Saturday, June 16, 2007

A Nice Saturday....

It got off to an early start. Awake by 5:30 a.m., loading everyone into the minivan to head to the grocery store parking lot where the Boy Scouts converge before any outing requiring travel (the grocery store is right by the interstate on-ramp). Dear Hubby and Son #1 are riding with UberMom's husband (too soon to tell if he's an UberDad) and oldest son. Two other Boy Scouts - whose parents are not attending camp - are also riding in the same vehicle.

I mentioned UberMom in my June 6th post "The Adventures of UberMom and SlackerMom". To give you an idea of how "uber" this woman is - her husband is driving their van to camp in Tennessee. She could've kissed them goodbye at their house and gone back to sleep. That's what I would've done. Heck, it's what I did last year when Dear Hubby drove to Boy Scout camp in Alabama. But nooooooo, she gets up, loads her other two kids in their second vehicle and shows up at the grocery store parking lot just to see them off. That's love. That's devotion. That's insane. Okay, I'm kidding, but clearly, I don't have that type of dedication. I'll bet she even fed them breakfast first, but I digress....

Our pastor was there at the parking lot by 6:00 a.m. to offer the scouts/dads a blessing before hitting the road, which I thought was very nice. As we were leaving the parking lot, he was driving in his vehicle behind me. Because he is also the chaplain for our local fire department, plus the New Orleans Police and Fire Departments, his vehicle is equipped with the emergency police lights mounted on the dash board. Just to be cute, he waited until I pulled out on the highway and then flashed those red and blue lights - just for a second. Didn't anyone ever tell him that it's not nice to give a sleep-deprived, grown woman a heart attack? It's a miracle that despite the number of times I've seen the flashing lights in my rearview mirror, I - to this day - have a clean driving record. I will say, however, that I have only been pulled over once since becoming a mom and that was an error on the officer's part. (He let me off with a warning, but I couldn't resist going back to check. He didn't set up his speed trap in his usual spot and didn't realize that the posted speed limit was higher. It's a goofy stretch of highway where the speed limit changes 4 times, not including school zones. But, again, I digress....)

After watching Dear Hubby and Son #1 ride off into the sunrise (I exaggerate), we went back home. I fed Sons #2 &3 breakfast then went back to sleep for a couple of hours. For some reason - anxiety probably - I woke at 2 a.m. and never fully returned to sleep before the alarm started ringing at 5:00.

Son #2 had his first tournament game in baseball at 11:30. Part of me was hoping they'd lose so the season would officially be over for him. Shame on me, but hello? Southeastern Louisiana in mid-June? Temps and humidity in the 90's. Ugh!

Son #2 is the Number 2 pitcher. He can field the ball in any position they put him in. His pitching skills are improving, but he tends to initially walk quite a few kids before going on a "strike 'em roll". Today was no different. First inning: their team (home team) scored no runs, ours scores two. Second inning: no runs by either team. Third inning (Son #2's first at pitching): he walks 4! Yikes! Fortunately, our team is playing a good defensive game and we get two of them out. The score is now tied. Our team doesn't score at all. Fourth inning: Their pitcher is also walking a lot of our players. Ours also steals a lot of bases and we get 6 home. There's a 6 run per inning rule, so that ends our scoring, plus the opponents get to bat last. A kid hits a ball pitched by Son #2, but it doesn't travel far. Son #2 scoops it and throws it to first base. Kid is out! Woo Hoo! In this league, they get 3 strikes, or walk on the 5th ball. Son #2 kept us on the edge of our seats. He'd through 2 strikes and 4 balls. Which way would it go? Fortunately, Strike and Strike. The Pirates win! Yay! This means that we have another game on Tuesday evening.

It's been an interesting season. The team got off to a slow start. We lost our first 4 or 5 games, but then we hit our stride and won 5 or 6 in a row, tied one and lost one. The other teams are starting to sit up and take notice. If they don't win Tuesday, that'll be okay with me. They proved what they needed to.

After the game, after lunch and showers, we attended Vigil Mass. I prefer to attend Mass on Sunday, but after waking as early as I did this morning, I really want to sleep in tomorrow. Our church has a Sunday evening Mass too, but Son #2 and I have a date. Tomorrow is his 10th birthday and we have a standing tradition of going to his favorite Japanese restaurant. I'll order sushi, he'll order the chicken teriyaki. Father-in-law will look after Son #3, who eats neither.

We received an invitation this evening to go see "Fantastic 4" - it's the first movie I've seen in the theatre since "King Kong." It's Son #3's first movie in a theatre since "Shark Tale," just to give you an idea of how often we go to the movies. Two of Dear Hubby's brother and two of his sisters, plus one nephew were going. We met them at the theatre after Mass. The critics don't seem to be fond of the movie, but I found it entertaining for what it is. Of course, I'm a fan of Ioan Gruffudd - I own all of his "Horation Hornblower" DVDs and would watch him recite the phonebook - so I'm not very objective. Son #2 and nephew loved it. Son #3 (he's 5) thought it was slow in places, but really enjoyed the action at the end.

As we left the theatre I noticed that I had 5 missed calls on my cell from Dear Hubby. This could be good news or bad. Fortunately his voicemail message indicated that all was well. They arrived at camp safely, but drove into town for dinner. Since he doesn't have cell phone reception in the mountains of Tennessee, he was calling from town (hence the 5 calls). I did manage to speak to him for a little while, but it sounds like I won't hear from him again until their return trip next Saturday. (There is a landline phone at camp for emergency use only. In this case, however, no news will be good news.)

It's 11 p.m. Sons #2 & 3 went to sleep over an hour ago and things are quiet at the house. I miss Son #1 - my nightowl. He and I like to watch late night TV together. Tonight, though, it's me, a glass of brand, the dog and "Forensic Files" on Court TV. Later!

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