ok, i promise i will quit with the sports posts after this. you just have to realize that with three boys in the house, it's a pretty big part of who we are.

anyway. the game.

i was listening on the radio (which is actually way more intense than sitting at the game. i guess it's because there are no distractions) and was ready to turn it off at the seventh inning and go to bed. the muckdogs were down 7 to 1. i felt a lump in my gut for them, knowing that it would be the first time in years they haven't gone to the state play-offs.

right before i turned it off, the husband was up to bat so i decided to listen. he hit a single, so then i had to wait to see if he would get to run it home. he did. and so did two guys behind him.

which meant i had to stay up for the next inning, with a score of 7 to 4.

to make a long story short, the catcher for the muckdogs hit a grand slam in the eighth inning and they ended up winning the game 10 to 7.

i'm glad i stayed up for it. i think i grinned my way to sleep last night.

crud. crud. crud.

did i jinx them?

the husband's team lost their first district game last night in a not-very-pretty nine innings.

i felt bad afterward, like my secret wish for a quick end of the season might actually come true.

they can still make state, they just have to win on tuesday night and friday night to do it. which is a lot harder than just winning on the first night and coasting into it.

i take it all back. i really do want them to win, and go on to state. i see how much it means to all of them, and how my husband really would love to end his baseball career on a high note. and if it means that much to him, it means something to me, too.

so say it with me. let's go muckdogs. and let's really mean it this time.

the husband retired from amateur baseball this year. ahem. which means he sat out about oh, four or five games and then returned to third base.

anyway, the montrose muckdogs are playing in the district tournament this weekend, seeded #4. as always, of course i want to see them win a state championship...but if they lose, we get some free weekends without baseball before school starts.

it's always a hard call, but this is my wish: i want them to win. really, i do. it means a lot to all of them, and it may be the husband's last year...again. BUT if they are going to lose, let's not drag it out. let's lose early and not keep going only to be eliminated three weeks from now.

how do you think this would go over, rani? am i just thinking like a girl again? :)

why, yes. that IS a giant olympic sized ping pong table jutting out into the middle of our downstairs family room. how funny that you should notice.

grrr.

i can live with the fact (sort of) that the husband doesn't want real furniture down here so the boys can quickly convert the room into a football stadium. i can also live with the fact that i really can't put anything on the walls because of the football stadium. i can live with the air hockey table taking up space in what was supposed to be a little kitchen nook and bar.

i cannot live with this ping pong table. seriously. the thing is ugly, and it juts. in a big way. who needs a rock fireplace when you have a giant slab of black slate as your decorating focal point?
i was so angry about the ping pong table, i had to ride my bike for an hour to cool down. eventually, The Plan formed in my head and i came home a much gentler woman. i will give the ping pong table a month, maybe two. i know that this monstrosity won't get used. i will one day just put it away and the husband will have to get it back out again if he wants to play it.

the husband won't get it back out again.

i know this. and it is my ONLY shred of sanity at this point.

in the meantime, friggin' ping pong anyone?

she was gone for 18 days, and this morning...she came back. we had really given up hope for zoe. she's pretty skinny (for zoe), and her head is all scabby and her fur is all dirty and matted. she's even more skittish than ever today. she came in, ate some food, and as you can see, she sat at the door asking to go right back out.

after 18 days AWOL, i didn't let her.

i wish i could ask her where she's been. what did she eat? where did she sleep? did she encounter any scary creatures? did people try to catch her? was she lost?

is she happy to be back home? even just a little bit?

it did make me kind of sad when she came home and then wanted to leave right away again. but today, as she sleeps in a sunbeam on my bed, i have to think she came home for a reason.

one month until school starts.

am i the only one who is sad about this?

sigh.

i hate grocery shopping. hate. it.

so i load up about every two weeks and then try to cram this huge pile into one cart to take out to the car. tonite i had the milk jug on the very top, and right inside the lobby of the grocery store...it crashed to the floor and splashed milk all over me and the floor. i had a whole gallon of milk in my shoes.

i say to the store lady, "aw, man. i'm so sorry about the mess. but i think most of it landed inside my shoes."

big j hands me the wrecked jug and says, "if you hurry up and pour it back in here we can save all that money you spent on the milk. it IS nearly $4 a gallon now."

he is his father's son.

it hasn't been a good week for pets around here.

our big 10 year old crabby cat, Zoe, has been missing since july 4. i keep thinking she's just mad that we went on vacation, and she'll come home...but she's still not home. i'm not sure she's coming back. we all feel horrible, but we aren't giving up. maybe this time she was just REALLY mad. maybe?

the second kicker is with our black lab. she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia this week. she is having a hard time walking right now, and the vet said there is really nothing they can do short of hip replacement surgery (which we are actually considering...she is family, after all). she's on some meds now, and we're trying to take it easy on her. it's hard, because she lives to fetch. and she is an ace hunting dog...i'm not sure what this season will be like for her, or the husband. i told him we could get a puppy and start training it so he'll have a hunting partner, but his face went all sad and he said no. he just can't do that to sidney. they are pretty tight, and sidney is about the best dog on the planet.

