Baseball Opening Day Tradition

As a baseball fan, I am always really excited when Opening Day comes around.  Baseball - America's Past-Time.  For as long as I can remember, opening day has been somewhat of a celebration where I come from.  Growing up a Cleveland Indians fan, though, also meant that Opening Day was the beginning of another summer of disappointments.  That is until the Tribe moved to their new ballpark in 1994 - then known as Jacob's Field.  Had the 1994 season not ended early because of a players' strike - we may have seen our beloved team in the post-season for the first time in 46 years.  But we only had to wait another year before we got to see Chief Wahoo in the World Series.  Though they lost in Game 6 to the Atlanta Braves - 1995 and the Indians going to the World Series was one of the greatest moments in my young life.  I graduated from High School that year and started college.  It was a very exciting time of my life.  

As I reminisce about the "glory days" of that 1995 season I also think about the traditions.  Like the President of the United States throwing out the very first pitch of the new season.  Where did that tradition come from?  How long has it been happening?  The answer: over 100 years ago when William H. Taft was given season tickets by Thomas C. Noyes, owner of the Washington Senators.  April 19, 1909 Taft was at the Opening Game for the first time as President of the United States.  And - then - a year later - Washington Manager, Jimmy McAleer, had the idea to invite President Taft to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.  The invitation was reportedly made to the President by Ban Johnson, Baseball's Commissioner at the time. The date was April 14, 1910 - William H. Taft opened the season as the Washington Senators took on the Philadelphia Athletics - with Washington taking the win 3-0.  Taft returned in 1911 to throw the first pitch again.

Over the years, there have been a few times that the season began without the Presidential first pitch - but not too many over the last 104 years!

Here's a list of the Presidents, they years they threw out the first pitch and the location of the game. 

Presidential First Pitches on Opening Day

President	Years	Locations
William H. Taft	1910-1911	Washington D.C.
Woodrow Wilson	1913, 1915-1916	Washington D.C.
Warren G. Harding	1921-1923	Washington D.C.
Calvin Coolidge	1924-1925, 1927-1928	Washington D.C.
Herbert Hoover	1929-1932	Washington D.C.
Franklin D. Roosevelt	1933-1938, 1940-1941	Washington D.C.
Harry S. Truman	1946-1952	Washington D.C.
Dwight D. Eisenhower	1953-1958, 1960	Washington D.C.
John F. Kennedy	1961-1963	Washington D.C.
Lyndon B. Johnson	1964-1965, 1967	Washington D.C.
Richard Nixon	1969, 1973	Washington D.C., Anaheim
Gerald Ford	1976	Arlington
Ronald Reagan	1984, 1986	Baltimore
George H.W. Bush	1989-1992	Baltimore, Toronto, Arlington
Bill Clinton	1993-1994, 1996	Baltimore, Cleveland
George W. Bush	2001, 2004-2006, 2008	Milwaukee, St. Louis, Washington D.C., Cincinnati
Barack Obama	2010	Washington D.C.

Baseball-Almanac.com  

So, as the season begins - PLAY BALL!

My Great-Grandmother

There are a lot of people in this world that do great things.  From artists that create wonder pieces of artwork to musicians that create music that fill our souls.  Authors who write books and poems that transform our lives.  Philanthropists that dedicate themselves to causes in an attempt make this world a better place.

Someone asked me one time "Who inspires you?".  Wow - that is a tough question to answer.  There have been a lot of people in my life who have been a source of inspiration.  For example, I am inspired by my Great-Grandmother.  She lived to be 100 years old.  She outlived both of her children, two husbands and a Great-Grandson.  She never dwelled on the past.  She always seemed happy just the way her life was.  As a young mother and she and my Great-Grandfather owned a mum farm where they grew and sold mum plants.  In the summers, she would run an ice cream shack to make extra income for her family.  As a Grandmother, she adored all of her Grandchildren.  She took great pride in everything that they did and she loved to spoil them.  Perhaps that greatest thing that I remember is her unconditional love.  Oh how I wish that I could love as unconditionally as she did.

My Great-Grandmother was born in 1905.  She lived through 2 World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict and Desert Storm.  She witness the terrorists attacks on September 11, 2001.  She was a young mother trying to keep her family fed during the Great Depression.  But yet, she never complained - or at least I never heard her complain.  It seemed as though she always tried to find the best of every situation.

