SH+GNO+BB=FUN

Call it the "new math," but today's equation totally adds up...

Summer Hours + Girls Night Out + Baseball = FUN!

Summer Hours: From Memorial Day to Labor Day, they let us out of the asylum at 3 p.m. on Fridays. It's great when it's sunny and you can't wait to escape. Also convenient if traveling for the weekend or getting to the garage on time to pick up your car with its four new tires. Made it just in time!

Went grocery shopping after that -- which I would not recommend on a Friday. Uff da -- for people! Then I had this checkout girl who was telling me her life story, including how her mom adopted her boyfriend's kids while he was in prison, etc. It assured me my life is "normal" on some level at least!

Girls Night Out: The nice thing about summer hours is that I can go shopping after work and still get home by 5 p.m. So my friend Christine and I went over to Plover to check out our girlfriend Lori's new massage business. She and her business partner were holding an open house and, besides hoping to win a free massage, I wanted to check out their sign / business logo in real life -- since I designed it for them. I must say it looks great and goes great with their setup and decor. A proud moment for me.

Their location is awesome, too, in an anti-dieting way. Next door is a "cupcakery." Yes, you got that right. A bakery that specializes primarily in cupcakes! ALL kinds. We had to stop in and get some for our guys. (And well, maybe one for us, too.) Then, across the street is King Cone. I can't make this up. So we took advantage of that, too. Christine had never been there so I was obligated to take her. Wasn't I??

We will work it off on Monday when we go back for our massages. Or isn't that how it works? Either way, it was a nice evening catching up.

Baseball: I warned you we might end up at a ballpark. In this case, it was the older version of Carter's 14U Red Team. The 18U team played in Nekoosa so we went down there to watch some his Assumption teammates play. They lost 9-7 but it was still a decent game and good to see some of our school ball "parental group."

The mosquitoes showed up, too. They left me alone, though. Obviously, they knew they weren't part of the equation.

I like this new math.

Phooey! Foiled Again!

The Red Team traveled up to Auburndale tonight for a 6 p.m. game. It took a few scoreless innings but after Carter got a hit (and I even captured action on my smart phone), we finally scored when he eventually made it all the way home, thanks to the next two batters.

For awhile that was the score. Carter's one run over Auburndale's none.

That was nice. Then the home team scored 4 runs in an inning and put us in a hole. Carter got up again and got on with 2 outs. Then the next few batters did a great job and we had runs coming in! Just not enough. Carter pitched the last inning and didn't give up any runs but we were unable to get any more ourselves. So we ended up losing 4-3.

Phooey! Foiled again!

But it was a much better outing than last night. Maybe a little sunshine goes a long way!

Now we (as in Carter's teams) are off until Tuesday so I can enjoy some other activities on my schedule. Do not rule out time at a ball park. Just sayin'. But I will be having some other fun, too, and -- at least for tonight -- getting to bed on time for a change!

Baseball-related laundry is just gonna have to wait.

Rainbow Dis-Connection

There may be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but I can tell you what's not there: hits, runs and a win for our baseball team.

This evening Carter played with his tournament team -- that's the red / Rudolph league team not to be confused with his blue (aka Brewers) / Rapids league team. It was a home game and Coach Austin had to come out of retirement to run the show while the regular coach led the older Red Team at a different ball park.

We arrived at 5 p.m. along with rain clouds and thunder, but no game-canceling lightning.

The game was set for 6 p.m. against Marshfield. I stayed in the car and read a book while they did field maintenance in the rain. It was weird. The sun was shining in the west (and the western side of the parking lot even), but as the clouds moved east, they kept dropping the rain.

At that point, I figured we were in for a rainout. But no, it stopped in time for the game, which was very long -- very, very long -- for a contest shortened to 5 innings by the 10-run rule. Pretty sad.

Even the brief glimpse of a partial rainbow did not give us hope. It was too late by then. We were down by a dozen and had to make a major comeback. We tried (Carter got a hit) and we did get a few runs, but not enough to keep the game going. Sometimes that's a relief.

