Joy in Mudville

Thank goodness the excitement of another game day got Carter out of bed early. I apparently set the volume of my radio alarm on low because Carter was nudging me awake 18 minutes after my alarm should have gone off. (And did go off, quietly.)

Then it as up and at 'em and off the ballpark for an 8:30 a.m. game. Local temperature: 48. Had to dress in layers (it ain't right wearing a turtleneck in June) and make a pit stop on the way to grab a piping hot cappuccino.

The first game was chilly, but quick. We ended up winning 5-3, which meant we had to come back to play at 11:30. (Yay!) That was just enough time for us and the Jacksons (coach, wife and player Nate) to head to our house 5 minutes away to regroup, strategize and warm up, too. The coaches decided not to mess with a good thing, so it was mainly just a calming down and thawing break.

It was already sprinkling when we left the house -- and the temperature might have even dropped -- so we knew we were in for some fun (that's sarcasm). I rode over with Christine and we decided on the way that as official scorekeepers (and founders of the esteemed Coaches' Wives Club) that we deserved to park our chairs in the dugout. So we did. It didn't keep the wind and cold out, but it kept the book dry.

That game was a long one. Steady, steady rain coming down. The boys were wet and cold and, wouldn't you know it, we were tied. So we had extra innings -- which feel extra, extra long when you're wet and cold (and the boys felt that way, too).

I want to say the other team put us out of our misery, but that's not exactly how it worked. Yes, they beat us 4-3 to end it. But that meant we had to immediately move to another field to immediately play another game for the third-place trophy. No time to dry off. No time to warm up. Yikes.

So we trudged over to another field and kept going like we hadn't quit playing (well one boy quit but we won't get into that). The short interruption was probably a good thing. Although their poor fingers were practically frozen, they managed to get some hits right away. They played some decent defense, too, and this time it was us who won 4-3. Yes!

You know those boys were miserable when they were actually talking about getting home to take hot baths. I mean boys and baths? Volunteering? It was cold.

We came home (cranking the heat on the way) and got out of our muddy, wet stuff and just warmed up as quick as we could! When we were mostly thawed, Carter and I celebrated by leaving Coach Austin the couch (and remote) and going to the movie Up, the new Disney-Pixar production.

One word about that: Uplifting. Cute movie. Neat story line. I recommend it.

Picked up some dinner on the way home. Made another round of mints while Carter got some reading done. Now Carter wants ice cream (like mother, like son) and I am actually going to skip that (gasp!). Hubby turned my blanket on hours ago and that is going to be a better treat than ice cream (just this once) in about 90 seconds.

Make that 60.