Eye on the ball

Wow. Ethan's attitude was spectacular all day long, and so remarkably so that I had several notes on what a delight he was at school. Then, at the game, he was present and on the team every step of the way: whether on the bench, in the outfield, or at bat, Ethan was part of what was going on, supportive and very there. I was immensely proud.

Michael is recovering from the hand surgery. He was in some serious pain when I saw him yesterday, but even so he joked about coming up for dinner that evening. I'm hoping that we will be able to have him up this weekend. It has been too long.

David has been a rock this week. This has been a hard week on us as people, and yet we are more than ever a couple. Kudos to David for being a partner that exceeds my wildest imaginings.

This morning on the way in, we were talking about who-knows-what when I mentioned wanting to change the mailbox. In overall function, it's perfect; i couldn't ask for better. But it's beige. While that makes sense on a lot of practical fronts, and it's cool that it matches the house siding, all i can see is a blank canvas. So we bandied some ideas about together and came up with a band of the tartan at the bottom with the name in a standout color. I like it.

Let's Go, Rockets!

We went to the game. In the last inning, Ethan scrambled for the ball that went into the outfield, came up with it and chucjked it mightily to second base, just as he ought to have done. He is quite proud of himself, in just the right measure. He is looking forward to tonight's game, as are we all. Graeme in particular is looking forward to getting to watch the team.

For all the positive outcome of last night, I was wiped when we got home. Still in pumps from work, I turned on the tea kettle and reminded Ethan to strip off his uniform so it could be washed. David did the tuck-ins (though Graeme enojoyed another reading of The Baby BeeBee Bird) and made me tea. I fell asleep in front of the chess board and David took the mug from my hands and then tucked me in. I swear I have no recollection after that until this morning; I'm still wiped.

The game tonight promises to be good, with some of the nicest weather we have seen yet. There are two new rosebuds opening, and the first iris has come forth to display her colors. There's a roast slowly cooking at home, and despite the chaos i feel centered and calm. Weird, but that's me.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Today Phillip is taking me to court to ask for more visitation and to reduce his (continually unmet) responsibility for support. I’m going to point out that he can’t manage the visitation that he has, what with never being on time, not bringing back the children’s belongings, talking snottily to me. The whole thing is a mess and frankly I hope it gets straightened out today. No matter what, I have the whole text-and-sound-effects of The Baby Beebee Bird in my head, thanks to David. I hope I don't break out into giggles in the courtroom, but no matter -- my anxiety has been effectively slain.

The baseball schedule is driving me crazy. The game schedule that was distributed might as well be the list of when we definitely will not have games. Tonight’s game has been rescheduled as a practice and tomorrow’s practice is now a game. All in all, I think the boys and I are enjoying being at home on the farm more than being away running around for baseball, but the season isn’t all that much longer, so we’re just going with it for now.

Since we’re not going to have the horses anymore, we’re thinking about what we do want to have on the land. For now, we know that we will get other horses at some point. But we are also talking about making a hen house. I’m looking forward to getting a mess of chicks (if a collective of the little buggers isn’t called a mess, they certainly should be) and turning them out into a chicken yard. Right now I’m leaning toward getting a straight run of Buff Orpingtons, but the Buff Japanese Bantams keep catching my eye as well.

Still no pictures of the garden, not the Seuss Lily plants (which remind me of Truffula Trees) or the garden or anything else. The frost at night really took its toll on the tomato plants, and we’re out there thinking good growing thoughts to help them recover. Most of them seem to have come through just fine, but when you only plant 4 of each variety, a hit of one really matters. The peppers still haven’t gone into the ground, which might turn out to be all to the good as we only had four plants total. Watching David and Graeme water the garden beds last night was satisfying at the soul level.

Ethan is going through some trying times. He has been wrestling with what I think is pediatric onset anxiety disorder. As you can imagine, this has been difficult on the whole family and the school community as well. When David and I went to pick him up from school due to suspension last week, the principle mentioned that Ethan has been doing much better in this regard, and that it is nice to see, despite his having to be dealt with for outbursts. David handled last night’s conversation remarkably well, as I was beyond my tether on knowing what to do. By the end of the talk, I think we all felt more centered and like a family. Weird, but very, very true.

With David’s birthday coming up, we’re planning on having the first dinner invitation. I confess that I’m no small amount intimidated-and-anxious, but I feel pretty comfortable that all will go well. I have no idea what’s on the menu as yet, but since we’ll be cooking, it’s sure to be yummy. We are focusing such income as we have on support and bills, so there likely won’t be much in the way of balloons and presents, but I’m looking forward to the family time.