Graceful Parenting in Austin

Blue Eyes told me about the University of Texas baseball game coming up against rival Texas A&M. Last home game of the season with the Lone Star Showdown trophy on the line. Great spring Texas weather, clear and sunny and not too hot. Would I like to go he asks?

Ohh myyy, Baseball is SOOOO romantic.

Because Blue Eyes doesn’t like baseball. I like baseball. Blue Eyes kept an eye on the baseball schedule, in case we might make a game that we hadn’t planned on.

This is romance to me. Better than flowers or chocolates or the diamonds the commercials say you need to buy to show your love for real. It is about listening for the things that make your partner happy even when it isn’t a special day of the year and remembering later when it isn’t expected.

Watching the game is different with a 10-month-old. (Noel was with her Mom, so it was just the three of us.) Blue Eyes and I took turns holding her and some of the time one of us walked around with her and we didn’t see very pitch or hit or out, maybe half at best, but that’s all right. It’s like a kind of dance, Blue Eyes, Baby Girl and baseball, noticing and loving on one and then the other then back around again.

I brought my camera and tried to get an action shot for the blog. Well, a semi-action shot anyway, of a UT player up to bat. I don’t have a great camera so I had to find just the right spot close enough to stay in focus, then just when I was ready, a left-handed batter came up to bat, facing away from me, so I moved, just in time for a righty. Then I was finally all ready to go and the guy got a hit and started to run and I missed the shot again. So, semi-action shots aren’t my thing. This picture of the field will have to do.

Baseball reminds me that I love living in Austin, Texas. If I could live anywhere in the world, any country, any state, any town, it would Austin. And here I am! How lucky is that? University of Texas baseball is just one reason of a million reasons and as I thought about my blog this past month and what I would write about and what might be interesting to read, I kept coming back to Austin. I’m a Mom blogger at heart and an Austin blogger by choice and I’ll share stories of my family and my city and I hope you come along for the ride.

Baby Girl was tired and it was past her bedtime, but she wouldn’t sleep. Blue Eyes and I had left our seats and were standing in back of the left outfield seats so we could walk her and rock her. It was if she knew it was the ninth inning and we just needed three more outs to win the game. The other team got a few hits, a few men on base and then they scored. She wasn’t going to back out on her team now. We held our breath as the closer chose his pitches and battled with the count and then ‘whooooosh,’ a huge swing and a baseball landing firmly in the catcher’s mitt. Strikc three. Out three. Game won. Go horns! As we walked from the park, Baby Girl laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep.

Good night, Baby Girl. Good night, Blue Eyes. Good night, Austin. See you again in the morning.

More info:

Well, unfortunately, UT baseball’s home season is over for the year. But you can catch the UT baseball team on TV, which is pretty fun while you’re doing laundry or relaxing while the baby sleeps. The Big 12 conference tournament in Oklahoma is May 21-25, check here for TV info.