Baseball Mom

Tidbits

>I am bored to death with all of this down time.  There have been NO good jobs on subfinder for me, and I've been off for two weeks now!  It's sucky financially, and while there are plenty of things I could do around my pit of a house, I can't seem to make myself start them.  I did clean off the deck and a table out there, that have been piled with some of my dad's belongings since he died.  It was quite freeing to get rid of some of it, and put the rest where it belongs.

>The afternoons have NOT been boring in the least.  Mondays and Tuesdays, we get to stay home, Wednesday T and Alex both have practices, Thursday Alex has practice with his other team, and Friday too.  My middle school booster club meets once a month on Mondays, but lately they've been wanting to meet more, and I've just had to skip a couple.  I have committed to one night a month, and that's enough!  The first Thursday of the month, I have PTA meetings, and that means that I have to take Alex out to his practice in Lakewood, which is about 15 minutes away, then come back, go to the pta meeting that's a half block from my house, and go back out to his practice to pick him up so Coach can go finish his stocking job at the base.  He goes out there before practice to do as much as he can, then finishes afterward.  Starting next week, Alex will have games on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, so he won't make the practices for his other team.  His coaches are aware of it, and fine with it, since they know we are always working with him, and he is playing baseball while he's not there. 

>T has been doing GREAT with his hitting, and got a new bat to help him out.  He's always wanted a 'big barrel' (one that's fatter at the top than a normal bat) so Coach found one at a sports store nearby that was a NICE DeMarini bat, regularly 189 bucks, on sale for 50% off.  He is also being played at first base a lot, which makes him happy.  He's much more confident this year, and that helps him at first.  He's always played second, and still will, but is looking forward to playing first sometimes.  Alex caught a fly ball at practice the other day, and then hit a double, then his last at bat he got a home run.  He was so happy! 

>Our weekends have been filled with domestic chores lately.  We've been trying to lay off spending a lot of money, and are finding that staying home and bbq'ing is just as much fun as going places.  I just can't see spending as much on going out to dinner as we used to, when our food is better and cheaper!  We made a dry rub this weekend (I'm having fun experimenting with different spices) and slow cooked two briskets on the charcoal grill.  The first one was a little tough, and I think it could have been done more-the well done pieces were more tender-but the flavor was SOOOOOO good.  Coach put mesquite chips on the charcoal, so it was spicy and smoky and made awesome sandwiches!  We're heating up the second one tonight, and eating it for dinner.  This weekend, Coach caulked the trailer seams-apparently the trailer flexes as it goes down the road, and we had a leak around the door, which caused a soft spot in the floor.  He also finished fixing the floor, and is going to pressure wash it next weekend.  He pulled the boat out of our neighbor's yard where he's been keeping it, and as I told him, it had mucho water in it.  He had a tarp over it, but it leaked a lot.  He parked it on our hill and drained the water out, but it needs to be pressure washed because it's a little green inside-yuk!  He also got it started (thank you god) so HOPEFULLY it won't have to go into the shop this year like the past two, when the motor wouldn't start.  The front of our house now looks like a parking lot for outdoor toys.

>My grandma is not doing so well lately, and I'm worried about her.  She's 87, and was having some back pain which was getting better, but then she fell outside the credit union, and it's really bad.  She keeps calling her doctor, but he's not calling her back...he told her to go home and just 'let it heal'.  WTF?  She saw a chiropractor on Friday, who took a bunch of x-rays, and is going to let her know today if he can help her.  I hope so!  She's my last grandparent, and I worry about her.

Ripoff city

I went bat shopping for T today.  If you've ever shopped for bats, you know that a better one can cost up to $400, but that was NOT what I was planning to spend!  Last year, I scored and got a $269 bat for $69 because it was mismarked, so that was awesome!  This year, unfortunately, with the new league we're playing in, there are new rules, so that bat is not usable.  I don't know if you have a Joe's sports near you, but even if not, you've probably heard that they're going out of business.  I figured that they might have some good deals, so I went over there today.  I looked at bats for a LONG time, and you may think I'm weird, but it's fun for me.  Throughout the store, there were displays that had __ % off for certain things, but NOT the bats.  I saw one in the baseball department, but their stuff was SO picked over, I told Coach that they must have known for some time that they were going out of business, and not ordered stuff on purpose.  I found a couple bats discounted to like $99.99, but no really good deals.  The one I really liked was still $269, which, no.  A guy was stocking footballs nearby, so I asked him if their bats were going to come down in price at all, and he said, "Yeah, eventually, but we don't know when...it's a matter of time."  He also said that they hiked the prices up, then took 20% off of those higher prices...geez.  I found a manager, and asked her if they were going to lower their prices on bats, and she said that they were priced as marked, and they knew nothing else (customer service has gone by the wayside, apparently), so I left and went to Sports Authority.  I saw many of the same bats, and at MUCH better prices.  Some were marked down to $59, from like $199.  I'm taking T back there on Wednesday, because I am definitely not going to the ripoff 'sale' at Joe's.

