Hissss-sterical

Well here's a mood killer for you...

Hubby and I enjoyed our last night "alone" by going to dinner at El Mezcal. Enjoyed a tasty meal followed up with some sort of deep-fried cheesecake. Yum. I thought, this is going to be a good date night.

Got home and walked right past this, like it must have been 2 inches from me and my bare feet in sandals....

Yeah, I know. Major mood killer! EEEEEEK!

I must say when Jim saw it -- after he had walked past it without seeing it too -- we were both pretty freaked. Forgive me, but I just couldn't stop saying words that started with F! Just freakin' freaky. To put it mildly.

Anyway, Jim called the next door neighbor over and I grabbed the camera. Even though my hands were shaking and I couldn't focus it and I couldn't stop that string of F words -- I still had to take a darn photo for my blog!

I'm pretty crazy when I'm hisssss-sterical.

So Jim and Mick got some shovels and I figured they were going to slaughter it. I didn't need to see that so I locked myself in the house -- perhaps for forever -- so I wouldn't have to witness that! But they didn't kill it. They just threw it across the creek!

Uhm, guys, if it comes back, I so am having this heart attack I started to have 2 hours ago! Yikes.

The only good news is that a Bull Snake is non-venomous. So even though they can be 6 feet long -- and this one was more like 3 I think -- they can't kill us humans. We can, however, die of the aforementioned heart attack.

Any bets on what I am going to dream about tonight. S-s-s-sweet dreams!

Campin' Carter

Anyone whose daily routine includes tucking a special someone into bed and getting a hug and kiss goodnight -- every night -- knows the reason for my loneliness this week.

Anyone who has ever gone to bed in an old sleeping bag, smelling of bug spray, campfire smoke and sweat -- but with a smile on their face -- knows my feelings are pretty selfish. Camp is awesome and I am so glad Carter is experiencing it!

Still, it's pretty quiet around here.

Going into this week, he was more nervous than I expected. That surprised me. I mean there's a dozen kids from our confirmation class going with, including his best buddy Clayton, so it's not like he's not going to know anyone. Still, he had some concerns about the "unknown" at Imago Dei Village.

I did my best to show him information online and share my own experiences as a young camper and later as a counselor and lifeguard at Luther Point. I didn't want to minimize his concerns but I couldn't help thinking: There's no way you won't have fun! Camp is awesome!

Hopefully I am right. I won't know until I pick him up on Friday.

That's been the hard part for me. Sure, he's only 90 minutes away in Clintonville. And sure, he's been on week-long vacations away from home before. But he's always been able to call every night to say hi and tell us about his day. But a week at camp means roughing it. And for teens these days that means no cell phones. And therefore, no communication with home unless they, gasp, actually write a letter!

For my part -- and this is purely therapeutic for me -- I made sure he got mail every day. I sent a card on Saturday to arrive Monday, one on Monday to arrive Tuesday, etc. Either he feels good about hearing what's happening on the home front .... or he's getting ribbed about being a momma's boy.

I don't care. He IS my boy. But I do hope he is, as they say, a happy camper.

We'll find out in 39 hours. Not that I'm counting.

Age is Just a Number

For some reason, I lose track of my age during non-milestone years. If it's between one of those 5-year deals, then I just guess. Am I 36 or 37? No, 40. And now, am I 41 or 42? No, this is the 3rd anniversary of your Birthday Extravaganza!

What? Already?

Time does fly when you're having fun ... and your body fights you on it!

But for a non-milestone, weekday birthday, it was a darn good one.

Hubby worked from home today so he could could be here when they delivered our new flat-screen TV. That was just coincidentally arriving on my birthday. I'm pretty sure I'm not in line for that big of a gift! So I didn't get to see him all day and our plan to golf right after work in Iola had to be revised.

My first stop of the day was the chiropractor. If that's not a sign of age, I don't know what is.

Then it was off to a normal workday... with cake. I made a Hornet's Nest Cake last night so I would have something to share. And could handle the leftovers, of course. Went for a 4.3-mile run at lunch. (It just looked like a good number.)

On the way home, I had permission to stop at King Cone and have ice cream for supper. Had a little cup of After Dinner Mint ice cream so I took care of my mint and my ice cream!

Got home and opened the non-TV gifts from hubby. Two very cool Minnesota Twins shirts that I am not ashamed to wear. No matter how their season is going! I was excited one of them is a tank top since we'll be at Target Field in 6 days and July 4th is typically hot. Can't wait!

At 6 p.m., Jim and I went golfing at The Ridges. Managed to get 9 holes in before the sun started setting. Shot a 56 and I will take that my second time out this year. (And thanks, hubby, for allowing the 3 Birthday Mulligans!!)

Got home in time to read lots of birthday e-wishes from family and friends and my twin sister. The only one I will not hear from -- for the first time in 13 years -- is my baby boy! I somehow suspect his day at camp was just as good as mine, though. It's his baptism birthday today, so maybe he got cake, too!

If not, I'll save him a piece. Not sure if they'll be any ice cream left, though!

Wild Life

When my 50-year-old brother throws a wild party, he doesn't skimp on the WILD.

He sent us out (voluntarily, of course) into the wilds to see what we could capture in our in our minds or with our cameras... Interesting textures, brilliant colors, unusual wildlife. I think I saw it all! Here are just few of the highlights:

First, the splash of color...
Never have I seen mushrooms like this. My sister and I were walking on a path and just happened to glance left and saw them aways into the woods. Not hard to miss when they were so big and brilliant!
This one on the side of the fallen log was way bigger than a bread box! Weird, huh?

I like to call this next section "A Bug's Life"...
I was not kidding about the variety of dragonflies. I wish they would have spread their wings, but I still enjoy the contrast.

And their big, buggy eyes are only slightly disturbing compared to other images further down!

This one I was happy to see some of the "veins" in the wings and on the leaves. This was only in about 4 tries, so not bad.

