Gus

I was twenty-three and in my second year of teaching at a tiny consolidated school district forty-five minutes south of P-town. That fall my junior high softball team had some truly amazing talent, and we would wind up making it to the elite eight. Anyone who knows anything about softball will tell you it's all about the pitching, especially in junior high.

Gus, looking over a computer monitor and eying my dinner.

So once or twice a week I would head out into the cornfields, on gravel roads, to a farm house where my pitcher's pitching coach lived. I would catch her as the coach would dole out advice... "push with your legs"... "finish your pitch"... "use your hips"...

The Box Inspector.

The pitcher, her parents, her coach, and I became close. I didn't mind putting in the extra time because there wasn't anything to do where I lived, which was a town of 450 people. And, I think they grew to like the new upstart coach who was generous with his time.

Chilling before knocking over the Christmas tree.

Occasionally, the pitching coach's daughter would be home from college, which oddly enough was the same school I had just graduated from just two year's before. She was a pitcher, too, and eventually she got to know me well enough to ask me a question.

Helping Me Blog

"Will you take him? He's the runt of the litter and I don't think he'll be able to make it through the winter. All I ask is you keep his name: Gus."

Cat Nap.

A few times, out on the farm, we would have a nice fire and cook hot dogs over the open flame after our pitching lessons. Somehow, this little three pound cat, dressed in a tuxedo, would find his way into my lap. Inevitably, he would start purring and batting at the strings to my hooded sweatshirt. I guess we kind of bonded and the family took notice.

I was a single guy in a small town and this cat needed a home.

The sink was a the perfect size for a napping spot!

 I said yes.

I remember taking him back to my little 600 square foot rental home and cutting up some newspaper and throwing it a cardboard box. I placed Gus in the box and he hopped right out. How the heck are you supposed to train a barn cat to go in a litter box?  Turns out I needed some cat litter, because he was no dummy. I quickly drove into the larger nearby town and I was soon the proud owner of an actual litter box and some really dusty liter. I placed Gus in the box and he let loose.

The cat trap is working!

My one fear was quashed. This was going to work.


And it did. Beautifully.

Loving the sun in the window sill.

Gus would talk to me when I was on the phone... I guess he figured I was talking to him, so he would talk back. Over the years I did start talking to him, and he never failed to hold his end of the conversation.

Laying on the heated bathroom floor.

After work I would pull into the garage and manually lower the door, which made a little bit of a racket. Gus learned the sound would mean that it was belly-rubbing time. I'd walk through the back door and he'd be laying, belly at the ready, waiting for his person to dote on him.

Checking out my new wheels in the garage.

Make no question about it, I'm a dog person, but Gus was the next best thing. Heck, he may have even changed that.

Gus, inspecting the new built-ins.

He learned my lap was the warmest place in the house and he new that when I opened the freezer it meant he would soon be able to lick the ice cream bowl. He took to his new role as a house cat seamlessly. (Let's just forget about that time he snuck out and climbed half-way up an evergreen tree. He was waiting for me when I got home, on the back stoop, covered in sap. What a mess!)

Sunning himself on the new built-ins

When I met Laura, he survived the move back to Peoria and being thrown into a family with new two cat step-sisters. There were still belly rubs and ice cream, but now he had to share his person with someone else.

On top of the heating blanket and Laura

 Gus adopted Laura and they had a great relationship for thirteen years. He would lay on her lap, but if mine was available it wouldn't be long before it was occupied.

The step-sisters, Bear & Mooshie with Gus (bottom)

 He survived his two step-sisters and for little over a year he was the only cat around. Two springs ago we adopted Hugo and Holiday. Laura need a lap warmed, too. Gus was getting up there in years, and it took some time to adjust, but he begrudgingly began to tolerate the two little fur balls and their boundless energy.  Eventually, the three of them settled in quite nicely, to the point where Laura, myself, and the three cats would all share the bed.

Holiday, Gus & Hugo

 Gus wasn't a Cub fan. He didn't care about baseball, but he was a fan of me watching the Cubs. If I was sitting down watching the Cubs, then there was a warm lap available. The two of us, were just like that on the couch, when the Cubs won the World Series.  I could have been out with friends or family... but no, that's not me. I wanted to watch the game with my wife and my cat. It just doesn't get more perfect than that.

