We are now in the full swing of softball and baseball season again. After a few weeks of practice, now nearly every Tuesday and Thursday is a game, or two games if Abby and Nolan are overlapping evenings. It's fun, mostly, now that the weather has warmed up. Ava and Max get a little squirrely now and again if there's no park, but they always seem to make their own fun.
I will admit, though, I do like watching Nolan better than Abby, mostly because I don't feel the pressure like I do with Abby. When Abby plays, I want her to be... perfect. I know that's not possible, and I know that's not fair. But it's the ugly truth, what can I say. So, I get so nervous for her. Not only do I want her to catch, throw and hit, I also want her to know how to base run, how to make good decisions when she gets the ball and I want her to pay attention to every play, every game.
She's 8. I get that. Organized sports weren't even in my near horizon at that age. And even so, when I think back to the sports I played, what I learned was teamwork, hard work, the sense of accomplishment of a job well done and wanting to do better when I didn't quite measure up.Why do I expect so much from her?
But the really funny (and by funny I mean unfair) thing is that I like watching Nolan's game because, well, I don't harbor any of the same expectations of him. If he hits, great! If not, bummer, next time. If he catches, gets an out, pays attention, fabulous! If not, there's always next game. Why the discrepancy? Is it first kid, second kid? Girl, boy? What could cause that?
The upside is that I know it, so I temper it. I cheer for her but don't holler at her from the sidelines. I leave that up to the coach. Afterwards, I tell her she did a good job and don't rehash every play. I leave that up to Dave if he so desires. I remind myself that it's just a game on the line, not her entire life.
And then to preserve my sanity, when Abby and Nolan's games overlap, I watch Nolan.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
First movie of the year
Tonight we had our first outdoor movie of the year. It was a little worrisome all day because our nice day was a little cloudy. But, by late afternoon, the clouds starting to break and we were all outside playing various games, and a movie was an easy decision. We got out the projecter, set up the chairs, got out the computer, called some friends and watched Astroboy. The addition this time? Ava was there too! She's usually done for by 8:00 at the latest, but a late nap enabled her to stay up through the entire movie, til almost 10. She got a little squirly at the end, but all in all? Did a pretty good job sitting and watching with the rest of the kiddos!
Ten mile run today... I was happy with my time and how it felt, but I think, or rather I know, it took me longer to recover than it did to run it. Hmmmm....
Ten mile run today... I was happy with my time and how it felt, but I think, or rather I know, it took me longer to recover than it did to run it. Hmmmm....
Sunday, May 22, 2011
4/9
Today is the last day of my fourth week of training for a marathon. Have I told you I'm training for a marathon? Probably not. I'm a little afraid of saying it outloud. What if I don't do it. And I haven't actually signed up yet. But I do know the date, and I have printed out the registration form, and I even know the half-marathon I will run two weeks prior, in preparation. I think I can do it. This week I ran 3 miles on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, 3 on Thursday and 9 on Saturday. It felt good. Except when it didn't. And when it was over.
Sundays are cross-training days, so instead of running, I'm supposed to do something else for an hour. The past few weeks have been swimming, but today I took Abby roller blading. I forgot how fun that is, and I also forgot that I have no idea how to stop. The first wipe out, we were coming up to a cross street and I started slowing down. I could tell I was going to take a fall, so I steered myself to the side, went down the little ditch and went face first into the grass. I was laughing so hard, mostly because I was embarassed that I did it in front of a gaggle of boy high school track kids running. Someday they'll be old, too. I got up, brushed myself off, and we kept going. Then Abby decided she wanted to take a break on a bench. She made it no problem. As I slowed down and made my way to the bench, I was almost there when my feet went out from under me and I landed, hard, right on my bottom. I think I must have shrunk at least an inch from my vertebrae all being compressed together. I seriously didn't think I was going to be able to get up. But, fortunately, after a minute or two of sitting there, all was better and we kept going. Now, I have a nice huge bruise starting on my right cheek, and I am very sore. But, it was fun, and worth it. I like that Abby's getting big enough to do this stuff with!
I also like that tomorrow, Monday, is a rest day in my training schedule!
