Matilda and I are back home again; she was shockingly cooperative and pleasant and mellow at -t's (in the car before we went in, I explained to her that we were there to give -t some love because she is very sad, because her husband whom she loves a lot has died and she misses him, and Matilda said, "Sometimes I am sad about my grandfather who died, but that was a long time ago when I was just a baby." "But still, so you understand how she feels?" I said. "Yeah. Yeah, I do understand," she said, and in we went).

-t's sister is staying with her and is very kind and funny and awesome, and -t is doing okay with her company and love. And she said that thinking about the Buffistas and all the loving messages and visits she's gotten makes her a little teary, in a good way.

I'm so glad -t was able to get some Matilda love.

Guatemala: volcanoes, tropical storm, sinkholes. Very dramatic picture.

Tonight's Stanley Cup broadcast had a gorgeous shot of sunset over Chicago, but they ruined it with a little box of advertising in the middle of the screen. Feh.

In wonderful sportsmanship news, did you hear about the girls softball team who forfeited their game to teach the other team how to play?

One Marshall player asked, "Which one is first base?" Another: "How do I hold this bat?" They didn't know where to stand in the batter's box. Their coaches had to be shown where the first- and third-base coaching boxes were.

That's when Roncalli did something crazy. It offered to forfeit.

Yes, a team that hadn't lost a game in 2½ years, a team that was going to win in a landslide purposely offered to declare defeat. Why? Because Roncalli wanted to spend the two hours teaching the Marshall girls how to get better, not how to get humiliated...

Roncalli wasn't done. Traylor asked all the parents of his players and anybody else he knew for more help for Marshall -- used bats, gloves, helmets, money for cleats, gloves, sliders, socks and team shirts. They came up with $2,500 and worked with Marshall on the best way to help the program with that money. Roncalli also connected Marshall with former Bishop Chatard coach Kim Wright, who will advise the program.

"We probably got to some things 10 years quicker than we would have had without Roncalli," says Marshall principal Michael Sullivan.

And that was just the appetizer. A rep from Reebok called Sullivan and said, "What do you need? We'll get it for you." A man who owns an indoor batting cage facility has offered free time in the winter. The Cincinnati Reds are donating good dirt for the new field Marshall will play on.

In wonderful sportsmanship news, did you hear about the girls softball team who forfeited their game to teach the other team how to play?

Sheesh, between this and opposing-team-carries-broken-ankle-girl-around- bases-for-winning-home-run I wish America looked more to girl's softball and less to the NBA/NFL/MLB for their sense of sportsmanship.

Erin - take a picture of the pile of wood and post it on CL under the free section.

Really?! People will WANT it? That's a great idea; I'll do that tomorrow. If they want it, they can have it.

Hmm. I am mulling over all of the wine bottles i have to take into recycling. D's ex didn't get rid of (anything) the piles of glass recycling in the driveway, and I was thinking of finally going through those grotty bottles and taking them -- and the ones WE have, which are also plentiful, but...my girlfriend Francie has made a cute border for her side garden by planting wine-sized glass bottles neck down in the dirt, and I am thinking that that would make a really cute (free) border for my front little bed of flowers.

And it would make a cute border for the side of the garage when I get to that part of the yard later.

I think I will go through them, and pick out all the colored ones, and take the others into recycling later this week.

Or that soccer matchup with the team from Haiti. People can be good. It's sad it's such a thing when we are.

Ok, gonna watch FNL and go to bed before I collapse.

OH! Also, the Swiffer vaccuum thing? FUCKING MAGIC.

I had to empty out the canister three times, but it picked the cat hair and little bits of grass, paper, etc. right up.

Complete win. Totally worth the $30.

Very dramatic picture.

No shit!

That's wonderful news about the girls' team.

Erin, I used wine bottles among my pot plants as suncatchers; different shapes, different colors, different *shades* of different colors. You can also do a bottle tree--there's one near us that's all blue bottles, not just cobalt, but turquoise and aqua glass, too.

With some wire and empty glass jars you can make hanging candle lanterns for porch eaves, trees--the tree on your deck sounds an ideal candidate. Just make sure the jar hangs low enough below the eave or railing or tree limb that the heat dissipates before it reaches the wood. If you have, or find at yard sales, thrift shops, or Goodwill, colored glass beads, you can make your wire and glass candle lanterns spaar-kly, too. For cheap!