Day Trip

Reviews:
Mom says "It was fun to make, but it is kinda long"
Ella says "It's kinda longish"
Dad says "It's about too long by half, but it's a nice slide show to bore all our friends and family with"

the Burmese Need You to to Send a Letter Today

Let them know you are watching.

"...Authorities also shut off the country's two Internet service providers, although big companies and embassies hooked up to the Web by satellite remained online. The Internet has played a crucial role in getting news and images of the democracy protests to the outside world..."

"...Just a few blocks from the Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon, some 2,000 protesters armed only with insults and boos briefly confronted soldiers, wearing green uniforms with red bandanas around their necks and holding shields and automatic weapons.

As the crowd drew near, the soldiers fired bullets in the air, sending most of the protesters scurrying away. A handful of demonstrators still walked toward the troops but were beaten with clubs and dragged into trucks to be driven away.

"Why don't the Americans come to help us? Why doesn't America save us?" said an onlooker. who didn't want to be identified for fear of reprisal from the junta..."

What we CAN do for Burma:
1. Blog about it
2. Talk about it
3. Read about it
4. Keep it in the new's top stories
5. Follow the lead of Amnesty International and send the following letter to their Foreign Minister

Amnesty says: You can copy and paste this sample letter into an e-mail or a document to print out. If you are planning to write your own appeal please read our letter writing guide.

Please send appeals to:
Foreign Minister Nyan Win Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Naypyitaw Union of Myanmar
Fax: +95 1 222 950 OR +95 1 221 719
E-mail: mofa.aung@mptmail.net.mm

"Dear Minister

I am deeply concerned by the reports that hundreds of monks and other peaceful protesters, including well-known comedian Zargana and member of parliament Paik Ko have been detained.

I strongly urge the Myanmar authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally, unless they are to be charged with recognizably criminal offences. I call on the authorities to ensure that, while they remain in custody, all the detainees are held only in official places of detention, and are given immediate access to lawyers, their families and any medical treatment they may require. I also call on the authorities to ensure that the detainees are not subjected to torture or any other ill-treatment.

I call on the authorities to ensure that all people in Myanmar are able to peacefully exercise the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly without fear of harassment, intimidation or arbitrary detention, in line with international human rights standards.

Yours Sincerely"

Another Toy Recall

Would it kill them to put the dang pictures ofthe toys IN the article? Sheesh, I posted what I could find folks, some pictures of the recalled toys are here (I did not include the Thomas the Train line recalled there were too many)

"China-made kid's jewelry, toys recalled WASHINGTON - Toys and children's necklaces made in China were recalled Wednesday, including five more items from the popular Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line, because they contain dangerous levels of lead.

RC2 Corp.'s "Knights of the Sword" series toys and some of its Thomas and Friends items, along with floor puppet theaters and gardening tools and chairs for children, were among the more than 601,000 toys and children's jewelry announced in the recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recalled toys contain high levels of lead in their surface paint, and the necklaces and jewelry sets contain excessive lead in some of their metal parts..."

We Hear You Burma

In The Quiet Land - By Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

In the Quiet Land, no one can tell

if there's someone who's listening

for secrets they can sell.

The informers are paid in the blood of the land

and no one dares speak what the tyrants won't stand.

In the quiet land of Burma,

no one laughs and no one thinks out loud.

In the quiet land of Burma,

you can hear it in the silence of the crowd

In the Quiet Land, no one can say

when the soldiers are coming

to carry them away.

The Chinese want a road; the French want the oil;

the Thais take the timber; and SLORC takes the spoils...

In the Quiet Land....

In the Quiet Land, no one can hear

what is silenced by murder

and covered up with fear.

But, despite what is forced, freedom's a sound

that liars can't fake and no shouting can drown.

- Myanmar troops kill 9 protesters

- US leads calls for Burma sanctions

- Burma's silent symbol of hope
- Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Three Yellow Things

Today was preschool show and tell, bring something yellow day. We forgot until late last night and so I scoured the house for three things that are yellow. We picked one this morning. The choices were a giant parrot feather from Grandpa C. yellow on one side and blue on the other, a canary yellow silk scarf that lilts to the ground when tossed into the air and smells like perfume, or an old ticket for the merry go round with three holes punched in it from three rides over this summer. She picked the merry go round ticket.














What would you bring?

