Celebrate Good Times

A weekend without Cubs baseball turned into a close encounter with Cubs baseball. My oldest, who will be five in a few weeks, had 3 birthday parties to go to over the weekend. And I was on Chauffer Patrol. At the end of the 3rd party, he and I scooped up his mother and brother and took them back to Lincoln Park for a 4th birthday party. Yes, today I transition from a perfect square to a prime. The math majors out there can figure out how old I am.

We headed to one of our favorite restaurants that was walking distance from our old compound: John’s Place. It’s a great family restaurant, especially if you have kids under the age of 6. A man with a chin-beard walked towards our table with a menu in his hand. I joked to my oldest, “Hey look at the waiter! Here comes Matt Clement!”

Then he got close.

Sho nuff. T’was Matty.

He was with his son (I’ll guess just under 2) and his wife who is rather pregnant. They ended up taking a table outside.

We ate and headed to the park across the street for some monkey bar time, and ran into Matt and his family again. I ended up spotting my five year old on a piece of equipment right next to Matt’s wife while she was spotting her child. I asked he when she was due. She smiled and told me late October. I told her that my wife and I were expecting at the same time, a girl this time (chill out, Sloth!). She said she was having a boy.

As I walked away and we headed to Margie’s Candies for ice cream (must MUST visit place if you have never been there) it occurred to me what was wrong with what Mrs. Clement said.

Late October?

I’m sorry, Matt. But weren’t you planning on being busy in late October? So busy that a hospital trip might not have fit your schedule? Jeez! Way to make the rest of us feel confident!

Addendum:
For those of you out there who don’t get it, the last paragraph was a joke.

Punchline

Speaking of jokes, the Cubs are a bad one. This is a team that has won 4 out of their last 12 series. This is a team that has the talent to put teams away and instead plays like the playoffs are on layaway for them.

This is a team that doesn’t face an opponent with a winning record between now and October 1st. Six wins out of the next nine is a must. As is eleven out of the next sixteen.

More than a game or two less than that and it’s 2005 time.