Recently on my iPod

Seven Days Without You by Avion
Look After You by The Fray
Thinking Underage by Teddy Geiger
Everyone Wants to Rule the World by Jamison Parker (80's redone punk style) 2 mohawks up
Just Like Heaven by Gatsby's American Dream (80's redone punk style) 2 mohawks up
Your Love by Midtown (80's redone punk style) 2 mohawks up

Sometimes I wonder how I survived without the iPodie...

THE PICTURE ON THE NIGHTSTAND



After a long night of making love, he notices a photo
of another man on her nightstand by the bed, he begins
to worry.

"Is this your husband?" he nervously asks.
"No, silly," she replies, snuggling up to him.
"Your boyfriend, then?" he continues.
"No, not at all," she says, nibbling away at his ear.
"Is it your dad or your brother?" he inquires, hoping
to be reassured.
"No, no, no!!!" she answers.

"Well, who in the hell is he, then?" he demands.

"That's me before the surgery."

Now see what time I woke up? I really thought I'd sleep till noon... oh well, off to run errands.

Just wanted you to see the time. Good Darke Time.

I've been working in my office for the past 2 hours and I've finally found some bliss. I can't believe how things are so different at 3:20a.m. Howie is near his breaking point. He's trying desperately to stay awake. Silly Howie.

Nothing and Everything

Usually I come here to rave/rant/share/entertain some happening in my life. I have run into what I like to call "a wall phase." I hit the wall. When usually I would charge and conquer, I have chose to just sit against instead. I have no desire to fight. I have no energy to climb. I have nothing but to everyone around me, I have everything.

I am clearly swimming in sadness. The color surrounding me is darke blue and gray. I'm okay with that. I spoke with a friend about this long ago, I told him it was okay to be sad. Play to it. Don't smile, don't feel good, don't even listen to happy music. Sit alone and listen to every sad song you can find. Embrace it and let it overtake you, it makes coming out of it that much more pleasurable.

I have nothing to say but everything to rant about. I have nothing to give but everything to help. My nothing is your everything. I know you need me as much as I need you.

Too much of nothing and everything is my problem right now.

Being Switzerland

So I finally got to play the Switzerland map online in the 3rd installment of Ticket To Ride. I have no idea how the switch/passenger cards work. I did learn this is not the high scoring game I'm used to. I round out in the 200's no problem in the US & Europe maps but this one, well, I ended the game with a 75. For those of you that know T2R, you think, "wow loser." However, the 1st place score was 78, so not too bad for my first time out. Talk about a lot of head scratching, sheesh.

*back to work*

The Weekend

Saturday consisted of 5 hours of errands. I swear, I'm going to learn Lowe's one of these days. I got another box turtle to adopt out. His name is Charlie. He's big and pretty. Although, his owner said he is a very pregnant female. Funny cause when you look at him, he's just an overweight male but you can't argue with someone who knows everything.

Saturday evening was birthday time. Yay for bar-b-que chicken and hot dogs. And of course, Cake. Sunday was cleaning time. Finally, some time to organize. I finished the living room and the kitchen/dining area.

I love how certain family members feel the need to comment on how we haven't finished unpacking yet but are so demanding of our time it's no wonder we've gotten as much as we have done. End Rant.

Babyshower to finish the afternoon, followed by a migraine to round out the evening. Oye.

If I had a cot at work, I could easily catch up on my sleep... I may look into that. Howie leaves us in 3 days.... *sigh*

Cupcake Sweat Shop

I'm putting the Fun in FUNdraising. Tomorrow is BearStock 06, yeah baby! Anyway, us, along side some of our softball girls are selling Pizza & Cupcakes to start raising money for next year. I decided to make 150 cupcakes. All in one night. Tonight is the night. I have cupcake pans on the ready, cooling racks stacked and ready to cool and decorations for about 300 cupcakes. Better safe than sorry. I'm setting up an assembly line and designated areas for my baking escapade. One counter will have the bowls, measuring cups, ingredients and mixer. One counter will have cooling racks and the table will have the transport boxes and frosting station. It will be great!

I have a feeling I will have a dream about living in a giant cupcake when this is all said and done.

All Area Teams, All Coaches in 1 room

So last night was a gathering of all the coaches in our league. 2 of the coaches couldn't make it. Talk about some of the funniest people gathered at one table. I got to see a whole other side and I have to say I have a new respect for those coaches. It's also nice to know they share very similar problems with A.D.'s, athletes grades and promtness. Funny how competition drives us to turn into people we normally are not. I look forward to our upcoming years with these coaches.

We had 1 player chosen for 1st team, 2 players for 2nd team and 1 player for Honorable Mention. We're proud of them all but to hear other coaches talking about how impressed they are with some of your players just warms your heart like nothing else.

*cheers to softball*

*sings* "Here's a story..."

So waking up at 9:45am I heard nothing. No doggies running a muck, no Howie attacking my head in bed, no Erin singing and no TV noise. I got up and found the dogs a sleep in the living room, Howie was in Erin's office attacking anything that did NOT move and she was sitting there working. Apparently, she has the inability to sleep in and was awake at 6:30am... poor kid. I went and laid back down to relax. In flipping through the channels, to my wonderful surprise, The Brady Bunch was on for 48 hours!

Apparently, every weekend, TV Land puts a show on for 48 hours. I'm looking forward to Bensen the weekend of June 3rd. So it was a slow start for me today. My mom was golfing so I'm not going over there till later. Back to the Brady's, the next episode is when Marsha gets hit in the nose with a football.

The NEW IKEA

So we had to drive to Covina to get our IKEA furniture. It's about 30 minutes farther than the one we usually frequent in Burbank but holy cow wow is it so worth the drive. Apparently, this fairly new building is not very well known because right smack off the 10 fwy this wonder sits. For a Saturday it was so mellow and clean. I love IKEA but the Burbank one is quite overcrowded and parking for loading is for shit.

We did a brief stop in Valenica at BJ's to enjoy some yummy food for lunch. I call it carb loading for energy. Tummies full and a quick stop at the Tollhouse cookie place put us back on the road.

30 minutes later we cruised down for a bit and parked in a HUGE underground parking lot. It was so nice. This IKEA was 2 levels. We headed up the escalators, grabbed our shopping guide, a pencil and a tape measure supplied by IKEA. My dad had never been and kept saying, "I can't believe how much stuff they have." It was funny. His favorite part was testing out the chairs and couches. So I won't bore you with the next 3 hours of looking at shelves, bookcases, dvd racks, vases, pictures, kitchenwares, rugs, sheets, office stuff, etc.... you get the idea. Yes we were there almost 3 hours. 1 basket and 3 furniture carts later and we were heading into the huge elevators that had a 18,000lb limit. They were cool. Our couch, chair, all our furniture and bags + 4 other people with some stuff all got in and we still had lots of room.

My dad backed the truck in and we puzzle piece fit everything into his truck and we were back on the road. Once home, it was fun putting the couch, chair and ottoman together. Picture directions are brilliant, if you can't explain how to do it with pictures only, then it's too touch :)

So that was today, tomorrow is HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Enjoy all...

In the words of Sugar Ray... "When it's over..."

Our 4th season has come and gone. I can't believe it. We lost our last game but very respectively. The girls fought hard but when a team is on a roll, you got to hand it to 'em. We went all innings with a loss of 5-1 vs. the last time, they run ruled us in 5 innings, 15-0 or something horrid like that. The girls tried and got the bats moving, unfortunately it just wasn't all in sync of one inning.

