It's Derby Time!!!

Love Gutter is playing at the East Coast Roller Derby Championships Saturday, June 21 at 3pm!!! Holy Cow!! Over 900 people and skaters expected...3 rinks, live bands, BBQ, pool party, and Dogfishhead Beer. Get ready for the finger blisters now - Dave Wakeling from The English Beat insisted that's what would probably make me a fun date (something about liking it rough), and I thought he'd nearly spit out his Guinness when I came back with, "Oh yeah, ribbed for HIS pleasure!"

Oh yeah, it's Derby Time....and it's also baseball time!! Season is wrapping up - D. made the All-Star Team and has pitched his team to a first-place standing. Play-offs start this weekend. We are still living for baseball, but it's all good. Included in the fun is an invitation to a private clinic at a local MLB player's home - whoa! :)

What else...new laptop, new bathroom, home improvements keep chugging away. Hopefully our place can get on the local historic homes tour for next year, like we did w/ our place downtown a few years ago. Z-Girl had the "Lucy Love-In" this weekend w/ her BFF.

And I'm exhausted. Gotta hit the hay and start running again tomorrow....

Baseball Season!!!

Ah, fresh spring air! Looking around the house for misplaced baseball hats, running back and forth between the diamond and the playground, embracing the dirt on the mounds (and the children) near the field....take me out to the ball game!

We had a lovely first day back - D. is pitching this year and is very proud. Struck a couple of kids out, (hit one with the ball), got an RBI today, and made the last play to win the game. Not bad for an 8 year old.

This on the heels of seeing Joe Jackson last night, which was a delightful lullaby in itself. His music was just delicious - piano, bass, drums, and his voice. Almost minimal ingredients.

So, what does Joe Jackson have to do with baseball? I guess nothing. Just all good stuff. :)

Ridiculous

This has been the most ridiculous bunch of days. Boy wakes up w/ what looks like bug bites Friday morning. Mom calls doctor and they say bring him in after school. Doctor says, "It MAY be chicken pox. But we don't know for sure." Mom cancels babysitter and fabulous happy hour plans w/ husband and friends. Next day, going on pox alert, boy is devastated to miss last day of soccer (the hot chocolate championships, and dad is head coach). Dad feels obligation to be there and lead the team. Mom physically restrains angry, sad, and devastated boy from storming through two, giant 130 year old doors when dad leaves house to coach. It dawns on mom 2-3 minutes later that dad is not coaching the Nittany Lions and is needed here more. Dad enters house within 5 minutes. 20 minutes later boy is fine and we devise a plan to purchase an electronic game, in addition to the great books we have on hand, for the weekend.

More fun weekend plans are scrapped - dinner w/ great friends, party at the synagogue, any hope of playdates. It looks like boy can go back to school Monday morning (the pox/bites/whatever they are are not reproducing and they are going away). Then boy gets sick Sunday night.

In hindsight, if mom had seen the bites/whatever they are on Friday afternoon, boy would have enjoyed soccer. Happy hour would have gone on. Dinners would have been had. But, this is the story of my life right now, especially living through the insanity of home renovations once again. I cannot put into words right now how ridiculous it all is.

Just ridiculous.

On Becoming Senator Craig

So....the most hilarious thing you'll likely read today:
I have been lurking undercover online on a gay men's site under an anonymous name (hence the "undercover" part). Why? Because my best friend went "missing" somewhere between PA/DE/NJ and Las Vegas, and I wanted to keep tabs on him.
My alias was Dr. Stevens - a 48 year old, greying, fit doctor (with a photo of a tan, shirtless man taken from the back, jogging through the desert - thank you Yahoo! images); and I tried to lure my BFF (and former boyfriend, who eventually became the maid of honor at my wedding and "aunt" to my children) with an invitation to drinks, etc.
Oh, who's kidding who here? "Drinks, etc." on a gay men's hook up site = sex.
Yeah, for some reason, I was declined. (Still can't figure that one out - this jogger is a hottie from the back - and doctor - no brainer, right?)
Anyway, and I'll get to the funny part - my BFF is now safely back on the east coast, and I finally "came clean" and "outed" myself to him today. I told him my alias and sent him the link. Needless to say, we had some laughs!
But the funny part, which is also a bit Freudian - think about it, Grey's Anatomy fans:
Dr. Stevens.
Dr. Isabel Stevens.
"Izzie" Stevens
No, wait: "Is he?" Stevens!
(I crack myself up.)
But the funniest part - the funniest part:
I just told my husband tonight about how this all went down.
And he asked me, "Are you going to start tapping your foot in the men's bathroom now and go all Senator Craig on unsuspecting men?"
You know....it could happen.
(Maybe I'll need to get some hospital business cards printed up, too, for when I wave my hand under the stall.)

Can't Sleep

Not sure why I can't sleep. Maybe it's because I woke up at midnight from this crazy dream of this punk rock reunion where one moment I was curled up w/ a good friend, and the next moment I was screaming, "Get out of my house!" to two uninvited guests. Or maybe from this sore throat. Or maybe 'cause it's hot.

Gosh, the summer came and went! No time for blogging.

All is well - the summer ran the gamut from vacationing in Maine, heading to Shelter Island for a wedding, and trips to Rehoboth to see my folks. Summer camps, two swim clubs, park time, and even two weeks of me time.

Now that school is back in session (bittersweet time), maybe I'll get a chance to write. Maybe.

Oh gosh - new news - I resigned from my grant management job. Full time work was just not for me w/ the new house and kids. So, I've been off and LOVING it since the end of June!!! I'm sure things will pick up in a few weeks or so w/ the literacy stuff, but until then...I'm going to enjoy this time to myself! :) Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, 6:30 a.m. beckons. Hope I can get back to sleep.

Vacation (All I Ever Wanted)

Vacation - Had to Get Away! :)

Actually, we're back. Had a fantastic four days in Rehoboth...fun, sun, beach, ocean, sand, mini golf, water park, pool, fab food, shopping, fishing, biking, and good times w/ mom, dad, and Bebop! :)

No matter where our parents live, they always seem to end up in neighboring towns....NY, DE....

(And Smokey Tiger Woods, Jr., got "pretty much a hole in one". Yeah, my mini golf protegee came up w/ a new one: PM1 on the score card. Gotta love him.)

It's Friday, and I'm still on vacation. Woo hoo!!!! Oh, yeah, house cleaning here I come!

WOW!

If I could only input that title as Kate Bush singing it!

What an incredible time last night!!!!!!! I think, after 15 years, we played better last night than we ever did! And the folks that came out to see us last night, and all the good vibes and good people put together, especially the Love Gutter boys....it was just amazing and unbelievable! :)

It was the first time Jason had ever seen us play! Same for Declan and Zoe - they did really well w/ their earplugs and all! And the Waverly-Addison neighbors 4, Jocelyn, Robert Drake and friends, Mingo, Cheryl, Susan, (Sandor), Dave, Lana, Josh, Gabe, and then the other usual suspects and friends from back in the day.

I want to do it again!!!!! I don't want to wait another 15 years! (I might have my AARP card by then.....)

Ah, the sense of pride and joy. Wow. Wow!