Sundays are cross-training days, so instead of running, I'm supposed to do something else for an hour. The past few weeks have been swimming, but today I took Abby roller blading. I forgot how fun that is, and I also forgot that I have no idea how to stop. The first wipe out, we were coming up to a cross street and I started slowing down. I could tell I was going to take a fall, so I steered myself to the side, went down the little ditch and went face first into the grass. I was laughing so hard, mostly because I was embarassed that I did it in front of a gaggle of boy high school track kids running. Someday they'll be old, too. I got up, brushed myself off, and we kept going. Then Abby decided she wanted to take a break on a bench. She made it no problem. As I slowed down and made my way to the bench, I was almost there when my feet went out from under me and I landed, hard, right on my bottom. I think I must have shrunk at least an inch from my vertebrae all being compressed together. I seriously didn't think I was going to be able to get up. But, fortunately, after a minute or two of sitting there, all was better and we kept going. Now, I have a nice huge bruise starting on my right cheek, and I am very sore. But, it was fun, and worth it. I like that Abby's getting big enough to do this stuff with!
I also like that tomorrow, Monday, is a rest day in my training schedule!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
How do you answer that?
All from Nolan today...
What if we were a family of naked moles? (Me: uhhhhh, I don't know.)
What if birds were mammals? (Me: uhhhhh, I don't know.)
Where do dolphins have hair? (Me: uhhhhh, on their backs?)
Does the church really have robins? (Me: uhhhhh, what?) You know, the people who pick the pope? (Me: uhhhhh, then laughing out loud. You mean cardinals?) YEAH! Those! Do they have them? (Me: Yes, Nolan, they do. (Finally, one I knew!!))
What if we were a family of naked moles? (Me: uhhhhh, I don't know.)
What if birds were mammals? (Me: uhhhhh, I don't know.)
Where do dolphins have hair? (Me: uhhhhh, on their backs?)
Does the church really have robins? (Me: uhhhhh, what?) You know, the people who pick the pope? (Me: uhhhhh, then laughing out loud. You mean cardinals?) YEAH! Those! Do they have them? (Me: Yes, Nolan, they do. (Finally, one I knew!!))
Saturday, May 14, 2011
What do you do at 11 AM on Saturday morning?
Since it was cold, yucky and rainy today, I was headed to the Y running in. I was getting close (for those of you around here, on Hwy 45, between Paradise and 33) when I spotted a car swerving in and out of his lane, onto the shoulder, back onto the road, going about 40 mph. I very carefully passed him and the guy looked nearly passed out at the wheel. SCARY! So, I've never really done this, but I called 911. He was seriously that dangerously. I talked to the dispatcher, who transferred me to another dispatcher. I gave her car make, model, license plate number. I told her he got off at 33 east. I gave her the best description I could while sitting in a parking lot. She put me on hold to notify the officers, and I started driving back to the Y. She came back on the line and let me know the officer needed to talk to me, so he came to the Y and I met with him to let him know what I know. Easy enough.
A little while later, as I was completing my first mile, someone from the Y came to get me to let me know the police officer needed to talk to me again. I went up to meet him and he needed a written statement from me. Apparently, they traced the guys license plate to a house in West Bend, and two officers went to meet him. They pulled him over before he got home, gave him a drunk driving test, and sure enough! They brought him into custody for an OWI. Woo Hoo!!!
Clearly I was way excited, but totally shaking. Never called 911 before! I'm just happy they didn't pull the guy over and then it turned out he was just fine. That would have been embarassing. But what I want to know is... Who the heck gets pulled over for drunk driving at 11 in the morning?? Was he going home from an all nighter? Did he start at 7 this morning? What's the story? Sadly, my guess it happens more than I'd like to think
A little while later, as I was completing my first mile, someone from the Y came to get me to let me know the police officer needed to talk to me again. I went up to meet him and he needed a written statement from me. Apparently, they traced the guys license plate to a house in West Bend, and two officers went to meet him. They pulled him over before he got home, gave him a drunk driving test, and sure enough! They brought him into custody for an OWI. Woo Hoo!!!
Clearly I was way excited, but totally shaking. Never called 911 before! I'm just happy they didn't pull the guy over and then it turned out he was just fine. That would have been embarassing. But what I want to know is... Who the heck gets pulled over for drunk driving at 11 in the morning?? Was he going home from an all nighter? Did he start at 7 this morning? What's the story? Sadly, my guess it happens more than I'd like to think
Friday, May 13, 2011
Tween
- a girl between the ages of 9-14
- too old for toys, but too young for boys
- a blend of teen and between
I recently went on safari, and caught this very rare video of three tweens together, along with what appears to be a tween in training:
And here, they can be heard making their call of the wild. Fortunately, I had an iTouch I could throw to them and it seemed to keep them occupied long enough for me to make my escape.
Scary stuff!!!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
So fancy!