Oh how I enjoyed visiting her home in Eustis, FL.  She had Orange Trees and the most beautiful collection of porcelain tea cups.  She also collected porcelain birds.  Boy did she love her birds!  She was crafty and enjoyed making things for her family.  I remember when I was around 8 or 9 years old, when Cabbage Patch Kids first came out and they were the "craze", she made all of 5 of her great-granddaughters their own "Cabbage Patch Doll" - she gave them all Christmas names like Holly Berry and Joy Noel.

Looking back over the years, I wish that I had taken time to learn more about my Great-Grandmother.  I wish that I had sat down and talked to her about her life - learned more about how she felt about things and how her life experiences shaped the person that she was.  I think about her and it makes me smile - she was spunky and stubborn - and I like to think that I got those same qualities from her.  Yet, she was mysterious to me - there was a lot that I didn't know about her and now I will never know.

I have a dream....

One of the biggest obstacles that I have with trying to keep up with writing on my blog is coming up with things to talk about.  I want this blog to be engaging for my readers and I envision it to provide information and viewpoints about all kinds of different topics.  There are thousands of blogs out there that focus on specific topics.  So how do I make my blog different?  How do I keep it interesting so that my readers will keep coming back for more?  The truth is, I really don't know know - but I am going to keep trying. 

The beauty about having my own blog is that I really can talk about anything that I want to talk about.  Today, I am going to share with you one of my biggest dreams that I have had since I was a little girl.  I supposed I am kind of fulfilling that dream by keeping this blog and being committed to posting on a regular basis.  Since as far back as I can remember I have always had a love for reading, learning and writing.  I always enjoyed writing short poems and short stories - as long as they were about topics that I was interested in.  I loved writing so much that when I first started college at Kent State University, I declared my major as Journalism and Mass Communications.  One of my biggest regrets in life was not following through with that career choice.  Instead, when to going got tough, I gave up.  I changed my major to Sport Sociology and ended up with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Athletic Coaching.  

As I get closer to reaching 40 years old - I look back at my life and think about how many things could have been different in my life.  But during my college years, partying and having fun was more of a focus than my career and the rest of my life.  In fact, back then I really didn't think that I would live long enough to reach 40 years old.  I also didn't think that I would be married or be a mother.  Oh how I wish that my life outlook would have been different back then.  Who knows - I could have been a best selling author by now - or being a famous sports writer.  However, I choose to believe that the Goddess already had my life planned out before I even knew she did - or what exactly was in store. 

I hope that I never give up on my dream.  I hope that one day I will magically be able to fulfill that dream I had of writing a book - and having it published for the world to read.  And so I keep trying.  I keep searching for that "perfect topic" that will put me on top.  

As always, I welcome suggestions and ideas from all of my readers.  Let me know what you would like to learn about; what you would like to read about.  

Rambling

Well vacation has come and gone. It's been a while since I blogged and I apologize. I took some time away so that I could focus on some much needed family time. Over the last week and a half I have learned a few things. One, that I love my family more than anything else in the world. Two, that my daughter is going to be grown and out on her own before I know it and I need to cherish, every minute I have with her now before it's too late. Three, I am blessed beyond my wildest imagination.

Jeff, Karey and I travelled 9 hours form Nashville to Painesville last week to surprise our family and friends. While we succeeded in doing just that, I also got a surprise...I got to spend one of the best weeks I have had in a long time with my daughter. She was nice and pleasant to be around. And I truly felt like we were a family again. I also feel like I got closer to my father-in-law. We stayed with him for a week and it was nice to get to know him better and talk about him moving closer to us. I can't wait until he is living here in Tennessee. 

Sometimes it takes moving away from everything you have ever known to be able to appreciate it all.   I certainly am glad that I have seen the value in everything I have in my life.  My marriage, my daughter, my family, my friends, my job. Everything that I have in my life is a result of hardworking and determination. 

Raising a generation of mediocrity

Today I read a news article about a 2 year old in Canada who was "suspended" from her daycare center because she violated the "no outside food" rule.  First of all, why the hell have we allowed ANY daycare center or school dictate what our children eat?  Okay okay - the full story here.  The daycare center apparently have a "no outside food" rule due to the possibility of children having food allergies.  Okay, I get that.  But to "suspend" a 2 year old because she wasn't able to finish eating a cheese sandwich and without her father knowing, stuck said sandwich in her pocket and took it into the school.  The school found the sandwich and advised the father that she would be suspended for 3 days because they violated the rule for which there is no tolerance. 

