It Lives!

So, yeah, hey, how ya doin'. Um, it's been a while, huh?

Between keeping up with the almost-award winning Cardinal blog of mine and spending way too much time using Facebook to update my life, I've let this spot of cyberspace lay fallow for too long, something my good friend Kevin will remind me of often. But two months is like a week Canadian, isn't it? Or does it go the other way?

Anyway, I don't have pictures, but let's do a bullet-point recap of the last couple of months. I'll try to use some time soon to illustrate some of these with pictures and, since we got a Flip for Christmas, even video!

So, in no particular order:

• Benjamin turned four on November 10. We had his party the Saturday before, a Star Wars extravaganza. The invitations, balloons, decorations, etc. were from the new Star Wars TV show The Clone Wars. The true highlight, though, was the present that he got. I had gone out to my parents' barn and gotten out all of my old Star Wars toys. Meron and my brother Nathan then set them up at the church on four different tables. You should have seen his eyes when he walked in and saw all of the toys sitting there. He slowly walked around all the tables, then gave me a big hug. He's played Star Wars ever since, either with those or with new toys he got for his birthday.

• Sarah has become a huge fan of the Imagination Movers. Their show comes on the Disney Channel every day at 9:00 and we finally had to start recording them and put them on DVD so she could watch any time. We have two DVDs full and she just loves them. She'll stop and watch them, dance with their music, and continually point to the TV and say "Movers!" if they aren't on. Thankfully, they've got catchy music and they are fun to watch, so it doesn't drive us quite as crazy as it could.

• Played some poker since last we spoke. Got to the final regular season game of the PPT, for all the good it did me as I was out second. The big year-end shootout, though, went a little better. I still didn't make the money, but I did finish fifth and was pretty happy with my play. Made some good calls, battled back from a weak start, and was sitting pretty good late in the tournament before the chip stack got whittled away. Played in a pickup game last week and actually won (for the first time in a long time) but that was probably helped by the fact that there were only four players there. The 2009 season starts a week from Friday!

• Christmas was a busy season for us. We had a Sunday School party at our house on the 7th, then a church-wide open house on the 21st. Both, of course, necessitated quite a bit of cleaning, though thankfully the second one less than the first. There was good attendance at both gatherings and we had a lot of fun. Besides the fun, it gives us motivation to get the house cleaned, so we need to start figuring out ways to have people over more often!

• We had three actual Christmases (if you consider gift-opening a requirement for a Christmas). Christmas morning, we opened gifts at our house. Benjamin woke up about 7 and crawled in bed with us. About 7:45, though, he couldn't handle it any longer. "Daddy! Santa's been here!" I asked him how he knew and he said, "I saw presents!" He'd been able to see the tree when he crossed the hall to our room. He received a bicycle from Santa and more of Daddy's Star Wars toys, this time mainly the ones I purchased when the prequel movies came out. One of the old school ones, though, was his favorite--the Death Star. Out of Santa, us, and his Ohio grandparents, he also got a couple of movies, a stuffed cardinal (the actual bird), and other things that slip my mind at the moment.

• Sarah enjoyed her Christmas as well. That first Christmas, she got a shopping cart, some plastic food and twin dolls with a double stroller as her major items. She's had fun pushing the babies around the house and trying to give them their bottle.

• Meron received the last three books in the Twilight book series (she'd borrowed the first one and really enjoyed it) as well as a movie and some coffee. She also got a Star Wars Fandex, which was to get up up to speed on some basic SW info so she could talk to her son. I was blessed with a set of four Star Wars mugs (with hot chocolate mix and marshmellows) plus books and a frame with pictures of our Nebo photo shoot. (Did I not mention that? I'll get to it later.) The frame has a family shot and then one each with me and a child and is sitting on my computer here at the office in a place of honor.

• Our second Christmas was out at my parents that afternoon, where Meron and I received the Flip recorder. Benjamin and Sarah, of course, cleaned up. Benjamin got an A-Wing (a Star Wars ship) as well as a Star Wars figure that he'd been wanting (Asajj Ventress from The Clone Wars), a blow-up bouncy ball rider (you know, those things that have a handle and you sit on it and it bounces) and books, among other things. Sarah got a dollhouse and a set of dishes and silverware. The plates have been a big hit so far and she keeps trying to feed people with her food from them.

• Lastly, we had Christmas with my mom's side of the family at my grandmother's on Saturday. Sarah received a small toy kitchen and a toy boat with Lego-like blocks, along with some other items. Benjamin got a couple of movies, but mainly was excited, thrilled and overjoyed to get his one big Christmas wish, the new Millennium Falcon. If you've not seen the Facebook video of his reaction, don't worry, I'll try to get it up here soon.

• Like I said, no particular order....back in November, we took a trip up to Mount Nebo for a photo shoot. Our friend Chris came along and helped take some of the pictures, which just turned out wonderful. Sarah wasn't all that interested, but we still got some pictures of her as well and they really captured some of her personality. Benjamin just had fun with all the leaves and sticks!

• A batch of freezing rain and ice came through earlier in December. It didn't cause much damage or really get too much in the way, but I did have to spend about an hour chisling into my car and getting it drivable. Still hoping we'll get some snow this winter but nothing seems to be on the horizon.

• The kids both had checkups in November, Benjamin for his four-year and Sarah for her 18-month. Benjamin was off the charts in height and weight for his age, while Sarah came in at the 75th percentile for both. Both of them had to get shots and I was completely amazed by Benjamin's stoic reaction to it. He cringed a bit on the first one, but the next two he took without incident. He didn't get that from his daddy, let me tell you! As for Sarah, well, she reacted a little more negatively to her injections......

• Finally, a long-time member of our church, TJ Daniel, passed away right before Christmas. His funeral was yesterday and I was a pallbearer, plus I spoke during the service. I didn't expect to choke up during it, but I wasn't able to make it through unscathed. TJ was a unique individual and he will be missed, though we know he is most definitely in a better place now.

• I added the Twitter feed to this blog during the hiatus, so it's not like I've left you completely in the lurch. I try to update that fairly regularly, so you can get a quick idea what's going on with us. If you aren't on Twitter, you can sign up easily. If you are, you can follow me over there.
  

