There were a list of things around the house that we've wanted or needed to do for a while and kept putting off in the name of doing other stuff on the weekends. I always hate to have Justin come home from working all week only to have to work all weekend. But this week, he arrived home to a list of stuff that we were going to get done so we loaded up the Suburban and headed to Lowe's. Now I have to confess, I know that many women either don't like, have no use for, or are intimidated by Lowes but I love it. Love it. I could drop a load of cash in there and always come out with a list of things that I want to do. We hope to replace the flooring in the house soon but that will have to wait for a few months since, well, the money tree has yet to start producing. So we went for knocking off some of the smaller projects. First up, the light in our front yard needed replacing. Every house in our neighborhood started out with the same light and over the years, some people have replaced theirs for whatever reason. We had to replace ours because the globe was stolen when we lived in Florida and the rain shorted out the electrical stuff (we think). Yes, it has been out for 3 years. Before we replaced it, it refused to come on at dusk as it was supposed to do but it worked perfectly if you would go up and smack the hell out of it. It was like on of those tap lights or whatever they're called. You know the ones from the infomercial- yeah, that was our yard light. So, we bought a new pole and new lighting fixture and Justin took to replacing it. Let me say this now- I am forever grateful to have a husband who is so talented at fixing things. So it went down like this:
First, after turning off the power and unhooking all the wiring, you have to work on getting the pole out of the ground:
After breaking the hold of the cement, the pole will finally be free:
Then you do this because, well, it's pretty damn funny:
Then, you ride the pole off into the sunset:
After the wacky hijinks are finished, you install the new black post and wire up the light. No real pictures of that because well, it's not as funny as seeing Justin ride a big white pole across the yard. He also installed new light fixture in our hallway and a new kitchen faucet. Then collected wood from the woods and built a fire.
Then spent quality time with his lovely daughters:
So, we're just going to pretend that the whole almost 2 months that have passed since I last blogged didn't really happen, right? Right? I have to confess that this time I do have a pretty decent excuse for a lack of blogging- baseball. That's right- the great American pastime is my reason for not blogging. How do you like that? Next time, it might be apple pie or the Constitution but this time, my excuse is baseball. Both Zachary and Alden played fall baseball and boy, did I have no clue how busy that would be. We've done baseball with one kid playing before but two kids playing? That is pretty nuts. I'm not complaining because I love to watch baseball and this year was exciting because Zachary was in the division for kid pitch and stealing bases and all that cool baseball stuff. He hadn't played since Spring 2007 and I have to admit to being somewhat nervous but he really improved during the season. His coach even said that he was the most improved. I was proud of him for sticking with it and putting in the effort to improve and play as a team player. There were a few times during the season that we had to have a talk about how playing in the outfield is as important as playing in the infield. Every boy wants to play a base but Zachary really excelled in getting to the ball and getting it to the infield very quickly. He's already looking forward to playing in the Spring. Alden had the same coach that he had last spring and many of the same players. This was great because it kept things consistent for him and he loves his coach. And he already considers so many of the kids on his team to be his "best friend." He has really stepped it up in the batting department this season and his throwing has gotten better. And while all of it is so much fun for us, it does get exhausting. Most weeks we were at the baseball field at least 5 days, if not 6. And with Zachary playing for the older division, that meant later and longer games so there were nights that we didn't get home until close to 10:00pm which is huge for my kids because they go to bed at 8:00pm. But we made it through and look forward to the next season. I always mourn a little at the end of baseball season because I enjoy interacting with other adults on a daily basis and we've been lucky to be on teams with some great parents (with the exception of Alden's ragball team- that was one group of weird people with the exception of Amanda and Steve. And I know that she'll back me up on that one). So I always feel like I'm a little set adrift when the season winds down. I am definitely looking forward to not living in my car- between dropping off at 2 different schools most days and then doing 2 separate pick-ups at the elementary school and 1 at the intermediate school, then driving back and forth between baseball fields and practices and games (not to mention all of the normal errands that I have to run)- well, I like my car but I'm tired of being in it so much. I am also looking forward to getting back to running I miss it and I can tell my body misses it. So that's what we've been doing for the past 2 months. Hopefully, I will get the Halloween pictures up before Christmas.
Zachary leading off of 2nd base
Alden getting ready to hit
