Farewell to the Peanut Gallery

Look, I know that when a co-worker gets a job somewhere else, I'm not necessarily losing a friend. A friend is a friend no matter where they are and the best ones are those with whom you can reconnect after months, or even years, and it feels like no time has passed.

But at 5:01 pm on Thursday, September 15, I will be losing a truly great friend and teammate. Not losing as in death, Lord forbid, but losing out on the chance to see her every day. That's the worst part when a colleague to whom you are close gets a new job; it's just not the same when communication is mostly limited to e-mails and texts. That's why I'm thrilled that Nina Tarantino has a new job but just sad that I won't be seeing her every day.

I first met Nina when I was still an usher with the Padres and I remember that the two people who would always say hi to me were she and her Compadres Club partner, Harrison Boyd. As someone aspiring to move from the gameday staff to the front office, I just appreciated that they would always take time from their busy duties to chat with me and other ushers.

When I was promoted into the office in 2006, I couldn't believe my good fortune that those two friendly people, Nina and Harrison, were in offices next to mine. It made the often intimidating transition much easier. I came to learn that Neen had joined the Padres as a high schooler, and stayed through college at SDSU, and that with her brother JoJo as a bat boy, Padres Baseball was truly a family affair.

Now, people often ask, "Why the heck do you and Nina always call each other 'Peanut'?"  Oh, thank you for asking <tilts head slightly>.

In those first few months in the spring of 2006, Nina and I would habitually hear each other's conversations, jokes, and such - the hallway was super-narrow - and blurt out our own thoughts and responses. Sure it was eavesdropping but it was funny and good-natured. One day I was teasing her about something, I don't know what, and she says, "That's enough out of you, Peanut Gallery!"  So henceforward we just called each other Peanut.

(One day I even found a Snickers wrapper that proclaimed we are all residents of "Peanutopolis". I left it on her desk and when she returned, could hear her famous, "Enh!! Oh boy.")

Well, in every workplace, there are some people who remain as strictly colleagues, others become good friends, and others become like a sibling to you. Peanut became like a sister to me.

She yelled at me when I spent too much money on girls I liked. She would schedule her workouts so she could help me with my prosthetics and weight machines in the weight room. When I walked into the lunchroom, she was the first one to stand up to help me heat up my meal. She encouraged me to join her in trying the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

And just like a sister, she was uber-protective. I know that whenever I'm in public, people might naturally stare at my arms. I'm cool with it. Not Peanut. I've seen her, after our crew once left Woodstock Pizza, walk back in and go up to two grown men and say, "What, you've never seen a guy with two hooks before? Do I need to punch each of you in the face?"  True story <raises palm>.

I just knew wherever our crew would go, Nina would have my back.

And at the Padres, where your friends become your family, she was the glue, she was the anchor. From 2006 - 2011, she helped keep us all together, through good times and bad.

When I was blessed to accomplish my dream of publishing my first book - Swinging for the Fences, available on http://www.tatepublishing.com/; that's Swinging for the Fences, available on http://www.tatepublishing.com/ - Peanut was the first person to go online and buy a copy. She then told all her contacts about it and propped up my book on her desk so visitors would ask about it. For three years!

We've had incredible memories together. Swigging champagne in a party limo in Vegas. Spraying bottles of bubbly on the sidewalks of Little Italy on New Year's Eve. Jumping up and down on rickety bleachers at Aztecs basketball games. Clinking beer bottles at Shore Club. Throwing combined Gemini birthday parties at Club Altitude. Laughing when she came to Karen Madden's annual famous Halloween party dressed as a bumble bee and crying out, in her high-pitched voice, "Why can't I get a buzz?!  Ha!! A buzz!"  Ok, maybe you had to be there.

But you can appreciate how we would reference LaDanian Tomlinson's way of saying "strength" as "screnf".

Or how we lamented when the Pads lost the division by one game in 2007 and 2010.

Or how we've been there for each other through personal adversity.

Or how we cried together at our teammate Denny Russell's funeral.

Forgive me if this is blatantly corny. Like I said, I know our friendship's not ending, and it never will. But when someone leaves your workplace, you don't see them every day and it's different. And I am really going to miss seeing Nina "Peanut" Tarantino - and her mom Jaye Bird and father Tanktop Tiny - as much as I do now.

She is a sister and a true friend.

What's the matter with you, you've never seen a man get mushy before? Do I need to punch you in the face?

Summer of Riches?

There are two things I want you to know: 1.) I am not posting this blog on Facebook. Sure anyone can find it easily but there are times I want you, my blog Followers whom I appreciate, to see posts that others might not necessarily see.  2.) I'm the type of person who thinks summer begins on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day, although I'll give leeway for weeks like this one where it's hot, hot, hot.

