This Breaks My Heart

I found the following mp3 file on OneNewsNow.com, a Christian news sevice. I am just flabergasted and heartsick about how any Christian, especially a member of the 2000+ year old Catholic Church, could possibly feel that abortion has anything to do with anything else but murder of an innocent life. And then, as you'll hear, to try to convince anyone that the Church does not have a definite stand on the the issue... Ugh.

Please click here listen to our Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. I'm ashamed to say she is native of my own state of Maryland.

Laughter IS the Best Medicine

Most, or many, of you probably don't know too many of the details of what's been happening behind the scenes with this blog. Some of the posts may seem a bit cryptic, oozing an 'inside joke' feel about them. I am sorry that the whole story is just too complicated to explain in detail on this blog, although through other methods of correspondence, the story has been told to its fullest extent. The main point of this exercise, we believe, has been for the comedic value. In Vicki's most vulnerable and uncomfortable, and least humor-filled, period of her pregnancy, she has never laughed so much or so heartily. And how she also loves a good puzzle to solve! This one has been most entertaining. And once it was solved, it even came with its own answer key, to verify that the solution was indeed correct. Again, I am sorry for what may seem to be yet another cryptic post, but rest assured, we firmly believe that the last couple weeks have been a gift from Heaven to help pass the last few days of what would otherwise have the most difficult weeks of a summer pregnancy.

Chemistry

Alex was searching, frantically, this morning for his Chemistry text book. He starts school tomorrow at SSPP and is trying to get all his ducks in a row before the last minute. Imagine that! Anyway, the reason he could not find his Chemistry book is because he does not have a Chemistry book. His teacher, bless him, is trying to save us money, I guess, and for that, he has already become one of my favorite teachers of Alex.

I suggested to Alex that he borrow one of my old Chemistry books, the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, a 2600+ page tome that lists every know chemical and physical property of elements, solutions, organic and inorganic compounds, and you-name-it. How impressed would his class be if he whipped that thing out of his backpack on the first day of school!? He laughed, but the book weighs about ten pounds and he doesn't need the extra weight in his pack. And, truth be told, the book is not really a textbook. I bought it as a graduating Biologist and Chemist (with a dash of Physics) from SSU for future reference. I have actually used it a few times, but not since my conversion to country bumpkin.

A New Bishop

Our Diocese is getting a new Bishop. Bishop Michael Saltarelli has retired. My kids were sad to hear this. They'll miss him, especially Mckenzie. Whenever he visited our parish, he always remembered Kenzie and made her feel special. I think everyone felt this way, but McKenzie took a special liking to the man. When Alex was confirmed last year, Connor and Kenzie assisted the Bishop in the ceremony. Connor's job was to hold the Bishop's staff (it's probably got a special name but I can't think of it off hand) when the Bishop needed his hands to be free, and Kenzie held his big, red hat (again, there's a name, but...). I think he got a kick out of her spunkiness. You all know she isn't shy, and that was true even around the Most Reverend Michael A. Saltarelli. He meets so many folks all the time it's hard to say if he really remembers every person, but the important thing is, even though we didn't see him very often in person, he had a big impact on this family.

Our new Bishop, the Most Reverend W. Francis Malooly, will be installed on Sept. 8. He was appointed to the job, by Pope Benedict XVI, back in June, as our interim Bishop. Connor and Alex are both going to his installation as student volunteers. They will be ushers, go-fers, servers, etc. Alex, with some fellow classmates, will be representing his high school, and Connor will be representing his home school. What a fantastic opportunity to be part of such a momentous event in our Catholic experience!

Just A Country Bumpkin

No offense to you hard-working bumpkins out there, but I'm looking forward to a nice quiet evening out here on the rustic ole Eastern Shore. No softball. No soccer. No football. No homework. No weedin' er tillin' tuh doo. Just the chikins a-waddlin' and the rooster a'crowin'. Ah think weel jes' set aroun' an' wartch muh wife's belly bulge. Ole junior shore is'n active'un, jes' pokin' an' a-proddin', jes' itchin' tuh see the worl'. Ah gess weel jes keep'em poppin' out cuz we ain't got nufin' better tuh doo oat on duh ole Eastern Shore.

Remember Where You Are

This web log is, and always has been, a place where our family and friends can catch up on the goings on of our family. I know it's public, and anyone can see it, and I don't mind that. I try never to post anything that is untrue so I don't worry about what anyone really thinks about what I say. Truth is truth, and that's that.

Recently, however, I have been contacted by two individuals regarding the content of this blog. One person did it right. One did not.

