Spring Training (ST) 2011, you have truly been so good to me! Without you, I would not be having all of these crazy adventures and making all of these amazing memories! You are giving me so much to talk about, yet I can't seem to find enough time in our daily schedule to actually write. Luckily, today I have found time, but tomorrow you might keep me too busy yet again! There is just so much behind the scenes to this month than I ever thought possible.
I remember years prior, while Tyler and I were long distance, I would be so annoyed during the month of ST because Ty would always go to bed at eight or nine o'clock at night! I would call him an old man because, of course, only old people go to bed that early. Boy did I have an apology to make! Turns out, I have been quite the "old lady" this month, as I've been heading to bed right along side my husband at the same time! I would like to say I totally understand how he feels now, since I'm here and on the same schedule as him, but that would be a lie. I'm not the one out there playing baseball every day and working out in the sun like he does, however, I'm still finding myself wiped out by the end of it.
Our drive to the field now takes about 25 to 30 minutes, and Tyler and I only brought one car. Knowing that, and adding in the wonderful gas prices these days, we are not about to make that trip more times in a day than we actually have to. What does that mean for me? An early wake up call. You see, my cute husband just so happens to love being at the field super early! If he doesn't have to be there until eight o'clock in the morning, he will sure as heck be there at 6:30AM. Yeah, I call him crazy too! In reality though, I am very thankful for this character trait of his; it beats walking in the door late. With that said, I can't complain when every morning, like clock work (literally), the alarm goes off. Oh joy! Now for the behind the scenes look at our day...
It is 5:40AM and these are my first thoughts, "Oh my goodness, please don't let it be time to wake up again already!" Tyler turns off the alarm and we stay put for about ten minutes. I love this part because it's my opportunity to fall back asleep until he decides to roll out of bed. Once that happens however, I am wide-awake. Why you ask, when I am obviously not a morning person? Easy answer: we sleep on an air mattress. The sound of the mattress as he tries to get out of bed is loud enough in itself, but once he's actually up off the mattress, I find myself plunging half way to the floor! It gets me every time. How is it those darn things somehow always manage to deflate in the middle of the night, every night? While Tyler takes five minutes to get ready, I spend my five minutes trying to escape the sunken in air mattress. We get done about the same time and out the door we go. I do nothing to get ready, and let me tell you, I look like a lion. No worries, I have a bag packed in the car with all of my toiletries and an outfit for the day to get ready later. Tyler drives us in the morning while I attempt to sleep in the car. (Remember though, I am a passenger seat driver!) Once we make it to the field, I get my kiss goodbye and then jump into his seat as he exits the car. Where to now?
We figured out our own little system with the help of one of Tyler's teammates. You see, the minor league players, unless they bring their wife, are put up in a hotel by the field for the month of ST. Usually they place two guys to a room, but amazingly, one of Tyler's best friends has a room to himself with two queen size beds! He gave us an extra room key and told us it would be okay if I came to sleep there in the mornings. What a sweetie!
So here I go, driving on over to the hotel. I park the car, grab my bags and head for the lobby. The automatic doors open and, to my horror, I see a handful of Tyler's teammates heading in my direction! Why me!? I put my hand over my forehead as if the sun was in my eyes and scurry past them. Luckily, I make it to the elevator without a single one of them seeing me! Awesome! I push the button and wait for the doors to open, ready to dart in and slap the "door close" button immediately. Of course I'd be too busy thinking ahead to remember that people actually come off the elevator too. The doors open and I'm spotted! Dang it, here we go. The pointing and laughing begins, and man can these boys laugh loudly! I blush a little, okay, maybe a lot, duck my head and continue my walk of shame into the elevator as they all say, "Bye Tonya!" So it was a little embarrassing and I probably won't live it down, but now it's just part of the morning routine. I figure ducking is pointless, so now I just keep my head up and say hi to whomever I pass. No big deal. I make it up to the room and I am so happy knowing I'm about to go back to bed, not on an air mattress. Tyler's teammate is still sleeping, so I use my phone as a flashlight to find my way to the empty bed. By the time he gets up and heads out the door, I am already passed out and I will stay that way until game time; well, at least until housekeeping wakes me up or if I agree to doing laundry for the guys. I then get ready for my day and head to the field.
I pull up to the player's parking lot that says "lot full," and start freaking out when I realize our Phillies Parking Pass, that is supposed to be hanging from our review mirror, has somehow vanished! (Tyler later informed me, he had stashed it in the driver's side door compartment because a police officer told him hanging things from our review mirror was illegal. I obviously had no clue about this important information at the time.) So, I'm sitting there scrambling to find it, when all of a sudden, the parking lot attendant comes over to my window and says, "Hi dear! I saved you a spot up front today, I knew you'd be here." What a dear, sweet old man! He then tells me he knows I'm Tyler's wife and that he has been making an effort to recognize our car. I absolutely love the people who work around the baseball stadium; they are so good to us! I make sure to get very familiar with them because of instances like these. I thank him and pull in to park. From there, it's game time, which is a story of it's own. One of these days I will write about it, as it deserves a separate post. The gist of ST games is that they are all during the day under the hot, Florida sun. Being out there for three or four hours a day has me just about melting!! After a game, there are only two things I want to do: take a shower and head for bed.
Everyone usually gets done at the field around four o'clock and I am there, if needed, to take a few of them back to the hotel. I then have some time to myself to call family and friends while Tyler, along with a handful of other players, pack into one of their rooms to play video games. Silly boys! The guys staying at the hotel then get dinner for free, however Tyler and I are on our own. I pack up my things and we head home for the night. We have dinner, take showers, do laundry, and you guessed it, go to bed!
Okay so maybe our schedule for the month of ST isn't very tough, but it's just that, our schedule. Everyone thinks our life is a vacation, which to some it might be, but to us, there is actually some sort of routine. I've obviously made time for things I want to make time for: the beach, the Baseball Wives Luncheon I attended last week, and even a trip to Disney World here soon, but that's because I am blessed with the amazing opportunities to do so. When our family and friends come to visit us, we will be making exceptions to go out for a good time, but we are no tour guides. This is our life now and I really do love being on the same schedule as my husband. I want to support Tyler with everything I have and I am so happy doing so. The only thing that will make me happier is when season starts! That's when we can all sleep until noon because the games are at night, and we can all go out afterwards. I can't wait! Until then, I am still feeling very blessed and enjoying every minute of our spring training schedule! :)
