Nervous Nellie

Nik’s first Spring Training game is this weekend. THIS WEEKEND. As I’ve considered this and the fact that the season is starting in three weeks, that familiar baseball-related anxiousness has started creeping back into my life.

There are a lot of things about this lifestyle that I’ve pretty well mastered. Staying calm during games is not one of them. Which is ironic considering that Nik is completely the opposite-cool as a cucumber (today is old woman phrase day—don’t worry about it) and completely in control.

Oh, but one of us has to be a basket case, right? And better me than him, right? I mean, if you really focused in on the crowd, I’m positive you could pick me out during any of Nik’s starts. I make almost no noise—polite clapping at the end of each half inning and slightly less than polite clapping (relief clapping is what it is) at the end of each outing. So you’ll have to use a keen eye, but it can be done.

You see, I will be the one whose knees are shaking fast enough to convince those around me I have an irreparably advanced case of Restless Leg Syndrome. I will also be the one wincing randomly. And, of course, the one muttering slightly under my breath, sending my husband soft messages of encouragement that he cannot hear and that he would ignore if he could. Or else, I’m the one with both hands covering my mouth so that those nearby cannot tell that I am muttering slightly under my breath. I like to believe the hands over the mouth make me seem less crazy but it’s probably a tossup.

And so it is. Another season of baseball games begins. Another season of weekly panicking and many opportunities for me to look like an over caffeinated mental patient. Let’s play ball!