Batter Up

Feels pretty good to be back out on the field. More mentally then physically. I took the last 5 years off and just started up last week on a co-ed team. I'm pretty rusty but it's all coming back to me.

I've been playing softball since I was 9 years old. Fast pitch until I graduated from high school then it was slow pitch after that. At one point I found myself playing on 3 different teams and though my last year I had slowed down, I found myself not enjoying it anymore. The team I put first was my competitive womens team. We even went as far as to Kingman AZ to play at Nationals. But 5 years ago I found myself feeling burned out and before the season had even started I was wanting it to be over already. I knew I needed to hang up my bag and take a break for awhile. So I took a break, had a baby and now with her being 2 years old I feel ready and wanting to do it.

I love this sport. I love the feel of the dirt, the fly balls, the big hits. Being a part of a team. Rounding the bases. Crossing home plate. Seeing the familiar faces. Seeing the same umpires. The feel of a great hit when it hits the 'sweet' spot. The happiness when you burn a guy and it goes over his head. Pride when you're part of a good play. Watching a teammate make an EXCELLENT play. Telling a teammate good hit or great catch. Putting daily life aside and showing up for an hour to let off some steam. It really is a great sport and it feels good to come to the field and hang my bag on the fence. I just want to keep it balanced and not let it take over my life like it had before. I think what I'm doing this season is a real nice balance.

Ok, I do have more going on in my life then just snapping pics of my dog but I know he is changing so quickly. I just sent the breeder this photo.

She loves staying in contact with all of her babies. I also let her know that he sleeps with us about every night. Every once in awhile we'll crate him but mostly he's on our bed. He has yet to try to jump off our bed or the couch. Which is nice because I always know where he is. We do let him down to roam around and he sure loves Mackenzie's stuffed animals and her binkies! He is always caught running out of her room with something he shouldn't have and he knows it. I did designate one animal for him to have. It's the little hamster from the Wonder Pets. Lenny I think? But one just doesn't seem to be enough.

We take him for walks and since he isn't leash trained yet he wants no part of it. We put him under the stroller in the basket. He loves it and so far hasn't tried to jump out. Who knows, he may just always ride under there. ha!

A wet Gremlin?

KODAK GIVEAWAY!!

I Heart Faces is doing a giveaway for this KODAK ESP-9 All-In-One Printer. This would be so handy to have, especially for my husband who prints a lot of things for his home business.

Go on over to I Heart Faces to enter for the giveaway.

Diesel update

Here are a couple recent pics of Diesel. We went to the Vet last Saturday and Dr was pleased with him and she thought he was doing quite well. He weighs just under 5 lbs and is almost 2 1/2 months old.

Every day he is getting more rowdy. I love him best when he's sleeping and not biting on my toes, legs, arms, you name it. He has yet to brave jumping off the couch or the bed. So far he's a big chicken but I know his feisty-ness will prevail.
When he is on the floor he has so many of Mackenzie's toys to chew on, its a huge smorgasbord! He's in chewy heaven!

We've gone for one walk but he rode under the stroller in the basket. He didn't seem to mind but I know it's just a matter of time before his curiosity gets the best of him and he bails out.

Still haven't taken him out anywhere. We are anxious to get him on the boat but right now, like any toddler, he won't understand how to make the most of it. Soon, very soon.

Winger & Deschanel

These aren't the 2 best pics that show the similarity but I was watching the Jim Carrey movie last name called Yes Man which has Zooey Deschannel in it and so much she reminded me of Debra Winger. Her looks and her mannerisms. I kept seeing the similarity. I had to google them to see if they were related at all and they don't seem to be. Has anyone else noticed this?

ABC's of Me

I first ran across this on Crystals blog You and Me Plus 3 and since then I have seen it on quite a few others. It's a fun way to read about your bloggie friends and learn some new things.

A - Age: 41...I actually don't feel that old but you can't hide from a number.
B - Bed size: Queen, longing for a King.
C - Chore you hate: putting the dishes away. In fact my husband and I both hate it so they tend to sit in the dishwasher until I finally break down and do it. (because the sink is filling up!)
D - Dog's name: Diesel, 8 week Mini Schnauzer.
E - Essential start your day item: I don't have one. I'm not really a creature of habit.
F - Favorite color: red and pink mostly but I like a lot of colors.
G - Gold or Silver: if we're talking about metals, then I'd say gold. If we're talking about color then I'd say silver.
H - Height: 5'6"
I - Instruments you play: none but I can play a few little diddy's on the piano. Can't everyone?
J - Job title: Administrative Specialist, wife and mom
K - Kids: 1 daughter and 2 stepchildren
L - Living arrangements: In Oregon with hubby and daughter. 1 cat and 1 dog.
M - Mom's name: Carol
N - Nicknames: Sis (from my Dad) and I have a Hag name, Franny
O - Overnight hospital stay: one time, when I had a c-section.
P - Pet Peeve: I have quite a few but here's one...letting flies in the house.
Q - Quote from a movie: I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special. Shelby (Julia Roberts) in Steel Magnolias about having a baby.
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: 1 older brother, Randy
T - Time you wake up: 5:30 during the week and 7:30-8am on the weekends. Varies with a 2 year old.
U - Underwear: bikini style
V - Vegetable you dislike: onions and brussel sprouts
W - Ways/Reasons you run late: adding extra things and/or my daughter makes me late (hard to rush a 2 year old)
X - X-rays you've had: teeth and right wrist-chipped a bone in cheerleading.
Y - Yummy food you make: sex in the pan, gooey bars and I like making homemade pizza
Z - Zoo animals you like: elephants, polar bears and monkeys

Here's our new baby

We met with the breeder on Friday afternoon and brought home Diesel. I know all puppies are cute but there is something extra cute about him. I've never had a mini of anything so he seems super tiny. I love how jet black he is and that he has white on his chest, a little under his chin and on the tips of his toes. His hair is so silky and I like how it looks 'piecy' like it's been separated with hair wax. ha!