so...it's been a sad week. if you have a pet, give it a hug and a pat right now from us. and if you see zoecat, send her home. we miss her.

little j turns 5! he got to have a pool party downtown at the pool. we invited some of his buddies (girls and boys) and their families, plus all his cousins from around the area. and of course, the highlight: big cousin Trevor came and even spent the night. we were at the pool from 5 until 8:30, where we had burgers and cake and ice cream. then the family came to the house and several of them spent the night. we had a fun sleepover, not much sleep but everyone was up and at 'em and ready to go to the lake the next morning. i even made pancakes and bacon. i don't think the smell of bacon has ever wafted through this house before. actually, the smell of breakfast doesn't often make its way into our home...it's hard to smell lucky charms and captain crunch.

anyway, we taught some more little people how to waterski, despite the fact that the lake is the consistency of tossed salad right now. i think our lake days are over for a few weeks unless we head to bigger waters. south dakota lakes just are just a little tough to swallow in july.

so...another birthday under our belts. my little j isn't quite so little anymore. sigh.

it's funny how i can get used to just about anything. you could call it lazy, but i call it adaptability. you know, survival skills. for example: about oh, a year ago, my two downstairs phones stopped working. so when the main phone rings and i'm in my downstairs office, i have to sprint like crazy up the stairs to answer it before the voicemail kicks in. i get four rings. why have i simply not purchased a new phone or two? i have no idea. i just...haven't. clients will call and i'm all breathless when i answer. they probably think...well...never mind what they probably think.

another example? this darned computer. as you know, my work email no longer works. i have just routed everyone to my personal email and i guess things seem to be fine. i have discovered a way to check my incoming work emails through my web provider. so i'll probably just keep rolling along like this until this stupid machine dies. which could really be any day. we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

i have a zillion examples like this. my truck has been missing a fog light for two years. the string fell off my utility room lightbulb so i can't turn on or off the light. the blue dragon is missing a fuel cap (ah, duct tape, you are truly a blessing). i went two years without a watch battery, but kept wearing the watch. our dishwasher isn't screwed into the bottom of our counter, so when you load the bottom the whole thing tips forward if you don't put your leg there to block it. my washing machine often won't rinse, and i have to run it three times on a special cycle to get the water out.

my mom would have all this stuff taken care of the same day it broke down. probably before then. i wish i was more like that, but i guess i'm just kind of broken and i haven't fixed me yet.

maybe tomorrow.

or not.

what an awesome 4th of july weekend! we were invited to camp at a place called north point, about two hours away on the missouri river (which is like a monster lake). so we packed up the blue dragon and a tent and joined three other families for a really fun time. i was a little apprehensive about the tent part, but we bought a nice air mattress and the difference was amazing once i convinced the husband to sleep next to the side of the tent. i have seen too many bear movies--the bear always claws through the side of the tent. i'm no dummy.

the funny part was that i packed all kinds of clothes for everyone and all kinds of food. the boys wore nothing but swim trunks for three days straight--including to bed. the same pair. for three days. the husband might have changed clothes once. as for food, we made two loaves of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and lived off of them. the corn on the cob is still on the cob. the watermelon is on my counter. we just didn't have time to eat, much less cook. we attempted to grill some chicken legs one night, but mostly out of guilt. i could have easily had lucky charms instead. but that's just the way we roll around here.

anyway. the highlight of the weekend was probably the waterskiing. we got little j a set of little skis for his birthday, and almost all the kids were able to get up and ski on them. i think they all felt pretty cool. we'll be using those a lot, for sure. there was also some pretty fierce tubing going on, and i even hopped on a jetski and drove for the first time. my personal highlight was the last bit of the day on sunday...we hit some really nice water and the waterskiing was fantastic. if i was in better shape, i could have skiied for miles.

all in all, it's just fun to get away and relax with nice people, good kids and a great location. north point is a thumbs up. who wants to go camping? we'll bring the peanut butter and jelly...

so it's only july and i keep on thinking how dang GOOD it is to be a jboy this summer.

my greatest hope is that they realize that they are lucky, and don't just take this stuff for granted.

so far this summer, the boys have been tubing (multiple times), learned to waterski, gone to the Omaha zoo, caught some fish, hit some waterparks, explored the world by bike (little j ditched the training wheels in april) played tons of baseball, slept in until after 8 nearly every morning, stayed up until nearly 11 every night, had some sleepovers, danced at a wedding, attended a golf clinic and a day camp, joined the webkinz craze, eaten roasted marshmellows by the fire, gone swimming, watched dad play baseball, had picnics and slept in a tent.

that's quite a list. i guess i should mention that i've been involved in most of this funfest, so my summer hasn't been so shabby either. the difference is, i'm aware of how lucky we are, and how great life is, and how good God is to let me be home with my boys like this.

ridiculously blessed. it fits.