Georgia Aquarium
Uploaded by peachy92.

I just haven't had much to say in the past week. Not too much to detail about my job or my after-work life. By the time I get home, I'm tired.

In fact, yesterday, I took most of the day off. I slept like crap the night before. I think I may suffer from restless legs syndrome. When I walk a lot, my legs are the last things to wind down. The lack of sleep and the lack of a Coke prior to work made me feel horrible. I took some time of and went home. I crawled into bed and slept most of the day away. That did the trick. I was refreshed for today.

My weekend was a blast. Lindsey and Chris were here for the weekend. They arrived Saturday. After they arrived and dropped off their stuff, we went over to the nearest MARTA rail depot and took the train to the Five Points station. Once at the station, we walked over to and got on the Braves shuttle. We went and saw the middle game of the home series between the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers. Unlike the last time I saw these teams play each other at Turner Field, the Brewers won this game. Like most of the season, the Braves snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The Braves had the lead most of the game until Prince Fielder hit a solo jack in the 7th inning off Charlie Morton. Did that deflate most of the fans there at the stadium. It looked like the Braves had a chance to win a one run game. Then, Fielder hit another bomb an inning later. Once he hit those balls, you knew they were out of the field of play and Francoeur would not be getting them. I've got photos from the game in my Atlanta Braves photo collection.

However, the main reason I believe Lindsey and Chris came to Atlanta was after the concert. Steven Curtis Chapman was to perform after the game. He is one of her favorite musical artists. It was what happened prior to the concert that was amazing. It was sunny when we took our seats for the concert. Then, when Jonny Diaz (brother of Braves' player Matt Diaz) was to take the stage, a storm started to blow into the area. And I mean literally blow into the area. Jonny only got to perform one song before he was rushed to let his brother and John Smoltz give their testimonials about God being a part of their lives. Both men were not able to give the speeches they wanted to give, including Matt's speech about clouds. I would have loved to have heard that one. As they were speaking, the wind whipped up and was fierce. The wind knocked the hat off my head and back 2 rows behind me. Once John finished, they came out to say the concert would be delayed and we would need to take shelter in the stadium. Once they said that, the skies opened up and poured buckets of rain for almost an hour.

God works in mysterious ways. I think that what happened after the weather was God's way of letting someone in pain speak and get things off his chest. Once it stopped raining, people took their seats again. We were told by John that Steven would perform, but it would be without his band. They feared the equipment was wet and didn't want anyone to get hurt. So, Steven came out and performed an acoustic set. Actually, it was more of an intimate conversation by Steven interspersed with music. Steven spoke about his late daughter, Maria. Maria tragically died in May. He spoke about discovering her in China and realizing she was to be his daughter. He spoke about her thoughts about God. He spoke about coming to grips with her death and questioning of his faith after the fact. And even though he's still in pain, he was able to perform and still survive and still love God. He knows it was just part of a bigger plan in life. Little Maria did not just make an impact on the Chapman family, but an impact on his fans and an impact on the community of families that have adopted children from China. His fans got to enjoy and intimate night and concert they weren't expecting; he got to get things off his chest. In the end, I think this arrangement worked out for the best for everyone. I took plenty of photos of the concert as well.

Sunday afternoon, the three of us went to the Georgia Aquarium. Again, we took the train, but to the Peachtree Center station instead of the Five Points station. We got a little lost on the way to the Aquarium, but we found it. And boy was it busy! And full of inconsiderate people. Lindsey was upset people were pushing her. I told her I had to get a little pushy myself to survive. Next time I go, I'll go when kids are in school. I'll have to take a day off to do it, but I will. It was too crowded. However, it was cool. I saw some more otters. I also saw the whale sharks and one of the beluga whales, Nico. I took some interesting photos there as well.

After the aquarium visit, I did something really dumb. It took us about an hour and a half to correct the dumb thing before we got back to my apartment. When we got back, it was time to say goodbye to my friends. I miss them and Savannah dearly. Then it sucked to read about Skip Caray's death. He was my favorite Braves announcer because he was so snarky. I'm going to miss him.

[♪ Listening to: "I Love You" - Amy Grant]

Posted by Shawn at August 5, 2008 9:50 PM in Baseball, Flickr Photos, General.