This year is different. We watched our little freshman grow to a brilliant senior, who will be missed VERY much. She is our 1 and only that has been with us for all 4 years. I still can't believe she won't be there next season and I know it won't truly seem void till I look for her to drop her sneaky bunt and it isn't there. We have some hopefuls but it still won't be her commanding centerfield. Big, quick shoes to fill. Tears have been shed once but I'm sure Isabella couldn't near unleash what grad night has in store for us. I wish her well on her newest chapter in life...

So with the season at a close our lives should (operative word) be slowing down. Allowing us, to now, work on the house and relax a little more. In the words of a 8 year old, "NOT." Some how, things are going to be just as busy in the upcoming weeks. Meetings, running around, hardward stores seem to be what our future holds.

And roughly in about 2 weeks, Howie goes to his new home. I'm going to miss the little twerp. I think Piper Lou will miss him more. She likes to set her head down to his level so he can just paw away at her nose. It's like she's helping him train to be a big-boy cat.

Well tomorrow it's off to IKEA to buy some furniture... SWEET.

From Focus, Heart and Determination... and so it shall be.

WE WON!!! It was inspiring. We had 2 pretty rough innings but going into the bottom of the 7th we were down 9-10. 1 to tie and 2 to win. 1st batter got hit by a pitch. 2nd batter hit a TRIPLE to score one. 3rd batter hit a little floatie pop up that was dropped and scored the winning run!

I think we floated all the way home, I know I was smiling the whole time. I finally feel like all our hard work has paid off. They care and I know that now.

Some strings were all she wanted to play with. A small piece of plastic helped but sometimes all she needed was her thumb. The tips of her fingers were calloused but she didn't care. Sitting on that deck up in the mountains, surrounded by friends and the wind. Strumming that guitar, sitting barefoot on her favorite stool and wondering how she could play and hold her bottle of alcohol at the same time. Sometimes when those notes floated off those strings, they mesmerized even her. She couldn't believe they came from such small movements but even more impressive was the heart from where they were derived.

He was brilliant in his own right, he sat many a night alone in his room. One small desk lamp, a table tray, some paper and that trusty acoustic he had bought so many years ago. He may not have used it for shows but it's where any of his songs came to life for the first time. He was teaching himself cords, while she was miles away drinking and hitting a cue ball around.

Through a meeting of chance (aren't they all though?) they met and he showed her a few notes and she took that guitar like she had played for years. She made his songs, her songs. They played side by side for months. Not until later did she find out that he almost pummeled her for touching his guitar, no one touched it. His mother was the last woman to touch it before she killed herself. He thought that was the last bond he had with her.

For all things so simple between friends was over as quickly as it started. Jealous companions didn't understand the art that bound these two... So the music lived on in one and the other walked off without ever looking back. Regrets one has are few but letting go so quickly makes her think she should have turned around one last time.

5 hours of things I could have done instead.

Today my boss called and said he needed me to drive to Long Beach because he forgot his H2S tubes for the 900 wells he is testing. So I had to drive down Hwy 99 to I-5 to the 710 then back up the 710 to the 405 to the I-5 to the 99 to the 58 home. I made record time down there, which in L.A. traffic terms means it would be a shit drive home. Actually it only took me an extra 40 minutes. Not too bad considering I was on the brink of 5' o clock traffic near LAX.

Anyways, sitting in some traffic near Hollywood Blvd. I was thinking of things I could have been doing instead, here's what I came up with:

1. Sleeping - Sleeping would basically be at the top of any of my lists. I value it highly.
2. Shopping at IKEA - I couldn't believe I drove past 2 and didn't get to stop at either. Should be against the law.
3. Organizing the house - Lord knows, we've been so busy, 5 hours could get a lot of boxes unpacked.
4. Watching TV - 5 hours of TV may sound like a lot but we just got cable back, so I feel like I have a lot to catch up on.
5. I guess working - I had a lot of typing to do but it will still be there tomorrow and I got paid regardless, so no harm there.
6. Planning an intergalactic war on the peapod men - Really, it's time someone stood up to those bullies, I'm tired of them thinking they're all superior and stuff.

About here is when I realized, I needed to pay closer attention to traffic and laughing at the peapod men was getting me no where.

Hope everyone had a good 5 hour afternoon!

YAY!!!

Monday, May 8th @ 5:00am

Abundance

I just have a lot of things to do and I do not have the energy to do them. You know what else would be nice. To have furniture. Not that I don't like laying on our nice new carpet but it's quite a bit more painful to plop your butt on the floor then into a nice comfy couch. Just doesn't have the same feeling when you fall backwards onto the floor. Maybe I'm picky, who knows.

We may get a chair tomorrow *crosses fingers* we'll see though.

Waking up to blue eyes starring at me...

This morning I felt something soft and sweet gently caressing my nose. When I opened my eyes, there was Howie using his paw to touch my nose. His big eyes blinking back at mine. I grumbled "Howieee" and he fell next to my face and tumbled down my pillow. Howie learned to climb up the bed... No one is safe now, N-o O-n-e! *insert maniacal laugh from Howie*

Bring back JSS!!!

For those of you who don't realize from the re-run shows, Jamie, Jack & Stench are temporarily fired. ClearChannel got enough complaints that they are allowing the listeners to vote whether or not to bring them back. So go vote and bring them back. If you don't like them, then don't vote at all, you don't count. You have until tomorrow (5/3/06 @ 5:00pm) to vote.


Vote YES on Prop JSS <-- this is the link


Thanks :)

1% chance it wouldn't happen but it did, so whatever...

For my local buddies, you all know how last week at this time it was cool and raining. You also know that yesterday it was about 90. Bleah. As we are nearing the end of our season, mostly we are working on batting and making routine plays. Live pitching is always better than the pitching machine. As some of you may or may not know, I get vicious migraines especially from the heat. I agreed to throw batting practice yesterday knowing there was a very little % of not getting a headache. By batter 3, it was well on it's way. I was well hydrated, well rested but the heat was taking its toll. I went through a full round and walked into the dugout, laid down on the bench and put a bag of ice on my head. It was like thousands of needles stabbing the side of my head but I just smiled and closed my eyes. The ice helped a lot but the nausea was there. The evening proved to be a tough one, 40 minutes under a cold shower helped but I still felt very stiffled.

I wouldn't go through that for just anyone... I just hope the practice helped. Last week I didn't even think they cared, they haven't been playing like it but you know what happened? They lost a well fought game. All the way till the bottom of the 7th and one bad throw lost any chances of winning. You know the best part though? They cried and were mad. That was the best news of the game. Twisted? Nope, just tells me that all my hard work is going to a team that cares enough to get upset when they work so hard and get so close and don't get the results they wanted. Some discussions afterwards shed some light within the team and more for the coaches.

Practice yesterday showed a team determined... I want more than anything for that to carry over to today's game.... wish us luck. Not to win but to play to win.

The Weekend

So Friday night was cool, some of our friends stopped by to see the new house and bring us dinner. Nothing beats a good ol' greasy burger and crinkle fries with extra seasoned salt, oh, and a fried burrito. My hat is off to you Frosty King on Niles. It just so happened they wanted to play a game as well. So enters Alhambra. It took about 5 minutes to show them the basics and we were off. The market was selling tiles quickly and Alhambras were being formed in all directions. Good game, I won :)

Saturday morning we headed out about 10:00am and didn't return home till 9:00pm. We had to go to Lowe's (for about the 7th time since we've moved), attend a very intense t-ball game, lunch with friends, return shelf paper to Walmart, buy some necessesities/return a carpet to target, look for dish towels and dvd towers at Linens-n-things and World Market, replace carpet at the old condo that Piper destroyed in her smaller puppy days and pick up the dogs at my parents house. I'm tired all over again from just typing it. We got home to a very pissed off Howie for being home alone all day. Made some snacks and watched Derailed with Jennifer Anniston and Clive Owen. 2 thumbs up.

