Back home, still alive

So Ali got back last night from her trip to PA.  I took PV 2.0 loaded up with the dogs to pick her up.  After a typical lengthy wait for her bags at baggage claim she gave me the call that she was ready to be picked up.  Nicki was excited but confused at the same time when she saw Ali, I think the flurry of activity at the airport freaked her out a bit.

On the way home Ali told me about her trip.  It sounded like she had a great time, probably the best visit she has had to PA since we moved to Florida.  Our nieces are at just about the perfect age where they are full of questions, cuteness and energy.  Ali really enjoyed interacting with them.  Ali’s interaction with the kids prompted my sister-in-law calling me over the weekend drunkenly telling me how we HAD to have a kid because Ali is so good with them.

Ali ran her first Pennsylvania 5K while she was up there.  Despite the cool conditions she actually had a really good race, breaking 30 minutes for the first time in a long time.  She also got to see various friends and family members while she was up there.  She said she did a lot of crying  yesterday because she was going to miss everyone.

I was happy that she had such a great time.  It seems like it was a very positive experience for her.  I was equally happy to have her back home.  We didn’t get home until well after 10.  I quickly showed Ali our new shed which she thankfully approved of it’s location.  After that she quickly unpacked and tried to get things somewhat in order. 

 Ali went nuts buying me gifts while she was up there. She bought me a big Phillies and Eagles magnet for the truck, an official looking Cole Hamels Phillies jersey and most importantly SHOO FLY pie!   The stuff was all quite cool.

Since I was picking up Ali I missed the majority of the Phillies game but I was keeping up on the score on my Iphone.  I was psyched when I flipped on the tv at home and saw they had a commanding 8-2 lead going into the 8th.  Chase Utley once again was coming up huge belting two more homeruns, including a big 3 run shot in the first.  All of a sudden Chase has the opportunity to surpass the great Reggie Jackson as the all-time homerun king for a World Series, wow.

Anyway almost on cue, as soon as I started to watch the game the wheels started falling off.  In the space of 5 minutes the score was all of a sudden 8-5 and the Yankees were within striking distance.  In the 9th inning Brad Lidge was noticeably absent, obviously Charlie has lost faith in the guy.  Instead Ryan Madsen was tasked with closing out the Yankees.  The Yanks immediately get men on base and score a run on a double play to make the score 8-6.  So with two outs and two strikes Johnny Damon gets a single to bring the tying run to the plate.  Man I was stressing big time.  Finally a wave of relief came over me after Madsen manages to strike out the batter to end the game, whew. 

So the Phils are still alive but now face the daunting task of heading back to NYC and having to sweep the final two games.  It’s going to be a rough road to climb but maybe, just maybe they can pull it out.  Maybe Ryan Howard can get a hit sometime as well……