Baseball and Birthdays

This weekend was another action packed installment of life in Las Vegas. Friday night I went out to the ballpark to see the Las Vegas 51’s (as in Area 51) play the Sacramento River Cats. A real barn burner. Heidi and her daughter came with me and we had a pretty good time. I’m not a baseball enthusiast by any means, but a trip to the ballpark is doable because there are other things to occupy my attention when the game threatens to put me to sleep.

I wanted to find a baseball jersey because the mascot is an alien. The jerseys I have seen have a really cool alien head on them and I think it’s a fun, kitschy, Las Vegas thing to own. No luck in the gift shop at the ballpark, so I may just have to look online. The mascot’s name is Cosmo and looks like a cross between Jar-Jar Binks from Star Wars and the aliens from the movie “Explorers.” (Great movie, by the way.) Luckily, the alien head on the jersey looks nothing like that and instead resembles the more traditional triangular face with the big bug eyes.

Saturday yielded yet another birthday party. This time it was for a 1 yr old. I ended up making a CD with lullaby-type songs on it. It was easy enough to throw together before heading out to the party. The really exciting thing about this party was that it was also an opportunity to see a brand new house in a growing area of town. After hearing about how the place was designed, I was excited to see one particular feature: the courtyard in the center of the plan.

I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point years ago, I was thinking about what my dream house might look like and drew up some “napkin” plans. One of the things I wanted was a courtyard in the center of the plan. Something that would be accessible from multiple locations in the house, and a space large enough to hold something like a fountain. Anyway, when I heard the house had a courtyard, I couldn’t wait to see it.

The house was amazing. There were 2 staircases, one on each side of the house and tons of space. The courtyard was small, but cozy. Once it was dark, it became a lot more comfortable to sit outside. The neighborhood was nice and quiet, which was a good thing since there is almost zero space between houses. In fact, when I first got there I was actually a little unsure which door to use.

The party was nice, especially since there was a playroom for all the kids. I met a lot of great people and although I never planned on staying so late, I was the last to leave. The only glitch in this weekend was the fact that I seem to be running a bit behind schedule with other birthdays. (Mimi- I left a message for you at home. Sorry I didn’t get to chat with you.) Plus, I was a bad auntie and didn’t speak to my nephew yesterday for his birthday either.

Honestly, August in general kicks my butt in terms of birthdays. And as I have chronicled here for you for the last several months, I seem to only be adding more to the list. I realize I only pressure myself in terms of having to acknowledge each one with something other than a call or a card, but I think I am reaching some serious birthday burnout.