Two returns in one week

I start this post warning everyone that it has little to do with baseball cards and much to do about "nothing" (I say "nothing" sarcastically). It has been quite a week . . . for me.

It all started last Sunday, May 25 when my daughter returned to the USA from her almost one year in Finland. She left August 2, 2008 participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange program for high school students and after ten months of emails, IM's, Skype and old fashioned letter writing the HUGS we got at the airport at 6:25 pm last Sunday will be cherished forever. As our only child, we missed her terribly.

Jennifer, endured the cold and dark yet remarkable country of Finland. She attend the local University in Kuopio, stayed with four different families, traveled to Amsterdam, Paris, Sweden, Lapland and the Canary Islands and you all can read about her adventure if you so choose Jenny's Journal from Finland If any of you have children in high school, I highly recommend contacting your local Rotary club to get more information about this extraordinary program for your teenager.

This week has been a wonderful "reunion" with family and friends who all want to see Jennifer and more importantly for my wife and I getting to know our worldly and beautiful daughter all over again.

Monday was Memorial Day. We "celebrated and honored" our veterans which culminated with a red, white and blue food fest at our home with friends.

On Tuesday, after a day of rest and unpacking I gave my daughter her binder of 1991 baseball cards (thank you to the many bloggers who sent cards) and she was quite impressed. Her favorite color is yellow so naturally the 1991 Fleer is her "favorite" and she wants the complete set now. Though I acquired only about 100 cards, I may just have to spend $5 (or less) to buy the complete set for her. She also loves the "inappropriate" 1991 Score Dream Team and the 1991 Studio cards. She will never really be into collecting or really interested in baseball but she does like the color yellow and "cute guys".

Wednesday and Thursday were your non-descript regular weekdays though we are continuing to learn all about Jennifers year in Kuopio (the small town she lived in for ten months, five hours north of Helsinki).

Friday, my daughters bestest girlfriends threw her a party and all these teenagers had a wonderful get together; swimming, hot tub, food galore, silly string and laughter. A real nice reunion for my daughter who got to see so many she had missed.
Today is Saturday and my favorite teenager (besides my daughter) is graduating high school. She is a cancer survivor and my hero. I am so proud of her and is my motivation to continue participating in the ACS's Relay for Life for the rest of my life. Kimberly is a Harry Potter and now Twilight groupie, a lego, rubik cube and jigsaw puzzle genius, a superb photographer and has graduated with honors. Kimmy you are my hero !


and finally tomorrow, Sunday, will be here soon and I just heard that the re-broadcast of Ken Burns' Baseball will be on tv again. I remember watching this 18 1/2 hour historical and emotional mini-series in 1994 when it first premiered and highly recommend to any and all of you. It is not a highlight film of all the greatest moments in baseball; however it is the story of how our favorite game became our national pastime and is all about the personalities and "life" of baseball from the beginning.

So, for me, what a week it is: from my daughters return to the return of a Baseball classic . . .