Hopefully that'll keep you entertained for a little bit. I'll work on the illustrations and try to make sure it's not 2 months between updates next time!

Halloween 2008

You don't want exposition, you want the pictures, so I'm going to keep the words to a minimum. Benjamin decided that it'd be great if he went as C3P0 from Star Wars and his siser as the partner droid R2D2. Since Sarah is too young to have much of an opinion (and is an R2 fan anyway), we went with that. We did a test run in the morning, taking them up to the Rehab department at the hospital and to the main branch of River Town Bank, where I audit yearly, before lunch. Late that afternoon, though, it was time to get ready for the church.

They had a very good time at Wesley's Halloween carnival. They went around to all the "trunks" getting candy, then played games inside. The highlight, though, of course was the hayride. They rode at least three or four times each, I think!
All in all, it was a fun evening. When we got home, Meron had to take just a few last pictures before we stripped them out of the costumes for the last time.

Softball (Yes, Again)

OK, quick recap of the last four games, because you know you want to read it. Details may be sketchy after all this time, of course.

Game 1: It was our rematch against Maxx Nutrition, otherwise known as “the bruise-causers”. The team had really gotten on our nerves during the first meeting, when they run ruled us, and we wanted nothing more than to beat them. They were at full strength, but so were we. In fact, three of us (myself included) stayed on the bench the whole game, warned beforehand that if the game was close, Bobby probably wasn’t going to do much subbing to keep the rhythm of the game going.

It looked like that was going to be a moot point when they got two runs in the first and tacked on another three in the third. But a three-run home run got us on the board and rolling. We pulled even, then used the last two innings to pull away, winning 13-6. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing.

Game 2: Riding the high from that win, we looked to move over the .500 mark against a team that had been winless and that we had run-ruled the first meeting. And it looked like it was going to be another one of those kind of games when we piled up 12 runs in the top of the first. We even eased up a little, not trying to stretch extra-base hits, etc. Of course, that’d come back to bite us.

Our regular pitcher, Richard, was unavailable. Bobby made the start, but it’d been a while since he pitched. Control was a factor and, when they hit the ball, they did make solid contact. It was 12-5 after the first. They continued to score while our bats were quiet. Suddenly, it was 14-10. We switched pitchers. Nothing worked. They pushed into the lead and continued to score. We looked up and saw it was 24-14 and we were the ones in danger of being run ruled. We were able to score a few late (and finally shut them down) to avoid that threat, but that was small consolation.

On a personal note, my first time up I hit a solid ball through the shortstop area. Unfortunately, Russell was on second and had held up to make sure the ball went through. By time he took off, the outfielder had gotten to the ball and threw him out at third. I wound up scoring later in that inning. The next two times, I got hits to the same area, but never made it around. The final time, there were two on when I hit a weak grounder to the left side, hitting into a fielder’s choice. So I went 2-4, though I was on the basepaths a lot more than normal.

Game 3: Another battle that we wound up on the wrong side of. It was a back and forth affair, but it looked like it was going to be ours when we took a four-run lead into the top of the seventh. However, they rallied and we weren’t able to score, forcing the game into extra innings. No scoring happened in the eighth, but in the ninth they got two and we were only able to respond with one.

It was possibly my worst game of the season. I was the DH, but more accurately would have been the DO (designated out) as I went 0-4. My first AB was a walk, which led to our first run, but after that I wasn’t able to do much. My second at-bat, I hit the ball hard, but it was off the end of the bat right up the middle. The pitcher reflexively reached across his body and snagged it. If it got past him, I might have had a hit. The other two were just groundouts, including one with two outs and two on in the seventh.

Game 4: Last night’s game turned out about the way we expected. We were playing a team that had run-ruled Maxx and was a traveling team. They proved it with numerous hard-hit balls. Our defense was a little shaky at times as well, which didn’t help. They also had a rough inning, which let us get up 8-3 early in the game, but they were able to keep the offense going and wound up run-ruling us in the fifth inning. I was scheduled to catch the last two innings, but since they didn’t happen, I didn’t get into this game.

Average update: 8 for 21, .381. Not really what I've been putting up the last couple of years and it's pretty much all singles. I'm not a power hitter by any means, but occasionally I could get one past an outfielder. Even without that, though, I should be hitting for a higher average. Maybe I'll have a big game tomorrow.

All in all, our team’s been pretty decent this year. With just a couple of breaks or big innings that were contained, we’d be well over .500. There’s one game left, our rainout makeup. Hopefully we can go out with a win!

Star Wars Clone Wars Episode II

As noted in an earlier entry, Benjamin's excitement for all things Star Wars didn't extend to a darkened theater. However, bring it to the TV and he's there.

Cartoon Network had the premiere of the new TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars tonight. I was originally just going to tape the two episodes and let him watch them tomorrow, but since they started at 8, I used the carrot of watching them in real time to get him to behave through the day. It worked extremely well and we got all our bedtime activities done in time to sit down on the couch.

Then his mother, who was taking the picture, though he needed his buddies as well. R2D2 and Wicket the Ewok were obvious, as was his favorite animal, Light the dinosaur. We also had the end of a bag of gummy bears, one of our past evening snacks that we hadn't done in a while, to help us enjoy the show.

There was a counter on the screen as the show before it was running. Being that it really wasn't something he should watch (and that's the big drawback of it being on Cartoon Network, we had to keep flipping to the baseball game during commercials), we watched baseball until it got down to under a minute. The final part of the countdown looked like this:

And then, the history of the first ever Star Wars TV show:

Benjamin was pretty much enthralled through both episodes and I found them fun as well. They are in the same vein as the movie, obviously. It doesn't necessarily have deep meaning, but it's fun and more kid-friendly than some parts of the live-action movies.

There's no doubt we'll be tuning in next week as well!

A Boy and a Baseball Game

Close to the end of last month, my dad told me that a small group from their church was going down to Little Rock to see the Arkansas Travelers take on the Springfield Cardinals and he wanted to know if Benjamin and I wanted to go. I've been wanting to take him to a game down there, plus I hadn't seen the new ballpark, so I checked with the boy and he was all good for it.