This goes to show they are not all pretty. This brown-eyed bandit is downright ugly and he creeps me out a bit. I actually saw him on this branch in the ditch when we were walking back to the park parking lot. Yes, I've got an eagle eye now!

Or so I thought. I found out as I cropped in a few pictures that I got more than I bargained for.

WARNING: This next section is PG...

As in Pretty Gross! I did not know this guy was eating a Daddy Longleg for lunch when I tried to capture him on this fern. Ewwww!

And as in Pretty Graphic.... I did not know when I was focusing on the dragonfly on this leaf that he had landed smack in the middle of a "bug bedroom." See the husband and wife in the foreground are having some noontime fun!

Sorry... Here's something to get that image out of your head...
Scenic and definitely wild. That's how we party in the Northwoods!

We Just Landed

I feel like we've been on a whirlwind tour this weekend. But 959 miles later, we are home safely and just in time to get to bed.

Had a great day today. Will have to write more tomorrow when my eyes are not glazing over -- well they might be worse tomorrow -- but in a nutshell....

Sent Carter off to camp and am missing him like crazy already! I had to go hug his pillow goodnight just to breathe in the scent of him. This is going to be a long week for Momma... no calls, no email, no contact with my baby. I'll have to distract myself with some fun with Daddy!

We had a great trip over to Menominee, Mich. Got to surprise my great old friends Sally and Cindy at the graduation party. And when I say "old" I just mean longevity ... 21 years since we met at the newspaper in Menominee and have stayed connected through a lot of interesting life experiences since then. So very, very, very good to see them and their families!

After we left the party, we saw some of my old haunts -- namely my waterfront beaches and my lighthouse!

Since we were traveling through Green Bay, we stopped to see our friends Scott and Sandy -- the newlyweds -- on the way home. Had a short but nice visit with them.

Got home to a dark, quiet house. Just begging for us to get to bed. I can tell you that alarm clock is going to be the start of one harsh Monday.

But it was soooo worth it!

Rest Stop

By the time I lay my head on my pillow tonight, I'll have logged 500-some miles on the car since yesterday morning. And we've got miles to go yet this weekend.

Yesterday, I got up early as planned, picked up my stepson Casey in Eau Claire just after 8 a.m., then got to St. Croix Falls around 10 a.m. It turned out to be a beautiful, warm and sunny day for a change. How wonderful!

My 50-year-old brother had some interesting moving, thinking and creating activities for us!

Spent the morning on some trails south of town, looking for items in nature and finding more than we bargained for. My sister Rayna and I were off on our own trail, cameras in hand, snapping pictures with our "close-up" setting whenever possible. We were very excited to walk into some sort of a dragonfly festival. We both got some awesome photos like the one up top. I will post more when I get the chance.

After our walks and "scavenger hunts" and craft time, we had brats and hotdogs on the grill and a ton of other food. We did a brief program of sorts for Ron -- since that's what us silly sisters do -- then presents and CAKE! Yummy.

It was a fun day and a really, really nice time with family.

Got to stay at my nephew Zach's new place just east of St. Croix, then got up and hit the road around 8 a.m. Dropped Casey off in Eau Claire and got over to Wausau in time for Carter's 1 p.m. baseball game. They lost last night to Rhinelander. This afternoon they played Wausau. Or tried.

Wausau hit 6 or 7 home runs out of the park so yes, we got beat and we got beat bad. I'll give credit to our Rapids Rage boys, though. They rallied and got 6 runs in one inning -- Carter even got a double -- but it wasn't enough. Hopefully, they can turn it around for our final game tonight. They don't play that one until 9 p.m. -- yes, that late -- so we came home so hubby could mow, I could unpack my stuff and pack up Carter's stuff for confirmation camp.

He is all set to go. I am mostly unpacked but needed to rest a minute. All that driving takes a lot out of a person! I expect we will be dead on our feet tomorrow night at this time.

Our plan is this: Go to game tonight. Get home and sleep fast. Go to 10:30 church so Carter can acolyte, I can say a tearful goodbye to him and he can go home with his "camping buddy" Clay, whose mom will get them to the church in the early afternoon for their ride to camp. While he's doing that, Jim and I will head over to Menominee, Mich., for a graduation party for a friend's son.

Tired yet? Sounds pretty crazy for one weekend. But every mile is worth it when you can spend even a little time with loved ones, doncha think?

Which reminds me, I better log off and spend a few precious moments with my baby before we hit the road again!

Surprise Birthday Party

My brother -- my only brother -- turns 50 tomorrow so we are having a party Up North! I don't know what kind of party exactly, but I have to wake up at 5 a.m., hit the road by 6 to be in a little border town called St. Croix Falls by 10. Then, who knows?

This birthday adventure, as mysterious as it is, is my brother's idea. He loves the outdoors. He loves bonding with nature -- and family. And enjoys exploring his -- and our -- creative side. So he has some sort of adventure or two planned for us.

All I know about the first one is that it leaves the park -- on foot -- at 10 a.m. So I am bringing good walking/running shoes and my camera. Oh, and bug spray. I also had to pack some supplies from my Scrap Cave but I don't want to give too much away. And I can't really because I have no idea what they'll be used for. It's almost like a surprise birthday party but the guests are the ones who will be surprised.

Sounds fun to me!

Even my sister Rayna is flying up from Texas for the "event." Like her, I have no idea what to pack since it has scarcely quit raining since last Saturday. And it has been so cold. But the weather channel insists it could be sunny and mid-70s tomorrow. Let's hope so!

My plan is to log out, go pack, get up on time, pick up my stepson Casey in Eau Claire at the halfway point (yes, he is getting up before 8 a.m.!) and cruising into the park at 9:59. No sense getting up one minute earlier than I have to, right?

Us old folks -- well, not THAT old -- need to rest up before something big like this, brother!

