Friday

The terrorist and I are heading out at around 4 p.m. today to go spend the night with Trish and her girls. They've agreed to go to the ballgames with us. We'll drive back to Little Rock on Saturday evening and then back to Hot Springs on Sunday for the final day of the tournament. It's only about 35 -40 miles and I'd much rather stay with Trish since I'm not crazy about staying in hotels. I've reserved a room for 2 nights for the State tournament starting July 8th and I figure that'll be enough time sleeping in a strange bed for me.

I'm always nervous before I leave for drive that's further than a trip to town for groceries and even more so this week since I'm a little superstitious. I believe the old adage that "bad things happen in 3's."

Over the past 10 days, a friend's mother and James's aunt died unexpectedly. Then last night we had a call about the wife of one of the men that works for James on the farm and were told that she has an inoperatable, cancerous, tumor on her lower spine. The news leaves me wondering if this is the 3rd of the series or if there is still more bad news to come. In any case, I'll be extra careful as I do all this driving this weekend.

Ya'll keep your fingers crossed that these little boys will play their best and put on their best sportsmanship manners this weekend. Through this whole season they've behaved like little gentlemen in that department, so far. As much can't be said for some of the parents at those games though.

Last weekend a mommy came up to us after her son's team had lost a game and proceeded to tell us how horrible the umpires were and what cheating assholes the opposing team had been. I just sort of looked at her and went back to watching our lads prepare for their game and she walked behind us to the concession stand where she started cursing and mouthing off to a fan of the team they'd lost to. I was so proud, in my eavesdropping position, to hear the guy say to her as he put his hand on her son's head, "Maam, it's very sad that you choose this behavior as a way to teach your son about sportsmanship." Without argument, he put her right in her place.

I like all of our team's coaches but one I especially enjoy because he gives them so much encouragement and never makes them feel bad about how they've played. When he gathers them into their huddle before each game they say a prayer even before they say their team cheer and he does this again after each game. He reminds them that it's just a game and the main thing to remember is to HAVE FUN!

Another of the coaches called on Tuesday night with the information about the tournament and mentioned that it could be a good thing if these boys were to lose a game so they'd understand that it IS a game and there is no shame in losing as long as you've done your best. I told him that Zach was very familiar with losing since his regular team ended the season in last place but that it didn't matter because every one of those boys learned something from every game and had a blast doing it.

When Zach finally wakes up from his beauty sleep I have to drive into town to wash the truck and fill it up, buy a few groceries so the man won't starve while we're away, and cash a check so we'll have a little chump change on the trip. I'm really looking forward to seeing Trish and the girls and spending time with them this weekend. That will make up for the time sitting in this southern heat and humidy for the next couple of days.