A Relaxing Weekend Doing Nothing

Well, okay, the title of today's blog is slightly sarcastic...
There's been a big dog-sized hole in the house this last month, and remembering that before Cinder got sick we had been thinking it was time for a second dog - one that liked the little guys too - we started to talk about what kind of dog we'd like. Geoff and C & R really wanted a lab, but I really loved having a border collie. We said, "what we really need is a lab/border collie mix!"

Lo and behold, we went online to the border collie rescue site, and they had exactly that - a young dog (1 1/2), "friendly like a lab, smart like a border collie"... Wow! The only hitch was, the rescue folks in Chico really wanted us to come and see him this weekend. It was Carson who said, "no problem! We can go to Chico on our way to go skiing, after we hunt Easter Eggs! It's only three more hours..." And so we did.

But I get ahead of myself. Saturday night, Geoff and I did much of the same drive, to a dinner at Tony & Lisa's house in Sacramento. I tried and tried to figure out a way that we could stay there, and the kids could hide and then hunt their own eggs, then join us the next day, but no matter how hard I wrapped my brain around it, I had no luck. But it was worth it - we got to have dinner with old friends (and no kids!) and make plans for future rafting trips into the bargain. We saw Kris and Larry (former proprietors of the world-famous Nugestead), John & Bonnie, Daniel & Donna and their daughter Maya. (See Larry - now you're on a blog again! - how does it feel?)

So Sunday morning, it was Easter Egg hunting in the back and then straight into the car for the three hour drive to Chico. No sweat! Geoff and Will left earlier to go see the campus at Chico, I took Carson & Reed, and Satchel stayed home so that he could find the wallet I'd forgotten to put in my pocket, thereby saving my neck! We got to Chico, met the dog (currently "Wishbone" but we're taking name suggestions, and planning a vote this weekend), got acquainted, and hopped back in the cars to head home (Geoff & Will & dog) and skiing (Maya, Carson & Reed).

Wow! So we drove to Kyburz, where we were joined by my wallet (and Satchel) and our neighbors Kathy, Nick & Natalie. Monday was skiing - glorious, glorious skiing. It was sunny (say it aint so!), and the snow was nice, and it wasn't too horribly crowded, and the kids all had fun - couldn't have been nicer, except that I really missed having my mom holding a table for us in the lodge. But you can't have everything. Though apparently, you CAN try to fit everything into one weekend!

Crazy Morning for Crazy Hair Day

Just a short post here... it was Crazy Hair Day at school, which meant it was Crazy Hair Morning at home. (Which is a huge improvement over Crazy Teens Fighting over the Bathroom Morning, of which we've had a few lately.)

Carson's hair was fairly easy, and we got the spikes to stand up well. (My secret? A lovely little product called Hair Glue!)

But then we started on Reed's hair - that was trickier. Reed had refused to cut his hair since August, and even the Hair Glue wasn't up to the task of making 6" of baby fine hair stand up straight. But when we realized this, Reed had "glue" in his hair... so he had to jump in the shower, then I gave him the most hurried hair cut ever, with sopping wet hair, then we spiked it, sprayed it... and actually made it to school on time. The only question is, when he sees the haircut without spray and glue, will he ever forgive me? But as Geoff says, there's no haircut a buzz cut can't fix!
I think Reed & Carson had some some the best hair at school - and they were really digging the looks they got from passersby on our walk there. It was all very sweet...

Bleacher sitting, and sitting, and sitting...

I've often said that being a parent with kids who play sports is a long exercise in being completely clueless - and often, it seems, deliberately kept in the dark. I can't even say how many times I've heard things like, "oh, Mom, we just found out there's a tournament tomorrow after school... in Healdsburg!" Or, "Mom, I need track spikes/cleats/underarmor/fill_in_name_of_sporting_equipment by tomorrow morning" (usually said at dinner, mind you!) This time it was, "Mom, I need a ride to Los Gatos Saturday morning - we have to leave by 6:30 a.m. "...

Los Gatos... which means the "KBell" track meet... that brings back one of my favorite memories from last year! Because this year actually turned out to be
short & sweet, I'll tell you about last year's bleacher-sitting marathon instead. It's much more interesting, in a boring sort of way! The coach had tried to warn us by calling it "the longest day" but somehow his warnings didn't sink in. It was my (and Will's) first time at a meet that size - some 58 schools attending.

Now, at a normal track meet here in Marin, it's a rare event that has more competitors than fill one heat - so the 100M sprints, for example, only take a minute. (Much less, technically.)