We'll just try again tomorrow.

Maybe God's promise with the rainbow has nothing to do with a sports victory. Oh well, it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow anyway so the boys in Red will be on their own.

Unless I find a four-leaf clover in the wet grass...Wish me luck!

Final Deadline

Across my span of 20-plus years in publishing, I have worked with countless people -- reporters, editors, publishers, advertising sales personnel, designers, clerks, you name it. Naturally, the ones I remember best are the ones who bonded with me (over many tight deadlines), who mentored me, learned from me, befriended me, entertained me or, yes, even irked me.

They are all memorable characters in my book of life.

Due to the stress and teamwork demands, newsrooms are tight communities. We get to know every little quirk and quality of our co-workers. It's like one big dysfunctional family and, underneath it all, we somehow love each other -- whether that's in the form of friendship or just old-fashioned respect.

It is always sad to lose one of the family. Especially unexpectedly.

I couldn't have been more shocked today to learn of the death of one of "my reporters" who I worked with in Rapids for the 7-plus years I was at the daily newspaper. Just 53 years old, he passed away yesterday of either a heart attack or respiratory infection (a reporter hasn't confirmed the facts just yet).

Mark was no longer living in the area, but we kept in touch via Facebook. What I remember most about Mark was his love for the written word. I mean he really loved words. I mean he loved them so much, he'd put as many of them as possible in each story. (Thus the cartoon above.)

As news editor, it was my job to cut it down to a precise, informational story. He posed a challenge. Not because it was written poorly but because each story -- even coverage of a boring school board meeting -- was written like poetic prose. He was hard to edit. But I really got a kick out of some of his word usage. A lot of it was the kind of stuff you'd read in books. Really old books. Definitely a reflection of his love for history.

Secondly, I remember he had the messiest desk I'd seen in all the newsrooms I'd worked in previously and since then. But he knew where everything was. Eventually.

Thirdly, and probably most importantly, he had a big heart. He was good to me and adored little Carter. Just very generous and considerate.

Today, though, I sense a conflict must be brewing in heaven.

Ten years ago, Bob, my favorite copy editor in the whole wide world, died unexpectedly just a few months after retirement. Now Bob's idea of heaven is undoubtedly editing, chopping, condensing to his heart's content. On the other hand, heaven for Mark is undoubtedly writing as many words as humanly (or non-humanly) possible.

Bob, I'm just asking you to be nice, put the red pen down and welcome him for all of us. If you feel the sudden urge to edit Mark, you and our sports-writing hero Davey can light your pipes and sit a spell until the feeling passes.

Mark, for your part, please give those crusty old newsroom boys love from Jimmy and me.

Then write as much as you want...

Driven to Distraction

Back when I was a kid and we'd go, well, anywhere, I'd hang over the back of the front seat, bothering my parents and looking out the front window. Sure I was probably told dozens of times to sit down. But since seat belts weren't required way back then, I could stay in the back seat but still bounce around and look out any window I wanted to.

I might have been a brat who didn't listen, but I knew where we were going and how to get there.

These days, a good number of parents like me, feel somehow guilty just telling our kids in the back seat to sit still and just look out the window. We give them toys and books and that gradually changes to GameBoys then iPods. They are entertained. They do not complain.

And they do not know where we are going. Or how we are getting there.

I'm not which is more disconcerting... the fact Carter started driver's ed. today (yikes) or the fact he is not even sure how to get to school and back on his bike. He biked there on Friday and again today. Both times getting "mildly" lost. I say mildly because he eventually did get home ...with a few extra miles on his bike.

What's going to happen when he starts driving? Can he get to school or his grandparents' in town? How about our church or Dairy Queen? I'm pretty sure he could get to Wal-Mart, since that's only a few "roads" away. But that's nothing to brag about!

Texting, talking and changing the radio dial will not be his most immediate distractions. Reading a GPS might be.

