My Anniversary Trip

So first I want to explain why we were married on September 26. It had to do with when the baseball season was. Tony played baseball back then in a semi-pro league. We also were Giants fans. So that meant that we needed to be married in February/March before the season began, end of September between the regular season and post season (it used to be that way), or end of October (and after) when the season was over. We chose September 26 which happened to be a Saturday which also just happened to be exactly a week before my parents' anniversary. There you have it...it all started with baseball.

Last Christmas, I received my customary 6 pack of SF Giants tickets! I love getting this present. We got to go once a month for the entire season! The last ticket of the season was September 25. I joked with Tony that I was going to see the Giants for my anniversary, and he didn't get to go.

With all the other firsts that have happened, I now knew that the days preceding the BIG first are much worse than the actual day. I didn't want my Giants game to suck, so I started dreaming. Around this time I became a Gamer Babe on Facebook. These are a great group of ladies (and some men...we call them Gamer Dudes) who also LOVE the Giants. This has been a wonderful group for me...very supportive. They mentioned a Giants-themed suite in a hotel in San Francisco. I started dreaming more. I contacted the lady who is the Gamer Babe contact for the hotel. She gave me a Gamer Babe discount! (I accidentally TMI-ed her and told her all about Tony...that's not why she gave me the discount.) So I booked the Dugout Suite at the Hotel Union Square. They gave me some presents to celebrate my anniversary...2 bottles of wine, some Ghiradelli chocolate, and a t-shirt. They treated us royally. It was awesome!

This began my big dreaming. I decided to upgrade our September 25 tickets. We ended up behind home plate! I forgot to tell you...I went with 2 of my best friends (and fellow Gamer Babes) Shari and my mom. We get our 6 pack of tickets together every year. (I love how I keep changing tense...yep, I noticed.)

This was the night they celebrated their entry into the Wild Card position of the post season. They showed all the partying on the big screen. They won their game! It was so cool. I forgot to tell you...we went to Lefty O'Doul's for lunch (dinner is always at the park). That was a first and a fun time. Before the game started, we walked around the ballpark and checked out the Giants Wall of Fame (or whatever they call it). We got lots of comments on our Gamer Babe shirts (see above picture). It was such an amazing day. I couldn't have asked for more. But wait...there's more!

After spending the night in the awesome Giants suite, we checked out and met Shari's husband, Chris, for lunch. Then we went back to the ballpark and went across the bridge to see the Willie McCovey statue and awards plaques. That was pretty cool. We spent quite a bit of time just enjoying the weather and the water. Right before we went on this walk, we went to McDonald's to get a drink and use the bathroom. This dude/employee of SF Giants was looking at his phone and at us. It was a little weird, but people had been looking at us all day because of our Giants garb. A little bit later, he came up and said that he had a picture to show us. It was of some totally dressed up Giants fans. It was us! He had taken out picture a few months before because of how Giants-up we were. So we took a picture with him, and then a picture of the picture he took of us. It was really weird and funny and totally random. (I don't have those pictures yet.)

After we chilling out at the McCovey statue, we went to the store and then to the Public House to meet other Gamer Babes. While we were there we saw Robbie Thompson (I probably spelled his name wrong.) Then Mike LaCoss came and joined us. He's a friend of the main Gamer Babe. We got our picture with him, and I made my mom run over to the store and buy me a baseball...so I could get an autograph as well. We got to talk to him and the Gamer Babes until the gates opened for the game. It was so cool. I got to thank the main Gamer Babe for her group. I told her that it had come at the perfect moment for me. (She knew what the day was for me...my anniversary.) In case you didn't know, Mike LaCoss was a pitcher for the Giants. He was in the '89 World Series...I didn't tell him that I was an A's fan at that time.

Now we are at our 2nd Giants game in a row. We got seats in the Arcade. When we got there we realized that we were directly above the Ks that get turned over during the game. We tried to reach them, but we were too short. The Ks kept getting closer and closer. We asked some other people to turn it over for us, but they left. The next K was going to be Shari's...and the game ended! Whew! After the game, the people next to us pulled up a K to take a picture with it. So we asked to do the same after them. They kindly took our picture for us. Sadly the Giants lost this game. That was the only downer during the entire trip. Everything else was absolutely perfect. I know a bunch of you were praying. I found it amusing that there was probably people praying for the Giants to win just so I'd have a nice trip. Thanks friends.

So...I chose joy this entire trip. I chose not to have any sad or negative thoughts. I enjoyed every moment. I enjoyed hearing Tony's favorite songs. I enjoyed hearing "our" song...one of them. I enjoyed thinking of Tony. I chose joy.                                            JOY


P.S. Here's the morbid Brignolio humor...turn away now if it will offend you.

Tony made everything a contest, so I said, "I made it to my 22nd Anniversary! Tony didn't, but I did. I win!"