family, friends, tequila!

What a blue sky day for an afternoon of baseball!
The weather was quite nice, too: low 80's, with a bit of cool breeze to keep you from feeling too hot. It was family day at the ballpark, so all kids received a ticket for a free slice of pizza and soda. Nice! Of course, there were plenty of other treats to tempt the kids, but at least part of the wallet could take a break!
I had invited my stepmom and her two grandsons (my helf-nephews, if you're keeping track of such things) to accompany me to the game and was really looking forward to seeing them. Life has been incredibly hard for them lately, but we won't talk about that here. Suffice it to say that life was improving, she had contacted me to suggest we get together some Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon and I had seized, with both hands, the opportunity afforded me. A chance to visit with her AND my low country nephews AND share a Gnats' game with them? You betcha! And what a wonderful surprise that my younger half-brother could join us, too! As my stepmom said, we had Daddy's first-born (me) and youngest (Mike the mechanic) sharing time together - rather rare, I tell ya.
I had then invited other family members to join us for the outing. My middle little brother I had thought for sure would be there, but was not. My eldest little brother and his wife weren't able to make it, either, which was understandable, given the short notice and the fact that they have a teenaged son on their hands. And my middle bother's son had a barbeque to attend with his girlfriend at her folks' house (so that relationship seems to be moving along nicely for him!), so I'll have to visit with him some other time.
But my first niece came! She and my stepmom got to share pictures of kids and get a little caught up. They even talked about the burger joint in Bluffton that we all have now been to and swap favorite toppings! A little while later, her two foster kids were able to join us, then we all had three innings of free baseball! When the game did come to an end, the four kids all ran the bases, a special treat offered by the ball club on these Sunday game days. Cool beans! The kids thought it was fabulous to get to play on the same field as the Gnats and we got a kick out of watching their smiling faces rounding the bases. SUCH a fun day for all of us!
Then we all said our goodbyes, but first made plans for the 15th, a Saturday game followed by fireworks. Woohoo!
I returned home and was joined shortly by the peace Guy and the librarian. She and I took off for dinner at a new place, Blowin' Smoke Southern Cantina, as neither of us wanted to cook or clean dishes. Yeah! It was even a new-to-me dining experience! We only had to wait a short while, then snagged a table inside. Actually, I say "inside", and technically it was, but that's just because the walls had been rolled up to enjoy the breeze. Nice, right?
She had driven, so I decided to have a cocktail: the Signature Honey Jalapeno margarita. I know - sounds just crazy enough to be good, right? It was, too! And if my phone had not died on me right after reaching the ballpark, I would have been able to take a photo of it for this space (as well as all the missed shots of family at the game). No worries, I'm sure I'll be returning here in the near future. (And I have an upcoming game in two weeks for new family pics, so all is right with the world!)
I dined on the Caribbean Stewed Chicken Plate - GOOD choice! The shredded meat was jerked and topped with pineapple salsa - so very moist and tasty! The Roasted Corn Salad was palate-cleansing and simple, being mostly fresh corn with finely diced fresh tomato. The Black Beans were a bit bland, but I used them in my self-made tacos with the chicken and they worked quite nicely there!
I had a nice visit with the librarian and we were able to chat about things in her life. She is the same age as my first niece, so I usually enjoy her company. She mostly needed someone to give her an ear and a reality check; the tequila and I obliged.
Overall, a very nice day of un-birthday or pre-birthday or whatever it is I finally decide to call all of this.
Yep, life is GOOD.