Quote by rolandlytle

Quote by elizabethblack
I'm getting pretty excited myself about opening day. Juan Soto. Just sayin'. The Nats don't always reach their potential but every year it a new start and new beginning. With fervent hope.

That is what makes baseball so great. The nature of the sport (injuries, trades, inconsistent players through a daily grind of 162 games in approximately 185 days) makes it possible for almost any team to make the play-offs.
By the end of spring training, most players do believe their team could come out on top. Here are my predictions for 2021: {projected wins - projected wins are +/- 3}

NL East - 1st Mets {92}, 2nd Braves {91}, 3rd Nationals {84}, 4th Phillies {81}, 5th Marlins {70}
NL Central - 1st Cubs {88}, 2nd Cardinals {86}, 3rd Reds {83}, 4th Brewers {82}, 5th Pirates {58}
NL West - 1st Dodgers {102}, Padres (92}, 3rd Diamondbacks {76}, 4th Giants {73}, 5th Rockies {63}

AL East - 1st Yankees {95}, 2nd Blue Jays {87} and Rays {87}, 4th Red Sox {79}, 5th Orioles {64}
AL Central - 1st White Sox {91}, 2nd Twins {88}, 3rd Indians {79}, 4th Royals {73}, 5th Tigers {66}
AL West - 1st Athletics {88}, 2nd Astros {87}, 3rd Angels {85}, 4th Mariners {74}, 5th Rangers {66}

Cubs beat the White Sox in 6 games during the World Series! (that is the Cubbie in me speaking, in reality, the White Sox will beat the Dodgers in the World Series)

My gosh... I am such a baseball geek.

Quote by gillianleeza

Quote by ladysharon
The little one is feeling a lot better and she's trying to climb into my lap to see what I'm doing on this laptop. I managed to get 1,000 words written in a story that turned out to be a Christmas story, but I'm still going to finish it. I'm the boss at work for the next week while my manager is on vacation, more like a staycation. I hope the pandemic is lifted and once it is, I'm hitting up Las Vegas hard.

I am so glad your little one is feeling better. I am impressed you got any writing done. I remember those days and I also remember getting little done. I loved my babies but I am happy they are grown now. I am hoping for grandchildren soon though.

Quote by DenimAngel
hi everyone
*peeks in the cookie jars * we are in good shape
where are the cookie bandits?

Quote by Survivor


It's good to start the day with some hot coffee. So that has been done. The brew is ready in the pot now and hot water awaits anyone who needs it.

My CT scan was so good that my oncologist has changed the schedule. I will get my next CT scan in four months instead of three. We are quite pleased with how well the immunotherapy has done for me and the radiation therapy seems to have cut the tumor in the adrenal gland in half. So I must say my doctor thinks I am doing much better than a lot of less fortunate folks do. I don't have to worry about it again until July.

Since my wife and I have both had the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine we can do things differently now. In about two weeks she will start doing some volunteer work at the community theater. I'll see how I feel and whether I can do any theater work as well.

It's good to see some folks getting back to a semblance of normal.

Quote by rolandlytle
Hello all!

Jeff, sorry to see that your back is giving you so much trouble. Liz has had disc surgery twice. I know that back pain is terrible because it affects everything, and any movement is awful. We are both hoping you are feeling better soon.

Sharon, it is so good to see you here. I like your website, and I am looking forward to any new pieces on SS. Your work is always great.

I got a significant 35% military discount as a retiree on my MLB.com subscription this year. That saved me $44.50 on the price. Since my monthly allowance is $50, that is great. Now I can watch every MLB baseball game for the season.
I had to wait until our stimulus check of $1,400 came in Friday to get it this year. Has anyone else got the stimulus money yet from the Covid relief bill that passed?

After having a below-average weekend, I a feeling much better today. I will peruse the cookies for my sugar high and have some herbal tea.

It is so nice to spend time with friends.

Quote by gillianleeza
Happy first day of spring! It's a sunny day but a bit chilly here. The daffodils are all up and blooming, my tulips aren't far behind.

My husband and I are on the waiting list for a shot. Since we have both had Covid I am not as concerned about when we get the shot. NIH does some interesting studies. One shows that people who have had Covid can have a more robust response to the first shot. I am hoping that is not the case. I've had enough of Covid symptoms to last a lifetime. I still cannot smell or taste properly and the fatigue still hanging on is upsetting at times.

I am thankful my parents have been vaccinated and we can now visit more regularly. I have a lot to be thankful for. My youngest son is settling nicely in Vancouver. His girlfriend is working and studying for her master's degree in Germany for now. She will be joining him in the late summer or fall.

I am looking forward to when we can travel again. I miss visiting my husband's family in Newfoundland and we would love to go see our son in Vancouver as well. Hopefully, we can do both of those in the not-so-distant future.

Today is bread baking day. We are making raisin molasses bread and I am attempting brioche bread for the first time.

I'll take a couple of cookies to keep up my energy.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Quote by LauraDanielle
Hey everyone. I've known about this place for a while, but I don't believe I've ever actually popped in to say hi. I need to start making mental notes to visit this site more often.

How are we all?

Quote by Survivor

Quote by verbal
I'm a big NO in the pineapple on pizza debate, though one of my daughters loves it. She had a good upbringing, I don't know what happened to her.

Bill: Talia and I are fine here in the wilds of Colorado (I saw you ask elsewhere). HUGE snowstorm, and I had to do some driving in it yesterday, but I survived unscathed. Snow is melting rapidly today, although it's supposed to snow AGAIN tonight.

