The Time I sat in the Owner's Box at Fenway

Me and Dr. Charles, who now works for the Commissioner.

Mom and Dad- and our view from the Owner's Box.

Yep, John Henry in the background- PROOF!

When my mom asked me on a whim if I could get us Red Sox/Dodgers tickets, I had no idea what a day I was in for...

To pick up my tickets, I had to go to player will-call at Fenway park, which is not accessible to the general public. I found out from the main ticket window that I needed an escort to pick up my player tickets. The girl that arrived had a shirt on that said "Fenway Ambassador." Ah, the all-too-familiar polo.

"Hi, I'm Tori," I said to her. "Great shirt. I was actually an Ambassador at the Dodgers under Dr. Charles Steinberg."

"Wow, that's wonderful," She replied. "As a matter of fact, he's here today. Are you seeing him?"

"What!?" I exclaimed. "I had no idea. I'm gonna call him!"

I knew it was a long shot, but standing in line (behind Jon Lester's family) I dialed his cell. I was thrilled when he answered. "I hear you and I are both within the walls of Fenway Park today," I said. "You're kidding!" He replied. "Stay right where you are. I'm sending someone to bring you where I am."

Turns out "Where he was" was L1- the owner's private suite at Fenway Park! My family stared at the luxury suite fixings in awe- leather couches, gourmet food, and a functional office space for working during the games. My stomach did a flip as I realized just WHO I was surrounded by and WHO I was shaking hands with! Tom Werner, John Henry, even Heidi Watney stopped through. Then I heard a familiar voice...

"TOMMY! Colin! This is CRAZY!" Yep, Tommy Lasorda and my friend, his assistant, Colin were in the room.

"Tori! You're no better than that guy in the Revolution- what's his name- BENEDICT ARNOLD! For leaving us at the Dodgers!" Tommy joked with me. Apparently finishing my college degree wasn't a good enough excuse for my wavering Dodger loyalty.

Ghosts from my Dodgers past continued to come through the door, along with Boston front office stars. My head was spinning. It was a new level of professional elbow-rubbing for me. I doubt Tom Werner will remember me, but when I'm working in MLB someday I'll be able to say "Actually yes, we met at the Dodgers series in 2010."

Sadly, I didn't get to see too much of the game with all the people to meet, but I'd say it was a fair trade. My family reported that even though any day at the ballgame is a great day, they'd like to get used to those kind of seats! The day served to reinvigorate my love for working in baseball and give a little fuel to the thought that maybe-just maybe- I'll be in a front office again. After the last three years, I know God constantly laughs at my plans, so I don't bother making them anymore. But it sure would be nice...

We're moving this week. Stories to come. Peace, Love and Baseball!

BEST WEEK EVER

An odd thing happens when you turn 23, move away, and start working in the real world.
YOU MISS HOME!

You think you'd be ready for it after all your hot shot years at college, but such is not the case.

I don't know why this trip home in particular was so special. Maybe it's because I haven't seen my house since Christmas. Maybe it's because it's been such a chaotic year. Maybe it's because this trip was just packed with so many wonderful things. In any event, I can't remember being so relaxed or enjoying myself so much in a long, long time.

I got home very early Friday morning. Mom and I went out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel (I dare you to judge) and caught up on all sorts of gossip. We got back to Pittsfield, cleaned up, then headed to the local TV station to film Dad's show. This month's topic was lung disease. Each month he does a different topic with a different guest doctor. I'm proud of his excellent PR skills!

From the studio, we went to Berkshire County's Relay For Life, where Dad was the night's keynote speaker. Relay continues to inspire me in a way no other non-profit work does. It is simply so powerful. I choked on my own tears all night, and Dad gave a beautiful speech. Especially amazing was the applause for the Berkshire Health Systems Hematology/Oncology unit who took such good care of him.

Saturday, I got to see my sister and go to a Red Sox/Dodgers game that deserves its own blog entry. When I get the pictures from her, I'll tell the tale. Spoiler alert: The title of the next entry will be "The day I sat in the owner's box at Fenway!"

Sunday was Father's Day. Dad recently splurged on silver Mazda MX-5 and we went for a Sunday drive through the countryside with the top down. The Berkshires are as beautiful as ever and we got lost on purpose. Have you ever done that? It's wonderful. You never really can get lost, but you can discover roads you'd never think to drive! Some of the viewpoints we discovered were extraordinary. We ended the drive fittingly with ice cream sundaes, and the work week began.

I spent a lot of time with mom doing girly things: shopping, getting our nails done, and most thrillingly: making polish pierogies from scratch! You've never seen me cuss so much over a counter top. Those things are difficult! Smashing potato filling into thin gooey dough, pinching it all together without any potato escaping, boiling it before it dries out. Whew! It takes a real woman to handle these things! We made potato and sauerkraut stuffed ones, and they came out delicious...maybe F-bombs are the secret ingredient!

Dad and I wrapped up our time together going trout fishing in our canoe on the Housatonic river. And- we decided to let Barley test his sea legs. Let's just say this: A song was invented about the D-O-G that wanted O-U-T of the B-O-A-T ! He settled down eventually but there were a few canoe tips that were a little too close for comfort. It was a blast.

This entry could go on and on about lobster dinners, seeing neighbors and friends, home brewed beer, fireflies in the woods and all other delights of home, but I'll stop here.
Pics soon.
Peace and Love!

Ants in my pants

That’s what mom used to say when we were fidgety, cranky and rude and wanted to be anywhere but where we were. My kids have ants in their pants right now and so do I. Why bother coming to school in June? We haven’t been able to do anything since HSA testing started, and any sense of discipline or routine has dissolved into the wind. Getting kids to listen to me and try to force them to prepare for their final in my class has been like teeth on a chalkboard. (Yeah, teeth.) I can’t count how many kids I’ve kicked out of class and how many phones I’ve abducted. Let me out!!

Today really is my last day of teaching this year and I’m celebrating by going to the Nats game tonight. Our much-hyped phenom pitcher, Strasburg, is making his major league debut and for once, the stadium is sold out. I am stoked to be going and feel like a major rebel for going out on a weeknight.

In other news, I’ve started running again every other day. My body is furious since the last time I held any kind of exercise routine was oh, about a year ago. I can hardly take in a breath I am so sore. It’s my goal to have a better routine in my life next year and get a sense of normalcy back to my days. I don’t think that’s so much to ask! Maybe I’ll even get back into cooking and away from my microwavable prepackaged diet. Baby steps.

Finally, I will officially be home June 18-24 to rest, see my dad give his speech at the Relay For Life, and to hit up a Red Sox game, my first home game in years! If you’re going to be in the general New England area in that time slot, give me a shout.

Peace and Love.