Let's start with the right way. Somehow, members of the KY Diamond Cats came across my NSA world series entry. They were offended by some things I said. They sent me a non-anonymous email explaining in no uncertain terms what they thought of my comments. They were very obviously upset. I re-read my post, and I have to say they had justification. After being educated a little about the KY program, I became a bit offended with my own comments. I have huge respect for the sport of girls softball; I know how hard we work to perfect the skills of our girls. The Kentucky girls are no different and deserve the same respect we give our own kids when it comes to their ability to play the game. Anyway, after seeing the error of my ways, it was easy to modify my blog entry to remove the hurtful and untrue things that I posted. I emailed back to the KY coach to apologize, and thanked him for getting me straight. I have to remember where I am, too. This site is about me and my family, not anyone else, and I don't need to be commenting on things based on conjecture and gossip.

The wrong way. Most of you probably don't know that this site has been attacked and harassed by an anonymous coward ever since we decided to move on from LSL. Fortunately, no one has seen this flamer's comments since I delete them as soon they are posted. If anyone has a legitimate cause for being upset at me, I will listen with an open mind, as long as that person has the courage to identify himself, as did the Kentucky coach. This anonymous poster, however doesn't deserve a response. His comments are vile, hurtful, and self-serving. His only purpose is to tear down someone for his own spiteful reasons. Anonymous is not even associated with the 10U team that we just left! Despite having some internet experience, he apparently does not realize that IP addresses can be traced. I would like to keep my head above the gutter that anonymous dwells in by informing him that I know his ISP is Comcast.net and his IP address is 69.143.66.152. His host name is c-69-143-66-152.hsd1.md.comcast.net. His connecting city is Essex. I really would like to keep names out of this, but if this site is hit again by this particular anonymous, I will start posting names, Mike.

Again, if you are willing to identify yourself, with constructive criticism, I will listen and be educated. I can accept being wrong when presented with a reasonable argument.

I know who visits my site; please remember where you are and I will try to do the same.

The New Team

Our new RB Spirit team officially began its new, 2008-09 season, with a pool party at Coach Charlie's house. Here's Charlie, sporting this year's latest fashion of RB red, RB white, and RB blue softball visor. It will be met with trepidation by many an opponent when seen in the opposing dugout this coming softball season.



While many teams are spending this weekend holding more tryouts to fill in one or two last roster spots, our girls spent a quality afternoon bonding and getting to know each other. Charlie's goal is to have the girls establish a rapport that carries beyond the softball diamond. The adults also had the chance to meet each other and partake of some fine smoked ribs and gobs of other food while hopefully establishing friendships that will carry this team through the next twelve months. By providing the opportunity for this newly established team to come together like this at least monthly, it is Charlie's intention to avoid conflicts between kids and parents that arise from self-centered tunnel vision that can happen when people forget that the team comes before the individual. Our successes will be team successes; our failures will be team failures. I'm banking on more of the former and few of the latter.





The girls graciously allowed their new coach the chance to remove his wallet from his pocket before they tossed him into the pool.



Here are some friendships forming.

Where's Kenzie?

Kenzie, and a few of other former Lake Shore players, mysteriously disappeared from the Lake Shore 10U web site. Not only did they disappear from the 2008 roster, they (not including Kenzie since she was only there one year) vanished from the team's history as if they had never played softball before. In fact, so many girls disappeared that the 2007 team only had six players on it. Many other girls, coincidentally those who remain in the Lake Shore association, remain on all rosters for all the years they played on the 10U team. It seems to be a very selective series of disappearances, but that's just my opinion.

For the record, here is the bio for Kenzie's entry. I'm posting it here just to make sure I have a record of it.

Years playing select ball: 2

2007 Season: Bayside Breeze

2008 Season: Lake Shore Lightning 10U
1st Place: ASA Halloween Classic
2nd Place: USSSA Kickoff Klassic
2nd Place: PONY Mystics Spring Season Open
1st Place: USSSA Early Bird Qualifier (plus, she received the team MVP trophy)
1st Place: PONY Cherry Blossom
1st Pace: 10th Annual Heartbreakers Classic
1st Place: NSA Atlantic Coast Challenge
1st Place: USSSA Heat at the Beach
1st Place: USSSA Memorial Day Madness
1st Place: ASA 2008 Maryland State Championship
1st Place: USSSA Blast at the Beach
1st Place: USSSA Maryland State Championship
1st Place: USSSA Blue Gray Summer Shootout
2nd Place: NSA World Series

I'm sure glad all those trophies didn't disappear from our classroom wall.

The Roads Are Safe Again - For Now

Alex walked in a little while ago from his first on-road experience. He was all smiles. We may have created a monster. His proudest moment came when he ran over a snake, or a frog. His instructor couldn't tell exactly what is was from the what was stuck to the tire. At least the insurance adjuster won't be calling just yet.

Your Final FINAL Warning

Local roads will be experiencing potential backups this afternoon as Alex gets behind the wheel for the very first time in his fifteen and a half years. He doesn't even have a Learner's Permit yet (not old enough 'til Oct 24), but I've been informed by his driving instructor that that is not required as long as he is driving under the instructor's supervision as part of Alex's driver education. Good luck to all you brave souls on the road near KIHS at around 6 pm this evening!

