Weekend Highlights

Playin'

Cruisin'

Squintin'

Easter Best (on a bright, windy day)

College Road Trip

No, not the movie... (If you watch the Disney channel, you know what I mean). I'm talking about our weekend.

Claire, Nolan & I joined the NSU Baseball team on their trip to Hammond, LA to play a 3-game series against Southeastern University. We left on Thursday morning for the 3 1/2 hour drive, following behind the charter bus.

The weather was beautiful, the Demons won 2 of 3 games (with very dramatic endings, I might add) and I got to shop! We had the entire day on Friday, we hit Target, went to lunch and I even got a little bit of "alone" shopping time.

We arrived back in Natchitoches late Saturday evening. We awoke to a beautiful Easter morning. We went to church and then to brunch at The Landing Restaurant. The food was great and we finally rolled ourselves home to a relaxing afternoon. That night after the kids went to bed, some neighbor-friends joined us in watching The Passion of the Christ. We hadn't watched it since it's debut in theatres, and it was just as gut-wrenching as the first viewing. The best part, though, is knowing the ending.

I was thrilled to have yesterday off, too, as the power to my office building was shut down for repairs. An additional paid day off was just what the doctor ordered. I returned to work today feeling like a new woman. And since it's spring break and there are no college students around, I can actually get some work done! I stayed until 2, and spent a nice afternoon with the kids and our friend who babysat the kids for a few hours.

Kelly headed to Baton Rouge this morning for tonight's game against LSU. Tough game, though they're not totally out of it. The Demons are #1 in the conference, which is a great place to be! Gotta love it!

3 Hour Tour

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip... (Literally)

Many of you are already aware of the fact that, while being both exotic & graceful (obviously), I'm a bit of a klutz. I slipped down the stairs last night, which I've done many times before, in all of the homes we've ever lived in. (I once fell down nearly an entire of flight of basement stairs when I was 8 months pregnant with Nolan and carrying 22-month old Claire. That one hurt.) I would blame it on slippery socks, but since it was 85 degrees yesterday, I was barefoot.

Anyway, my ankle hurt when I walked on it or moved it a certain way, but I went to bed hoping it would be better in the morning. My hopes were dashed before 7am. I hobbled around, I even cried (more out of the frustration of it all - I couldn't find my dark wash jeans!). I headed to work, determined to sit at my desk and make it through.

Eventually I had to emerge from my desk and walk a bit. It hurt. A lot. After receiving a good scolding from my co-worker, I decided to get it looked at. At the same time, Kelly had taken the kids to his weightlifting class and was planning for a friend to watch the kids at noon. Well, the flu has decided to make it's way through the baseball coaching staff, with the exception of Kelly, thankfully. Our babysitter was the girlfriend of a sick coach, and not wanting to contaminate the kids, we decided it best that she not come.

By 10:30 this morning, I had called several doctors, none of which were able to see me for at least a week. The ER seemed to be the best bet. I thought I might be able to get an x ray and be home before Kelly had to leave for his second class at 12:30. I was wrong. Thus began the 3 hour tour. It was actually 3 hours, 45 minutes, but the former sounded better.

We had feared that my ankle might be broken, since there was no swelling but a lot of pain, but I eventually learned that I had sprained my Achilles something and something-something else. I have an ace bandage and an air cast, but I declined the crutches. I was fortunate to have a dear friend as my physician, which also helped. The kids, meanwhile, ended up attending another of Kelly's classes and spent some time in his office.

I have just one more day of work, which Claire & Nolan will join me for part of, then I'm off Thursday - Tuesday. I'm SO looking forward to it! Lots of driving and baseball in the forecast, and I'm hoping for a little shopping and even more relaxing (by a pool would be preferable).

So that's my day... How was yours??