So the last Saturday in August had us heading down to Little Rock for the ballgame. The new stadium is really very nice, similar in feel to Baum Stadium up on the University of Arkansas campus. Both of them, plus other major league stadiums such as Rangers Stadium in Arlington, were designed by the HOK firm, so that's probably the cause of the similarities.

Outside the ballpark were statues of a hitter, a pitcher and a fielder. I saw something similar to this outside of Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati when I went a few years ago. Seemed a good place to get a picture.

We then headed for the will call window to pick up our tickets and walked around to go inside. My mom snapped this picture (well, she took all the ones on this entry) as we were walking up, getting three generations of Shoptaw men.

We walked into the gate (they are fancy now, just running a barcode scanner over your tickets instead of tearing them) and around to our seats. They were very nice and close to the action.

Now, in the leadup discussion to us going, I mentioned things to Benjamin, such as the players we'd be seeing, that some of them would be Cardinals someday, the food at the ballpark, stuff like that. As soon as we get to our seats, he's immediately ready for a hot dog. The concession stand wasn't too far behind us so we went and got our food.

This dog was with mustard and ketchup. The nasty ketchup habit he picked up from his mother. I keep trying to tell him that the only way to eat it is plain mustard, but he won' t listen to me.

The hot dog was quickly consumed. Before the first pitch, he starts asking for popcorn. I finally had to tell him to wait until the end of the third inning. A little before that, though, the vendor comes around with some and so we get a box of popcorn to eat.


After he eats some of that, he starts wanting to go home. I had told him we'd have to stay to the end and I reminded him of the fact. He'd watch some of the game, then say something about going home. Finally, my mom and the two of us went to the souvenir stand, looking for things to buy. She got him a stuffed animal that looked like the Traveler mascot and Sarah got a stuffed bear with a Travelers shirt. (I picked up a nice cap for me.)

We returned to our seats, where he again talked about going home. We were able to stall him until the end of the game, thankfully. He did watch a lot of it and had a good time for the most part.

However, the highlight of the evening, for him, came at the end. After that game, they were having a fireworks display. Knowing that he wasn't a big fan of the loud noises, we tried to hurry out of the park, but between bathroom stops and everything else, the display got started while we were still in the place. It turned out great for him, though, because during part of the display, they played the theme from Star Wars along with the fireworks. Hearing the music was just great for him and he had to stop and listen until it was done. That, not anything else, was the first thing he had to tell his mom about when we got home.

All in all, it was a fun night out with him. I think he had a great time as well.

I've Got a Fever and the Only Cure Is More Softball

I know, there's an outraged cry of "more softball? No!!!!" right about now. Bear with me while I get the most recent game down and I'll see if I can't get around to talking about Benjamin and I at the Travelers' game next.

OK, softball Thursday night. It was against the team we beat earlier in the season, but we had exactly 11 this time and no idea how this game would turn out.

It wound up we really didn't have to worry. We batted first and put five on the board in the first inning and six in the second in route to run-ruling the team 17-2. They looked like our teams usually look--couldn't field, lots of bobbles and not much hitting. Our team, on the other hand, played fairly solid. Turned a few double plays (and were darn close to a couple more) and hit the ball pretty well.

I was in at DH for this game at the bottom of the lineup. The first time up, I led off the second inning. The guy threw two balls (leading to a 3-1 count) before I went and swung at what was probably ball four. It was a little tapper out in front of the plate and I knew I was doomed, but I ran as fast as I could (as they timed me with a sundial) toward first.

Their propensity toward misplays reared its head, though, as the pitcher threw it past the first baseman. I turned the corner and made it into second without difficulty. I moved over to third on a solid hit and scored the same way.

The next time up, I believe I swung at the first pitch and hit a fairly solid liner down toward third base. If the guy had been playing over a little more, I think it'd have gotten through for a double. However, Gary was in front of me, so I was almost sure I'd hit into a double play. Instead, they wound up throwing to first but, again, overthrew the first baseman, though I was almost there anyway.

This trip around the bases was an adventure. The next batter hit one that looked like it might be caught by either the outfielder rushing in or the infielders going out. When it dropped, I was only a few steps off the bag and taking off because I was sure I was going to be forced at second. That is, until I saw no one was covering the bag. That made it much easier to get in there.

Next batter hit one right to the shortstop, who had it hit off his glove and go right up in the air. I was running to third but was sure, again, that I'd be forced. Turns out that when the ball game down, the shortstop missed it again and so everyone was safe. Finally, a solid hit drove me and the runner on second in to score.

My third time up, I tried a new bat which felt very light. I was able to make good contact on the ball, but that just meant I flew out to left.

So 1-3 on the day leaves me at 6 for 13 on the season. .462 isn't too bad. We'll see if I can improve upon that on Monday!

Catching Up: Softball

I know, I know, it’s ridiculous how far behind I am in blogging. Some people have been kind enough to inquire about the status of my computer. (Are you happy, Kevin?) While there is some family stuff to talk about, let’s get the softball out of the way. As you can see, I’ve added the schedule to the left side of the blog, so you can quickly find the results. But for the stories behind the scores, well, that’s what I’m here for.

Let’s see. I left off after our second completed game, leaving us at 1-1. I missed the 8/28 game due to a busy evening of a TLC open house (where we could meet the teachers the kids were going to have for the year) and a church meeting. From all accounts, it was a good game. We had a 9-4 lead after one, I believe, but they kept coming. We had the tying runs on in the last inning, though, and just couldn’t get them in.

September 8 was Maxx Hardcore. You know how there’s always at least one team that has no business playing in a lower division? That’d be this team. The sponsor has a team in every division and while I don’t know if players play on more than one team, the way these guys went about it, I wouldn’t be surprised. We actually hung with them pretty well, as it took a 2-run home run in the sixth to run-rule us a little before time expired. This was a fairly memorable game for me, though. Not because of anything I did at the plate—I went one for three with an opposite-field flair that just got over the infield—but what happened at the plate.

In about the second inning, with the score already 5-0 or so, the opposing batter laced a ball into the outfield for a double. One guy scored easily, but the throw was coming in for the guy that started at first. Remember, this is a team that is beating us handily in the lowest division of city softball.

