Less Than Three Weeks!

Well, the weekend was a lot of fun, even if it was very tiring. Wouldn't change it for the world, though!

Last Thursday's softball game was another step in the right direction, as we played into the fifth and lost 20-8. I went 0-2, including grounding into a double play. I don't have much speed to start with, but those nights that I catch, it drops me down by another 50% or so. The second AB was a fielder's choice, but then I was forced at second.

Friday was the BBQ. I got to the church about 6 AM, making me the second one there. Spent the day putting chickens on racks, turning the chickens, putting on the sauce and basically anything that needed to be done. Around 2:30 PM I got the ticket tables set up and then took tickets until 6:30 or so. After that I helped clean up and was basically the last one out a little after 7. A very long day and I was bone tired, but it was a lot of fun. Always is!

Saturday we got around, straightened up the house some (even got the weedeater working this time to do a little outside trimming!) and then had Meron's Tastefully Simple open house. While it wasn't necessarily well-attended (7-8 people), it was still fun and Meron made her quarterly quota, which was the big goal. She had some on-line orders as well, so she may get close to a $1000 quarter, which would be her second-biggest quarter ever, I think. (And I got to try the Vanilla Bean Chiller--wonderful drink! I made sure Meron ordered some more of that!)

Got back on the softball field Tuesday night in a steady downpour. That may have helped us out some, because we played the team that had beaten us 22-0 last time. They jumped out to an 11-0 lead, but we rallied and made it 16-6 by the end. I drew a walk to lead off a five-run inning, then grounded out later on. On the season, I'm 1-5. Need to see if I can get a few more balls to the outfield, because I'm not legging out any infield hits!

Three weeks from yesterday, little Sarah will be here. Everyone asks if we are ready. I know Meron is, because Sarah has caused more discomfort than Benjamin ever did! On the whole, I think we are as ready as we are going to be. You never know until they get here, of course. Benjamin is pretty accepting of the situation now, though that could change once she gets here. There's not much left to do physically save convert the toddler bed back into a crib, but that can wait since she'll spend the first few weeks in a bassinet in our room. Those that plan to visit in the hospital, wait until the next day to come by, since we don't know exactly how things are going to go logistically. Those that are out of town, I hope to post pictures the day of, so be sure to check the blog. (And if you don't think you'll remember, don't worry. You'll probably get an e-mail when they go up.)

Benjamin is really getting into baseball. Last night, we were going to turn on a video, but when I turned on the TV, the Rangers' pre-game show was on. "Rangers!" he said, and we watched that instead. He's watching more and more of baseball games and knowing what teams are playing. He always wants to play catch and play baseball, loves to "run the bases" and will hit the ball out of my hand like a tee. I'm actually going to get him one of those plastic tees pretty soon so he can keep hitting without inflicting any damage on my hand!

As for the Cardinals...........ugh. Obviously, the death of Josh Hancock takes precedence over anything on the field. It was a tragedy and to an organization that is not unfamiliar with sudden player death. The on-field stuff, though, is pretty bad as well. 10-16, trailing even the Cubs (and it doesn't get much worse than that!) and I'm not sure that the talent is there to make a run and get back into this. Pujols is hitting again, which is good, and the 2-3-4 of Duncan, Pujols and Rolen could show dividends this year. If Edmonds bounces back, he adds a lot but I'm not sure how much of a bounce back he'll have.

The pitching staff is very troublesome. Carpenter may be back next week, which would be great, but the other guys have to get ERAs into the 4s, at least, instead of 5.50 and 6.00. The combination of a weak offense and a shaky staff does not bode well for this summer, especially since there's not much on the farm to bring up.

Poker tomorrow, which will probably be my last one until the fall. I'd like to think it'd pan out well. I'd also like a million dollars. I can't imagine either will happen!