New Beginnings
When I returned from Arizona, One to One called me and told me they’d like to see other people. Long distance relationships never work out. Our Reno office started strong with 30 people; it had dwindled down to four, and now after my cut, two. It was a good experience; it wasn’t a messy break-up, and I’m glad we can stay friends. And I’m even more excited to build a new relationship with someone else. Cheers to 2011. ]]> http://www.adventuresofus.com/the-daily-grind/nine-great-things-from-2011/awalden/2012-01/feed 0 http://www.adventuresofus.com/the-daily-grind/northwest-house-crawl-year-3/awalden/2012-01 http://www.adventuresofus.com/the-daily-grind/northwest-house-crawl-year-3/awalden/2012-01#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:16:30 +0000 awalden http://www.adventuresofus.com/?p=2091 2011 marked the year that TJ moved into our neighborhood, a few houses down from Rob and me. Well, we knew we had to act quickly for our Northwest house crawl.

This year was going to be a bit more intimate, and we decided to run a theme. So, we crawled just like Mad Men  would do. We only crawled to our three houses, and each house had a Mad Men drink and appetizer. Our house consisted of chex mix, stuffed olives, and Maker’s Mark on ice.

And yes, that would carry out as a theme to the other houses. We ended at TJ’s where Tyler created a drink from the bartender gods where he used the smoke from a burning vanilla stick to hint the glasses. He then used a blue corn mash with some fruit concoction to make a very memorable drink.

Either way, it was a good time.

Well, we might as well give a first-hand experience of Ron’s iron man experience. Take it over, Ron:

My Road to an Ironman

By Ron Weaver

 

For years, my friend George Maldonado tried to get me to go on a bike ride with him, yet I probably said no a hundred times. Finally in a moment of weakness, I said yes, really just to shut him up. I loved riding and bought a steel frame road bike a month later.

By May of 2007, I could still only barely stay afloat in water and my longest run ever had been the 5 mile Reno Journal Jog. My daughter Bridget, however, convinced me to enter a half marathon in Vancouver, but I wasn’t convinced I could finish. Amazingly, I performed pretty well there, so I began running and riding a little more.

Somewhat intrigued by triathlons after watching friends perform and seeing the World Championship in Hawaii. I wanted to give it a try, especially since I had the bike/run thing going on. The fact that I really couldn’t swim was a major roadblock . I even still swam with my head up out of the water when practicing at Moana Pool. Nonetheless, I signed up for the Pyramid Lake Triathlon. When I saw the pylons way out in the water and realized how far 800 yards was, I chickened out and ended up only doing the bike/run. Not swimming was very embarrassing.

My first goal was finding someone to teach me to swim. That wasn’t easy, but I finally found Katie. (Her last name shouldn’t escape me, but it does.) Though not convinced I could be taught to swim properly, after only one hour, I was swimming with my face in the water and breathing, left and right. I was very excited at the end of that lesson.

Now my goal was to find a super easy triathlon which I did. It was in Moraga, CA. A pool swim of 400 yards, a 13 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run. My son Jason competed with me, even though this triathlon was beneath his skill level. I remember Chuck Hosselkus phoning to ask how I did. This competition was nothing as I look back on that tri, but it gave me the confidence to move on. Chuck was a great influence in my earlier triathlons. I even came within 60 seconds of beating him at Pyramid, though could never do so. I added more sprints, a couple at Olympic distance, and finally signed up for what I thought would be the ultimate: A half Ironman. Jason entered with me, and we had fun training together. Training alone can get to be a real grind.
I remember standing in the cold water of Lake Berryessa for the half and saying to myself, “What the hell were you thinking?”

I finally got to the run and I remember talking with someone about my age who said he was training also for Iron Man Arizona. I remember thinking he must be crazy. I told him, “There is no way I’d ever consider a full IM.” I truly felt completely at peace with being a half IM.

I then started running with NSET (Northern Sierra Endurance Training) running group because that’s where Bridget and her husband Andy were running. She again convinced me to enter a marathon. I guess my confidence was building a little now. What’s 4 hours running when I spent 6 ½ hours competing in a triathlon? It’s all about perspective.

