Opening Day

First of all, I just want to say a BIG ‘thank you’ to everyone for their comments and for reading the blog! It means so much to us that we have people wishing us well from back home! We miss and love you all dearly!

Yesterday marked Opening Day at Eastwood Field. Cars were waiting in lines to get in the parking lot and the ticket lines were packed!

It was wonderful to see so many people there to support our new team, the Scrappers!

Before the game started, as the teams were warming up, the sprinkler system came on but only on the visitor’s side! It was so funny to see them caught off-guard. I don’t think they did it on purpose but it was quite a coincidence!

Unfortunately, we lost last night 12-0, which makes their record 2-2. It wasn’t pretty for the team, but Chase had a good game going 2-4 with a double and a single. He also broke two bats last night! That makes three broken already this season. Chase has only played in three of the four games, so right now, he’s averaging a bat each game. I told him that if he keeps going at this rate, they will be cutting down whole forests just to supply him with bats! He’s going to have to work on being more environmentally friendly :)

They had a wonderful fireworks show after the game last night and I found out they have one at every Friday night game. It seems like every day has a different promotion. I know that Tuesdays are $2 tickets, drinks, and hot dogs and that Thursdays are $1 drinks and hot dogs!

After the game last night, Chase was interviewed by several people. I’m not sure if it was for a newspaper or what, but I want to find out.

Chase is having a blast! He is loving being a ‘professional ball player’ and can’t stop talking about it. He is settling in on the team very well and making friends. There are 4 or 5 guys on the team that are Latin, but I’m not sure where all they are from. There is also a guy from Japan; a pitcher. They call him Taka (sp?). He doesn’t speak very much English and Chase already has some funny stories about the guys trying to communicate with him. I’ll share one of them with you:

One of the Latin guys brought a plate of celery to Taka and asked him how to say it in Japanese. Taka said, “No, no thank you.” The Latin guy said, “No, how to you call it in Japanese?” Taka said, “No, no thank you.” The Latin guy asked again and Taka said, “Okay, thank you” and ate one. Haha. I thought that was so funny! It’s probably funnier in person than it will be reading it here.

David, our host “dad”, is still in the hospital. He has been having tests done to see if there are blood clots in his heart. If the results of his Echo come back well today, he might get to come home tonight. Chase and I are anxious to meet him. I ask for your prayers for him and his family as I know this has been a stressful time for them. Especially while opening up their home to two strangers.

Jeanne made a strawberry pie yesterday and Chase and I shared a piece out on the porch after lunch today. It is delicious! She is such a kind-hearted person.

On Sunday, I drove to church in Warren. It is a small church of Christ about 25 minutes away. Everyone was so welcoming and I found so many who share my connection to Harding. Jeanne met me there for worship after class as she had gone to the hospital that morning to see how David was doing beforehand. I hope her and David will come back with us. A couple of the families from the church were actually down in Atlanta for a wedding that day, so it was kind of ironic. They said ‘we send some to Atlanta, and Atlanta sends us some back.’ It turns out that she knew some of the people that attend church there. Jeanne headed back to the hospital and one of the families took me out to lunch at Wendy’s, Doris, Nina (her daughter), and Lindsey and Michael (Nina’s children). I believe it is their Sunday “ritual.” Lindsey, will be a junior at Harding this next year. She is a psychology major. I had a very nice time. I do miss Buford, though, very much. There is no place like it.

Another picture of the dairy farm.

Here are some pictures of our space in the Bryner's home:

The bedroom.

"Closet" and bathroom.

Our sitting room. The back porch is off of this room.

This time I’m writing to you from Starbucks close to the field; a nice ‘escape’ from the “country”. Pictures from Opening Day will follow soon. I forgot my camera cord this afternoon : ( Until next time,

Cait