One Look at Opening Day

There really are two sides to every fence.  And this picture caught something.  It was another Opening Day to another season of another sport.  And I really am so proud of Chase who has cheered and supported his brother for three years.  He has been on the watching, the hoping side of the fence.  Hoping, perhaps, to someday have his own turn.  This year he got dressed in his Giants baseball hat, Giants jersey, Giants shorts, and fastest shoes he had...just to cheer.  It was so darling.

But, I think that, perhaps, there is something melancholy about this side of the fence.  The side where you watch and don't do.  But, as I looked at this picture, I realized that we spend much of our lives cheering those on around us...perhaps even most of our lives.  And this is an important side.  It is perhaps less flashy and definitely given less attention.  But perhaps without it the other side wouldn't exist. 

One Down, Many to Go

Chase lost his first tooth!

It was quite the surprise, to everyone.

I didn't get the story until today, after the tooth fairy had come.

Yesterday's story was:  it was loose and he hadn't told me.

Today's story was whispered and sounds more like the truth:  he bumped his tooth on a cereal bowl and knocked it out.

The good news is that the tooth fairy comes if you put the tooth under your pillow, no matter how it came out!

He got a two dollar bill, a one dollar bill, a gold coin worth a dollar, and a quarter.

And according to Chase, he now has more money than anyone in the world.

The Irony of Protective Eyewear

Two weeks ago I bought a new racquetball racket.  Why?  Well, I took two classes in college and just joined a gym with racquetball courts.  So, naturally, I would have no idea where my old rackets were and would therefore need a new one.  But as I stood in the aisle at Sports Authority, I couldn't decide what to actually get.  I knew I needed a racket, but they range in price from nothing to something, so how to choose?  Definitely some blue balls, but those teal balls were a better price...oops they are squash balls which wouldn't work.  And then I saw it, the bag with everything:  racket, sweat band, balls, and even protective eyewear.

I have never owned protective eyewear, but I believe.  I mean, considering I knocked out my own tooth, who knows what else I could do (my front tooth is a fake from an embarrassing shot in an unimportant racquetball game).  So, I decided I should be responsible and get and actually use the protection.  And I have.  No matter how silly I look with my sweatband and goggles...I've worn both. 

And what has wearing my protective eyewear given me?  A scratched cornea.  Ok, I didn't scratch it on the court.  I didn't even scratch it at all.  Chase was handing me a menu while we were out and he poked it right into my open and unassuming left eye.  The tricky part was that the corners were reinforced metal corners (a lot of restaurants have them, I've just never really noticed before).  Anyhow, as I held my eye in agony, I remember thinking that he had popped it;  that I would only have one eye for the rest of my life.  But it is fine.  It was painful, and they numbed it at the urgent care, and since then I just feel like I have something in my eye I want to rub out but can't (foreign object sensation is what the doctor called it).

I still can't believe I scratched my eye the first week I have ever even considered protecting my eyes.  Oh, the irony...complain, complain, complain.

Rock On!

Geology Rocks!  James second grade class play was so darling.  I sat in the audience thinking about how much he has grown.  He is such a confident and astounding boy, I feel lucky just to hang out with him.  We were chatting last night about the big performance (he has repeatedly reminded me of the time every) and he was running over his lines.  He then confessed that he knew everyone's lines in the play and proceeded to give me the lines of the Ferns, the Sedimentary Rock, Professor Rock, the Canyons, etc.  About twenty minutes in I told him he better go to sleep...but he would have kept going!! 

He played the most adorable igneous rock of all times.  Here he is (my favorite is the one with his after performance glow with his buddies)!  

The Story of a Hand-Me-Down

We have a neighbor who frequents our door with gifts of stained clothes, broken toys, and the orphaned pieces of games.  I usually try to greet him with a "no thank you" or a "not this time" or a "I just wish we had more room."  But if on the odd occasion my boys beat me to the door, they find treasures soon enough.  And invaritably, I find myself persuading and pleading:  "I don't really think we need the arm of that storm trooper,"  or a "wow, I love that left snow boot, but I really think you would probably need two next time we go to the snow.  Please put it back and thank Neighbor." 

But on this particular occasion I rounded the corner, just seconds after the door bell rang, and was greeted by a smiling raccoon.  He looked something like:

It is hard to talk someone out of a costume when they are wearing it and loving it, and Chase is no exception to this generally accepted rule. I tried to point out how far from Halloween we are...and how we don't really have a lot of space for extra costumes.  (Oh, did you notice the "s" in costumes.  Well, it is because there was The Shaggy Dog in the bag as well).  Anyhow, to shorten the story, Neighbor wouldn't take no for an answer.  Neighbor talked me into it;  rather hijacked me into it.  And Neighbor even had the guts to say, "We use it all of the time..." as he slowly and victoriously walked away. 

Now, here's the turning point to this story.  The part where I admit, Neighbor was right.  I was wrong.  After a good washing, which turned the yellow fur back to white, this costume has become a treasure.  More than a treasure, a treat.  Because who doesn't enjoy a little boy greeting you as a raccoon?! Chase loves this costume and does indeed "use it all the time."  It is, hands-down, the best hand-me-down of all times.  So hooray for the gently used friend and a neighbor who knew the joy and just had to share!