Then there is the situation that happened with a friend of mine's daughter who got in trouble for hugging a classmate.  Then the next week, she "shared" a snack with another classmate and was made to write a note to her parents telling them she was "bad" for sharing.  Are you f*#king kidding me?

It is bad enough that teachers and administrators at our public schools only give a shit about themselves and don't really give a rat's ass about what the parents have to deal with on a daily basis.  We have allowed our public school system and daycare centers become too "politically correct". We have allowed them to punish the good kids while allowing the bad kids to get away with breaking the rules. 

We are raising a generation of mediocrity.  Our children (mine included) are coddled and babied.  They are "protected" from the real world.  They can't think for themselves.  When it comes to academics their teachers only know how to teach to a test and anything that is not on that test is forgotten.  We have allowed out public school system to remove cursive handwriting from the curriculum.  We have allowed them to discontinue teaching our children things that challenge them to be better.  But is it all the public school systems fault?  No, not really.  As a parent it my fault too.  I have become over-involved in my career and not involved enough in my child's education and now that she is in middle school and halfway through her formal education, I fear that I might be too late to step in and fix all that has been broken. 

As a parent, I have allowed this to happen because I am the bread winner of my family.  I have to work 40+ hours a week to make sure we keep a roof over our head, gas in the car so that I can put food in my child's belly and keep clothes on her back.  I have fallen into the trap that so many other parents have fallen into.  Not because we wanted to, but because we HAD to and because of that, we are raising a generation of children who don't realize that they have to work hard for everything they need & want in life.  

The sad thing is that no one is stepping up and saying anything about it.  This bullshit of standardized testing has ruined our education system and it's getting worse.  But we continue to go with the flow - I mean why not?  Nothing we do or say is going to change "their" minds.  Growing up, it was instilled in me that I have to study, do my homework, go to school everyday and respect my teachers.  And I did well in school.  I made good grades and graduated in the top 7% of my graduating class with a GPA of 3.8.  I attended college with the help of an academic scholarship that was awarded to me by my high school alumni association.  I did okay in college....and would have done better if I had been just a little more serious about it.  And I often times think that I would love to go back to school and get a better degree - like in law or politics.  But then I think, I have a child to send to college.  I can't go back to school.  My daughter will be graduating from high school is 6 short years.  And you know what - she isn't anywhere close to being prepared.  That is my failure as a parent.  

Mediocrity: The quality or state of being mediocre.  Mediocre: of moderate quality, below average to average.  I hate to say this but it's all our fault.  We have allowed our elected officials pass laws that do nothing but harm our children's education.  We have sat back and watched while our teachers have given up and they no longer provide the same quality education that we received as children.  The kids worry about "core curriculum" (whatever the hell that really is) and they stress over tests that if they don't pass, they are labeled failures.  We have taken away the ability for our children to learn about good sportsmanship and team work by allowing every child to participate in little league and get a "participation trophy" because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.  

I wish I could start a movement.  The kind of movement where other parents who were raised like I was stand up against the system and demand change.  I don't even know where to begin.  I am that mother that teachers and principals don't want to come in contact with because I can be a bit crazy at times.  But I am also my child's only advocate for what I feel is right and just treatment.  

Are we going to continue to allow our child to just learn enough "to pass a test"?  Or are we going to demand that our children do and know more.  Are we going to insist that our children be challenged into pushing themselves to take personal responsibility and strive for greatness?

Want to research your family tree?

Who do you think you are?  That was the name of a television show produced by Lisa Kudrow on NBC for like 2 or 3 seasons and it was one of my favorite shows to watch.  Not because each week a different celebrity went on an adventure to learn more about their family history, but because it showcased Genealogy.  I have studied Genealogy for 20+ years, however, I am still learning more each and every time I sit down and search for answers.  I have kind of become the "family historian" and the one that other relatives come to when they have questions about our family history.  It's intriguing and exciting to find the answers to your questions about your ancestors. 

Is there a former president in your lineage?  A famous athlete or actor?  You never know!  And you will be surprised at all the things you can find out with just a little bit of research. 

