A Big Week

So much has happened over the past five days, I'm not even sure where to begin or how to organize my thoughts. The first thing I want to do is try to express the gratitude that I have for everyone that has sent us their well wishes, words of encouragement and visits we have received. I don't take it lightly that you send those notes, texts and emails. I just wish that more people lived close by so that Tobiah would have a chance to meet you and to let him know how you are a special part of our lives.

These past five days have been a big whirlwind. I have picked just three topics to give updates on today:
1. Health - Tobiah is a trooper. He is such a healthy baby. Every test, check up and examination has come back near perfect. He was born at 7lbs 5oz, was down 3oz after day one, down an additional 2oz day two (bringing him to an even 7lbs). At his appointment on Friday (day 3) he was back up to 7lbs 2 oz.  I believe a by-product of his health is also the fact that he is a happy baby. He doesn't fuss much and he makes the cutest faces. He loves to be held, but is very content laying in his cradle or pack & play. He is probably very much like other babies, but since I didn't have much of a desire to know about them, I take the time to appreciate how awesome, precious and what a miracle that they really are now.

Mom (Steph) is also doing very well. I think she still has some general soreness, but she has hardly taken any pain medication through the entire pregnancy. She's been taking good vitamins, but also took some Nutrilite Recovery drink while we were in the hospital. We both feel that the recovery drink helped to prevent a lot muscle soreness, aches and pains. She looking really good as well, what can I say, she's a hot mama.

2. Visitors - We've had some great family and friends stop over to meet little Tobiah. On Tuesday, Mr. Kim, Kayla (Steph's mom), my parents, Mike, Em, Zeke, Marky & Katie. It was fun for us to see their reaction and to take a few pictures of them holding Tobiah. Katie was a natural holding him and should only be a matter of time before she has one of her own. Marky waved at Tobiah, but didn't hold him. I don't blame him though, I was the exact same way. Tobiah is only the 3rd infant I've ever held (with Zeker being the 2nd). It was also a bunch of fun for Tobiah to meet his cousin Zeke. Zeker looks huge compared to Tobiah, it is funny to think back that Zeker was Tobiah's size only six weeks prior and to see how much he has grown is ridiculous. Seeing that helped me comprehend how fast Tobiah will grow up and I need to appreciate every moment and not to "wish away time". For example, "I wish he could sit up on his own" or "I can't wait until he can walk"... those types of statements.

On Wednesday Kayla stopped back over (with a Big Mac & fries for me), as did my mom. Both grandmas got a second dose of their new grandson. Laura, David & Jack stopped by that night and Jack got to see his new friend. Jack is almost two now and to see how big he is reinforced what I thought the day previous with Zeke. Laura and David also said that those two years have just flown by. I'm shaking my head as I type this as it is nearly uncomprehendable (I'm sure the parents out there are nodding in agreement). Then Gene & Shawna stopped by to meet Tobiah. This was truly humbling for Steph and I. Gene & Shawna mean the world to us. They have been the example, standard and mentors in our lives for several years. To say it was special having them hold Tobiah and share encouraging words would be an understatement and my Waseca High School vocabulary doesn't quite have the proper adjectives to describe how wonderful it was having them stop over and share great stories and to speak words of life into him.

After we were finally discharged on Thursday afternoon, Cole and Christine stopped over to the house. That was cool, I saw so much of me in Cole. Overall excitement for Steph and I, but a little uneasy about holding him or anything like that. Cole and Marky both have a lot of me in them, but to Christine and Katie, I can tell you that once they have their own they will dive right in. Mom, Em & Zeke also came over and spent the evening with us. It was fun looking through old family albums and baby books. Steph and Em also think that both Zeke and Tobiah look like me. What that really means is that they will grow up to be complete studs, ladies beware.