I had to post because, in the mail today, I got a new computer! Yeah!! We've been using a laptop, that I acutally got used, that's probably six years old now. It wasn't a big deal because Dave and I both had laptops from work, but now that Dave's no longer working, we decided a home computer would be a good idea. And so, here it is! A post from my new computer. I realize it's no different for you, but for me, it's fabulous!
The green-eyed monster
I'll admit it, I'm jealous. These are the days I loved staying home with the kids. When finally, finally!, we could leave the house, go to parks, enjoy the sun! When after naptime we could go outside and take a walk, play with chalk, and wait for the bigs to come home, and then stay outside until Daddy came buzzing up the street and everyone would run to meet him. It's not a debilitating jealousy, fortunately, where I'm angry or resentful. Just more of a wistful one, where when Dave tells me about his day, I'm happy they had a great time, and wish I could have been a part of it.
But on the other hand, I feel like I'm doing things with the kids that I never did before. Last night I actually ran around at the playground with Abby, Max and Ava, instead of just sitting and watching Nolan's practice. At bedtime, when Abby and Nolan were still reading their books, I climbed into bed with Max and he told me stories about Batman, about sharks, and we played the staring game, except while he stared, he told me to blink, and then I lost. Before I was with them all the time, but never really took the time with them. Now that I'm not with them, I think I appreciate them that much more.
And, there's other things that I don't have to do. Like make breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or do laundry, vacuum or clean the toilets. Yardwork. Much of anything around the house, in fact. Dave has wholly and sufficiently taken that over. Some things are hard to give up... it turns out I like doing homework with Abby, and I'm pretty paranoid that we're going to miss a baseball practice or game. But mostly, I go to work, I do my job, I come home and eat dinner and hang out with the family. Not a bad gig if you can get it!!
But on the other hand, I feel like I'm doing things with the kids that I never did before. Last night I actually ran around at the playground with Abby, Max and Ava, instead of just sitting and watching Nolan's practice. At bedtime, when Abby and Nolan were still reading their books, I climbed into bed with Max and he told me stories about Batman, about sharks, and we played the staring game, except while he stared, he told me to blink, and then I lost. Before I was with them all the time, but never really took the time with them. Now that I'm not with them, I think I appreciate them that much more.
And, there's other things that I don't have to do. Like make breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or do laundry, vacuum or clean the toilets. Yardwork. Much of anything around the house, in fact. Dave has wholly and sufficiently taken that over. Some things are hard to give up... it turns out I like doing homework with Abby, and I'm pretty paranoid that we're going to miss a baseball practice or game. But mostly, I go to work, I do my job, I come home and eat dinner and hang out with the family. Not a bad gig if you can get it!!
Monday, May 9, 2011
If you thought watching TV was relaxing...
I kept track of all the things Abby said for 15 minutes of watching TV. It's funny, but oh my goodness somedays it's like water torture, all the comments and questions! The funny thing is is that somewhere in the middle of it all, she'll say, "Boy, I'm chatty today! I just can't keep my mouth closed!" I know, I know. Someday I will long for this day, but usually I can't help but think, "NO KIDDING!!!"
How is it a brain teaser if you already know it?
What is a deadline?
At church, I don’t know what they’re talking about so I just look at the priest and uhhhh.
On the teenage channel, I like Teen Nick and Drake and Josh, but I don’t watch the other stuff. When I was like 7 I had it on for like one minute and it was bad. They show lots of skin, like ProActive and stuff. But I think it’s because teenagers care about their skin.
Do you go to Expedia? Where do we go?
How can they direct it? Isn’t it a true story? How do they act it out?
I think the chicken came first.
That’s pretty neat, isn’t it? How do they make those eggs like that?
Can we see if House Hunters is on?
He said we can’t afford a million dollar house. That’s what he said.
My stomach hurts so I’m going to go to the bathroom.
15 minutes. Someday I'll give you the full version!!!
How is it a brain teaser if you already know it?
What is a deadline?
At church, I don’t know what they’re talking about so I just look at the priest and uhhhh.
On the teenage channel, I like Teen Nick and Drake and Josh, but I don’t watch the other stuff. When I was like 7 I had it on for like one minute and it was bad. They show lots of skin, like ProActive and stuff. But I think it’s because teenagers care about their skin.
Do you go to Expedia? Where do we go?
How can they direct it? Isn’t it a true story? How do they act it out?
I think the chicken came first.
That’s pretty neat, isn’t it? How do they make those eggs like that?
Can we see if House Hunters is on?
He said we can’t afford a million dollar house. That’s what he said.
My stomach hurts so I’m going to go to the bathroom.
