Starting the Summer Off Right!

This weekend featured the first official day of summer - June 21. Understandably enough, my half birthday went by unnoticed until my mom mentioned it me in excitement today...Needless to say my summer started off right not because I was celebrating a silly half birthday but because lots of people passed through Charlotte this weekend - seven to be exact.

Things started to get exciting on Thursday night when Garrett, being the typical guy, did not think to tell me earlier than 930pm that night that four - not one - guys were staying at my uptown condo the next night. I have a small condo. I somehow had to find a way to fit four minor league baseball players ranging anywhere from 190-250 pounds in my living room, which is approximately 372 square feet of wood floor. Fortunately enough, Danielle came to my rescue and let me borrow her blow up mattress, so I had beds for all the guys to sleep in, including my pull out mattress in my couch.

Garrett and I arranged for the entourage to meet me immediately at Hawthorne's pizza. Between five guys and me, they ate three huge 18" pizzas. Garrett pretty much ate our entire pizza, minus the slice that I nibbled at. The conversation was great because we had such an eclectic mix of people: Angel, a Dominican who could barely speak English; Andrea, a 20 year old Italian who taught himself both English and Spanish in a couple of months' time so that he could communicate with his teammates; Travis Smink, a Steelers fan from PA who also happens to be Garrett's roommate and who I think rocks; Phil, a south Florida resident and UNF grad who is trying Garrett's healthy diet for a week to see if he can do it.

After pizza, we went back to my place to play some baseball on the Wii. Since Andrea had decided he loved Charlotte, we all wanted to go out so he could experience the city. There is only one 18 and up bar in Charlotte that I know of, so we walked the .75 mile to BAR Charlotte in the ninety degree heat at 1030pm...I purposely did not tell these guys that this bar is not frequented by any friends of mine for the very reason that it showcases 18 year olds and a mechanical bull. Once we got there, the bouncer would not accept Andrea's license from Italy, so we had to turn around and walk right back home. I don't think any of us were really too disappointed because the guys had just driven for nine hours straight, and I had just run 11 miles that morning. Of course, we had to take a picture of the hostess with her guests:
I also needed a picture to capture the bromance between Garrett and Travis since they are roommates and have that whole male bonding thing going on after living in a hotel room together for four months...
Once we got back to the house, I got all the beds ready and everyone slept pretty decent. I just had to take them to Zada Jane's,which is one of the best breakfast joints in Charlotte that happens to be a mile from my house. While we waited for a table we played corn hole and shuffle board where Angel dominated over all the Americans. The food was delicious and all of us got the special - strawberry pancakes. Those pancakes and the biscuits sure did hit the spot for all of us!

Just as quickly as the boys got to my house, they were gone. Very grateful, they said their thanks to me, and hopped back into the two different cars to make their way to Greeneville, Tennessee, where Travis Smink was featured on their website:
Less than 20 minutes later, Garrett's sister and cousin, Elyse and Barbara, arrived so that we could go to Carowinds with our free tickets that my good friend Jay gave me. We rode the newest coaster - the intimidator - which was great! However, we made the mistake of riding a horrible old ride that probably knocked our brains around a little too much. We felt pretty sick after that and rode about three more roller coasters. After two bottles of water, four mullet sightings, three hours in the 95 degree heat, and a ride on a wooden roller coaster, we waved farewell to Carowinds and said hello to the air conditioning in my car. I guess when you get a free ticket, you don't feel the pressure to make the most of the trip to an amusement park.

The rest of their visit can be summarized with a lot of girl talk, a trip to IKEA, and bad run-in with a HORRIBLE waiter at a delicious restaurant in Charlotte . When we asked him for a water, he said "Ughhhh"...when I ordered three sides, he said "So you just mixed all the sides together...?"....When he asked how everything was, I responded "It's great...can I get some salsa?" and the waiter responded exasperated "Besides the SALSA"...Needless to say, you can tell that we got a horrible waiter, but it didn't matter because we still got our food.

On Sunday, I woke up at 6am to run over 16 miles with a great group of guys - Bill Shires, Stephen Spada, and Jason Martin. It was nice and easy in the humidity and heat, but thoroughly enjoyable considering the company.

Overall, I can say that I welcomed the first day of summer with open arms and it rewarded me in turn with a great weekend spent with people who mean a lot to me. In just three days time I get to go back home to Carbondale, where I'll be with my family!!!

Houston Astros Spring Training in Kissimmee, FL

This weekend I flew down to Orlando with Garrett's sister Elyse to meet their parents in Orlando, FL. On a mini vacation that revolved around Garrett, rollercoasters, and eating out, I had a fabulous time!