After a mild Friday, we had a huge friends and family gathering on Saturday. First Dana and Kayla took pictures, held and cuddled Tobiah. It was great for them to meet their 5th grandchild. Jeff, Julie & Jaycie stopped over. It was great to see how fun and giggly Jaycie was. She is also almost two, but to see how independent she is was an eye opener compared to Tobiah's fully dependent phase. After spending some great time with them, family time began. Uncle Mark drove up from Worthington to meet Tobiah. I was so excited that he came up to see him (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them together, which I'm a little upset about). In addition to Uncle Mark, my parents, Mike, Em & Zeker also came over. It was fun to have everyone together for the first time. It was a lot different than any other Schwarz family gathering before. Typically, I was the only fussy or crying one, but now I have competition. As a family we no longer decide when we eat. Zeke and Tobiah dictate that for us know. It was a family experience that I will never forget.

3. Things I didn't know - I think this will be an ongoing topic, but the thing that I didn't realize was how many times in a day that we needed to change Tobiah's clothes. Steph went up stairs to feed Tobiah and when she came back down he was wearing a different outfit. I thought it was strange, but didn't think to much of it. The next time that she fed him and came down in a different outfit, it was becoming concerning to me. I didn't realize that you really don't know when a kid is going to burp, spit up, burst through their diaper and up their back or go while being changed. Now I understand why he needs SO many clothes and why we have to do a load of laundry for him everyday. I'm getting good at match up little stocking though!


As you've seen, I have added a few pictures in this blog, but if you would like to view more (and future) pictures, check out my facebook page. Stay tuned for additional updates and more pictures.

He's Here! He's Here!

Stephanie and I would like to introduce our son Tobiah William Schwarz. He arrived this morning at 5:21, weighed in at 7lbs 5oz and was 18 inches long. Both Toby and Steph are doing well. He is doing great during his first seven hours of life. Steph and I are both humbled, thankful and honestly a loss for words over how blessed we truly feel right now.

As I wrote last night we were in the hospital hoping that we would be parents by late morning/early afternoon. Little Tob had different plans. I sent last night's post out at around midnight and I stayed awake with Steph until about 1:15. Honestly I was a little excited/nervous about greeting my son into the world, but before I fell a sleep I told Steph to wake me if she needed me. At about 1:30 Steph started moaning a little bit, but it wasn't anything to unusual from what I've heard at home. Since she didn't say anything I fell back asleep. At 3:15 I awoke to a few loud and painful moans. From 1:45-3:15 Steph and the nurse were very active. They walked around the room, spend a few minutes on the birthing ball, filled and spent about 30 minutes in the tub. (This once again confirms that I could sleep through a marching band). At about 3:30 we moved Steph back to the bed and she began having sharp contractions. At 4:27 she began pushing and by 5:21 he was born. I got a little emotional seeing how much discomfort Steph was in and there was nothing I could do about it. I kept telling her how great she was doing and let her squeeze my hand to relieve some of the pressure.

I would like to make the disclaimer now that I know very little about children and all these experiences are new to me. Give me a little latitude as I share just how naive I really am.

After Tobiah was born he came out just a screaming. I was amazed on how quickly the got him into Steph's arms. While she was bonding with him they were cleaning him off and making him look more human. When asked, I passionately declined the option of cutting the cord. To be honest I was constantly checking for the nearest chair just in case I started getting a little light headed. So cutting the cord was a little to much for me. In the mean time they weighed, measured and administered his first shot and eye drops.

They dressed and swaddled him and I got to hold him for the first time. His eyes were open and I kind of introduced myself to him. I told him "You are going to be great, you are going to do great things." I started welling up with tears as I said "God saved you for this special time and you will do great things for him". I still get emotional thinking about that and I'm not an overly emotional guy. Maybe it was the first connection that we had, or a realization of what is to come. All I know is that I now have a human life that is completely dependant upon me (well...at this time Steph) to provide, raise and instill values that will uphold the nature of his name.

There is so much more to share, but I think some of that is for another time and maybe more things will come back to me as time passes and Steph and I relive our versions of this morning.

For those of you who are wondering the meaning of Tobiah: God is good!

God has definitely blessed us today with a miracle and I can't quantify the gratitute that I have and I honestly think the best way to summarize it is "God is good", he is SO VERY GOOD!

