goodluck ita!

95 out side real feel 98 inside 85

ya know - knowing the temp really doesn't help.

Hey Jesse - holler if you do motivate to go to Target. I think I can convince mac and we could Outback it for dinner, or cold stone it, or BOTH!

I am SCRUBBING the bathroom and it is making me so happy.

Our team, the Cubs, won their league championship so now we get to play other teams which have won their championships in the Tournament of Champions (ToC).

It's always a pain to play ToC because people tend to take off on vacation right after school ends so it's hard to keep your team together for an extra week to play a knockout (single elimination tournament). Also, almost all of the kids on our team also play on a tournament team or all-star team so once the regular season is over their attention shifts.

Emmett has had a tough season. About halfway through he got hit by pitches in a couple games in a row. He's been hit before - many times - but at this level the pitchers throw much harder. And in these instances, they weren't incidental contact. One plowed into his lower abdomen, and the other hit him right between the shoulder blades.

It affected his swing in the second half, he was pulling off the ball (which means moving his body away from the pitch before he swings). He'd just been fighting it all the second half, and then he had the diarrhea cramps for the championship game and couldn't play.

Then he had a meltdown about even playing and skipped his first tournament with his tournament team.

But his other coaches were all supportive and we got him back into the groove and he had practices all week.

And then we played today's game. Their pitcher was a big kid, hard thrower. Threw between 65-70 mph. A little wild. Emmett comes up in the second inning. Takes a strike on the knees. Fouls one off straight back. Takes a ball. And then the kid winds up and drills Emmett right in the back. Really painful, right below the left shoulder blade.

He goes down in a heap, sobbing on the plate. I run to him to check and ask if he wants to walk it off or get a pinch runner. Now every other time Emmett has ever gotten hit by a pitch in his baseball career he's never come out for a pinch runner. But he did this time. He wanted no part of being out there.

Game goes on. We knock in a couple runs and have a 2-0 lead. Emmett's catching now and doing a great job. We need him back there. He's due to lead off the next inning. Facing the same pitcher who hit him.

And he is sobbing in the dugout. "I don't want to do it! I can't do it! No! I'm not going to do it." He doesn't want to face that pitcher. But if he comes out, we won't have our best catcher. And more, I'm afraid if he gives in to fear here, he'll never really be able to play baseball as he has before.

Also, I know that if I try to talk to him too much abut it, he'll get more upset. That he'll dig in his heels with me and really lose his shit in the dugout. Probably quit baseball.

So I tell him, "Stay off the plate. Take three big hacks and that's it. I don't care what you do. I don't care where the pitches are. Just go in there and take three big swings and get out of there."

And I leave to coach first base. Now, Emmett might dig in his heels with me and refuse to play. But he doesn't want to let his teammates down. Once I'm out of the dugout it's not about him and me, but about Emmett and baseball. That's the choice he'll make.

So he comes up to bat fighting back the tears. Fighting back his fear. First pitch is hard, right down the middle and Emmett takes a huge hack and fouls it straight back. One down. I just want him to stand in and take three swings.

Second pitch, also a strike, he fouls it away. One more swing and he can get out of there. Next pitch is high. He doesn't swing. He could've swung and gotten it over with. But he doesn't. Next pitch is hard and inside. He has to jump back to get out of the way of the pitch.

He has to stifle a sob to get back in the box. Count is two balls and two strikes. Pitcher throws it right over the plate and Emmett fouls it off. He has to fight back the tears again. Because each time he fouls it off he's prolonging the at bat and having to face yet another pitch. It's almost like choosing to face your fear again and again.

Emmett's (continued...)

( continues...) swinging hard. He fouls off the next pitch. Next ball is low. Full count. I keep yelling to him, "Just three hard hacks," but Emmett fouls off five more pitches. Each time having to gather himself, stop himself from crying to get back in the box. He fouls off six pitches altogether and then there's an outside pitch and he's earned a very, very difficult walk.

He comes down to first base where I'm coaching, and he's physically shaking and his heart is beating wildly.

Next batter up gets hit in the arm on the second pitch. Emmett tells me later he almost lost it when he saw Graeme get hit. But he keeps it together. Wild pitch and they both move up. We load the bases and break it open. Score five runs in that inning.

We bat around so that the next inning we're up, Emmett leads off again. Great. Well, at least it's a new pitcher. Emmett starts to freak again in the dugout. "I'm not going to do it! I can't!"

"Three hard hacks!" I yell over my shoulder and run to coach first base. He stands in, fouls off two with some nice hard swings and strikes out on a good curveball. He took three swings.

Our last ups in the game. We're up 7-1. We get a couple guys on. Emmett is going to come up this inning again. We have runners at first and third. Again, he doesn't want to bat, but if he comes out he can't catch in the last inning.

Our manager tells him to just stand there and take three strikes. It doesn't matter, we tell him. We just need him to catch the last inning.

He goes up to bat. Fouls off a pitch. Takes a strike on the knees. Takes a ball. "Three hard swings," I yell.

He fights off the next pitch, a grounder to the second baseman. He's thrown out but gets the RBI, knocking in the runner from third.

So his line for the day: Hit by pitch, walk, strikeout, groundout, one run scored and one RBI.

And the manager gave him the game ball for valor.

We got milkshakes to celebrate.

Then he went home, took a long shower, and made us take multiple pictures of the ugly looking bruise on his back.

Now he's playing with Matilda and making her laugh hard.

Tonight we have our end of season party. Whee!

Then we've got another ToC game on Monday. We play until we lose. Or, you know, win the championship

Wow, that's an epic, Hec. Go Emmett!

Last summer at a softball tournament, I saw the ump take a pitch in the collarbone. It hit him so hard we were going to call 911. He was all crouched over and grey, but eventually he was better and went back to the game. Still, scary. Same tournament, the pitcher took a line-drive in the face. Now she pitches with a catcher's mask on.

Softball ain't slow-pitch anymore, not at the upper levels. Those girls throw fast.

Hey Jesse - holler if you do motivate to go to Target. I think I can convince mac and we could Outback it for dinner, or cold stone it, or BOTH!

Bah!! I totally went! Bummer.

I was just thinking I've spent a lot of money today, and I kind of did, but I got a ton of stuff! Suitcase, frying pan, sheets, skirt, spanx, drugstore type stuff, etc... $150.

well poop! no worries.

In addition to scrubbing the bathroom (I still have to do the shower) I cleaned up a bunch of pin-sized paint splatters on the tile floor with goof-off. Whoever painted the bathroom for the last owners did such a shitty job I have been cleaning up these tiny splatters for years.

So I was in Bloodbath&Beyond looking for a sheet I can use on my futon for the time being (the batik tore.) Didn't find one BUT my very favorite sateen beech sheets are on clearance for $40, down from $60 (the new stock has a different package. That's it!) Score! So I grab two sets, and an extra set of pillowcases.

I get to the checkout and there's this older trio. The uncoupled woman is buying something but the husband and wife aren't. The wife turns to me and asks "How many items do you have?" Uh, three? And she pulls out her coupon book and proceeds to give me 3 20% off coupons!! "I wasn't able to use them, but someone should!" !!! I thank her profusely. The other woman says "I once saved a guy $400 with my coupons. He was outfitting a 4 bedroom house and was spending thousands and I wasn't using the coupons." They were so sweet and sounds like they make a habit of this.

So my originally $60 sheets cost $30. They saved me $20 total! Yay nice people!

House is clean, new bedskirt on bed, new sheets and after I eat, a manicure.