When a batter hits the ball to the outfield, I always step in front of the plate and wait to see if any throws come in. That’s what I did this time, but apparently I had shifted my position some as I focused on the throw that was cut off by the shortstop and coming my way. I should have been looking somewhere else.

The next thing I know, I am on the ground on the other side of home plate.

The runner had not bothered to try to go around me. Sliding apparently didn’t enter his vocabulary. No, in a blowout game not being played at the highest level, he decided that, being that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, there was no reason a scrawny catcher should make him detour.

I tried to scramble up, especially since the ball had been thrown to where I had been, not where I was currently. Bobby backed me up, though, and we thought about tagging the runner, but as he strutted back to his dugout he stated he was safe and, to be fair, he was. And for what it’s worth, when I came up to bat next time, the player (who was also catching) did ask if I was OK. There was no concern at the time, of course, but I guess something is better than nothing.

The lasting memento of the incident was a huge bruise on my arm. It started out small, but by Sunday, it was taking up most of my upper arm. So, of course, we have a picture:

Here we are just over two weeks later and there are still traces of the mark, though it’s pretty much faded by now.

The next game was a week later. Due to the fact that I needed to go to Promise Keepers in the middle of it, I was the starting DH. I wound up going one for two in the game. (That’s what I get for waiting to blog, I can’t quite remember the details.) We won that one going away, as it was 12-1 when I left for PK. That night most everything they hit we caught and what we hit, they didn’t. A good all around performance.

The final game of this recap happened last Thursday. It was a game that was scheduled for 9:30, but appeared that it was going to start very late. The 6:30 game must have run over, because the 7:30 game did not end until close to 9:00. However, we didn’t realize who was playing in the 8:30 game. Maxx Hardcore—the team with the bruise creator—wound up run ruling the other team in less than 30 minutes. (See, told you they weren’t a D3 team!) We actually started the game on time, which was shocking.

From the get-go, this looked like the game that was going to get us to .500 on the season. We scored early, held them down, and responded when they scored. Things were going well.

I was the catcher for this game, getting back on the horse after the earlier incident. My first at-bat, I stroked one between short and third, driving in my first run of the season. My second at-bat was one I was fairly proud of, though.

I took the first pitch, which put me in the hole 1-2. The next pitch was a little short, but I swung and hit a ball right in front of the plate. I took off, but the catcher tagged me. However, he’d picked up the ball in foul territory, so my foul was used but I was still alive. The next pitch I took, but it honestly could have been called strike three. I think the ump missed one, but I wasn’t going to complain. I could tell the pitcher was trying to throw short and get me to swing and miss, but I adjusted on the next pitch, hanging up mid-swing enough to be able to reach out and flip the ball to the outfield.

After five and two-thirds innings of a seven-inning game, we led 12-7. Things were cruising until the bottom fell out. I heard our pitcher say later that the ball he got to replace a foul ball seemed a bit harder. Whatever the case, everything started falling in. Balls dropped, runs scored. The final blow was a three-run home run that put them ahead 13-12.

The bottom of the sixth and the top of the seventh were fairly quiet. In the bottom of the seventh, Bobby led off with a single and Chuck followed with a walk. Jason hit a grounder to the shortstop, but he was unable to tag Bobby and everyone was safe. Bases loaded, nobody out. Surely we are going to at least tie this up, right?

Richard was up next. He hit a fly ball that may have been deep enough to score the run, but Bobby had gone halfway down the line. By time he got back, it wasn’t possible to tag up. One out. The next batter also hit a fly ball. This time Bobby got back and took off when it was caught. Unfortunately, the outfielder made an amazing throw and the catcher put the tag on for a game-ending double play.

That was probably the toughest loss of the year. I hope it will be, because I couldn’t handle any tougher ones, I don’t think. We play again Thursday against the team we beat to start the season, so maybe we can up our record against them.

A Couple More Softball Games

I know, I’ve still not gotten the schedule up on the side. I know there’s a growing number of people that just would come out and watch Off Road Tire softball if only they knew when we were playing!

We played last Thursday—or tried to, at least. We started the game under sunny skies, though there were some clouds in the vicinity. Not much scoring going on in the first couple of innings, and I honestly can’t remember what the score was. I do know that my first at-bat of the season, I hit it down on the handle of the bat and grounded out to third. Not an auspicious beginning.

Around the third inning, the sky started to darken up. After our at-bat in the top of the inning, the first raindrops started to fall. They were quickly joined by a multitude of their brethren. Soon it became difficult to see out to the field from my spot in the dugout (I was the designated hitter for the game). And still we played on as the umpires afforded no mercy.

The conditions didn’t help us at all, as a number of balls landed that might have been caught in clearer weather. One such ball landed in front of Russell, then kicked off his glove. The runner on base wound up scoring and the batter was heading to third.

Right then came possibly the loudest clap of thunder I’ve ever heard. It seemed to come out of nowhere—there were no far-off rumblings first, it just happened and it sounded like it was right above our dugout.

The batter dove for third, missed it, picked himself up and ran into the dugout. Everyone on our team waited for no signal but hurried into the dugout. What followed was probably 20 minutes of the hardest downpour I’ve seen in quite some time. People would start making a break for their cars, realizing there was no way this game was restarting, but since Meron and the kids were there, we waited it out. Benjamin and I finally ran to the car and pulled it up as close as we could for the girls, but by that time the rain had slacked off and, by time we reached home, it was completely done.

So nothing from that game counted and we’ll make it up sometime during the season.

Monday night was a better night weather-wise, as it was clear and not terribly hot. I was DH again as we were the visiting team for the third straight time. We jumped on the other team early, scoring two runs in the first and one in the second.

My first at-bat was in the second. Again I got it more on the handle than I wanted, but this time it blooped over the infield for a base hit. That made it first and third with one out.

Ben was up next and hit one into left field. I was hitting second when the outfielder had trouble coming up with it. For some reason, thinking that they might try for a play at home (or thinking they were as inaccurate with their throwing as some teams I’ve been on) I went ahead, rounded second, and headed for third.

The problem was, the throw went into the third baseman, who was right in the baseline. I stopped and retreated, but Ben was already going to second. I made sure he got there and then tried to avoid the tag, but wasn’t successful.

