Be still my heart

Pulses were racing last night at what I think was one of our most action-packed games yet. Our kids were up against a team that practically mopped the field with us on Sunday. But we were starting our strongest pitcher this time. We had first at bat and were able to score some runs (we had some awesome hits last night!). Paul held them in the first 3 innings... no runs. Meanwhile, we were scoring. Our kids were fielding, hitting, stealing bases (Noah stole 1st to second on one pitch and then second to home). Final score: 9-5. We play again tonight... this time against the team that is undefeated in the tournament. A win tonight means another game against them tomorrow. Otherwise, we take 2nd place, a not-too-shabby honor for this team with so many players new to the game.

Stay tuned.

Just for fun

With all the rush-rush of life lately, I haven't had much time to mention some of the fun stuff I keep running across... memes, videos, blogthings, etc. The house is quiet, and I'm the only one up, so here's my chance.

First up: YouTube. You name it, you can find it here. Videos of every description (and some that defy description). One such video is this one of David Lee Roth's appearance on The Tonight Show last week. Appropriately enough, he appeared on 6/6/06 to promote his new CD, "Strummin' With the Devil," which includes this bluegrass rendition of "Jump." I am torn between laughing and running screaming from the room. However, this video is a very cool and original idea. Tip of the hat to The Blue Sloth for turning me on to it. I would have embedded the videos here, but my center column isn't wide enough. :(

More video fun, this time from a musical comedy duo from Canada. Click here to see them perform "Working Where The Sun Don't Shine (The Colorectal Surgeon's Song)." (That is a Windows Media link... if you prefer Quicktime, try this one.)

And finally: Some Blogthings.

• What Kind of American English Do You Speak? According to this, I'm not as much of a southern gal as I'd like to think. I was 65% general American English and only 15% Dixie. I'll attribute it to moving around so much and picking up the lingo of the locals.
• The Birth Order Predictor: Amazingly, it correctly deduced I am a fourth-born.
• Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong? Apparently, I'm at the wrong end of the state. I should be down in Orange County.

Have fun looking around. I'll be back tonight or tomorrow with an update on tonight's ballgame.

You lose some, you win some!

Back from yet another ball game "away." This time it was a victory... 16-2. Our kids were on their games tonight (can't say "boys", because we have 2 girls, sisters, on our team). I think every single one of them had something they could point to in tonight's game as their contribution to the win, whether it was a hit, stolen bases, or fielding. Even Noah had some great stolen bases, plus he "took one for the team" to get on base. This win means another game tomorrow evening. We'll have a bit of a rush for me to get there from Joel's gymnastics class. I volunteered to bring snacks, so I'll be shopping for those in the morning.

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Emily is starting up a dog-walking business with a friend. They're meeting tomorrow to plan out their route. Her friend put up flyers today and has already had response to them, so it looks like they might actually make a little spending $$ this summer.

Fun and not so fun

Fun: So the little ones and I wound up going to the movies again yesterday while the boys were watching the Giants lose to the Pirates. We saw "RV." It was a fun movie... plenty of visual comedy for the younger crowd. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and if JoJo's character hadn't reminded me so much of my oldest, I would have enjoyed it even more. If I really thought taking our family RVing would cure her attitude, I'd be first in line at the rental place!

Not so fun: This morning's game was not as much fun. The team we played was well-experienced and very skilled. Thankfully, we did not have to play the double-header... another team had dropped out of the tournament, so they just left the slot open and gave the team we would have played a bye. We play that team tomorrow at 5:30.

Fun: After the game, we grilled hotdogs and then had an impromptu kids vs. parents baseball game. Everyone had a great time. Even Joel played, and Halle was a pinch-runner. I forgot the sunblock today, so I am sporting a bit of a reverse raccoon face right now. And no, I won't be posting any pictures. :)

Not so fun: The rest of the day will be spent with various household chores before heading over to Antioch to pick up Emily from youth group this evening. (Fun)

Giants and little people

Brian and Noah are off to see the San Francisco Giants play this afternoon. They took the ferry from Vallejo. Those two are learning how to get around... they are the only ones who have been anywhere in the Bay area by any method other than POV (privately-owned vehicle). They took the BART last winter to see a Raiders football game and now the ferry to this Giants game. Hopefully the rest of us will get a chance to try out these modes of transportation some day.

I drove Emily over to Antioch to participate in a service day with the youth group. We got there about 5 minutes after starting time and there were only two other teens there. I left them weeding the flowerbeds in front of the church building. Em is spending the night with some friends from church so she can go to church in the morning. The rest of us will be at Noah's baseball game (grr... I hate having to miss church for baseball.) Noah has a 10:00 game; if his team wins, he goes back Monday night at 8. Otherwise, he will have to play another game at 1:00. If that game is won, he has to go back Monday at 5:30. We are hoping for a 10am win. A 1pm win would play havoc with driving times.