Good thing we've got another 5 1/2 months before he can get behind the wheel -- and the rest of you can get your defensive driving skills sharpened!

Good luck to us all.

Life is Good

Our baseball Sunday was a little strange for tournament play. We picked up our game right where we left off last night when darkness ended it.

So we drive over to Pittsville and get there by 9 a.m. They start at 9:57 a.m. with us at bat with 2 outs and down 13-4 in the bottom of the penultimate inning. One pitch into the "new" game and we had our third out. So we took the field, managed to prevent them from scoring further and had our last at bat. Three up, three down. Game over in 14 minutes.

I didn't even have a chance to finish my cup of coffee!

The good thing about suddenly having a "free Sunday" is that I got a few things done. Went grocery shopping then came home to sunshine and a reunion with Mr. Deck Chair.

It was a moving moment. We were both so happy to see each other again. It was just nice to soak up some warmth for once and get a little reading done, too.

A little after 2 p.m., I walked over to the ballfield to see my friends' 9-year-olds play for the tourney championship. Had some nice visiting time, but unfortunately, the boys lost by a run. Still, second place for their first tourney of the summer isn't bad.

I had planned to walk home, too, just to ensure those 10,000 steps today, but the sky looked pretty threatening. Carter had biked over there and I sent him quickly on his way. I wimped out and got a ride home. We both beat the rain, thankfully.

Since I wasn't going to get any more one-on-one time with Mr. Deck Chair, I moved on to another project.

When life hands you you lemons, you make lemonade. When my kitchen hands me four mushy bananas, I make 2 dozen banana nut spice muffins and 3 loaves of "loaded" banana bread.

Any bets on how much is left after Carter is home alone ONE day tomorrow?

Rain and Darkness Delays

It was a wacky baseball day. While we were sleeping, it rained. And rained. A lot. But the sun was up and it looked like it was going to be a nice day.

We went to a mid-morning game at the nearby Kellner Fields to watch the son of some friends of ours play. Everything there was on schedule so we assumed that it would be for Carter's tournament in Pittsville.

It wasn't.

We arrived at 1 p.m. for a 2 p.m. game and the noon game hadn't started yet -- due to rain-related field maintenance. So they were behind by at least 2 hours. Let me tell you. Even though Pittsville is considered a "city," there ain't a whole lot to do there to pass the time! Hubby and I took a walk to the gas station. We took the long way there and back and managed to kill only an hour. We got lots of steps, though.

The good news is that we won that 2 p.m. (really 4 p.m.) game so we had to play at a different ball park in the city at 6 p.m. Well, they were further behind at that one, so with games shortened to just 5 innings, our boys in red started playing around 8, I think.

Carter actually pitched the first inning. He started out good and we had two outs. Then he started thinking too much and it went down hill. By the end of the first, we were down 5-1.

But I can't blame everything on him. Many missed catches and other missed opportunities added to the mix. We actually were down 9-3 at one point and battling daylight. There were no lights at this particular field. Just the scoreboard lights. Since it was a cloudy evening, it was dark by 9 and they had to call the game for "darkness."

Weird, I know.

Probably good we ended our misery since we were down 13-4 at that point. Now, however, we have to trek back first thing in the morning to finish that last 1 1/2 innings. Now that is a bit crazy. If we drive over there and don't make a miraculous comeback in that short amount of game left, then we are done for the day/weekend. No hardware. No nothing.

But one win. Which is good.

Instead of going home and sleeping, however, we still had things to do. We dropped Carter home to do laundry (his muddy uniform) and get some rest. Jim and I went to a surprise 70th birthday party for the father of some friends of ours. We know him quite well, too. We weren't there for the initial "surprise" part but we got there by 10 so got to see plenty of people we knew... and I got to dance!

That was fun. Plus I for sure got my 10,000 steps today. Yay! I guess that makes two "wins" today.

Now let's see if we can't do that again tomorrow!