This weekend, I have been in Ann Arbor, Michigan, celebrating my grandma's 85th birthday. We had to get up at about 7 A.M. to pack, and we left by about 8:30 so we would have plenty of time to get to Ann Arbor, check into our hotel, and get ready for the party. With stops, it took about 5 hours to get there, and with the time change, we got into Ann Arbor by about 2:30 P.M. Michigan time. Then, we went to the M Den, which is the main store for all things that are about the University of Michigan. We left the M Den by about 3:35 and after getting lost a few times, we got to the hotel at about 4 or 4:15. The problem was that my dad got to Ann Arbor on Friday so he could get ready for the party (He and his brother set the whole party up). He thought that we were going to go straight to the hotel from the highway, so he was waiting for us for about 2 hours. We had to get ready so that we could take some videos of us talking about our grandma. We got to the party on time, and in the end, the party was a great success. Most people left at about 9:15, but some of the family stayed and talked and sang until about 11:45. Even though the singing got kind of annoying when we were trying to talk, the whole party was very fun. (This picture is of me, my sister Erin, my grandma
With Halloween approaching, I was reminded of something that has been really bugging me. It seems like people have turned every major holiday from an opportunity to relax to an excuse to have a sale. Every two weeks or so, it seems like there is another sale for some holiday or another. We just had a Columbus day sale, and soon we will have the Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales. Instead of trying to relax and have some time off from school and jobs, everyone is trying to get to as many stores as possible so they can take advantage of the great savings that they can use to get every single item that is so "vital" to everyday life. I have heard stories on the news of people who have gotten killed because they fell and they got trampled by thousands of people who were trying to get to a Black Friday sale at two in the morning at some store or another, like this one. I know that it is sometimes nice to get something on sale for 20 or 30% off, but is it really worth to get up at midnight and accidentally trample people to death?
Pressure. Everyone has felt it. Whether it has been in school, sports, or just at home, everyone at some point has felt that they were under pressure. Maybe no one knows this more right know than Jose Valverde. In the last three days, Valverde has blown two games for the Detroit Tigers (and Miguel Cabrera). The Tigers made it into the playoffs, and because of Valverde, are thankful to still be there. In the 4th game of the first round of playoffs, the Tigers were three outs from advancing to the next round. Insert Jose Valverde. Valverde somehow how gave up three runs in the ninth inning while only getting one man out, losing the game, and blowing a save. Last night, he came into the ninth inning of game 1 of the Tigers' playoff series against the New York Yankees with a 4-0 lead, which doesn't even qualify as a save opportunity. He walks the first batter. After getting the first out of the inning, Ichiro Suzuki, not known for his power, hits a two-run home-run to make the score 4-2. Then, Valverde gets the second out. It looks like the Tigers are going to win after Valverde gets the first two strikes against Mark Texeira. He can't get the final strike, and walks Texeira. The next batter is Raul Ibanez. As many Tigers fans watched and worried, Valverde gave up another two-run home-run, now making the score a 4-4 tie. Valverde then got replaced. The picture in the right is a picture of him exiting Yankee Stadium. In the end, the Tigers somehow won the game, but all is not good in the world of Jose Valverde. My last post was about a tiger, so I thought that the perfect follow-up would be about another ferocious beast. I have a dog, and her name is Ginger. If you ask anyone who has met her, they will tell you that she is one of the most ferocious dogs that you will ever meet. For those of you that have met Ginger, you know I'm kidding. We got Ginger when she was only about one year old. We got her at a shelter called Orphans of the Storm. When we got there, all of the dogs were barking and going crazy except for her and one other dog. We also contemplated getting the other dog, but in the end we got Ginger. When we met her, she had only been at the shelter for three days, and the people working there already said that she was one of the nicest and most well-behaved dogs that they had ever met. Now, she is over six years old, but she still loves to play fetch with a tennis ball and can run like she is still a little puppy. Yesterday, Miguel Cabrera(pictured at the right) became a part of baseball royalty. The Detroit Tigers' third baseman clinched the Triple Crown, one of the most elusive awards in baseball. In fact, before Cabrera, no one had won the Triple Crown since 1967. Carl Yazstremski won it that year. That's 45 years! To win the Triple Crown, you have to lead your league, either the American or National League, in batting average, home runs, and RBI's. Batting average is calculated by how many times you get on base divided by how many times you bat. Hopefully, you know what home runs are, and RBI's stand for runs batted in. You get an RBI whenever someone scores a run during your at-bat. This year, Cabrera hit .330, he hit 44 home runs, and he drove in 139 runs. All of these numbers are very high, and nobody else came close to leading all three categories. The Tigers also made the playoffs this year, and they start their first playoff series against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday. |
AuthorHi. This is Ned. I am in 8th grade and these are my blogs. I will be updating them every week. Enjoy. Archives
May 2013
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