Watching the Cubs in the Man Room

Today, we had to put Gus to sleep. He absolutely loathed the vet, so we had a mobile vet come to the house. I've been dealing with all these emotions of losing him the entire week. "Is it time?" There was quite a bit of back and forth in my head. "Maybe if we could just try this then he'd be okay for a little while longer?"  It became obvious it was time... and that I needed to let go. Wednesday I made the most difficult phone call I've ever had to make, and I've been spoiling Gus left and right ever since.

Trying to mail himself.

Belly rubs. Treats. Ice cream. Lap time. And generally just trying to make things easier for him.

Helping me grade math papers.

I'm happy to say he went out on top: sixteen and half years old, with his favorite two people in the world, in his house, and quite peacefully. Pain free, except for a little arthritis in his hind quarters.

Waiting for me to finish with the ice cream just a few days ago

I think it's so hard to say good-bye, because he was so easy to love.

Thanks for reading and your support.

Links to some of my favorite Gus posts:
Cat Math
Cabin Fever Stricken Cat
Cat on Leash - Fail
Bath Time Kitty (the time he got out and fell in the neighbor's pool)
Gus-antics
A Message to My Blogosphere Friends from My Cat 
Ugh. It's Too Hot.
Wicked Cat of the East
You Know It's Basketball Season When...
Box of Holiday Joy
June Swoon
Sunbathing in November
Thunderstruck
Mailday - Ryno's in my Mailbox
A New Box! Just For Me!

Hey, I Was At That Game!

It seems like there's always someone who will chime in with, "Hey, I was at that game!" I live in the midwest, but I know three people who claim to have been at Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. I suppose that's not a completely unbelievable number, but I do live about 2,000 miles from Chavez Ravine and most everyone in my neck of the woods have ties to the White Sox, Cardinals or Cubs.

Here's the moment in that game. Give the video a play, if for nothing more than to here Vin Scully make one of his greatest calls of all-time:

"High fly ball into right field, she is gone!
"In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.
“And now the only question was, could he make it around the base paths unassisted.”

Well, today the FedEx truck stopped by the house and made a delivery. I've been waiting on two Topps Now autos for about a month now and one arrived today. Unfortunately, it's not the one I really want. Bummer.   

This one is only going to stay with me for only a brief time:

I was given the opportunity to go to Game #6 of the NLCS and I'm passing this piece of cardboard goodness on as a thank you present to the original owner of the ticket.

Jeff, one of the best men in my wedding over a decade ago, lives in Texas and is a Chicago Cubs season ticket holder. (I know, right!?) If I remember right he attended the first two games of the NLCS at Wrigley, but he asked me and another buddy (Vince) if we would want to go Game #6.

I'm still not sure how I got so lucky, because Jeff knows lots of people in Illinois who would have jumped at the opportunity. Heck, he could have even sold the pair of tickets on-line for a small fortune.

I've been holding back on paying him for the ticket, to the best game I've ever attended, until I had this card to accompany the check. Hopefully this card serves as memento for the day the Cubs won the NL pennant and he made me and Vince two of the happiest Cub fans on the planet.  Thanks again Jeff!

In other news...

From top to bottom: Gus, Hugo and Holiday

Our cats love radiant floor heating. It's always easy to find the four-legged felines this time of year.  When in doubt, look in the master bath!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thankful for Long Weekends

I've been blogging at much slower pace as of late and I'm okay with that.  I hope my readers are as well, because I've found a groove again and I don't think the rate of change is going to pick up much in the near future.

My wife and had five consecutive days off around Thanksgiving, which in itself is somewhat of a small miracle. Even on her day off she often attends meetings at work and my schedule can get quite clogged with coaching responsibilities.

We had planned to take off Wednesday for Starved Rock and do some serious hiking, but the combination of rain and a sick cat (Gus) nixed that idea. Instead we left early Thanksgiving morning, did some hiking, had lunch with my in-laws at the state park, and then hiked some more. It was peaceful on the trails ... waterfalls ... canyons ... bald eagles.  It was a pretty cool way to spend the holiday.

Mom-in-law and Laura behind a water fall.

That evening we drove north to a suburb of Chicago and stayed at a hotel. Laura and I were both needing a little dinner, but nothing too crazy after enjoying the buffet at Starved Rock. (They had biscuits and gravy on the buffet. How awesome is that!)  Because most of the restaurants were closed I volunteered to walk to the Walmart about a quarter mile of a way to pick up some microwaveable soup. I left at 5:30pm and got out of there at 5:58pm. Did you know that Black Friday starts at 6:00pm Thursday evening? Talk about a scene . . . people everywhere counting down the seconds so they get their special deal. Wow.

