Enough Already!

It's that time of year! Time for my yearly rant about organized sports. I'm sure that if I trolled through over 5 years of archives I (and you if you've got nothing better to do) could find a dozen or so posts about bad officials and poor sportsmanship. Here is your "sports builds character" post for 2011.

My brother plays basketball. He is on a team with some very talented kids. For the most part, they are good students (honors classes and honor roll), mind their own business, and play hard. Granted, they're kids so there is a lot of lack of concentration, whining at officials on occasion, and the like, but find me a sports field where that doesn't happen.

My brother plays in all three games, two days a week. That's 6 games and 12 hours of very physical basketball if you're keeping track at home. He plays hard. He plays defense well. He isn't the scoring machine he'd like to be but my goodness, legs get tired, knees stop bending, and sometimes even when you know you should stay on your feet, you jump and foul.

The school my brother plays for has a "reputation" and often times, it isn't a good one. Regardless of the fact that these are good kids with good hearts, when it comes time to walk onto the court, or the field, there is a stigma present. As a teacher at the same school years ago, I never believed it. I thought, "These kids are just full of it - it's an excuse". But now, having sat through 2 months of basketball games I hate to say that I think those kids are right.

When the "brown" school plays the "white" school, the fouls are out of balance. The calls go in the favor of the other team and our kids get the crap generally knocked out of them. Lots of teams get "homered" on the court, and we joke about the opponent paying off the officials before the game starts, but what if in some sort of respect it's true.

What if there really is still prejudice out there? What if there are men and women who really want these kids to lose because of how they look? The thought absolutely sickens me, especially this week. On Monday, as most probably were just grateful for the day off, we were supposed to be honoring the memory of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement in America. Something that changed the face of our nation - and the nations of the world forever. The idea of equality isn't new, but by golly it sure took a lot of fighting to create a sense of it across this nation over 40 years ago. You would think that the legacy of Dr. King, Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, Rosa Parks, and many others would live on and inspire others to do better, to be kind, to grant the benefit of the doubt.

But, when a group of students in the stands is taunting another student on the court, from an opposing school making fun of his name, his origin, his history; that goes to far. Where were the adults to tell that group of students to shut up and cut the crap? Why didn't the officials give the kid hanging on the rim for the other team a technical foul? Was it because he was white and the kid that got dunked on wasn't?

Maybe I'm off my rocker. Maybe I'm full of crap. After all, I wasn't even at the varsity game. I'm just going off of what I saw in the two previous games and what my mom and sister told me happened. Honestly, I'm glad I wasn't there. It would have made me too angry.

Somethings got to give though. There is a lot to be said for judging someone by the content of their character - something that I don't think happens as often as it should and is supposed to.

I'm getting too old for this kind of stuff

Generally speaking, I'm in bed and close to sleep by 9:30 at night.

I "exercise" by riding my stationary bike in the basement while watching hoarders about 30 minutes a day, if i can steal the time.

I plan meals in 7-10 day stretches.

I am a super nerd.

On Saturday night my sister (and her husband), brother and I went to a concert.  I stood for hours.  My feet fell asleep and got all tingly.

I cheered.  I danced.  I sang a long.  I tripped and almost fell flat on my face.

My brother was my date.  Sort of.  He did stand by me and took his hands out of his pockets to clap and cheer a couple of times.

I drove.  We had such a great time in the car.  I love hanging out with my siblings.

Who did we see?  Guster, of course.


(Photo courtesy of Open Eye on Flickr)

It was great fun.  They played for nearly two hours.  They sang some of my favorites.  I've been trying to figure out how many times my sister and I have seen Guster in concert.  8, 9, 10 times maybe?  They never disappoint and are always entertaining.

I got home at 12:03 am on Sunday morning.  The Chick greeted me with screaming and crying as I came in the house so I stayed up with him until nearly 1 am.

I'm still tired.

And so boring. But, I love this song. And, I love Guster.

The Squirt:: 20 months

Hi Chick. Welcome to 20 months. What should we do to celebrate? How about get sick? Okay. Sounds good.

