27 October 2009

Off Season

So, I obviously haven’t updated in awhile. And why’s that? Can I blame it on the fact that we’re between seasons and have nothing going on?

Actually, now that fall baseball is over, it seems like we’re even busier than last month. Matt has been getting up at 5:30 every morning for 8th grade basketball practice, I have classes in the evenings, and he’s been playing golf in the afternoons – so we haven’t really had much time at home.

A couple weekends ago Matt had the Frisco Tourney which determined Conference Champs…I admit I missed the games because I was in Memphis with my mom-in-law for a Beth Moore conference. In my opinion, it was way, way worth it to miss the games! We went on a fabulous Wild God Chase, and I needed that renewed connection to my Savior. It was an amazing time.

Meanwhile, the team ended up taking third place in the tourney. Last year we got first, so it was a little disappointing…but I seriously think that half the team had the swine flu. Yeah. That’s why we took third. Swine flu.

Today, Matt is taking two of the baseball players to Three Rivers Community College for baseball try-outs, and after that the poor guy has parent-teacher conferences. Not to get on a soapbox, but it will be interesting to see how many parents show up this time. The parents of the “A” students always attend – their kids aren’t the ones who need the help and attention. It’s the other kids who need support, and their parents never seem to show up to the conferences. Then those same parents are first in line to complain about how the school system is failing their kids…ok, I really can’t get started on this subject. I get a little heated.

I’m just looking forward to starting nursing school. There is a chance that I’ll get to take Microbiology – my last nursing school prereq – on Tuesdays and Thursdays next semester from 10:30am – 11:45am and count that as my lunch break during work. I would really love not to take classes in the evening next semester for two reasons. One, it is spring baseball season and I hate to miss spring games. Two, I haven’t really been able to keep up my running and I’m eating horrible lately, and I’m unashamedly blaming it all on my evening classes. On Mondays and Thursdays, since I know those are my late nights, I don’t get up early to run or walk because I need to rest for class. On Tuesdays and Fridays, I justify the fact that I didn’t get home until late the night before so I need to sleep in. Wednesdays are my review days because of class on Thursday. The result is not good. I’ve been waking up every morning just feeling huge and gross, and I really, really need to find some way to get back into a routine.

Just pray that I’ll be able to get into the Tuesday/Thursday Micro class – or else I’ll be taking it through a different school on Friday nights from 5:00 – 9:30pm. Every. Friday. January – May. Yuck. But if I have to do it, I’ll do it. Seven more months until SLU!

We're both looking forward to this weekend - Matt doesn't have school on Friday, and since I worked on Saturday at our health fair I'm taking this Friday off as well. We're going to head to the Lake for a long weekend, and probably one of our last free weekends for awhile since the 8th grade basketball games start November 2nd. I just hope no one TP's our house on Halloween while we're gone. :)

07 October 2009

Elephant in the Room

There is an elephant in the room, and it's name is "Round-Two-of-the-Frisco-League-Tourney."
We lost last night 12-5. How do I know that? Not from Mr. Coach. Not from parents. Obviously not from being at the game, since I was home catching up on missed episodes of The Biggest Loser.

Right before I went to bed (knowing Coach wouldn't be home for a couple more hours yet) I decided to check the Frisco League message boards. Sure enough, someone was already on there gloating that they had beat us.

Dang.

So when Matt got home I pretended to be asleep - hard to do with three gigantic dogs bouncing all over you the minute your husband walks in the door - and, with some banging of dresser drawers, he gallumphed into bed and went to sleep. Maybe. Knowing him, he probably laid awake in bed replaying the entire game in his mind. Or calculating stats.

Whatever helps you relax.

So what do you do with an elephant in the room? You ignore it at all costs, of course. This morning, not talking about the game came as naturally as breathing. Here's a sample of how our conversations went:

Matt: Good morning.
Me: Grd mrdnging. (He often talks to me while I'm brushing my teeth.)
Matt: So, how was your day yesterday?
Me: Ok. The dogs got muddy cause the rain. And someone nailed a huge "No Hunting" sign to the tree out front.

Seriously.


(I'll give you one hint to who nailed the sign up. It starts with "baseball" and ends with "team." I think it's because they know I'm not a fan of hunting and I like to try to make them feel guilty about killing cute fuzzy animals. My efforts to dissuade them always go ignored. Sigh.)

Matt: Yeah. I think I know who did it. Oh, I think I'm going to Springfield tonight after school.
Addie: Ok. Bison steaks and roasted red potatoes for dinner?
Matt: Sounds good.

That's pretty much the basis of our communication. Simple, basic questions that didn't fringe upon anything that would raise your blood pressure before 7am. He didn't ask me if I wanted to hear about the game, and I didn't ask. And I'm not going to. If he wants to talk about it, he will.