What?!

"According to an April 2007 survey by KRC Research (on behalf of Suave), out of more than 3,000 mothers, 67 percent said they would rather regain their prebaby body than their prebaby sex life." - from Laser hot mamas zapped into prebaby shape - By Diane Mapes @ MSNBC

My Kid is Going To FLIP

Justice League of America Movie Announced

Release Date: 2010
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: George Miller
Screenwriter: Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney
Starring: Jessica Biel (Wonder Woman)
Genre: Action, Adventure MPAA
Rating: Not Available
Official Website: Not Available
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: Not Available
Production Stills: Not Available

Plot Summary: Reports have said that the superhero team-up movie would include Batman, Superman, The Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern.'The Justice League of America' comic debuted in 'The Brave and the Bold' #28 (1960), and quickly became one of the company's best-selling titles.

Cartoon Network's "Justice League" animated series debuted in 2001 and in July 2004, became "Justice League Unlimited" running until 2006.

Trailer:Coming Soon!

Coffee Break

It’s like I’m back at work again. Dan is on a coffee break and we are sitting at my desk, talking about the jobs he’s working on. I firmly believe it’s important to walk up the hall and bounce your ideas off of someone a couple of times a day just to get away from your desk, but this feels weird because we’re at home and I’m blogging.

Bold

Now see this:



The filmaker says: "Added: 12 hours agoFrom: ifilm1215
I was filming a documentary in Rockfo... I was filming a documentary in Rockford on local rap group Pint N Plex. We went behind the Paragon on state where people were hanging out, all of a sudden shots fired like 100ft away from us. It was crazy! I'v never been so scared in my life lol! I think im ready to be a doctor now lolThis is uncut footage, so u can see in my point of view what was going on and where i was looking. Corey Seaton (aka Ben Affleck) was on cam 2. "

"...Police say they witnessed Martin D. Love, 24, of Rockford repeatedly fire a handgun into a crowd of 200 who gathered outside Paragon on State, 205 W. State St. After a foot chase, he was arrested for aggravated discharge and unlawful use of weapons by a felon... -RRStar"

This all happened 2 blocks from the police department.

Late Summer

Lost Treasure

All I know about Mr. Lawson is what we kids heard in the neighborhood and what my parents have later confirmed. I never spoke to him, he was as old as the wind that whipped through his white hair and we only saw him while he worked in the yard at the big brick house next to mine. The immaculate yard boasted giant oaks in the front, a perfect lawn, a perfect square hedge, a field of tiger lilies in the back and a single pear tree along our shared driveway. Mr. Lawson let my Father pick all the pears one year for pear wine in return for a bottle of it but I don’t think it turned out very well because we never did it again.

Mr. Lawson was born in that house. His father owned Lawson Furniture and before the turn of the century built the house for his wife and his only son. In fact his father built most of the homes on our street including ours designed for a Doctor in the late 1800s and the two story stables turned garages that ran the length of the block behind all our back yards. Our home had an odd little corner ledge half way up the stairs used for setting the end of a casket on while wrangling it up the long and winding staircase. Knowing this spurred my 10 year old brain into action dreaming up stories about ghosts of children that had died in the Doctors parlor in my living room at night and coffins in the front hall.

To our disappointment Mr. Lawson had no children to play with and he yelled at us when we crawled through his tiger lilies pretending to be Indians sneaking up on our enemies. His house was the largest on the block. We longed to play on his grand old porch with its triple pillars and incredible bricked shelves but we didn’t dare step foot into the yard, as we never knew when he was home. My Father said Mr. Lawson was married once and his wife died. He couldn’t stand to live in the house without her, but when he missed her he’d come back and stay there for a time. Each visit he was in mourning, perhaps that’s why he didn’t care to have us chasing our kickball into his yard. Or perhaps it was a reminder of his son who had also passed away before him.

His withdrawn demeanor only fueled our childhood stories. We imagined buried treasure in the basement, gold coins garnered from a trip to Egypt hidden in the walls and jewels encrusted into the chandeliers that we could see from the street and ghosts guarding it all with a curse. Each separate tiny beveled pane of glass drooping and warping through time invited us to climb up and gaze into the house, yet we knew Mr. Lawson could be looking back or worse yet the spirit of his wife or son.

