Baseball, company and a cold that just won't quit

I'm watching the Twins' home-opener on ESPN right now. This officially begins the Target Field era of Twins home games. It's strange to watch, however. For pretty much my entire life I have associated the Twins with a dirty-white Teflon roof, green plastic carpeting and blue static-electricity-inducing chairs. Now I have a new home ballpark, one that I've never set foot in. This is supposed to be a home game I'm watching, but instead it feels like an away game. It will take more than a few viewings to start recognizing features of the ballpark. I'm envious of my friends and family who have managed to get tickets to a game or two this season. My initial impressions is that the ballpark is terrific. Here's hoping I can get there at some point in the future. (That being said, I haven't made it to see a Gopher football game at the new TCF Stadium either. Maybe I need to head home some fall and catch one game at each venue.)

Zac's brother, Chris, and his wife, Sara, visited last week. They were heading to Maui for some rest and relaxation and spent a couple of days with us on Oahu. It was a really nice visit. We were able to spend some time catching up and showing off our island. I was worried the day before they flew in because the weather forecast called for substantial rain while they were here. We get 10 rainy days a year, and we were going to have one on the only day I needed it to be clear this spring? Luckily the forecast proved to be wrong (until later in the day) and we were able to hike up Makapu'u and then hang out at the beach at Lanikai. It really was a beautiful day. Chris and Sara were in such a good mood that they even let us take them out for sushi. (They're not sushi people.) Zac and I picked out items that we figured would be least offensive/scary to their palates. We all ate til we were full and then went home to relax for awhile. We ended up playing pitch through the evening and everyone headed to bed, tired from the day.

The next morning the boys headed out to Electric Beach to do some snorkeling while Sara and I headed down to Waikiki. I took Sara to a breakfast buffet at one of the hotels right on the beach and we ate pineapple and coconut french toast while watching the waves. We walked down the beach (got splashed pretty good by a rogue wave) and then headed back up Kalakaua Ave. We meet the guys back at the house and by then it was already time for them to head to the airport. It was only a short visit, but we were glad they were able to make time to see us. It had been quite awhile since we had seen them - August of 2008 - and hopefully it won't be that long before we get to see each other again.

Throughout all of this I have been battling a cold of epic proportions. It started last Saturday before the Chief's Ball. I was starting to feel a bit run down and had a sore throat, but didn't think much of it. By Sunday morning I was under the weather and it continued all week. Even today I'm hacking up/blowing out gobs of yellow-green gook. I hope this signals that the end of the cold is near. I was able to get my energy up for Chris and Sara's visit, but on Friday (the day after they left) I hardly got off the couch. I was pooped. I was still feeling a bit run down on Saturday but I wanted to go to Ken and Bernadette's going away party that evening. I would have had to have been on my death bed not to attend that. I'll have to save my thoughts on their departure for another entry.

Goodness. (Back to the baseball game.) Look at that view of the Minneapolis skyline from the ballpark! Gorgeous. Yes, there will be days that it's 40 and raining and there won't be enough hot chocolate at Target Field to keep you warm, but on other days it will be 78 and sunny, with a Schweigert hotdog in one hand and an ice cold Coke/beer in the other. Baseball paradise. Wait a second, it IS 78 and sunny where I am . . . time for a dog and a Coke!