Brrrr - It's Cold

Brrr - our first cold front of the year came through this weekend and it was a balmy 54 this morning. Today's high was a mere 68 with winds that were 15-20 mph. It was a chilly day at the ballfield! It definitely wasn't a weekend at the ballfield. Our coed team played in the Mixed Worlds this weekend and ended up 0-2. TR couldn't play since he had kidney stone surgery this week and then our shortstop that we picked up for the weekend wasn't able to play on Saturday as his wife went into labor! We had to start our second game with 6 girls and 4 guys. It was very disappointing but we look forward to playing more tourneys soon.

Bradley's baseball team played a doubleheader today against the Elite Performance Cobras. They are in the division above us so we knew it would be a tough day. We ended up losing both games but the second game our boys committed 11 errors! Thankfully, Bradley only committed one. He played well today, had a bunt double, hit a shot back to the pitcher for a fielder's choice, had a basehit to center and then struck out looking on a pitch right down the pipe! We have a couple of new players that we're having trouble figuring out where they should play in the field -seems like whereever they were they couldn't get the job done in the field. Practice on Thursday should be very interesting.....

We had a busy week with TR's surgery but we he made it through and hopefully will be passing the last of the crushed kidney stones this week. We'll know more after his x-ray next week. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of TR preparing for his procedure....(couldn't resist and Bradley thought it was only fair since we posted a picture of him at the doctor!)

Go Gators!

Where does the time go? Didn't realize it has been so long since our last post. We've been busy as usual - and managed to make it through the three slow-pitch world tournaments we have in September back to back along with our committee and board meetings.

We took a break last weekend and went to Tampa - no sports for the whole weekend (except what was on TV). Enjoyed a relaxing weekend and visited Busch Gardens Tampa. We had a great time and enjoyed several great roller coasters. The park was not crowded and we pretty much walked right on every ride.

We're back to the ballfield tomorrow for a doubleheader - but first, a little college football. Go Gators! If the Gator's don't win, Bradley will be in a deep depression, especially since Tennessee finally woke up and played football today.

Bradley and I are enjoying sitting here watching TR fold laundry! He's become the laundry king since we got the new washer and dryer. Of course, I may have to pull laundry duty for a day or two this week after he gets his kidney stones blasted on Wednesday.

Enjoying the great Florida weather - shorts and flip flops every day - no long pants needed. Promise it won't be as long between our next post.

Braves Win 2

So I realize my posting is overdue. To catch everyone up, last weekend was Labor Day and we had our Conference Championships for the men's major softball at our office Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a banquet on Saturday night. Poor TR had a kidney stone that started moving on Friday so he wasn't feeling well and he and Bradley never made it to the field Friday but he did find out that he had one stone that was moving and five more left in his kidneys. Saturday he kept a low profile but sitting in the house was getting to him so he did go with me to the banquet - good thing he was on Percocet as he did pass the stone that was on the move during the banquet Saturday night! Sunday he was feeling much better and was able to resume his duties as bat tester for the final day of the tourney with the assistance of Bradley who ran the bats from the field to the testing room.

Monday we decided to take a trip to Aquatica - first time for TR & I although Bradley had been once with our neighbors shortly after it opened. We were there early and had done everything by noon! It was great in the morning as lines were short and if we liked the ride we were able to get right back on. By the time the the park began to get crowded we had done all but one thing which Bradley deemed as spinning too many times. We had a blast and look forward to going back.

This weekend brought us back to the baseball field on Sunday for the kickoff of the fall season. The Braves had a doubleheader at home against the Warriors. The Braves played good - not great and not terrible - and came away with two wins on two different fields! Bradley pitched the entire first game for a 19-4 win. Our home field had rain on Saturday and the batters box was very muddy when we arrived - took some stay-dri and TR's expertise to get the field playable. When the rain came down right at the end of the first game, the field was deemed not playable but Coach Monsey called to the other field we play on which is only about 5 minutes away and they had hardly any rain - so we packed up and moved over. The second game was much closer - we trailed 8-2 at the end of the second and finally tied the game in the last inning. Since we were now the visitors we held them in the field and sent the game into extra innings. We managed to score 2 and hold the Warriors off, thanks in part to a great call by the Braves scorekeeper (me) who caught the illegal substitution to give the Warriors their second out in the bottom of the last inning (I'd warned them on three different times about illegal subs - since they didn't listen they paid the consequences). Nevertheless, the Braves came away with a 12-10 win. Will post a pic of Bradley after the games - wet and dirty - when I find the cable for the camera.....

Back to Normal

We spent our Sunday at the baseball field - felt good to be back watching Bradley's team play. They won their scrimmage 17-10 - at times they looked good, at times they looked bad but they all had fun. It's a big change this year as we move up to 10U as they get to lead-off. This makes the innings very long as pitchers begin trying to pick people off. We did manage to pick off a couple but our pitchers, including Bradley, need a lot of work - good thing for fall ball! This was, of course, followed by our usual post-game "supper" with the Barbers and the Roes - good times!

On another note, we also went to the movies - a rare treat indeed! We saw GI Joe and it was definitely fun and everyone enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next installment as there is sure to be one.

Closet Makeovers

So we recently bit the bullet and had a professional come in and work on our closets. While Bradley's closet is a pretty standard shape, both mine and TR's have angled walls in our closets which presented a small challenge. Never fear, our rep Cari came up with a great plan for all the closets.

Wendi's closet - plenty of room for clothes and shoes! I can fit lots more shoes here now.

TR's closet - shelf space, hanging space and a great slat wall where you can arrange a variety of hooks, brackets, baskets, etc to store odds and ends.

Bradley's closet - drawers to serve as his dresser and plenty of room for all of his shirt, hats and other stuff!

Back to School - and Other Hilarious Things

Okay - so we're back to a pretty normal schedule since school started on Monday. Bradley likes his teacher and the two other boys from our neighborhood are in his class - what's the chance of that happening? He's done really well with the whole back to school routine. New this year, he has his own alarm clock and is reading BEFORE school. He's really a good morning person so this schedule works well - especially the reading as it eliminates the arguments at night. One slight problem, Bradley's class has "lunch" at 10:30 am - he refers to this as his "second breakfast". Needless to say, thankfully his teacher has implemented a snack time at 2:00 pm as the boys in her class can't go that long without eating. The first day of school when he got in the truck TR said that he was absolutely starving.

The Pride finished second in the NPF Championships last weekend. We had plenty to do around the house and it rained most of the weekend so that gave us a chance to watch most of the games on the internet. Some players went directly to their homes from Akron, but some did come back here. We said goodbye to them this week which was very sad - we'll miss them all.

Since Bradley's bout with the flu, he had a check-up and follow-up visit with the doctor yesterday. Imagine my surprise when I received the picture below with the caption "He said he feels like a paper plate!! LOL! I'm laughing so hard I'm crying." The best thing was that I also laughed so hard I cried (BTW - I still laugh every time I look at this picture). It brings back memories of the first time I went to the doctor and only had the "paper gown" for a cover-up. It's really hard to turn 10!

Go Pride - Bring Home the Cup

The USSSA Pride is in the Championship series of the NPF - knocking off Chicago Bandits and Jennie Finch earlier today. They face the Rockford Thunder and Cat Osterman in a best of 3 series. The Pride took the first game tonight 4-0 and it looks like it will be Abbott vs Osterman for game 2 at 1:00 pm tomorrow. You can all watch it live on the internet - www.profastpitch.com. Go PRIDE!!!!!