It's Only Natural

I guess it's only natural that we humans are the only ones whining about all this rain. Animals like this robin seem to enjoy bathing in fresh rain water. I'm thinking our dusty Honda Civic probably doesn't mind it either.

But baseball players mind it. Softball, too. Golfers do. And so do runners. And my deck chair, well, it's just livid that we've had no time together whatsoever in ages.

The grass loves it. And bunnies love their fresh-grown meal, too!
Isn't this an adorable one in our back yard?

Makes me almost grateful we don't have a garden or this fella (and his friends, most likely) would be eating everything!

Good thing we can rest easy knowing that whatever they don't nibble down, our trusty new self-propelled lawn mower will take itself right out there and mow the rest of that 6-inch high grass!

Yup, good thing.

Summer Time Blues

According to the calendar, it is officially Summer. Whoo-hoo! It seems like I've been waiting forever!

According to real life, we are back in Old Testament biblical times, ready to build an ark with our buddy Noah, hoping he'll welcome aboard Jim and Carter as his two Austins and Sylvester and me as his two princesses.

We woke up to rain and cold, commuted to work in steady, hard rain and hail, and now are in the "orange" on the local radar. Nice, eh? This was one of those long days -- well the longest in 2011 actually -- that you just wanted to stay home and read a good book under a blanket somewhere.

Instead, we worked. And after work I had the joy of stopping at the DMV in Stevens Point to renew my driver's license. It expires on my birthday next week so I was pretty close to deadline here.

What an experience. I don't know which is worse -- how much I had to adjust my weight from the last time or the fact that the next time I renew, I will be over 50 years old and Carter will be ready to start his senior year of college. Uff da! There is no winning in this situation!

At least my picture turned out nice.

Came home and started getting little piles of packing done around the house -- me getting ready for my brother's 50th birthday party Up North on Friday (no offense about the age comment) and Carter getting ready for confirmation camp on Sunday. I figure I better have everything for him in order before I leave town Friday because baseball will get in the way of getting anything else done before Sunday.

Now that's the part of Summer I enjoy -- all the June birthdays in my family and Bible camp. Fun stuff.

Now we just need a reason to pack shorts!

And We're Back...

Blogging to you live from my very own kitchen table. Yay! All is right in our cyber world once again!

Thankfully my father-in-law was willing to hang out with the hissy cat this morning so that Mr. Fix-It could stop by. Otherwise, we would have had to wait until Friday. Not good, not good.

Also not good when I think how dependent we are on technology. How it's as much a part of our daily lives as hitting the snooze, showering and taking daily vitamins. I don't watch much TV really, but when a great golf tournament is going on, that's tough to miss. Plus, I really needed to see our radar this weekend -- even though I couldn't have done anything to change it.

It was almost a relief to go back to work this morning and have access to all my "must have" data.... like emails and Facebook posts. So essential to life. Not.

When I talked to my dad for Father's Day, I was reminded how simple life can be when you're not missing all that information at your finger tips. They get their info through a printed newspaper of all things. Oftentimes they get it through this venue called "word of mouth" and sometimes it comes through this device called the telephone. Crazy, huh?

I don't know if I can stretch that far back, but it's good to keep our options open for the next time. (And I'm sure I speak for my wireless neighbors when I say, let's hope there won't be a next time!)

Better Luck Next Time

It's probably appropriate that on Father's Day this blog is coming from the Man Cave next door. Yup, still no cable or Internet at our house so I am sitting on a recliner in Mick's Man Cave, typing as fast as I can before the girls get kicked out.

As Father's Days go, this one did not go as planned. Maybe we'll have better luck next time!

Hubby and I got up at 6:30 so he could go to early church and I could go for my long run. When I saw it was raining, I decided I am not that dedicated of a runner and took a shower instead. I went to 8 a.m. church, knowing I'd have to be home by 9:25 a.m. so we could head back to Stevens Point for more baseball action.

I got home with a minute to spare but it no longer mattered. It was still raining in Point so the whole day, yes whole day, was canceled. No games at all. No chance of even trying for that trophy. We had one mopey kid on the couch.

Normally, I'd say, OK fine, hubby, it's Father's Day, just lay on the couch and watch the U.S. Open all day. But, when we don't have TV, that plan is out the window.

So we did something even better.

We headed to the ballpark and were able to see our next-door neighbor's 12U softball team win their game and later, watched our friend's daughter on the 16U team play and win the whole tournament for that age group! Fun stuff.

I did get my run in, too. When it wasn't raining, of course. Got 8 miles in for the second Sunday! Whoo-hoo. Of course, the animals in nature are now in cahoots and instead of a bat flying at me I had a deer come out of the ditch and just about hit me. Never good to have the heart stop when you are in mile 7 of an 8-mile run. Not funny at all.

Other than that, the run was uneventful and I had plenty of room for our Father's Day Feast -- steaks on the grill with some corn on the cob and baby red potatoes. Good stuff!

Oh, and Jim has already used his Father's Day present -- the self-propelled push mower -- twice. Today Carter gave him a card and a pair of Bud Light swimming trunks that Jim picked out himself a few months ago but forgot about. So no surprises.

The coolest surprise would have been if the cable and Internet suddenly started working again! Good thing we have generous neighbors. I better not push my luck, though. It's 3 guys to 1 girl in the Man Cave. Signing off...

Happy Father's Day!

Slice of Victory

We have not had cable or Internet service all day. And we weren't home to meet Mr. Fix-it Man. So I'm camped out in my next-door neighbor's driveway, stealing their wireless, with a goal to finish this blog in record time before the mosquitoes eat me alive. And boy are they trying!

Started the day off with a rain delay of all things. We knew it rained during the night and the roll of thunder kept us awake, but it didn't rain much in Rapids. Apparently Stevens Point got enough of it to mess up their fields. So our 11:40 a.m. game got moved to 1:15 p.m.

That worked out OK. Got my Saturday chores done and even got the CRV vacuumed out.