As such, as summer winds down it seems like a good time to reflect on the season that was. It was a fun summer. Had a good birthday party at Fox Sports Grill, where I saw my circles of friends seem to be expanding. I completed the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon with K-Mad. I enjoyed several weddings - Kat's, Kim Ejanda's, Sol and Anthony's. Concerts were great too - Boyz II Men, Marron 5, Train, Ozomatli. In fact, as the Lil' Wayne show evidenced, by the end of summer I was turning DOWN free tickets just 'cause I was so tired and needed nights off.

Sports were interesting. Padres baseball was just not fun to watch. The Lakers and Bulls flamed out in the playoffs. But somehow I made it to both Chargers preseason games. Amazing.

The girl I'm seeing is cool. My friends seem to go out less because we're all just drained. But more on that in a minute.

What I'm happiest about is my speaking career has taken off. It seems like I've been speaking every week and recently I had four speeches in seven days! That has boosted me as an author and the biggest news was when 'Swinging' reached 1,000 copies - I still feel so happy and accomplished about that.

Professionally my summer took a drastic turn when I was given more of a Community Relations emphasis. I still do marketing but am so much happier in CR. Some more changes are on the horizon, though, so we'll see.

I looooved speaking at Camp del Corazon and loved speaking in L.A., San Bernardino, and Catalina and getting invited to future gigs in Ohio and Indiana. I love that my family has rallied through times more than once.

But what I hate is those tough times seem to persist. It seems like I'm always financially pressed and I'm just tired of it. I know I need to save more and spend less. I get that. But I've tried to be frugal and even cancelled a trip to Vegas. :-(  I'm just tired of feeling broke or watching every penny. I make good money. But the bills seem to claim it all right away. Frankly, this is the tightest pinch my household has felt in years and it sucks. It depresses me.

But I've learned to value what matters most: my friends, my family, my teammates. They make me laugh every day. I am richly blessed in friends. I just pray I appreciate them because that's what really matters. It's been a good summer that has ended with a financial tumble (unless a miracle occurs soon). Here's to a great, free, and FUN fall. Starting...now.

I'm Ready to Rock

I should be in bed right now. But I'm not. I'm too excited.

I knew this would happen from last year, when the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon wasn't just my first relay experience, it was my first-ever race, period.

The night before is an amalgm of nerves, excitement, anticipation, and fear. Knowing that I have to be up at 4am also sometimes leads to panicked awakenings with one eye on the alarm clock.

So I allow my mind and body to unwind before settling into a nice sleep. I then envision getting up, stretching, throwing on my lime-green Team MADness jersey, Fighting Irish mesh shorts, and white adidas kicks, eating, stretching again, and catching the 5:32 bus downtown.

This time I can't forget to put on the shoetag-timer, as I did last June. This time our relay time has to be made official. Or Karen Madden and my other friends won't let me live to see another race.

Another first is this is my first Rock 'n' Roll with Black Max, the prosthetic leg I got last summer. I did last year's relay with my old leg and then, upon getting this new lighter leg, have done two 5K's.

When people see my leg, and my two prosthetic arms, that's the reason, besides wanting to stay in shape, that I do this. It's exhilirating and energizing and fun. And people see that no matter one's limitations, with faith and hard work, all things are possible.

And it's been hard work. Since January, I've logged lots of miles walking in Paradise Hills - emphasis on hills - and the perimeter of beautiful PETCO Park. Some days I wake up the next morning with my back feeling like it was kicked a hundred times. I love to work out but I have a hard time with push-aways - pushing myself away from the table.

But I feel ready. Still nervous but ready.

There's always the fear of plain not making it and, at my age, ensuring muscles don't tense up prematurely. But I feel that last year's experience showed me how to pace myself without walking too slowly.

Walking too slow by way of allowing myself to get distracted won't happen either. Tonight I had an awesome carb-loading dinner at DiMillie's Italian with K-Mad, Nina, Colleen, Alison, and Mike. We were also visited by Jonathan (who's doing the full-marathon), his girlfriend Nikole, Filmore Frank, and his girl Jenna. They ordered me a ONE BUSINESS CARD maximum so I wouldn't stop and talk to people, like last year. Dang it!

I love my friends. I love my official teammate, Karen, and the other runners, who are like teammates. I love that we chose to do this and now it's a shared passion.

I love God giving me this opportunity. And tomorrow night I will probably love a chair, some Coca Cola, and some rest.

See you at the Finish Line!