A Brush with Greatness

Well guess who we had dinner with last night? I'll give you a couple of clues...

• He had 7 career no hitters
• Played in 27 MLB seasons
• One of the best-know pitchers of our time

Mr. Nolan Ryan!!!!!!!!!!
(Or as he calls himself, "Nolan Riiiine")

Sidebar...

Anyone who knows me is aware of my strong stance against baseball, but it wasn't always that way. I used to love it!

However, the MLB Strike of 1994 officially ended that love affair with America's past-time. I can still get fired up when I think about it, so let's not spend anymore time on it.

...sidebar over.

OK, so maybe we didn't break bread together but we saw him at the restaurant. Of course, my husband chatted him up, and the man really is a saint. He was extraordinarily nice and looks only slightly changed since I last saw him on the mound in Arlington.

I think the capper for the evening was when my dear sweet Abigail said to the man, "Bonsoir" and walked away... I guess she wasn't as impressed as James and I were.

I wonder if Nolan went home and blogged about HIS brush with greatness? After all, he got to witness... Just another day Being Billingsley!

What this week has taught me...

As a parent, I have learned that I really must love EVERY SINGLE MOMENT of raising my children. Even the most overwhelming & frustrating moments when...

• she throws herself to the floor to commit with a full heart to an Oscar winning performance of "Small Child Big Fit."
• she throws her dinner on the floor, wall, ceiling and me because she's finished with her meal and can think of no other way to communicate that.
• she pours her milk on the carpet to see how it will "smell."
• she spits carrots/spinach/green beans/anything that stains all of the front of her shirt and mine.

All of this because, in the blink of an eye, my...


Turned into...


And, before I know it, she will only come home on weekends to do her laundry and connect with her old friends from high school.

She is growing up so fast, and I love her so much!

Just another day in the first week of school trying not to cry and Being Billingsley...