I ran a second marathon because I wanted to qualify for Boston but missed it a 2nd time. That was now my goal. Along the way, 3 or 4 people including Nicole Vaillant at NSET said, “You should enter an IM.” I responded every time saying, “No way!” Nicole was looking for a training partner for IM Arizona and she was very persistent. I kept saying, “I’m too old and I can’t do it.” She would disagree. I started losing sleep wondering if I really could do it. I didn’t want to not try and then regret it for the rest of my life. I seriously lost a lot of sleep over it. After over 6 months of worrying a lot about it, I decided to give it a shot. Very reluctantly I might add.
You might think it would be easy to enter an event that allows 3,000 entrants, especially if you have to swim, bike and run 140.6 miles. Well, that’s just not the case. Chris and I were on our way to Egypt on November 20, 2010 which was also the first day to sign up for IM Arizona. Nicole signed up for both of us right at 11:00. The event sold out in 10 minutes. Chris and I were in New York City at the free cocktail hour for that trip to Egypt when I got a text from Nicole that we were entered. I was both happy and scared. I think the alcohol helped to ease the reality of what I had just read.

In January, Nicole and I sat down to start planning. As it turned out, she planned and I listened. She had a book with 3 training plans: just finish, intermediate or competitive. I was going to stretch a little and enter the intermediate. That level didn’t work for her, so we ended up entering the competitive. It’s very easy to say now that it was the right decision.

I was very concerned that training with someone 30 years younger and already an IM wouldn’t work and expressed that before being signed up. The swimming was never an issue because it would be in a pool. My bike times improved greatly as I racked up the mileage. A lot of the running was done with NSET and on our bike/run brick, where Nicole just ran at a lower heart rate to allow me to keep up. That worked out pretty well.

We officially started our 30 week “competitive” program on April 25th. I think the first week was 6 hours total, no problem. I also took yoga classes 2 days a week for the first 14 weeks, and I think that was very beneficial.

At the end of week 12, I did the Vineman half IM. I wasn’t nervous at all like I had been on the first half. It was a lot of fun, and I think I improved my personal record by 30 minutes. The energy that triathletes give off is just infectious.

There were a few rest days on week 13 to recover from the half IM and then back to 13 hours on week 14.

 

That week was going well until Saturday, July 30th when I broke my fibula, while trail running with Bridget and Andy. We were in about 2 miles, so the walk out was a very painful. Luckily, Chris came along with her hiking poles, and that gave me a boost. I was very concerned but didn’t think I had broken anything.

So I’m sitting in the ER when the doctor comes in and gives me the bad news. I told him I have the IM event on November 20th and he said, “No you’re not.” I can honestly say I never believed him for a second. For the next 3 weeks, I was in quite a bit of pain and pretty depressed, but training becomes addictive.

Dr. Dolan, my orthopedic doctor, gave me the okay to take off my boot and start swimming at 4 weeks. That didn’t go very well. The left leg had atrophied and was just not working as it should. At week 5, he let me take of my boot, get on my trainer and take a spinning class. At the end of week 5, Jason, Nicole and I did a 56 mile ride. It was like finding Jesus. One of the more memorable days of my life. I was back.

Quite a few people said, “I guess your IM is over,” including my personal trainer that I had for 8 sessions. I’m pretty sure that comment motivated me.

The last week of training was only 5 hours. Three days before the race, I tripped and separated a rib. Major panic set in. I was supposed to run 40 minutes that day and could only do 20 due to the pain. I thought my race might be over. Now this, along with the fact that my longest run of the year had been only 13 miles due to the broken leg. Although concerned, I went to a local pool to get my 30 minute swim in and the rib pain didn’t seem too bad.

Finally, the day of the race is here. Up at 4:30 to get parked and to the event by 5:30. The nerves weren’t too bad and my breakfast consisted of a Zone bar, waffle cookie and my miracle fruit of choice, the banana. It was very hard to eat anything. I got my bike set up with water, Gu, Zone bars and Hammer drink mix. When I met up with Nicole, she helped me with my wetsuit; because of my injured ribs, I needed a little help. We then headed over to the swim with 2,900 other somewhat crazy people. I was a little nervous about the swim, but felt this sort of calmness being with others doing the same thing. Misery loves company.
At about 6:45, some guys started yelling through a loud speaker like drill sergeants, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” We jumped off a 4 foot high platform into the 61 degree water and it just took my breath away for a few moments. I was surprised at how fast I adjusted to the cold temperature and even with a sleeveless wetsuit somehow only my feet were cold. With every stroke, my ribs hurt but it wasn’t too bad. The swim seemed to last forever and was chaotic. I found it very hard to find swim lanes without getting kicked. Even with all that, I was enjoying the fact that I was finally doing it. The bridge we had to swim under (that was over a mile away) never seemed to get much closer. Eventually, I came out of the water and my legs buckled. Volunteers grabbed me and got me over to where 2 others yanked off my wetsuit. Every bit of me was shaking and freezing as we ran into the heated transition tent. I took my time in transition (not like most) changing into biking clothes. I did put clean socks on over my muddy feet.