Sunday I awoke to barking dogs and Erin singing in the background. I swung my feet around to find a happy Howie running around. Erin was working in her office. Turns out she had like 8 hours of grading to do which later I helped for about 2 hours before I couldn't take anymore. I laid around most of the day. I watched a lot of Friends and worked on my white belt of suduko book that I had bought yesterday. All I can say, going on a week and half now without cable, thank goodness Erin introduced me to Suduko. Kills time like no other and it exercises my brain. I may go professional, it's too early to say though.

So it was a jam packed weekend as usual. See ya in a few.

Dinner time at the house. Howie thinks if he finishes all his food he'll grow to be the size of his foster sisters in no time. :)

Welcome Home

Cliff Note Version

Okay, so I guess I never realized just how much time I spent doing miscellaneous things, when I'm at work. Since we are moving, beginning this evening, I have been doing my work as it comes in and all at once instead of spreading it out over days. I forgot how efficient I can be :)

Anyway, I want some days off next week and as most of you know, the last week of the month is usually the toughest. I am happy to say this month will not be that way. I think I have ensured some time off with little pile up occurring while I'm away.

The fort, aka our rental home, is ready to be moved out. We've been living with one cupboard of food, no can opener and our china/silverware is all paper/plastic. It's an adventure really but it sure does make answering questions easy. IE "Where is the red long sleeve?" "In a box." "Where is my book?" "In the book box." "Where is my left tennis shoe?" "Probably in a box" You see where this is going.

Softball is softball, same story, different year. The girls have the skills and talent to easily make playoffs but come game time, they forget the strike zone is inside their shoulders and knees and not above and below it. All of the sudden a runner at 3rd with no outs has never happened and we've NEVER spent 6 hours in practice working on it. Game 4 is today, we'll see how that goes *crosses fingers and toes*

Howie is growing quite rapidly. He's sleeping more than ever and is pretty content with just walking around on my bed. His favorite past time is peeing on Erin. He sleeps with a stuffed turtle and softball. He also has a home now, one of my fellow turtle people is going to take him. I know she will give him a good home. I'll enjoy my next couple of weeks with him, she asked I keep him till he's 8 weeks.

I hope to be back into the swing of things soon. So to my fan base, I'll return soon. :)

Howie finishing his bottle.

CONGRATS TO LEXIE ON HER NEW JOB!!!

The Warriors of Oz

Alright so here is a new twist on an all-time classic. Warrior Dot has done some alterations that would make Auntie M roll in her grave but Hugh Heffner is talking centerfold material. It takes a certain woman to carry an Emerald Staff that size. Toto really should have always been on a chain though, that dog was out of control and everyone knows how much I hate an untrained dog. The scarecrow not only got a brain but has been trained in archery, fencing and martial arts. Unfortunately, he can still be intimated by a zippo. The tin man also got a little update, amazing what some plastic surgery with stainless steel can do. His "blood" flow is now WD-40 so not even rain can slow him down. You know, as much as I respect the cowardly lion and his new size. I can't say it enough, I'm tired of these athletes and bodybuilders that are setting these bad examples to kids. Steroids are not the way to go and I'm appalled that yet another well known figure went down such a lowly road. Good luck reproducing with that peanut.

Apparently, they face enemies yet to be revealed. It's a real nail biter.

**Note - we were at Coco's eating breakfast and bought the Sunday paper and this was a Hamilton collectible insert in the ads. Seriously, you have to pay real money for these.**

Never saw it coming.

We've had rain, we've had sun, we've had stupid weather and the sun... I'm sooo done. So this weekend brings our last tournament of the year. *throws balloons in the air* Saturday we were to play 3 games and Monday we play 2. Slight change in plans. The woman in charge has decided for fear of more rain on Monday to cram all 5 games (back to back to back to... you see where I'm going) on Saturday. *Stomps on balloons* So we would have to get up about 3:45am, HA! That's when we got home from gaming last weekend, that most certainly is not a time to get up!

Anywhoodle, beginning at 8:00am and running through 3:30pm, we will be swinging balls and throwing bats... yes I said that right. Wish us luck...

Clean "meow" of Health

So Howie (formerly Space Critter) is good to go. He is gaining weight and his life is beginning. I took him to the vet because his eyes were goupy and his tummy was very hard. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Vet said that was all normal, he just had some air in his tummy and showed me how to help him relieve it. They are going to help me find Howie a home when he is old enough. I will be his mom until then. Zoey loves to lick him and so does Piper but soon, he will bite their paws and run... I can't wait. Howie will rule the house :)

League Leaders

So we won yesterday: 11-8. 1-0 in league :) We've never been able to say that.

Where I have been...

Wow it feels like forever since I've written anything. S.C. (Space Critter) has been keeping me very busy. He comes/goes everywhere with me. Today he is 14 days old. His eyes should open today, they were pretty close last night. He was up about 6:15am screaming for his bottle, it's hard sleeping that many hours you know.

I feel so bad for him, one of the children I was around this weekend put his life in a very sad perspective for me. She said, "he's nobody's kitten, not even his mom and dad wanted him." This came in response to my answering her that he was not my kitten that I was just watching him because his mom and dad left him alone. It's true, he's no one's kitten and that is so sad that no one would want this super cute "baby boy," as this is what he comes to when I call him. I will find him a home... I hope.

My afternoon pick me up.

Theories of McDonald's









I like Grimace. He's purple, fuzzy and enjoys milkshakes. A friend after my own heart, I say. I have no idea what he is but in a world of labels, I'm the last person to judge someone. If you're happy in a big purple costume who likes adventure and a life a crime, so be it.

This takes me to my next point. Theives.

Let's do a run down of the other characters from McDonaldLand.

Mayor McCheese: You have to respect that even with a hamburger for a head, you can overcome any odds to become mayor. Bravo Mayor McCheese. I tip my bun to you.

The Policeman-Burger-Guy: There was a policeman with the same hamburger-type head, but I'm not sure of his actual name. You don't see him around anymore. Last I heard, he was assisting Pete Rose in cracking down on steroid use in MLB...

Hamburglar: He changed from one decade to the other, not sure if he did it so he wasn't recognizable in police drawn sketches or if he knew plastic surgery was going to be in. He was so ahead of his time. Although he chose to steal hamburgers vs. money so maybe that puts him back in the dull section of the crayon box.

The Fry Guys: See at the time, I thought these guys had the right idea. Steal all the fries. What this actually promoted was obesity. Dang it, those marketing people were genius. Let's give a mop some eyes, the ability to propel down invisible string and steal all the fries in the land.

Birdie: Um, well, it qualifies in the poultry family. It was small, so I'm going with Chicken Nuggets. ??? Another character that just kind of disappeared. I think Ronald may actually be Italian and the mob was involved with "relocating" Birdie and some others... but as I value my life and my family, I'll stop discussing this now.

So 1/2 of the characters were all about stealing what they loved. At all costs, we must have hamburgers/Hamburglar, milkshakes/Grimace and fries/McFry Guys. With no thought to how others may feel. Obesity? Theivery? Wild Recklessness? What was Ronald really promoting with his "McHood" gang because really, that's what they were...

