Formerly the Nashua Pride

You know we love baseball, Little League, Major League, even Minor League. Well, the Nashua Pride (New Hampshire)field is a stone's throw from my brother's house, and so we decided to take in a game last Saturday night. Well, Chris informed us that the Pride was bought by some "famous" guy who engineered the Boston Red Sox World Series win in 2004 (?). He had the brilliant marketing idea to rename the team "The American Defenders of New Hampshire" and dress them in, get this, camoflauge uniforms. Ironically, as my dad pointed out, most of them are not even American. It has not gone over well, needless to say, and attendance is terrible. Pictured above is the goofy mascot of the Defenders. It was commented that they remind one of Fidel Castro's army.



We did have some motivation to attend a game. The lady who lives next door to Chris boards players during the season and they have been swimming over at Chris' house. We met Angel Molina who said he was on the Florida Marlins two season, his cute four year old son, and attorney wife who were visiting. Very nice guy. Another player came over to swim but didn't say much and I'm not sure he spoke English. Angel is pictured above in the one deck circle. He got to base on a hard hit grounder, and stole third on the next batter's grounder who nobody bothered to field. He then scored (I am pointing to him on third below) and the Defenders won 3-2.



The next door neighbor we were hoping to meet was Juan Padilla a former NY Yankee pitcher. He closed the game successfully.

Which beach is this?

A. Old Orchard, Betsy and Mom



B. That's not a beach, silly, that's Niagara Falls


C. Hamburg Beach, Lake Erie



D. Hamburg Beach, Hamburg, NY, Lake Erie, Beach Blast

Friday

Just back from 3 days at the beach. The kids are sitting in the dark watching Tivo'd episodes of "The Mentalist." Obviously, everyone is exhausted. We camped, ate and swam and had 3 hour stomachaches (Nephew10). Boy15 got a sunburn and then shivered for 15 minutes. Following that he was fine. 2" Mosquitos that will not be deterred by a little Deet. Wait, I'm giving the downside, aren't I?

The upside: Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Nice beach. The kids had a skim board and several body surfing boards. We had great weather until today when it rained all the way home. We had eye candy at the next campsite. A hot, young (French?) couple. Chris says Old Orchard Beach is Canada's Florida. Many French speaking people, the majority. We had lobster rolls and strawberry rhubarb pie.

Wednesday

We are on our way out to the beach today. This takes extreme effort for 13 people to get ready for camping out two nights. Actually my SIL Donna is doing the brunt of the work. Thank you Donna.

Yesterday we spent hanging out around the homestead in the pool. The next door neighbors are minor league ball players and so that was cool. One had been on the Marlins two years and is bumped down. The former Yankee wasn't over here but he lives next door also. I'm wearing Cubs regalia. My camera battery was dead and blogger is not uploading expediently enough for me today so you won't see any future MLB prospects.

We had some English language lectures from my dad on the origins of English. We read the American Heritage Dictionary and enjoyed it this morning (not the whole thing). I went to Walgreen's twice. Walked in the woods about an hour with Betsy and Donna. It was good to move around a little bit.

Day Five of Vaca

Five days away from the computer, my bike, and The Bachelorette. I feel so naked. I seem to have misplaced my vacation pics on the labbie (laptop)but will keep looking for some postings. I plan to write about gas prices on my other blog, how exciting! I'm ignoring my relatives I only see once a year to blog. They are the majority of my readers, so go figure. They thought I was crazy that I felt the NEED to blog when we are all together.



Here is Niece2Months. Looks like Pat is telling her a great joke!



This is Cousin It, aka Nephew11. I feel much better now I got something posted and found my pictures afterall.

Unemployment

This picture was taken at a work going away party for Angie and me last Friday. (Angie is my good-young buddy who is also a mental health case manager and went through the whole MSW program with me). This is my good friend Beth, the nurse, who left the agency last November after 15 years. It was much sadder than me leaving. I was wrecked when she quit to take a job in hospice. But everything has worked out well afterall for both of us.