What A Weekend

What a weekend! Let's begin with Friday... It was hot. 90 degrees hot! Seriously, it felt like summer, although it's technically still winter. After a bout of sickness on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was feeling much better, though beginning to lose my voice. The Demons played a great game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and won their first conference game. Claire & Nolan ran non stop with friends and we cheered on our team. We enjoyed a truly spectacular evening.

On Saturday morning, Claire, Nolan & I headed to our church's annual Easter Egg Hunt. Another gorgeous day made for perfect egg-hunting weather while Kelly gave a lesson and prepared for a 2pm game. Our church is a beautiful, historic building downtown, and the egg hunt was on the front lawn. I couldn't help but amaze at the fact that this was our kid's first real egg hunt outside. I don't know if there is snow on the ground in Minnesota, but I know any Easter egg hunts were held inside.

The front steps of First Baptist Church

After our fun at the church (no pics yet, because I forgot my camera but friends took photos) we grabbed lunch and headed to the ballpark. It was hot again, but beautiful. I made sure to wear sunscreen but still managed to find a triangle-shaped sunburn just below my neck. The Demons won again, with a great finish. The summer weather lent itself to salads, fruit and angel food cake and a heavy sleep for all of us.

This brings us to today. Around 9:30 Kelly headed to the park and the kids & I to church. (By now my voice is nearly gone, and Kelly calls me Demi. As in Moore. My voice is a little squeakier and not quite as sexy, so I'm whispering more and just plain talking less, though Kelly might disagree). We enjoyed a great Sunday School hour but headed out before service began. After lunch, a friend came to hang with Nolan & take him to the 1pm game as Claire & I made our social debut in Natchitoches.

Picture the town in Steel Magnolias. Oh wait, it is the town in Steel Magnolias! Honestly, picture a small, southern town, no matter the era, and Natchitoches is what you get. Here remains the idea of high-society and old money. If you're not from here, and particularly, not from the south, you have to experience it to understand.

Anyway, the St. Denis (Deh-nee) Art League holds Spring Court each year, with a Queen, her Court and Heralds, each year. They hold luncheons and teas in their honor, with the events culminating with a Ball. The Queen is a high school senior, the court is comprised of fellow teens and the Heralds are young girls, Claire's age. A friend of Claire's is a Herald, and we were invited to a Dessert Party this afternoon in the girls' honor. It was held on the estate of a (former) plantation, Roselawn. Again, picture a scene from a movie with girls in spring dresses, swinging, laughing and drinking lemonade, and it's like you were there!

Roselawn - Williams' Plantation Home

After the party, we headed out to the ballgame to catch the last few innings. The Demons swept the Islanders, with a 8-0 score for the final game. Again, perfect weather (it cooled down to the 80s) lent itself to an evening of playtime outside and relaxing for the grownups.

I have a short week and we're juggling schedules as the kids are out of school, but it feels like summer is near, and it feels good. I don't think I could ask for a better weekend! Hope yours was just as great...

Day at the Ballpark

Posh

PS - In our family photo (Little Demon Family) you can't really tell because the wind was blowing a million miles per hour, but I had just had my hair cut into a "swing" the day before. Not sure what a "swing" looks like? Here you go:

Just call me Posh! That straight iron is totally wearing me out, but I do like it! Oh - and Nolan said he's not smiling because he was a soldier in this picture. All tough boy these days.

TGTIF

I love Daylight Savings time. But not just yet. We're still recovering from the loss of that hour. It's tough enough to get us all up and out the door in the morning (I must admit, Kelly can take most of the credit that it gets done at all), but now that it's still dark at 6:45am things are even more difficult. I did enjoy a beautiful sunrise on my way to work this week, but I'll prefer it when I can enjoy a summer sunset.

Kelly & the Demons made the trek to New Orleans this week, going up against the Tulane Green Wave. They lost the first game, 3-4 in 12 innings. A true heartbreaker. They lost the second game the next day as well, but the first conference series of the season begins tomorrow night. We have high hopes! The kids are loving the games, I'm still waiting for them to get baseballed-out. Not yet, if ever. We've been so fortunate, that they've been at home every weekend thus far, and we'll travel to the games for the next two following weekends. Kelly has posted on his blog (finally!) if you're looking for some inside info.

