Fun Trip To Toledo

It is my birthday today, i traveled from grand haven to toledo today to see Joel Zumaya pitch in his final rehab game (and see the beautiful fifth third field). When we got there we got to see him doing his bullpen session, which at the time thought he was just stretching out. Afterwards, he signed a few autographs and then then said to those of us standing nearby "I gotta go, I have a plane to catch". I wasn't sure of it until the 7th, 8th and 9th inning came and went with no more sightings of Joel. He looks very healthy, probably lost about 20-30 pounds and has added quite a bit of ink to his flamed tattoo arsenal.

Another Exhausting Week

A lot happened this week. First and foremost, my sister Lakkana and her husband Matt are celebrating the birth of their second daughter. I'm not sure of the spelling, according to my mom it's Linsey Rose Raterink, but with all of my mom's strengths spelling isn't one of them. The beautiful little one was born either late Thursday night or early Friday morning. Congratulations Matt, Lakkana and Isabel!

The Neitring Fine Carpentry softball team had a big game this week. We played the #1 team in our division on Wednesday and got beat 8-0. We forced them to play their first 7-inning game of the season by not allowing the 10-run mercy rule to come in to play. Defensively, we played almost flawless, apart from Dave and Jared colliding in right field while fielding a fly ball. Offensively, we could not catch a break. Our team falls to 4-2 as they padded their lead to 6-0 with 4 games remaining.

The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup on Wednesday, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. They gave us another scare by nearly giving up the tying goal again with seconds remaining in the game. This win marks the fourth time in the last eleven years the Wings have won the cup. It was cool to see Chris Osgood win as our goalie again, he was also the starter when we won in 1998 but not in 1997 or 2002.

Last night I got the chance to play baseball competitively for the first time in about 10 years. A friend of mine called and asked me to fill in for a team he plays on in Muskegon. I had my reservations but I accepted the invitation. Before the game I had my brothers, Brad and Ryan, and their friend Cody help get me ready. Thanks guys! While practicing I fouled a pitch off of my ankle, which hurt a lot more than I remembered. Other than that practicing went pretty well considering it had been awhile. When I reached the game, they gave me a jersey and hat, and I was thinking "Uh-oh, what have I gotten myself into?" They asked me to play second base and by this point I was getting incredibly nervous because as a middle infielder you've got a lot of responsibilities. The first inning went surprisingly well, I fielded two ground balls successfully and threw both runners out. WHEW! My first at bat, not so good. I fouled off a couple pitches, but ended up falling victim to a 2-2 curveball which I missed, but so did the catcher. They threw me out at first as I attempted stealing first base. At least I remembered that part where if the catcher misses a strike three pitch you can try advancing to first. my second at bat I fought heroically, but still was victimized by the pitchers curveball. With a 3-1 count, I was fully expecting a fastball and he threw his curve. I didn't miss this time at least, I tapped a grounder to third base and was thrown out at first. My last at bat ended up with another strike out. So, 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts in my post high school baseball debut. NOT GOOD! But I have to say it was incredibly fun, but I can barely walk this morning. -j

Please post a response to let me know that somebody is actually reading these, thanks.

Yummmmm Steak!

There is something satisfying about a good, well-rounded hot lunch. Who knew that once you enter the labor force you so rarely get the luxury?

For the past 4 weeks, I have been working off-site on a pipeline assessment job. This assessment stuff is a really big money maker for my department so this is a super important project to be apart of. Its cool working on this high profile job; it is NOT cool eating lunch at this job. There is no place to go eat, no refrigerator to put a lunch, no microwave to warm up food. I have been sack lunching it for 4 weeks.....and I have had enough! After a month of living on peanut butter on apples and pretzels, I came home and made myself.............Steak.

Nothing else, just seared meat. I made enough for only me, and I savored every morsel while my poor animals looked on in intense jealousy. The picture is on the actual steak I consumed. It was dee-lish-oooous. In no way do I consider this random meal excessive.....merely payback for all the good food I missed while writing reports out of my mobile office.

Oh dearest School Lunch Lady.....I miss you!

Welcome Back

I've decided to return to the "blogosphere" after a somewhat long hiatus. A lot has happened since I last posted. I won't even start listing what has gone on in my blogging absence, I'll just start again like I never stopped. So here we go:

Went to the second of a full season of high school open houses today. Alyssa and Sarah Anderson, students from our high school youth group, were the lucky hosts today. They had brunch for us, which was nice because we basically woke up, got dressed and went to the party. We are also proud of our brothers, Brad and Ryan, for their graduation this past week. Their open house comes up here in the next couple of weeks. I've heard rumors of "Walking Tacos".

Most of you know I've been working up in Ludington, building a huge 7,000 sq ft house estimated to cost quite a few millions of dollars. To those of you interested, here is a link to the pictures of the construction:

www.dianafosterphotography.lifepics.com

event code cabecourthouse

can sign in or sign in as a guest

We hope to be finally done with the house by June 15, but it looks to be a tall order.

The Pistons lost last night to the Boston Celtics to end their playoff run in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics showed they wanted it more than the Pistons, there's really not much else to say. The pistons should be better next year with the young guys starting to play bigger roles, which should be fun to watch.