One More Night

I'm sitting in birthing suite 3 at the Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia as I type this.
Today started out as the past two weeks have, with me looking at Steph wondering if today is the day or not, but I could tell by how her eyes were shut that this morning wasn't going to be the morning. I showered and went to work just like any other day.

While I was at work Steph called me after meeting with her midwife. She said that there hasn't been much progress since last week and they gave Steph two choices. The first option would be to wait until next Monday and if the baby hasn't been born we would need to induce. The second option would be to give her a medication called Misoprostol. Misoprostol is suppose to help a woman dilate which ultimately allows her to give birth sooner than she normally would have. After discussing our options we decided to take the second option.

At 8:20pm we began packing and loading the car up. We already had the "emergency" bags packed. We grabbed a few additional items: pillows, our toiletries and a few things to drink. At 8:35 we were on our way to hospital. It was weird to me not feeling rushed as we were on our way to the hospital. I was secretly a little sad that we didn't have that "rush". I've been practicing my best NASCAR driving and everything for that moment.

At 9:00pm we were checked into our birthing suite and have been here for the past 2.5 hours. At about 9:55pm, Steph received her first dosage and started receiving more intense contractions about 20 minutes later (she's been receiving light ones through out the past few days again). At about 11pm we walked for about 20 minutes to see if contractions would intensify and ultimately lead to labor, but instead it was just a great time for me to take a few pictures.
As I mentioned earlier, we arrived at the hospital slightly before 9:00. That means that the front entrance of the hospital is closed and you can enter only through the Emergency entrance. I parked and we entered, but the lady at the ER desk let us know that we needed to move our car within a few hours since we technically weren't Emergence parking, (seems like a detail to me). After getting checked in and settle I went out to move the car. On my way back in I stopped by Holiday for a little treat. Grandma's Double Chocolate for Steph and beef jerky for myself. By the time I arrived back to the Emergency entrance it was flooded with people (and by flooded I mean a dozen or so). Either way there was only one nurse for everyone waiting to see their loved ones. One girl I was talking to was waiting for her "stupid" boyfriend (I'm going out on a limb and saying that relationship doesn't last). I waited over 20 minutes to be let back into the hospital. Luckily nothing exciting was happening in birthing suite 3 as I was on my 45 minute adventure.

As the title of this post states "One More Night". I fully expect to be a dad by tomorrow. That's when the fun tales begin.

A Call I will Never Forget

Let's take the suspense out, we are still waiting for our little guy to make his arrival into the world, but I received a call today at work that I will never forget. I was chatting with Steve, one of my coworkers, and my pocket started vibrating. I waited for two vibrates because that means it's an incoming call (compared to a text or email). I took my phone out of my pocket hoping it was Steph letting me know that I should head home because of the baby is on his way. Needless to say it wasn't Steph nor was it a number that I recognized. I placed my phone back on my desk and a little disappointed it wasn't Steph. Steve persuasively said that I should answer it. That it could be the hospital or something. So, I answered and below is the exact dialog (best I can remember):
Me: Hello
Caller: He's here! He's here!
Me (my heart falling out of my chest): What?
Caller: He's here!
Me: (blood draining out of my face leaving me a pale white) Who?
Caller: He's here at Central Desk!
Me: (Confused, light-headed) What?
Caller: Is this Roland?
Me (Blood rushing back to my face turning it a sun burnt red): No.
Caller: Sorry. Bye.

I slowly placed my phone on my desk and looked at Steve and immediately start sweating, seeing stars and  hyperventilating. Steve had this look of unbelief on his face as to say "That was the greatest thing I've ever seen in my entire life". I'm was still shocked, confused and speechless as to what just occurred. My coworkers on the other side of cube city could faintly hear what was going on and also start buzzing with confusion and anticipated excitement. I try to restate the story, but I was still dazed and emotionally drained by the 90 second conversation.

It is amazing to me on what the odds of the call going the way it happened. What are the odds that:
1. I receive a call from Metronic (we researched and found out it was them who called) and they would have my number when trying to reach one of their own employees.
2. I answer the call. If Steve wasn't at my desk I never would of answered. Steve and I chat for only a few minutes a day so for him to be at my desk when I receive the call is low
3. The caller say's he's here. Not she's here, they're here, but he's here.
4. I intrepret the call the way I did. A month ago or even a month from now "He's here" has a completely different meaning.
5. The caller didn't say hello, but just exclaimed "He's here". It kind of get's back to the first point.

