March 2009....

I cannot believe that it’s April already and I’m writing the blog all over again, well considering I was late with last month’s it should feel like it wasn’t long ago. OK, what happened in March..mmmmmmm let’s think. March was a busy month, our break from sport was over and our weekend’s were about to not be our own anymore, let’s hope the weather warms up then there will be no complaining from this sport mum. We started the month with a day at home, cleaning etc. We finished up Conner’s paper Mache lollipop (school assignment) so that was kind of fun and messy; Conner had a good time. It had been raining all week so Bruce took the time that the sun was out to get out into the garden and so some mowing and trimming etc, I tried to open up the house to get some fresh air in, but that didn’t last too long, wishful thinking. The week turned out to be a busy one, Bruce and I made the decision not to go to Hawaii (which sucked so BAD) the flights just didn’t go our way and then some things came up scheduling for the next week which pretty much made not going a done deal, couldn’t do it and be home for the kids stuff. Conner had basketball practice on Tuesday night, which means a free night for me with Jamieson. Wednesday we had Conner’s awards at school, which he received for perfect attendance, Jamieson had his first baseball practice, which was good. We did realize that Triple A is not just for fun, it’s serious stuff and the coach does not like to lose! His coach is really good and a proper coach that teaches him stuff, which will be great for Jamieson. He gave him tips on changing his batting stance and grip, which made a big difference. It’s going to be a good season win or lose. Bruce went out after dinner to a Sacramento Twitter mixer. The boys went off to bed and I had a nice quiet night in front of the TV and computer. Thursday the boys had a minimum day and went to Paula’s after school for a play before they all headed off to Hawaii. They were packing when I arrived, and went out to shoot hoops before it was time to go. I had a catch up with Paula and made sure they had everything. The boys got their reports, they were good A’s & B’s except for Conner’s C in math (because he had a little trouble with some algebra chapters, which we are working on) overall they were good reports and the teacher had great things to say about them. On Friday morning, we were up early, Bruce was driving Paula and Family to the airport, they were running a little late, but they were upbeat when they were leaving so that was a good sign. Other than that our Friday was a pretty boring one, Bruce and I were just bummed not getting on a plane and having a weekend in the sun. Our Saturday was taken up with basketball and baseball practices. Jamieson was up first in the morning, Bruce went up to the stadium early to do some Billy B stuff, we were home from baseball, had some lunch then dropped Conner off at basketball practice mid afternoon. Nothing too fascinating, just sport taking over our Saturday’s again, the sun was staying out and it was getting warmer so that always puts you in a better mood. Our Sunday was pretty much usual, the sun was out again, so it made it not so gloomy whole cleaning the house. The highlight of the day was when Paula called a couple of hours before the ceremony to thank me for my email (oh yeay, I sent her a congrats have a great wedding email) we chatted for a while before they had to go and get ready, they were getting some sun in while they could. The weather wasn’t that great, Sunday was the only day with sun so far. (For the record, that made the fact we weren’t there a little better, you know we were looking forward to a weekend to walking on the beach in the warm.) We watched the clock and the four of us made a toast to them while we were having our dinner. OK, take a breath and go….. Monday we had work and then after school Conner’s school basketball tournament started. Go Hawks!! (Stone Lake Hawks) Conner and David were captains for the game, which was cool for them. He started and played quite well, it was a little funny watching them all trying to get used to the full size court. The Elementary school courts are smaller and they were running down the court and realized they had further to run before they were at the other end of the court. They won the game, all the boys played a great game and they did what the coaches asked of them; they are a great bunch of boys and gel really well together. It’s a great way for them all to finish up their Elementary school basketball experience. The funny thing was Bruce got to sit next to me at one of Conner’s game and realized (apparently) I’m loud. Although, he says when he’s on the other side of the court coaching he can’t hear me, so I can’t be that bad. I have to tell you