My third day of unemployment and I am sure glad we're going on vacation tomorrow. I am not getting anything done. I exercise early in the morning, maybe clean up a little around the house, take a nap, go out to lunch, take another nappy, have some coffee, make dinner, sit on the porch, ride my bike and that's about it. I might throw in a load of laundry if I feel like it. I guess I am one of those people who needs to work to be productive. See, I would have done all that stuff (minus one of the naps) and worked an 8 hour day normally.

August 13 I start my internship in a special education cooperative. I am looking forward to a fast paced job and learning a lot of new stuff. I am hoping to take on some new projects in my schools like perhaps a bullying program or a book club or academic coaching/mentoring. Who knows??



This is Angie, who is leaving work Friday to also start a school social work internship in another city. Boo hoo. She taught me how to really use a cell phone and other useful information that people in their 20's know.

New Blog

I started a new blog. If you like to read about cheapskates and saving money, you can try it out. It is listed on the right edge of this blog as "The Parsimonious Soldier."

Bday Boy

I like this picture better.

Yesterday it was nice to have a holiday. It seemed like a lot of people had the day off and some didn't. It felt like Saturday all day. So it's great that today is actually Saturday. Last night we had a picnic at the park with my parents, some old friends of theirs and Betsy and her family, 12 in all. Afterwards we went for a drive around Pennington Point, a little area out in the country where my parents' friends used to live in the 60's. Both houses were still there and Janet loves to tell how I used to stay with her when I was 3 or 4 years old. She had her own kids later on, but I remember loving to visit them in the country because Janet loved us kids so much. Unfortunately, the Victorian they had was vacant and run down. It appeared that vagrants had been living there recently as there was cat food, beer cans, and party CD's strewn about the yard and the windows were open.

Games

After Boy15's birthday Tuesday evening we played Mad Gab. It was kind of a bust. So, Boy15 went off to play with his Ipod Touch and Grandma and Boy21 played a card game that looked like Advanced War. I wanted to learn to play this, but I got distracted and forgot about it. My sister has an Ipod Touch but doesn't know how to use it. After one day with Boy15, Nephew10 says "Mom, can I go online and get some apps for this?"

Tomorrow is aerobics at 5:40 a.m., a tutorial for Betsy on downloading some crap to her Ipod, getting an electrical recliner chair out of my parents van, into their house and down into the basement (don't ask) and a picnic in the park. I am too cheap to reserve a shelter for $30 so I guess we will drive around the parks until we find one.

YMCA

Saturday morning we worked out at the New Y in New Albany. Unbelievable facility: climbing wall, splash pool, steam rooms, saunas, interactive/active kids game room. Their weight machines put our Y's to shame. Our Y needs some serious updating.

That afternoon we went to the Bodies Human exhibit at a new arts center that is housed in an old meat packing plant. The exhibit is human bodies preserved with a plastination process so you can see tendons, veins and muscles, not just the average skeleton. I guess it has been all over the country. I was bored after one or two bodies, most were male, anatomically correct as odd as it looked. I had to ask my brother in law why the balls were hanging above the penis'. TMI
Newphew10 and I are below with decor at the Mellwood Aart Center, Louisville.



That evening Betsy and I went to a Casino. It was a bust, but reconfirmed that I hate casinos, especially in Indiana where they allow smoking, everywhere. Well, they claimed to have a smoke-free room, but it was bordered by smoking on both sides with no barriers or ventilation system. I am so proud of Illinois for passing a tough smoke-free law. We could barely figure out how to work the slots and they were $1 a pull. Waste, waste, waste.

Weekend Getaway

I spent last weekend with my favorite sister, Betsy, in Southern Indiana/Louisville, KY. Friday night we went out to dinner at Proof, a newer, haute cuisine place downtown. It housed a very interesting museum and hotel and featured unique public restrooms with one way mirrors and water walls. I have no idea what the food was we ate, and I'm sorry to say it wasn't that amazing. I think they used rice for risotto. I had to borrow a dress from Betsy and the cleavage wasn't so good...