So, the kid hasn't arrived yet, but I think I received enough excitement for the day. Hopefully the little guy will make an appearance tomorrow.

The Wait Continues, This Time at Target Field

The last 9 days have felt like months. There is a strange feeling knowing that at anytime Steph is going to say "Darek, it's time", but not knowing when that moment is, that's punishment. Steph was having contractions throughout the day again, some major and minor. The nurse said that it could be today and that I should stay close, so instead of waiting at work, I just waited at home. I actually worked from home, which was probably a nice break for my team and coworkers. I think I've been driving them crazy with all my baby talk and what the plans are while I am out. I have some great coworkers that are going to help me out and I have a pretty awesome team that will probably perform better without me there.

My mom, sister (Em) & EZ (my new nickname for Zeker, which is also a nickname I came up for him) stopped over this afternoon. It was the first time I've seen EZ awake in quite a while. The last three times I've seen him he's been out like a light. He's such a good baby. He's very alert and aware to what is going on around him. I'm still working on my baby thing. I held him (and I got plenty of tips from Steph and Kayla).  Em thought the presence of EZ would help our little guy come out, but to this point it hasn't worked.

My dad gave me 2 Twins tickets to sell because he is currently working on a major project in Winona. I tried Stubhub & Craigslist, but was unable to sell them. At 5:15 I had a decision to make, so I called Steph and offered the tickets to her and her mom. Kayla's never been to Target Field and even though it was 113F heat index, I thought it would be fun for the two of them. They could of walked around, gone to the Metropolitan Club, but Kayla declined and suggested that I go (naturally, I'm in). Steph and I raced home, I threw 5 hand towel under water and into the freezer. We also packed two mini fans, a "Joe on a Stick" (it was a give away in 2009) some grapes and a quick change of clothes and we were off. We arrived just a few minutes before the first pitch. The frozen hand towels worked beautifully for Steph. They definitely made the heat tolerable for a woman over her due date.

As for the game, the only thing to be said was that the Twins were lucky to only be trailing by 1 after 8 innings. Masterson was dominate and Liriano was erratic. Cleveland was one hit away from breaking the game open (several times tonight), but Liriano got Cleveland to chase at bad pitches and was able to do good damage control. Everything changed in the bottom of the 9th. Joe started things by taking an one walk. In this case Perez should of known that even if Joe made good contact it was only going to be a single (unlike the commercial, Joe can't turn on a pitch and put it in the overlook in right). Cuddy doubled because Cleveland was playing a no doubles defense. Cuddy dumped his pitch in shallow left field, but alertly took second (it reminded me of when Gladden did it in game 7). The walk to Thome was expected, you weren't going to let him beat you, but then Danny did what he has done all year, clutch hitting in the late innings. My only thought with the hit was the left fielder had to of seen that Cuddy was already at third as the ball was dropping. The only shot the he had was to dive, catch it and double Cuddy up.

Either way it was a wonderful night at the ballpark, we only hope that the excitement of the game gets the baby to come out. Then it would be a "Beautiful Day"

Waiting for More False Alarms?

Last afternoon I get a phone call at 4:45 from Steph asking me where I was at. I said still at work. Yesterday was a crazy day, it was one of the few days where I'm not at my desk, because I was in meetings all day. I still had a ton to do, but all of that vanished as soon as she asked me where I was. I immediately asked if it was time and she told to me to begin coming home as she thought this was it. At this time I was sitting with one of my coworkers and she could see it all sinking in for me. She told me to get out of there and have a baby. So I'm literally sprinting through the halls of Target screaming "It's Time!"

I honestly don't remember much of my way home other than no one drives as fast as I want them to (that has been a common theme in my life, but was still revelation to me last night). I do remember driving down our street parking the car in the middle of the road, leaving it running and sprinting for inside the house. That's when Steph told me to hang on a little bit and that we don't need to leave quite yet. I shake the adrenaline off and go back outside to park and turn the car off.

