Random Pictures

This was the band that played at Heather's graduation party. It was called the 4 Hot Chicks~



This is Sonya at a recent ballgame - she was bored, or can't you tell?



This is Darrell & I at Heather's graduation party.



Here's Heather while she was getting ready for her party. My little graduate, how sweet!



This is Sonya singing her little heart out. I thought it was a cool pic.

I'll have to get some pics of the boys up soon. I don't know where they were when we were taking pictures in the garage. I'll post some more on Monday.

Ain't no wrath like that of a woman's whose child has been scorned!

I am beside myself with anger. My son is one of the best baseball players on the 11 year old league, and this is straight from the stats, not just a momma who only sees the good her son does. He is a natural at baseball. At eleven, he is totally aware of the game, how many outs there are, what the batter will probably try to do - he's got it all figured out - I am totally amazed to watch him during the game. My other son is also really good at baseball, but he has to work really hard at it, it just seems to come to Colby easier. Now, that's not to say he doesn't get nervous, many times he can be seen chewing his fingernails during a game, but he's definitely got a baseball brain.

So, each year he makes the All-Star team. Whichever team wins the league gets to take 8 of their players and choose 4-6 players from other good teams, he has been chosen for the all star team every year. Two years ago, we had a problem with coach of the all star team, he invited Colby and would use Colby until he got a lead then he would sit him and put players from his team in that were not as good. We don't mind him taking his turn sitting the bench, but it was clear what was going on and this coach is known around the area as a snake, I don't even know why the parents in his own town allow thier children to play for him.

Last year, he invited Colby to the 10 year old all stars and we declined because we didn't agree with his coaching style. Colby played "up" with the 11 year olds and had a great time. This year another town won the league and this coach told a baldfaced lie about my son to try to get the other coach not to invite Colby to play with them. He said that when our team beat their team that Colby made a snotty remark to him - throwing it in his face that we had won. This was a couple of months ago, we asked Colby about it and he said, I probably said something to him when we were shaking hands, but it wasn't anything bad and I don't even remember it. You know, now that I'm writing this down, it all seems so silly, but I am truly upset by this.

Colby is playing and we're going to Ste. Genevieve, MO this weekend for him to play in a tournament, but now, there's this black cloud over the whole event. I was looking forward to it and now I'm not. This is something he loves to do, he is good at it and because a grown man is jealous of his abilities, he is using whatever he can to keep a kid, a good kid out of the game. How can he live with himself? I do not know if I can hold my tongue this weekend, but I'm going to try really hard. I will not, however, allow this to go unanswered. When the season is over, I plan to have a talk with that coach, if my husband doesn't first and I plan to tell him how disappointed I am with how he handled himself, that if my son truly did say anything inappropriate to him, the thing to do would have been to come to us and allow us to deal with it. We are trying to teach these kids how to be a good sport and as a coach, he should have facilitated that, if he was given that opportunity. Not only did he say that Colby said something to him (we never did learn what that something was), but he said that his players would not come along to the tournament if Colby went - this guy is an absolute ass! I swear, I'm not just saying this, everyone says how good of a kid he is, he's polite, you never hear much out of him - DJ is a mouth, but Colby really just keeps to himself when focusing on baseball.

Well, the other coach pretty much said that Colby was being invited either way, so they did all choose to come along - and we were told that no one else - I'm sorry, this is so hard to understand and I'm going to quit babbling about it and just try to get through this weekend with this jerk without boxing him in the mouth. Bad thing is - we will spend about the next month with him and if Colby didn't truly love this game and this experience, I would decline the invitation, but since I don't want him to know what's going on, I'm trying to keep an excited front for him.

Wish me luck. Sorry for the long post.

Quick Update

We had Heather's graduation party this weekend and things went pretty smoothly. My dear sister came to help me get ready. I truly don't know what I'd do without her. She and I barbequed on Friday night so we wouldn't have to mess with it on Saturday and that was the best idea - except for the fact that it took us until 4am to get it all done - but at least we didn't have to stand over the pit all day on Saturday while we had guests.

I really thought Darrell was going to do the BBQing, but I guess when he saw we had it under control, he thought we didn't need him and went to be about 1:30. Ass!!!! He had done alot to get the property ready and the pool - get the garage cleaned up in case it rained and we needed shelter. He'd been working his butt off, but so had I. I was kinda glad when he went to bed though, because Shelly and I had alot of fun trying to get it all done. Hot dogs were rolling off the pit onto the porch and we'd pick them up real quick and put them back on (5 second rule) - I know it's gross - but no one died and we just built the porch so I knew it wasn't that dirty yet:) (Are you all puking now? Well, get over it - what people don't know won't hurt them!)

We saw alot of family & friends we hadn't seen in a while and Heather was truly grateful for all she got. It will go a long way in getting what she needs for college life and the dorm room. I'll post some pics later this week, I'm still recuperating.

This is me being healthy

OK, so I'm drinking soy milk now instead of skim because I read in Women's Health magazine that if you consume just one serving of soy each day, it has been shown to reduce belly fat - I know, I know - but I'll take whatever I can get.

So, does it count if I'm having the soy milk with my Cap'n Crunch????? It still has the same calories as Cheerios and it was better than having a Pop Tart:)

I'm up to 19 pounds now, only 31 more to go to reach my goal weight. My goal date is September 15th.