First game was against the Stevens Point team we lost to last weekend. We were running up the score first and it felt like we could finally redeem ourselves. But then the boys somehow blew a 7-4 lead and ended up losing in the last inning 8-7. Heartbreaking. We should have had that.

Had some time off and the second game was at 4. That was a slow start but we ended up getting some good solid hits and played decent defense to win that one 6-2. Very nerve-wracking since they had bases loaded in the last inning and could have beat us. That was a nice win!

To celebrate, we took Carter to Polito's -- that great pizza place with all the unique flavors. Carter had Hawaiian and some Steak & Fries pizza. Jim had Supreme and Sausage & Mushroom. I had an All-Meat slice and tried the Chicken Bacon Ranch, which was darn tasty! Ahh, the sweet taste of victory!

We were very, very, very full so there was no room to stop for ice cream on the way home. I know. What a tragedy!

But I have good news for you Rapids readers who I've convinced to travel all the way to Amherst for the awesome Blueberry Waffle Cone ice cream at King Cone. King Cone now has another branch! Just opened up in Plover. Whoo-hoo! The good stuff keeps getting closer!

For those of you wondering what super-power I woke up with -- I guess it was the power to resist ice cream.

I don't see that lasting. Trust me.

Batman and Robyn

I watch enough super-hero movies with Carter where I believe it's conceivable ordinary folks like us could discover a super power someday. Maybe.

In my wildest imaginations, though, I never would believe Batman got his super powers at a ball park. Yet it seems so logical since there are already bat boys there, just waiting to be bat men. And, what I discovered tonight, even bat girls waiting to be Batwoman...

Since Carter's weekend tourney does not start until tomorrow in Stevens Point, we took the opportunity to watch some of our "favorite girls" play in the Rapids softball tournament. The bonus in the first game was that they played Plover and a former co-worker of mine had a daughter on that team. I hadn't seen him in probably a year or so. We got to sit and catch up for 80 minutes. What a treat! (And Rapids won that one.)

Tonight we got to see the 12U team play. Normally the girl next door plays for them but she got injured in last weekend's tourney so she is hobbling on crutches and cheering from the dugout. Since we know some other girls on the team, we went to lend our support. A good game but they ended up losing by one. That wasn't the only excitement...

I'm sitting there eating my popcorn for supper for the second night in a row, enjoying the game. Was just about done with the popcorn and just happened to look up. The next sequence of events probably took less than 2 seconds, but it seemed to happen in slow motion.

Something was flying at me. No, that's not a moth. My brain registered that it looked like a bat. Flapping its wings and heading straight for me. Ohmigosh, is it going to hit my face? Is it trying to steal my popcorn or what? I put my hand up to cover my mouth just in time and it hit me. I brushed it aside in one smooth move and spilled some popcorn as I did so.

Then it was gone. Making that little squeaking noise and flying off.

Gross, gross, gross!!

I looked around to see if that really happened. A handful of people near me saw it and hubby was most impressed I didn't scream. Frankly, I was so worried about it going in my mouth, I kept my mouth shut and couldn't scream!

Now I just have the creepy-crawly heebie-jeebies!

Carter asked me if I kissed it or not? I said I thought it was pretty close. "Geez, Mom. Mate with your own species!"

Whatever. He'll be sorry if I wake up with some super power and he doesn't!

Hopefully, it's just a sign that he'll have some good at bats this weekend.

(Oh groan. You knew where that was headed!)

Season Finale

The 2011 season for the Reds team -- featuring hot batter Carter Austin and hot coach Jim Austin -- has come to a close.

Tonight we wrapped up WRYSA league play with a makeup game from the rainy part of the season in weeks 1 or 2. After not playing all week, we kind of felt like the season was done already. For those of us on the bench anyway, it seemed more like a fun night than an intense, real game. But it was real.

And so was the loss.

Coach let the guys pick their positions on defense so Carter got to pitch one inning. Ha. Actually he did just fine. Both defensively and offensively. The whole team did. We just couldn't quite catch the Yankees, but almost. We lost 13-11, which means lots of guys got on base and hopefully ended their season on a positive note.

I know I enjoyed cooking, er keeping, the books with the other member of the Coaches' Wives Club. I'll miss that.

But it also will be nice now to just cheer on the tournament team with no other obligation than to encourage Carter, keep an eye on the assistant coach ... and let the umpire know when he's wrong.

Or just shove my mouth full of popcorn so I can't yell at anyone. Yeah, let's try that instead.

Spicing it Up

The key to a lasting marriage is to spice things up now and then.

Sometimes that can mean an interesting activity. Other times that can mean, well, spicy food. Hey, if it can get both hubby and me hot and sweaty, it counts, right?

A few weeks ago, Jim won some brats from a place called Ski's Meat Market in Stevens Point. For his free ones, he picked some Onion & Garlic brats. Then bought some Double Beer ones. Both were quite flavorful and delicious!

So we decided to go back. Plus, there's this 2011 Sausage Tour challenge that requires buying several different kinds over the summer in order to earn a special T-shirt! (I can't even mock this since half the reason I do all my running races is for the T-shirt!)

Seriously, when I say they have several different kinds, I mean different... Chili, Door County Cherry Chipolte Chicken, Hungarian, Honey Mustard Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomato Basil and Wild Rice & Mushroom Chicken. Yes, these are all flavors of brats!

Tonight we picked out Buffalo Chicken for me and Bloody Mary for Jim. I love spicy food so the Buffalo Chicken was right up my alley. Not too spicy, just really tasty. I was pleasantly surprised. Looking across the table, Jim literally had sweat beading on his forehead! I guess his were a little more spicy.

Carter lasted through half a Buffalo Chicken brat and then claimed he was full. I have a feeling it was a bit too much for him.

That's fine with us. We got a half-dozen brats each so that's five more nights of spicing it up around here!

Just Catchin' Up

Through the wonders of social media, I was able to make an old friend half a country away smile today... and this evening, we had old friends just 5 minutes away make us smile. Makes for a good day.