You've been to the doctor twice in three days. You have "asthma exacerbation". What does that mean? I'm not really certain but the doctor said that basically, the cold that you got on Friday has gotten into your lungs/bronchial and has left you in a constant state of attack. It's very mild, and you're wheezing but you get the inhaler every four hours until the cough goes away and have a new medication, a preventative drug, to try and help you out so that when you get sick, it isn't all drama and emergency runs to the primary children's instacare.



I'm so sorry that you are sick. Minus a pretty testy disposition however, and raccoon eyes because of total exhaustion, you really are doing pretty well. Grandma and I were talking last week at the ball game about how lovable you are. We love your brother, but let's face it he's to smart for his own good and sometimes gets on our nerves. You however, are just a sweet, cuddly, ball of goo. You'll sit on laps, give kisses and loves, and are just all around adorable. Grandma Huber, every time she sees you, says that you are the cutest kid in the entire world.

I agree.

That doesn't however excuse your occasional naughty behavior. You've got a hankerin' to throw and hit. Granted, there isn't much force behind any of it, and the windup is pretty darn cute, but last week you threw a flashlight at me and got me in the chin. The bruise has turned yellow (thank heavens for good make-up) and I still have a welt. You did survive one of your first time outs though - being tossed into the crib for a few minutes until I could regain my composure didn't kill you.



Just in the last two weeks, you've really made some great strides in becoming a big boy. You tell me when you need your diaper changed, you no longer sit on your booster chair at the table, and you've started talking. Not a lot mind you, but communication is getting so much easier. It's almost like you are a parrot - copying and mimicking everything we say. You do however, have some favorite new words.

Coke
Buzz (like Buzz and Woody)
Baboon
Cheetah
Oh no!
drink (comes out dink)
butt
out

And you've even started to put words together like, "up, mama", "ball mama", "dink, mama". It's very impressive. I love that we can talk to each other. Just last week Elliott was still asleep and you and I were eating breakfast at the table. It was just one of those "ah ha" moments for me...I was sitting with my baby at the table but suddenly you weren't a baby anymore. You were this big kid having a conversation with me while eating your pop tart. It was pretty cool.



Oh baby boy, you are so smart and cute and fun to be around.  You love to color and draw and sing and run and dance.  You love being alive and part of the family.  We all love you so much. All 29 pounds of you.

Turning into my mother

It's not a bad thing. Really, it isn't.

Last night, I was getting ready to go to a church meeting. I brushed my teeth. I washed my face. As I started to reapply my make-up, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and watched my hands. I was putting my make-up on the same way my mom does.

Then one boy wandered into the bathroom and made himself at home. Then the other. Just like when I was a kid and my sister and I managed to find a seat on the toilet and bathtub rim to watch my mom. The boys were watching me.

I got dressed in the shirt and sweater my mom gave me for Christmas. Something that is my style, but also very much hers.

While I was sitting, waiting to go to the meeting I was browsing the Internet - trying to learn something new, before I left the house for the night.

Just like my mom.

3 days in...

I slipped on the landing of my stairs on New Year's Day and hurt my ankle a bit.  I just wasn't paying much attention and my ankles sometimes forget their jobs.

Yesterday, post shower, just wearing my slip and a shirt, while biting a hang nail, I also wasn't paying attention and I fell down all 12 steps from upstairs to down.  It was probably pretty comical if it hadn't have been happening to me.  I flew in the air like a cartoon cat, landed with a thud, broke a stair, and slid all the way down to the landing that tripped me up two days before.  My left butt cheek is bruised down through my thigh, I have carpet burn on my upper left arm, my right wrist and hand hurts and I might have broken my back.

Also, just for the record: the brakes in my car aren't working well, my furnace isn't keeping the house warm, the house is a mess, the husband worked all weekend, and might be sleeping at the office all week long.  And, I sort of made a pact with myself to lay off the sugar a bit this week and after exercising this morning I went straight for the left over chocolate frosting in the fridge.

Grrrrr.  Why do I do that?

Yes, 2011, you're getting off to an awesome start.

Anyone have a little blowup donut I can sit on?