***Please note, this is all in fun. I am no way making claims, accusations or anything else that can hold up in court since I'M KIDDING.***

Sometimes you get left behind in life...

As some of you know, a feral mama cat had 4-5 kittens out in one of our shops out back behind my office. My boss gave me the task of feeding the momma cat till the kittens were old enough to be taken to the shelter. One small glitch in that plan, the momma cat ran off over the weekend but she left this little one behind. Maybe it was too small or maybe she didn't feel it was worth carrying wherever she took the rest of them but I think it should at least be given a chance. It was left to die on the cold cement in a dark corner. So here I sit typing with one hand, while it sleeps in my other.

Softball and the Rain

So we were out at B.C. from about 11:30am to 3:00pm. Yay! Good games, I won't bore you with details but they were super close. The really fun part was the 4 mini downpoors we had out there. The girls never skipped a beat with play. It was fantastic.

Zoey and Piper liked it, they had fun running around chasing tennis balls and shaking everywhere. They even played in the dirt and met some nice softball players. Piper got to kiss a few, she was so happy people wanted to play with her.

Gaming was fun (DUH)! There were 8 adults, 6 kids and 2 dogs. A lot of pizza and pie, mmm. Great weekend overall... gaming, softball, gaming. Tough one, really tough. :)

Storytime, Gaming and Sleeping

So we headed to the Keckley's to play a game and see Miss Emily. Always a good time over there, can't say it enough. Tonight Miss Emily choo choo was in good form. We sat on the floor and played with blocks and trains. Erin called on my cell phone and Emily was sitting on my neck at that time (I was lying flat on my tummy on the floor and was her personal jungle gym). So we answered it on speaker phone and Emily was talking too but in the process of me answering the phone, Emily decided to hang over my head and place her head on the floor and talk to Erin upside down. So she was balanced by having her stomach on my head and holding both of her hands on the ground. It was really funny. Then it happened... when she came back to say goodnight after brushing her teeth, she asked me to read her stories and put her to bed. I looked at mom and papa Keckley, they said I didn't have to. I didn't mind I just thought she was joking or something. So I got to read 101 Dalmations and Lady & the Tramp Christmas stories. That was fun and then she laid back and did a big stretch and yawn, it was so cute.

On to Railroad Tycoon and Oreo cookies because gaming isn't gaming without a cookie of some sort. This was actually a longer game than usual. It took a long time to get the first 5 "toys" on the board. There wasn't a whole lot of competition on the board at first and we had some really high scores but Mrs. Keckley won! Good game as always :)

Sleeping in is a wonderful thing. I love sleeping in and you know what else is great? I wake up only to get ready to go to a softball tournament at the community college. OH shucks, I'm stuck sitting watching girls play competitive ball all day long and THEN going to the Regpalas to game, what a long, trying day. PFFFTTT, whatever, how about this every weekend?

Anyway, off to watch the balls fly!

"We're painting the mushrooms red, we're painting the mushrooms red, otherwise it'll be off we're our heads!"

Helpless

Ever feel like you can save someone or have the right answer but you're stuck on an island that's 20' x 20' with no boat, phone, pigeon, paper, bottle, writing utensil, coconuts or any other way to communicate?

That's me, today.

Μάιος εσείς βρίσκει την ειρήνη μέσα σε σας

Simplicities

I finally remember what an average day feels like. Woke up, watched some TV and made a bacon and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Then we got ready, went to Costco to graze with the masses and get ready for my friends birthday bar-b-que. Yay for hot dogs and hamburgers!

The Universe is funny, it rained all morning while we ran errands but as we packed up the car to head out to my parents house, the clouds parted and the sun shone through. Enough time in fact for us to bar-b-que all the food and hang-out outside for a bit before the rain and massive amounts of hail pelted us. Kaley even molded enough hale into a miniature snowman named "Snowy." Timing is essentially of the essence.

We finished up the evening with some yummy Costco cake and poker, followed by round 3 of food. About 8:30pm my mom and I finished cooking the rest of the hot dogs and hamburgers, so we could munch. Another good day of friends and family...

Shrimpies, popcorn, friends and the letter "V"

Yesterday was great even with pouring rain. No practice was the start of this fantastic evening. Next was dinner at Red Lobster, mmm for the shrimpies. Heading out to the parking lot we encountered quite the storm in motion. Driving about 35mph hour, with the windshield wipers on the highest setting, made it quite the adventurous drive. Walking into the movie theater, I was hit with the smell of corn popping, almost beckoning me to buy it. This after a pretty big meal. What's a movie without popcorn? I headed to find seats for 7 and to my surprise found them quite easily, ahh the joys of rated "R" movies. That was 2+ very wonderful hours spent on a cinematic marvel (even though it was DC dreamt). I was hugely surprised that I would like it so much.

Good Food, Good Friends, Good Entertainment... nights like those make all the hard work so much more while.

When it's time to say goodbye...

Molly
d:12/21/04

I remember when I went to the animal shelter and picked her out. She was my birthday present to myself one year.

*She was laying on the floor after running in circles in the back yard with her Big Sis' Zoey, she was tired and looked silly so I took a pic and made her into art.*

She had a rough health life but you'd never know it most days. I did everything financially possible to help her and she had a great 3 years on this Earth. After the last 6 months of pills, painkillers and surgeries it was time to say goodbye. I knew it was coming but that didn't make it any easier. We took her in to the vet for the last time, a good chunk of her life was in vet hospitals, so now she wouldn't have to be scared anymore. I sure do miss her.

Today, my friend of many years is laying her dog to rest after 15 years of always greeting her as she arrived at her parents house. Snowball will no longer be there to bark and anounce your presence. May the Carlsons' find their peace knowing she will no longer suffer from seizures or have to take her pills twice a day anymore. No more shots, no more "bad days," no more days of wondering if this seizure will be bigger than the last... Snowball will be able to use her legs in doggie heaven and I hope she'll find Molly and say "woof" for me.

A guide to spreading yourself thin.

This guide isn't for the weak minded. Multi-tasking is a must. If you don't know what that means, stop reading now and go eat a lollipop and enjoy your day. As most of you know, I'm a coach. An assistant coach but a coach none-the-less. My main job on the field: pitchers. Not just for Varsity but for all 3 teams. I have 2 pitchers for Varsity, 1 for JV and 2-3 for FS. To be effective, I should spend roughly 30 minutes with each one. I get out to practice at 4:30pm. Practice is usually done about 6:00pm. Start running the numbers. That means I can look at 3 a day. However, I'm usually busy with a game or two a week. Rain cancels practice, other teams play on different days and I need to help with the infield/hitting mechanics of Varsity's practice.

"So wait, how do you do it?" you ask.

1) I take 2 pitchers at a time (however yesterday 3).
2) I have to memorize what each of them has to work on and give them mini tasks to work on.
3) Alternate between the 3.
4) Addressing injuiries because of improper stretching.
5) Don't forget to keep watching.
6) Being beckoned by said Head Coach to watch an infield play and see what needs to be fixed.
7) Turn around and look at the pitchers.
8) Give some quick fixes for infield and head back to said pitching area.
9) Get to the 3rd pitcher that you see isn't finishing her positioning but have been called away for the past 15 minutes every time you try to walk over to her.
10) Jog back over to dugout to give end of the day talks/cheer.
11) Run back to said pitching area to re-evaluate.
12) Give instructions/drills for rest of the week. Release them.
13) Listen to players problems and help by giving advice.
14) End this 2 hour session.