After a shopping trip in town after work, I just happened to be on the computer when I saw that some friends of ours were having a relaxing evening on their deck and looking for company. I warned them they shouldn't invite just anybody because just anybody might show up.

And we did.

Had a nice visit with this couple hubby has known forever because he went to school with the guy and stood up in their wedding a long, long time ago. Felt good to catch up. Even way past my bedtime on a "school night."

Before I fall asleep at the keyboard, I just have to say it's cool to have friends that you can just pick up a conversation with right where you left off -- no matter if it was 10 days ago or 10 years.

We are pretty blessed that way. I bet if you think about it, you probably are, too!

Ball Park or Bust

I've got a problem. I used to think ice cream was my only addiction, but now something else has moved into the picture.

Baseball.

Yes, I love baseball. But I am finding that I am loving being a baseball mom even more. That's right, soccer moms, you ain't got nothin' on me!

I feel like we've lived at the ball park since Carter's first team (Assumption) started playing in April. There was no break before his second team (Reds) got going. Now we are overlapping yet again with the tournament team (Rapids Rage). Yes, seriously living at one ball park or another for 8 weeks.

So looking at 3 blank spaces on the calendar had me in a near panic tonight.

Monday: No baseball game, no baseball practice.
Tuesday: No baseball game, no baseball practice.
Wednesday: No baseball game, no baseball practice.
Thursday: 5:30 p.m. Game!

What? Three days without baseball? What will we do?

Well hubby decided to mow the front lawn to be productive. And I did what any red-blooded baseball mom needing a fix would do. I headed over to the ball park to stalk someone else's kids.

Seriously.

As it turned out, I knew moms and kids at all 3 fields. Actually, I knew ahead of time that 2 were playing for sure and I did need to talk to one of the moms. So it was almost like I planned it. And, as a bonus, I did get to see a few at bats for someone else's super star for a change.

30 minutes at the park, tops. And my craving was appeased.

Now I have no desire for ice cream. Apparently my body can only handle one addiction at a time. Tomorrow, I'm pretty sure it's King Cone's turn. But who can predict the manic mind of a mother?

One Down...

It was not an easy day at the ballpark for the Rapids Rage 12U team. We knew going into today that we were one of the top 4 teams in the 12-team tournament, but it was up to us (well, the boys) to determine exactly how close to the top we'd end up.

I got to watch the first game since it started at 9 a.m. We fell behind early and it was tough to get back on top.

Here Carter got on base (yes, long sleeves because it was still chilly out!).

The fun part of getting to first base is that Daddy is your base coach! Not sure what signal it is to lift your shorts, but it had this photographer's attention!

We lost the first game 6-1 so had to play for third place at 1 p.m. Since I had to work concessions from 10:30-2:30 I could only see parts of that game when we didn't have customers. I did get to see Carter make some good plays in the outfield so I was happy about that. The Plover team was too tough for us, though, and we lost big time, 13-5.

The boys were still happy with a 4th-place trophy, though, because last year we lost early and didn't even get to play on Sunday! You can see they are getting along fine already and are getting re-acquainted with each other's strengths and weaknesses. Looking forward to traveling to Stevens Point next weekend.

For now, Carter has dusted off a space on the shelf for one trophy... but there's certainly room for more!

Proud to be a P.A.

My hubby has nightmare stories of when he was sports editor at the local newspaper and he'd have to field all the calls from the P.A.'s -- Parents of Athletes -- who all insisted their son or daughter deserved more ink.

Yes, we're all proud of our kids, aren't we? It's not just fun to be a P.A. because you get to see your child perform good, bad and ugly under pressure, you also get to meet other P.A.'s and get involved in the sports program of the season.

Since Rapids is hosting this baseball tournament this weekend and since hubby is one of the coaches, he's spent countless hours at the park the past several days. All I know is the alarm went off at 5:20 this morning and it is supposed to be the weekend!

So he left the house. I got Carter up at 6:15 a.m. so he could get a ride to the ball park at 6:45, then went back to bed in hopes of getting my 8 hours in since I had a race to run today. Well I didn't sleep well and rolled out of bed at 7:15. The plan was to eat breakfast and get ready to ride with my neighbors at 8:15. That's when I noticed the scorebook on the counter.

Uh-oh.

I called Jim and said I'd bring it in and get it there for the 8 a.m. game but I'd be cutting it close because I had to slam my pre-race food and get ready. I was in such a hurry, I didn't get time to switch to my lucky race underwear. I'm blaming that for my later disappointment.

I did get the scorebook to the game with about 3 minutes to spare -- actually ran from the car so that was a good warmup. Hadn't planned to see any of Carter's game so was glad I got to see the first inning at least. When I left, we trailed 3-0. What I missed was a great come-from-behind victory, 4-3, which means we're playing 2 games tomorrow for sure! Whoo-hoo!

Not that I would put any races ahead of my child, but I did sign up for this awhile ago and did not know at the time when Carter would play that day. Plus this was a first-time event for Renaissance Learning -- a local business that lost 2 employees to cancer last year. I really wanted to run this race because not only am I a P.A. -- Parent of Athlete -- I am also P.A. -- Physically Able.
The neat thing about the Renaissance Race Against Cancer was that we could dedicate our race to someone right on our t-shirts. Very cool. I dedicated mine to the memory of 2 friends -- Rory Deschaine (great husband to my good friend Cindy and wonderful father to their 2 kids) and Karen Ancona (my favorite editor on the whole planet). Both of them were so full of life and still missed so much!

My neighbors Cindy and Niki (and her daughter Mya) raced the 5K today, too. It was decent weather. No rain finally. I personally started off pretty fast for me -- but it ended up being too fast and I ran out of steam the last mile. I kept thinking, just keep going, you are here on this earth and Rory and Karen are gone. Just show them you can do this for them.

