldn't, which means it's probably a tumor. Well, it didn't pop.

Of course you hear the word tumor and crazy things start popping into your mind. But I've done a bit of research on it, and from everything I've read, there's nothing to worry about. I'll have it surgically removed at the end of July, well after most of my softball season is over. Thank God!

As for the AHnold reference, it's from Kindergarten Cop. Makes me laugh every time.

Happy Birthday to me!

Yup, 47 today. Woohoo!

But you know what? It's just another day. Don't feel any different today than I did when I was 27. It takes a little longer to recover from my softball maladies, and I still have to work today, but other than that, no big whoop.

But talk to me again in three years and I may have a different perspective.

Ed turned 38 on June 11. It'll be interesting to see how he handles turning 40.

The Cubs are killing me ...

... Last night's game against Colorado almost gave me a heart attack. The Cubs led 8-3 going into the top of the ninth. A nice, easy home victory. But nothing comes easy for the Cubs. Just like that, the Rockies scored six runs to take a 9-8 lead.

I was cursing up a storm at work, looking for something to throw at the TV. Not pretty.

But the Cubs picked themselves off the mat, with Alfonso Soriano hitting a two-run, bases-loaded single for a 10-9 victory. Special thanks to Rockies second baseman Kaz Matsui, who committed his first error of the season on a grounder by Ryan Theriot that would have ended the game, but gave Soriano a chance to be a hero.

It's games like this that really spur a team on to special things. The Cubs could have folded up their tents and gone home, but they didn't.

Two more games against the Rockies, then the dreaded first-place Brewers (I still have a hard time saying that) come to Wrigley for a weekend series.

I can't wait to knock the Brew Crew down a notch or two...

Who knew ...

... Microwave ovens had so many uses? The funny thing about this site is that they had to tell people not to try this at home.

The annual tease begins ...

... Is there anything sweeter to a Cubs fan than a sweep of the hated White Sox? Well, probably a World Series berth, but that hasn't happened since 1945, so you take what you can get.

The Cubs just went to someplace called U.S. Cellular Field (they should never have changed the name from Comiskey Park) and swept the White Sox on their home field. Now that's what I call F-U-N.

So now the Cubs are starting to play well. They traded one malcontent (Michael Barrett) and are getting ready to trade another (Jacque Jones). And there are rumors of an impending trade for Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. My advice to the Cubs -- MAKE THAT TRADE NOW.

The Cubs are in second place in the NL Central, trailing the Brewers by 7 1/2 games. If they can cut that to 5 by the All-Star break, I think they will be primed for a playoff push. I'm Cubs fan, so I have to be an eternal optimist.

And one last note -- it almost seems pre-ordained that Sammy Sosa, now with the Texas Rangers, would hit his 600th career homer AGAINST the Cubs. Congratulations Sammy. Despite the steroid rumors, despite the corked bat, you did hit 545 of your homers in a Cubs uniform, and you did provide a lot of excitement for fans on the North Side for many years.

I hope you stick around for 700.

Sosa photo by Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

Softball's boys (and girls) of summer

It's almost July, so as one season starts to wind down, the other is going strong and probably will be well into the fall.

My work team started the season 0-3, but we then won eight in a row before getting our butts handed to us last week by AOL in a 15-1 loss. I've coached the USA TODAY team for more than 10 years and I can't ever remember us getting beaten that badly. I just hope we got it out of our system now, before the MMSL tournament gets here.

But we have to get there first. We have two games this weekend, but our numbers are not good at all because of a company golf tournament. I guess if there was a week for this to happen, it's this one because we finish the season with division games against AOL and the Washington Times, two great rivals.

As for my gay league team, DC Nitro, we are going to the Gay World Series, which is in Phoenix this year. It was moved to October (it's usually played in August) to avoid the heat. THANK GOD!!

Check out the Phoenix softball website. It's a good one.

The Cubs and Nationals

I'm very conflicted right now. I absolutely adore the Cubs, who once again are on the way to letting me down. But at least they are not going down without a fight -- literally. If they aren't fighting amongst themselves (Carlos Zambrano/Michael Barrett, Barrett/Rich Hill), they are fighting the Braves and Padres, as this picture of Derrek Lee and Chris Young from Saturday shows.

But they are killing me. I was so excited about them this year, especially after they hired Lou Piniella as manager. And they are in the right division, the very weak NL Central. The Brewers (THE FRICKING BREWERS -- are you kidding me?) are leading. So while I haven't given up on them yet, time's a wasting. I still think they can and will make a move. But if they don't soon, I may be cheering for the Nationals when the Cubs visit for four games over the July 4 holiday.

And speaking of the Nats, they are playing some inspired baseball, going 6-3 on a just completed road trip through Minnesota, Baltimore and Toronto. Not bad for a team that was predicted to lose more than 100 games and possibly be the worst in history. Their record is already better than A LOT of teams, including the Orioles, who just fired manager Sam Perlozzo today.

And the Nationals have a new stadium that is scheduled to open next April. Can't wait for that. Ed and I are hoping our seats will be above the Nats bullpen, but we'll be happy wherever our seats are located.

As for the Orioles -- Joe Girardi, if you are the man, you've got your work cut out for you. Good luck working for owner Peter Angelos.

Brawl photo by Nam Y. Huh, Associated Press

Home renovations

It's taken about 3 years, but we're moving and grooving now. Ed has done a fantastic job re-doing the deck. I have a picture here, but his blog has much more detail.

We're also going to be putting new siding on the house. Not only will it make the house look brand new, but it's really going to help on the insulation, especially in the heat of summer.

We're doing Preservation siding, which is supposed to be the best in the business. We're going from a dark blue (as you can see in the picture, which also shows the damage to the siding that's already there) to Coastal Sage, which is a medium shade of green. The doors, windows and gutters will be a cream/beige/wicker/ivory shade, which should really set the place off well.

The order was placed today, so construction on that should begin within a month and be done in less than a week.

I can't wait.

The gym? What's that?

Just kidding. I'm still trying to get there at least a couple of times a week. But softball is really keeping me on my toes and out of the gym for the moment.

But if you remember, when I started this little jaunt on Jan. 16, I weighed 190 pounds. I'm more than happy to report that I'm down to 165, which is about where I should be. Maintaining that will be the key. But I think I've changed my eating habits so much and made myself more aware of my weight that it shouldn't be a problem.

You know how it is when you approach 47 years old? You don't? Well you will.

And speaking of 47, that's a key age in our family. My mom died of a heart attack at 47, so when each one of us five kids has reached that age I think in the back of our minds we've all wondered if we would reach 48.

Thank God four of us have, and now it's my turn. I'm not too worried though. A lot has changed since my mom died in 1979, and our lives and how we live them have changed a lot too.

I just wish she and my dad (who died in 1992 at 64) were around to see how well their kids have turned out.

But I think they know already...

Gnome-napping update

Well, no news to report really. The gnome that was kidnapped more than a month ago is still missing. I just pray that whoever has him takes good care of him.

In the meantime, Ed's mom bought me a new one for my birthday, which is coming up (June 26). We went to New York this weekend for Ed's 20-year high school reunion (which was actually pretty fun -- I mean how can it not be with free food and liquor?. And besides, I'm warming him up for my 30-year reunion next year in Arkansas. But I digress).

Here's a picture of our newest member of the Gnome family. He's bigger than the rest, so I hope the others don't pick on him. There's nothing worse than a pissed-off gnome.

Time to start blogging again ...

... though I really don't know why I stopped. I could probably say it's because I'm busy, but if Ed can pretty much blog every day, I should be able to also. So away we go! ...