She got the "W" (which means Win!)

Here we go again with another Saturday on tap but today we have an extra person with us; Grandma. The adage of taking those “marbles from a jar” as the Saturdays pass is so prophetic. No matter what those marbles come out of the jar as the Saturday s pass; however; thankfully these days are so much more incredible than the previous days all thanks to recovery. Today was no exception and the day started off just like the other Saturday s with me at the gym very early. The only difference is that my long runs have all been accomplished and I am just tapering until the marathon next week.

The training program called for a short run of 8 miles and this gave me an extra hour of sleep this morning compared to last week’s 20 mile run. The sleep was welcomed and the short run went very well. It was on to start the day and with Grandma in the house everything went very smoothly. We were out the door for the first game which was my daughter’s softball game. The morning was on the cool side which was a welcomed change of pace from the 100 degree heat of the past few weeks. Additionally; our visitor from the east likes the temperature on the cool side as opposed to the warm side so all was very well.

We took our seats as the girls warmed up for the game. The morning ritual has become my wife and my son going across the street from the ball field to fetch some donuts. Oddly my son didn’t want grandma to infringe on this ritual and grandma acquiesced to my son’s demand. He did apologize when they returned and it is interesting how rituals/routines are very important even to a 7 year old.

The game commenced and went very well. My daughter got up to bat in the first inning only to strike out and she was upset. She wanted to get a hit while grandma was watching but this was not to be today since she walked in her second and final at bat. All was not lost because my daughter took the mound as the pitcher in the second inning and she did extremely well. She didn’t give up any runs and started a double ball by cleanly fielding a pop up and throwing the ball to second base catching the runner off guard. This caused roars in the stands and the girls were very excited with high 5’s and hugs all around.

Since my daughter was the “pitcher of record” when her team took the lead she earned the “win”. This was probably lost on most of the girls and I had to tell my daughter how the scoring all worked but when I told her she got the “win” she was very happy. This runs her record to 1 win and 0 losses which are very impressive for a team that has only 2 wins in 9 tries. My daughter forgot all about the strike out of the first inning and was beaming from ear to ear; this was a very good game for my daughter and her team.

Game one with my daughter was completed which meant we headed over to my son’s field for his game. This field is down the road so we all piled into the mini-van with the chairs, cooler and snack bag in tow. The short drive was over and out of the mini-van we went with the chairs, cooler and snack bag. My son’s games are so much fun and I am so grateful I get to be a part of the games as a coach. My son’s team is stacked with hitters and even the kids that have problems hitting in practice hit in the games. Technically in the fall there are no scores or records so unofficially my son’s team is undefeated which really doesn’t matter to the boys on the team. I do think that some of them are more interested in the snack at the end of the game than the game itself!

The game got underway with my son behind the plate as the catcher and he is getting very comfortable with this position. My son is so aggressive when he plays I think having him catch is a good place since he is involved all the time. The game went as usual with every player on my son’s team getting hit and m y son had four hits in his four at bats driving in two runs and scoring another two more. He hit a rocket to left field that should have been a double but the runner in front of him stopped at second causing my son to stay at first. My son takes direction very well and his batting is improving every game.

The unofficial score was something like 18 to 5 and yes, the boys were more interested in the snack bags at the end of the game. The game had concluded and our morning and a little of the afternoon were over as well. We returned well and instead of the usual of collapsing we turned our attention to the dinner party later in the evening. We had invited dear friends over for our first official dinner party in the new house. It was only fitting that the people who attended were the dear friends that came to see me very often while I served my time. This are the same dear wonderful friends who went well out of their way two Christmas’ ago flying to Northern California to visit with me while I was at the “real” prison. This is the least I could do for these dear friends and we had a great time preparing for the dinner party.

My wife, mother and I had different designated tasks. I would prepare the main dish; lasagna; while my wife prepared the side dishes, appetizers, and dessert and my mother prepared other assorted dishes. We had a great time being in the kitchen at the same time and thankfully all of the cooks didn’t spoil the stew. The afternoon flew by so quickly and we were ready well in advance of the arrival of our dear friends.

The time of our friends’ arrival approached and the table was set, the appetizers lay out and wine bottles opened. The doorbell rang and yes, it was our dear friends. I looked at the clock and as usual our dear friends were right on time. I don’t know where the ensuing four hours went because the next thing I realized we were saying our good-byes. The evening disappeared into some great conversation and great friendship. I would like to report on what we talked about but we covered a myriad of topics from taking cruises to politics and every in between. It was an incredible evening and we all had a great time.