I came out of the changing tent for the bike leg and women wiped sunblock all over my body. Pretty cool. My bike was waiting at the far end near the exit with those of the pros. When I heard my number yelled, someone had my bike ready for me when I got to the positiion. Pretty cool again. My legs felt a little weak, but after 100 yards on the bike I was fine. Finally I was on my favorite part of any tri, the bike. It consisted of three 37 mile loops with a hill at every turnaround. I was really happy to be on the bike. Each lap took me a little over 2 hours. As I came down the last mile or so, there would be thousands of people cheering. Friggin’ awesome. Chris, Jason, Bridget, Andy and Nagisa were there at the turnaround cheering me on. That was a tremendous help. I really looked forward to seeing them. I saw Nicole coming back as I was going out on all 3 bike legs.
As you come down the chute for the bike/run transition, people cheer from both sides. Someone is there to grab my bike and say “Go!” Then I’m off to the changing tent for the run. The run start was a little rocky with my legs not working very well. Not unusual for any bike/run transition. I still felt knives stabbing at my ribs, but somehow adjusted by barely picking up my feet and shuffling. I now started realizing how tired I was and my previous longest run had been 13 miles. My mind started playing games with me. Doing the math, I knew I had over 8 hours to finish the marathon but I was still doubting myself. The run was 3 laps and the gang was there at different points to cheer me on. Tremendous help. It was not unusual to see people with cramps and/or puking. I kept thinking, “Please not me.” It was now dark and a long time had passé since that 7a.m. start. I was finally beginnning to think that I might finish this. The last 8 mile loop was painful, but I kept thinking about going through the chute at the finish line with hundreds of people cheering while they announced “Ron Weaver, you are an Ironman!”

I heard someone calling my name late into my 2nd lap and I was thinking, “Who knows me?” Duh! It was Nicole. As she ran past me, asked how I was doing and said, “I’m not going to break 12 hours!” and then she was gone. Turns out she finished 12 hours, 30 seconds. Very impressive and an hour faster than her first IM.

Jason and Andy ran the last 5 or 6 miles with me. It was more of a walk run and against the rules, but no one seemed to care. It helped a lot because I was more than just hurting at that point.

My time was 14:05. Right in the middle of my age group with 40 or so “old” guys. Perfectly happy being average in this group of overachievers.

To become an Iron Man, I logged in 91 miles swimming, about 2,400 miles biking and over 500 miles running. Time well spent.

I have no idea how this book found it’s way into our library. I may have picked it up for free at some point. But it stared at me in our closet, asking me if today it was to fulfill it’s purpose. So, I grabbed it.

The majority of this book is centered around the principles of Asian culture living. The author believes that disease and disappointment occur when our physiological state becomes blocked. Having an imbalance of Ki (life energy) results in disease.

He maintains that breathing exercises help keep us in a perfect state where we have our cool mind, relaxed heart, and warm belly. Deep breathing, belly breathing helps focus and positive energy. It gives us a relaxed state of mind.

He also endorses acupuncture as a way of healing. This helps release these blockages and created better Ki.

Meditation is key to listening to our soul. Meditation builds focus and quiets the mind. It lets us connect.

That’s it… for the most part. He confronts the issue that everything is changing around us. Everything we love will soon whither and die.  Nothing is constant. “I” is ego, so be more about other people.

“We are what we do”
“We cannot change the past because it no longer exists”

This isn’t a bad book, but one that was a bit too, uhm, maybe corny for me. He seems to write at his audience, not to them. Either way, interesting to hear more about the Asian culture, but glad this was a short read.