We held a 3-0 lead until the bottom of the third, when our opponents tied it up. Another scoreless inning passed before they got five in the bottom of the fourth. We scored four in the top of the fifth, but weren’t able to put another run across before the game ended. In the top of the seventh, we had two on and one out, but a groundout and a flyout ended that threat. Still, it’s one of the few games that I’ve been in that’s gone the distance, that hasn’t been called by run rule or by time.

As for the rest of my at-bats, my second time up I hit one probably about as solidly as I’d hit one all year long, but all that meant was that it carried to the outfielder, who was playing in. The third at-bat, I took a pitch that turned out to be right down the middle, then popped up on the next pitch. Not exactly a stellar night at the plate.

Tomorrow night at 8:30 is the next game, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make that one due to various meetings that I have going. I don’t think I’ll be terribly missed, though!

You Are Not A Jedi....Yet

When I was just shy of four years old, my father took me to the first movie I remember seeing. My mother wasn’t sure I’d like it and, besides, she was pregnant with my brother, so it was just the two of us. Needless to say, she was a little wrong. Star Wars was a huge part of my childhood (and, if you look at my bookshelves, my adult life as well!)

So when I heard earlier this year that they were going to release a movie to kick off the new animated Star Wars series, I really wanted to take Benjamin to it. As I thought about it, though, I figured that sadly probably wouldn’t be the best idea. It might be too violent, he probably couldn’t sit through it, stuff like that. I shelved the idea.

As the summer progressed and he became more and more excited about Star Wars (you’ve seen the pictures), I still didn’t really plan to take him. Then he saw a trailer on TV for it and started clamoring to go. It didn’t take a whole lot to persuade me, of course!

To be on the safe side, though, I decided to go to The Clone Wars by myself first. I could see if there were any really scary parts, plus I wouldn’t be aggravated at him if (when, most likely) he wanted to leave early.

I continued to ask him if he was sure he wanted to go. “It’ll be really loud,” I told him, knowing he’s not much on loud stuff. “It might have some scary parts.” No matter what I said, though, he really wanted to go.

I went on Friday to the first matinee (and, yes, was the first person in line. I don’t think many are surprised) and really enjoyed the movie. It was a war movie, of course, so there were plenty of battles, but I thought he’d probably be able to handle it, especially if I emphasized that it was just a movie, that’s not what you do when you are playing, etc.

Saturday, we get around, get one of his Star Wars shirts on him, have lunch and get ready to go. Here he is, preparing to leave:

We get to the theater right before the box office opens. There are a couple of other people around, which seems to make him a little nervous as well. He usually gets pretty shy around people he doesn’t know. Before the line really forms, we go over and see the poster for the movie:

We buy the tickets (the first for Clone Wars) and go inside. I ask him if he wants popcorn, which he does, and I get that and a drink for myself. Balancing all of this and making sure he’s with me, we head over to the theater that the movie is in.

The Picwood has three theaters with the raised seating that people have come to expect in the last decade. This was one of them. However, the solid banister created a large shadow over the door, so that when we walked in, it seemed dark, even though the lights were on.

That was the one thing I hadn’t thought of. I didn’t think it really was an issue, since Meron and I had took him to the see the VeggieTales movie in the theater earlier in the year with no problems.

It was a problem on this day, though. He started to cry and say he wanted to go. Incredulous, I tried to get him to at least come around the corner and see the seats, hoping that if we could get more into the light, he’d settle down. That was not to be, as we only took a couple more steps before he started to drag me back toward the door.

Needless to say, this wasn’t a turn of events I had anticipated. I took him out into the hallway, finding a place to set down the large popcorn and drink. I tried to talk to him, reminding him that he’d been to a movie before, that he’d really wanted to go to this one. Nothing doing.

Thankfully, I was able to get a refund on the tickets. We then spent the afternoon at my parents’ instead, due to the fact that our dryer went down on Friday and Meron and Sarah had headed out there when we went to the movie to do laundry. I wound up staying out there with the kids and sending Meron home so she could do some scrapbooking in peace.

Benjamin is anxiously awaiting the DVD, as he told me while we were heading to my folks’. And I’m sure he’ll enjoy the TV show as well—from the safety of our own house.

I Hate Yard Work

Most of you that have read this blog for—wow, over three years now, who’d have guessed—know that there is one major bane in my life. Mowing the yard and other lawn work. As I’ve stated before, if the Lord comes back if I’m working the weedeater, I’m in huge trouble.

There have been a dearth of stories about this on the blog, though, because for the past few years, I’ve had it fairly easy. My parents hired someone to do the yard in ’06, since I was still recovering from my bout with Guillian-Barre. They continued the service in ’07, reasoning that I wouldn’t really have the time with a new baby arriving.

But when they asked if I wanted to have it done this year, I said I could handle it. One, because they’ve done so much for the family already, so anytime I can save them a little time, money or hassle, it’s a good thing. Two, because it and softball are the only exercise I get. I’d like to think of a third, but none come to mind.

The first few times I mowed the yard this year were unremarkable. They actually were cooler than normal days or cloudy days or breezy days, days where it wasn’t one of Dante’s circles to be out taking care of things. I even stopped the practice of mowing one yard one day, one the next as I was able to take care of both the front and the back at the same time.

That all came to a screeching halt about a month ago.

First off, it was a blisteringly hot day when I got out to mow. Our office started working four ten-hour days with Friday off this summer, so it was a Friday morning but it was already reaching 90 at least.

For a while now, the mower handle, if you will, had been acting up. Where the bar you hold to push the mower attached actually to the mower, one side (the right) would drop so far when turning that you almost had to be bent over double to get it to turn. Something that is slightly annoying when the weather is good, but turned into a dealbreaker that day, as I was able only to get the back and side yards done before feeling nauseous.

I went back out Saturday morning to try to get the front yard done. As I pulled the mower out of the garage and tried to get it started, though, the left side bar attachment came loose.

This, of course, is a problem, because it’s darn hard to push a mower when only half your handle is attached. Surprisingly for me, though, I didn’t just give up and use that as an excuse not to mow. No, I looked for that ultimate fixing tool.