Then we waited......and waited......and waited. Steph was having contractions when she walked, but now for the first time was getting them as she was laying down. We kept wondering to ourselves if last night was going to be the night, but again to no avail. The other night Steph said that the baby is stubborn like his father.....I said I'm not stubborn.......it's just one of my endearing qualities. I don't think she bought it, but I definitely tried selling it.

As we wait for our little guy, we continue to wait for the federal and state government to get their gear together, the NFL & NBA to conlude their lockouts and for the Twins to eventually leave 4th place in the division. The one thing we are not waiting for is any more false alarms.

No News and Another Missed Opportunity

As I write this, Steph is fast asleep. She is actually cuddled up with a beagle (it's quite adorable). This means that there is no update on the baby front. I must tell you this story, on Tuesday morning at about 5am, Steph went to the bathroom (as she does so many times right now). Typically I don't hear her, but for whatever reason I did this time. I rolled over and asked if she was having a baby. She nonchalantly said "yes" and I said "right now?!" She said almost sarcastically, "well, not right now". As she was speaking I fell back asleep. I must admit that haven't been sleeping that well and when I do, I'm usually dreaming about the drive to the hospital.
This hole baby thing has gotten so bad that people actually groan when then see me walk into work. I'm not sure how to take that, are they sad that I don't have a baby yet or are they feeling the freedom to actually express themselves? Things I think about.

Tonight dad and I went to the Twins game and saw a pretty poor game by the home team. Blacky pitched fairly well. He had a few long innings, but he went 7 scoreless. Nathan looked near dominate in the 8th (of course it was the 8, 9 & 1 hitters). Then Capps blew the save in the 9th. Home plate umpire didn't give Cappsy any favors on the lead off hitter. It seemed like the zone got a lot tighter for that one hitter. After two outs and a 1-1 count. Homser crushed a ball about 425 to dead center. Capps will receive a lot of blame for the loss and could lose his role as the closer, but the blame shouldn't solely fall on Cappsy.

Twins had runners at the corners three times with one out and not one time did they drive in the run. The only run the Twins scored was on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the ninth with Tolbert at first Danny hit a ball about 408 feet to dead center for the 1st out (when it left the bat I thought he got it). After a Delmon single the Twins were back to first and third with one out. Hughes hit for Repko and tapped one back to the pitcher and for whatever reason Tolbert tried to score and was out by the original budget debate gap. Nishi grounded out weakly to end the game. Plenty of opportunities to win tonight, but just didn't get the job done.

I do think it is time to send Mijares and his 8.3BB/9 to Rochester and bring up Chuck James. Then Perkins and Capps should split the closer role based on match up. Perkins should have faced Hosmer with 2 outs and a runner on in the 9th.

Hopefully Pavano and the offense can get us back in the win column and I hope to be blogging from our hospital room.

Debt Limit & Government Shutdown

This will be one of the few posts that I get political, but with so much uncertainty I had to weigh in on the issues that are currently happening at the federal level with the discussion of raising the debt limit and at a state level with Minnesota already in the longest government shutdown (out of all states) in recent memory. Both issues are different, but have a lot of similarities. I would expect many people to feel the same emotions as I do, but maybe different solutions on how to handle both issues. Let's dive in.

Federal Debt Limit
The issue is that the US currently has an approved debt limit of $14.294 trillion ($14,294,000,000,000), but needs to raise the debt limit because the current budget's expenses exceeds revenue. The gap is projected at $2 trillion, which means the president is asking congress to raise the debt limit it $16.7 trillion. The president can't raise the debt limit without congress's approval. To keep a very long story short Democrats want to increase the debt limit and taxes on the richest 2% of Americans while Republicans are split on if they are willing to raise the debt limit. Some want drastic spending cuts in next year's budget and others are willing to let the government run out of money and tough luck after the money is gone.

