No talk, just pictures

Just the way a Sunday night should be

I think I've spent the last twelve hours cleaning up or running errands or cooking, but it feels nice to have everything all set for the week. Just don't ask about my dining room table.

Now I am curled up on my bed, not quite in it yet. Mini has stopped snaking past and is curled up beside me. Riley is patrolling the apartment in search of missed glucosamine cookies, and Ant is comatose in the living room as he's been for the past hour and a half, but I did get him up to go brush teeth, make bed, and get into jammies.

It's all quiet now- all I can hear the fridge. I got to see a little bit of the eclipse- somewhere between 60 and 70% over, I think. It was too cloudy for the rest, but it was still neat to see.

Goodnight moon.

Goodnight cat, goodnight dog, goodnight teenager and goodnight blog.

"Goodnight stars

Goodnight air

Goodnight noises everywhere"

Random middle of the night blog

Ant's school picture. He's doing really well and I'm proud of him. He's definitely got teenager brain at times, but his intentions are good and the overall results are good. It's so neat to have him back in my daily world.

Here is part of the puzzle Amanda and Nataliia brought me from their trip to Russia and Ukraine.

I celebrate Riley's birthday as sometime in the month of September.

I only let her have four, but the part she's happiest with anyway is just sitting in the grass, enjoying the sunshine.

But still, cookies are nice.

This cracked me up because it made me think of Signs. "Swing away, Merrill. Swing away!" (Remember how the little girls leaves water glasses everywhere? Is it possible that there are no accidents?)

It has taken us some time, furniture adjustments, and chore scheduling, but we're getting streamlined. It's nice to have some help, and that makes my week more manageable. He volunteered for which chores he wanted and each weekday, he does two or three when he gets home from school.

In the whole time he's been enrolled in this school, he's been late to one class, missed none. :)

Riley loves to sleep next to her bed, but she's usually in it by morning.

This Tuesday, he told me he was going to get 100% on his homework. He sure did.

We went to Kohl's (with a coupon, of course) to find him some pants. He liked these pants best, even outside of the clearance rack, so we got him two pairs and a silly t shirt. $18 for the three!

Today I relaxed on my couch between loads of laundry. I got some groceries and cleaned up some, then went out with friends. Last night, I went to see Everest in 3D at the IMAX theater. That was intense. Amanda said I cried more than Keira Knightly's character. It's a hell of a ride, but I don't think the 3D was all that helpful. I will say, though, that I really felt like I could understand much better what it must feel like to be there. Every version of this story is so different, and I think I'd like to watch and read several again, including this one. I did not sleep well- I spent last night thinking and dreaming of some of the worst parts. It's such an intense story, and the movie tries hard to end on a good note, but it may as well be called The Perfect Shitstorm. Nataliia is always threatening to put climbing Mount Everest on her bucket list, but the movie provided visuals that were hard to envision from the book Into Thin Air, so throughout the movie, she'd lean over to me and say, "They are fucking crazy." I've read descriptions, accounts, seen pictures, watched depictions and documentaries, and all of that gave me very necessary background, but this movie gave me a sense about what this lunacy looks and feels like that I just did not have before. The famous quote from George Mallory explains it both completely and not at all: "Because it's there."

I'd say if you can handle it, watch it, because you are just not going to get those visuals anywhere else.

I'm hoping that I get tired soon. I may go turn on the IMAX documentary- the one they filmed during that 1996 season. Ant spends weekends with his girlfriend, and it feels like that's the only time I have to spend in the living room anyway, so it works out. I'm playing tennis twice a week now, and there's just one more softball game. I'm looking forward to having another night of the week back, but I have to tell you that softball has gotten way better. I still dread going, but that only starts about an hour or two before the game as opposed to the beginning of the season, when the anxiety about the next week started the morning after our game. The team has been quite supportive, and they all coach me in bite size pieces. We've lost all our games but two so far, and one of those was a forfeit, but these are not bad players at all. Most of them have played for years, and are really impressive. There's been talk that some of the teams we're playing should be in higher levels, but most people on our team have a good time anyway. 

This past week, I filled in for our catcher, and I like that much better than outfield. Ant and his girlfriend came with me- I told him he had to come to one game. I mostly got the ball to the pitcher, and Kristen tells me I'm throwing way better. I did my part to step in front of the plate in case somebody threw home, but the outfielders usually throw to the better players. Towards the end of the game, though, Kristen threw to me from first. She knew the throw would be too late to get the runner out, but wanted to give me the practice, and it was not gentle. I caught the ball and got cheers from my team- you'd have thought we scored. Just a short while later, she launched it to me again. This time, it was not late, but lost a little accuracy for speed, and I did not have the time to think. I leapt for it. I was in the air as the player crossed the plate. I caught that damn ball, and almost got him. My team roared for me, and I felt SO HAPPY!!! Cristine told me later that Kristen threw those to me pretty hard, which makes it even better. I'm so glad Ant was there for my highlight reel. Before the game that night, Ant was asking if I give 100%. Kristen told him I give 110, which is part of my problem. Back before the season started, she taught me how to throw, catch, hit, and run, and told me it would a lot easier if I wasn't smart, which is a) one of my favorite pieces of feedback ever and b) totally consistent with my tendency for analysis paralysis. Dan Kennedy told a great story on The Moth about a social worker that helped him through a rough and unproductive time, and the quote I wrote down is "You will instinctively know what to do when you move forward." This advice feels so crucial to me, and I think it's been instrumental over the last several months. I've been saying yes, and trying new things. I love that I'm playing sports, and I love that I'm back in tennis. I'm no Serena, but I'm happy and improving. And every week I dread playing softball, and every time I drive home from a game I feel tired and happy... and I think I might play next year.