we had a first ‘real’ scary USA experience. Bruce came back from the outside saying there were some kids fighting outside. (The tournament was at a High school in the not so great area of town) Our coach arrives shaking, she arrived to hear the end of the fighting, the problem was one of the kids was screaming about coming back with his boys and shooting them up….so she sat in her car and called the police, as I’m sure did others. Bruce went to make sure none of our kids were outside and saw that there were a couple of the schools teachers (large teachers) outside the stadium so I guess that stopped that, we’re not sure whether they came back or not and honestly don’t want to know. Tuesday was a two-car day, so it was kind of lucky that we had Paula’s car if we needed it, and we did. Conner had a 7.00pm game at the tournament and I had to go to Toby Johnson Middle school information evening for next year. Bruce was at a course on the other side of town, so I dropped the boys off and we met him at the tournament and went off to school to find out about Middle school in the States. It was a good meeting, the principal seemed like she was a cheerleader in high school (or she’d been smoking something! Ha Ha) but their scores are great, it seems that there are no major problems (from all the parents that I’ve talked to have no problems and love the school) their systems they have in place are great, the big test will be what Conner thinks when he visits. It was a good informative meeting and they make the parents feel welcome which is great as well. I was getting texts from Bruce at the basketball, the boys were doing great and they came out with the WIN! And they got home before me. It was a good day, the boys won and I am totally comfortable with Conner’s new school, believe me, it has been a worry, now I just have to worry about the other kids that may or may not influence my child; who for the record tells people that he’s nearly 13, not 12 and a half nearly 13. Stab in the heart, doesn’t he know it just makes his mother feel REALLY old!!! WOW, and we are only up to Wednesday. It was a busy day at work for me, although any day that I spend most of my time working for Ed (the other company in the office, it’s a busy day, the great thing is lots of billable hours for Paula to bill out from me) then we were off and running again, Wednesday’s are Jamieson busy homework day so getting out the door can be really tough. David was over to come to the game with us, so I dropped Jamieson at baseball then I dropped Conner and David at the tournament and waited for Bruce to get there, did a little change over with bags etc and went back to baseball. Bruce was sending updates on the game, which wasn’t good. They were playing the team that was beating everyone by 30, they escaped going down by around 20, which was a good result. Our Thursday was the last busy one, the tournament was at it’s last day and Stone Lake were playing for third place, whatever the result it was going to be the best in schools history. There was Wild About Learning at school, which Jamieson wanted to do, so he stayed with the Fongs whole we went off to the basketball. The boys all played well, and came up with the win and were ecstatic. Bruce dropped me at home to get Jamieson and went back to watch the other (Championship) game with some of the team. I sat down and had a cup of tea, arh. I ended the week with a busy day at work and after dinner headed over to Paula’s to leave a couple of welcome home surprises and tidy up the house before heading to the airport to pick them up from their trip. We got back to the house around 10.00pm and they came in and we watched the wedding video. Saturday rolled around we had basketball and baseball took up most of the day again. On Sunday we invited Paula and Steve over for dinner. We cleaned and opened up the house, did a little spring cleaning in the kitchen and started some dinner. Carlos and Kristie dropped in for a quick visit and to say congrats to Paula and Steve, we all sat down to a nice dinner and find out all the gossip from their trip to Hawaii. SO overall it was a very mellow weekend which was exactly what we needed after our busy week. Another week rolled around we were off again, the weather is still very wintery (which for everyone at home is a bit of a foreign experience. It’s really nice to have a rainy day and especially night and it stops all those stupid Californians from watering their lawns excessively. Now that I’ve said that, this Monday was unseasonably warm, so Paula and I put our walking shoes on after work and went for a walk, aarrrhhhh. Tuesday rolled around Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone. It’s celebrated here differently than at home (as everything is) how it’s celebrated is very dependent on your