So, after wrapping a good chunk of duct tape around the attachment section, I started off. That held for a while before coming loose again. More duct tape. Go again. Come loose again. Lather, rinse, repeat. After about five times of this, I looked at the fact that most of the yard in front of the house was done and called it a day.

My neighbor and handyman Jon was able to do some redneck engineering and get the mower fixed on a temporary basis, so the next weekend I got out there to try to mow the rest of the yard, which of course had grown up a bit since it had rained in the intervening week.

I got some of it done until I got into the real tall stuff. I would have to push forward a mower length, then bring it back. Forward, back. Then the mower would kick off because it was clogged with wet grass. Start up, do it again. Finally, the mower wouldn’t restart and I put it away, still with a section of grass not done.

The next time I get out to cut the grass, I do the whole front yard then start on the now ridiculously long portion. Things are going well. The grass is dry and is cutting fairly easily, given its height. Finally, the mower runs out of gas. No problem, I go get the gas can and put some in. But then, when I go to start it up, it won’t. I let it sit for a while, then try again. Nothing.

The last time I got out there after mowing the back yard, it was another forward/back/die type of outing. Unfortunately, that time I was doing it on a day after work, so after a while I had to give it up so as to get the dinner/bath routine started.

So, if you go by my house today, you’ll see this long section of grass on the left with strange cuts into it. Perhaps next time I’ll get it all done. I’m sure I’ll take another crack at it tomorrow, if it’s dry enough. And one of these days, it’ll actually get done!

Darth Vader IS Cute!

As I’ve mentioned before, Benjamin is on a serious Star Wars kick. (More on our attempt to go see Clone Wars in another post.) He’s got toys, he’s watched selected parts of most of the movies (fairly benign stuff like Luke and R2 meeting Yoda in Empire Strikes Back or the speeder bikes and Ewoks in Return of the Jedi) and overall loves most everything about it.

He’s not big, however, on Darth Vader. Vader’s a little scary for him, though he does have a toy one that he likes. It’s the mask that does it. I have one of the voice-changing Vader masks and helmet and he never likes to see that on. The helmet, though, is another story. One day I let him put that on and I’ve not gotten it back yet.

He was wearing that helmet and sitting on the couch one day when Meron told him that he was very cute. He looked at her very seriously and said,

“Darth Vader is not cute.”

Well, you be the judge of that one………

Returning to the Diamond

As we did last year, a good portion of the church softball team as well as some non-Wesley players are playing for the Off Road Tire city league team. We are Division III (out of three) but have a more solid team than last year’s incarnation.

We practiced for the first time last Thursday and it went pretty well. Decent hitting, tolerable fielding, enough to get people excited. We had a better-attended practice on Sunday. We went through the whole drill—infield practice, outfield practice, hitting, situational fielding, you name it. Again, some really exciting results there.

The problem, for me, was that we were practicing on a baseball field that apparently had fine gravel around home plate instead of dirt. That meant it was pretty painful to do my typical kneeling when I was back catching. On Thursday, I just wound up sitting and catching, which wasn’t a big deal. But with the full on practice on Sunday, I didn’t think that was the best. So I actually squatted in a catcher crouch most of the practice.

Those muscles apparently hadn’t been ever used, at least according to the report they gave me after practice and even more so Monday. I could get around walking and everything, but getting up and down, especially if I had to crouch down, was a real challenge.

I let Bobby, again coaching the team, that I wasn’t going to be able to catch for last night’s first ballgame. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t planning on starting me anyway, so that wasn’t a big deal. So I had a good seat for the action last night.

We were the visiting team and opened with two quick runs. Even though we scored, we were hitting a lot of ground balls (and getting a little help from the other team’s defense). They scored one in the bottom of the first to have the score sit at 2-1 after the first.

Neither team was doing much scoring after that. We continued to hit ground balls or easy flies and the other team did the same. They finally broke through with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to go up 5-2.

That was apparently the motivation the team needed. In the top of the fifth, we batted around and scored 14 runs to take a 16-2 lead. Finally some solid hits, combined with some questionable outfield and infield defense, allowed us to pile on the runs.

One of the outs in the inning came when Russell was on first (and I believe there was a runner on second as well) and Jon was up to bat. He hit one to right field, but Russell had to hesitate to see if it was caught. When it wasn’t, he took off, but Jon was right on his heels.

Gary, the third base coach at the time, held Russell up at third. However, Jon didn’t realize that and kept motoring around second. He realized the problem when he was at third with Russell standing there. Russell took off for home, but got caught in a rundown. Jon finally retreated to second, but not before Russell was tagged out. Easy to laugh about in a big inning, though.

Being that it is softball, no lead is safe and the opposition put up four in the bottom of the fifth. We answered with four in the sixth before they finished up with three in that inning. Final score: 20-12 Off Road Tire, sporting our first undefeated record.

Our next game is Thursday at 6:30. (I’ll try to get the schedule on the sidebar soon.) Hopefully I’ll be healed up enough to get into that one!

The Ohio Trip V: Columbus and Coming Home

Trying to remember everything two months later probably isn't optimal for blogging.........

If I'm remember right, though, we left Meigs County Friday mid-afternoon and headed up to Columbus. We were hoping to go to a couple of malls, but being that none of Meron's friends could make it, we were going to have to go on our own. This, of course, didn't make me real happy. I hate driving in those big cities!

On our way up, we decided to skip the first mall and just hit the second since we were running later than we thought. Problem was, we didn't have directions from Shawn's apartment to the second mall, we had them from the apartment to the first mall and from the first to the second.

We talked to some of Meron's friends, but it started to look like no one was going to be able to go to the mall with us. I wanted to cancel the whole thing, but we did have to get something to eat and Meron wanted to go.

So, for once in her life (I kid), Jody turned out to be useful. She wasn't going to go, but actually got everything done at home before we got to Shawn's. So she wound up coming over and riding with us to the mall, which made me much more relaxed. I always feel better when I have a local guide with me.

We had a good time at the mall. The kids got stuffed animals at the Disney store, I got a Jay Bruce shirt (hey, I do have occasional baseball shirts that aren't the Cardinals!) and other assorted things were purchased.