I think just about everyone has heard about the website Ancestry.com - the world's leading membership based website that allows you to create your family tree then the website will search for documents and sources about the people in your tree so that you can start to learn more information about each person.  They now have an iphone App for the main website where you can work on your family tree right from you phone or ipad.  Now you can even link people on your Facebook page to entries on your family tree.  I have also noticed that now they will allow you to search records for free, but in order to actually view the documents found you must either subscribe to a monthly subscription or purchase an individual document for 99 cents.  It's by far my favorite research site, but there are others worth checking out. 

Archives.com - For a yearly subscription of $39.95 you can search more than 40 million vital records and 110 million scanned newspaper pages dating back to 1753.  As a subscriber, you can set up alerts to receive notifications when there has been a document match.  

FamilySearch - I truthfully haven't had a chance to try out this site yet as I just learned about it the other day (even though appparently it has actually been online since at least 2011)  From looking at the site, it appears to be very userfreiendly and I noticed that there is an option to create a free account.  

Starting your family tree is not really all that hard, and truthfully, you don't even have to have any websites to get started.  All you need is a piece of paper and a pencil.  Start writing down the names and dates of birth of the family members that you already know.  You, your siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc.  This is a great starting point.  

Deliver Plus One - Wrapping up "Raving Fans"

I have finished reading "Raving Fans" and I have to say that it makes a lot of sense once everything comes together. I really did learn a lot about how I can create a customer service experience that makes people WANT to do business with me. 

So the book talks about creating a vision of what you think customer service should be based off of your product or service. Second you have to listen to your customers needs and wants. Figure out what it is THEY expect or desire from your company. Lastly, you have to deliver plus one. That is, deliver everything you promise, with consistency, plus add one percent more then is expected. 

One of my friends has a saying - "Keep doing what you're doing, plus a little more."  Though I don't think he has customer service in mind when he says this, I think it is a perfect analogy here.

So the book itself is a story about an area manager and his "fairy godmother", Charlie. Charlie slowly shows the area manager what it takes and what it means to create "raving fans". In the end, the area manager becomes a "customer service Charlie" - a person who is dedicated to creating an unforgettable Customer experience. 

No matter what your business. No matter what your product... Are you willing to become a customer service Charlie? I am going to start on my vision for sure! 

The next book is "Does the Noise in my Head Bother You?" By Steven Tyler - A Rock 'n Roll Memoir

Will you join me in reading and discussing it? Join my book club on Facebook - CeCe's Book Club

CeCe's Book Club ~ Raving Fans Discussion 2

Continuing on with "Raving Fans" I have to say that I am kind of surprise that I am actually enjoying what I am reading. We already learned that the first "secret" or step in creating great customer service is deciding what you want. But what do you do after you decide what you want? 

The second step of creating "raving fans" who just can't get enough of your business is to create a vision of perfection that is centered around the customer. And how exactly do you do that? Well, first you have to visualize what you think perfection is. For example, when you are out shopping what would really create the perfect experience for you as a customer. For me, I would love to walk into Walmart and be greeted by my one personal shopper who will take my list and find everything on it so that I can get in and get out. I hate shopping so anything that a store could do to make the process easier for me would make me WANT to go back. Think about how there used to be full-service gas stations. Attendants would fill your tank, check your oil & transmission fluids, clean your windows and take you payment all without you havinget to get out of your vehicle. Boy I wish we still had full-service stations! 

The book goes on to explain that once you have determined what you want and have create a vision about how that "looks", you have to DISCOVER WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS. That's right...put yourself in the customers shoes and figure out what it is that the customer wants. However, you must also remember that you cannot be everything to everyone...so don't try. If you take that approach you won't be able to create raving fans. And in order to find out what the customers wants - you have to ask them! 

Following my dreams...

When I was a little girl I had this perfect picture of how my life was going to be.  I was going to graduate from high school, go off to college at my "dream school" and then have a career as a sports journalist.  It's kind of funny how life has different plans.  Just when you are not looking, life starts to steer you in a different direction from your dreams you had as a child to something completely unexpected. 

I always thought that I would be this great sportswriter - having an awesome career and by now be working for ESPN.  I never thought about getting married or having a family.  I never thought about all of the trials & tribulations that life would bring me that would shape the person that I have become today.  But, yet, I still falter.  I still make tons of mistakes and I probably always will.  However, I still want to follow my dreams. 

And I truly believe that I am doing just that....even if it looks a little different than I imagined.  I have learned the hard way that it takes a lot of hard-work, determination, and perseverance.  Some days it's hard to keep this in mind.  Some days all you want to do is just give up.  But you can't.  You can't give in to the haters.  You have to find it within yourself to keep going. 

My dreams today are much different than what they were 30 years ago when I was a snotty-nosed little girl.  Today, I dream of a long-lasting healthy marriage to the man that I can honestly say is my best friend.  I dream of my daughter growing up to be a happy, healthy, productive member of society - following her dreams.  I dream of having a successful career that provides comfort and stability for my family.  And I dream of being that journalist that I always wanted to be. There are so many things in my life that I dream of being able to achieve.  The question is how do I follow my dreams when life continues to get in the way?  The answer is - ONE STEP AT A TIME!

Book Club ~ "Raving Fans"

Today I began reading "Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service" by Ken Blanchard.  This book had been given to me by my Sr. Claims Manager at work last year as part of a Customer Service Focus Group she and the Claims Director had formed and an effort to boost our Customer Service throughout the Tennessee Claims Organization.  Now, I have been working Customer Service oriented jobs for the vast majority of my life, but I am glad that I have never felt that I knew everything there was to know about "good" Customer Service.  Most certainly I can say that I have always tried to treat my customers the way that I would want to be treated by any company that I do business with.  I have learned from great customer service experiences and from bad ones.  But I have to admit that when I was asked to read this book I kind of thought "what is this book going to tell me that I don't already know?"  

In today's society, "Good" Customer Service no longer seems to be good enough.  And according to Blanchard -businesses and organizations need to create "Raving Fans".  So what are "raving fans" and how do we create them?  That is what this book is about.  

I want to point out first that unlike most books, this one is not divided into chapters.  Which, for me makes it a little difficult to read.  Because of it's layout, I almost feel like I have to read the whole thing in one sitting.  The book starts of by introducing the "Area Manager" and his "Fairy Godmother", Charlie.  Yes, Charlie is a man.  Which causes a little bit of confusion at first. 

In general, people today expect bad customer service.  They expect bad goods and rude customer service.  People are satisfied with bad service because this is what they have come to expect.  In addition, no other company is doing better.  That's why we as a society have come to expect "bad" service, but to us, it's just satisfying service.  

So I have learned in the first 20 or so pages of the book that the first step to creating "Raving Fans" is Deciding what you want.  Yep, I guess it's just that simple - the first step anyway.  Decide what you want.  Do you want customers who can't wait to come back for more?  Do you want customers that can't stop thinking about their experience with your business or company?

Looking ahead to Book 2 of "Cece's Book Club"

Okay y'all - I am finished with the first book on my reading list "My Life" by Bill Clinton and it's time to really start this book club the way it should have been started in the first place.  The next book I am reading is titled "Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service" by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles.  I searched and searched the Nashville Public Library ebook catalog and unfortunately, could not find it electronic format - so I am going to have to settle with the print version.

I digress.  I want to first wrap up my experience with reading "My Life".  I found it to be an amazing account of the life and experiences of President Bill Clinton.  He was very candid about the Monica Lewinsky controversy and his thoughts about the election of George W. Bush.  He also hit the nail on the head so to speak as to what the next 8 years after his presidency ended would hold for the American people.  Unfortunately, we already know that President Bush reversed a lot of the progress that President Clinton was able to make while in office when it comes to the economy, education, health care and foreign affairs.  Above all, after reading the book, much to my surprise, I am eager to find George W. Bush's book about his presidency.

Now, to the book club.  I have this listed as book 2 because it is the the 2nd book from my list that I am reading. However, this is actually the first book of my "official" book club.  I have also created a Facebook Group - CeCe's Book Club.  Feel free to join the FB group to interact with others who are reading the books. Share your thoughts, your observations and suggest future books to read!

I will be beginning my posts about "Raving Fans" sometime later this week.  I have been told that this is a very quick read and we will likely be done with the book pretty quickly.  For my list of books on my "Must Read List" click here.  I probably will not be reading the books in order of the list - to make sure you are following my blog or have joined the FB club so that you know what books we will be reading and when.