My finishing time was not that great, but that's not what matters today. What matters is they had 1,050 runners and walkers take part today, raising well over $10,000 for the Riverview Cancer Center here. That is so awesome!!

After the race, I went home, showered and headed to the ball park. Did my first shift of concessions from 12:30-3 p.m. Came home did laundry, blogged and now I gotta head back for the second shift of the day from 5:30-8 p.m.

I seriously don't mind. I am a proud parent of an athlete and am physically able to do this.

Thanks for blessing me, Lord!

Rain Delay

Apparently Mother Nature does not have a handle on her hot flashes yet. She flipped the "freeze" switch and screwed up our weather for the week.

Today's temps barely got beyond 50, about half the warmth we had 2 days ago. Just a typical Midwest Spring I should say since we aren't officially into summer yet, according to the calendar.

I really could probably deal with cold, but throw in that steady drizzling rain -- all day long -- and we got problems. This weekend we, as in the Wisconsin Rapids baseball tournament teams, are hosting the first tournament of the season. Between the 4 or 5 different age groups, that's something like 56 teams. All expecting to play.

That's a lot of games to keep on schedule. And rain becomes a nasty 4-letter word!

Hubby is an assistant coach for Carter's 12U team (12 and under according to age on April 30, the day before he turned 13). Jim took the day off knowing he'd have a lot of field maintenance to do just to be sure they were ready after the rain. Unfortunately, there was no "after" time because it never really stopped.

Carter's 5:30 game had a delayed start at about 6:20 p.m. They knew they better get the games in. It's better to be an hour behind than a whole night behind.

So we played in a drizzle and kicked some major butt! We beat Rudolph by the 10-run rule, 11-0. What an awesome start! And way to keep the game short for us soggy fans.

I've got my umbrella, chair and blanket all draped over various items in the garage to dry. Not sure that will happen by tomorrow. Carter has clothes in the wash and his baseball cleats positioned over the heat vents to dry.

Yes, we have the heat on. And yes, my blanket is on.

I'm starting to think Mother Nature is in cahoots with the Electric Company!

13 Again

Just thinking about Carter's busy summer prompted me to dig out my diary from the summer of '81 when I turned 13. (Yes, decades ago!) I see I was just as busy as he was. Imagine that!!

That summer, my brother Ron was home from college, my sister Rachel was down in the Twin Cities for a live-in babysitting job, and my twin sister and I took turns babysitting our niece Caryn, who I'm sure had bypassed her terrible 2's and was a treat all summer. (No sarcasm. I adored her! And still do!)

The big news that summer -- besides my "new red silk swimsuit with a blue diagonal stripe" -- was that two of my sisters were getting married. RoAnn's wedding was in June and Romey's was in July. Lots of diary entries about showers and gifts and buying dresses. What an exciting time.

It didn't seem I ever got bored. On days when I wrote of doing "nothing" I usually mentioned helping mom with laundry or baking or cleaning. One day I wrote about Mom being gone and my twin sister and I were supposed to bake bread. Instead we went swimming -- for much too long -- and that bread just kept rising and rising in the warm house. Oops. Mother was not happy.

I guess I can't expect my 13-year-old to be perfectly responsible then, either!

Today I picked him up from Leadership and brought him back to work to see some of his "old friends." He is getting close to be as tall as quite a few of us now!

The main reason Carter had wanted to stop in was to deliver a t-shirt he made for my co-worker Angelo -- who drinks way too many cans of Pepsi every day but is setting aside his aluminum to help Carter's scrap metal efforts. So Carter decorated a t-shirt for him with the Pepsi logo and "Cans for Carter" on it. Very cute. Angelo got a kick out of that. I told him didn't have to worry about wearing it -- but I suspect he will the next time he knows Carter will be around!

Now Jim and Carter are at the ball park for practice before the big tournament weekend. I was reminded that I spent a lot of time at the ball park when I was 13, too. Not playing. My dad umped a lot of games at a place called Manitou. I just went along to drink the orange pop and buy those 5-cent Lolli's.

That was the life. Now I'm a bit jealous of Carter!

Blame the Heat

At 6:15 a.m. it was already 77 degrees so I knew it was going to be a bit wicked again. I know it probably got to 90 again but, in typical Wisconsin fashion, the temps will plunge to 49 degrees tonight and this heat wave will be nothing but a memory.

Probably a good thing. I had some "senior moments" today that I am much too young for... so I'll blame the heat. The baseball team had some non-energy moments (a lot of them) tonight... and I think we can probably blame the heat for those, too!

Had a big loss tonight and have one more makeup game for league next Thursday. Hopefully we'll finish on a strong note!

Carter was pretty wiped out tonight but I can't blame him. It was his first day at "Adventures in Leadership" so he got to go fishing at the hot lake (twice) and go swimming at the cool pool in the fitness center. No wonder he was a bit tuckered out!

He's not complaining, though. He caught (and released) 3 fish today and was very excited about the experience. He got his fishing pole and tackle box as a birthday present last year so it's about time he puts them to some good use.

Something tells me he's going to have a great time in Iola this summer. Again.

And yes, the first day and he was already asking to go to Shivers or King Cone. Unfortunately, we just didn't have time when we picked him up! (Good thing Dairy Treat was open after the baseball game.)

Heat Wave

I know the mercury tipped 90 today but I'm not sure just how far it got. 93? 95? Did we set a record? Does it matter? After awhile you're just darn hot!

Sitting in an air-conditioned office, I was somewhat oblivious to how warm it was getting out there today until I went over to the fitness center at lunch time. It was toasty! Everything in the car was hot to touch. Way hot! Needless to say, I got a good sweaty workout today.

Carter was home with a rare day off (ha), sitting in the A/C, watching movies, playing Wii, doing as little as possible. That's probably for the best since he had baseball practice tonight.

On our way home from work, we had the A/C cranked and it didn't even feel like it was one. Until you cracked open the window and the oven air came in. Ugh. Hubby and I got to witness an unusual phenomenon...