15 minutes. Someday I'll give you the full version!!!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The perfect Mother's Day
I had a great Mother's Day! We did... nothing. :) I slept in a little, I read my book a little, I napped a little, I played Wii a little, I took a little bike ride, ate I a lot of shrimp boil! The kids gave me all their presents they made in school, which were really sweet, and then Dave and the kids did a book where you can record the answers to certain questions (What does mommy do to make you feel better when you're having a bad day?). Some were sweet, and some were pretty funny! I had the perfect amount of just sitting quietly today all by myself, mixed with playing with the kids. On Friday we got some new Wii and DS games (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa for the gift cards from Christmas!), and Abby got Just Dance. It was so much fun to watch all of them dance (including Ava!), and even more fun to join in and dance myself. In fact, it's even a good workout!
Tomorrow starts week 2 of work. It was a good week, but a long one. I have way too much time on my hands, and am looking forward to actually doing things this week. I have plenty that I could do, but research and getting files ready for projects coming up just isn't my thing. And it leaves me very distracted by other things. One of the strangest parts, though, is that I basically know everybody, but I'm not really in a "group." The people I sit with is the group I've sat with forever, but I don't work with them anymore. Some of the people are newer and some have been there awhile. I never really needed to know the new people well, and never had the time when I worked part-time to get to know them, so they all know each other and I'm kind of on the outside. After so many years, it's a strange place to be! Once I get my desk moved to my new group, and I start on my new projects, I know I'll feel much more acclimated, but until then, I'm definitely a fish out of water.
To all the mom's--my mom, my sister, my mother-in-law, my aunts, my friends--I hope your day was fantastic, and that you were able to do today whatever was perfect for you!
Tomorrow starts week 2 of work. It was a good week, but a long one. I have way too much time on my hands, and am looking forward to actually doing things this week. I have plenty that I could do, but research and getting files ready for projects coming up just isn't my thing. And it leaves me very distracted by other things. One of the strangest parts, though, is that I basically know everybody, but I'm not really in a "group." The people I sit with is the group I've sat with forever, but I don't work with them anymore. Some of the people are newer and some have been there awhile. I never really needed to know the new people well, and never had the time when I worked part-time to get to know them, so they all know each other and I'm kind of on the outside. After so many years, it's a strange place to be! Once I get my desk moved to my new group, and I start on my new projects, I know I'll feel much more acclimated, but until then, I'm definitely a fish out of water.
To all the mom's--my mom, my sister, my mother-in-law, my aunts, my friends--I hope your day was fantastic, and that you were able to do today whatever was perfect for you!
Monday, May 2, 2011
So the same, and so different
It's Monday morning at 8:45. The kids are just starting school. I left for work this morning before they left for school. And I will leave for work the rest of this week before they leave for school. It's a strange thing. If I were at Kohl's, it would have been a very nerve-wracking day... new people, company, policy, training, everything. But here, I know everyone, know what I'm going to be doing. And still, it's a strange thing, knowing I can't really come and go as I please (that salary vs hourly thing!), that I'm here every day, that the kids will go to school and come home and my role will be different. I know it will be fine, it's just a different place to be.
We had a great, but exhausting weekend. Friday night we went to see the play Rock of Ages with our neighbors Brenda and Mayur. We so rarely get a babysitter that it was nice just to do that, and the play was way funny. Basically a story based on '80s rock songs. We sang loudly, with some of us (Dave) knowing the words more than others of us (the rest of us). It was great and we got home just after midnight... and then got up at 4 AM to leave for Minnesota for our nephew's First Communion. We were all tired, but we got up there in good time and the kids had a lot of fun hanging out with their cousins. We spent Saturday night, went to church Sunday morning and then headed back home yesterday afternoon. A lot of time in the car in two days, but the kids were troopers, and it was worth it to hang out with them for a little bit!
We had a great, but exhausting weekend. Friday night we went to see the play Rock of Ages with our neighbors Brenda and Mayur. We so rarely get a babysitter that it was nice just to do that, and the play was way funny. Basically a story based on '80s rock songs. We sang loudly, with some of us (Dave) knowing the words more than others of us (the rest of us). It was great and we got home just after midnight... and then got up at 4 AM to leave for Minnesota for our nephew's First Communion. We were all tired, but we got up there in good time and the kids had a lot of fun hanging out with their cousins. We spent Saturday night, went to church Sunday morning and then headed back home yesterday afternoon. A lot of time in the car in two days, but the kids were troopers, and it was worth it to hang out with them for a little bit!