Ok, so on to his personality. Diesel is a little lovebug and doesn't like us out of his sight. I was making dinner Friday night while Steve was holding him and he kept tracking me with his head and following everything I was doing. Curious puppies!

We're not trusting him to put him down on the floors quite yet, only at feeding time. Mainly he is either on one of us or on his blanket on the couch. Or in his crate. He sleeps a lot, which I love him best then. ha! The first day when we got home with him he was very timid and also I thought maybe the car ride didn't agree with him. Since then he's gotten more rambunctious and a lot more used to us.

Our first night I took him into bed with me while I watched TV and he was sleeping. Steve came to bed and he took him out to go potty and when he brought him back he put him in his crate. That lasted all of about 5 minutes! He is such a softie. But he was too rowdy and I ended up putting him back in his crate. He whined a little but would stop anytime I talked to him and eventually he fell asleep and woke me up at 6:50! That was wayyy too early for a Saturday morning.

Last night I just brought him to bed with us and he slept all night and we only got up when Mackenzie woke me up at 8.

I know having a puppy can be a lot of tiring days/nights. I feel like I just brought home a newborn again!

Here are some pictures of him. Most the time it's hard to see anything on him because of the black.

Brunettes Unite!

Had a girls night last Wednesday at my house. The occasion was our friend Gabby was up from the San Diego area. We all went to high school together. All 4 of them were in the same class and I was the grade above them. So many people are amazed when they hear that we're still good friends after all these years. But I don't think it's as rare as one might think. Must be from growing up in a small town. Our classes were about 40 in size.



Debbie, Gabby w/ Lukas, Tammi, me and Kim.

SKYTYPERS

When we were in LA we looked up from lounging at the pool and saw this. 5 planes writing in the sky. It was pretty neat to see how perfect all the letters were.

DIESEL - 7 weeks

This will probably be the last picture she sends me then it will be me sending her updates. We get him next Thursday. Although we are excited I know that my poo-free back yard is starting to come to an end. Good thing he's a little dog so at least there won't be those mondo giant poos steaming out there. Puppies are so much work but we know it's short lived so we'll just get through it and enjoy all the fun stuff that puppies do bring.

We saw some little puppies last week at a local feed store and Mackenzie was pretty timid. She loved to look at them but once the puppy was close she turned away. Puppies can be so in your face. I'm sure she is going to need some time to get to know her new puppy and get used to the little bouncy fur ball.

You can see he's got the white under his chin which will look like he's got a permanent goatee which we like and think it adds character to his little face.

TILE GIVE AWAY

Engrave Uniques is a very cool site that offers reasonably priced tiles for your home or gifts.

click HERE to go see their giveaway they are having.

I'm actually shocked!

Kris beat Adam? Don't get me wrong. I think Kris is a great singer but I felt that Adam had a little more edge. You were always surprised when he came out. They both tended to change up the original some of the time but Adam seemed like he did it more. In a good way. Kris reminded me of a John Mayer. That style. But I never did see Kris anywhere in the bottom 3 and I know Adam at least landed there one time. Obviously they are both going to go on and have careers and be forever famous.

Did anyone think it was strange that Kris Allens wife didn't get interviews or talked to? Everything went to his parents. I thought that was kind of odd. Hate to be a skeptic but I'm sure the fame will change them and they will have some tough roads ahead.

I thought last nights finale was the best one ever. I couldn't get over all the famous singers they had. Kiss? Wow. Never thought I'd see them on AI's stage. I also loved the bikini girl segment with Kara coming out there and singing and snapping her dress open to show her bikini.

5 weeks

Here is Diesel at 5 weeks. I love that she sends us a picture since we don't get him for another 2 weeks. What a little black fur ball!

New Addition!

Meet Diesel. He is our newest member of our family starting in June. He is a Mini Schnauzer and he was born April 8th and will be ready to move in with us the first week of June. We found a breeder located in Brownsville, Oregon.

We are of course excited. Steve and I both have been wanting a little dog and I came across this breed around the first of the year when I was looking through our local classified ads online. I read up about them and thought they seemed like a good fit for us. I like the size. And everyone that I have talked to that has had that breed has said they were smart family dogs.

At the time we were looking we were also involved with making our Disneyland plans and figured it would be best to wait until we got back. Well we're back and I move on things pretty quickly.

It's been over a year since we've had a dog. And we will readily admit the freeness of not having a dog has been nice but we are dog people and miss having a little 4 legged furry friend around. Plus he will be a great size to travel with and be out on the boat with us.

Will update more later.