Skunked

I drove past a dead skunk in the middle of the road the other day. Now I know why they call it a "skunk" when a team loses a game without scoring any points. Because, well, it just plain stinks!

We went up against the Rapids 8th-grade team this afternoon. It was nice to see some of the kids and parents who we knew from Grant Elementary School. For some reason, it seems all of Carter's old classmates have gotten bigger and taller while he is just slowly inching upward. They're still friendly, though, and were kind enough to SKUNK us today, 12-rock.

Still, it was a perfect day with sunshine and temps in the 70s so I still got nice pictures of our losing effort.

Carter goes toward a grounder while covering second base.

 Ready for anything at second!

 Carter makes a third out and tosses the ball to the pitcher's mound.

 Coach Austin is waiting for someone -- anyone -- to make it first base so he can coach them onto second.

 Carter struck out once and got on with a walk the second time.

 Carter keeps an eye on the pitcher and gets ready to steal.

 Carter makes it to second and watches a ground ball go past him. Better stay put for now.

 Ready to head to third at a moment's notice. He did get on third thanks to a walk.

Here he is wanting to steal home and ready to fly when the ball is hit. It was hit and he did make it home... but his teammate got out at first so that was the end of that inning. No score.

And there never was. Shucks.

Other actual highlights today... After the game, we went over to see the 8th-grade girls play softball for a bit, then came home. It turned out to be a long, but productive day. Worked at home but got a ton of proofing done, sitting in the sunshine on the front deck. Ha. My kind of office. Got my steps in when I went to pick up the car at the garage over lunch. Four-mile hike over there means most of my required steps were done early. So I could have relaxed tonight but I had more work to do, plus upload photos and blog.

I managed to catch the news byte that the Vikings will be staying in Minnesota. I know only 3 of my readers care. But the rest of you can be assured I will be back to annoy you for another season. And I don't have to throw away my purple nail polish after all.

That's a win right there. I'll take it!