rachel@home

Uncoordinated

On a spur of the moment whim on Friday evening, I signed up for a 'ballroom, salsa and swing' dance aerobics class. The first class was tonight.

It's in the U-District, so not too far from work, but not next door either. I managed to get there mostly on time, despite the fact that I had no idea where to park, and the nearest intersection was all blocked off and all the streets nearby were closed.

Then the fun began.

First off, I like to think of myself as someone who has a decent amount of coordination. I was a cheerleader in high school. (Okay, it was jv cheerleading, and we weren't great, but I learned the moves decently enough!) I can pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time. As the class started, I was doing okay following the footwork. The trouble really started when she added in arm movements too. Then I started to feel completely lacking in grace and timing and everything else necessary to stay in step with everyone!

It's a good thing we had lots of room, and that no one was keeping score. I had lots of moments where I would finally get the footwork, then try to add the arms, and then we'd switch to the next move. She promises more complicated steps each time! Whee!

Overall, though, it was fun, and good to get the exercise, and it's really nice to be in Seattle in the evenings and have the ability to stay there and do things before heading home.

Then I came home and added to my pile of stuff to get rid of. I have moved the couch in the family room so that there's a big open area between it and the glass door, and I am piling all the stuff that needs to go to Goodwill there. It's beginning to look fairly impressive!

I'm really looking forward to this weekend, (when I hopefully won't be floored for half of it by the stomach nasties, like I was on Saturday! I don't think I am quite recovered yet, as dinner feels like it was a bit much, and it really wasn't!) when the girls and I are going to spend the day in Bellevue on the 4th, seeing movies, hanging out at the 4th of July party there, and then catching the laser/fireworks show. Saturday I think we will pack and clean, and then Sunday they are off!

There's No Place Like Home

Even if it does change from time to time.

I now officially have someplace to move to.

The floorplan looks like this:

I get keys on July 18th. Am planning big moving weekend for 7/26-7/28.

Much purging must take place between now and then!

Champions!

Abby's softball team just won the championship for their league! It was such an awesome game. They stayed 3-4 points ahead throughout the game, and won 12-4.

Abby got a single her first time up at bat, then stole second and third, then was batted in for a run.

She went up for her second time at bat in the 5th inning (they play 6 innings) and I was having thoughts about how it would be her last time at bat this season, and starting to feel a bit nostalgic. She got 1 strike and 4 balls, and then her coach came out to pitch to her. She got one more strike, and I was thinking how sad it would be if she struck out her very last time up at bat.

And then, she walloped it way out into left field, and made it all the way to 3rd base. Everyone was cheering for her, and she looked so, so happy standing there on third. I about burst into tears right there. I managed to blink a lot, and didn't embarass myself too much!

All the girls were so excited and proud at the end. As much time as softball has taken this year, I'm going to miss it.

This is Summer??!

Today (well, technically yesterday at this point) is the first day of summer, not that you could tell by looking outside. Or, in my case, by sitting outside on the bleachers by the softball game.

As has happened in the past, the weather previous to the softball game was not a good indication of what the weather during the softball game was going to be. As we arrived at the game, a few lonely drops of rain splattered down on us. The raindrops would not be lonely for long.

Before that, though, the softball game started. Abby was up to bat for the first time in the second inning, she got four balls from the pitcher, then got a base hit off of her coach. Stealing is allowed in tournament play, (don't ask me about the whys of the rules, I am doing well to remember most of them most of the time!) and she stole to 3rd while the next batter was up, then came home off of that hit. Yay Abby!

She was up to bat again in the third inning, (it was raining by this time. Thankfully Cathy found an extra umbrella in her car and I stayed mostly dry!) and struck out, ending the top half of the inning. Then the bottom half of the third inning began, but it never ended.

One runner got on base, and then the rain really started. They let the girls stand out there for a while, then called them in. After a few more minutes, they took tarps and covered up the pitcher's mound and home plate. A while later, the rain subsided a bit and they sent our team back out to warm up. Just as the warmup was finishing up, there was a flash of lightning and a bit of thunder.

Evidentally there's a rule that if a thunderstorm starts, the game is called. Even if the thunderstorm is extremely short-lived. And the really good part, is that the game is made up at the next available field time. The next available field time was 8am Sunday morning. Whee!

The girls were most distressed by this news, and thought it was really ridiculous, as the team was ahead 9-0 at the point the game was called. They did NOT think that a softball game was worth having to get up early on a weekend morning. We were all very relieved later when we received an email from the coach letting us know that the other team didn't think they could get enough people to field a team in the morning, and they conceded the game to us.

We came home, and Abby spent a good 1.5 hours soaking in the tub. Part of that was to avoid helping Katrina and me clean up the kitchen.

The last softball game is Monday at 6:45, when the girls play for the championship. It's pretty neat that they've done so well this year! This is part of the email that their coach sent out this afternoon:

This is a special group of girls, and I want you all to know how much these
girls mean to me. I love every one of them. It's not very often that you
get a group of kids together and you watch them progress, and it ends up
being one of the best experiences of your life.