wild weekend

We had quite the crazy weekend around here.  It was good, but it was really full of 'stuff'.  Friday night, Alex had practice, so we all went out and watched, then went out to dinner.  Saturday morning, he had a 'skills day' for his other team, so we got up and ready, and of course, everyone (cough*coach*cough) was stressing out about getting there on time.  We got there, and only five kids from his team showed up, and it was like a 15 minute thing, where they let the kids hit off of a tee (he doesn't play tball), throw into the backstop, and run around the bases.  Total waste of time.  They didn't even help the kids with their stance, tell them anything about how to hit, run, or throw, etc.  At 1:30 he had pictures with his other team, then we headed home to get ready for T's practice and have some lunch.  T had a friend spending the night after practice, and while we were at his practice, the other T wanted to spend the night too, so of course that was fine with us!  I was happy that he wanted to do that, he's been so sad about his aunt.  The kids had a great practice, T was hitting like crazy!  I'm going to go look for a new big-barrel bat for him because he needs a different one to stay within the rules for this new league.  After that, we went to the gas station and the boys ran in to get ice cream sandwiches, then we went home so they could have an airsoft fight.  I made potato salad, and Coach grilled ribs on the charcoal bbq, while we sat out back and chilled for awhile.  The kids stayed up most of the night, of course, and the next day they went skateboarding ALL DAY until like 8 last night.  It was so beautiful, I'm glad they could take advantage of the weather.  Today is beautiful too, but there is a giant dumptruck parked right in front of my house, behind the trailer, and another truck behind that, and a backhoe, because we have some sort of water leak on our street, so they're digging it all up.  Guess I'm staying home today!  I'm going to try to get some work done on the two decks, and get them ready for summer.

Flashback Friday

 

My boys and their gingerbread house-I think Alex was 11 mos. and T was almost 7...I dunno, my brain is fried!  Maybe they were 23 mos. and 8.

Lockdown

Yesterday, as I was running around trying to get laundry done before T came home, my friend C called.  She was at the middle school, and the kids were not coming out at the normal time.  She was also wanting me to call the district offices to find out WHY THERE WAS A POLICE OFFICER WITH A RIFLE OUTSIDE sneaking around.  I, of course, freaked out.  She said she had called the school office, and all they would tell her was that there was a lockdown and they weren't sure how long it was going to last.  I called the district public information office, while flipping channels to see if anything was on the news, all the while thinking, Columbine!  The district info. office didn't know a thing about it!  The lady took my name and number, and said she'd call back.  About 10 minutes later, she called me back with very vague information, along the lines of, "Yes, Mason is in lockdown, and all I can tell you is that it is a precautionary measure and all students are accounted for and safe."  Well, that made me feel a LITTLE better, since everyone was, in fact, safe.  They were released about 30 minutes later, and it turns out that some idiot kid brought an unloaded handgun to school from his dad's collection, along with some ammo, to trade for a Playstation Portable.  The swat team had to check every locker in the school, because the parents reported that one more gun was missing from their house.  The kid is now in juvenile hall, expelled permanently.  My question is, where's the other gun?  Scary.

Sadness...

I know I've talked many times about my best friends, C and E on here.  Their son is T's best friend, and has been for a long time-about 8 years....which is more than half of their lives!  They are the best...we love their family, and do a lot together, camp, baseball, fires, etc.  We were there yesterday, and the boys had a big soft air gun birthday for the other T (E and C's son).  They had a ball, and got wild and crazy all over the neighborhood.  We stayed and just visited with E and C.  I do need to say that I don't have a lot of close friends, and I'd trust these guys with my life, and my kids' lives too.  This morning, E called and left a message on my phone, because I turn it off at night when we're sleeping in.  He sounded weird, and wanted me to call him right away.  I called their house, and C answered.  She, too, sounded strange.  She'd just gotten a phone call that her sister had committed suicide last night.  C and T had just been down to visit them over spring break last week in Arizona, so you can imagine the shock...even more so since they had just seen her!  She shot herself in the heart, and her husband found her still alive, but not for long.  I can not imagine how he and her daughters feel.  They will always remember Easter this way.  The other T took this VERY hard, as you can imagine.  They wanted to know if he could come over for awhile, and just hang out with my T.  I was so touched that he was turning to my son as his support system.  My house has always been his second home, and he treats us, as we do him, like family.  I love him like another son, and we are friends as well.  Coach went to pick him up, and he walked in and his face just devastated me.  I asked him how he was, and he said, "I've been better."  I talked to him for a little while, and then he went in with the boys.  I had explained to them what happened, and they couldn't really grasp the concept, but they knew that their friend was coming over, and that he was sad and in need of a friend right now.  T and him took off on a walk, and when they got back, my T pulled me aside and said that they had 'talked it out', and that he hugged him while he cried, and he was feeling better now.  I was SO PROUD of my boy, who is seeing the uglier side of adulthood for the first time.  They're 13...life is supposed to be fun, and last forever, yet they are seeing that that's not always the case.  After their walk, they just sat in the living room and watched TV, all three boys, who were filled with such joy the day before while playing little boy games...silent.  Even Alex, who at 7 is way too young to understand, and is not the quietest kid in the world.  Silent.  T's brothers came by (they're 17 and 22), and checked on him.  He went out on the porch and talked to them, and I looked out and saw his biggest brother just hugging him for the longest time, while they both cried.  Alex asked me what they were doing, and all I could say through my tears was that they were just brothers, being sad.  I ache for that family.  I feel so helpless, and don't know how I can help, but I told them to please, just ask.  I will do whatever I can to help them through this.  I ask you to keep them in your thoughts and prayers, because they have a long road ahead.  Suicide is such a selfish act, and you can bet that we had a talk with T about other options when you're feeling sad and hopeless...I NEVER want anyone in my family to go through what they are going through. 

