Report cards are in

Results of the girls' first public school report cards are in.

Drum roll please...

Darby - five As and a B

Shelby - two As, four Bs, and a C


So, really, not too terribly different thus far than private school in previous years. But Shelby improved a good deal since progress reports a few weeks ago.

Halloween partying

So the girls had a good time at their church "Fall Festival". We spent a good couple hours at the church before I dropped them off at my dad's so that I could head to that Halloween party. The party was... interesting to say the least... but for the second day in a row I didn't get home until 5am, which is very un-Shawn-like.



There are more pics in the album.

Pre-reunified

In exactly one week (from the time of the subject events of this entry), I will be at my fifteen year high school reunion in Philadelphia. It was, then, so very appropriate that tonight I should be having a similar reunion, with two of my oldest Oklahoma friends.

I picked up one friend Friday night, who was in from California visiting family, and we went to dinner for some much needed catching up. Afterward, we went to our mutual friend's place for some additional catching up. We didn't get out of there until three in the morning. Here's an obvious 2am picture...



Can you believe how much time has passed since these?



How about nearly fifteen years? UGH. But it was a good time reminiscing. We've known each other since just a few days after I moved here in 1991. We're old "drum corps buddies".

After we left there it was five a.m. (Saturday!) before I dropped the first friend off because we were both hungry and stopped off at IHOP. I didn't get home until five-thirty, and was more tired than I think I've ever been. I didn't get up until about 2pm (first time I've done that in a LONG time), and already I've got much to do. I'm going to my friend's brother's Halloween party in not all that many hours, but first I've got to take the girls to a Halloween thing.

Scott(y), we need more power!

Shortly after nine this morning, the power went out. First I thought it was a local phenomenon (because they're doing construction near our area, and have taken out the power before), but I soon got word from co-workers that it was multiple buildings, and later that it was the entire base. I even heard much of the surrounding city was without power, but I could not confirm that.

As soon as I learned the depth of the situation, I look at our battery power situation. 21 minutes. Ugh. We never hooked up that second bank of batteries after we moved the servers in August. So I sent out messages to users about the impending unavailability of our services and began shutting down servers.

Wouldn't you know it, that as soon as we got the last server shut down, the power came back up. Grrr.

End of season

We closed out our softball season with another couple 20-0 losses. While it may not be represented in the scores of our games, we did make a number of improvements over the season. I just hope that come the Spring season, there are teams in the league at our level so that we have a chance to pull out some wins.

We scored!

Darby's first softball game tonight was a typical blow-out, finishing at 21-0. We've gotten pretty used to not scoring all season. So imagine our surprise when we actually scored in the second game. Three runs! Sure, it was 20-3 when it was all said and done, but the girls and coaches were quite proud of the milestone anyway. Last two games tomorrow...

Mom says "play the field"

How crazy is that? My mom actually said to me today, "don't get married, just play the field." Not that she is notorious for good advice in recent years, but that was... weird.

Basically she wants me to move back to Philly after the kids are grown, and she feels like me being married prior to that would interfere with her "plan". It sure does contrast with what she used to tell me in years prior... "you just need to find yourself a good Chinese girl and settle down". My how things change.

Gifts of good fortune

I prefer uneventful AOBs (anniversaries of birth). While I mostly got what I wanted in that regard, I was also the recipient of a few small gifts of good fortune that made for a nice twist on an otherwise normal day.

First came the heat. My desk is right under an air duct and has been a very cold place to sit. We measured it with an infrared thermometer. Sixty-one degrees. I've had to wear a sweater every day since before it even got cold outside. Today, as if granting me some small reprieve, they turned the heat on in our building. Finally I can sit and work without shivering or blowing my runny nose. It is a welcome gift.

Next came the weather. There have been some miserably chilly days of late, and I was pleased to walk outside to a pleasantly warm day, likely the last over-seventy day we get for a bit. It was nice for mother nature to have let-up briefly for me.

Then came lunch. We intended to hit the newly opened OKC Cheesecake Factory, but the place was packed. So we went to the nearby Elephant Bar, which comes highly recommended, instead. I ordered myself the very pleasing-to-the-eye 11-oz New York Strip. Unfortunately, I instead received the 8-oz New York Strip sandwich. Okay, so not as much steak, but they comped the meal for their error, so I got what amounted to be a VERY tasty steak for free. A gift of good fortune wrapped in slight misfortune. One of the best kinds of unexpected gifts to get. But as though that weren't enough, having gotten wind of the fact that it was my birthday, the waiter brought me a (also free) strawberry sundae. And not only is strawberry one of my top-five favorite flavors, but this particular strawberry dessert was exTREMEly delicious. Freakin yummy, in fact. I savor it even now.

