Twins Sisters

My husband and Twins Kid just left to go ice fishing.  Is it wrong that I wanted them to get out of the house? 



I really don't understand the appeal of ice fishing.  They have a fish house with a heater and a radio, so it's not as though they're roughing it like the guy in the picture. 

Still.

Let's put on every piece of winter clothing we own.  Let's drag a fish house, poles, a minnow bucket and miscellaneous snacks out on the ice.  Let's  drill holes through a foot of ice, then sit on a chair with a tiny pole, hoping against hope that a hungry northern pike or bass swims along. 




Nope.  I don't get it.  I'm glad they enjoy it and have fun though. 

It's not like summer fishing, where you can sit in the boat, catch some rays, maybe jump in the water when you get too hot.  That I understand. 

Alas, it's not summer. I am not a big fan of winter. 

My idea of a good winter's day is to go out to lunch and shopping.  Going to the movies is always a good pastime.  Naps are nice.   So is sitting on the couch reading a good book.

I'm starting to sound like a lazy slug. 

Well, winter always ends, even though it seems like it lasts forever. 

Eventually spring comes, bringing with it the intrigue of a new baseball season.  What will happen in 2008 for the Twins?  I don't know.  I'm retiring my crystal ball because it was way off last year.  The switch was stuck on "impossibly high expectations."  Nothing I saw in the crystal ball came true. 

Maybe it wasn't the crytal ball's fault.  Maybe I'm just a lousy fortune teller and didn't interpret the images right.

So no predictions, but here's what I want. 

I want the guys in the lineup to revert to their 2006 form.  I want that Delmon Young trade to pay off.  I want Scott Baker to be a good pitcher all year, not just part of it.  Because when he's on, he's really good.  I want Johan to stay put.  Come on, please work out a deal with the Twins.  I want Francisco Liriano to be fully recovered from that nasty Tommy John surgery.  I want a good centerfielder, not a so-so replacement for Torii.

I'm not asking for much, am I? 

Whatever happens, I'll watch the games.  I'll go down to the Dome for half price seats in the drunk-n-rowdy section on Tuesday nights.  I'll sweat out every pitch.  I'll try and get used to, and maybe even start to like, the new guys on the team.  I'll try not to let my baseball obsession get out of hand. 

I make no promises, though.

--Tricia--

Merry Christmas to you all!  I hope you have a safe and lovely holiday with your family and friends.

**Becca**

Carlos Silva signed with the Mariners. Whatever. I can honestly say that I'm not all that bothered by it. I knew it was coming. The thing with Silva is that he just isn't consistant enough draw a salary of 11 million dollars a year. I'm sure that there are people out there that will disagree with me, at that is fine.  I welcome different opinions.

I bought a Sony MP3 player last Thursday. I have a ton of CDs that have 3 or 4 songs that I really like so I thought it would be cool to have all my favorite music in one place. Figuring all this out has been an adventure. First I hauled out all my CDs out and loaded my favorite songs onto my computer. No sweat. Then it came time the songs onto this tiny little device. It amazes me how small it is. I'm an 80's kid so I remember when Walkmans were cutting edge and how awesome it was to be able to make mixed tapes and to record songs off the radio.

I loaded up my songs and then turned the Sony on to check the results. I must have done something wrong because I was missing a bunch of the songs that I was sure I had transferred to my computer. This was at 11:30 last night and I was so tired and frustrated that I wanted to either step on it or flush it down the toilet. Instead of doing that I put it away and went to bed and I vowed to start fresh today.

That's what I did.  This afternoon feeling calm and well rested I gave it another try. I checked and I had somehow missed some songs. So I tried it again and got all my songs on my computer and this time I was successful.

I erased everything on the Sony that I had put on the night before because I knew it would be easier to start over from scratch rather than try to figure out what was on there and what I still needed.  Presto! It worked.  Sweet victory! I was not about to be outsmarted by my computer and a device smaller than my cell phone. 

I hope you all have a good weekend-the last weekend before Christmas. Good luck with your shopping and wrapping.

**Becca**

Here at Twins Sisters, we love baseball. No doubt about it. But it is December and currently there's nothing baseball related to talk about, so that's why we are blogging about other things we find interesting.  One of those things is American Idol. Our favorite A.I. contestant ever is Clay Aiken. Tonight he was singing Christmas music at Orchestra Hall. Given the events of the last week I didn't really feel like it at first but I'm glad I went.  It made me feel a little better, at least for now.

Tricia picked me up at home and we headed downtown. There was a lot of traffic as there were a lot of other events going on as well.  We parked and went to find something to eat. Time was limited so we settled for a hot dog and a Coca-Cola at Target. Not my first choice, but not bad in a pinch. There was another patron sitting nearby watching an episode of Beavis and Butt-head on a portable DVD player. I couldn't quite figure that out.  People watching is one my favorite hobbies when I'm downtown.