Tomorrow we have big plans to sort out and get rid of some stuff. The girls seem to really be getting into the idea of getting rid of extra stuff! We're attacking their closets first.

Softball Pictures

Pictures of Abby, photo credits go to my brother, scanning credits to my mom!

This is my favorite:

More here

New Job: Day 2

The new job is great, so far. Everyone is very nice, and once I get up to speed, I'll be able to do some really cool things. This is quite a schedule-juggling week, though!

Yesterday I was very tired, as I was still on the stay up late/sleep 'til noon schedule. I crashed at about 9:30 last night, and got up at 6:30 this morning, so I've quickly broken myself of the old way of sleeping. Today, A. had a softball game, on the Sammamish Plateau, at 6:00. Thankfully, she has a friend who also goes to the Y after school, and is on her softball team, so her friend's mom took her to the game.

I left work about 5:20, walked about 6 blocks to my car, as I haven't gotten a parking pass yet, arrived at the school to pick up Katrina at 6:00, where she was marveling over my lateness. We left the school and jumped into the extra-fun traffic going to the Plateau, swung through McDonald's for a snack to hold us until after the game, and got to the game about 6:45.

Tomorrow we need to leave the house extra early to stop at the grocery store and get stuff for the girls' lunches, as we are sadly out of any and all lunch-type foods. Then I need to dash back to the eastside after work, as I'm leading the last girl scout meeting of the year, which starts at 6:15. Abby has another softball game Friday evening, too.

Abby did great at her game today. Got hits all three times she was up to bat, and got one run. Our team totally stomped the other team, to the point where the parents in the stands were glad that there was no scoreboard so that the other team didn't feel quite so bad. The girls have improved so much from their first game, especially with their field work. It used to be that they over or under threw everything, and now they are making some solid plays. One girl even got a double play today, as she caught the ball and then tagged the base that the runner had gotten off of! She drank her whole bottle of Gatorade that was in her bag, too. Feeling so bad Saturday night must have motivated her to drink up!

River Meadows Park

Today we spent the afternoon at River Meadows Park, near Arlington, which is right where Granny Bo grew up. All of us think that is really cool! We picked up bread, cheese, fruit and cookies to make a picnic before we left town, and ate sort of near the river when we got there.

A patch of flowers near where we had lunch:

After lunch, we walked down to where Jim Creek runs into the Stillaguamish River. It was fairly secluded there, and the creek is pretty shallow, so it's a good place for the girls to play. The path to the creek takes about 20 minutes, and it's very pretty and green along the way.

A bridge that crosses a tiny creek along the path:

The girls were being very funny, and I wish I could remember all the hilarious things they said. We were walking through the meadow, and Katrina had a piece of grass that she decided was a whip. She asked Abby if they could play horse, and Abby said no, then Katrina said that she wouldn't whip her very much, and then Abby agreed. Also, Abby had, "the agony of dirt in her shoe" along the way.

When we got to the creek, they found sticks and walked around in the water for a while.

After they got tired of that, they started playing in the sand by the riverbank. They decided that it was called "smuck" and that it was a very special kind of mud. This kept them entertained for a very long time, until I had to drag them away.

While we were there, a bunch of emergency vehicles crossed the bridge that goes over the creek on the way to the park, and when we got back to the parking area, there were ambulances, fire trucks and police cars all over the place.

The red arrows mark where the emergency vehicles were.

I was a little concerned, as they all seemed to be surrounding my car, but when we got down there, I couldn't figure out what had happened, and there was nothing wrong with my car!

We got home with only a little bit of slowdown in Everett. Abby slept all the way home, and Katrina learned how to add fractions with different denominators. They've both showered now, so hopefully any lingering smuck has been washed down the drain!

The rest of the pictures are here.

Hot & Squeaky

Today was very very hot, and A's softball game was scheduled for 3:30 - the middle of the afternoon! Katrina and I didn't ever make it to the bleachers, which were in full sun, but instead sat near the outfield, under the trees there. So the weather wasn't too bad for us.

Abby got really hot, though, and she doesn't do so well with heat. I had gotten her two bottles of gatorade before the game, with instructions to drink them both, but she only made it through one bottle.

Weather aside, she had a great game! It was so close. In the first inning, the opponent scored 2 and we scored 1. Then, the other team scored one more point somewhre before the 4th inning. Somewhere in there, Abby played second base and fielded the ball and tagged the base and got an out! She did great. In the 4th inning, we had 2 runners on base, and then a player hit a home run and the score was 4-3. Two more runners got on base, and then Abby was up to bat. She got 4 balls, her coach came up to pitch, she got a strike on his first pitch, and then on the second one, she got a great hit. Both runners on base got in, and she got to second, and then the inning was called for five runs, and the score was 6-3.

