Here's Kaleb!

Two weeks ago, I mentioned the birth of Kaleb Nimke to my niece/goddaughter Angela and her husband, Fred. Well, the first glimpses of young K-Fred have arrived in the mail!


Mom, Kaleb and Dad are pictured here. As Mary points out, Angela just never takes a bad picture! She looks radiant!


Mom and K-Fred. Look at all of that personality already!

More later,


Mark

At The Old Ball Game!

When the boss asks if you'd like to catch your first-ever Cleveland Indians game at Progressive Field sitting 10 rows behind home plate, what's a reasonable response?

A.) Yes. I'm leaving now, sir.

B.) Really, there is no other answer.

Mary and I took off this evening and headed to Cleveland to watch Grady Sizemore and the Tribe take on Ken Griffey Jr. and the Cincinnati Reds. The Indians won 6-0! Sizemore made a circus catch in the first inning and homered in the fifth. C.C. Sabathia pitched a flawless game.

The ol' Jake (used to be Jacobs Field) is a pretty neat place to take in a game and surprisingly easy to get in an out of (though we did leave in the eighth). The game featured an hour rain delay and a pretty good soaker in the fourth, but we walked the entire interior a couple of times and got a great sense of the place. Built in 1994, it was named the MLB's best ballpark in a Sports Illustrated poll of fans in 2008, or so Wikipedia tells me.

Of course, my trusty cellphone was with me and I snapped some pictures..


WE ARRIVED WITH A FEW OMINOUS CLOUDS IN THE SKY. YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE BREAKING UP HERE AS WE GOT READY FOR THE CEREMONIAL OPENING PITCHES.


THIS IS SERIOUSLY ONE OF THE COOLEST SCOREBOARDS I'VE EVER SEEN AT ANY STADIUM.


AFTER THE FOURTH INNING SHOWER, AS THE NIGHT SETTLED IN, WE SAW SOME GREAT BASEBALL INCLUDING A TERRIFIC FIVE-RUN SIXTH INNING.

Progressive Field is about one hour, 20 minutes from our new home. Not a bad drive for a great time!

More later,


Mark

Or, You Didn't See Yesterday's Post, Eh?

So, I promised a full week of posts, but you came here yesterday and didn't see anything new...

That Mark's World guy lied, right? He said: "At least one post per day for an entire week!" And there was NO Tuesday post!

Ah, but I didn't say WHERE I would post, did I?

As part of The Vindicator's seven-day series "How to Beat the High Cost of Living," I am writing a daily blog to share my secrets to bargain-hunting success. Regular Mark's World visitors know my obsession with hunting down the best values. Now, I am sharing those secrets for a limited time only!

Check it out:

How to Beat the High Cost of Living

More later,

Mark

The Rest of the Story...

My sister Karen is going to kill me for that photo, but there's a good story, here.

That picture is the precise moment she first learned that Kaleb Fredrik Anton Nimke was soon going to join the family.

As I described last November, my family conspired to surprise Karen for her 50th birthday. She thought she was going to dinner in Ottawa, Ill. with her immediate family before a gathering of friends. But it was a swerve. Her daughter Angela had conspired with me and waiting in the restaurant were my parents, Mary and I (all secretly flown in from Florida) as well as my brother from Normal, Ill.

After a day in which she was terrorized at school (thanks to a great Lincoln School staff with a good sense of humor) by many pranks, she was stunned that we were all there.

But the biggest surprise was yet to come. Her daughter and son-in-law, Angela and Fred, had planned a swerve on top of a swerve on top of a swerve: Angela's card contained a picture of a sonogram.

Young Kaleb.

Given her advanced age, for a brief moment I worried about one too many shocks. Luckily, Hank's has rum and food and we came bearing gifts.

As you can see below, Karen recovered quickly.


ANGELA, KAREN AND FRED

And now you know the rest of the story. It was a grand night filled with family and friends, even more gifts and, of course, cake. Months later, Angela and Fred's gift continues to provide us all with much joy.

More later,


Mark

A Very Special Father's Day

At 9:03 p.m. CST, all 7 pounds, 6 ounces of Kaleb Fredrik Anton Nimke joined our family. He's the son of my niece and goddaughter Angela and her husband Fred.

Angela's mom, my sister Karen, started calling the family with the good news shortly after 10:30 p.m. EST. Kaleb's arrival provided Dad Fred, Grandpa Bud and Great-Grandpa Dean with an extra-special Father's Day.

More later,

Mark

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Don't send a lame Father's Day eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

More later,


Mark

A View From The Top

The Chevy Centre arena from the suite seats. Note the empty seats in the far endzone.

Mary and I headed back to the Chevy Centre Friday night to reclaim our seats in Section 205 to watch the Mahoning Valley Thunder take on the Manchester Wolves.

What an eventful night!

On one hand, the Wolves destroyed the Thunder, 79-55. However, that beating was tempered by some cool occurrences.

We were sitting in relative isolation in our seats early in the first quarter when a couple members of the Storm Chasers, the cheerleaders who assist in fan activities, sat with us to ask if we wanted to head over to the Ron Haus Auto Group VIP suite. So we got to wave to the camera and were given $20 in drink/food credit and new seats up top to enjoy (well, "watch") the rest of the game.

While we we waiting for our camera shot, I also managed to snag (one-handed, I might add) a souvenir mini-football tossed into the crowd. That was my second catch for the season.

The suite was really nice (and the food choices amazing!), but I missed the intimacy of the lower seats and my ability to yell at the lousy afl2 referees.

The suite also provided a great view of a wild storm that passed through downtown Youngstown during the third quarter.

It was a fun game, but the Thunder still took a beating (read: "new coach needed desperately"). However, because the home team scored more than 50 points, our ticket stubs are good for free Taco Bell Chalupas! The most fun as the game ended was the crowd cheering not for victory but for the Thunder to score one more point (it was 79-49 at the time) for free Chalupas!

More later,

Mark

I've Been One Poor Correspondent...

OK, OK.

Uncle!

I give!

Many, many e-mails and inquiries in recent weeks about Mark's World. "What happened to the thought-provoking posts?" one of you wrote. "It looks like HGTV now with only the house updates!"

Ouch. Another writes: "Hey! Are you still alive? Tell us what's going on."

The final straw: My Mom wrote to Mary and I tonight to say "Mark has not updated his blog in 3 weeks. Are you OK?"

Yikes.

We are great. And busy. On top of new home chores, a busy schedule at work, a couple of computer issues, etc., my attention has been all over the place. That has just kept me from doing as much as I want to here.

But that will all change. We are getting resettled quite nicely and love our new home and surroundings. We thoroughly enjoyed my parents' recent visit and I think they came away with a new appreciation for Ohio and the Mahoning Valley.

Instead of posting, I have many diversions, it seems. We are just so new to everything, we want to try it all! We regularly attend Mahoning Valley Thunder games and cheer on our local arena football team. Here's a peek from section 105:



We have about an acre of property and I spend some time each week amusing the neighbors with my riding mower prowess. My Dad shot a cool picture showing the view from the "back 40." Check it out:



Meanwhile, we have found two places that sell an unbelievable array of quality beers, as this collection from a recent afternoon on the deck will attest:




So, we're good, busy, happy and having a good time. Still, there's a lot going on in the world from media topics to politics to a new Hulk movie. I promise to get caught up!

Beginning Sunday: At least one post per day for an entire week! Be here!

More later (really!),

Mark