family, Paula does a treasure hunt with Leprecauns while others it’s just a drinking holiday. As always there are decorations out EVERYWHERE! It ended up being a busy day, everyone off to their daily things, Tuesday is my running around a little day, off to school with the kids for parent helping in the classroom and then off to work… Bruce went off to a Twitter Mixer in Sacramento, which turned out to be a fun event for him, he met a lot of great people and even an Aussie lady as well. On Wednesday Bruce started the day being a guest speaker at Career Day at Toby Johnson Middle School (Conner’s school next year- we wanted to meet the teachers, get some parent points) anyway, he had a great time and loved the school as much as I did, now it just has to pass the Conner test and we will be worry free as far as Middle School goes. (well, until he starts that is) We finished the day off with Conner’s basketball practice, so a busy day for Bruce and usual for the boys and I. Later in the week we found out that our friend (more Bruce’s than mine, Eric is the guy that Bruce visits and stays with when he heads down to Bakersfield area, just north of LA. His cancer is back and went into surgery on Friday. The surgery went well, it’s in another part of his body, but, his attitude is great and he’s ‘Ready to kick cancers butt again!! Cross everything!! Conner wasn’t feeling well Thursday night and stayed home from school on Friday, not sure what it was, just needed the rest I think, he slept the whole morning and when I got home from work in the afternoon so Bruce could go out and do his errands he seemed to be getting better. Bruce took Jamieson out after dinner to the baseball shop and we got him the rest of his baseball uniform for his first game on the weekend _very exciting! AAA this year, these kids know what they are doing, most of the time, should be a fun season, as long as the weather gets warmer. Saturday was a little bit of a running around day, Jamieson had his first baseball practice which was great. He had so much fun and loved it although talking a little less would’ve been helpful. We finished off at baseball, gave Jamieson a little lecture about listening and learning or he’ll be left behind and went home for some lunch. Bruce and Conner went off to basketball picture day and Jamieson and I stayed home and did some cleaning (well I did anyway) We finished the weekend quietly, cleaning, chilling out and on Sunday I did baking for the week and we knocked out some Angels for Bruce as well, so finished on a semi relaxing note. I look at it as a calm before the weekend sport storm if you will. We are coming into the end of the month and no slowing down at all. I officially changed me hours this week to only working until 2.30 everyday and coming in after parent helping on Tuesday. It’s a win from both Paula and I, things are slowing down at work so obviously the money is not coming in as much so it’s good for Paula and I get to be home when the boys get home from school and have time to just be at home, organize a proper meal (most of the time) and feel like I live there not just sleep there. I left work and went home to supervise homework then went out and got teacher/ coach gifts for Conner’s school basketball break up. Tuesday rolled around again, parent helping I helped out another teacher who needed it instead of Mrs. Sack and went off to work, nothing to exciting to report, the usual work office stuff. Jamieson had a field trip to see a play at Sheldon High School – Untold Story of an unlikely Hero, he had a great time and said the play was fantastic. Homework as usual and then around 5.30 left for the pizza night. It was a little bit of the challenge but I managed to get all the boys who attended out to the car to sign the basketball for the coaches. It was funny they all put their number (like Bruce used to, it made me laugh) Conner signed his name CJ #12 – little smarty! It was fun, the boys all sat together, the parents it little kind of groups as per usual and the coaches mingled a little. The appreciated the balls very much and had certificates for all the boys. They gave a great speech about how this group was a special one and will always remember then and LOVED the basketballs, which are going on display in their rooms. Big Day on Wednesday, Conner had his field trip to Toby and LOVED it. I think all the attention, because of the accent, didn’t hurt either. So I suppose he has all of that to do again, it lasted about a week before he got sick of it last time so we’ll see. It’s a bigger school and it won’t last very long, although apparently the girls LOVED it!! He gets that goofy grin on his face when he was talking about it. Attention from the older girls was good for the rep with his friends. He did love the school and the programs; he