The concert was great. Tricia and I have seen Clay three other times, once when he was here on the American Idol tour, once when he was at the Minnesota State Fair and once a couple of years ago when he was on his "Joyful Noise" tour. Then I saw him once with Andrea and her friend Josh  when he was here with Kelly Clarkson. He has an amazing voice. 

I'm so lucky to have such a great sister who geeks out over the same things I do.  I want to wish her a happy belated birthday. It was on December 18. 

**Becca**

When Becca and I were growing up in Minneapolis, our extended family situation was kind of like a sitcom.   For a few years, we lived within a few blocks of all the aunts, uncles and cousins on our Dad's side of the family.  We would ring doorbells and run away (hee hee, that's funny every time!) and it wasn't just the kids who would do that.  Nope, the grownups were guilty too.  They'd send us to Tom Thumb to buy cigarettes with a note: "Please sell Becca & Tricia a pack of Marlboros."  (Can you imagine doing that now?  You can't even buy Sudafed without ID!) They'd also throw in money for a Hershey bar and a bottle of Pepsi, so we were happy to comply. 

Our grandparents lived just a few blocks away from all of us too.  They had the biggest house of all of us, a big back yard, and their house was at the top of a really steep hill.  Our cousin Jessica and I took turns giving Becca rides down that hill on the back of my bike, a really cool blue one with a banana seat.  We rode down that hill going about 100 miles an hour.  Nobody wore a helmet.  Sometimes I think it's a miracle we all survived childhood.  We made ice cream from scratch in the backyard.  I learned how to play penny ante poker at Grandma Jean's and Grandpa Bill's dining room table.  We played Parcheesi, and I was a cutthroat little game player.  One time Mom got so annoyed after I sent her back to start that she leaned over and pinched me.  She still feels bad about it.  I just think it's funny.  I'm sure I deserved it.

Things change.  It happened over a handful of years, but our aunt Janie and Jessica moved to a house in another part of the city.  Our cousin Derric was born the summer I was fifteen, and if I'm remembering right, it wasn't too long after he was born that uncle Ric, aunt Beth and Derric all moved to a house in north Minneapolis.  At our house, we had five people in a small house with just one bathroom, so we all packed up and moved too.  

Then our grandparents sold their house.  They were the last ones to move out of the neighborhood.  We still saw them a lot, because they had a small cabin up north, but it wasn't quite the same, having them live 200 miles away instead of just a short drive.  That's where we all got together, at least in the summer.  That's where I met my husband.  My in-laws still live in the cabin on the next lot over.  Grandma and Grandpa started spending winters in Texas.  For years they'd drive up north in the summer, and head back down to Texas in the fall.  A few years ago they quit driving up north, and just stayed in Texas all year 'round.  They sold the cabin, and now there's an enormous green house, which I flippin' HATE, where the cabin used to be. 

Last April, my husband, Twins Kid and I all went down to Texas to see Grandpa Bill and Grandma Jean.  We had a good time with them.   Grandma puttered around in her garden, Grandpa cooked us breakfast.  I was sorry to leave. 

Last Wednesday, Grandpa had a stroke.  We thought he had a chance to get better, but he died early Sunday morning. 

He lived to be 85 years old.  He didn't have to spend any time in a nursing home.  He didn't spend years and years of his life sick.  Our dad, aunt and uncle were all down there to say goodbye to him. 

We're all going to miss him so much.  He was never grouchy with his grandkids.  He was always happy to see us or talk to us.  He was everyone's favorite Grandpa. The world just won't feel the same without him. 

--Tricia--

When Torii Hunter left the Twins I was disappointed, but not surprised.

When Jason Bartlet was traded to the Devil Rays I was disappointed and baffled. I didn't see that coming, not even a little bit.

Just when I didn't think anything else weird would happen I read this news:
Jason Tyner was let go by the Twins!  What?!  I'm downright floored!!!! 



I'm going to miss his odd stance at the plate, his cute floppy brown hair and that weird facial expression when he scrunched up his nose.  It made him all the more loveable.

I was always excited to see his name in the lineup.  He seemed to accept that he would not be a starter with the Twins and gave nothing less than 110% when he did play and I can't recall reading anything negative about him, ever. 

I will miss him next season and I hope that he is able to get a job somewhere else in baseball. 

**Becca**

Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus!

I don't have anything to report in the wonderful world of baseball. Johan is still (at for now) a Minnesota Twin. I'm going to try and not worry about what will happen with him. 

Tricia and I were out for lunch on Saturday and she had an interesting thought. She said that since the Red Sox and the Yankees know that Johan will be a free agent after the 2008 season that they will just wait until then to sign him. That way they can have Johan and not give up any of their current young baseball superstars. That thought had crossed my mind. I guess we'll see!

I'm full of crap when I say I'll try not to worry. The Twins have not won a World Series since 1991 and there isn't a whole lot that would be more awesome than that.

I thought Cuddy deserved a picture today. With Torii no longer with the Twins I believe, though I could be wrong, that he is the current Twin that has been with the team the longest. Feel free to correct me if that is not right.

Till later!
**Becca**