The kids have 2(!) weeks off for Spring Break starting Monday. Private schools can do whatever they want, I guess. If I wasn't working it'd be great, but I am, so it's a bit tricky to arrange our schedules without me taking 2 weeks vacation (which I haven't even earned yet!). It'll work out, though, as friends have offered to help and Kelly won't have classes for 1 of those weeks.

So, our life is baseball, work, school, tball, church and repeat. So much going on, just not a lot of variety (or anything new). Nolan's team is called the T-Bites (they're sponsored by a local dentist's office) and he's one of the more "experienced" players on his team. No, he's never played on an organized team before, but when he could actually hit the ball off the tee, he showed his stuff. Claire has practice twice a week, and her coach takes it all pretty seriously. Claire is definitely ready to be on a competitive team.

The weather is gorgeous (when it's not raining). It was a glorious 78 degrees and sunny yesterday. Cool for Louisiana, but I love it. Just need to work on my tan. I'm still working off the sunburn I got on the inside of my left ankle and the right side of my head from last weekend's game. Pretty.

8:19 pm and I'm ready for bed. Phew! At least tomorrow is Friday! TGTIF! Thank Goodness Tomorrow Is Friday! Later Ya'll! (No, I don't really say that).

Little Demon Family

GO DEMONS!

Rundown

I realize that I've reiterated this point over and over... Life is busy! (I know, I know, how many times am I going to repeat myself - I mean, seriously!) Here's a quick rundown of the latest:

- Baseball is great! The Demons have played the majority of games at home and are doing really well. They've won 6 of their 7 games at home, with 4 (!) more home games to be played just this week.

- Kelly is tired, as he's not only coaching full time, each and every day, giving lessons and traveling near & far for games, but he's teaching 4 classes as well. (Some of which are at 8 am when he may have arrived home from a trip at 2 am.) I'm amazed at his, um, fortitude! I've said it a million times... He's amazing.

- Lots of rain lately. I made a comment on just how much to a Louisana native, who was surprised that it didn't rain in the winter in Minnesota. Um... it's called snow. We're not missing the winter weather, although it changes more often than it does in MN! It's weird to have tornado warnings and thunderstorms in the winter, but at least we don't have blizzards (I saw some nasty stuff blowing through MN on the Weather Channel yesterday).

- My job is great. Really! It's a very busy position, but I'm able to leave it all at the door when I head out for the day. A large part of my job is working with students: the 8 students who work in my office and the scores of those I work with each day, and I enjoy them. My student workers are a great group of kids (do I sound old or what!?) and I truly like them as people. As I said, it's very busy and "energy-sapping" as kids of all ages can do that to you, but knowing that I may have a hand in helping them grow up to be real adults is a good feeling. I feel confident in what I do and laugh a lot during the day, which is always good.

- Claire & Nolan continue to thrive at school. Claire is the winner of her class spelling bee each week more often than not, and Nolan is learning to read. Some days I look at their homework and am amazed at what they're learning! We have applied for them to attend the Elementary Laboratory School which is located on the NSU campus next year, we should hear if Nolan makes the draw by next month. If he's in, Claire will likely be accepted as well. We're satisfied with their current school but are looking forward to the great programs the Lab has to offer.

- The kids started t-ball this week. Multiple practices and a mile-long list of "necessary" items are on the schedule. It's a long season, with an opening tourney in early April and the season ending late June. Claire is excited and Nolan is "only kind of excited". We'll see how it goes as baseball is a game that takes patience, and 4 year old boys are not known for having much.

- With all that happens during our weeks, we only have one evening at home (Mondays). The laundry baskets are overflowing and we're exhausted, but we're happy. Speaking of which, I have to get to bed.

Not a lot new, but thought I'd say hi. Happy March!!