My day wasn't near over yet but you get the idea. Focus is key people, Focus, Focus... I wonder what's for dinner... What was I saying? Oh yeah, Focus!

Rain cancelled our game but not practice...

So it started out sunny yesterday morning. Come game time at 4:00pm, it was dark, cloudy and raining. By 4:10pm the umpires called the game. However, in the 1/2 of inning that way played, out of 4 batters on the opposing team, there were 3 errors on our team. Not so good. This coming after the awesome tournaments we just played. So let the practice begin.

It took us 2 hours to get through 2 drills. At one point the rain was at a heavy drizzle and I didn't skip a beat. Ball after ball was hit. We were all wet and tired. A player quit. It was a rough day.

Today is sunny... today's outcome will be quite the opposite of yesterday though. I can feel it.

Please don't finish our house on time, thanks, that would be great.

So we've been waiting and waiting for our house. We came to the realization that our house, if done on time will be done on a game day. A game that is 45 minutes out of town and then after that game, I have a meeting. Pretty much would take the wind out of our sails. So the really sad part, we're hoping for delays. If it could just get delayed till Friday that would be swell. Hell, we've waited this long, what's 3 more days?

As much as I love living in our weed smoking, drug interacting, meth lab living community, I'll be skipping my way to the new house. It amazes how blatent and stupid people can be.

Hmph...

So Sunday involved laying around, cat napping a few times and watching movies. Went to moms to enjoy some big sandwiches and watch Harry Potter, they were so little in the first one, so cute. This had to be one of the slowest weekends - EVER. I think I got too much rest, now I'm all lazy and stuff. My drive to work is nill. I'm supposed to throw practice later, yeah right. I will but right now, I just want to nap some more.

We have one game this week and it's tomorrow and then we're in the clear. We have Friday off, woohoo, the girls don't know it yet though. So we're going to the movies, AGAIN! I like the movies and I love popcorn. I even like the popcorn jelly beans by Bertie Botts and you're fingers don't get so buttery. It's a win win really.

Well I suppose I should work...

Happy 30th Birthday K.C.

My how the time passes, we met 15 years ago but it seems like 3. We've been through a lot and I'm sure we've just written the preface of our book of friendship.

"Back to back we make each other stronger, side by side we walk on together."

Rain, Hail, Sleep.

So our tournament days are done... for this weekend anyway. Thursday was pretty good to us but because of snow for some of the mountain schools, game times and teams were changed. Unfortunately, one of the teams we had counted on winning was one of the teams that couldn't make it down. This moved our game time up to 5:00pm which was nice but now we were playing a Fresno team, that's not so nice. These were the teams, that when I played ball, we played in playoffs and in state and were always tough. About 1/2 way through, the rain and hail came, so we got a 15 minute break.

The most wonderful thing about that game, the umpire came up to Rader and I to comment on how the girls had guts to get in there and swing the bat the way they did. He said he could see they play with heart and that was really impressive. We took that as the biggest compliment we could ever get. The girls did make some contact, even got walked to first but they weren't prepared for a team like this, hell, neither were we. This team had a pitcher that could blow a lot of community college pitchers out of the water. Needless to say they also went on to win the tournament.

So with this 2nd loss handed to us, we're off today. Slept in, had some breakfast and now we're bored out of our minds. It only took about 2 hours but we can't just sit and relax anymore, it's really sad. So we're off to see a movie and then to the Keckley's to game... woohoo :)

Drive-Thru Commentary

So it was 9:15pm last night as I settled on McDonalds for my dinner. So I ordered a cheeseburger no onions with extra pickles to which I was told, "I like pickles." To which I just giggled. I don't know if it was the fact that I was running on little sleep, the fact that I'm going on hour 12 of my day or if it was just truly funny. I pulled up to pay and the guy that took the money apoligized for his "crazy" (spun his finger by his head) friend. I said it was totally okay and I needed the laugh. I pulled up to window 2 and there stood a blond girl with the biggest smile and her hat tilted off to the side. She opened her window and said "Hi" and kinda laughed, then went on to tell me again how much she likes pickles and "but I really love mustard." To which I laughed again.

I was still thawing out, I was tired, I still had some driving to do (didn't get home till after 10) but it sure was nice to have a good, silly, laugh.

Basically "everything YOU know as a coach... is wrong."

So we had a game yesterday against a team that is in a league above ours. The umpires in said game can bite my ass. Yes I was the epitome of a well behaved, well mannered, take it up the ass kind of coach however today... I let it all out. I walk up to the field to be immediately approached by our catcher who looked very pissed with her two braids on either side of her head. "HE said if I hit him with my mask that it's un-sportsmanlike behavior and I can get thrown out." My response was simply, "huh?" The girls assume I know everything of all beings as soon as I walk into a situation. So then I started getting the run down from everyone, including Rader.

Apparently, this umpire didn't find our catchers' enthusiasm behind the plate as comical as everyone else. We were picked on about, where we (as coaches) were on the field, taking too long in between pitches, our underarmor not matching, our girls yelling inappropriate things at the other team, the catcher hitting him with her mask when she threw it behind her, etc, etc, etc.

Alright, so maybe Rader abused her walking/pacing room on the 3rd base line one time but to charge us a time out was just petty and stupid. We didn't take any longer in between pitches than the other team. No one f'ing told us about the underarmor or we would have taken care of it already. But this one is the last straw, the thing about the inappropriate comments against the other team is horse shit. That is purely a personal attack on me. I am the biggest advocate of only making comments, cheers, remarks toward your own team and they all better be positive or GOD help you all. I have no problem stopping the girls in mid cheer if I think it's inappropriate and apologizing to the coach in the middle of a game and in front of everyone. I WILL NOT allow such comments to be made, EVER. So that guy can take "what he heard" and shove it up his ass and if he has any problems, I have a bat that I will be more than happy to help him with.

Regardless of all this, oh yeah, we won bitches... 8-2

Just stick your finger in your eye... sheesh

So I went to get contacts today and I got to watch other people learn for the first time. It took a girl 2 hours to get them in. She was slowing the process by blinking. I don't see what the problem is, just shove your finger in there, it will stick.

LOL... well it's been about 3 years since I last wore them but it's like riding a bike. I got each one in on the first try. I've been blinking a lot today and my face fills weird without my glasses. I've already tried twice to push up frames that aren't there... oops.

Zoey getting ready for a car ride.

Sinkholes are a bitch.

Counting down...

So apparently other people drive by "our house." We have yet to do so. Driving by makes it tough when the only chance you have is at 10'o clock at night. My parents went by there on Sunday after golf and said it's almost done. Very exciting, I just wish we could get by there more. So our tenative move-in date: April 18th, 2006.

So, you may be wondering, when are you going to pack? That, my friends, is a very good question. Just so happened last night that since I didn't go to practice, I packed up my entire office in 2 hours. Oh yes, I went home packed up 6 boxes, 4 tubs and threw out lots of papers, trash and misc. junk. Then made enchilada casserole for dinner, mmm. I forgot what it's like to cook. I miss cooking.

Erin is convinced that if I do every room in 2 hours, we'll be all packed up in no time. She is correct because I will just throw 3/4 of the stuff away. NO MORE CLUTTER! After this week is over, we are in the clear. Gaming will return soon. And THEN the real packing is about to begin.

Grey skies, high winds, rain, rain and more rain.

So I'm going out on a limb here and saying I'm not going to make it to practice. They will still have practice but there isn't much of a reason for me to risk my life on flooded roads for maybe 20 minutes of practice inside.