You know how sometimes it can get so hot the road will buckle in an earth quake-looking way? You don't know how it happens, it just does? Well we were on Highway 54 just about to our south turn at the Portage-Wood county line. Suddenly right in front of us, the road buckles... just sort of pops up in pieces like confetti out of a Jack in the box or something. So weird. Like something you'd see on a cartoon or movie.

Obviously, we were startled and had no time to stop. Thankfully we had just slowed for the turn so we weren't going 65 mph. Still, we couldn't avoid driving over it. Luckily, it didn't puncture any tires. Weird. Very weird.

I made sure I checked in on my parents tonight. My dad, going on 84 this year, has an awful hard time with heat. They don't have A/C but he said they're keeping the house closed up and that keeps it cooler than opening windows for any hot breezes. I reminded him to stay hydrated anyway. He says, "I don't know if that does any good." (Did I mention my dad is stubborn? And that I'm nothing like him?)

Up in Luck and all of western Wisconsin (and Minnesota for that matter), they've been dealing with this since yesterday. We're always a day behind in Rapids so we'll see this hot stuff tomorrow, too, before we see some relief. Not that I'm even complaining. This is perfect ice cream eating weather... if a person can keep pace before it melts.

I don't know about you, but I'm up for the challenge.

Adventures in Babysitting

Growing up out in the sticks, not close enough to town to walk and not old enough to drive, the only means of gainful employment for a girl like me was babysitting.

My sister Rachel was 4 years older than me so we had to wait until she was old enough to have a life so we could get her weekend babysitting jobs and make some money. Then, of course, we had to split them between my twin and me. But a little pocket change now and then was better than nothing.

By high school, we could make even more by babysitting for the summer. One summer I had the privilege of watching my cousin's two angels, alternating weeks with a friend, and another summer I split time with my twin Raylene watching a 4-year-old boy. After I graduated, I babysat my little nephew Timmy, who now has a boy of his own and another one on the way. Time flies!

Babysitting isn't always easy money. Sometimes kids are naughty. And sometimes they are just old enough they don't need naps -- then, when you are working a whole day, you must entertain them for hours on end. At least that's how it seems when you're a kid watching a kid!

Today, somehow we find ourselves in the position that we no longer need a babysitter for our son and he, in fact, is the one doing the babysitting! It doesn't seem right that we've come this far already.

Carter had his first day of "work" at a summer job! On Mondays he'll be watching a girl and boy in town who we've come know quite well in recent years. Their dad is a brother to one of my best friends and their mom is my scrappin' sister. So basically, they are like "extended family."

We dropped him off at 7 and picked him up around 4:30. There were no broken bones (or furniture), no fires and no one was crying. I guess that was a good day! Actually, he said it was good and quite enjoyable. They alternated time indoors and out since it was pretty hot outside. He also brought a craft project to do (t-shirt painting) and is going to teach them sign language over the coming weeks. So he's got ideas to keep them busy!

Of course, the main reason he's doing this besides the experience, is the green stuff. I think he's going to find babysitting will get him closer to buying that go-kart than picking up cans in the ditch.

But let's not fool with Mother Nature. We better keep that can-collecting mission going or she'll send even more mosquitoes!

Ball Park Pics

We were all pretty wiped out today from 2 days at the ball park. I suspect we'll have to get used to that in the coming month!

Today we didn't have much chance to recover, either. I got my 7-mile run in at sunrise (too hot already). Then Carter and I went to church and helped set up for the church picnic we had after the 2nd service. We just had time to eat and try to dunk our pastor in the dunk tank (no success), then we had to go to practice for the tournament team. I hung out there a little bit but really needed to get home and put my feet up.

I managed to get laundry done and upload some weekend photos. Figured I better share since that was my accomplishment for the day!

Carter waits for a good pitch. He's been hitting the ball well for league. Nothing like last year when he was stepping away from the ball or waiting for a walk. He wants to hit and hit hard! That's way more fun for all of us.

Here's another handsome fella on the team! Coach Austin is looking too serious -- it almost looks like he's daring me to take the photo. But I'm really sneaky!

Carter gets ready at second base. You can just tell it's hot out, can't you??

Carter gets ready to cover third base. For league, the players move around and play just about every position. Even pitcher...

I hate when it's so hot, my makeup runs! Sometimes the boys have that problem, too. Here Carter is concentrating before his pitch. (Momma likes this picture!)

And the windup...

And the grunt...... The pitch...

...and the follow through!

The pictures turned out better than his strike count. But at least he gave it a try. The problem with a flawless pitching debut last month for Assumption, is that he expects to repeat that every time.

Sounds like me and my golf game! Though I've never had that first flawless one to compare to.

Strong Finish

We got lucky that we played every night this week so the Reds got a bye at 8:30 this morning. Those poor teams that had to play 3 games in this heat! Not sure how they did it, but judging by the final results, they did just fine.

We tied for last in the tournament but we went out on a strong note, so it didn't seem that bad.

The first game was late morning. I should have gone on my "long run" today but it was too hot. Now I'll have to go Sunday.

We went up against the Giants (ultimately the tourney champions) in our first game. That did not go so well.

I ended up coming home between games to cool off, boil up brats and get a few items for supper. I should have made Carter come home with me because those boys may be old enough to know better, but they still don't think to stay in the shade when it's hot out.

Perhaps, I shouldn't complain, they came back for the second game on fire (not literally, thankfully) and scored 9 runs in the first inning! Go Reds!

The other team had one good inning when Carter was pitching (Ugh -- just part of it) and got 5 runs then. There were a few more sprinkled in for both teams, but we ended up with the win, 13-9!

After the games, assistant coach Mike and wife Christine came over for brats, beverages and baseball talk. Had a nice visit. Feels like the season is coming to an end, but I think we've got 4 more league games (2 double-headers) next week and then one game the week after.