took very close notice of the requirements for sports teams etc. He’s really looking forward to it, so we are all happy. Conner and Bruce raced home after basketball practice to watch the end of the St Mary’s game; they lost which was a real bummer. After Patty’s shocker in his first game back he was playing really well and killed them, but it wasn’t enough. St Mary’s were finished for the year. It was a bummer and they were clearly devastated, but a great year. Thursday Bruce was on the road for the day while the rest of us were doing our usual thing. He was home in time for us to go to the school Open House night which is always fun. Jamieson’s class first; they do such cool things and it’s great see them all at once rather than bringing them home bit by bit, there is also the extra stuff they do just for that day, but stuff has photos and the kids get to explain everything they’ve done so it’s fun for them to be proud too, finished up at Jamieson’s class and Mrs Sack gave us a brownie (because she’s cool) and Jamieon went running off with his friends and we dragged Conner off the basketball court. The boys stayed at school for a little bit extra time with their friends on and headed home 20 or so minutes later. Bruce headed out to visit Carlos’, crumby day for him, a baseball dad, 34, heart attack and died during the week, leaving 4 young children. Carlos had been to the funeral and Kristie wasn’t home so Bruce went over for some friend time, which was very much appreciated by his friend. We ended the month with Jamieson’s first baseball game, which was scheduled on the baseball family day. We have a new four pitch baseball park and it was it’s official opening, bbq, bounce houses etc….Lots of fun!! Opening ceremony, (those on my Facebook have already seen the pictures) it was the most gorgeous day, hot even. They had the bbq, which started earlier than expected so Bruce jumped in to supervise activities on a Bounce house to help out until the scheduled person was to arrived in 20 mins and I jumped into the drink stand to help out, well, they were just overwhelmed. Bruce came by 15 mins later to say he was done and was going to check things out and hang out with Carlos. I stayed with the drinks until game time, Jamieson was wandering around and Conner headed over to the park’s basketball court. Jamieson’s first game was a fantastic one. They all played really well and won 22-4 I think it was…too many to count. They all got a hit and a home run. Jamieson got a hit every time he went up to bat (still figuring out the jargon) played in the outfield and on 3rd base, stole a couple of bases and stole home, you can imagine the Smile, that’s the pic of him sitting on the bench after his home run! It was a great game for us, not so much for the other team, poor kids. I did my team mum duty which of course the kids didn’t care about they just wanted a burger…. We hung out with the Rivera’s and watched a bit of Carlos’ game and rounded up Conner, he had been playing basketball for about 3 hours in the heat and it was time for him to come in the shade and rest for his game that night. He wasn’t happy about but his red face and neck came in and had a drink. Bad mum points for me!! We headed home for a couple of hours and made Conner rest, while j Jamieson was buzzed about his game! We headed out to Conner’s game (6.45pm game) pajamas, hello! It was the weirdest thing going there so late, although we had the 5.45 game last season, leaving at dinner time to go to basketball on a Saturday night was a little weird. The Heat played well, Conner is playing with his best friend David (who can play!!!) so he is just loving this season, Bruce is teaching them a lot at practice too, you can tell, they are drilled and the majority of them know what they are doing. It’s a fun team to watch and it will be a good last season of Jnr NBA for Conner. By the time we got home it was confusing whether we should sit down and eat dinner or just have a snack, better get used to it. As you can imagine we all slept well, except for me who had an aching back from bending over to do the drinks at the baseball for 2 hours….I knew it was coming and here it was. Sunday I woke and well, could move a little! I did some baking in the morning, groceries early afternoon and cleaned the house for the rest of the day, yes, I wasn’t a happy camper, apparently there was a game on that had to be watched or the world would end…the usual basketball line…… So when Monday rolled around it was nice to actually get back to work to relax a little. Well guys, that was our March 2009, as you can see things are getting busy which keeps us out of trouble. There are lots of things going on in April. Hope all is well at home. See you next month, hopefully not this late, cross your fingers I have the time!