I just wish I didn't have to work until 5:00 and could go to Springfield, too. I miss Target.

04 October 2009

Date Night. Almost.

I must brag.

On myself.

Yesterday was cold. And windy. And we had a tournament game in the armpit of Missouri...a good 1.5 hour drive from where we live (in the middle of nowhere) to the host school (in the middle of nowhere). Seriously. It's a bad precursor to the day ahead when you have to stop at a gas station before you leave town just to stock up on sodas and snacks since the town you're headed to has nothing. No gas station. No Wal-Mart.

And the worst thing of all: no cell phone signal.

And even with all these factors thrown in, I decided to get out of my nice, warm pajamas and leave the comfort of my warm house and sit outside all day at a baseball game. I bundled up in long socks, a hoodie and my puffy Christmas blanket and prepared to freeze.

And it was so worth it.

We played so, so well. Our boys were hitting and fielding great - despite the fact that most of the boys are starting to come down with the flu.

I'm thinking that antibiotics might be the new baseball-superpower.

We had a massive 9-run inning in the bottom of the third, which put us ahead 12-1. We stayed ahead for the rest of the game, making the final score 16-5 in five innings.

I love five-inning games, especially when it's a bitterly windy 50 degrees outside.

Matt had driven up separately from the bus so that he could stay and scout the game after ours since we'd be playing the winner this Tuesday. I had ridden up with some friends (their son is on the team) and us women just figured we'd leave after the game...hence the excitement over the run-rule. Our husbands, however, had a different idea. How about we ALL stay in the cold and ALL enjoy the next game?

I think the only reason we agreed was because we were under the influence of multiple bags of Twizzlers.

That, and my husband knows how to work a proposition. He promised me food, real food after the second game if I wanted to ride home with him. Not food from the concession stand, not food in a wrapper passed through a window. Real, sit-down, "ma'am, here's your menu" food.

If I squint my eyes and tilt my head, it almost looks like a date.

Little did I know the second game would go all seven innings and we wouldn't make it back to civilization until after 8pm (for reference purposes, our game started at 2pm). By then I was a frozen popsicle and so tired that I could barely order my dinner (I really wanted chocolate cake) at the restaurant.

But it was a night out with my husband, and I had almost forgotten what that looked like. We had fun laughing (about baseball), talking (about baseball) and spending time with good friends.

We drove home, pulled into the driveway, Matt unlocked the back door, walked me inside and gave me a kiss.

And then promptly jumped back into his truck to go up to the school to do stats.

02 October 2009

Irony and the Art of Losing

All good things must come to an end.

But did they really have to end so absurdly nasty??

We didn't just lose. We lost badly. After run-ruling teams all season long, we find ourselves down 10-2 in the first three innings.

I had some little chats with God about how irony was NOT appreciated at that moment.

I mean, come on. It was our last regular season game, and a conference game at that. I felt sick to my stomach all day and couldn’t eat a thing. I wanted this win so, so badly. But if I felt that nervous about the game, I couldn’t help but wonder how the team felt. That’s a lot of pressure to have a perfect season.

I don’t know if it was the pressure that got to us or if the team we played was just a better opponent. (One thing I do know is that the boys we played must be either corn-fed or they have HGH in the water. Those were some big ol’ boys!)

Our defense was awful and we couldn’t hit for anything. We finally got two runs in off a home run in the third but didn’t score again until the last two innings. I think I paced a path out behind the bleachers along with some other parents. We just couldn’t sit and watch the desecration.

Final score was 10-5 (which is way better than the 10-2 we had for most of the game) and my heart broke for the last kid up to bat. Our poor guy had the ultimate stress situation – bases loaded, end of the game, two outs. You can guess what happened.

I would have peed my pants.

Now we just have three Frisco League Tourney games (Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday) left. I hope we win the tourney, but I think Tuesday’s loss was the heartbreaker of the season. Matt actually isn’t too upset. He was just proud of the boys for doing as well as they did this whole fall – our record improved from last fall. It’s a good group of kids.

In the midst of this week’s game, Jr. High basketball started. Which, yes, Matt also coaches - he's in charge of the 8th graders (which I personally think should add up to extra crowns in heaven). Thank goodness for other coaches who are willing to step in, or else Matt would have before-school basketball during after-school baseball. After this tourney he’ll be up at 6am for 6:30 practices until December.

Crazy. That husband of mine is c-r-a-z-y.

Our first basketball game is October 30, and we have 2-3 games a week until December - not including tournament weeks.

Just another reason why I wish Thanksgiving and Christmas were in January or February, our only two months out of the year we don't have anything going on.

Actually, that's not true. Matt gets restless and bored in the off-season, so he volunteers to run the clock at varsity basketball games or help the varsity coach with practices.

Did I mention the word "crazy??"