Pacers & Racers

Blogging once a month is a good policy, right? I'd say I need another couple hours in the day, but I'm a realist. I know I'd just fill that time with sleep.

I have so many things to share and no time to do it. My niece turned one (OMG). I traveled to St. Louis for a dear friend's wedding. The Penguins have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. I found an amazing podcast, Terrible Thanks for Asking. I saw Magic Men Live (bonus OMG). For now, I'll stick with sports.

The Cincinnati Reds actually played the Baltimore Orioles in Ohio this year, so Wheat and I agreed that we'll sleep when we die and drove to Great American Ballpark for a Tuesday night game between our teams. We splurged for good seats right behind the Orioles dugout (because I love him) and he didn't throw a total fit when the Reds won, 9-3 (because he loves me). It was a beautiful, spontaneous night and the perfect excuse for some Cincinnati chili in my life.

The Pacers were swept by the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. In full disclosure, this made me pretty happy because it meant that Wheat returned to some semblance of a normal work-life balance. I know this is selfish of me, but it was also fun to see LeBron go into full-on cheat mode in Game 3. Seriously, if you ever get the chance, you must see him play in-person. It's like he's playing a completely different game than his opponents.

For Game 4 of the series, Wheat entered our niece, Scarlett, into a baby race that would take place on the court between the first and second quarters. After quite a bit of convincing on my part, my brother finally relented and agreed to allow her to participate (this might have been because FREE TICKETS to watch LeBron in the playoffs, but who knows?). Guys, I don't know how I'm going to handle being an actual parent because I was a total. nervous. wreck. right before the race started. I anxiously sat on the edge of my seat in the upper level, recording my brother and his girlfriend as they pleaded with Scarlett to crawl across the floor in her little personalized jersey.

Spoiler alert: None of the eight racers crossed the finish line. Scarlett did, however, make friends with Jagger, the racer next to her (and Wheat's co-worker's baby). Wheat was able to get his hands on the video board footage of the race and I don't think I'm being biased when I say that it's totally worth watching. I will be biased, though, and stress that my niece was obviously the star of the show.



Please note that the only progress she made was to crawl out and retrieve her headband to hand back to my brother, who had thrown it like a game of fetch. Tremendous. I don't think he was complaining too much - all the participants got a $50 Kroger gift card.

If you, too, think that Scarlett is the best human on the face of the earth (hi, Elizabeth, Wheat, and Mommles!), then you've come to the right place...because her first birthday party is coming in hot.