Life as I see it...

This has been a surreal few days.  A good friend of ours was killed in an accident on Friday.  The community has really rallied around his family.  Although they have only lived in the area for about 2 1/2 years, they have made a HUGE impression.  There's not a person around who has a bad thing to say about anyone.  Our friend was loved by everyone he met.  He & his wife are the PERFECT couple.  They were sooooo in love with each other--and still smiled when they saw each other.  Our community has lost a great man.  I'm sure he's looking down on all of us--and keeping a close eye on his family!!

 

Our beloved Salem passed away today.  She was almost 17 years old--a LAB!!  The girls understand that she's in a better place now, but miss her terribly.  We imagine that she's in Pet Heaven with our other Lab, Beth.  They're probably chasing our old cat, Samantha.

 

Life is strange sometimes.  How can  everything be going great one day and seem to be falling apart at the seams the next?!?  For a family who tries to see the bright side of life, it's awfully dim right now....

 

So--in short:  Live in the moment.  Tell your family you love them.  and, most important of all:  ENJOY AND LAUGH!!!  You never know...

That's how I feel about this blog site.  I have neglected it for so long that I'm sure others have given up hope.  Well, I'm back.  Experiencing a rare break in the action.  Actually, I've made myself sit down to update.

 

Mark is up to the same old stuff.  Hunting season is over for him.  He has coached his last Junior High football game.  Wrestling starts on Tuesday.  He spent the spring and summer coaching the girls through softball.  Vg played school ball, Babe Ruth ball, and then on the All-Star team.  Bug played along side her sis except for school ball (not old enough).  Mark coached the girls to 3rd in State and then another 3rd place at the Regional Tournament.  The High School girls are trying to get him to coach this year, but he's declined.  Vg is still in Junior High, and if he coaches HS, he can't help her team.  Oh well--I know he'll help them where he can.  He truly loves those kids.

 

I've been adding more and more to my plate.  Work continues to challenge me every day.  Always something new to learn.  I've become a volunteer firefighter with District 7 and will be taking EMT classes beginning in January.  I'll be taking over the Seattle PKD Chapter as my co-coordinator steps down.  I hope to find someone in the Seatle area to help out since I live over an hour away.  If not, I'll just have to learn to manage my time better.

 

Vg is in 8th grade this year.  Keeping busy as ever.  She's president of SADD & editor of the yearbook.  She's playing AAU basketball with the Zappers again.  She was manager for the football team.  Softball, of course, rules her life still.  She's begun her weekly pitching clinics.  She took a skills clinic put on by UW (yes--she wore purple & gold!) and was accepted as one of 25 girls to take an upcoming "Super-Pitching" clinic at UW.  She's looking at them already for college--along with TN.  She wants to pitch for a Div I powerhouse....thank goodness she has the grades to back up everything!

 

Bug is in 6th grade this year.  No sports for her yet, but she's ok with it.  She's the 6th grade rep for SADD & works closely with her big sister.  Her biggest event of the past year has got to be her trip to Denver.  She was accepted into a drug study for children with PKD.  She flew to Denver in August with Mark for 3 days.  One of the days they only had one test in the morning, so had the rest of the day to blow.  Thank goodness the Rockies were in town with an afternoon game.  They were able to get tickets ($4 for Mark & $1 for Bug!!) and enjoyed a slug-fest at Coors Field.  The Rockies are Bug's new favorite team, and she was excited to have them in the World Series--even though they lost.

 

All in all, it's been a fun-filled year.  I hope to be able to keep this site more up-to-date so that you can keep up with us.

Miss VG has added to her plate--AGAIN!!  She has made the school finals for her grade in the Geography Bee.  She's very excited & will be studying very hard.  Good thing my Dad sent me a great website quite a while ago.  The girls play on it all the time.  I have a feeling that Vg will be visiting that site every night for a couple of hours at a time for the next few days!!  The finals will be held on Wednesday Jan 24 at 1:50.  Keep the good luck vibes heading her way!!

 

Also--please note that the schedule for the Wildcat basketball team has been updated.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Last night was one of the most exciting wrestling matches I have been to in a LOOOONG time!!  The hometown Warriors took on the Naches Rangers.  Mark thought it would be a tough match--but nothing like this!!  All night long, the score went back and forth.  First we were up--then they were.  It literally came down to THE LAST MATCH OF THE NIGHT!!  The score was 40-36 in our favor.  If our kid got pinned or got a technical fall (15 points), we would lose.  If he lost by a major decision, we would tie.  Of course, we wanted him to win, but he didn't have to in order for the team to win.  If he won--GREAT!!  But--he was able to lose by 7 or fewer points, and we could still win the team match.  The kid had a tough time.  He's a first year freshman & was wrestling an upper-classman.  He held his ground.  Refused to get pinned, and was keeping that point spread small.  He lost the match, but he was glad that he was able to save the win for the team.

 

After all was said and done, the final score was 40-39!!  The ref went through the rule book with us afterwards to see what the criteria is for a tie.  There's a list like you wouldn't believe!!  They got to letter "f" before anything would have been used...and we had it.  In fact, as we went through the list, all the criteria that could have been used, our boys would have still won.  Including the coin toss that had taken place at the beginning of the whole match.  Gotta love it!!!