Historically I'd be in the camp that says if you can't pay for it, don't buy it. Let the government run out of money. Would we really not be able to pay our obligations to the interest on the debt, military pay and social security? I think we have enough money to cover our most critical expenses, but I also know that there is so much uncertainty going that route. What if we don't have enough money and we do default? Could that lead to collapses of the global economy or a depression that would be catastrophic that we wouldn't fully recover? I say it is possible. Just the uncertainty would damage the markets, pull foreign money out of the US economy, weakening our dollar (even more) and ultimately leave the US in a very vulnerable situation.

The problem is that Washington is so concerned about the 2012 election that I don't feel that everyone (both parties) have the country's best interest in mind. We have career politicians that are looking out for themselves and their party that they aren't willing to negotiate and get a deal done. For example, today Eric Cantor (House Majority Leader) called President Obama out for storming out of negotiations. SO? How does saying that get a deal done? Granted I wasn't in the room, but how does bashing the leader of the free world help get a deal done? Both parties are spinning the news to show how bad the other party is. I'm sorry, but I thought we lived in the United States of America, not the Divided States of America.


Ultimately the debt ceiling needs to be raised, but there need to be a lot of conditions placed on it.
1. The budget is balanced going forward - Only to be raised again in the face of financial ruin (Bank failures of 2008 for example)
2. Debt needs to be paid off - How much debt is acceptable to have? "The National Debt has not gone down (from year to year) since the end of the Dwight Eisenhower administration." (http://130.94.230.21/debt_history.htm)
3. Bush's tax cuts need to be extended through 2013.
4. Long term look at a flat or fair tax (this would eliminate tax loop holes that frustrate so many Americans)

Minnesota's Government Shutdown
Now onto a local angle. We are about to finish day 13 of the government shutdown and instead of Governor Dayton being in town at the negotiation table he is traveling the state campaigning his stance. Republicans haven't submitted a budget since hours before the government shutdown 13 days ago. Both parties have dug in their heels and planted their flag. Neither side has a desire to move from their position (kind of like me watching a game at Target Field). We were already without 22,000 employees, the DMV and Canterbury, but now the state of Minnesota could be without beer. "The MillerCoors brewing company landed in the cross hairs of Minnesota's government shutdown Wednesday when state officials said it would have to stop selling its beer in the state because of expired licenses" (http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/125526248.html). I don't drink, but this is ridiculous. This now isn't just impacting the 22,000 laid off employees, it is now going to impact small business and restaurants.

Back to the issues, the state to balance the budget before the government can reopen. What does that mean? It needs to make more money and spend less. How to get there is a where the problems come in. Governor Dayton and the Democrats want (and campaigned) for a tax increase on the wealthiest 2%. Republicans want to make up the deficit by spending cuts and "sin" tax (alcohol and tobacco). My problem with the suggested tax increases (wealthiest 2% and "sin") is that it doesn't impact everyone. It impacts the minority of the population. I wouldn't be impacted one cent on either of these taxes (at least not today, but I fully expect to be in the top 2% someday). It is so easy to say tax them or tax that, but don't you dare tax anything that impacts me. What about a tax on clothing or food? I wonder if the Minnesota legislator has Minnesotan's in their best interest when elected officials are still taking a paycheck, but they laid off 22,000 employees and why is the Governor's chef deem a necessity?

The state needs to do five things to get the government running again.
1. Leave state income tax the same
2. Look into state gambling (racinos & state sponsored casino) for additional revenue
3. Put a 2% tax on clothing
4. Cut government spending to ensure that we have surplus in the future. Government doesn't have to spend all revenue it takes in
5. Get a "lights on" bill passed until final agreement can be reached on the budget

These are a few of my thoughts on a broken political system

FCA Day with the Twins (and Rays)

Below is an excerpt of an experience I had with last Tuesday July 5th. It was a lunch that PJ (Pastor John Conway) invited me and a couple of guys to. I wrote my thoughts the next day during lunch because I didn't want it to be just another lunch. I wanted to remember as much detail as possible so that I would still remember vividly years from not. It was this piece of writing that Steph read that ultimately lead me to starting a blog. Enjoy, I know I did.

July 5th 2011

As I sit here at work today, I can't help but to think back on yesterday and how cool lunch was. Over the weekend PJ gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in attending a FCA lunch with the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays. PJ said he'd give me a pair for being a loyal partner to him each month. The one thing that he mentioned was that he'd prefer that the ticket went to a pre-christian. As I thought about it, I figured I'd ask Mark Scott. I know that he loves baseball (like I do) and I wasn't sure where his spiritual journey has taken him. As yesterday approached I received a second phone call from PJ letting me know that another person cancelled and that he would give me a 3rd ticket. I remembered the previous stipulation, so I asked CDH, but didn't hear a response from him. Next I asked Finley, but he had a meeting with his VP and couldn't get out of it. Finally I asked Jon Biermann and he was excited about attending.

Lunch was held at the Farmers Market Annex, about 2 blocks away from Target Field. There were probably 50 people in attendance excluding players. Out of the 50 maybe a 12-18 were kids that were so star struck they didn't realize what was going on (reminds me of a similiar situation in my life). We had a wonderful catered lunch, fruit spread, salad (which I some how forgot to add to my plate), brats, dogs, burgers, corn on the cob and cookies. I chose the burger, which I immediately regretted after I saw the dogs and the Oatmeal cookie, which was super buttery and delish. 

After the meal the presentation began. A former Minnesota FCA leader Dukes, now working press with the Rays, started off he talked about his travel from MN to FL and how he received his job with the Rays. Dukes than introduced Justin Ruggiano who talked about his journey to MLB and how he has seen God direct his life. He talked about how he felt when the Rays dropped him from the 40 man roster and how he didn't know where his life was headed after 6 years in AAA. At the end Dukes shared that was the first time that Justin publically shared his testimony. Duke than brought up Ben Zobriest to share. Ben was a very elequent speaker. He talked about how he was a PK (pastor's kid) and how he grew up in the church, but that was something he did, not something he was pursuiting. He talked about how he accepted Christ and began living his life for him. He shared that accepting Christ was way better than going to the All-Star game or playing in the World Series. Overall, I have a lot more respect for Ben and I know that I will be cheering for him (accept when the game is on the line vs the Twins) just like I cheer for Josh Hamilton.

Next they introduced the Minnesota Twins team chaplin. He seemed like a good guy, honestly I was a little unimpressed as I thought that was something that I could easily do, but just don't know the route to it. He introduced Matt Capps and interviewed him Matt talked about his faith journey and how he was brought up in a Christian home, but he focused a lot of his time talking about the ups and downs of his carrer on how he went from low A ball to the majors in one year, but then how the Pirates decided to non-tender him and how he had to wait until Christmas to sign on with the Nationals. That season he went to the All-Star game and was the winning pitcher. Later that year he talked on how he was excited to be joining the Twins in a mid-season trade and how things have had the ups and down in Minnesota (guessing the recent string of 4 unsuccessful save opportunites would be a low he is currently experiencing). 

Finally, Scott Baker came up and stated talking about his faith. He talked about how he asks each team chaplin who the believers are and how Baker likes to know because he likes cheering for other Christians as well. Baker talked directly at the kids 12 and younger and finished with a prayer of protection over each of them and how he prays that they will each find Christ and accept him as his personal savior. That concluded the presentation, I thanked PJ for the opportunity to attend and how awesome the 1.5 hours were.

As we were leaving, we walked pasted the table the players were sitting at and saw Ben just sitting there. I walked up to him, shook his hand and thanked him for sharing and being a great example out there. I told him that I was a new fan of his and that I will be cheering for him. I then walked up to Capps and thanked him for sharing. I told him that we were in Arizona and watched the Twins and how he signed Steph's ticket stub and how we got a picture of Steph with her signed ticket stub. He thought that was pretty cool. Finally we had the opportunity to say hi to Baker. I told him how I was a his near perfect game in 2008 and how he has always been one of my favorites and then I found out that he was a man of faith and how I became an even larger fan of his. I also told him that we've watch the Twins play in several different stadiums.

This was definitely one of the coolest lunches that I was ever able to attend. Praise God that I am blessed and highly favored and cool things like that happen to me all the time.