The Red Wings play game 4 tonight of the Stanley Cup Finals. After losing game three, they look to get back into there winning ways and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Go Wings!

The Tigers look to add to their 2-game win streak today against the awful Seattle Mariners. Detroit beat Seattle last night, needing only a 7-run first inning to win. I really like how Leyland has made some changes lately to get better results out of his underachieving team. Marcus Thames is now the everyday left fielder, Clete Thomas got called back up from AAA, and he moved Miguel Cabrera down in the order. I think it's good to remind guys that just because they make a lot of money they aren't guaranteed a respectable spot in the lineup.

The Neitring Fine Carpentry softball team has been playing well as of late. We are currently 4-1, losing only to the team who is 5-0 in week 1. The rematch is this week, 7:15 at Hofma Park. If we win we'll be tied for first place. I call we get the top half of the trophy.


T-Shirt of the day:
"Jesus is my homeboy"

props to my Lord and savior.

Buy This Shirt

...Time To Think

It's been brought my attention that the Michigan football team has not won a game since Bo Schembechler, former coach of U of M, died the day before the Ohio State game last November. What does that mean??? It could finally mean that the Bo era is over. Coach Lloyd Carr, a follower of Bo could lose his job this year. The next coach will probably be an outside guy, someone from outside of the U of M circle. That would never have happened with Bo still alive. But I think, in a weird sort of way he knew a change was needed. I think he knew for the Michigan football program to get past it's growing pains from the past few years things would need to change without him. I'm not giving up on Michigan football. I am deeply hurt, but change has been needed for awhile now and this is how we get to a change. So yes, I will be watching the Michigan versus Notre Dame pillow fight this Saturday, I wouldn't miss it for the the world.

On a brighter note. Grand Haven football is 3-0. I wouldn't normally mention this, but my brothers in law Brad and Ryan play for the Bucs. They've got East Kentwood (1-2) this weekend before they play against the feared Muskegon Big Reds (3-0) next week. Grand Haven is currently ranked 7th in the state. Good Luck guys!

T-Shirt Of The Day:
"Scrantonicity"

For "The Office" lovers out there. It's almost time for a new season.

Buy This Shirt

Long Football Season???

I don't even know where to start. U of M just got beat by a Division I-AA team. WOW!!! I feel like someone just kicked my dog. A national championship season wiped away before it even began. Michigan was out coached, not out played. I think this will finally bring change, if anything, to the lack luster performances by Lloyd Carr's teams in the past 10 years. I'm done with this, I just can't describe my feelings in words.

The Lions will need to fill my empty heart this fall... I need a miracle. ANYTHING!

I guess, if all else fails, I can spend more time outdoors... away from ESPN and all the headlines about how this was the upset of the last 50 years. ouch!

...Katie, you wanna watch a movie? Sparky, let's go play fetch!

T-Shirt Of The Day:
"Sometimes Alcohol Is The Answer"

Thanks to Brett for showing me this one. Fitting for the way Michigan played this weekend.

Buy This Shirt

A More Pleasant Goodbye

The 1984 Galaxy boat has gone to a better place, and that better place is Kentucky. Various members of the family, mostly my dad and I, spent much quality time coaxing and persuading the attention deprived boat to start. We're sorry Galaxy for not being there for you when you needed us. You needed dry gas to keep condensation out of your fuel, and we gave you shade under a tree and it's leaves in the fall. All you really needed was a little more TLC than we could offer and you'd be a nice, reliable boat. We're sorry Galaxy. But now, you've got a new home in Kentucky with a new owner in Jeff who may sound a little funny at first, but in no time you'll be adopting that same southern draw. The rumors are not true that as soon as you left the driveway on your way to your new home, my dad called to look for your replacement in a seadoo. It's also not true that we thought "nobody wanted you" and you we're "past your prime". You were good for us Galaxy. All of those slow 10 mph rides on skis as I drank all of Spring Lake until you could muster up enough speed to pull me out of the water were just making me a better skier. Each time we would turn around going full speed and you would lose half of your speed, we would say you were "just being safe". Galaxy, it's been real and it's been fun...

Opening week for college football is upon us, I'm a little excited. I'd be more excited if I could actually watch the Michigan game on Saturday. The Big Ten Network, which launches on Thursday, will be carrying the game. The only problem is there isn't any cable providers that have a deal with the "BTN" yet. But nonetheless, football is here...

The Tigers may be back, keyword may. Tonight they put up 16 runs on the Yankees to win the series 3-1. The funny thing is the stats from the game. The only home run was hit by Polanco, who doesn't hit many home runs. The only triple was hit by Casey, who runs slower than my dad... I love you Dad. And Brandon Inge, who is not feared at all from the plate, went 3 for 4 with 3 doubles and 4 rbi's. It was a fun one to watch, unless you are a Yankee's fan.

T-Shirt Of The Day:
"Magglio's Barber Shop"

Pay homage to our MVP front runner and frizzy haired Magglio Ordonez with a Magglio's Barber Shop T-shirt.

Buy This Shirt