This couldn't come at a worse time, we have a game Wednesday, begin a tournament on Thursday with games at 6:30pm & 8:00pm, same schedule Friday night and Saturday will depend on how we do the previous 2 days.

Here it is March and NOW we're getting winter... silly Mother Nature.

Funny thing, Saturday proved to be an even longer day...

So we got up at 4:45am (yes people get up at this time, dumb) so we could be to the bus barn by 6:00am. I don't even get up for work till 6:30am, anyway, we headed down the road and bus pulls off at AMPM. I was hoping something wasn't wrong. Erin gets off the bus, runs to my car (I drove in case we needed to run errands, get food, etc.) and says she needs a energy drink and so does the bus driver.... oh good grief. Might as well join the crowd, I got an AMP. 20 minutes later we roll into town. It's cold. ***Note if my hands are numb and red, it's damn cold, End Note.*** We have the girls constantly running back and forth, I have the pitchers bundled up and constantly moving. I wanted to give them an extra long warm up, this is the weather when injuires arise.

The game began at 8:00am and we were strong for it being so early and cold. By the 3rd inning we were up 7-2, a few errors and it was 7-5, another rough inning and we were now down 7-8. The Blue came up and said this would be our last ups because there were only 5 minutes left. Softball Gods were on our side... our batters up, spots 2, 3 and 4. You can't ask for anything better. Our shortstop came up got on, on an error. By our 4th batter, we had won. The girls stole smart. We had one out and our pitcher came up to hit right back at the pitcher who bobbled the ball, scoring the girl on 3rd. Great game...

Next game was at 11:30am, pretty tough mountain girls, we played smart and hard but we couldn't get our bats working and they did. Really proud of the girls, we're really coming together, in all aspects. We sat around for a few hours and watched some other teams in our league, watched the beginning of the championship game. I could sit around for hours and watch softball games. We left at 4:00pm, got home to running doggies, took them to my moms and then stopped by a surprise party. We were leaving when a voicemail popped up from our friends. They had bought a tv and couldn't fit it in their car and wondered if we had access to a truck. It was about 7:00pm at this time. We were sunburned, tired and full. I made a call and we headed back to my parents to pick up my cousins truck. We were at Best Buy at 7:30pm. No one can say no to good friends and we're always happy to help. We finally got home about 9:45pm and were a sleep by 10:00pm. 10 hours later and we're awake. What a day...

So very very wrong...

Alright, so getting home at 10:40pm the night before, not so bad. Last night gets an award... oh yeah, ready? 11:15pm But you know what else? Who gives a S*@# because we won... we went 1 for 2 last night and it was fantastic. 4-3 was the final. It was cold, the girls were tired but they fought through errors, some really interesting plays (a triple was made by the other team), dug down deep and won. Extra pat on the back for me, the last out of the game,was my little pitcher striking out the 3rd batter... looking. Tee Hee

So we got home that late and our game time was 6:30pm. Next week in a tournament, our game time is 8:00pm, I think we'll be lucky if we get home by 1:00am... should be interesting. Well we do it again today at 3:30pm. We shall see.

"God must love stupid people; He made so many."

.....

I have yet to get home before 10:00pm each night. Last night was the big winner, I didn't walk through the door till 10:40pm. At the rate I'm going, it really would be better to just live in my car. I have 1/2 my wardrobe, some games, shoes, med-gear and who knows what else, all at my finger tips. We got to eat dinner at about 9:45pm, in the car, while driving to pick up the dogs. That's fun.

I have high hopes for tonight. I might be home by 9:00pm. That's pretty sweet. Being a "mom" of 16 teenagers is tough. Most days I can barely keep track of myself, being responsible for so many makes my eyeballs spin. It's all an adventure really and I will ride as long as the universe allows.

Tiny People Pic... Enjoy

29 candles later...

So I've offically had my last birthday in my 20's. The next birthday brings on a new decade. I had a lot of time with friends and family, that is my favorite. I can't get enough of smiling, happy people enjoying one anothers company. I'm almost to the point where I need fixes. I get so anxious about it.

So to everyone... thank you for helping me celebrate my 29 candle day... it was a great weekend.

BirthdayCon was Sweet!

Mega Thanks to everyone who participated. It made me so happy to have so many people in a room gaming. Even though we had to seperate into 2 games, we still got to game on the same table so we were still close.

I got to play POWER GRID! AND I WON! I powered 15 cities 1st. It was a super close game, Erin had 15 cities out there first but she could only power 11. Sondra could have powered all of hers but she couldn't buy enough raw materials, they ran out before it was her turn to buy them.

Cake was super yummy, I got some cool gifts, thanks every one! Meggy even drew me a picture, so very sweet... I feel so very lucky.

One of the funniest gift cards I've ever received :)

My poor little fungus'd bamboo plant. I guess after 3 1/2 years it just couldn't go on anymore. It lost it's two buddies about 8 months ago... My corner next to my wall looks so bare :(

R.I.P.
Bamboo O. Luck
August 2001 - February 2006

"Was a good O2 recycler"

On a happier note...

BirthdayCon is just 2 days away! I'm so excited. I miss gaming. Softball is grr-eat though. Today I get to throw batting practice *woot woot* Nothing like getting the old bones and gears moving. I like hobbling on my cane on Fridays.

*Checks medical bag:* "ice packs - check, ace bandages - check, splint - check, voice activated 911 in case my fingers are all broke - check and my handy dandy medical card - check check. I am ready to throw batting practice now, show me the field. No really, my eyes aren't so good, can you please lead me to the field?"

*chants* "Birth-day-Con Birth-day-Con Birth-day-Con"

Tiny People Pic... this one goes out to all those hard working Olympic Skaters. It's too bad some of them took one big leap too far... "look mom, dead skaters." It's a sad, sad day really.

I'm in the 8'o Clock hour and I'm sleepy. That's all I have to report for now.

Tiny People Pic of the Day




Make sure you click on the picture so it gets supersized.... *cracks up* LOL "Funny everytime."

Gym called... "get your glutes back here."

It had been a week since we had seen our friendly elliptical encounter. In my defense, softball has us running ragged. Today is our first game... ooohhh. Trying to balance practices till we can't see anymore, making sure the girls get home, trying to spend some time with the pups, has cut our workouts down. We are back in the groove though, we missed it. I'm going to try and go in between our game (4-5:30) and my turtle meeting (7-9pm). I think I can get a 1/2 hour in there somewhere.

Anyway, back to work...

It's time for your tiny people good laugh... today we have chocolate miners. Wow what a job.

Food, Family and Falling Down

So our game was cancelled yesterday. The opposing school only had 8 players... for all 3 teams! Their entire program revolved around 8 girls, wow. Apparently, the majority of the players are still in basketball and if you don't have 5 practices under your belt, you can't play in a game. We took care of this by having Saturday practices for the winter sports, so all of our girls are eligible.

This left me lots of free time to go to my parents since my Aunt and Cousin are here from Chicago. This also meant a lot of my family would be around. There were tiny people everywhere! Between 4 of my cousins that were there, they had 6 little ones and three of those were boys that were always on the run. The middle one, Marcus, was particularly fearless. He fell from the top of the cement deck and just hit the dirt, right on his arm. He cried for a second and then saw the other kids were playing and hopped right back up and was ready to go. I had most of the kids up on the cement deck with sidewalk chalk, it was very colorful. Trees, birdhouses, butterflies, a mouse, a sun, clouds, a house with a sidewalk.