Saturday was the highlight of the vacation for me. Well, maybe not the highlight, but it was something I was looking forward to. Meron, Shawn and the kids went to the zoo....and I got to spend almost all day at Shawn's by myself in peace and quiet. You don't get that much in life when you are married with two kids! I watched half of the last season of Alias, caught up on the internet....life was very good.

While I was relaxing, the rest of the family was spending hours (around five or so, I think) at the zoo. Pictures follow:

After their day at the zoo, we went out to dinner with friends, then back to Shawn's for ice cream. The next morning, very early, we set out for home.

There are a couple of places that lift my spirits so much on the way home. One is the bridge at Memphis. Going over that bridge, for one, I'm back home in Arkansas and two, I don't need directions anymore. I'm done with the big cities and the nerves and worrying about getting lost.

The second is at Little Rock. You come into Arkansas at Memphis and basically go horizontal through the state. But at Little Rock, the road diverges. You can veer to the left and go into LR and head into southern Arkansas or you can go to the right and head up to the northwest part of the state. Once I make that turn, everything becomes familiar and I know I'm almost home.

So that's the trip. There's a few things that we've done since we've been home--including lovely lawn stories--but those will have to wait for another day!

The Ohio Trip IV: Meigs County

Wow, I've really got to get back into this blogging habit. Between Facebook and my Cardinal blog, this tends to slide down the list.

Where were we? Oh, yes, vacation at Meron's parents. The Monday we were there, besides the usual run between places to see everyone, we had a get-together that night to see her family. Most of the rest of that trip consisted of seeing her mom, seeing her dad during the afternoon, eating dinner, going out to her dad's after closed the shop, etc. We do a lot of running around in Meigs County!

We also spent Wednesday at the park visiting with one of Meron's high school friends and her kids. Benjamin and Sarah really enjoyed that a lot.

So, some pictures from this stretch, with explanations afterwards:

We spent part of Tuesday visiting Meron's grandmother and her aunt that was in visiting as well. That was actually the only day the kids weren't on their best behavior. I don't know exactly what it was, though I think in Benjamin's case, he was also a little thrown by the fact that her aunt's son is mentally handicapped and he's older than Meron. Being that Benjamin's not been around that much, it was probably just another stressor in a situation that had plenty of them.

One afternoon in the back of Grandpa's store, Sarah was fussing around. Grandpa thought it'd be a good idea (and might get him enough brownie points to allow him to hold her!) to give her a bag of cheese curls. This went over well enough that another bag had to be brought out. (To be fair, she was sharing with the whole family.) Still didn't work the way Grandpa wanted, though.


When I said sharing, I meant sharing! Of course, it'd be the only day I wore a white shirt.

They didn't have any baby swings at the park, so for Sarah to get any swinging in, someone had to hold her. Since Meron was doing a lot of conversing, this fell to me. I wasn't complaining!

The kids really enjoyed playing on all the playground equipment. Going down a slide at the same time was a wonderful treat!

The night before we left, we took Meron's mom and grandma over to Bob Evans across the bridge in West Virginia. Here you can see grandma and grandson coloring the provided kids menu.

Really, though we had an enjoyable time in that part of Ohio, there wasn't much more to say. I'll wrap it up with pictures of the family trip to the Columbus Zoo in the last entry.

The Ohio Trip III: Sunday's Activities

View Larger Map

Just a handy-dandy reference map for when I start tossing out Ohio places. Click on the blue button to get a description of the area.

Anyway, Sunday morning we went over and went to church with Meron's mother. I was pretty surprised at how well the kids behaved. I think Sarah fell asleep while Benjamin colored some pictures. We then went over to a lunch get-together with Meron's dad and stepmother, aunt and cousin. Of course, that was more for them to see the kids than to see us. We stayed there for a bit before getting a nice group shot and moving on.

(From left to right, Benjamin, Mike (Meron's dad), Joan (Meron's aunt), Sarah, Meron, Peggy (Meron's stepmother), Jeanie (Meron's cousin))

We then went across the river and state line to the Wal-Mart in West Virginia to stock up on some things. Since Mike and Peggy went with us, the kids were able to each get a new toy, which is not surprising at all. (Benjamin picked out another set of Galactic Heroes, again, not a shock.)

After that, we spent some time at Barry and Toni's, enjoying the cooler weather (after the rain went through, it was probably low 70s) and getting grandpa and grandson some time at the tee.

After that, we had dinner and then went over to Mike's store later on. It was a full day with that side of the family, but since it was Grandpa's only day off while we were there, it made sense to see him as much as possible.

That's enough for tonight--hopefully I can get back to it before the week is out and show you more. I'm uploading the whole set to Facebook as well, assuming my computer will let me tonight.

The Ohio Trip Part II: Saturday In The Park

First off, I notice that the map in the first post doesn't really show our route. Suffice it to say we go from Russellville to Little Rock to Memphis to Nashville to Louisville to Cincinnati to Columbus. Or take 40 to 65 to 71, depending on how you want to look at it.

Anyway, Friday night we stayed at Shawn's, like I said. Unfortunately, the air mattress that we brought with us apparently had a leak around the seal, so we decided to sleep on the floor. This decision was not a good one, as we realized during the middle of the night with terribly sore backs. Meron wound up on the couch before the evening was over, and early morning found me with my back to the couch holding Sarah. Surprisingly, we just aren't as young as we used to be.

Saturday morning and early afternoon were spent at a park close to where Shawn lives. Some pictures from there:

After the day at the park, we cleaned the kids up and took off for Meigs County. We didn't do too much that evening besides making contact with her mom and her dad and then getting our stuff stowed away at her Uncle Barry's, where we were staying again this year.

Since this is pretty long with the pictures, I'll do Sunday on its own.

The Ohio Trip Part I: Getting There

OK, it's time to get cracking on these vacation pictures. Let's get to it before my feeble mind forgets and goes off on a wild-goose....wait, is that Yoda? Surely....back to it, dadgumit!


View Larger Map


That's supposed to be the general path we took from Arkansas to Ohio. We left out of here on Friday, June 20, about 3:40 in the morning. That's what time we pulled out of the driveway, at least. Right before we get out on the interstate, I realize that I don't have my wallet, which is not a good thing. So we loop back around, hit the house, get the wallet, and actually get out of town about 4:00.

