Well, regular season baseball has come to an end. I’m rather sad about that… I am now stuck with a mere handful of football games to keep track of – mainly UT and Rutgers (who both performed quite poorly this weekend). I AM, however, excited about the post season, and hoping the Yankees can keep some momentum going. Too bad the Mets were knocked out of the running yesterday – I was looking forward to the possibility of another Subway Series. Oh well. :)
And I must say congratulations to Ed and Greg, who came in second and third place in the fantasy baseball league, and will, therefore, share in the monetary winnings. Congrats, you guys! Someone came in first place, too, but I can’t remember who… all I know is that his team name is something like, “I am the King of Universe, Bow to Me You Minion Peons.” Eh, it was probably no one too important…
So this is when the stress starts – every game the Yankees play from here on out will be filled with tension and nail biting. And possibly jumping rope. I mean, THEY won’t be jumping rope… but I might. Jumping rope is a great way to expend nervous energy when watching a playoff game. Too… much… stress…
Another sad thing happened this past week – our Seattle’s Best closed down without warning. One day it was business as usual, and the next, it was “no more caramel lattes for YOU!!” The shop was cleared out, the doors were locked, and that was it. No explanation was given for why my morning caffeine rush would apparently now be forever denied. And it’s interesting that the shop should close down just as another Chicago possibility opens up. We’re STILL waiting to find out whether or not we’ll be living here in Austin in a couple months, or whether we’ll be shopping for sweaters and hats and gloves and relocating to Chicago in the middle of winter.
And the reason it’s interesting that the Seattle’s Best closed down is that it originally OPENED just a few weeks before we moved back to Austin from New Jersey several years ago. Rick moved back here before I did – I stayed up in Jersey a few months longer, packing and waiting for the house to sell. Rick would call me every day, or send emails – and, invariably, he would tell me how great it was going to be to live just a couple miles from Seattle’s Best. When I finally joined him back in Austin (in a temporary apartment while our house was being built) the Seattle’s Best became a daily haunt – the people in the shop already knew Rick, and would have iced caramel lattes ready for us when we walked in. When we moved into the new house, I’m fairly certain I had a cup of Seattle’s Best coffee to energize me as I lugged boxes and furniture from the apartment. When friends and family would come visit from out-of-town, we’d head over to the Seattle’s Best and hang out around a wooden table, reading newspapers and talking and sipping mochas and cappuccinos. We knew the names of every person who worked in that shop, and grew to consider many of them friends. It was “our” coffee shop.
So in the wake of its abrupt closing, I have to wonder if it’s not a sign of some sort – the Seattle’s Best opened up just as we were moving back to Austin… so what does it mean that it’s closed now? Hmmm… I guess, just as we’ve been doing for so long, we’ll just have to wait and see…
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