Take me out to the ballgame!

Posted by on June 6, 2006 at 2:22 pm | Last modified: October 17, 2013 4:23 pm

And since Minor Ball started after I last posted, here’s an update.

CareBear is playing again this year. Rhi is doing really well, and emotionally handling the letdowns (strike outs and out-at-firsts) much better.

The team in entirety is amazing. They’ve lost only one league game, and that was the very first of the year. The girls have wiped the diamonds since then, except for a tournament where the teams are slightly more advanced and the pitching is faster. Not that that one pitcher was any good – she kept hitting our girls. Ok, mostly Rhi and Care. Mostly Rhi. But she “took it for the team” as she put it, and some of those hits would have had me bawling. That’s my girl; chin up, temper in check and ready to face the next pitch.

The last tournament they played in was this past Saturday, and they won every game. All three, and by quite a gap in the scores too.

It amazes me how utterly disrespectful some coaches are. In league play, there has been one extremely arrogant and hostile outburst from a pair of opposing coaches, and the parents. The ump made a good call on their team, and it was one he’d called on our girls too. It was a fair call – and not only that – those damn coaches had made sure he’d called it on us! When this went on for several minutes, one of our coaches went over and told the ump to give it to them. That’s when one of their parents said the team didn’t need the charity. What is that teaching those girls, who stood right there, listening???

Frankly, that is pathetic. At least have the decency to teach the team you coach some sportsmanship and lose gracefully. I mean, come on; the girls won’t learn it if you don’t show it. Take a look at our coaches, ladies. They may be guys, but out of all the coaches I’ve watched in the last two years – they’re the best in this league. Our girls have compassion, team spirit and don’t rub their wins in the faces of those that have lost. And they take their losses as a learning experience, and a way to practice good sportsmanship.

As a final thought, here’s something for ya’ll to think about. At the last tournament, our girls sat and cheered on one of the teams they’d played and won, during that team’s final game. Who was the opposing team? One of the teams where the coaches and the players fought against ump calls and showed bad sportsmanship in their loss. The team our girls cheered for enjoyed themselves, you could see that…they weren’t just there to “beat the other team”. They were there to play.

And after all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

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Issues and More Issues

Posted by on March 6, 2006 at 4:56 pm | Last modified: October 17, 2013 4:11 pm

Several things to note this week:

So if something goes wonky on your next visit here, please be patient. I will fix it.

I got a letter in the mail today. If you’ll take a look to the left column, you’ll see I’ve got a deadbeat dad thing goin’ on down there. I guess the Maintenance Enforcement people are sick of him playing games with them…and they’ve issued a Federal Garnishment order. Could be that any unemployment benefits, GST refund amounts, and his income tax will be either garnished, or sent in full to me to pay the back child support. This’ll take up to 3 months apparently – and in the meantime, the arrears are piling up twice a month.

11 years ago, a bright-eyed little ball of black fluff that looked so much like a negative polar bear came into our lives. She was soon named Bear (her nose did grow out though and she looked less bear-like). A supposed Keeshond – Shepherd cross, it was quickly apparent there was very little, if any Keeshond. Then again, only her body stature looked like a German Shepherd…I think a collie got into that particular mess…anyway Bear was a wonderfully intelligent and gentle dog. The limits to her patience with two toddlers toddling after her seemed boundless; and she seemed intent on making sure they were well fed, bringing back muskrat and mole bits – and deer legs. I don’t know where she found them, but…ick.

She saved me from being trampled by a young bull moose once, simply by growling at me and scaring me back into the house…I watched out the window as the moose moved off into the trees. She kept the girls out of trouble more times than I can count. She was, literally, the perfect dog. Except for the chewing and the messes..but dogs will be dogs (which is one reason why I don’t have one).

In case anyone really cares (and since I know one person visiting this blog did..ROFL) Bear did not die until this past fall, when Mort had to have her put down due to some weirdness in her guts. In the meantime, she had a litter of gorgeous puppies (her first 2-g, 1-b), and was so happy to see the girls and I as often as Mort could get her here, or we could get there. Despite being alone for so long, starving and dehydrated, she lived when she should have died. She found us (thanks Donna and Wayne). She spent the last year of her life with Mort and Wren, and it was a very happy time for her; they spoiled her and her babies. At least she died with all of us loving her – knowing we didn’t abandon her.

Miss you Bear!

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Wandering the Random

Posted by on January 27, 2006 at 2:21 pm | Last modified: January 27, 2006 2:21 pm

I’ve been popping by the occasional blog and since Daven is doing FebNo too, I thought I’d slip past his pages and take a look. Particularly since he posted his blog entry from today, at the FebNo forums. Ya’ll gotta read this. If I haven’t said it lately, or at least publicaly, Daven is like, a god or something. I totally agree with the rape comments, having dealt with the fallout with my kid. And hey, I do consider what happened to her, to be rape.

On another note, I have to admit that I felt a little let down after the divorce party. Not unhappy, not that huge “shouldn’t there be more to this?” let down.

I realized there was one person missing from that celebration, the one person that I should have been sharing this with. The one person that made me find myself again. Over two years have gone by since I said goodbye (and at the time, I meant goodbye, not see ya later). On the 19th, I dreamt he came home. When I woke up last Friday morning, I could feel him everywhere in the house, all around me – a huge, heavy weight on my chest where he’d put his hand, telling me he’d always be there. He should have been here. Not there – not in my heart, not in my memories. Here.

I’m pissed off that he wasn’t, and yet, I wouldn’t pick up the phone at any point in the last two years to call him, at least not directly. When I said goodbye, I said goodbye. I told him then to have a good life – it was the most affable, beneficial and spirit-rending goodbye I’ve ever been a part of. It’s been…well, too long since he and I spoke, and one of the last things he’d asked was how soon the divorce would go through. Little did I know it would be so long!

It’s done now, and my freedom only cost me a lot of my empathy, a lot of my emotions and a lot of the very spirituality I have spent my life seeking. Still I seek, and I know that won’t be over until that tiny piece of me is returned home.

Can I only say I didn’t know? Hindsight is 20-20, even for the partially blind? No. I have to admit it. I didn’t understand what She had in mind when She brought him to me. I went against Her wishes and ended up lost in a sea of unfinished business. I know now, and yeah – he was right, She was right. I’m kicking myself. I was wrong. Love isn’t just a word.

But maybe we could pretend it is, just for a little while longer?

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