Thunderstorms, April Fool's and Baseball

It rained and hailed here all night. There is nothing better than sleeping during a thunderstorm like that. Well, the only thing better is waking up and thinking it is time to get up and then realizing that it is only 3:15. Nothing gives me more joy. On the flip side, there is nothing worse than waking up at 6:28 (when you have to get up at 6:30) and feeling like it is 3:15...


My daughter had been discussing April Fool's Day for several days. She kept asking what day it was and telling me that she had a great plan. (Hasn't yet grasped the whole concept, has she?) So yesterday afternoon while I am cooking dinner, she literally creeps into the kitchen with a silly look on her face. She goes into the refrigerator and pulls out the ketchup. She then goes into the laundry room and closes the door. I began to suspect that this was The Big Plan. Suddenly, she opens the door and comes out with a glob of ketchup running down her leg and said "Mom, I've cut my leg really bad. It hurts." Well, I had to play along, so I cringed and said "Oh no! We need to get to the hospital! You need stitches!." Of course instead of protesting, she grinned and said "Ok." Now at this point, my son, who was sprawled in a chair watching TV looks over and says, "Come on Gab. I think we all know that you have ketchup running down your leg. Either lick it off or be quiet." But he could not quell her fun. "I fooled you didn't I mom?" I wish I could hear how this little tidbit will be re-told at school today.

My son said his teacher played a joke on his science class. Instead of the normal multiple choice questions on Thursday's test, they would be required to write 3 page essays. Matt did not see the humor in this one. "I only studied for multiple choice questions." Now what this means, I do not even want to know.

This weekend my son has another travel ball tournament. These are always a lot of fun. We are playing in a little town about 30 minutes from here. Last tournament, Gabrielle and I had to drive up separately because she had softball practice. Now I have an absolutely non-existent sense of direction, so even though Tony had printed out directions for me, I knew that it would be a challenge. I took 2 wrong turns along the way and had to call him twice to get straightened out. When I finally made it to the little town, (which is made up of about 4 streets) I still couldn't find it. Somehow, we ended up in what could best be described as the "rough" part of town. By now, it was minutes away from game time and I was feeling frustrated . I spotted a group of young men huddled in the middle of the road. They looked a bit menacing, but I held my breath and rolled down my window. "Excuse me..," I began. They turned around and looked at me and started towards the car. "Yo Mamma..you be looking fine today...whatcha need from me?..." Well at his point, I quickly rolled up the window and waved a very friendly "thanks but I've got it figured out" wave. Gabrielle began to laugh out loud and said "Yo what?" Thankfully, an older man who had witnessed the whole thing ran over and told me to follow him. He lead me straight to the park (which was about 30 yards away) and we made it in time for the start.

I'll be riding with Tony and Matt this weekend, so no worries about directions. Of course, I won't get the compliments either. My friend Lisa has decided to get lost on purpose so she can experience the little ego boost too. Best of luck to her.

So until tomorrow, when I'll be looking forward to the big weekend...