"It's great to be young and a Yankee."

..until Opening Day.

8 more days til Spring Training Game #1.

I gave up candy for Lent. I've gone 6 days sans Sour Patch Kids, Gummy Bears, Reeses Pieces. sour peaches, etc. And I'm already climbing up the walls. My coworker always jokes that what he feels most sympathetic about is the fact that someone already got to my soulmate before I could.

Maybe for the 40 days and nights before Opening Day I could give up something to make the whole wait more meaningful. And by "meaningful," I guess I mean "excruiating." Ahh, unfortunately, I'm coming up short on the ideas department. (Other than giving up unnecessarily staying up til dawn just to play video games and other assorted Calvin & Hobbes-like activities.)

I got home from work today and realized there was no news in Yankee world. No walls to paint. Not even any taxes to do.

(I finally got around to doing them and I realize now why my dad became an accountant. The sheer inefficiency and roundabout manner that defines a W-2 form is right in my dad's wheelhouse. Every time I saw something that was like, "If you answered Yes in box 7B, go to box 12. If no, then turn the page to line 43" only to discover line 43 and 7B yield more maddening cross-referencing...I was reminded of every time my dad gave us driving instructions. "First, drive down to Pittsburgh. Fill the car halfway with gas. Then make a left after 4 turns. Get back onto the highway, and come home. Feed the cats. Go to the Exxon 2 towns over and ask for Manny. Tell him you want HALF A TANK OF GAS. He'll know what it means. Then come back home. Then get on 95 and follow the signs to DC, and you'll be Florida in no time.")

I have to admit, I almost enjoy this little lull. When was the last time I was free of obligation? Tomorrow, I'll be a frantic all-over-the-place cuckoo again, but tonight? QT with Mo.

PS, Nintendo Baseball Stars is one of the best video games ever. Not Zelda-caliber. But it's like The Bends. I don't care how long I've gone without it, I can sit down and put it on and it's just as amazing the whole way through. And it's awesome for the following reasons:

1.) The American Dreams team is mostly ex-Yankees.
2.) The Lovely Ladies chick team wears pink uniforms and cries when you hit them with a pitch. And their starting pitcher is named Kris.