But when you have 58 schools competing... it's a whole different story.
Some events have hundreds of competitors in them. And somehow even the sprints are less exciting when there are 13 heats... just for JV. Add another 11 heats for girls... and then 15 more for Varsity boys... suddenly that "fast" event has lost a lot of zing. Now try to imagine the long events... it was a whole new learning experience for clueless mom here!

(A side note - at least in track, unlike some other sports, I can usually figure out who won! A definite point in track's favor, in my opinion!)

Add to that hot bleachers, in the full sun. A forgotten bleacher cushion. Not enough snacks. And knowing that the next event Will would be in, after the 9:30 a.m. one he had started with, was scheduled for 5 p.m. I entered a weird, passive, just-passing-time zone. Walked around a little, but mostly just got hot & tired. Then, finally, at 5 p.m., they started the 300M hurdles. You guessed it... many many heats. They took forever, and it was starting to get dark when we thought we could leave. Finally! I was sooooo ready. Though a bit comatose by then...

But then Will got asked to fill in for a teammate who had left, thereby leaving the 4x400M relay team short one guy. Will's a good kid - he said 'yes'. I sighed, and sat back down on my thoroughly numb behind. It must have been 6:30 by then. I looked in the program, and saw that all that was left was the two-mile (well, it's metric now, but they still call it that.) No problem - I can wait while the kids run around the track 8 times, right?

Oh... wait a minute! There are 120+ kids in it! No, that's wrong too - 120+ in Varsity. But there are as many girls, and JV? That means... at least they do a whole bunch of kids per heat on this one... but we're talking 6 or 7 heats of a race that takes probably 8 or 10 minutes per heat... OMG, this one event that stands between us and heading home will take at least an hour!

Yes, Will finished competing in the dark. Though I have to say, it was fun to see him running under the lights, in an event that he didn't usually do. And I'll never, ever forget the KBell... I'm a wiser sports mom now, thanks to that experience!

On the way home, we did the math. We had been there since 8 a.m. Left around 7:30 p.m. In that time, he had competed in 3 events... for a grand total of about... drumroll here... less than two minutes in total actually running on the track. That means I spent 11 hours and 28 minutes, out of 11 hours 30 minutes, NOT WATCHING WILL. Oh yes - and it's an hour and a half drive, too... each way!

So you can imagine that I forgave Will for the 6:30 start time today when he told me that he was only scheduled for one event! Praise the sports gods! We were there a short enough time for me to be sorry we were leaving already... well, somewhat sorry! A little bit... maybe...

Now, I do actually have a photo, and it's titled: I'd Rather Be Watching a Track Meet! This is what Satchel spent Sunday doing with his cousin Conner. Yipes! When he gets home, I ask if 1) he's in one piece, 2) my car is in one piece, and 3) his bike is in one piece. Thankfully, yesterday, the answer was yes to all three. He's planning to start downhill racing and I'm really not sure I'm looking forward to watching!

On the other hand, unlike in wrestling, no-one will be actively trying to hurt him... there will just be rocks, and bumps, and speed, and gravity!

"Gotta Love CalTrans" - and Other Bits & Pieces

CalTrans in action. They're doing major construction on the freeway just outside my mom's house, and the tunnel that goes the freeway from her street is closed for 6 months. So Caltrans put up these very helpful signs for the 9 houses on her street (there's one more sign that's not in the picture.) Zoom in and look at the arrows, and you'll see why these make my day every time I'm there.

Reed has lost his first two teeth, and it's looking like the tooth fairy will be going broke soon, as he has more that are wiggly. Reed is lucky, being the youngest - the tooth fairy has finally figured out how to find our house on the first night! It only took three older brothers for her to get her routine figured out... I've been told it "really sucked" when she couldn't find our street in years past...

This is finally the weekend of Carson's school play. He told me that he didn't think he'd make it - thought he wouldn't like it and would drop out - but that he's actually having a lot of fun. I got to volunteer as a "shussher" backstage for two shows. What joy! It's a two-hour play, with 87 kids in it, in a funky little local theatre where the audience can hear everything that goes on backstage, because it's really only separated by curtains and some plywood. We "shusshers" were busy, and, surprisingly, not well liked by the kids! Can you imagine? ;-)

Still, it was fun to see them put the show on, and how well it all turned out in the end. It was quite a slog to get there, but the show all came together quite well and some of those kids are so talented! Not all, mind you - but I really admire the ones who aren't talented, but still get out there on stage in front of an audience and do their best.

Yesterday was so busy & complicated that I actually had to write down a schedule of who was going where, in which car, and giving a ride to who else. I was really proud that I made it work out! I won't bore you with the details, but it was a thing of logistical beauty. And let's not get into what it says about my life that I'm proud of working out a schedule involving 8 people, 5 cars, two shows of a play, a job and an SAT test...