On Friday Laura and I spent the morning at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. My wife absolutely adores plants, and I love her, so this was a fun time for us both.  She took me out to Lulu's for lunch, which was a place I walk to for lunch when she was still in grad school. I feel head-over-heals for their jalapeno cheeseburger back in the day . . . so good!  I tried it again, thirteen years later, and it wasn't quite the same. Such is life.

Found this T-Rex celebrating in the conservatory!

That afternoon I dropped Laura off at King Spa, which is place where you walk around naked, hopping in and out of cold and hot pools, while naked, with other people around. Yeah, I love my wife, but I'm doing that. Nope.

I went to two card shops, one in Buffalo Grove and another in Palatine. I found a nickel box at the first store and I WENT TO TOWN! Man, you Chicago folk don't know how good you have it! The main beneficiary will be my BWTP Secret Santa recipient. You, my card loving friend, will be very happy. The second card shop in Palatine didn't have much I really liked, but I did find this Kosuke Fukudome Red Hot Rookies card for a buck and some BOGO card supplies.

After the two stores I found a Barnes & Noble and picked up some more Cubs reading material and got a small percentage off for using my teacher's discount card. We don't get many perks, but I'm pretty happy when I get to cash in. The trip to the two card shops and one book store, with driving, took nearly four hours, which was just about how long my wife wanted at King Spa. Being naked around strangers for 3+ hours...  or baseball cards?  Yeah, I made the right decision.

Black Friday . . . 50% off!  Woot!

Saturday, after a walking through the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Lincoln Park Conservatory and along Lake Michigan we headed home. Chicago, even when it's around 45 degrees, is a pretty fun town.

Floating XMas Trees at the Lincoln Park Conservatory

It was a really nice trip overall. We enjoyed each other's company, some neat restaurants, and with all the walking and hiking I don't feel like I gained too much weight over the holiday weekend.

Even better, I kind of feel out of my "The Cubs won, so now what?" funk. I think the long weekend was just what I needed.

Thanks for stopping by and belated Happy Turkey Day to you all.

A Seasonal PWE

Duff, from Bleedin' Brown and Gold, sent me a PWE Christmas card today!  'Tis the season and all!

What's great about this card front is that it reminds me of Laura and I's first house and how we had to tether our Christmas tree to the stair railing so our cats, mainly Gus, wouldn't topple the tree. 

 Good times!

The inside contains nice holiday wishes, Duff's beautiful signature, and an Arismendy Alcantara from 2015 Topps Tier One. Seems like Mendy had an auto in just about every product this year.  I hope he gets a shot at the major league roster sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the Christmas and baseball cards, Duff!

Kittens Are Cuter Than Cardboard

There hasn't been much time lately to post and cards as of late, but I think I'm okay with that. A week ago Laura and I adopted two kittens and it's been whirlwind around the house ever since. 

I'd like to introduce them to the blogosphere.  Everyone, meet Hugo and Holiday.

Hugo

Holiday

Hugo and Holiday, this is everyone!

They are experts are climbing things and proving to me, time after time, that I did not appropriately kitten-proof the house. Each of them are tipping the scales at just over two pounds of cuteness.

Gus, our fourteen year old tuxedo cat, is less than amused by there presence.  Thankfully, everyone has been keeping there distance and the tension in the air after a week is starting to lessen.

Gus, after a bender.

I hope you enjoyed the update on the expansion of our family.  I'll leave you with a thirty second video which pretty much summarizes the recent activity in the house.  Have a great weekend!

Making Saw Dust

Spring break came and went for this math teacher in a hurry.  Most of it is my own fault because I spent way too many hours in the workshop creating saw dust from 1" by 16" boards.

I received an uber-generous amount of greenbacks from my parents during the holiday season (read: last December), and they were earmarked for a new flat screen television for my man room.

The old set up.

Watching modern day programming and DVDs, which are set up for a rectangular ratio, on an almost square tube-style television was making me cantankerous. Yet, I promised myself I wouldn't purchase the new flat screen until I built a TV stand for it.

Fast forward nearly four months . . . 

Fire up the power tools!  The pile of boards above would slowly take shape in something even my cat, Gus, would like to hangout on.  Lots of saw dust for sure!

 The TV stand I crafted wound up being about six feet long by sixteen inches deep.  It's mostly pine with a couple of aspen boards, and after I added one coat of stain it looks pretty sharp.

