Herding cats

I title my post today "herding cats" because that's the best description I have for life with these 4 boys. Every time it seems like things are under control, everyone is happy & taking care of business, they all break free, meowing madly, into out-of-control chaos. It turns out that homework isn't getting done (or, more importantly, turned in), classes aren't good, friends are not nice, activities are not fun, and so on... I can never relax and just know that all is well in the butterworld, because there's always a boy lurking around the corner with some terrible grievance, insoluble problem, or request to use the car.

But we do have our moments, and they are wonderful. (And trust me, I hang on to them!) Yesterday was one - Carson had play practice, so I was picking up just Reed from school. I looked out the window at 1:30 and saw it was raining, but not hard, so I put his boots in my pack and walked down to school. Our walk home was so fun - he walked in every gutter, puddle, rivulet, wet spot and trickle he could find. We went slowly, enjoying the wet and checking out what we saw... and then we went really quickly, because he learned that even rain boots don't keep your socks from getting soaked if you jump in deep puddles, and wet is... surprise here... cold!

I'll get back to the mud in a moment. First, check out the handsome guy on the left here! Satchel took his girl (and my car*) to the Winter Formal last weekend and yes, he looked good! I wanted to get a photo of him yesterday, when we got home from our rain walk, to contrast with this photo - he'd been taking his bike out to the muddy, rained on, eroded, muddy creek bed behind school (did I say it's muddy?) and doing drops and jumps. Luckily he does NOT do that in the clothes at left! ;-)

(An aside: one of my prouder moments as a parent was when I was reading a story to Carson in which a kid got in trouble for getting his clothes dirty, and I had to explain it because Carson had never heard of such a thing. Good mom!)

I'm looking forward to this afternoon - Reed, Carson & I are going to go down to the high school and watch a wrestling meet! My only worry is that because Reed talks 105% of the time when he's awake, I won't be able to hear the coaches yelling, "knee in the butt!" or other priceless gems. But I'll try to collect a few of these deathless outcries, for posterity and for the edification of all my loyal readers. Stay tuned!

*The car stayed in the parking lot and did not get flowers.

Carson the Inventor

It must be hell, having two older brothers...

Carson decided to take things into his own hand, and invented himself some Tickle Armor...

Sadly, the results were mixed - but it did make Satchel laugh so hard that he couldn't really tickle Carson effectively, so maybe it did work after all!

Sports... or, another afternoon with a numb behind...

Today, as I was sitting on the hard plastic bleachers (I forgot my padded seat), watching the 3rd hour of a wrestling meet, and STILL waiting for Will to be up for one of his bouts, I decided I needed a motto...

I want to make a sweatshirt that says, in Latin, something like "Bleacher Endurance Team" or "Clueless but Still Rooting for My Team" or "Numb Butt Club" or "What Just Happened? Did We Score?"


My latest adventure in bewilderment... wrestling! Now this is a sport that I REALLY know nothing about! 13 years of watching soccer have at least given me a rudimentary knowledge of the game, but this was my first wrestling meet ever. And I had so many questions...

1) WHAT is the ref looking for as he inspects all the shirtless team members? Weapons? Broken ribs? Prosthetics?

2) WHY does someone come out from the scoring area occasionally and hit the referee with a soft padded stick?

3) WHAT is the significance of the Red & Green plastic tie the wrestlers put around one ankle? And why do they match the red and green wristbands on the referee?

AND finally,
4) WHY do the coaches shout out "Back door! Bar on the back! Up the crotch! Squeeze it! Break his hands! and more?"

Other things I learned tonight - a "Tri Dual Meet" means three teams, each against the other one on one, and will take HOURS and HOURS and HOURS. My son Will, the only reason I'm there, will pin his first opponent in 23 seconds flat, after I've sat there for almost 3 hours. It will be the fastest match of the night. (There's a tournament coming up in a few weeks called the "Dawn to Dusk" tournament. Hmmmm.... Note to self...)

So Will did great, and it was really fun watching him, and I was proud of how well he did -- but I told him I reserve the right to spend the rest of the time, while I'm waiting to see him, saying to myself, "Why in the heck am I here?!?"

Answers below:
1) The ref is looking for ringworm or staph or other nasty skin diseases. YUCK!

2) Ah hah! It's because he's lying down on the mat with his nose to the plastic, and he can't see the timer!

3) Yes, they ARE related! It's so the referee can raise one arm or the other and make an arcane statement about the bout, and the scorekeeper will know what the heck he's talking about.

4) Answer... I have NO IDEA and I don't think I really want to know. Do you? REALLY?

Limantour in January

I think it's just about the best thing to do around New Years, going to the beach at Limantour and letting that clear, clean sea air blow away all the cares of the past year. Today it was just a small bunch of us - Carson, Reed, Geoff & I. (I realized too late that instead of asking sleepy teens if they wanted to GO, I should have asked if they wanted to DRIVE THERE!) Reed didn't want to go, and Carson protested a little, but they both had a fabulous day, told me how great it was, and insisted we go back soon.


Not only is it one of the most beautiful places I know, but the sand dunes are great for jumping off of, or hiding in the tall, spiky dune grass. Carson and I walked down the spit towards the end of the day, and found where the dunes start to separate into individual hills, and you can see the estuary on the other side, and the sand is blown into fantastical patterns. We made a date to go (soon) and walk all the way to the end (or as far as you can these days, since the point has been colonized by seals.) I took Will and Satchel when they were 8 or 9, and have been meaning to take Carson. I really enjoyed walking with him today, talking, pointing out amazing or cool things we saw, sometimes just being silly.


I hadn't been out there in a year, since I went out alone last winter to think and write and remember my dad, and grieve. It was good to go again. I had my dad's binoculars today, and spent some time sitting as he used to do, watching the black sea birds wink in and out of view on the waves, as the waves dipped and the birds dove. I had a bird book, but I only looked up a few birds - mostly I'm happy just to watch them without needing to know the name. (Besides, have you ever tried to identify a gull? Hah!) I don't know of another beach that gives one the same sense of being completely in, of, and surrounded by ocean as Limantour does.

A photo of Will at Limantour from last year...

Tomorrow my brother leaves for India (nope, no jealousy here, not me, uh-uhh, I don't wish I was heading off to somewhere fabulous and exotic too!), and soon enough my little winter vacation here ends and it's back to the salt mines... work, kids, school, work, cook, kids, laundry... I'm in a state of denial at the moment...

Still - Bryan & Cindy may have India, but WE have Limantour...