In the fifth inning, no points were scored. The sixth inning started, and I'm hoping for three quick outs and heading for home. It was not to be. They kept hitting and making runs, and we had two outs on them for the longest time, but they refused to get that last out! By the middle of the 6th inning, the score was 7-6, and then we were up to bat again. We got one hit, and got a runner to third, then a second hit, and the score was tied and there was a runner on second. Then, the girl who hit the home run earlier was up to bat. She got 4 balls, then the coach came up to pitch. She struck at the first one and missed, and then swung at the second one, and another home run! The game was finally over, and we won, 9-7.

The girls were all so hot and tired, but happy! Abby wasn't feeling well again, but seems to be better now that she's home and has had dinner.

Tomorrow we are thinking about heading back up to the park near Arlington and having a picnic there.

Birthday Fun

I am so, so tired. Birthday celebrations exhaust me!

Yesterday morning, we began the celebrations by going out to breakfast. We left the house around 7:15. Then I went and got groceries and other assorted stuff for the party, and spent the day piddling around and getting everything ready.

The menu included:
Dinner:
Mini-pizzas
Fruit salad
Fresh veggies
Cheesecake
Koolaid-sprite punch
Snacks:
Snickerdoodles
Soft breadsticks (originally going to be pretzels, but the dough was like a rubber band and wouldn't bend and stretch the way I wanted it to!)
Popcorn
(Root beer floats were also planned, but those didn't turn out to be needed.)
Breakfast:
Crossiants
Scrambled Eggs
Orange Juice

The downside of this menu was that last night, as I was cooking pizzas and cookies and breadsticks, the oven was on for a long time, and with the temperature at 90, it really wasn't a day that I wanted the oven to be on at all.

I picked the girls up at school, and we did a couple of errands, including getting slurpees. We weren't the only people who wanted slurpees, and there was quite a line for them!

When we got home, Abby opened her presents. She was happy with the shoes I got for her. I wasn't sure, because she wanted disco shoes, and disco shoes seemed to mean silver shoes, but I couldn't find any, so I got ridiculously high-heeled sandals:

Some other birthday outfits:

And Katrina in a new outfit:

After present opening, we launched into party preparation. I hadn't been working at anything very quickly during the day, so there was still quite a bit to do. By 6:30, everyone had arrived, made their pizza, and was outside playing in the water. Water balloon fights:

After water play, we had dinner, then dessert. It was about 8ish, and they decided to play spoons, then they watched a movie and I brought out the snacks, and went into my room to watch tv in there.

Somewhere along the way, Abby got a bad headache, which she tends to get when she gets overheated, and then someone saw a "tall shadow" outside, and was convinced it was a person walking around in the backyard. They shut all the doors and closed all the curtains and clutched each other and screamed a lot.

I put in "Bringing up Baby", which I thought should not be scary at all, and that helped a bit. Abby's tylonel kicked in, and she had some juice and started feeling better. Then they decided that they wanted to play salon, so there was a lot of nail painting and hair fixing and all sorts of stuff going on.

Around midnight, I announced bedtime, but it took us a while to actually get to where everyone was asleep. Finally, I went to bed at 1:30, and they woke up at 7am.

We had breakfast, then they did a dance contest, where they were rating each others dancing, and by 9ish everyone was changing into swimsuits for more outdoor play. That lasted until everyone was picked up.

It's now quiet, and I'm exhausted! Everyone had fun, I think, and no one was injured, so overall it was a successful party!

Finally Asleep

I think the slumber party is finally entering the slumber stage.

I have eight children sleeping in the family room, and after telling one that no, she couldn't sleep on the piano bench, and yelling at them to be quiet many times, it seems to actually be quiet.

I have spent the evening messing around with the software that runs this, and now I think it's finally back to where it was to begin with! But good, foundational changes have been made.

Also, as an added bonus, there's now a link on the sidebar to send me a text message on my cell phone. Very exciting stuff!

I will give more slumber party and birthday details tomorrow, but right now, I think I need to take advantage of sleep while I can!

Text Twist Fun

So last night I was playing Text Twist on Yahoo games. The game is basically a word unscrambling game, and to continue on, you have to figure out the 6-letter word. I was doing poorly, and decided that I should write a program that would unscramble the words for me.

Things I needed to write this program:

I found an 80,000 word list, and finally managed to get it in my database. The database part was simple, but the size was killing the system, so it took a while to make it work. My poor little editplus program about keeled over and died when I did a search and replace that replaced 80,000 occurrances, but it persevered.

Next I had to find a way to get all possible permutations of the letters. I found a bunch of very mathmatical papers, but they made my eyes glaze over, so I was happy when I found an example that was explained in slightly simpler terms. (Andy's Permutation Algorithm)

Finally, I brought the word list and the permutation part together and it works! I can play Text Twist forever, and always get the 6-letter word. The downside is that now Text Twist is really boring.

My word unscrambler is here.

New Shoes

Two boxes of the expected four had arrived, and happily, there was one pair for each!

They are both thrilled with their new shoes. I was shocked that the shoes fit well, as the sizing seemed so big! A's are a little large, but not by much.

Katrina shows off her new tennies:
  
  

Abby models her summer sandals: