It’s a pretty good sign when the bottom of the batting order is creating havoc and driving in big runs.

I did it. Even though it might make me the last person in Ahwatukee over the age of 9 to do so, I have a smartphone. It was not a case of desire; the screen on my “vintage” phone was so scratched I couldn’t see it, and it turned out I could get the smartphone and pay $10 less per month. I suspect the kid that sold it to me was like a seedy, back alley pusher — “come on, its even cheaper” — and that a smartphone is gateway technology.

We were married on St. Patrick’s Day at the Foothills Golf Club. The wedding was beautiful, everyone had a wonderful time, the pictures came out great — best wedding a couple could ask for. If it wasn’t for the Ahwatukee community; however, our day would have been a disaster.

In the wake of last week’s tragedy in Boston, what are the images that stayed with you? The pillowing smoke? Blood on the streets? Shell-shocked victims in wheelchairs? Our hearts have been broken again. And since the footage is shown over and over, we’re traumatized each time, just like when the twin towers burned on 9/11.

Jackie Robinson was the ideal class act to break the barrier and become the first black player in Major League Baseball.

One arrived before Rudy Valee and the other a year before The Beatles, but together they made beautiful music in nurturing a piece of Ahwatukee that spanned the decades between the roaring ‘20s and this year’s cold winter rains.

Food trucks have been popular for some time now in the Valley, but on April 13 a new class of diner will get to partake of the trend.

Maalox would have a sign in Chase Field or maybe even naming rights if he was the general manager of the Diamondbacks and was responsible for trading Justin Upton.

A steel-raising ceremony will happen on March 22 from 9 to 11 a.m. to celebrate the construction of Chandler Regional Medical Center’s new patient tower, 1955 W. Frye Road, which will open in fall of 2014, adding 96 beds and 200 jobs. Guests will be invited to sign a steel beam that will later be used in the tower’s infrastructure.

A former board member and longtime volunteer, Jim Colletti returns to this year’s Sedona International Film Festival in an entirely new role: first-time filmmaker. Originally from New York, Colletti moved to the East Valley nearly 20 years ago – buying his first home in Chandler and opening a business in Gilbert before relocating to Mesa. He has been living in central Phoenix for about 2 years now, where he runs his graphic art/advertising agency Element Design along with his artist management/record label OEO Entertainment.

It’s a virtue and a great game plan to win playoff games if you can execute it.

You probably wouldn’t recognize Ahwatukee Foothills’ Rebecca Caswell as the gray-haired, shabby witch in Valley Youth Theater’s current production of “Rapunzel.” But it is her under that wig.

‘One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? She asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don’t know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn’t matter.”

It’s ba-aaack: The Arizona Renaissance Festival opens this weekend in Gold Canyon, and it’s celebrating 25 years of transporting modern Valley dwellers to a 16th-century English village.

Now that the holidays are over, many families are starting to dream about their 2013 travel escapes. To spur some vacation ideas, I decided to consult with our trusted travel experts to get a peek at what’s expected to be hot spots for 2013. Since AAA is the largest travel agency in North America, our travel counselors weren’t short on destination ideas that will match a variety of interests and budgets.

An airport isn’t where you’d expect to find an art studio, but that’s just where one has opened up — in offices within a helicopter hangar at Falcon Field in Mesa.

Why do I get the feeling we just saw Tim Lincecum walk out the door?

Arizona Diamondbacks World Champion and third base coach Matt Williams will be signing autographs for a $20 cash donation for the Operation Santa Claus Charity Drive on Saturday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Ahwatukee Foothills UPS Store, 4802 E. Ray Road, Suite 23.

IF YOU GO

Chandler Regional Medical Center, owned by Dignity Health, announced it will be seeking a Level 1 trauma designation from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Tempe Union High School District will ask voters to approve a 15 percent override along with a $75 million bond next month.