So, we're camping in Kamloops this weekend which is only a few days away, and I already feel like a chicken running around without its' head. Of course, between now and then, I only have two days off work and both are already busy days. Today was my first day off and not so busy as Thursday will be. I was at the school for slightly more than an hour for a performance. The performance was fantastic, but it was right in the middle of the day which I don't like very much. I dislike having my day chopped up. There was a mountain of laundry to tackle today including a team's worth of baseball uniforms that I want to return tonight. I also had a lot of running around to do today since I won't have much time for that on Thursday. The last day of school is Thursday and I booked it off to attend the assemblies and grade 6 graduation ceremony at the school. We have baseball every night this week which leaves me with little time to plan and pack for camping. I'll get it done though; what choice do I have.

We're thinking about letting Sam stay home on the weekend rather than be dragged along with us. He seems keen on the idea, but it will depend on how much weed pulling he gets done before then. It is hard to believe that he will be fourteen in a couple of weeks!! He wouldn't be home alone though as grandma and grandpa live with us, but he'd be "alone" enough to make him happy. He'd probably camp out in the living room with the Wii and TV.

Surprise, surprise! Abby made the Tadpole Selects team. She is very excited and has been pushing herself all week long. She is also extremely excited about going to Kamloops for a tournament this weekend. We're happy for her even if I don't feel overly excited.

Casey made the PeeWee 'A' team, but there is so much junk going on behind the scenes. It probably won't be the All-star season that the PeeWee 'A' players/parents were expecting, but hopefully it will still be a positive, educational and fun time. At this point in time, it looks as if Kane will be coaching even though he didn't want to coach All-stars. Too much to get into...

Shortly after 8:00 Saturday morning as I walked across the ball park, I rolled my ankle. My bad ankle. Yeah, I am really thrilled. What's a little more pain really? It has only been hurting and causing discomfort since October...this just punches it up a couple more notches.

And that's all I got. I want to cry but there isn't the time or the space to do it right. A punch to the gut would be better, I think.

Who's on First?

Abby played well this weekend just as she has all season. We noted a marked improvement in her play over the past couple of weeks. Back then, when her coach first had her as first baseman, she cowered and cringed. Today, when her coach put her on first base, she cheered! She even caught a throw to make an out at first and made good catches on other occasions to make a valiant effort. Abby even wants to try out for the Tadpole Select team on Wednesday night. I have no illusions of her making the team. Only 13 spots are available, and there are many players with much more skill than she has, but I am pleased as punch to see her enjoying the game so much that she wants to try out.

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Rain in Mudville

Kane was up early this morning to help prep the ball fields before Abby's 8:00am game in her year end tournament. The rain had begun yesterday afternoon and continued through the night creating lakes on the infield. Our game was delayed by about half an hour as a crew of parents worked to make the diamond suitable for a game. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any photos during the work, so these shots were taken after most of the labour had taken place. The lakes were reduced to an occasional puddle before being obliterated by dirt and an absorbing product.

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He's Back...

Casey made it home safe and sound and ahead of schedule. To say that he was exhausted would be an understatement, but he was in a cooperative mood. He watched the rest of Abby's baseball game, had something to eat, gave us the highlights of his trip, and went to bed without too much fuss. He was awake at 8:00 this morning and spent at least half an hour giving me attitude about breakfast or the lack of "suitable" options. I offered fruit, cottage cheese, cereal or toast, but he was hoping for something more exotic like waffles or sugar cereal.

So much for the peace and quiet...

Home-coming

Casey is coming home tonight.

My alarm went off at 5:00am Wednesday morning leaving me with no choice but to get up. I woke Casey, and we were out the door about twenty minutes later. After a detour through Tim Horton's for breakfast, we were at the school waiting with an ever growing horde of mostly hyper grade six students. The grade six classes from Casey's school were heading to Vancouver and Victoria. The bus pulled out shortly after 6:00am, and I went home to my sleeping household. Wednesday was a very long day!

I am not a morning person. Once I had Sam and Abby out the door on their way to school, I set a timer for 75 minutes and had a nap at 8:00 in the morning. I could have stayed in bed all day but there were things to do. The most important thing was to go to Battery World to have the battery and alternator in my van tested as the warning light had come on a day or two before. The battery was fine but the alternator was most definitely not. I took it to our mechanic and had it replaced in a little more than an hour.

It has been quiet and peaceful around here since Casey left just as I knew that it would be. While I certainly am enjoying the quiet, I do miss Casey and will be glad to see his smiling face tonight. Remind me of that tomorrow when his good mood crashes and burns...

Track & Field

Casey had track & field on Wednesday. He was tripped up right off the start of the 800m race, the first event of the day. Funny thing was that I saw it happening in my mind as the runners lined up. I don't think he even noticed the teachers running over to check on him, he just picked himself up and took off down the track. He went from dead last to finishing 5th from last which is pretty good to me considering how far behind he was from the get go. The two jumping photos are from the triple jump. He did well. I always hated the triple jump and could never quite figure out the steps, but I was awesome at long jump!





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New Use for the Treadmill

Maggie is a very strange cat, or maybe she is just like every other cat in the world...she will sleep anywhere and everywhere, usually the stranger and more uncomfortable the better! I couldn't pass up this photo op though.



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Sam the Man

Sam loves to pitch, but he was only given opportunity to pitch one inning in last year's house season. His coach this year has been much more generous, and Sam is loving it! He isn't fast, but he throws a pretty accurate ball. In fact, he doesn't usually need to throw very many pitches to retire the inning.

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Casey the Umpire

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Catching up on photos

Two out of the dozen roses that Kane bought me almost a week after Mother's Day. The top one was red on the inside and a light pink on the outside. The bottom one was a very light purple colour. What would that be? Mauve? I don't know.





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You Don't Know What You've Got Til It's Gone

I am literally melting; it is so hot! Our air conditioner was disconnected last fall, because Kane wants to move it from one side of the house to the other. That was all fine and dandy in the fall. Winter months were coming and cold weather with them, but here we are on summer's doorstep and the a/c has yet to be actually moved and connected. And so we are sweltering.

I bought three fans this morning. We already have one teensy fan, but it simply isn't enough, not when three different people want to feel its' cool breeze as they fall asleep. I splurged a little. I bought one table top fan and two stand fans. The stand fans have remote controls! We're still melting though, and so are my chocolate chips.

Despite the heat, I baked a carrot cake. I've had some cream cheese in the fridge for a while and a hankering for carrot cake to go with it. I'm far too exhausted to bake at night, besides what is a little more heat in an already hot house! As I reached into the cupboard for the icing sugar, I had to move aside a bag of chocolate chips. It was a little squishy; they are now in the freezer.

I picked up my new eye glasses this morning from Sears. No one in my family even noticed the difference, but I can't blame them. The new glasses are very similar to my old pair. I was a little surprised by the call from Sears last night saying that my glasses were ready as I had just purchased them on Monday and had been told 10 days. It will be nice to watch TV without squinting.

Sam is camping this weekend with the junior high youth group. He was even willing to miss his baseball game in order to go camping. Thankfully, the weather is much improved on last year's camping trip weather. It poured rain the entire weekend last year, and Sam came home with everything he had soaking wet! No rain this weekend.

Casey had a friend sleep-over last night. They were up late, but we all slept in. There were a few moments earlier today when we thought that Casey might be "losing it", but he has managed to stay relatively agreeable and level-headed. So far.