Tri-tip, bar-b-qued chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, chili beans, french bread.... then pound cake, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, pineapple gooey cake and from scratch carrot cake. I was a good girl and got one plate and didn't eat everything. I don't think I could have even if I wanted to. All very yummy.

Good day :)

Ride bikers, ride! Tiny people on food is funny, go on, laugh. I know you want to.

Good Friday Morning to You All.

Shake your coins

Last night I went to a belly dancing party. Yes, I said "went" not participated. Interesting having to be forced to watch women shake, dance and move to the rhythm of some very exotic music. We were asked to watch so we could judge each girl. We were given a little history of each woman and then the music started. I'm not sure what we were suppose to base it on, as I don't know the techniques or anything but I based mine on how much they were "feeling" the music they chose. Also, how they worked the crowd and changed up their "shake."

So many styles, it was tough but I rated each one. Each girl should be very proud, I couldn't imagine doing that in front of a group of 40 women, most of which I didn't know and in front of a giant mirror in the living room. It was very friendly and fun. Yay for new experiences...

Valentine's day... The aftermath.

So running errands on my lunch yesterday proved maddening. People were out in the masses with roses, balloons, picking out cards and looking for that perfect stuffed animal. Holy heart shaped paper products Batman. Erin and I put together candy bags for our softball team. They enjoyed them. I was informed that the high school girls take this holiday very seriously and get dressed up and all. How cute.

So I watched all these people yesterday and you know the one person that stood out the most? This girl that was walking by my house. She had one of those single roses in a cello paper wrap. She was just staring at it and smelling it. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was floating. She looked so happy walking to where ever she was going. So the high school girl taught me something really valuable: it's about the gesture, not the gift and appreciate that someone took the time to think of you.

As we get older, we think more money spent means a better gift. I guess we all forget what it's like to get that first rose, the first box of chocolates, the first balloon, that first plastic ring when you were 7... and guess what, I bet you remember who gave you that ring, the name of the person, what grade you were in. You wore it all the time, probably till it broke to which you cried for hours.

My mom spent her day, making my dad and I cookies. She made them from scratch, colored all her own frostings, which were also made from scratch. Those were some of her best cookies ever and it's because she made them with the intention of giving us something to enjoy and make us happy. It probably gave her just as good a feeling enjoying us rave about them (over and over) as we felt receiving (inhaling) them.

I also received some other things that showed me a couple of things. The people I care about, care about me too. How? You ask. They listen to me, the things I received, I at some point talked about, didn't necessarily ask for but just because I talked about them, they took enough time to remember and then get them for me. Thank you.

I hope each of you had your own euphoric Valentine's Day...

Finally!

I won a round and it was a tough round to say the least. I am determined to master the elliptical machine. I thought about trying it out yesterday but since it was a Monday, I didn't think there would be any available. What I forgot is it was a holiday so there weren't so many people flocking to the gym. I started out on my stairclimber and about 15 minutes in, I decided to give the elliptical a try for 10 minutes. I did it! I couldn't catch my breath for a bit and my heart was beating in my head but I did it!

Elliptical - 3
Me - 1 <-- woohoo

So it was a good day at the gym. I want to go and do it again but I don't want to embarrass the machine too much :)

What fingers?

I carry the bucket of supplies with me, so at any given time I can plop my butt down and make a rose. I made the final 10, I ran out of cello paper so I didn't really have a choice but to stop. My fingers truly are in pain. They are sensitive to the touch and typing is really, really fun today. I thought they were just red from the cello paper but now I think it's because I was rubbing them raw. To truly get that rose to stay on the stem, you have to tug pretty good on the floral tape.

The girls made about 270 on Saturday, it was great, we watched movies, ate some food and had some good laughs. I was proud at how hard everyone was working. One of the girls stabbed herself with a stem she was working so fast. That pretty much stopped her production. There were a lot of girls who couldn't wrap a flower to save their life. Some of them tried and tried but the rose bud was tilted, very obviously to the side, to which they named these, "the special ed," bunch. LOL

Lots of team building or as I like to say "family building."

How it actually went...

So we got up late, cut our workout short, practice ran wonderfully, we bought the girls lunch and stayed in our "sweat shop" till 4:45pm, it takes 30 minutes to get home and 30 minutes to get to the Keckley's and we ran out of materials and had to go to Wal-mart which also takes 15 minutes. So that gave us 15 minutes each to get ready...

All worth it, we didn't get to gaming till 7:00pm, showed up sunburned and ready to go. We played 2 games of Railroad Tycoon and got more help with the roses while we laid track across the U.S. A great day, very tiring but a lot of fun. The girls did a really awesome job on the roses and those are pretty tricky. We think we raised about $300. All worth the running around.

Good nite...

Running on Empty

So the days don't seem so daily... it all seems to be one big circle that isn't ending. One ginormous day if you will. I'm tired. I'm not cranky, there is just a lot to do. I work my government issued average 40 hours a week but that doesn't count the extra 18 after hours, as I like to call them. Each night I do not see the place where I reside till about 9:00pm and that's on a good night. I know it's the fundraisers, which I enjoy but holy geez are they time consuming. I got a free pass on practice today, so I'm waiting for Erin so we can run errands for tomorrow. Tomorrow being Saturday and looking like this...
8:30am gym
9:30am head to Arvin for practice
12:00pm finish practice and head to the classroom for the Candy Rose Sweat Shop
2-3:pmish head home to rest for a bit
6:30 Keckley gaming abode
11:00pm home to sleep

I hear the garage door, off I go to buy floral tape, fake leaves, cello paper and who knows what else.

Seeds for Dummies

You know, I've eaten David Sunflower Seeds for years and never paid attention to the back.

"How to eat David Seeds"
Crack the shell with your teeth, eat the seed and spit the shell. Experienced seeders (seeders? lol) pop a handful of seeds in their mouth and store them in one cheek than transfer a seed over to the other side with their tonuge, crack it, then eat the seed and spit the shell.

Their motto: Eat. Spit. Be Happy

That's pretty cute. Read the back of a shampoo label one time, that's funny, it tells you rinse out the shampoo and repeat if necessary. Because you forgot to rub it in or what?

Rules

Yesterday after practice, we set some rules/laws for the girls. We had them handwrite some at the end. These, we felt were the most important. What they have yet to realize is the only way they can answer these questions properly is to say, "I wasn't paying attention to..." So basically their minds aren't focused. Completely unacceptable, should be an interesting next couple of weeks.

The 2 statements at the end were:
"I will not say I'm sorry or I will run 500 cabillion laps."
Don't apoligize for a mistake, suck it up, own it and move on. GAWD
and
"I will not say I don't know as an answer to a question or I will run 500 cabillion laps to the infinite power."

The girls thought they were funny but got the point.

Those have to be 3 of the most annoying words put together in one sentence to hear. Well unless your a guy and a girl says "I love you" after like date 2 but thats more frightening than annoying. Anyway, you get my point.

Mot People

Mot people like chocolate or vanilla or both. Mot people work and shop. Mot people love animals. Mot people love pizza with pepporoni with a beer. Mot people drive cars or go to school. Mot people sleep at night unless they work. Mot people eat 3 meals a day. Mot people wear shoes and clothes when they go outside. Mot people enjoy a good swim on a hot summer day. Mot people also like ice cream with toppings. Mot people know what days the trash goes out. Mot people also like to play sports or games. Mot people like to read. Mot people live in a house. Mot people read blogs... maybe you're a "Mot People?"