HAPPY EASTER, Y'ALL!

I love Easter, it's one of my favorite holidays!

 

 

Hope you all have a great one!

Grrrrrrr

I am so FRUSTRATED!  Coach and two friends are coaching Alex's coach pitch team this year.  I am the team parent (big surprise) for this team, as well as T's team.  Last night, after Alex's practice, we had a team meeting to tell parents about the jerseys and hats that we found, for a good deal, and take a poll on who would be willing to purchase one.  Everyone was told that we were thinking of doing a couple of 8U tournaments, and if we did, we'd need to all have the same uniforms--decent ones.  The coaches said that if anyone didn't want to do it, then the rest of the players would not be able to do it either.  The vote, taken by me, confidentially, was 12 yes' and 3 nos.  As a result, the kids will have to wear the plain t-shirts and plain adjustable hats that the city provides to them.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't like an 8 year old select team or anything.  The coaches just wanted to get nice uniforms, because they thought the kids would feel  a lot of team pride, and with the idea that the kids would continue to play with us for a few years, and be able to wear them for more than one year.  We are probably moving them to the PONY league that we used to be in next year, so they will need uniforms anyway.  I guess some parents (whose kids all go to the same private school, and are evidently a tight group of friends) didn't feel that it was a good idea, because we were blasted from all sides by these three families.  They even CALLED some of the families that they know, who had already said yes, and asked them to change their vote.  Whatever.  Coach is so pissed, he just said to forget it.  These kids will not be invited to tournaments, unfortunately, because their parents don't want to support this.  They have no idea what the coaches go through to coach their little darlings, and how two of them have TWO JOBS, and have to go to job #2 after practice, and still are coaching.  They also don't know that in the city adjoining theirs, where Alex plays on another coach pitch team that has 20 kids on it, there are enough kids to fill 7 more coach pitch teams, and five more tball teams, but there are not enough coaches for all of them.  They also don't know that it is NOT EASY to find a coach that wants to continue with his team for more than one year.  They have no idea how lucky they were to find three dedicated coaches that WANT to be there.  I guess those are the kinds of parents that we don't WANT to stay on the team with us next year.  Good thing we found out now!

Sun!

What a beautiful day we had here today.  Yesterday was sunny, but not so warm, and today turned out to be 70 degrees and gorgeous.  It was obvious that everyone needed it, because there were tons of people outside, walking dogs, biking, walking, running, yard working, you name it!  Yesterday, T had his first practice, and it was so much fun to be out there enjoying the field and the weather.  We went to E and C's for a bbq and fire after that, and it was like being on vacation!  Sitting around the campfire is just like camping sometimes, when you can't have the real thing...friends and fun are so important!  Today we got up and had pancakes and sausage, then headed out to our favorite nearby campground to walk the trails and see the sights, and sites :)  We're going there for Memorial Day weekend, and wanted to see the site that we reserved, because we've heard that they have been cutting down a lot of trees lately.  It's actually  nice, because the sites up in the trees were always dark and shady.  We prefer to be at the beach sites, but they were all gone when we went to reserve sites.  We walked through the park and the kids played in the creek, and had lots of fun and some exercise as well!  We wanted to take Candy, but she was injured yesterday when the dogs decided to escape and the kids had to chase them.  She had slipped her collar, and Alex had to tackle her to keep her still.  She's limping around a bit, but I think she'll be fine.  Zip is a bad influence because she would NEVER leave the yard without him egging her on.  When we got back, some neighbors wanted us to keep their kids while they went on a motorcycle ride.  We 'owed' them from our trip to Disneyland, when they took care of our dogs, so we had the kids over.  Alex is friends with the little boy, but his sister is older than him and verrrrry dramatic.  They don't get outside much, and are pale, fragile, and quite the tattletales.  Our rough and tumble boys overwhelm them, so the afternoon was spent being a referee, and trying to discourage tattling, while also being fair to them.  It was not my idea of the ideal way to spend the first nice day of spring!  I got sick of the sister saying that she hates coming over because our dog bugs her, because she licks her, and how Alex is always 'mean to her'.  Being mean to her consists of he and her brother hiding from her and playing outside while she is inside.  Whatever.  I told her, finally, that if she hates coming over so much, maybe she should ask her parents to find a babysitter that would come to their house so she could stay home!  After they left, I went out onto the deck, because it is still warm, and read for awhile, bbq'd burgers and hot dogs for the boys' dinner, and am now running a bath for Alex, since tomorrow is BACK TO SCHOOL!  It's been a pretty good break, and now I think they're ready to go back to the routine!