Pickle Explosion

I do not really enjoy cooking.  It takes time and is messy.  And only half of the family will like any given meal, so there's always a complainer.

Today, I decided to be a good wife and mother and make a casserole for dinner so that it would be ready for the boys after Reed's baseball game and so that I could have leftovers after City Council.  I even used leftovers, so I should just about be translated.  The grand finale was a sprinkling of cheese on top.  I reached into the refrigerator to get the cheese and the Half-and-Half container jumped off the shelf.  When I went to grab it, I apparently nudged the gigantic Costco-sized jar of dill pickles.  They plunged to their death on the unforgiving slate floor. 

So, then I had to clean up the regular cooking mess PLUS the evil pickle disaster.

Did I mention that I don't even like dill pickles?

Currently. . .

I am:

• enjoying summer vacation.
• working on getting my home decluttered.
• eating no-bake cookies that are totally delish.
• drinking water and strawberry limeade.  ( Haven't had a DC all day!)
• hoping that it doesn't really take three weeks for my camera to get fixed.
• wishing that a bag of money would fall out of the sky!
• worrying about what direction my life should be headed.
• wanting to know.  Now.
• trying to relax and enjoy the journey.
• praying that my children will be strong and make correct choices.
• feeling happy.

Four Outs???

I love baseball. 

Memories of my childhood include laying in my bed listening to the Red Sox play as I drifted of to sleep on warm summer nights.  My whole childhood and youth were filled with seasons of Red Sox games because my parents were fans.  Ok. . . my mom was more of a fanatic.  She was normally quite mild mannered, so hearing her call the pitcher a bum and ranting about the manager-du-jour was pretty amusing.  During those years I was a fair weather fan who mostly watched the games because they were on- not because I was interested.

Then there were the dark years. . . I never watched a game during college or in my early years of marriage.  Colby and Parker had no effect on my tv viewing habits, but then came Reed.  I swear the child was born with a baseball in his hand!  He would watch games when he was just a little guy, but the whole thing got out of hand when we moved my mom to Utah.  The Alzheimer's was getting bad and one of the only things that settled her down was watching a game.  We immediately signed up for DirecTV's Extra Innings so that we would have games.  we also started recording games as a hedge against winter.  Little did we know we were creating a monster.

So. . . Reed finally got to play on the Red Sox this year.  He loves putting on the uniform- I think he thinks that he is heading off to play with Papelbon and Big Papi.  I got to the game late tonight, but just in time to see Reed snag this grounder and throw the runner out at first.  The thing that made me laugh was the wad of bubble gum he had going.  That reminded me of my brother Bruce.  He ALWAYS chewed bubble gum.

Any way. . .

About the four outs.  Our pitching was in the toilet.  We had walked the first three batters up, so the bases were loaded.  At this point we were ahead 7-3, but the parents were thinking that we were in big trouble.  The batter hit an in-field pop fly which was caught (out 1) and the ball was thrown to home plate where the catcher tagged the incoming runner. (out 2)  Then  the ball was thrown to third where the incoming runner was tagged (out 3) but he had actually been on 1st base and had passed the kid on second, so they were out anyway (out 4?).  It was crazy, but the game was saved!  We went on to win after the next inning.

Little League baseball just about kills you to watch.  There is not enough time spent on the basic rules and since the rules "change" every two years as the kids progress to a new age group, there is always plenty to learn.  But, there is never any lack of excitement!

I Finally Achieved the Perfect Weight!

It's not what you think, though. 

It has been a weekend of endings and beginnings.  Culminations and commencements.  (That sounds a little Jane Austen, doesn't it?)

Colby graduated on Friday from Lehi High School.  He had a rough start and still has horrendous handwriting, but he made it.  In fact, he was never in peril of NOT graduating (we had several of those students) so I was very happy.  He even has a half scholarship to UVU for next year, so things are looking good.

Friday night we had a graduation party for Colby.  (Thanks to all who came! We love that our friends support us since we have no family nearby!)  It's funny how one minute you have the party under control and the next you can't scoop ice cream fast enough!  What a blast.  Thanks to Scott and Cathrine for all their help!!!  (Ice cream has NOTHING to do with the weight issue, by the weigh way!)

Saturday was family portraits.  Close your eyes and imagine it.  We all go through it.  Why?  Because we are crazy.  I haven't seen the proofs yet, but I will share! 

This morning Colby was ordained to the office of an elder.  We were all bawling by the end of the blessing.  Bad enough that it would have been embarrassing to go to class, so we went home to get him ready for his flight to Arizona where he will march with The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps.

Time flew.  We managed to get everything done and stuff his duffel bag full.  As I looked down at the monstrosity sitting in my kitchen I mused that it was pretty darn heavy (probably over the 50 lb limit) but there was really nothing we could do about it.  Ed said that we would just pay the charge for it being too heavy and off we went.  We went through a LOT of tissues on the way to the airport.  I am pretty sure that Colby was dehydrated by the time we got there.  He hates goodbyes.  So do I.  I am always dehydrated from crying, so nobody thinks that is weird! 

We stopped at the Sky Cap and wrangled the duffel out of the back of the Suburban.  Ed swung it up onto the scale and I said, "How far over are we?"  The Sky Cap said, "You're OK."  with disbelief we all looked at the scale.  This is what it showed!  Finally, the perfect weight!