9 year old DramaQueen

It is summer. My cellphone rings and I am irritated to see that it is my home calling. I have repeatedly told my kids not to call me on my cellphone. It is long distance from our house, so I get charged once on my home phone bill and again for minutes on my cellphone bill. "Send me a text," I say, "and I'll call you right back" - that's why we pay for texting - but oh no, when they're mad or excited or bored or hungry, whatever - they pick up that phone and dial those 10 digits.

So I pick up and hear my 9 year old's voice

"Are you and dad trying to ruin my life or are you just trying to get me to run away?" I squelch a giggle "What?", I say, as I strive to stop laughing inside and try to figure out what is wrong with her. She repeats herself with the exact same emphasis on every word~

Apparently, the cat, Peach Kitty - not Cinderella (Cinderella is her cat) pissed on 4 towels today and my husband is pissed off and threatened to take both cats to the shelter. I told her not to worry, none of our pets were leaving our house, at least not tonight:)

Out to Lunch with Gay Nephew - Be home later!!!

I took a class last week. It was a week long class and I got 3 credits toward my undergraduate degree for taking it. It was a shitty class, I didn't really learn much, but it only took a week and I got 3 credits. Yippee!!! I'm taking another class this summer too and it is also an expedited class. It lasts for only 5 weeks and we only meet one time a week for one hour. I have to write a bunch of shit about my feelings, etc, but I do that anyway for free, so am I lucky or what?

I did a bad thing this weekend. I have a gay nephew that I love with every piece of my being. He is actually my husband's nephew, but I have been very close to him since I met him when he was 8. He used to always hang out with me, babysit for me, go on softball trips with us and I cried when I found out he was gay because I was afraid of the life he would have to lead. I didn't believe it and fought with my husband when he came home and told me that someone had told him. But, I've come to term with it and I love him all the same, maybe more. There will always be a special place in my heart for him.

So, Friday I was taking this class and I knew I would get out early. He texted me on Wednesday and I told him about the class and wanted to go to lunch on Friday. I happily agreed, but didn't tell anyone about it. All week long, I got out of class early and came home to chaos and too much shit to do and it sucked, so I planned to go to lunch with him, go get my nails done and pass it off like I got out of school a little early, but not 1/2 of a day early.

Well, I went to lunch at a lesbian bar (they are the funnest people ever), we had a couple of vodka shots (his demise) and he wanted to show me an apartment nearby that he wanted to rent. His mom, my sis-in-law freaks out that he lives in the city and always worries about the neighborhoods he chooses to live in so he wanted me to check it out so I could tell his mom that he would be fine. So, off we went. We drove by the apartment and went into another little bar he frequents - had another shot and played Wii - bowling. It was a freakin' blast. It's been awhile since I've had so much fun! I cannot begin to explain how much we laughed and how much fun we had.

Back to my car, stopped by one other bar - no shots for me - I'd had plenty and I went home. It was 5 o'clock when I left the city so I would actually be late getting home, not early as I had anticipated and there would be no fancy nails for me! Darrell was pissed when I got home because I didn't tell him what I was doing. He's not real fond of this nephew, because of the lifestyle he chooses and he thinks he may be developing a drinking problem (I'm not sure I disagree). Anywhoo - he wasn't too happy with me Friday night and Saturday he had to play ball so he was gone all day - YIPPEE!

Yesterday we went to his parents and I bbq'd all day - had a sort of relaxing day and all was back to normal for us. Oh well, so he was pissed and didn't agree with a decision I made (and was probably a little jealous - though more of my relationship with his nephew - one he feels he cannot have with him) but he's over it. I conceded that I should have told him what I was doing - but that's the only thing I was wrong for. OK, so now it's over. Until the next time he gets pissed at me and brings it up again - yeah, so I'll deal with it again then. It was fun and I wouldn't give it back for all the tea in China. I needed to have a day like that and I'm glad I did it:)

Quick Update

As of this morning, I'm down 15 pounds. Yay, me!!!! I was struggling for quite a few days, doing everything right and still no loss, but it did catch up today, so I'm trying to keep a positive attitude! It sure is tough sometimes, though.

Baseball is kicking my butt again this year. I forget from year to year how hard it is. DJ and Colby had a game Monday, DJ and Sonya Tuesday, Darrell Wednesday, Colby Thursday and DJ and Sonya on Friday. Then, Darrell plays all weekend in Chicago.

I'm going to Chicago with him and we're taking DJ so he can babysit another couple's son, if we decide to go out for a few hours. He doesn't mind, he's looking forward to it and this little boy just loves to spend time with him, so he gets to feel like a big shot. Sonya and Colby are both staying with separate cousins - unless we decide to take Colby and Heather wants to stay at home alone. I don't really know how I feel about that. She's 18, she's certainly old enough, but she's 18!!!!!! I know we have to start trusting her, and she's never really done anything to keep us from trusting her, but it sure is hard to let loose. I keep telling myself, she is going to college in the fall and I won't have any control then, so I better start letting go now, so I'm still around and I can see how she handles extra freedom. How do other parents do this? It is tough for me, but seems even tougher for Darrell to think about. He still thinks she's a baby.

OK, better go. Got a busy week and busy weekend coming up...