First I'll start with Garrett. He was definitely in his element. It was obvious that he was happy to have broken up the monotony of training alone in the offseason in Greenville NC by coming to Spring Training in Florida, where he could train with 140 other guys at various levels of the minor league system. As a side note, we should all be jealous that he gets to play his sport for his living considering that baseball is the one thing in life that he quite arguably loves as much as his family and girlfriend. ;o)

For those that do not know me, I am still struggling to learn all of the acronyms used in baseball, what all of the statistics mean, how the baseball farm system works, and the list goes on. Although Garrett and his mom have told me most of what I need to know, I will admit that I bought a book called Watching Baseball Smarter, which helped a little. Despite my attempts, I still annoy Garrett and his mom with all of my questions that they have probably already answered twice before.

Getting back on track, on the last day in Florida, Garrett's entourage of his mom Ann, dad Scott, sister Elyse, girlfriend Caitlin, Aunt Robin, and Cousin Meghan all headed to the Astros spring training complex to give us a glimpse of what the system looks like. After seeing George Bush Sr's entourage of Escalades pull into the field ahead of us, Ann knew the gatekeeper who let us into a semi-secret entrance. Since Ann and Scott had already been to the fields a couple of times before, Ann led the way and we sat quietly on some bleachers, so as to not disturb the players.

Unfortunately we did not get to see Garrett practice because his field was off limits to the public. Luckily, a couple days prior, Ann got to see Garrett throw a Live Bullpen (aka Live BP), in which Garrett struck out some guys. On this day, we did get to see other minor leaguers go through various conditioning drills so I got an idea of what Garrett does every day. Everything was very organized and the players on the five different fields all finished up around 1pm. Garrett came striding towards us, which is when I got to take stalker photos of him (see below).

Garrett running away from the Entourage

Notice here Garrett is touching his butt as he goes into the locker room

If you look past the fact that you have to stay in a hotel room for an indeterminate amount of days, weeks, months...and the fact that you have to eat out every single meal of the day, it's really quite a fabulous gig that Garrett has going on. At least he has his parents to take such good care of him when they visit. :o)

Other than watching baseball, Meghan, Elyse, Scott, Robin and I all went to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios to ride lots of roller coasters and other 3D/4D rides on Saturday. My favorite was definitely the Hulk and then the Krustyland 4D ride. The Disasters ride in Universal was closed so that was a bummer. We also got to see the construction of the new Harry Potter park, which was sweet!

Combined with several yummy meals out to eat, I enjoyed spending time with Garrett's family members and running through the beautiful streets of Celebration, FL. Not sure when I'll be seeing Garrett again, but I'm hoping it's definitely before September. HA!

Garrett Bullock's Spring Training

Garrett must report in Kissimmee, Florida on Friday, March 5th for spring training. That is about four and a half weeks away. Since advance planning is really not a part of minor league baseball, I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting to figure out when I'll actually be able to visit him in Florida. Until then, I'll be checking this website frequently:

http://www.springtrainingonline.com/teams/houston-astros.htm

Can't wait to find out where he'll be for the summer....

Lexington, KY? (Class A, Sally League)
Lancaster, CA? (Class A-Advanced, Carolina League)
-------------------------------------------------------
Corpus Christis, TX? (Class AA, Texas League)

Keep ya posted!

Garrett Bullock and the Greeneville Astros

The day I posted my blog, my mom sent me a text that said "I love the idea of your blog Caitlin...but what about Garrett? I want to hear his updates!" It is an ongoing joke between Garrett and I that my mom loves him more than me because he helped her mulch the garden when he came to so ill for a visit. Once I told him about the text, he of course rubbed it in some more. :o)

Mom, this is for you then.

Garrett was notified on Saturday, June 27 that he was to report the next day in Greeneville, Tennessee, for a spot on the Greeneville Astros minor league team nestled in the TN mountains. After weeks of uncertainty and perhaps even doubt, Garrett showcased true mental tenacity as he continued to fine tune his pitching mechanics through bullpens with high school catchers, to run track workouts in the sweltering Carolina heat, and to lift weights that nearly tripled his own body mass. He did all this without even knowing what the fate would be for his baseball career, only assuming for the best: that he would get picked up by a team.

Garrett has always amazed me because he has the mental strength and endurance of that of a distance runner. He truly can use his mind to overcome any physical pain or weakness. The mind usually triumphs the body in his case. Perhaps this is what got Garrett to Greeneville, Tennessee, or maybe it was just in fate's (or God's) hands?

Regardless, he has made four relief appearances and has allowed one unearned run on four hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched. His padres both got to see him throw a perfect inning of relief last Friday night (on July 17) against Johnson City, striking out two of the men he faced. You can read his box score online since I don't know that much about it (even though I bought a book on baseball for stupid girls).

To sum it all up, he is super happy, loving baseball, and excited for what is to come.

Be sure to keep checking out the website!!!

http://greeneville.astros.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t413