The whole weekend was built around a Joel McHale show at the Palace Theater. The Palace is the most ridiculously fabulous restored movie house ever, and there are some really cool ones out there, I know. Here's a taste, but I didn't even try to photograph the auditorium. I was afraid I wouldn't do justice.

My Girl

This is the girl I never had, though I've heard she can be quite a diva. According to her mom. I have one thing she wants, a dollhouse. She loves to play with it.

Kids Do the Darndest Things

I call it Home

Here is where I've spent most of my life now. Years 3-18, and 33-46. I can't count the number of times I moved in between 19 and 33. Way too many. Most of my readers have helped me on these moves. Thank you! I have nightmares about moving. I literally don't know how you get everything packed, loaded and out the door. My nightmare is always finding more, more, more. Ginnie, I don't envy you, but I bet you have turned it into something positive. I know you have.

Facebook is so lame. It's not about writing at all, in fact, it's the antithesis of writing. Abbreviating, tweeting, and pictures. I do like to look at O.P.'s (other peoples) pictures and make what I think are funny comments. They seem to think they are snide. Have you ever noticed the ads that come up on FB on the righthand side. They seem to think I would be looking for an apartment where I went to college (25 years ago). I'm not, but I am curious to see how the campus neighborhood has changed. The housing that was available in Des Moines in 1981-5 was pretty roach and rodent infested. I suppose these new places could have roaches, too. But they don't look like it. I wonder if the Blind Munchies sandwich shop is still there, or some vestige of?

Poor Lebron. Stan Van the Man is a real character isn't he?

Baseball Boy Freshman

Boy14 on the freshman baseball team. Are you having dejavu? The last game he got a walk off single. Caught a pop fly at deep second base and threw a guy out at home. First double of year as well. Nice.

Last Day

This is a memorable picture. Elizabeth, Lindsey, Angie and me. Remember I have 20 years on these girls. Our last day of classes in Champaign-Urbana was May 6th. We have a routine. On the way home (2.5 hour drive) we stop at Casey's and get four empty coffee cups and a bag of Chex Mix. Lindsey's idea- that's how she feeds her 4 year old daughter in the car. This helps us through the last hour and a half. One day I missed class and the girls decided to stop at a different place. This resulted in E. getting a speeding ticket in the famous town of San Jose, IL where the Casey's is.

Anyway, we were pretty exhausted on Week 15 of 17 hour Wednesdays. But we are done now with classes, yeah.

Prom Boy Sophomore

Oh man. The upload on blogger is really slow!

I better not say too much on this post, even if Boy16 doesn't read my blog. He was invited to prom by a junior girl in the band. He reportedly had a good time including the after prom (see below) at the Rec Center. Wiped out the next day of course. I didn't get to see his date or if he matched her dress. Apparently that's how it's done these days. Matching the vest/tie to the girl's dress. Well, much better than the light blue tuxes with ruffled shirts of my day, not that I went to a prom, I did see pictures.



That's him in the yellow Beavis and Butthead shirt.

Oh, he got a big surprise in the mail yesterday. A couple of weeks ago he played a trumpet solo at a church along with a Bell Choir. It was a lovely piece of music. He did a great job. He loved doing it. Yesterday he got a thank you card in the mail with a check for $35. His first honorarium. He says, "I'm a professional!"

May 18

Hi bloggy. I missed you! I have been a traitor. I joined Facebook nation and got caught up in it for a minute.

Oh boy. The Bachelorette started sooner than I thought. Did I just admit my biggest weakness? Watching the drivel. Not only that, I watched Dancing with the Stars. Somehow that was my break from school/work. No excuse for the Bachelorette.

So, finals are over. My last finals. My internship starts around August 12, one full school year. I'll be leaving my job after nearly 13 years on July 17. A new chapter for sure.