Of course, that all might seem like enough, but then a co-worker treated me to an also very tasty strawberry slushy from an Asian place that specializes in such things (slushies, shakes, slurpies). I might actually be all strawberried-out, if you can believe that. But I am thankful to have had the good fortunate to have received these gifts on this day. Sort of takes the edge off getting older in a way that no material gift can. And while I've gotten plenty of material gifts thus far this week, it will likely be these abstract gifts I remember the most in years to come.

Newyorkless in Detroit

Nothing personal against the Yanks or Mets, but I'm generally pleased with the teams in this year's World Series. Both fought significant late-season skids to show they earned a shot at the big dance. Hats off to the Tigers and Cardinals. While my money is on the Tigers, I suspect there will not be a sweep, in favor of a very exciting series.

I am NOT, however, pleased with the IOCs quibbling about baseball and softball's future re-entry into the Olympic games. The things they have issue with were just as present when the games were first admitted. Things are getting better, not worse, so why is it harder to get back in than it was to get in to begin with? I'm sorry, but baseball is one of the great games of planet Earth. It should be represented in the planet's showcase of sport. Period.

Picture day

Today was picture day at the girls' school, so hopefully we'll have new pics for the alubm within a few weeks. Check back soon.

Last practice

Today was the last softball practice. And yesterday was supposed to be our last games, but they were postponed. Instead we have all of our make-up games next week. Which means four games between Monday and Tuesday. Ugh.

BD Ambush

Given the context of the previous post, the week this is, and the fact that today I got balloons and a cookie cake, you might think the title of this entry referred to an unexpected birthday event. But you would be wrong.

Today my team surprised the heck out of me with a Bosses Day treat, which included the grand finale of what I call "PB Paradise". YUMMY!

I'm extremely fortunate to have a team of folks that don't dislike me. Or, if they do, they have a funny way of showing it. Thanks guys (and gals)!



All that said, I've had so much bloody candy today, I'm certain something is going to rot and fall off or out.

Let the aging, begin

After an extremely busy Thursday, it was nice to have a slow-ish Friday. I took Darby to the doctor as she's been coughing for two weeks but with no other symptoms. The doctor affirmed the "nothing wrong" diagnosis, but gave us several prescription strength medications to make life less miserable for her.

This evening, a friend and I that have birthdays five days apart caught the movie Man of the Year, which was quite funny. Robin Williams at his best, but not over the top.

So this basically ushers in that time of year when I start getting birthday cards, going to birthday lunches and dinners, and so on. Heck, my dad already gave me my birthday present. Personally, I'd rather my aging were more discrete, but I don't tend to have much say in that, so let the festivities begin.

Bad timing?

I sure hope not. My company, a year after first announcing intentions of going public, has announced final IPO details, and trading will commence tomorrow... Friday, the 13th. That seems... unwise. Why not Monday?

Well, hopefully it will go well in spite of the timing. Crossing my fingers.

Shame about Cory

I'm forced to wonder if Cory Lidle, a former Phillie (and an Oklahoman), would still be alive if either he hadn't been traded to the Yankees, or if the Yankees had made the next round of the playoffs. Makes you think, eh?

Ticketed

My newest employee started work today, so I'm back up to full capacity on my team, which is a relief.

However, after picking him up off base (he didn't yet have vehicle credentials), I made a poor parking choice in an effort to shorten our walk into the building. I parked along a curb that, while I could see why it is considered non-legal parking, is OFTEN parked along. In fact, there were two other cars that also parked there. Well, of course, even though I was only there for two hours, I got a parking ticket. Which is NOT a common occurrence for me. My last speeding ticket was 1992.

icky practice

We practiced for an hour and a half in the sub-60 degree weather tonight and man did it suck. Some of the girls had shorts and t-shirts on and must have been freezing, cause Darby had a jacket and jeans and was chilly. Only seven of thirteen girls showed up, and all the parents but me stayed in their cars, so were we the smart ones or the stupid ones? Hmmm. On the good side, the girls that were there were more focused upon than what has been typical.

Thursday is supposed to be colder. I actually hope we cancel practice. With a high in the fifties I'm thinking we'll exceed our productivity threshold.