Snip Snip

So today was the big "hoo rah." The last show off day. We tested outfielders, pulled some weeds with watching girls at 1st base. Got down and dirty with potential catchers at home plate. Pretended like we were on the debate team for 2.5 hours and finally at 8:00pm, we walked out feeling exhausted from thinking over the teams, saddened that we had to make so many cuts, happy we had so many girls interested, full from the pizza in our tummies and ready to go home and go to sleep.

Let the family building begin...

The Holy Day... Super Bowl Sunday *chanting "Ommmm"*

Was awakened by my dad walking through the garage door to charging dogs that were happy to be home. I came stumbling out and was immediately greeted by Piper Lou. That dog truly has no idea of her size. So I got ready and went to Michaels to get some supplies for a softball fundraiser, grabbed some snacky foods and headed home to make a cake.

After running around, we loaded up the car and headed off to the Super Bowl Party. So many squares and so many numbers and nothing. That's okay, I had super yummy beff (see previous posts), my cake rocked and so did the chicken wings, the chips, the nachos with chili and the cookies. The nice thing was the fudge and brownies were made with nuts, so I couldn't eat them oh what a shame :)

Quarter after quarter, I watched my chances disappear... that's okay, there's always next year.

An Irish Man, a Mexican, a Magician and a Madigan walk into a bar.... or on stage.

Traveled down to Hermosa Beach(oh the wonders of the 405) to the Comedy and Magic Club. If you've never been, go. It's well worth the money and realistically, it's pretty inexpensive. And YAY for a 2 drink minimum. The poopy part of it all, the migraine from pitching so long on an empty stomach. I slept most of the way down there, we even stopped to get a cold pak for my head, that helped a lot but the cure all was the 3rd migraine pill with 2 Blue Hawaiians that I think really knocked it out.

I'm really kicking myself for not having my camera phone on me but there was a Starbucks Coffee and you know how some of the letters burn out. I kid you not and I have 2 witnesses, the letters burned out so it said: "S****uc*s *off**" Oh yeah, there was a immature part of me that found that damn funny all night long. I really wish I could have got a pic of it though.

So Steph, Erin and I ate at this small Italian dive. A great thin crust pizza with some pepperoni and olives. Steph had a spinach, chicken salad with some soup. Erin and I also shared some french fries with marinara and mozzarella cheese (hey lay off, I probably burned about 800 + calories throwing batting practice).

We walked around for a bit and then went to get in line for the comedy club. It's 1st come 1st serve and it's pretty small. We got really good seats, not in front but not in the back and just slightly off to one side.

I guess you have to have a certain kind of humor for the first guy and I wish I could remember his name but he was really funny. The 3 of us were cracking up, we were all crying he was so funny. Next came the Mexican, check him out www.fluffyguy.com I wish we could get back over there to see him, OMG, so hilarious! He'll be there Valentine's night. Next came the magician. Okay, so I know what you're thinking, "what are we 5?" Surprisingly, he was pretty cool. His "thing" was making birds appear or disappear or multiply. He wasn't on very long either so its not like you had time to get bored. AND THEN.... Kathleen Madigan! Here is this cute, 5'2" little red head who is so damn funny! We listened to some of her stuff on the drive down since Steph didn't know any or her material nor had she ever been to a comedy club/show before, so she got a 2fer bonus. Check her out at www.kathleenmadigan.com

The show was about 2 hours all together and we loved it! If anyone would like some of her old material, I will be happy to send some copies of her stuff, she's great on the car rides or while your working out or grading papers. Got home at 2:00am and knocked out, sweet dreams of super bowl.

Really? 70 of 'em... aw gaw damn!

So there were 22 girls at practice this morning. That brings us up to 70 girls. Our biggest turn out in our 4 years coaching. This also means, cuts are inevitable. We're going to max out at 55. Varsity will again, be a young team (I'm still set that next year will be our kick ass year).

We had some very impressive girls come out. But the big deal of the day: I threw batting practice to every single one of them. Oh yes, it's that time again for the old lady to get in her rhythm and see what the little chicas have got. One particularly bad episode for today occured with a freshman girl that is suppose to be "top dog." I was fairly impressed with her glove and her throw is great but then there was her hitting capabilities or should I say, "lack there of." However, that wasn't the worst part. Miss Erin said from her bucket on the side lines, "turn up the heat." Now, lesson learned here, do not joke with me about pitching faster. I did as I was told and smoked that first pitch right past her. Everyone got really quiet and a small bit of fear went over my face as Miss Erin now said, "I was just kidding." Well crap, now I had to gradually slow down pitch by pitch as to not make it so obvious that I was doing it. The even worse part, she couldn't touch my pitches. This golden glove couldn't hit for a shit. Normally, I won't take my eyes off the bat for fear that the ball will end up in my teeth. Since she wasn't hitting, I felt safe enough to watch her for 3 pitches to see why she was struggling. Then I walked up to her, did 2 tweaks and she creamed the next ball. It's always nice to confirm a suspision and especially in front of her parents. *2 pats for me*

So basically, all these girls just made all the teams we thought we had almost done, put us back to square one. We have to re-evaluate on Monday and choose teams afterwards. It could be a long evening...

Now it's shower time, I threw well over 400 pitches in an hour and a half and I'm just one big ball of sweat. Then...... off to Hermosa Beach to enjoy an old friend (an ex-catcher) Stephanie, I can't wait till she gets here, it's been a long time. Funny how we get so caught up in our lives' that our friends get away from us.

What to do, What to do?

So we finished the first 4 days of tryouts and it's insane how tight the competition is. We have so many JV (ready) players. They all have that average performance ability and if they got some good instruction and playing time, would do well for us in Varsity in the upcoming years. We've also had a huge number of girls to look at. 49 girls to look at is pretty tough. So many 1st timers, it troubles us that we may have to turn some of them away.

Some of them, we fear for our lives when they throw, others we fear for their lives any time a ball heads their way. One particular girl: Hazel. A freshman, not the fastest, not the most coordinated but damn she has heart. She gives it her all and takes in every word you tell her. She may never be an MVP but she'll always have a place with us. Attitude and desire have a high rating in our book. She will be a great asset to the F/S team.

We have spreadsheets for spreadsheets of lists. It's insane all the notes we have to take. Tomorrow we get sneak peaks of all the winter sport girls. We should have between 20-25 girls out. So we'll see how they do... then it's off to see the Madigan!

Designs by Emily

Last night I went to play with my little buddy Emily. She is quite brillant for a 2.5yr old. I brought her some stickers and a turtle. The Care Bear stickers were used at first for scrapbooking, then she decided to put them on her Care Bear Castle. It was very pretty. So I laid on the floor next to her and she then made a decision: to decorate me. So she started removing stickers from the castle and putting them on my face as I lay there. It was pretty funny. I hung out with her for about 40 minutes and then had to be on my way to my next appointment.

There has yet to be one day that I get home before 9:00pm... busy, busy busy. I got a big hug and kiss goodbye and I had to promise to play a game of Candy Land next time. I hope she'll let me be red... I hear she's tough to beat.

Softball season has officially begun... welcome bruises, dirt in my shoes, balls flying past my head, 12 hour days, strikeouts, ultimate highs and saddening lows, grade checks, sunflower seeds, electrolyte re-fueling, team unity, early outs, taco bell dinners, singing on the bus and learning about extended families, becoming responsible for one another and finding passion in 3 simple pieces: a ball, a bat and a glove.

Then watching that one moment when it all comes together...

Welcome Softball 2006