Now on to the little people. With Emily gone and the big boys in San Francisco for the day, that leaves just me and the little ones. Looking for something to entertain them with... while still making a trip to the commissary for some necessities. Hmmm... time to search the paper for something to do.

Numbers game

Number of days till clean kitchen floor became sticky: 3 (I think that's a record.)

Number of times the van was filled up since last Friday: 4 (another record)

Number of practices Noah had this week: 4

Number of stars we give the new Disney/Pixar movie Cars: 5

Yes, we were among the many people thronging to the theater this afternoon to catch the latest from Pixar and were not disappointed. The soundtrack was great and the jokes were fun. The kids (and adults) loved how Pixar spoofed itself near the end, with "remakes" of some of its big hits, retitled to fit the car theme. I loved Larry the Cable Guy as Mater.... he was a hoot. Owen Wilson was a great choice for Lightning McQueen, and Paul Newman captured the character of Doc Hudson perfectly. I have to mention Bonnie Hunt... her characterization of Sally was all Bonnie. I'm not sure I could understand how anyone could see this movie and not like it.

A merry new day

Today is our initial cleaning day with Merry Maids. A team of 2 women have been here a little over 3 hours... I'm hoping that has more to do with the size of our house than how dirty it is! I think they are close to being finished, and so far, I am pretty impressed. It is strange to have people cleaning around you while you do apparently nothing (although Brian might say I have a lot of experience at that). Actually, I did fold and put away laundry in my bedroom while one of them was cleaning the master bathroom. Emily, however, refuses to work on folding and putting away her laundry until they are totally gone from the house.

Joel begins his new gymnastics class this evening. I'm looking forward to watching him again. Noah has a ball practice scheduled for the same time. Thank goodness that Brian is supposed to be home in time to take him.

Last night we booked airline tickets for August to go back to the midwest to visit family and friends. It will be a quick trip... we have to hurry back for Emily to start school. Next step is to reserve a rental van and book the kennel for the dog. Too bad I couldn't just find someone to stay in the house with him and the rat while we're gone.

Champs

With such a horrendously busy weekend, I had no time to post the sensational news that Noah's team won the minor league championship at the base. Now they play in Dixon this weekend (Sunday morning, of all times... but that's a subject for another post). They have 4 practices scheduled this week to get them ready to go. Let's hope it pays off.

There is much more to write, but no time to write it. Maybe tomorrow.

An ending and a beginning

We are nearing the end of Noah's first Little League season (2 games left in the championship tournament). Tonight's game was an 8-1 victory over the #3 seed (we are #2). Thursday evening, we play the #1 team. If we win that one, we play the final game on Saturday. Today's game was a good one with lots of action. Unfortunately, some of that action included our players getting hit by some bad pitches. "Way to take one for the team!" has become a common cheer for us.

Now on to beginnings.... While getting groceries at the commissary today, I noticed a fellow shopper who was wearing a tshirt advertising a gymnastics program. We've been wanting to get Joel involved in gymnastics to develop what seems to be a fairly natural talent for it, so I approached the other shopper and asked her about her shirt. It turned out that she is one of the coaches for the young boys at the gym. I explained our situation to her and she encouraged me to bring Joel in to the 4:00 pm class that day to try it out. He had a blast. He climbed a rope for the first time ever, on his first try, even. After the class, she told me she felt he should be in the next level class because he wouldn't be in the first level long enough... he was a very quick learner. She commented on his strength for his age and size, too. So now Joel will be starting classes on Tuesday evenings. He is beyond excited.

Noah and Halle begin swim lessons around the middle of June. Joel is on a waiting list for that session, since the classes for his level were already filled up.

Clean team

We are finally free of the old house. After many evenings and days of cleaning and scrubbing (most of which was done by Brian), we turned it back over to the owners earlier this evening. They were impressed with how clean the place was (I think it was cleaner than when we took possession), and the only thing we got "dinged" on was a small tear in the patio screen door near the handle. The owner was going to get a quote on getting it repaired and then deduct it from our deposit. I am betting her husband will wind up fixing it and it will probably cost less than $20 to fix... but we'll be charged whatever some other handyman would charge to come out and do it. We'll see. I just think that if we were in her position, we would probably just absorb that little repair. The place is in move-in condition; it's not too often that happens these days.

It's championship week for Noah's Little League division. We have a game tomorrow evening. If they win, there will be another one Thursday; if not, they will play on Wednesday. If they win Thursday, they will also play Saturday. This is going to be a BUSY week!

I'm looking forward to things settling down around here.