 

 

 

 

On a different sport note--the basketball schedules for both girls have been posted.  For those of you who are local--hope to see you at a game  or two.  I'm going to TRY to make it to some, but work conflicts.  This has been such a strange year for me.  I've ALWAYS been able to go to the girls' games.  Once things get settled down at work and I've been here for a while, we'll see what happens.  I miss watching them play.  I'm looking forward to the games I WILL be at though!!  There aren't many...but the girls understand what's going on.  

Poor Vg!  She's already learned from me how to NOT say no.  Once we sat back and looked at her schedule, we realized that she has something on her calendar EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK!!  Of course, pitching on Sunday for two hours--that never changes.  Plus the time at home that she has to work on her drills.  Basketball is doubled-up.  She's playing for the school (made the "A" team!! YAY!!) & playing with the team she's been with since 3rd grade. She's picked up a babysitting job one day a week.  Yearbook committee & Secretary of SADD.  And she's in the top of her class.  I don't know how she does it.  Well, kinda.  She's young and has tons of energy.  The occasional Red Bull helps her out, too!!

 

So, next time you see my Amazon-ish daughter holding a Red Bull, snapping pictures with her camera & holding a softball while dressed in her basketball uniform--you'll understand!! 

Just for us kids.  Santa now has his own space!  How cool is that??  You can add him to your Messenger list.  You can actually chat with the jolly old fellow!!  There's also a link to be able to track Santa's progress on the internet.  Enjoy!!

 

Merry Christmas!!

YIKES!!  I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted an update here.  Of course, it's business as usual...and then some!! 

 

Mark is back at his wrestling.  I won't see him again for any length of time until sometime in March!!  He had a great time relaxing while he could.  Took a week off for deer season and another week off for elk.  Hope he has as much luck with the wrestlers as he had with his football team....

 

I am busier than usual.  Work is getting increasingly crazy for me.  I'm in the process of some new policy/procedure planning, and am getting phone calls at off hours from some of the contractors.  Oh well.  They're easy enough calls to take.  Today I'm working a LOOOOONG day.  I took a First Aid/CPR class this morning/afternoon, and then hi-ho-hi-ho it was off to work I go!!  A 14 1/2 hour day.  I'll be sleeping like a baby when I hit the pillow!!

 

The girls are still plugging away at school and sports.  Vg has started her pitching again, so that gives her something extra to do each day.  Buggie & I just spent all day (literally ALL DAY!!) Monday on a marimba field trip.  We left at 7 am and didn't get home until almost 11 pm!!  What a day though.  3 performances, a few hours at the EMP, and dinner at the Spaghetti Factory.  It was a great first trip for the 4th grade group, and the 5th graders enjoyed being the "BIG DOGS" on a trip!!

First of all, I am so proud of Mark & his team.  The WSMS Wildcat Football team worked their tushes off to a perfect season!!  YAY!!  It was a mixed 7th & 8th grade team, and only 6 of the guys were 8th graders.  Next year should be another great one.  Now let's hope some of that karma can rub off on the wrestling team.....

 

Pitching starts for Vg next Sunday.  She is so excited!!  Softball season seems to never end around this house.  I just hope that she can accomplish at least part of her dreams.  Now she's got her sights set on playing for a major college BEFORE playing in the Olympics.  I have a feeling that softball will soon be a year-round activity in this house.  Now if only I can convince her that UW doesn't really have that great of a softball program....

 

Buggie has her first basketball game today, and she was nervous about it all morning.  Hope she can hold it together on the court!!  She's no longer thinking of pitching (thank goodness!!), but is focusing on catching!!  That will actually be great.  So far, she's the only girl who is NOT afraid to catch for Vg, and she can calm her down as well.  At least my girls can get along in the dirt diamond....

 

Basically, it's just been another typically busy week around the house.  I'll update later this week.  Right now, I'm just going to enjoy some quiet time before going to work....

Do things seem more chaotic lately?  Or is it just me??  This week is a blur, and it's Friday night already.

 

Mark took the week off to go hunting, and got his deer on Monday.  He spent Saturday and Sunday hiking all over the place, but Monday was the lucky day.  Since his brother had taken the week off too, they had some great "brother time."  He got some stuff done around here, too.  Tomorrow we'll go get a load of wood before he heads out to take Vg to her basketball game.

 

My week was typical.  Work, house stuff, & kids.  Nothing special....just busy as usual.

 

Vg had 2 basketball games on Sunday (see earlier posting) & volleyball games on Monday & Wednesday.  She was a "star" in a schoolwide assembly today for her leadership class.  She keeps going on sheer youth and stubborness.

 

Buggie had a field trip to NorthWest Trek on Wednesday.  She had a great time, and we'll have to go there as a family.

 

I found a great new quote today, and it seems to describe my life and the lives of many others I know.  Enjoy the weekend!!

 

"There cannot be a crisis next week.  My schedule is already full."  Henry A Kissinger

I can't believe that the Zappers got stood up AGAIN by the same team.  Since we had all waited around after our first game, and the girls were ready to play.  We played.  It was the Zappers against parents and younger siblings.  The refs let us have the gym, and we set the clock for 20 minutes.  We played straight through.  No fouls, no time-outs...just straight basketball.  Even the coach joined us parents and used the time to work with the girls on HOW to block out and rebound.  All in all, it was a fun game.  It was even more fun because us out of shape parents WON!!    Final score:  23-19.