Pirates, Prom, Camp, & A Birthday

Twenty years of losing.  That's what I've had to live with as a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.  The Pirates teased their fans the past couple of years, finally showing that they could be competitive through at least half a season, before the bottom fell out and the team collapsed and fell out of contention, and worse, finished with a losing record.  This year, they're teasing us again, but with a lot more competitiveness, and they lead the majors in wins at the halfway point of the season.  Will they be able to hold on?  Will they actually make it into the playoffs??  Will they finish with a winning record???  I sure hope so.  But I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I also can't believe my Pirates have the most wins in MLB!

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My daughter and I are watching HAPPY DAYS.  This episode is from Season One, and Richie has broken up with his girlfriend just before the Junior prom.  He decides not to go, but changes his mind, but then can't find a date.  He decides to ask his ex if she wants to ride with him to the prom, since she's going anyway, and she agrees.  Richie is miserable all evening, but his ex is having a great time dancing with every guy at the prom, everyone except, as Richie notes, the janitor and him.  However, later Richie and the girlfriend get back together and all is right in the world again.

I always wanted to be like Richie, but I never had nearly the luck with women that Richie seems to have, even when he couldn't get a date.  I guess being best friends with the Fonz has some advantages.  I never had a friend like the Fonz, though, and I didn't even go to my prom.  I didn't know who I would ask, since most of the girls I liked either had boyfriends, dates, both, or I figured wouldn't be interested in me.  I'm not sure whether I missed out or lucked out by not going.  At least I didn't have to rent a tux.  But did I miss out?  I don't know.  I really didn't feel like it at the time.  But I'll always wonder, I guess.

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Melody's first day of camp was a roaring success.  She told me she had such a great day that it explains why she couldn't get to sleep last night (almost midnight!).  She was just too excited.  She is doing the Outdoor Exploration specialty and said she saw a "black and silver" snake during their hike.  It rained off and on all day, but it didn't dampen her spirits.  She loves her counselors and she had a blast.  The only negative on the day was that she left her swimsuit at her grandparent's, but Grandma came by early this morning to deliver it before camp started.

One of the counselors told me I should take off from work and just hang out at camp all day.  I had to laugh...how much fun would that be?  A heck of a lot more fun than work, that's for sure.

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Even though her birthday was this past Saturday, we celebrated my sister's birthday this evening with dinner out and a little party at Mom & Dad's house.  She decided she wanted to go to Jerry's Seafood Restaurant in Bowie.  Interestingly, the bar was very crowded, but the dining room was not.  In fact, it was practically empty.  Before we were seated, we glanced at the menu and saw the prices.  Nothing was less than around $25!  That was enough to scare us out of the place, and we went Friday's to eat, instead.  I don't eat at Friday's very often, so their menu is always a surprise.  I had the salmon and shrimp scampi, with vegetables and tomato & mozzarella salad.  It was very good.  They only negative is something I haven't been able to figure out when getting shrimp:  Why do restaurants serve shrimp with the shell on?  How inconvenient is that?  I hate having to work for my meal.

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And, with that, it's time to close out another day.  Have a great evening, everyone!