Watching baseball and getting ready to write. Spring training is getting boring: I need the REAL THING! 14 days.

I've got a short story coming out on Amazon Thursday. Anyone know if it's cool to mention here? I don't want to break the rules.

Sorry about the weather you are about to get, Sara. I'll add insult to injury and take a huge handful of cookies as I politely ask for a cup of coffee.

Jeff, there is a special forum area for posting about your publishing accomplishments. It is this: https://forum.storiesspace.com/yaf_topics18_Sing-Your-Own-Praises.aspx

That place was created just for posting about your special publishing efforts in addition to announcing the posting of a new story if you wish.

Time for my last cuppa coffee.

Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Morning to all confused daylight savings timers. You'd think I'd enjoy these time changes if only because Arizona does not observed daylight savings since the prevailing opinion is that the last thing needed around here is more daylight. While that is, imo, a goodness, the downside is the Pacific Coast time zoners have done gone and sprung forward. Bottom line is we're on the same time as California and three hours behind east coast time. (sigh)

Here's hoping the rest of y'all enjoy all that extra sunshine.

Jeff, what's the 'sick call' like today in your place?

Coffee's cooking and the tea kettle is, what else, kettling. Sarah's baseball themed sugar cookies sound perfect for serious coffee dunkin'. Think I'll grab a few, then fill my mug with the good stuff and go sit in a comfy chair near the heater.

Later, Inspirators.

Quote by DenimAngel
Hi everyone
A beautiful day here!
A large iced coffee sounds yummy in the tummy
*moving the old cookies to the emergency cookie tins behind the counter and filling the cookie jars to the tippy top with fresh cookies *
Today's offerings are baseball themed sugar cookies :baseballs, mitts, baseball caps and bats
Jeff you can keep the snow...
Larry yay for setting up your next shot
I need to look into the shots..

*giving the adorable mascots fresh water and treats *
Stay safe everyone!

Quote by Mendalla

Quote by verbal
And figure out what happens when a small nuclear bomb is dropped into a volcano.

Isn't your avatar the answer? I.e. Kaiju get unleashed.

Sounds like an interesting story. I am writing again but the story is being unusually resistant to my efforts to make the scenario sensible without a raft of expository paragraphs.

Quote by Survivor


Well, I finally got around to making some coffee. It was a good thing no one else was thirsty this morning. Now I need to get over to the pharmacy. I have a couple of prescriptions that I need to pick up. Everyone have a good day.

Quote by elizabethblack

Quote by verbal
Well, that lil monkey and I have some things in common! I love banana cookies too!

My dose of weirdness for the day: I got an email invite to a "telephonic thriller" where, if you buy a $35 ticket, you will get a phone call at a pre-determined time, which you are supposed to answer in a dark room, by yourself. It's supposed to be Twilight Zone-y and scary. I'm pretty sure it's legit, a theater is sponsoring it. I think we're gonna do it. Probably on speakerphone.

No Mets game today.

I am a no on the espresso machine. I am happy with the current cuppa joe.

Coffee and a banana cookie please. And one for my new little monkey friend.

Pretty gutsy to sign up for the "telephonic thriller". I have fingers crossed that it will be well done and with theater backing, it should be. Please keep each other safe.

And I vote no on the espresso machine for myself only. If someone else wants to come in and brew some, fine with me.

Quote by Survivor

Good morning, Inspirators. I have the coffee on the stove along with the tea kettle.

The Padres had their first game of Spring Training yesterday against the Mariners. It was good to see Tommy Pham playing, coming back from being stabbed in the back in October. It would be nice to be out in Peoria, Arizona to soak up some of the spring training warmth and sunlight just like Victor is doing now on the futon.

Quote by DenimAngel
hi everyone

1st day of SPRING TRAINING!

I have fresh cookies today
*moves the old cookies to the emergency cookie tins behind the counter and filling the cookie jars to the tippy top with fresh cookies *
In Big Bird we have pecan divines, sesame seed tea cookies, raspberry hazelnut cookie and butterscotch marshmallow crunch cookies
In Cookie Monster we have snickerdoodle, butterscotch marshmallow crunch cookies, orange vanilla chip cookies and white chocolate coconut cookies
*giving the adorable mascots fresh water and treats *

Stay safe everyone!

Quote by itsxanderkaidyn

Quote by verbal
It's epistolary fiction! I'm no mod, but that's fine in my book. I wrote one last year. Granted, it was about monstrous dragon-y things swooping down on a suburban neighborhood and exacting revenge, but still.

Hmm. Well, mine is really more in the form of a love letter so you can see why I'm confused.

Quote by itsxanderkaidyn
Do unsent letters count as musings? Cause I wrote something and that seems like the right category but it's in the form of a letter so I wasn't sure.

Quote by elizabethblack

Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Hi ya, Jeff. Good coffee, Larry. Now that all the excitement of getting my second covid vaccine shot, life has settled back down into the normal uproar interspersed with occasional outbreaks of tumult and shouting.

That's okay by me. With Larry's coffee, Sarah's cookies and Jeff's wit and wisdom life is good in Inspirations. ;)

Supposed to nudge 80f this afternoon. Think I'll take my coffee and cookies outside and wait for the hot time.

Later, Inspirators.

I find you are such an upstanding gentleman (regardless of sly whispers) for not shouting out about your temperature today. And congratulations on that second shot and surviving the dread of the after effects. I think it has made you even more handsome if you don't mind me saying.

New you: