Bakin' for the boys

Hello! A breezy, beautiful day with the leaves changing in the northeast. The day could not be more perfect. It's time to celebrate!

Speaking of celebration, I was able to attend Zumba class today without crippling knee pain. Whaddya know? The surgery was successful! Actually, I did not go full throttle with the moves since I was babying the legs, but it was fun to be there for a change.

I have not heard from the big kid for a few days and from what Tink tells me, he is exhausted....how can that be if it is a football-free weekend on campus? Oh, perhaps there was no football, but there  definitely were a few parties going on. If the guy is tired, why is he staying out all night at a party or three? What ever happened to the statement: "I have gone to enough parties and met enough people."? Does he forget these famous words?

And so, I have not heard anything except he will pitch next week during a scrimmage and I have an invitation to attend....along with some homemade pulled pork, cupcakes, cookies, and Halloween candy. Let's not forget the baked ziti.....Gonna start cooking on Thursday with my new friends.

Who are my new friends? Well, I am glad that you asked. It seems that the quints who live at the end of the street have an affinity for Diva Dog and one of the girls stops by each day to walk her. Once she found out that I bake with my next door neighbor who is also seven, she has decided to participate in this action. So, on Thursday, I will start baking with my little girl friends. There will be no Merlot offered to the gals as we roll the dough for the cookies.

What about the quint brothers? Well, they are interested in Buddy. One little guy rides his bike to the house every day looking for Buddy. "Is he home yet?" This young fella is having a hard time understanding that Buddy will not be home until after Halloween. In the mean time, he stops by daily to look at his baseballs, bats, hats, and equipment. I give him a ball every day and he glows and runs home to show his mother. The kids watch for me to drive down the street, hop on their bikes, and ring the door bell. Then the fun begins as I look at my computer and work on my desk, sigh, and leave it for a later time. After all, I gotta hang out with the kids for a while. They call my house the 'big pumpkin' house as they take turns sitting on the big gourd.

And so, that's about it for the day....trying to get ready for a long work week....hang out with kids if they stop by and search for more baseballs that are going fast. Perhaps I will give out baseballs on Halloween as opposed to candy. I can start a new trend. Instead of sugary sweets, we can give out treadmills, tennis racquets, and cleats.

Have a great day!

Magna Cum Baseball

Good morning! A great day in the northeast and we have Cupcake in the hose. Naturally, Diva Dog has been replaced by a cuter baby and she does not like it. Although, she will cuddle next to the baby and allow the baby to pull her ear while she drinks her bottle. It seems that Diva is quite protective of Cupcake.

And how is our little Cupcake? Well, she started to eat cereal this week and seems like a happy little kid. Right now, she is napping and all is well with the world. She also has her stylin' pumpkin hat on and is waaay cute.

Ok, whazzup in the world of baseball? Well, plans continue as the big kid will travel home on weekends to work with Coach T. "Mom, I have had enough parties and met enough people. I don't need this every week when I am trying to achieve my goal." Hmmm...very mature for an underage partying, baseball playin', extremely tired college student. This is parent's weekend on campus and we have not been invited. When I mentioned it to the leftie, his response was "I would rather that you came next weekend to watch the scrimmage. I will be pitching and want you to come."

Wow!  a personal invitation to come to campus and observe the fruits of his labors. I must say, it has been laborious. With the surgery, rehab, training, and practices, this guy has not stopped. I have never seen anyone more dedicated to a goal in  my life....which now brings me to a statement: "I was wrong."

Yes, I was wrong. One day when the kid was in high school, he was lying in bed during the afternoon. Frustrated, I angrily said to him that he did not have the discipline to play Major League baseball. In fact, he did not have the discipline to get out of high school. Kind of rough, yes?

Yes, it was. In fact, years later, he remembers that day and how angry he was that I had the nerve to talk to him that way. Ooops.

Well, you have to look at the day, time, and what he was and was not doing. He was lazy, inattentive, and making me crazy. I hated when the kids would just ignore what they had to do such as homework and projects. When I would ask: "Finished your homework?" The response would be either 'what homework?' or 'later....'

As a parent, it would drive me crazy....come on dude, get your act together....

And together, he did. He has as much drive and discipline as anyone who is an honors student at any ivy league university striving to complete and defend his dissertation. The only difference is that rather than be passionate about statistics, he wants to create his own kind of statistics in the ball park. So, I have had to readjust my thought process and be happy that he is happy with his walk in life. That is...not as an honors student striving for Phi Beta Kappa but as a student of the game of baseball whose goal is Maja Leaga Baseballa......

With that said, Diva Dog needs a walk and I have to go....have a wonderful day!

Hallo-mas

Ok, it is not even Halloween yet and there are Christmas decorations in the stores. I am still looking for a lighted spider to add to my Halloween decorations, and do not like my Christmas shoved down my throat like this. I prefer to celebrate the holiday in December after I have put away my pilgrims and pumpkins. Yesterday the radio station that plays all holiday music starting conducting a survey to determine when the listeners want to hear the Christmas songs. In other words, if the listeners answer the survey that they want to hear Jingle Bells next week, the radio station will begin its holiday playlist.

This is crazy. We are not even at the midterm point in our semester and I refuse to think about chestnuts roasting on an open fire although Jack Frost has been nipping at my nose with this chilly weather.

OK, on to more current events. The big kid has a new plan of action. It seems that he feels that his pitching coach has absolutely nothing to offer him as far as coaching is concerned. Whenever he asks for feedback, the coach says the same thing. Actually, he offers the same bit of advice to every pitcher on the team. Naturally, this frustrates Buddy to no end and therefore he has developed his plan.

The plan has several components which includes coming home every weekend, Coach T, and paying for local pitching lessons. I hope that the plan also includes purchasing a bus pass. I am not inclined to travel to campus every week as a shuttle just to drive him to baseball....kind of like the old days when he would be in the back seat and I would take him to tee ball.

The flaw in this carefully calculated plan is that Coach T has been MIA for the past month and has not been answering his texts. After his minor league team finished the season, Coach T has vanished. Where did he go? No one seems to know and my son is planning to get to the bottom of this disappearance.

He's examining all clues and facts and will begin to interview people who last saw his beloved Coach. Where can he be? The answer is 'dunno'. My take on the situation is that he has taken a long vacation or is in the Caribbean for a fall baseball league. Any way you look at it, the big kid will find him.

Thinking about his plan to come home every weekend after fall ball has me a bit puzzled. Will working out with Coach T really make a difference? Also, what happens to the Party House chaperone if he is gone on Friday and Saturday nights?

Will the rest of the guys party without him? Will the house have more damage? Will fights break out? Will there be more tossed eggs? What about the girl's gymnastics team? Will they attend the house parties without him? Who will unclog the toilet with a fork?

So many questions, so few answers....stay tuned!

No more egg-citement

Good morning! I am not sure what happened with our beautiful weather....but it is cold and damp....yuk! I don't have heat in my work office and yesterday, it was quite chilly. The positive part of not having heat is that the meeting that I had went very fast!

So, what's going on? Actually, not much....

Buddy called a few times yesterday as he settles into the rhythm of life. Interestingly, this should have happened six weeks ago. No one is complaining, though. I am amazed as he is caught up with his school work and has no complaints. In fact, he was asking me how I was doing.....hmmmm....am I dying and no one told me? No one asks me how I am doing....usually....

Anyway, I was happy to report to him that I am on a winning streak in tennis. Yep, I broke out of my two month losing streak last week (barely). He was thrilled to hear it. I guess we have a great deal in common. He then shared with me that he was worried about losing once he is officially back in the game.

I actually had nothing to say to him about it, because it is a tough state of mind to be in when a person attaches so much to winning rather than the game itself. As we know, we lose more than we win. I tell my students and Buddy (when he is listening) that we learn more from our mistakes than our victories. In his case, the losses are more public. But this is his dream....to be in the majors....so, the agony of defeat is even more agonizing. When I lose, perhaps 7 people know or care about it. When he loses, the entire campus and conference know and comment on it. Ouch! I am pretty sure that I am not cut out for it, but he is....so, go baby go....

I read an article in a tennis magazine this week that reported research on the brain. To summarize, when something important like money or a prize is added to a competition, the brain changes. Therefore, as the ventral striatum shuts down due to the stress or pressure of the competition, the more people fail to deliver. In other words, they 'choked.'

This has multiple implications for any competitor as what is in our mind matters. Therefore, fearing failure can be a self fulfilling prophecy. Consequently, preparation of the body and mind are essential in any competition including taking a test, Jeopardy, and tiddly winks. Moreover, when a person competes, he or she should have a mechanism to turn off the dialog in the brain and just play their sport. Physical preparation is essential, that's why there are so many practices. But once the competition begins, click off the thoughts and emotions and get down to business.

And so, as fall ball continues, it is time to forget about the wins and losses and focus on the task at hand. Perhaps, this means that I could win again and be on a winning streak....or put it in perspective and just be happy for the moment and physical ability to play.

Time to go...have a great day!

What egg-actly is the problem?

Lovin' this autumn weather. This is a quick post. Tink and I are headed to Aqua Zumba this morning. We have discovered that a person can perspire in water if they work hard enough.

Ok, just got another call from the big kid. The midnight egging continues and the house mates are peeved. last night, they threw eggs back and one of the eggs broke on the perp's screen and splattered all over his room. Now, this is the guy who throws the eggs to begin with and he is angry that he got egged....So, weird.....

Anyway, he was so furious that he hit Dog who was standing and watching the melee. Dog now has a black eye and busted lip. Is this beyond college hijinks? I am thinkin.....

The condition of Dog's face does warrant a trip to the police. At least, they can put some fear into this 6th year senior who does not have enough credits to graduate yet to open the books and finish what he started during the Bush administration.

It's crazy...they are crazy...and I am crazed...more later......

Not enough money to be Broke

Hi! A gorgeous fall day in the northeast. I did not post this morning because I ran a few errands. Tink and I have had our eye on a very large pumpkin at the farmer's market, so I bought it to surprise her. Little did I realize that I would have to pay someone to put the pumpkin in the car AND to take it out. It seems that my little surprise weighs over 80 pounds. Fortunately, there were a couple of guys working down the street on a driveway and I paid them to take the gorgeous gourd out of my car and place it on the lawn. It's a real cutie...I wonder if Tink is going to notice it....hmmmm.....

On to the big kid....he called this morning and told me that his house was still being egged. Once again, I advised him to take photos and share the information to the police. They could catch the vandals in the act.  Yes, he took the photos and no, he is not going to alert the police. The actual egging is occurring to the back of the house and not the front.
  This is an actual picture of the eggs and house.


Speaking of the house, the famous broken porch was fixed by the carpenter and he found that the boards were rotten. Therefore the guys are off the hook so to say and do not have to pay for the damages from the last blow out party.

For the next two weeks, the pitcher who was drafted by the Giants at the end of the season is staying at the house. According to the big leftie, he is spending money like water. He has a big BMW and lots of new clothes and shoes. He is picking up the bar tabs and buying the pizza and booze for the guys. His spending has made my son nervous. Apparently, he watched a movie called "Broke" last night and is concerned that this guy is going to spend all of his money and land up destitute. I told him to relax because he has not seen the bank statements and if he wants to treat his friends, then let him.

"Well, I am not going to spend money like this...I am way too cheap!" Bingo....he is kind of cheap, but he has to be since he does not have any money. I guess that he has been listening to his dad over the years. Don't spend money on what you don't need....don't spend money that you do not have....amazing....he listened....Broke, eh? How about saving your money so that you are not broke?

Although, I did share with him something that I had read in the Joe Paterno biography. Joe would tell his players: "Do you want three cars or a three car garage?" In other words, don't spend new found money on something that is frivolous rather on something that is lasting like a home or real estate.

With that said, I am going to try to find the movie Broke on television and catch what made my son so nervous. Perhaps the big kid is growing up. Perhaps the new found money that he sees his friend have has made him contemplate the meaning of financial solvency. I don't know...stay tuned!

Egg-citing times

Wow! What a few days we have had here! I got to see Cupcake twice this week as Buttercup needed someone to watch her. I begrudgingly said yes.....NOT! If I was seen begging my niece for the privilege of babysitting my fairy goddaughter, then I will deny it....OK, I did....I am not proud...love that little girl and her momma. Yesterday, she had on this very stylin' cap that Sparky's sister had knitted. What talent! I want a hat like this. I would wear it during the autumn season when my grey hair is showing. Actually, I should borrow her pumpkin bib too. There are days when I look down on my shirt and see the remnants of my lunch. If I wore a bib, I could eliminate the walking advertisement for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

We have been having fun with Cupcake's photo at work. I took a picture of her in a pink convertible last week. My friend started to Photoshop the photo as she added a cell phone to her hand in one edited photo and a Starbucks coffee cup in another. I want to add sunglasses (or "Babes" as Tink used to call them), a cigarette, and motorcycle hat in the next photo. Unfortunately, I do not have Photoshop on my computer and can't do the edits myself. When I do, I will publish our Cupcake creations. Too much time on my hand? Or the lack of true motivation to get my job done? You can make that call....

On to the big kid....he is happy...he is sad...he is frustrated....he is mad....such poetry....

What's going on? Well, the landlord is sending the carpenter this week to fix the broken porch.

 The bill will be taken care of by my son and his dense roomies.

Also, it seems that there is an ongoing battle with their back neighbors as they egged the house last night at 3 am. There has been sale on eggs this month and the neighbors have bought crates of them. They then decide whom they will punish as they finish a night of partying. Naturally, Buddy's house is the target of choice on most nights. The vandals aim for the windows and let the eggs fly. Some of these kids are on the baseball team and therefore, their aim is pretty good. My son is peeved because he has to clean the eggs off the windows and is often awakened from a deep sleep (do not mess with this kid's sleep...ever!). Also, they never toss bacon...just the eggs....

There was another situation that I discovered on Facebook as someone....OK, stop reading if you have a weak stomach....'poo-ed' in a McDonalds bag and left it on his porch. This is beyond a practical joke. it is unsanitary and creepy. Even in the most drunken and high state, who would do this? I don't even mean leaving the excreta on the porch, but who would think that it would be very be funny to poo in a food bag? Ew....I have no BP mom words for this one.... just a stomach that is churning over the thought of it. the late Ray Kroc would not approve the use of a Mickey D's bag for this purpose.

And with all of these practical jokes, my fear is that it is going to get out of hand and someone will get hurt. Therefore, I have encouraged my son and his roomies to take photos while the house is being egged for leverage as this continues to go way over the line. The guys are looking for ways to strike back. I say: "let it go...don't let them know that they are getting under your skin".... So, take the pictures for evidence and use them with the police when you are ready....OK...sheesh....listen to your momma....she knows what she is talking about...I have seen a number of cop shows over the years and Starsky and Hutch would use their fists last and the brains first....right? How about Serpico? He was pretty smart! Magnum PI would never let the shenanigans get out of hand like that. After all, they are using poultry to make an offensive statement and vandalize a perfectly nice college house. They gotta cut it out. After all, eggs do not grow on trees. Stop getting 'egg-cited' about it. You'll only have egg on your face and not just the windows.

 

Time for me to work. have a great day!