Maybe playing all of these games this week will help the Reds finish strong.

I know this score-keeper is finishing Red... in the shade of just a tad bit sun burnt.

Heating up

Well the temperatures reached something like 90 degrees, but we're still waiting for Coach Austin's Reds to start heating up.

Tonight was the 4th night of baseball in a row, with one more day to go. The Reds are 1-3 for this inter-league tournament. We have 2 games tomorrow to win just to get to 3-3. I hope it's a bit cooler so they can handle it.

Not that I completely minded today. Since it was Carter's first day of summer vacation, I took the day off, too. At first I thought maybe we'd all do something together but when we saw the mercury rising, we didn't really want to do anything outdoors like golf or even mini-golf. Was just a bit on the muggy side.

So I got some Saturday chores done early, then went into town to get hubby his Father's Day present. Don't worry about keeping it a secret -- he picked it out. He's getting a new lawn mower! I wish it was a rider, but if he wants an easy, self-propelled push, then that's what he's getting. Now he doesn't have to wait until Father's Day to use it either -- just wait until it's cooler.

Got home and cranked the air. We all sort of relaxed for the afternoon since Carter played at 5:30. He had some solid hits but didn't get on base. Two were sacrifice flies so he got 2 RBIs, but the other 2 were just plain ol' pop-up fly-ball outs. Our team only got 3 hits overall. We really gotta turn things around tomorrow!

After the game, Jim went to the races to watch Colin, who qualified fast time again and had his first finish. No car problems. Yay! And he ended up finishing 2nd in the feature. Awesome!

Carter and I went into town to rent a movie The Green Hornet and stop at DQ (of course). It was nice to veg out in the coolness tonight. And we both enjoyed the movie (which has a funny scene for us non-Packer fans).

Better get to bed now at a decent time! I'm guessing I won't need to turn my blanket on!

Bully for You!

You can't swing a dead cat around these here parts without hitting someone talking about or asking about the latest controversy in Wisconsin Rapids.

Even my long-distance readers may have heard about it on the news or saw it on the national crime news website The Smoking Gun. Yes, I am talking about the fact that 4 wrestlers from the Rapids state championship team face charges of "disorderly conduct" for allegedly bullying and/or sexually harassing another student in the locker room.

I won't get into the shameful details, alleged details, but there was a quick reaction in the community. There are definitely people on all sides of this case -- and they haven't even gone to court yet.

We have the contingent that feels that this is just "typical locker room behavior" that happens everywhere and this shouldn't be blown out of proportion. We have those who say these are good kids that wouldn't do any harm. We have the group claiming that Lincoln's dominant wrestling program has always gotten preferential treatment and it's about time someone got caught.

Then there's the group of people like me -- we don't really care about the circumstances and who is involved (although the more I hear, the more sickened I become)... We just have no tolerance for bullying.

As someone who has been picked on and seen how upset my child has been at various times over bullying, I absolutely abhor such behavior. And just today I learned about how devastating it truly can be for a victim.

I heard from an old friend who I've kept in touch with the last 15 years since we geographically parted ways. He has kids, including a daughter Carter's age. He told me how she had been picked on at school a bit, but he did not know she was being bullied regularly -- until it was too late. She couldn't handle it anymore and took her own life.

I was floored when I heard. Absolutely speechless. What can I say for comfort when I know it would feel like someone was ripping my heart out if something happened to Carter? My friend has been devasted with grief and guilt. You name it.

Does bullying really have to come to this? Criminal charges? Death?

I think it's already gone too far.

I don't pretend to have any inside information on this Rapids case. But I can tell you that there are some kids out there who could use some prayers. And parents, too.

Thanks.

Twins Territory

I may have mentioned a time or two that I am a Minnesota Twins fan. Always have been. But did you know that there used to be a Twins team in Wisconsin Rapids? There was an A-level team back in the '80s that 2 guys I know played with -- Kent Hrbek and Gary Gaetti. You've heard of them.

Tonight, the G-Man, as we close friends called him at the Dome, made a return trip home to Rapids to kick off the 2011 season for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. I knew about this months ago but figured I'd opt out since Carter had a baseball game at the same time. Could I really put my Twins before my son? Hmmm. Turns out a creative mom can do both!

I decided at 6:25 I was going to go. That meant I had 30 minutes basically to get into town, find a parking spot, stand in line for a last-minute ticket and not miss Gary Gaetti toss the ceremonial first pitch at 7:05! Could I do it? Let me just change into Twins gear, grab my old World Series pennant off the wall and see!

By the time I did all that and got into the park and found his table, Gary was just standing up and finishing his session. I said, "Awwww, no way!" And I think he saw my adorable Twins hat and thought, "OK, one more," because he sat right down.
And signed my dusty old pennant I did not have time to clean up. Hey, it's not in bad shape for getting packed and unpacked in something like 8 moves!

They distributed photos at the gate so I got an autographed picture, too! Then I shook his hand (no hugs, darn) and said thanks for all the excitement. "Now go pitch a strike!"

I sort of stalked him after that because I could legally stand within 5 feet of him, take photos and not get arrested. That's a small town for ya! Here I was pretending to take a picture of him meeting the lucky young Rafters catcher. But really I was thinking, "Look at those pipes! He's still got it!"

This is when he stood on the pitcher's mound and pointed my way and said, "See that girl over there in the Twins hat and Twins shirt? She's the best fan ever! She saw me play a half-dozen times at the Dome in 1987!" I'm pretty sure reading lips, that is what he said about me. How could he not?

They were reading off his accomplishments -- playoff MVP, Twins Hall of Fame, etc -- and he humbly motioned to wrap it up.

I sort of missed the ceremonial first pitch. G-Man, you gotta wind up or something. I was unprepared!

Here he is smiling because he's back in Rapids and he knows NOW that this is Twins Territory!

I could have told him that.

And yes, I did make it out to Carter's game (the correct field) for the first pitch. Super fans can do anything!