Sue's Birthday

and I get the day off from work and the sun is out (vaguely). We did the cake &ice cream thing last night with the kids because tonight we will be at Fenway Park watching John Lester & the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays. The day actually started oddly due to the fact that last night when I re-set the alarm clock so I would be up to get the kids on the bus, I must have bumped the time off by an hour AND I neglected to actually turn the alarm ON. So when we woke up in a panic because the clock said 8 o'clock and we hadn't heard the kids, I ran upstairs to check -- the boys bedroom and Nikki's were vacant, so they must have gotten out the door ok. Now granted, I would bet any amount of money that Joe did not take his ADHD pills or brush his teeth (or wash face & hands and comb hair - God help up). We realized the mistake - corrected the clock, and crawled back into bed for another hour. At the REAL 8 o'clock we heard footsteps upstairs and were curious why Tim was up so early - exept it wasn't Tim, it was Julie (the one I hadn't checked on (which was ok - she has senior priviledges and a 1st period study, so she was going in late and her friends were coming to pick her up at any moment. So by 9:30, Sue has jogged 2 miles, done her yoga, and is ready to go out and about for her mystery day. I will let her post about it later, cause I don't want to spoil the surprize!

Softball 2009

Last year I assumed that Nikki would play school softball this year - but to my surprise (and Mrs Goodwin's dismay) she decided to stick with town league for another year. Due to enough favorable conditions, I will be able to Head Coach her team. The 2nd good news was that my friend Gordon (who is also the league president) is eager to be my assistant coach. 10 years ago he was my assistant with Coreys (and his son Cullen's) minor league Little League team - the A's. "And a good time was had by all". Two years ago I unofficially helped out as his pitching coach when Nikki was on his team. Now, although he has had plenty of success coaching softball and basketball teams on his own over the last ten years, we get a chance to team up again. I find it humbling that he would be eager to be MY assistant, but I am glad - because I already know that we have the same basic philosophy's and won't be second guessing each others moves or motives. That is a priceless situation in youth sports (isn't THAT a sad statement!). So like 30 years ago when in Hanson I had my buddy Corey Meiggs as my assistant, I will have someone who is a trusted friend to "work" with (really it's more like "play"). Now Gordan is quite different in many ways than Corey M, but the qualities of easy going, cheerful, good humored, and beloved by the kids are very much the same (and thankfully his daughter is a very good player). So this year should be a fun one - without pangs of longing watching from the sidelines. Granted, Gordon and I both need to be conscious of the fact that both of our softball-widow wives could be conspiring against us together on those same sidelines if we get too wrapped up in our fun and forget/neglect them through the season - which is always the big fear (we do tend to get foolishly self-involved during this time of year, and make them suffer unfairly). But maybe he & I can help remind each other. Maybe we can vow to take our wives out more during the season, but probably not together - as we would spend the whole time discussing players & strategies - not a smart idea!
So the challenge isn't about having a competitive team, but about fair & balanced playing time with the full-time people in our lives - and not getting blindly obsessed with this part-time adventure.
PLAY BALL!