Grand Salami.......

I woke up Thursday with my cranium feeling like it had doubled in size.......this all due to the head cold I am enduring right now.  On the "I am actually grateful" side I am happy it is not a chest cold like it was the last two times I got sick last year in March and April.  As near as I can tell all three times I got the flu, or a cold I was around people, or groups of people who had a few individuals under the weather at the time......this most recent time my daughter, Sharon, had a sore throat when we were at the party meeting Laila's mother and grand parents.  Those chest colds, or the flu, or whatever they should be called, were brutal.  I was laid out for about a week in each case.....this head cold seems to be running its course pretty quickly.

Anyway, on to the happenings on Thursday......we slept in until almost 9 am....for me probably a result of taking the generic "cold/flu relief" medicine which just knocked me out.  We had a lunch date with my niece, Heather, and her husband Ron, and then a baseball spring training game to attend at Peoria Sports Complex.  Peoria is about a 45 minute drive from Wittmann, so we left about 10:30 with TLE driving.....by this time I was on the "day time" version of the cold/flu relief medicine and didn't feel like driving.

Ron and Heather

Heather is the youngest child of TLE's sister, Phyllis.  We last saw her and Ron in St. Louis on our way to work at Amazon in Campellsville, KY about 18 months ago.....since then they have moved to Arizona, are are loving it!  We met them at their home to take a tour, and then headed over to a local restaurant called, simply, The Place, which Yelp gives a solid 4 stars, and we would both have to agree with that rating.  They serve breakfast all day, and that is what I had......Huevos Rancheros......one of the best I have ever had.

By the time we finished talking and eating it was 20 minutes until game time, so we hopped in our vehicles and drove the 4 blocks to the Peoria Sports Complex.  Our seating (these were free tickets provided by Heather's employer, Target) were for the "Lawn" section......this was actually a nice way to watch the game.  We spread our blankets on the grass just beyond the left field wall and enjoyed a few hours of American's past time.

I look much better than I feel in this picture

As the age old saying goes......"baseball is not over until it's over".....there is no clock counting down......just 9 innings with 3 outs per side per inning.  We were treated to a "grand slam homerun", or "grand salami" in the 5th inning by the Rangers, and then a 3 run blast by the Padres in the bottom of the 9th.....yes, we stayed until the final out was recorded.....the game lasted about 2 hours and 45 minutes.  I enjoyed a bag of roasted peanuts during the game, which kind of took my mind off my stuffy nose, and fat head feeling.  Ultimately the Rangers prevailed 8-4.

Heather had to be at work by 4:30, and it was approaching 4 pm, so we bid our adieus to Ron and Heather, we thought, and then headed over to the local Target to pick up a new hair dryer for TLE.....hers had bit the dust the day before.  Just after we parked we saw Heather walking into the store.  She had a few minutes so she showed us where the hair dryers were as well as a few other items we needed.

As we found the various items we needed Heather would use this program on her phone called "Cartwheel" to scan the item to see if there were any coupons being offered.  When we got the cashier she simply had the cashier scan the bar code provided by Cartwheel, which included all the coupons Heather had found.....very, very cool.....I think we saved between 5 and 10% using that program......thank you very much Heather......TLE will be downloading that program in very short order.

We arrived back home about 5 pm......I slept most the way home, and headed right into the coach to continue my nap.  I skipped dinner which was tacos, chips and salsa, so you know I was not feeling well, right?

I woke up sometime after 6 and watched "For a Few Dollars More".......the "Spaghetti Western" from the 60's starring Clint Eastwood.  There were three movies in this series......"Fist Full of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More", and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly".  These westerns were produced and directed by Italians, hence the the nickname.  Over 600 "Spaghetti Westerns" were produced in Europe under this sub-genre.  The three Clint Eastwood films were directed by Sergio Leone, considered to have made the best films included in this western sub-genre.  I remember when I was in college back in the late 60's my good friend, Tom Carrozzo (coincidentally an Italian), suggested we head to the local cinema in a small east Texas town called Gladewater to see all three of these films.....they were hosting a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western marathon that night.  Now, whenever any of these movies is on TV I watch them.

Hope I feel better Friday......thanks for stopping by!