Heading into the All-Star Break

No news on the baby front. Steph and I were hoping that today was going to be the day, but we know that we are a week away from our due date. We will remain patient as our little guy bakes just a little bit longer.

On to some baseball. Twins took three out of four this weekend in Chicago. I have to admit that I didn't watch every inning of every game this weekend, but could Chicago have looked any less interested? They looked bored, sloppy and in some games defeated. After yesterday's loss I doubted the chance the Twins were going to win today. To Ozzy's disgust, the new piranhas kept nipping at Chicago and did the small things to win the game.

Looking back on the weekend of play, it was made even more clear that the Twins desperately need some bullpen help. Burnett and Mijares probably shouldn't be allowed to pitch at the major league level again this year. Burnett is allowing hitter to hit at a .294 clip and has a 6.75 ERA this year. Mijares is probably even worse. He has a 5.49 ERA and hitters are batting .282 against him, he has a WHIP of 1.98 but the thing most disturbing is that he has walked 17 batters in 19.2 innings. It's like he is afraid to pitch this year. He is consistently getting behind hitters which forces him to throw meatballs that even the Waseca High School team could hit.

Looking forward, the Twins are 6.5 games out of first and feel like they are only going to get better in the second half. They are beginning to get healthy, starting pitching is giving the offense an opportunity to win almost every night. Now all we need is someone to help Perkins in that bullpen and we will be in good shape.

Final thoughts, I honestly think that I couldn't be worse than Adam Dunn facing left handed pitching, he's 2 for 64 and he is still hitting clean up for Ozzy! It might be time to move him down the order when a lefty starts.

A Fresh Start

Let's be honest with each other, in today's society social media is a big deal and there a tons of people blogging and sharing their opinions on a number of items. I have always felt like blogging was never going to be for me, but my wife Steph (also to be known throughout this blog as Steppy) finally convinced me after she read my experience at a Twins-Rays lunch I attended earlier this week (Which I will post here either tomorrow or Monday). I got to thinking (which isn't one of my strengths), if I was to blog, what would I blog about. Honestly, how many people really care what I think about (I guess as time goes on we'll find out)? I came up with four topics that are really important to me that I'm extremely passionate about that I felt I could write about multiple times a week. Those four areas are:

1. Family - Steppy and I have been married for over 7 years now, we have a 5 year old beagle named Hunny and we are days (maybe even hours) away from our first child, a son (who at this point doesn't have a name). I will share my experiences as a man and first time father. I also have to throw the disclaimer that I'm not the best with kids (at least your kids), I'm not sure what they want, how to get to their level. This should be plenty of comedy for you and a great way to help me understand.

2. Faith - I've been born again since I was 8 (at story I will share in the future) and have been passionate about my walk with Jesus since. I will be the first to admit that I screw up plenty and I'm no where close to perfect and I hope that people don't judge what Jesus did for them based upon my inadequacies. I have to be up front and say that I follow Jesus and his Word. I am easily annoyed by religious traditions and why people do things in their church, but don't understand why.

3. Political - This will probably be the subject I talk the least about, but should be open to let you know that I am very partial and lean heavily one way, but two things you can expect from me. First, I will never rip a person because of the person he is. For example, our president I may disagree with many things that he does and says, but you will never hear me talk negatively about him as a person. Secondly, I will tell you why I believe the way I do. That way you can understand my thinking and you can rip me on my thoughts and you can give me the reason why you believe.

4. Baseball - Minnesota Twins baseball to be exact. I love the game and feel that I have above average insight as to how the game can be played. This may be a great outlet for me after a frustrating loss, a heroic comeback or strategic moves that need to be made based upon injuries, slumps and dynamics that is brought to the team. (I currently have a number of things to talk about regarding this topic, but I'm trying to start fresh and begin share thoughts going forward).

Now you know why I'm doing this and hopefully there are value adding items here for you. I would love interaction to my comments. Please send this out to friends that maybe interested in any of the subjects listed above. To be fair, Topics one and four will probably be my main discussion points, at least between now and October (hopefully late October).

Enjoy!!