A Note Of Sadness

The hardest thing I've done in recent memory was telling Coach Terry that Kenzie was moving from his 10u softball team to Charlie's 12u team, the Riviera Beach Spirit. Terry is an awesome coach who did awesome things with an awesome bunch of girls last season. From the Bayside Breeze, two years ago, Kenzie went from a 10u team that introduced her to the world of softball, to the Lake Shore Lightning that introduced her to winning in the world of softball. Kenzie's first two years of fastpitch softball could have been written in Hollywood, except in the movies there are usually more sad parts than the one at the very end.

Kenzie had every intention of spending another year at 10u with Lake Shore. That is, until the first weekend of tryouts when only two quality, older girls showed up, and one veteran player decided to go up to LSL 12u. This left Kenzie and a couple other girls as the core team with which Terry had to develop next year's team. Everyone was discouraged. When word got out about the apparent collapse of the 10u team, other coaches began contacting us about Kenzie playing somewhere else. No one seemed to be trying to steal her away from a happy situation; but they did want her to look their way if she decided to leave Lake Shore. One of those coaches was Charlie, with whom I'd developed a rapport over this past season. Charlie was one of the original coaches for LSL when Kenzie originally tried out last year. She liked him from the start, as she liked all the coaches, but Charlie stood out to her as a coach who aggressively sought the best performance that each girl had to give. For one reason or another, Charlie wound up not being an LSL coach; just a gung-ho sideline father like myself.

My original plan, before tryouts, was to have Kenzie try out for Charlie's team next year. Kenzie would have a chance to develop and mature as a team leader at the 10u level, something she has never had the chance to do since she's always "played up" in all her select and club level sports. We never considered RB's 12u team until several things came together, the first being the low turnout at the first LSL tryouts. That, and the fact that Kenzie, herself, does not want to be, to put it in her words, "the top player on the team". I don't know if she'd be the top player on Terry's team, but she would be among the top players. She functions best, and improves the most, when she is challenged; when her position is threatened; when she has to continuously earn her keep. I'm not sure she would be in that position, based on the girls we saw on that Saturday. Keep in mind, Kenzie's birthday is 16 days after the age cut off for 10u. If not for those 16 days, she would be forced to go up to 12u, regardless of her talents and experience. Also, if she moves up now, when her skills are fairly equivalent to the other girls on RB's team, she maintains the option of staying down for a third year at an older level. I really like having that option. Say her second year at 12u (or 14u or whatever-u) is a frustrating year, for whatever reason--she would have the option of taking an additional year at that level if she needed to work on certain skills that may be lacking. Right now, her skills aren't lacking enough to merit taking that extra year at 10u.

Well, in the end, we decided to check out Charlie's team this weekend. If nothing else, it would give Kenzie another chance to see Caroline. What I saw was a good group of girls with a lot of softball ability. Then I saw Kenzie fit right in. I saw her extend herself beyond what I thought she was capable of, beyond what she doing even at the World Series. Over the last few days, playing Devil's advocate, I told her she may not, for Charlie, play in a position she wanted, but rather in the outfield, where she spent most of last season. She was not happy about this. So, what did she do? She wowed the coaches with her play at third base. She also wowed the coaches with play in the outfield. She also wowed the coaches with her bat. She shifted into that higher gear that is inspired by the challenge placed before her. After today, she just felt plain good about her performance. Her last words before we headed over to talk to Terry were that she felt good about our decision to go with Charlie. I offered her $100 to talk to Terry for me because I am a coward, I felt like throwing up, and I was on the verge of hyperventilating, but she declined. She is only ten, after all. I hate hurting people, and I know I hurt Terry today, but Kenzie has to come first; and she, Vicki, and I (and Charlie and his assistant Bob and almost everyone I've talked to) believe she's ready for this move.

There are some other miscellaneous factors we considered as well. Some positive and some negative for RBS. Some positive and some negative for LSL. When everything balanced out, we did what we did with the best intentions for Kenzie in mind. But for having done it to Terry, the end of this two years is on a note of sadness.

This Will Be Your Final Warning

Alex, my oldest offspring who just turned 15 and a half years old, has begun Driver's Ed. He will be making his first attempts to navigate a four-wheeled deadly weapon in this vicinity in the near future. Be afraid... be very, very afraid.

Big Bird

Keary and I went on one of her insisted-upon walks this morning and were rewarded with a close encounter with this guy. He's gotten so used to people he doesn't scare very easily. This picture was taken without zooming in.

Boo

Today, Kenzie dressed Bekah up as Boo, from Monster's, Inc. Her nickname has always been Bekahboo; now we know why.