World Series Bound

Tonight, I will be AT the World Series. Valerie's name was drawn in a last chance lottery for tickets, so yesterday at the beginning of my second period class, I ran--well, walked very fast--to her room and stood beside her while she searched for tickets. Once the tickets had been purchased--at regular price!--I spent the rest of the day with a cheesy grin on my face. :-) (It's still there this morning, too.)

Last night, we had to pick up our tickets at the ballpark. We both felt that it wouldn't be real until we had the tickets in our hands. After she got the tickets and we got back into her car, we both had to hold one, examine it, and make sure it was real.

So, we get to see the first World Series game to ever be played in Houston, the first to ever be played in the state of Texas. Pretty cool!

Go Astros!!!

We are going to the World Series! Houston is already going crazy over this. People driving up and down Westheimer, honking their horns. As soon as the game was over, the local news stations were showing footage of Main St. downtown--people were packing the place - the train could barely get through the crowd. After the game Valerie saw some TV footage of an Academy store selling pennant t-shirts. So we thought that we would just go there and pick up shirts to wear to work tomorrow. Imagine our surprise when we saw a line snaking from the front of the store to the back and down the street. We'll have to get our shirts tomorrow.

Now, I have to go to bed, so I can go to work tomorrow and talk about the Astros. Yeah, I might teach a little, but I'm sure I will talk about the Atros a lot. ;-) Good night.

A Real Downer

Damn! The Astros were one strike away from the World Series last night and didn't get the out. After a walk to the previous batter, the best player in MLB comes to bat--Albert Pujols. The Astros manager should have made the pitcher intentionally walk him, but the Astros have been keeping him off base for most of the series. Not this time though, he hit a monster 3-run home run that sends the series back to St. Louis. :-( I still believe in the Astros, especially with Oswalt and Clemens on the mound, but my faith is flagging this morning. Plus, I woke up in a very black, I-hate-my-job mood. Not good. Oh well, I guess my day can't get worse.

Damn! I didn't realize it was so late. Later.

Update: I meant to post this yesterday, but I didn't have time before I left for work & didn't remember once I arrived at work--probably shouldn't blog at work anyway, but I wanted to get this posted. Tonight, I'm working late, but I wish I were going to be somewhere watching the game with a big group of fans. Instead, I will be grading papers in my classroom. Go Astros!!!

The Long Weekend

What a good long weekend!

• I got a bunch of papers graded, not as many as I had hoped, but a good number.
  
• I made $100 for sitting in a room listening to 2 people talk about literacy then discussing problems in my classroom with the others at my table. Not a bad way to earn $100 even though I won't receive it for a month or two. It will be a nice treat when it arrives.
  
• I finished reading another good book, Mutual Life and Casualty; I will post a blog tomorrow or Tuesday about my recent reads including this one.
• The Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants in overtime today.
  
• But the most important and most exciting thing of all -- the Astros are one game away from their first World Series. -- Woohoo!!!!!! I can't say enough about how exciting it was that Valerie and I were at today's game. The last couple of innings were almost too tense to watch. One man sitting below us kept putting his head down, trying not to watch, but he had to watch--we all had to watch. It was great!!!! I love this game!!!!
  

Tomorrow night, I will be watching the game in a bar down the street. Valerie, another friend of hers, and I went there for Thursday's game, and it was such a good place to watch the game so we decided to try it again. At this point, the games are too exciting to watch at home. A big crowd is essential. It's so much more fun to yell and clap with a big group than by yourself at home. Besides, I wouldn't want my neighbors to think I was crazy or something. ;-) Speaking of crazy, I think Houston will go crazy if (when) the Astros go to the World Series.

Well, enough about the Astros. I really should get ready for bed--if Sportscenter would just hurry up and show the Cowboys highlights then I could go to bed. Unfortunately, I do have to go pretend to be a good teacher in the morning. Really, I am being a good teacher this year, which means that I'm working so hard and feeling like I'm still drowning in work. I hate that feeling, but I don't want to talk about that now. Besides, my few regular readers have heard it all before. So, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow. :-)

The Longest Game in MLB Postseason History

Anyone who is a baseball fan needed to see today's NLDS game between the Astros and Braves. The Astros won in the bottom of the 18th inning with a walk-off homer by Chris Burke. The game lasted about 6 hours. Around 3:00, thinking the game would be over soon, Valerie and I were talking about what we would do after the game. Three hours later, we were still watching the game. The Astros had no players left to play, and Clemens was pitching in relief. It was so crazy! Now, it's on to the NCLS against the Cardinals. Go Astros!!!!

An added bonus for my Sunday: the Dallas Cowboys beat the Eagles today. Woohoo!

I will post again later today, but now, I have to grade papers for a while. Later.