Opening Day: Dash Roots for the Home Team

The day Dash and I graduated as an official team, I had the opportunity to meet and eat lunch with his puppy raisers, Jim and Sandy. Sandy made me a beautiful "baby" book, and we looked through it together as they described Dash's puppyhood. One of my favorite pictures in the book is of Dash at a minor league game, getting some face time with the mascot.  I immediately envisioned Dash lunging up to catch a home run ball at Progressive Field!

He's more of an observer than a "lunger"!

Sure enough, Dash has joined me at a number of games over the past two years. But after this past winter of wickedly cold weather, I had no intention of bundling up for the Indians Home Opener. It's funny how just one day of sunshine and warmth can change one's mind and attitude, though. So, high on Tuesday's sunshine, I jumped online and got tickets for my mom and I. Somehow I allowed myself to only see that Friday called for temperatures in the 60s, and not the part about there being an 80% chance of rain!

Still hopeful (and in denial!), we gathered our things on Friday and headed off on our adventure. Thank's to last year's day in Cleveland with our Northern Ohio Volunteer Group for Canine Companions, I knew I would have no problem riding the RTA downtown with Dash. What a great way to avoid the traffic and expenses of parking downtown on game day!

After an unexpected setback due to an out-of-order elevator at Tower City (I'll just pretend that's all I have to say on that matter! Grrrr...), we made it to our seats around 3:45. We were slightly disappointed about being tardy to the party (game time was 3:05), but quickly realized nothing had happened yet. This was surprising as the sun was shining and after hiking from Tower City, Dash and my mom was actually pretty toasty!

A long-sleeved shirt was plenty!

We were informed that the reason for the delay was, as every Clevelander would expect, a fierce storm was coming through the area, bringing cool temperatures in its wake. Sure enough we looked up to see a dark bank of clouds rolling in. Although our seats were technically under cover, the wind in our faces made it clear that we were not in the splash-free zone! We, along with basically everyone else in the stadium, sought cover and protection from the wind.  Within moments we went from feeling overheated to bundling up in every item we had (thankfully) brought with us!

There comes a point that one doesn't care how foolish she looks, so long as she is warm! Clearly, Dash has a bit more dignity that I do!

After about an hour, the storm had passed and we returned to our soggy seats to finally see the Opening Day ceremony.  It was great to welcome the team home and, as always, I teared up during the National Anthem.  And then the moment we'd all been waiting for ... PLAY BALL!

Unfortunately, by this time I was chilled to the bone! After the first two hitters I relented and called it quits, knowing we still had to trek outside (stupid broken elevator!) to Tower City. We were home in plenty of time to watch the Tribe bring home a W, 7-2! 

It will be a Home Opener to remember, but we are really hoping for more memories like this one from last year:

We were made for sunshine!

Less-Words Wednesday: Where Ya Been?!

It's been quite some time since I last posted (oops!) but that's not to say that nothing has happened since last November! Here's a brief synopsis of each month:

December:
Dash was very into Christmas, as you can see! His favorite gifts were a squeaky moose from Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave, and a HUGE bag of tennis balls from his cousins (my nephews) Case and Tyce. I don't know why I don't have a photo of the balls but trust me, by the end of the holidays, tennis balls were in every room of the house! 

January:

We rang in the new year with our family.  Dash loved waking up to his cousins!

Making sure nobody disturbed baby Tyce ... or two of his new tennis balls!

Dash and his favorite playmate, Case. Dash knows that Case is good for a game of fetch at any time! This may or may not account for tennis balls in every room of the house (bathrooms included!)

February:

This year Dash, my sister Julie and I spent our Valentines day with our Canine Companions for Independence family at the most moving graduation ceremony I've been to since I got Dash. Eighteen people were placed with their dogs - about half of which were children!

"Our graduation invites are here! Can we go?! Can we? Can we? Please!!!"

We are always thrilled to get a chance to visit with Dash's puppy raisers, Jim and Sandy. Dash most definitely remembers them and goes into full happy puppy mode whenever we see them!

March:

Unfortunately, along with so many others, I spent a good portion of February and March feeling pretty yucky. I was so thankful that Dash has such a mellow temperament and was more than happy to go into snuggle mode.

We did a lot of this!

See? Total snuggle mode!

Thankfully, I was able to recover in time to speak at the Making Miracles Happen fundraiser for Canine Companions! 

(Not the best sound quality, sorry!)

And last but not least, we celebrated Dash's birthday (and MLB Opening Day!) on March 31! The big 0-4!

A new squeaky toy from a co-worker. Believe me, the sad eyes are only because I stopped his play to get a picture! Kids these days...

April:

Hey, it's only April 2! But there's a lot on our calendar so stay tuned for more!