We thought that the kids would go right back to sleep. Yeah, right. They both were looking around and seeming to enjoy getting to ride in the van. (My parents again rented us one, something that was not without its hassles before we left, but was very enjoyable during the trip.) Unfortunately, that novelty wore off quickly for Sarah, and by time we hit Menifee (around 40 minutes into the trip) she was bawling her head off.

We pulled over, got out and try settling her down. That didn't work all that well, but we had to press on. After a while she fell asleep, as did Benjamin. Meron held out a little longer, but by time we drove across the Mississippi River bridge into Memphis, everyone save myself was in dreamworld.

Other than that, the trip was pretty uneventful. I was even fairly calm in the big cities on the way, knowing that there were just a couple of turns and I'd be OK. That comes with doing it a few times, I guess.

The part I most worried about, save actually driving in Columbus of course, was the bridge from Kentucky to Ohio, dropping you into Cincinnati. There's about four lanes on that bridge, each of which are for different roads. And by time you are on the bridge, the signs are hanging down from the road above that you can't see them until you are right on top of them. Still, we were able to do that without too much trouble.

We got into Columbus without a lot of stress. Not that it was completely lacking--driving through downtown and continually looking out for signs always gets me a bit white-knuckled. But we got there. The kids did very well on the trip, though we did have to listen to about eight hours of What's New Scooby Doo? from the portable DVD player. Whatever works, I guess.....

So, like I said, we made it. Friday night we just stayed at Meron's friend Shawn's apartment, eating pizza and unwinding with her and some more of Meron's friends.

Let's do this in manageable chunks. Next up, Saturday in the park and heading to southern Ohio. I promise, those will have pictures.

Our Little Model

No, I still haven't had a chance to sit down and do the Ohio blogging. (I thought about it last night, but the Home Run Derby was on, Josh Hamilton was hitting a ton and Meron and I watched it instead. If you don't know the Josh Hamilton story, well, you really should read about it.)

Anyway, just a short blurb to mention something we just found out today. Apparently, Sarah is following her brother into modeling. :) As you may recall, we took the kids to get their pictures professionally done earlier in the year. (Actually, looking back through the archives, I may not have mentioned that. But we did, got their pictures done before Easter.)

I got a call today from my friend Jennifer, asking tax-related stuff. Before she hung up, though, she asked, "Is that Sarah at Steve Newby's?" I told her I hadn't seen it, but it could be. I asked my dad if he'd been by there. He said he hadn't, but that my mom had told him about it yesterday. Meron swung by there and said it is very cute. I'll try to go down that way soon.

Since Ohio

Long time no write, I know. I’ve been working on getting pictures from our vacation ready, so you’ll probably get a two or three part Shoptaw Family Vacation series pretty soon. We spent 10 days in Ohio and had a good time. But more on that later. What has been going on since we got back?

Sarah has really picked up her walking. She can pretty much go anywhere on her own two feet now, if she wants to. Problem is, she can be pretty stubborn on that score as well. She also will walk fine across a room, but if she gets close to something to hold on to (a table, etc.), she’ll immediately grab for that and walk around holding it as far as she can. Still, we’ve noticed a big jump in her mobility since Ohio.

Benjamin is starting to become a Star Wars nut. I started getting him the little Galactic Heroes toys a little while back and he started to get hooked. He was very excited when I found an old framed picture of Yoda and put it up in his room.

I wasn’t going to take him to the Clone Wars animated movie that is coming out this summer (August 15, just over a month away!) because I figured it’d be a little too much for him, not the least because he’s not much for loud noises. But he saw the trailer on TV a few days ago while I was at work and that’s all he wanted to talk about when I got home. He really wants to go to the movie, so I’ll probably go first, see it, then take him so if it becomes too much, it won’t be that hard to leave. It’s really hard to believe that he’s just a little bit older than I was when I saw the first Star Wars movie!

The church softball season wrapped up while I was gone, tallying yet another loss. However, the industrial season (and our Off-Road Tire team) is coming up soon. I’ve heard talk about a practice this week, though nothing set in stone. We’ll probably have games starting around the middle of August.

Poker-wise, we played a pickup game on the Saturday after the Fourth. We originally were going to have an elaborate head-to-head tournament, but we couldn’t round up enough people to play. The six of us had a good time anyway, though.

The only hand I really remember came midway through the tournament. I looked down at K-J and raised the bet. Bobby was the only other one in and called. The flop came K-Q-J. With my two pair, I went all in, not necessarily wanting a call. However, I got one. I don’t quite remember what Bobby had, but I think it was A-Q. I remember saying I didn’t want to see an ace or a 10, because either he’d beat my two pair or he’d get the straight.

The ace came up on the turn. That had me sunk, there was no doubt. Then the ten came out on the river. At first, I thought it was just a case of overkill. However, I then realized that the board had straightened up, which meant the pot got split between the two of us.

After that reprieve, I wound up holding my own, then took a big pot from Bobby later on. I outlasted him, then Jon and wound up head-to-head with Ken. Even with the big chip lead I had, I was a little concerned, but soon I had won. And, since I won, it means that I have the money to play in the regular PPT event this weekend.

We had a good Fourth of July. Our church group got together on the third for food and fireworks. Benjamin kept saying that this year, he was going to watch the fireworks. In past years, it’s not taken him long before he’s crying and inside. This year was going to be different, though.

We sat up our chairs outside and got ready. He had his own chair next to mine. When the first set was fired off, I looked at him and said, “Wasn’t that neat?”

“Uh huh,” he said, but immediately jumped up into my lap. Another firework and he was ready to go inside. He did seem to enjoy watching some of the fireworks from inside where the noise was muffled. He told his friend Kylie, “I’m not scared.” I said, “You aren’t now that you are inside!”

Sarah enjoyed them more than her brother, but when they started going faster she got disconcerted. Didn’t cry, but started crawling up Meron like she was trying to get away. Needless to say, we didn’t see the end of the display, leaving somewhere in the middle.

On the actual Fourth, we went out to my parents for the evening. Benjamin played some outside and the grandparents got to enjoy the grandkids, which was pretty much what they wanted anyway.

That’s about all that’s happening here now. More on that vacation soon!