Hell Blanket II – the sequel

I have finished Hell Blanket II.  Huzzah.  I am not terribly pleased with this one either, but the Princess seems happy.

Princess O's blanket

I think she chose better colors than the C-man, but this project was still a real slog.  I like this technique in theory, but in practice, it gets tiresome.  I do think using something other than 100% acrylic yarn would help.

Her Royal Highness poses for the camera

Best baseball trivia site ever

Especially if you like charts and pretty colors.

www.flipflopflyball.com

(Thanks Tom)

Another season draws to a close

Well, so much for that then.

The Medics had their first tournament game tonight.  They lost.  This tournament is single elimination, so the Medics season has come to an end.

I have mixed feelings about this.  On the one hand, I am disappointed and sad because the Princess is disappointed and sad.  They only lost by one run, and they played well.  It was a real heartbreaker.  And it would have been nice if Princess O had had one more chance to pitch this season, but that was probably a lot to ask for in the playoffs.

On the other hand, the thought of another picnic dinner at the old ballpark filled me with sadness and despair.  I am sick and tired of eating sandwiches with a side order of infield dirt.  So, a part of me is glad to be done.

Mix a little mother’s guilt into that cocktail (for being happy it’s over) and that sums up my feelings pretty well.

The good news is it will be April again before we know it, and then we can do it all again.

Odds and Ends

I was walking home from the library with the C-man this afternoon when he told me he wished he lived in the Star Wars galaxy.  When I asked him why he said, “Because I would already be a Jedi Knight in training.  You know, destroying the Sith and all.”  Then he paused for a moment and added, “of course I wouldn’t have Legos”.  I’m not sure if this is an argument for or against living in the Star Wars Galaxy.

***

Meanwhile, off on Planet O…The Princess informed us tonight that her letter from Hogwarts is just late, but she will be getting one any day.  I’m 99% sure she knows that Hogwarts isn’t real.  But I have heard her and the C-man discuss this before.  And they have decided that if they do not get Hogwarts letters then Hogwarts doesn’t exist.  I didn’t have the nerve to point out that if they don’t get letters it could just be because they are Muggles.

***

I watched Twilight on my I-pod at the gym on Friday. It’s a problem I have.

Photos from Wrigley Field

Better late than never.  Here are some photos from our trip to Wrigley Field last week.  

Go Cubs

Michael Jackson vs. Michael Jordan

I was driving the Princess to her softball game and they were playing a Michael Jackson song on the radio.  You may have noticed they have been doing that a lot today.

So Princess O was asking me what happened to MJ and how old was I when I first heard him sing and was I a fan and so on and so on.

I answered her questions to the best of my ability.  I told her what had happened, and I told her about Thriller and so on.  And then she said to me, “mom, I thought Michael Jackson was a basketball player”

D’oh!

The C-man’s last game

I feel like I should show you some photos from his last game on Monday, so here they are:

 

At the plate!

 

In the field

Ready ready Rangers!

It was an interesting day. Both the Princess and the C-man had games.  And I spent all day thinking (foolishly) that they were both playing at the local Little League park.  But no!  Tom called about an hour before game time to tell me that the C-man was actually playing at an alternate location.  Crap.  

That meant split squad parenting.  I picked the kids up from camp, brought them home, poured a Lunchable down the Royal throat and Tom took her off to her double header.  Meanwhile, the C-man ate his Lunchable in a slightly more leisurely manner and then he and I went to his game.   

They lost.  That meant they finished seventh in the tournament.  But they were seeded eight so I suppose that is some small improvement.  

Maybe next year.

It’s six months until Christmas

I’m just saying…

Michael Jackson

So Michael Jackson died today.  I must admit, I stopped paying attention to Michael Jackson a long time ago.  However, I was a big fan of Thriller back in the day.  (And I defy you to find a woman of a certain age who was not a fan of Thriller).

Anyway, here are a couple of my favorite Michael Jackson songs.  The first is actually by the Jackson Five.  I love Bill Cosby as the reporter in this clip

And of course Beat It.  I don’t think this has aged particularly well, but it was pretty amazing at the time.

The other one I really love is Pretty Young Thing but I can’t find a good video of that one.

The Royal pitching debut

All in all, I think things went about as well as could be expected.  The Princess was the starting pitcher tonight.  She looked nervous and I was a wreck, though I like to think I hid it well.

She pitched one inning.  She walked six batters, had a smattering of strikes, and gave up one hit.  Five runs scored.  That is the maximum allowed by softball law.

I took quite a few pictures, some of which I will show you momentarily.  I took some of those photos from the other team’s sideline so the sun was in a better spot.  While I was over there I heard one mom say, “she’s doing pretty well.  She’s throwing some strikes.  Pitching is really hard”.  It turns out her son had made Personal Remarks about the Royal pitching skills.  I turned to her and said, “it’s her first time pitching”.  They smiled and said Encouraging Things. 

It was hotter than the sun out there, and after one inning O’s coach put her at shortstop and let our Ace pitcher take the hill.  We ended up winning the game, and The Princess seemed pleased with how she did.  Perhaps she will get the nod again on Friday, at our last make-up game before the tournament.

 

warming up

Or, “mom, stop taking pictures, you are distracting me”.  

 

On the hill

Fire it in there