This book  was staring at me in my bookcase. I had read this for a class in college, and at the time, I felt that it was a good read. So, I decided to run through it once again:

• - 1+1 = 3
  Consuming insight + Brand Insight = Sweet spot
• - 5th P of Marketing is Personalization
  Every sale is a personal sale
• - People don’t buy 4 inch drill bits. They buy 4 inch holes.
• - You don’t persuade people. They persuade themselves.
• - When an idea or proposal doesn’t get adopted, it’s not always because it wasn’t good enough.More often, the author failed to understand the “client” who needed to buy it.
• - Sales vs. Order Taking. Sales requires insight to be successful. “Salesman” though is a perceivedperson who has only self-interest. Good insight.

• Grammy – The English/Irish/Scotch side
  • Grammy was raised in Point of Pines, MA, near a gorgeous Beach
    • Her mother passed away at an early age.
    • Father eventually remarried to a witch of a woman
  • Moved in front of Sluice Pond, MA
    • Brother, Charles, took care of my Grammy. They had a close relationship.
      • Each week, her brother and her would get $.25, which allowed for $.05 train, $.05 popcorn, $.05 the movie. The witch gave them a quarter to make them away. 
      • Grammy followed her brother everywhere. He often took care of my grammy.
      • At Sluice Pond, they’d cut the ice from the pond to ship to businesses when it froze over. My grammy would get ice shavings from these ice blocks.
        • Then the ice was transported on a horse carriage down the street
    • Charles went to Navy when Grammy was 13
    • Grammy left alone… finished school
    • Turned her education into a career of nursing
• Grandpa – Hungarian Side
  • Grandpa was raised in Revere, MA with five brothers and two sisters
    • Father was not part of the picture from an early age
  • Went to WWII as a Pilot in the Army Air Corps
  • Owned a roofing and sheet metal business with his brothers to help pay for their mother to have a nice house
  • Introduced to my Grammy from another nurse Janet. Janet had to decide between my grandpa and another brother. She chose the other brother, and then introduced my grandpa and grandma.
  • My grandparents then got married
• Grandparents
  • Grandpa realized doctors made good money. So he stepped away from his business to become a doctor.
    • Enrolled in Tufts University
    • Graduated from San Diego State (Mom was born around this time)
    • Then went to USC to get doctorate
      • While studying, he developed tuberculosis, and had to take six months off.
    • Got residency in Long Beach working at the VA
    • Moved to Rochester, Minnesota to work for his specialty at the Mayo Clinic
      • Grandpa at one time froze the backyard by flooding the yard with a hose and letting it freeze over, so my mom and her sister could ice skate.
      • My mom and my Grandpa’s mom, Sophie, had a close relationship. She was 100% Hungarian, and my mom used to have a Hungarian accent (despite not knowing any Hungarian)
    • Moved back to Long Beach as Chief of Non-Tuberculous Pulmonary Disease
    • Transferred to Reno, to work at Veterans Hospital as Chief of Medicine.
      • He also was a clinical instructor at UCLA, Utah, and Nevada.
    • Moved to Iron Mountain in 1977 and became Chief of Staff where he worked until he retired.
    • He passed away in 2007.

Over the next four days, here’s what happened:

Setting: Iron Mountain

• Visiting here is humbling. It makes me think how my life would be completely different, if my mom had moved us here.  I was inches away from being raised in Iron Mountain when I was very young.
• Life here is different than Reno. It’s rural, but modern
• Smaller community where everyone knows everyone
• Despite the beautiful summers and falls, the winters seem to take a toll.
• An ex-mining town that still has life.  Everyone seems to have a dog, and many people hunt as a way of life.

Characters:

• Grammy – the magnet. She pulls everything together. Naturally, people are attracted to her and to help wherever needed.
• My mom’s sister – She keeps things everything together. She ensures things are running smoothly and her and her husband makes sure Grammy is happy.
  • Cousins – Entrepreneurial older son whose always on the go. His younger brother tells great stories, as he’s very animated. I’ll always remember in the 80s with a tank top. And her other son, which we didn’t see too much, but he’s had a rough past few months in his life.
• Mom’s brother – A very caring and compassionate man. Addicted to adrenaline. A funny man who can also speaks with a few different levels of insight. Lives away in Indianapolis.
• Mom’s younger brother – Much in his world that has fallen apart, and he’s left picking up the pieces. A cop who may be pessimistic, but soft, and protective.
• Mom’s other brother – A kind person, but an outcast to the family. Dedicated and dependable. I only was able to meet him once while there.