Games postponed

Tonights softball games were postponed due to a power problem at the ballpark. I'm glad in the sense of not having to mess with the logistics today, but not so much because this means the season will extend an additional week, meaning we'll have a couple of games out in the chilliness.

Um, Father? Did you just say "lesbianism"?

So at my Catholicism class, the priest, sensing some level of boredom in the audience, says, hey, I know this is boring stuff, but we'll cover EVERYthing in time... I just can't sit here and talk about lesbianism all night, eh?

As you might imagine, that woke everybody up.

She-eww

Thank you so much, Iggles, for NOT blowing it entirely. You had me worried more than once, but you pulled it out, and I thank you. I am in Cowboy country here, so it's always unsavory having to wash down a loss to the Cowboys at work the next day.

That bat died a hero

Yeah Tigers! You deserved it. And finally, I think you proved you earned it by shutting the Yankees down so decisively.

I heard a cool line during the game. After a broken-bat hit, one of the announcers made the statement, "that bat died a hero", which I thought was quite cool and appropriate.

But how on earth, Yankees, do you fire a guy like Joe Torre, as the rumors suggest will happen? I suspect his record will never be matched. And he is such a class act. He's perfect for New York, and they should offer him a permanent position. Or something like it.

Much was decided today, and will continue to be decided on this awesome sports weekend. Tigers, moving on. Mets, moving on. Sooners, not so much. More decisions tomorrow.


In kid news, we got Halloween costumes today. I can't believe it's that time of year already. Shelby chose a tiger costume. Darby, as has become typical, wanted to pick a "scary" costume, but I managed to talk her out of it. I talked her into getting a doctor costume, but explained that she could carry a stuffed dog and call herself a veterinarian. She really liked that idea, so I'm glad to report there will be no ghoulishness from her this year.



Update 10 Oct
Thank goodness the Yanks didn't fire Torre. That would have been SUCH a mistake.

You're evicting my grandma? But... she's dead!

Apparently, you can evict dead people, in addition to seeing them. In some sort of paperwork snafu, the cemetery in Tucson where my grandmother was buried in June didn't file the proper claim forms, so they haven't been paid about $1,300 by the insurance company. So instead of eating it until the late-filed claim goes through, they're billing my family, AND (if you can believe it) threatening to evict my grandmother from the cemetery if the family doesn't pay. Talk about OMG. I mean, she's dead. So they're going to dig her up? And then do what with her? Whatever happened to resting in peace?

Make-up game

Darby had a make-up game today, which was lost handily 20-0. Unlike yesterday where we at least held our opponents off for a bit, slowing our demise, today we had several mistakes that burried us early. I was particularly irked by the fact that the one game where Darby didn't start at second base, there were three dropped pop-ups by the person playing second place. I'm not saying Darby would have caught them all, but I'd like to think she'd have caught one or two of them. At least on a good day. She was actually having what seemed to be an off day anyway. So maybe it was for the best she didn't start at second, otherwise I might be griping about HER missing three popups.

Another 40-zip evening

Darby's softball team was defeated in both games, 20-0 again. Darby had a couple decent plays, including an awesome put-out of a smoked ball everyone thought was headed right to the outfield. She played the ball like it was gently rolling along and stuck with it to make a quick, accurate throw to first.

In the second game she had a very solid hit to left field and was safe at first by a mile. But the second baseman missed the ball, allowing it to roll into right field. She didn't see the miss, went to second on the orders of the first base coach, but being a slow runner and having gotten off to a slow start, she was then tagged out at second. Had she seen the ball get missed she might have had herself a very nice multibase hit.

October

It was mostly a lazy Sunday. Darby had Alter service and helped setup the pumpkin patch at church. I also went my weekly Catholicism class (haven't decided to stop yet), but otherwise took a hefty nap this afternoon. Since the Phils were out of the playoffs and the Eagles don't play until tomorrow, while there were some swell games on, none of them really stressed me out the way Phils/Eagles games tend to do.

The real news of the day is that it's October. I hate that it's October, because we're definitively well into the non-Summer months. But I love October for all the important reasons. Baseball playoffs are of course quintessential, but also by now the football season is getting exciting. The hockey season is about to start. The basketball season is around the corner. The weather is not too bad, mostly comfortable in fact. And, let's not forget, there's the anniversary of births. Not just mine, but October is supposedly the month of most births, so many of us out there are getting older this month, meaning there will be much celebration going on. And what's not to like about that?