More Baseball Pictures

Because I just spent seven hours on my feet, setting up for, working at, and cleaning up after, the annual Booster Club Senior Sports Banquet and my feet are very, very angry with me, as is my back. And, my shins, hamstrings, arms, and head.

It was a very long day, is my point.

And, tomorrow, I get to wake up early to make the five hour drive to Denver for a work function. I think I've earned a pass on an actual post, don't you?

Be sure to tune in tomorrow, though, when I regale you with a play-by-play of the Sports Banquet, including my usual rant about parents who don't participate. Good times!

M is For Monday

And, for misery.

Coincidence? I think not. 

A Day in the Life: Baseball Edition

Yesterday was our second-to-last home double-header, so, it seems like an appropriate occasion on which to document just what our baseball season has looked like this year.

On weekends when we have away games, we are usually up before the sun, packing the car for the trip, eyeing the weather report to determine just how many extra blankets to pack (the weather this spring has not been exactly baseball-friendly), and conferring with the other parents about travel time and the best restaurants to eat in after the games.

On the rare weekends that we have gotten to stay at home, the days have been a lot more relaxed; we rise after the sun and move at a more leisurely pace. Some things, however, stay the same: there are still lunches to be packed, for instance.

And, I always make sure to have a large container of Gatorblox ready for the cooler, as well as packing Gatorades, water bottles, sunflower seeds (Dill pickle flavor, the Man-Cub's favorite), and squeezable applesauce pouches, because, they may all stand damn near six feet tall, but the boys still love their applesauce pouches.

Once we get to the ball field, we stake out the best location for viewing purposes. This spring, that has meant securing a parking space on the hill overlooking the field, where we can watch the action without suffering the elements. Granted, this puts us in a prime location to catch an errant pop fly, which means that our windshield is at constant risk of damage, but, we have gladly taken our chances.

 Happily, this week, the weather was basically mild; the wind blew relentlessly, but, it was sunny and almost warm. Almost.

In between games, we feed the boys the lunch that we have packed and then retreat back to the warmth of the car. Yesterday, however, I ventured onto the field and into the dugout to take some pictures of the boys. They had won the first game, quite handily (13-1), and were in a great mood, collectively, so; they were more than willing to ham it up for the camera.

Then, it's time for the boys to head back out onto the field for game two. This week, the Man-Cub was pressed into service as pitcher, thanks to the regular second-game pitcher being out of commission due to a suspension for plagiarizing a paper (Note to kids: Cite your sources! Paraphrase, don't blatantly copy! End of lecture).

The Cub doesn't really love pitching-the pressure to be more perfect than he perceives himself to be is crushing-but, even he had to admit that, yesterday, he threw one hell of a game. He pitched all but one of seven innings, and the team managed another big win (11-3).

 

The team had some great offensive plays, as well, everybody hit well, including a bunt that actually resulted in Mikey ending up on first, rather than simply taking the sacrifice and advancing the runner. The runner, at the time, was the Man-Cub, and, before he made it to second, he had a couple of near misses at being tagged out at first, when the pitches to Mikey weren't close enough to bunt. As an aside, I give mad props to the makers of OxiClean, because soaking the Cub's uniform in that stuff has managed to keep his pants sparkling white, despite the massive amounts of dirt that he manages to grind into them every game.

 

While this was happening, I was working in the concession stand. Thankfully, my co-concession stand worker is always more than willing to handle the hot-dog seeking masses while I venture down to the field to photograph our sons. She trusts me to come back in time to slop neon-orange "cheese" onto the nacho chips, which, I do. And, not just because the concession stand offers the second-best seats in the house.

 

 

After the second game was done, I caught the boys' celebration in the outfield before closing up the concessions stand and packing up the coolers.

 

 

 

Ordinarily, we would have headed home at that point, to get a start on weekend chores, but, yesterday we broke with routine and traveled to Neighboring City, where Hugh and the Man-Cub built a firepit for QB. Then we took the kids out for dinner before heading home.

 

The Man-Cub fell asleep in the truck before we were a block from QB's house, and, once we got home, I followed suit. It might not have been an early-rising day, but it was a full one.

 

Next weekend, we host our final home games, and I suspect it will look similar to this weekend's itinerary, hopefully, including the wins. Because that was awesome!

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

The recent rain has done absolutely nothing for my mood, nor has it been particularly good for my health (I fear there may be a greater than average chance of arthritis in my future, if the aching in my joints is any indication), but, it certainly has done wonders for my flowerbeds.

It's a trade-off, and, I'll take it, I suppose.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last night, I hosted the Boosters for our monthly meeting. I had hoped to hostess on the porch, but, the crappy weather prevented that. Instead, I opened up a bottle of Pinot Grigio and a bottle of Moscato and we sipped at the dinning room table.

Actually, we started at the kitchen island, which is where we always seem to gather when we get together, before slowly drifting into the dinning room.

We are now 99% finished with the planning of the Senior Sports Banquet, which takes place next Wednesday and 100% caught up on each other's lives and all of the local gossip, so, I would say the meeting was successful.

Just the way we like it.

Reunited and it Feels So Good

I'm going to make it a point to use a cheesy song title as the title for every post I write from now on. Until I run out of cheesy song titles, that is. Or, until I forget. Whichever comes first.

Anyhoodle, we just got back from having dinner with Chris, Jana, and Darren. We haven't had a chance to spend time with them since our annual New Years Day sledding trip, and, we have missed their company.

The Man-Cub and Darren have been especially lonely for one another, in the way that only teenaged boys can be, and they were obviously happy to see one another, which is to say, they greeted each other with awkward fist-bumps and immediately began torturing one another with bad jokes and good-hearted insults.

As boys do.

Jana and I have kept in touch via text messages and telephone chats, but it isn't the same as sitting down together for a meal, so, I feel better connected, again after our dinner.

Hugh and Chris did what they always do; they bonded over projects and plans for dragging us into uncomfortable situations (camping, anyone?). Thank goodness for the RVs.

When we parted ways, we agreed to get together again sooner rather than later, and, I can't wait; summertime always means lazy lake days with Chris and Jana. I need more of those days in my life.

This is What it Sounds Like When Doves Cry

So, you may have heard, the artist formerly (and FOREVER) known as Prince passed away last week. I mean, you must have heard; all of social media went crazy (Let's go, crazy!) with grief, eventually breaking the internet.

Well, at least it broke our internet; the connection went down on Saturday and it's been sketchy ever since and I have to assume it is because my generation took to the web in droves, ultimately overloading the mechanism.

Or, we have a crappy provider.

Either way, RIP, Prince.

Rest in peace.