10 Highlights

1. My grammy is a witty, funny lady, and it’s interesting to hear her life and perspective even at the age of 86.
2. My uncle Joe visited from Indianapolis. He works as an engineer/manager in the mine industry, which we got to learn a bit about. As well as his life on his ranch.
3. I was able to see my Grandpa’s tombstone, as well as his memorial brick for his service as a pilot in World War II.
4. It’s nice to see the closeness of this Papp family here. Much of the discussion is around my grandpa who passed over four years ago.
5. Bridget and I got to take my Uncle Joe’s Porsche (< 20k miles) for a spin. We went up to the famous ski jump to see my grandpa’s memorial brick.
6. Staples of Iron Mountain: T&T Steakhouse, Pasties, Moose Jackson for Coffee, and now eating at the hip Spiros for lunch. And tomorrow, we’re headed for cheese curds – the Wisconsin staple.
7. Bridget and I ran around Lake Antoine two times. Neither day was easy, despite it being only five miles. My grandparents used to live on this lake.
8. My mom and Grammy share a lot of similarities.
9. My cousin, who hires his brothers and owns two other businesses, owns  a bio-cleanup company. They clean up the mess people leave after they pass away and melt into the floor. Along with my cop uncle, they have some interesting stories.
10. I got to tour the house my other uncle lives in, which was the same spot my Grammy/Grandpa used to live.

The next day was our longest drive, as we headed three hours south to Cape Cod. I had wanted to at least stay one night in Cape Cod to see what the hype was all about, and I’m really glad I did.

We stayed in Chatham (Chad-am), which was a good recommendation.  It felt very much like I anticipated Cape Cod to be – an everlasting fall. The weather was a bit overcast; there was a warm gentle wind coming from the ocean, and leaves were rustling around. This, along a landscape filled with New England houses and giant trees, made my day. It was perfect. I even grabbed a growler of Cape Cod IPA to bring back to the guesthouse to drink.

Chatham offers a small downtown filled with small mom-and-pop shops down the main road. Our guesthouse was a perfect small apartment, done very well with very nice woodwork. And the day was perfect, an uneventful day with a small side trip to Oyster Beach to relax.

The next day we woke up early and had breakfast at an airport hangar. After having delicious lemon zest pancakes, we made our way back to Boston, avoiding the Labor Day traffic.

American History, Personal History – Boston

When we arrived back into Boston, we decided to visit my Grammy’s old stomping grounds, so we headed to Lynn and visited the neighborhood next to Sluice Pond. The old blue house now was a duplex and was a block away from the pond. The next stop led us to her house that she lived in prior to her teenage years. The house was a few miles away in Revere, next to an amazing beach owned by a membership. We couldn’t exactly locate the house, but assumed it may have been a house in major need of a renovation. These places must have been prime spots even 70 years ago. Later we would find out that my Grandpa lived two miles away from this house, which we missed. The house was ripped down many years ag0

Our next stop took us through the tunnels of Boston to the Sam Adams Brewery. Unfortunately, hundreds of other people had this same idea and the tours were booked for the day. So, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for our flight into Michigan the next day.

The next morning we needed to drive up to New Hampshire with a few stops along the way. We first started with a drive through Cambridge, checking out the prestigious universities of MIT and Harvard. It would have been cool to spend some additional time there. We then headed over to Tufts University to see the campus that my grandpa had studied on his path to becoming a doctor. (I think if I ever stay an extended period in Boston, I may have to be in the Cambridge area.)

We continued to explore one of the more famous ponds north of Boston. I had read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden prior to visiting, so I could understand a bit what may have made the book so popular. I’m glad I did, as I learned quite a bit about him, his ideas, and Walden Pond. In fact, he guessed that since Walden Pond had so many rocks around it’s pond that it was originally named “Walled-In Pond”. We saw a replica of his small cabin, and then walked to the original site. Bridget and I, feeling adventurous, decided to stick our legs into the pond.

The pond is quite deep (100 ft depth, 1.7 miles around), but the water was quite amazing. And then I noticed the three-inch fish creeping up next to our feet. I stood still for longer, and the fish came closer until some adventurous ones would try to kiss… err… nibble on our feet. I figured that because of our last name, the fish considered us royalty, so this is the reason the fish were kissing our feet. They lined up liked loyal citizens to get a chance to meet us.

We then stopped by the gift shop to buy the whole store up and made some worthwhile purchases, including a “Simplify, Simplify - Walden Pond” shirt.

