This past Sunday we had tickets to the Milwaukee Brewers baseball game, and let me tell you this, I’m sooooo not interested in baseball. In fact, since the Brewers have gotten the new stadium, Miller Park, I’ve only been there twice before. I can’t even begin to tell you how many tickets I’ve given away because I just did not want to go.

So my husband survived the downsizing at his job, and as a celebration he and others from his department were treated with tickets to their company’s suite at Miller Park. Tickets to the luxury box? Oh yeah, I’m totally going. I didn’t care if I didn’t watch any of the ball game, but I was going for the experience.

Parking was prime, and then once we found our suite — which happened to be on the field level right behind third base – I settled right in to life in the luxury box. The suite was like a hotel, and who wouldn’t want to watch a sporting event live from their own hotel room? There was wi-fi, there was our own potty, and best of all there were bottles of wine. DECENT WINE. None of that Little Penguin crap. I poured myself a glass of cabernet sauvignon, and okay, so I couldn’t find a wine glass and I had to drink out of a plastic cup, but I lived.

My daughter was busy filling herself up on potato chips, chocolate chip cookies and fudge brownies. Seeing as she wouldn’t touch a hotdog to save her life (can you blame her?), I called the concierge to see if I could order her a kids meal of chicken fingers. SURE, they said, WE’LL SEND YOUR ASSISTANT OVER WITH IT.

My what? My Assistant? Well, okay.

Sunday’s paper was waiting in the luxury box, so while the crowd cheered I read all my favorite sections: Cue, Entree, Business, and Metro. My husband and I have this thing where we try to guess if the house of the week in the Entree Section will be either IN DOOR COUNTY or NOT IN DOOR COUNTY. We both picked Door County this week, and the house wasn’t, so we both took a drink.

Next thing I know the assistant is there (My Assistant?) deliverying not one, but two huge pizzas. The first thought that came to my head was DID I ACCIDENTALLY ORDER PIZZAS WITH THE KIDS CHICKEN FINGERS? My Assistant assured me that I did not, and then handed me the kids meal.

Okay, how come I never got one of those kids meals whenever I went to the ballgame? It was in a paper bag with comics on it and came with chips, Oreos (more cookies!), a juice box, and a Topps baseball card for some Suppan guy that I’d never heard of. (Even though I’d never head of him, I had to admit that the baseball card was pretty cool.)

During the 7th inning My Assistant came in and boxed all of the food up into containers so we could take home any leftovers. She even labeled the boxes with what was inside too.

Lets see, we had visitors in the luxury box: Bernie Brewer, the mascot, stopped by for a visit! And a face painting lady came around to paint the kids faces too.

Midway through the game some of the people who were sitting outside got up and came into the suite, so we moved from the indoor bar area to the outdoor seats. That was when the game started to get pretty good. I don’t know what got into me, but I even stood up and cheered the team on when the bases were loaded and someone hit the ball way out into the field and no one caught it!

The game was tied 4-4 after the 9th inning, so it went to extra innings, which meant we got to see NOT ONE, but TWO Sausage Races.

We left at the top of the 13th, the score was still tied and there was no end in sight. Of course, as we were wandering around in the parking lot trying to remember where we parked, the Brewers hit a home run and won the game! We missed Bernie Brewer sliding down his slide, and the fireworks too.

I’ve decided that maybe the ballgame isn’t so bad after all, but what I really want is the life in the luxury box. Now that, I could totally get used to.

Today is my birthday. I’m not sure what my entire day will bring, but it’s starting out at the eye doctor with my daughter, Zoe, then we are going out for coffee. Well, she’ll most likely have chocolate milk and I’ll have coffee. The rest of the day is up in the air. Perhaps we’ll bum around at the Lakefront Art Festival, it begins today and we’ve never gone, but Zoe is way way WAY into art. And, I am too, but she’s at least got a shot at being an artist, I’ll have to wait until retirement to pursue it. And now, since it’s my birthday, I am a year closer to it. Right?

I already got my birthday present two weeks ago, an iPod Touch. It’s, in a single word, AWESOME! I love it!! It’s probably the coolest gadget I’ve ever had. It has wifi on it and I can connect anywhere there is a hot spot. We were driving home from Door County on Tuesday and I needed to get an email from one of my classmates, did you know that Two Rivers has hot spots in the city? It does. All of a sudden I had connection and I’m telling my husband: “Stop the car! Pull over!”

Anyhow, the iPod Touch is so very very cool.

Did you get me anything? I am accepting gifts, iTunes is a great idea ya know. Or bottles of red wine. That’ll work too.

Have a great day!

The following is a special request that is written by a friend of mine. I've put a lot of thought into the words I should use to introduce her project properly, but to be honest, I know that I would not be able to give it the delicacy that it truly deserves. If you are able to help Julie, please do. If you feel that you need more information, please do not hesitate to contact Julie (her email address is below). Thank you!

I was reading a book called The Secret Life of Bees.  Fantastic book, you should read it if you haven’t already!  In it, one of the main characters began to build a wailing wall, a place in which she would leave all of her pain.  I immediately felt a connection with this idea and I haven't been able to let go of it.  I feel this need to make one... and a need to build it for all mothers who have lost a child, regardless of how or how old they were.

I am an artist and mother of two. I have not lost a child, but it is my biggest fear, one that is always there in the back of my mind, and continuously shows up in my work. I could never have imagined that I would feel this kind of need to create such as open, community work based on that fear. Yet, I feel the need to create a place for mothers to go and leave their prayers, pain and fears ... and all others who share that pain with them.

I am appealing to mothers who have lost a child of any age. If you or someone you know would be interested in having a space on this wall, please contact me. I will need to have contact information from you, the child's first name and dates of life. The wall is to be constructed of molded rocks from Lake Michigan, found on the shores of Milwaukee. Each rock will be reconstructed out of clay with the name and dates of each child. Every rock fits in the palm of your hand. I hope to be able to hang the wall at the Cardinal Stritch Art Gallery in May (Cardinal Stritch University). As to what will be done with the wall after the gallery event, I am not sure. I would love to donate the wall to a public space we can all visit ... and add more to the wall. Any suggestions are welcomed! Otherwise I would like to return each individual rock from the wall to the mothers that participate.

I can be contaced through email at: japurney@stritch.edu. If you would like to participate, please contact me there first. Then if you would like to have a written prayer or letter to the child included in the wall, you can send that to: Wailing Wall, c/o Teri Wagner - Art Department, 6801 N. Yates Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53217.

I need to have many mothers respond to make this wall possible. Please tell everyone you know about the wall and how to become a part of it. Responses will be accepted through February 29, 2008.

Thank you,