Man, can't even think up any Willy jokes, anymore? You must be out of practice! :p Or are you just sparing me?

Yes. Sad, but true. Well, I've showered regularly, and I wear different clothes, but almost half of my wardrobe consists of Astros shirts!

Okay, really, I've become very superstitious. I've come to realize that I laugh and joke about some of the stuff I "believe" in, but deep down, I really do let myself believe it works!

- Whenever I can, I watch the games in my room, alone, and I especially don't allow my brother to watch with me. I believe he's a jinx when we're together, so we discuss the game during commercials.

- I gave in to the Livestrong bracelet bandwagon, and I now have four Astros rubber bracelets. I loaned one to a friend for good luck, and I've worn the other three every playoff game day. One of them, I've worn since July 8th, and I've only taken it off for my Band performances because we're required to. (The Astros are 1-3, I think, on the days I've had to take it off - not a good sign!) My friend and I have decided that the Astros are more likely to win when she touches each bracelet that I have on, three times. And I have her do that...everyday.

- During the games, I just have nervous rituals that I perform, believing it'll help them. I was such a wreck during the 18-inning clincher! I had to sit in the same position everytime the game was on, and I had to regain composure during commercials. I even created a prayer for when we were pitching - every pitch, I'd recite, "Just don't let them score a run," and then I'd give the current pitcher some words of encouragement. Another thing I do, when we're batting, is I "tell" each batter that we're playing "hot potato" with the outs, and he can't be the one to make an out. I think it's a nice way of keeping them on the ball but maintaining the fun, optimism of it. Okay, basically, I guess I just talk to the TV. I help manage and cheer the team from my house.

What's killing me is that I'll miss tomorrow's game because we have a football game performance for Band. Luckily, there are plenty of Astros fans (and "fans") in the Band, including my director, so I'm sure I'll be getting score updates. I'll also have my radio with me, and I'm going to tape it in case I get to watch it later. Several times, I've taped a game and refused to find out the outcome until I could watch it, but I know someone will tell me ahead of time tomorrow, so I'm not going to try to avoid it. I'll just have to pray while I play (the clarinet).