The next stop led us to Concord, where we paid our tribute to Minute Men park. Here’s where the first battle of the Revolution began. In Concord stands the bridge where the “shot heard round the world” began. A few hundred yards nearby also stood a house connected with Nathaniel Hawthorne. A fun and scenic visit to say the least.

We continued our journey to the historic town of Salem. What a cool town filled with small shops and personality! We headed to the Witches museum and watched the history of the Salem witch trials, as well as learned about the misconception the Church provided to outcast paganism. Very interesting. Afterwards, we then headed to the site of the House of Seven Gables. Nathaniel Hawthorne based one of his novels of this house. This same house is supposedly the oldest New England mansion still standing in the United States, being over 300 years old. We took a tour of the historic house, learning that that wood nails are better to build houses with (doesn’t split the wood, nor doesn’t suck moisture out of the wood). We also were told that people poisoned themselves by using Pewter cookware. Vegetables, such as tomatoes, absorbed the pewter and made people sick. We then toured another nearby house where Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet Letter.

A quick bite to eat, and a 45 minute trip to Portsmouth, led us to a quick night sleep.

Maine

After breakfast we headed to Maine to discover Ogunquit. A cute town nestled near the ocean, Ogunquit is famous for Marginal Way/Perkins Cove, small shops, as well as a nearby lighthouse. Bridget and I went on a five mile run along the beach, and then I met up with a coworker friend who was also in the area. Cafe Amore has an amazing iced mocha. We then drove up to check out Nubel Lighthouse, a lighthouse secluded to its own small island, 100 yards off the Maine. The lighthouse was in perfect condition with a white picket fence as a back yard. We even saw a woman painting the scene in her watercolors.

Portsmouth

We then headed back to Portsmouth to checkout the Red Hook Brewery. Bridget and I used to freqent the original brewery in Seattle, and this was their east coast sister brewery. The building is built as the same model as the Woodinville brewery. However, the tour information was completely different. I was hoping for the same Red Hook trivia questions they had in Seattle, but they only focused on how to create beer. Afterwards, we grabbed some Flatbread pizza downtown and called it a night.

Ah yes, the red line. Or maybe better known as the Freedom Trail. It meanders through the landmark sites of the city of Boston, guiding tourists on their path through history. We started at Boston Common which seemed to be entirely under construction. Despite trying to find the beginning of the red line, we decided to begin our historic journey from our T stop.

Our first destination, the spooky Granary cemetery, we visisted the gravestones of Paul Revere and John Hancock, but missing Samuel Adam’s final resting place. We continued past the first public school, an old bookstore, and made it through the site of the Boston Massacre. We took a break to eat a lemon Cannoli at Mike’s and continued through the Italian District, seeing amazing statues and factoids.

We crossed into Charlestown and stories became a reality, as we went aboard “Old Ironsides”, the invincible naval battleship from 1812. Bridget said a classic Goonies line, “Mikey: Well, what are you guys waiting for, an invitation? Load up… Except for that. That is Willie’s.” and we were back on the road to Bunker Hill. Bridget and I then climbed 292 steps up to the top of the Bunker Hill memorial, which rewarded us with an amazing view of Boston. On the apartments, we also saw the amazing decks Bostonians have on their houses. With the red line conquered, we went back to the hotel, and grabbed our tickets for the game.

Red Sox

Sports biggest rivarly. This was my first Red Sox/Yankees game ever, and other than the final score, it didn’t disappoint. We walked around Van Ness and Yawkey way, where I purchased two new Sox shirts, along with Bridget’s new Fenway shirt. Sporting our new gear, we headed to Boston Beerworks for a few drinks, and then headed to the game.

Unbelievably, Lester threw 40+ pitches in the first inning. However, he settled down to last four more innings. Randomly, Corinna was also there, so we met up with her in the third, missing Pedroia’s home run. (A few days later, we found that Corinna would eventually get engaged in Central Park in New York.) Either way, Burnett and Lester kept battling for each inning. And Lester had the win after he left in the sixth. Then the tide began to turn after an amazing Granderson catch, and the Yanks caught up to the Sox 4 to 2. Then things got even more exciting in the 9th. With Mariano pitching, the Sox had the bases loaded with Gonzalez up to hit. With Bridget on my shoulders, Gonzalez got fooled by the 3rd strike across the plate, ending the game. Exciting finish, but unfortunately the wrong team won.