The bottom row fits my player collection binders.  The blue one on the left houses all my cards of Kosuke Fukudome, Brooks Kieschnick, and Kerry Wood.  The one on the bottom right contains over seven hundred different Ryne Sandberg cards.  The help balance all of the Cubs-goodness the three monster boxes contain all of my non-Cub singles.  Above the monster boxes are of my baseball books.  There's a stack of about six in there somewhere which I have not read . . . yet.  All in due time!

On each end I was able to take my skill saw and carve out a track for four separate sheets of plexiglass.  They slide in and out pretty easily, and now my bobbleheads won't need a good dusting so frequently. 

 I have another thirty or so bobbleheads resting on shelves elsewhere in the room.  The guys on the left are some randomness I've picked up through friends and minor league ballparks.  The ones on the right either came from the Single-A ballpark in P-town or up the road in Rockford.

The top of the TV stand is my favorite.  The piece of glass I had cut is the most expensive piece of the stand itself, but it was totally worth it.  I needed something to protect my Cubs!

There's 112 cards in all, with 112 different sets being represented.

Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, and George Bell can each be found twice, but only because of their 1991 Upper Deck card in which it pictured all three MVPs on one card.  Otherwise there is only one card of each player.

The big names are all there: Banks, Williams, Jenkins, Santo, Grace and Maddux.
Of course I had to include my prospects: Bryant, Baez, Russell, Schwarber, Edwards, Almora and the Vogelmonster.
Other favorites made the cut as well: Nomar, Reed Johnson, Dick Tidrow and his mustache, and Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams.

It took a little time to select and arrange the cards, but I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

Now I can watch my Cubs, in my man room, on a nice new TV supported by something I constructed myself.  Give me a mini frig to store some adult beverages and it'll be my own little slice of heaven!

Thanks for the cash Mom & Dad!

A message to My Blogosphere Friends from My Cat

Gus and I often disagree on many things, such as...
1). How early I need to get out of bed on a Saturday morning to serve him breakfast
2). His preferred choice of lounging about...  like the bathmat in front of the shower door, which makes exiting the shower much more difficult than it needs to be
3). Which is better, cake or pie?

But we can agree on this...

 I saw the above message on Play at the Plate's blog a little while ago.  Brian speaks the truth and I thought I would relay the message to my followers.  Blue tape, people.  Invest in blue tape.

Heed this advice when you prepare trade packages.  Gus is watching.

Wicked Cat of the East

Actually, Gus isn't really wicked, but during this latest cold snap he hasn't really left the heated tile floor in the bathroom. 

Remember the Wicked Witch of the East from The Wizard of Oz?  Well, here's a side-by-side comparison of the witch and my cat.

 Yeah, it may be a little bit of a stretch, but there were enough similarities for my mind to make the connection.

To prove that the bathroom vanity didn't fall on Gus' poor little head here's a snapshot of the furball waking from his slumber.

Stay warm, my friends.  The Cubs' pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in just three more days.  Spring is right around the corner!

Jason Motte, Warmsy McNapster, and Moonlighting

I'm in the middle of the second half of my high school basketball coaching gig and time is scarce, but that hasn't stopped me from jumping on the Twitter Machine and pulling a couple of my favorite photos.

Jason Motte was signed to pitch in high leverage situations this season AND provide veteran leadership for the Cubs' young bullpen.  The picture below was taken at last weekend's Cubs Convention.

I'm not doubting his pitching prowess, but this picture certainly doesn't build my confidence in him guiding a bunch of early twenty-somethings to success.  It looks like Joe Maddon may have his hands full.

You have probably heard that Wrigley Field's bleachers won't be finished until June.  I guess left-field is scheduled to be completed in early May and it's right-field brethren will open up in late May.

care of @WrigleyBlog

Either way, Chicago winters are unpredictable and I'm not holding my breath.  I do think the Cubstruction logo is clever though.

May I introduce to you Gus Warmsy McNapster.  If you can think of a warm place to sleep you can bet he's already found it.

Somewhere underneath that heating blanket is my beautiful wife's lower half.  Silly cat.

Lastly, I've been thinking about picking up a part-time and/or summer job. A new sports complex will be opening near my neighborhood late this spring and supposedly the management is looking to hire individuals who have coaching experience and know the games of softball and baseball.   Hey, that's me!

 I've already got my name in the applicant pool.  Wish me luck!