Dad talked to Mr. Lawson once in a while during his sad stays at the estate. Through the years we learned Mr. Lawson’s son had gone to Europe right after WWII and bought a tremendous amount of art hidden from the Nazis during the war. It hung inside the enormous brick home next to scrolled woodwork and polished banisters. The son would’ve been the only heir to the fortune and he didn’t have any children himself when he died from diabetes. I think the sadness from it killed Mr. Lawson and the home eventually sold to someone outside of the family for the first time in 100 years. They held an auction at the estate and among the rooms of antique furniture and art, two Picassos and a safe as big as a piano holding thousands of dollars cash. Our childhood fantasies were true. There was treasure in the home and it seemed no body inherited it.

When it was sold the developer didn’t care about the estate and turned it into low rent apartments. My teenage mind used to picture the developer in a polished grey pinstriped suit and hair slicked back with a cigarette clenched between his teeth and giant gold rings on his fingers. He rented it to a group of college boys who had partys there every night, smashing beer cans into the tiger lily patch and burning cigarette holes into various spots on the parquet floors. Shortly after, the rest of the houses on the block sold. Converted into low rent apartments the neighborhood lost its professors, art dealers, antique book sellers and me. My parents sold too.

If I find myself in that part of town I am often compelled to drive down Gregory St. to see which trees are gone and what windows are boarded up. It always makes me a little sad but yesterday I read this story in the paper about the Lawson Estate and my heart broke a little more: “Shabby Rockford House Lands on City’s Demolition List”











Photo: AMY J. VAN HORN RRSTAR.COM
Jim Pankhurst says he’s glad that the city intends to get rid of this eyesore next to his property in the 500 block of Gregory Street in Rockford.

"...The condemnation notice was posted again this week. city spokeswoman Julia Scott-Valdez said, and two garages behind the house, which are open and full of junk, also have been condemned.


Tenants moved out of the house within the past month and left huge piles of garbage next to the curb that the city hauled away.


Who’s responsible: The owner of record, David Lejeune, is deceased, and no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the property, Scott-Valdez said.


What’s been done: The house was condemned in 2003, and a city code hearing officer fined the owner $24,000 for various property-standard violations. The fines were never paid. The city obtained a judgment in circuit court to enforce the fine so the money can be recouped via a lien when the property changes ownership.


The house isn’t likely to change hands, though, because it is on the city’s list for demolition. How soon the wrecking ball will visit Gregory Street is uncertain. The city is relying on federal money to pay for the job, and three other shabby houses nearby — on Catlin, Bremer and Third streets — are competing for the cash. One of the requirements for spending the federal money is that the city first study what effect tearing down all of those houses would have on the immediate neighborhood.


“If the house on Gregory can’t come down this year, then next year,” Scott-Valdez said. “We may be able to deal with the garages behind the house sooner.”


Pankhurst said he’s glad the property is on the city’s radar.


“It’s been a problem for a long time,” he said. “I’ll be glad to see it go.” -Story by Isaac Guerrero"


Other links about the neighborhood
Greogory Street and Where I'm From

Leg Warmers

We’ve hit my favorite part of the year, after the first light frost and before the first freeze. My allergies have finally calmed and the weather is still in the 80s during the day and in the 60s at night, perfect for sleeping. The leaves are starting to turn and the kids are back in school, you can see them on Friday afternoons walking around in their ‘pep gear’ getting ready for the evening’s football events.

When did it become socially acceptable to wear your pajamas to school? I thought that was a nightmare people often had… “I got to school and I was still wearing my pajamas and my hair looked like I had just rolled out of bed” turns out that’s what the kids are shooting for these days. I suppose given the choice between PJs and skin tight jeans and belly shirts, I’d prefer the PJs. And this is not where I go on a long rant about the good ol’ days and how we used to wear proper clothes, because I grew up in the 80s and my mother would totally call me on it, so I’ll shut up now.

11

Iron is extracted from ore by removing oxygen through combining it with a preferred chemical partner such as carbon. Further refining through many processes of tempering heating and rapidly cooling removes impurities and creates a stronger bond. However, if quenching is done improperly internal stresses can cause a part to shatter as it cools or have microscopic imperfections. Undergoing further heat treatment at a lower temperature will help settle the internal stresses and defects. Once refined, other elements may be added to strengthen and add pliability creating a stronger molecular structure able to withstand stresses without cracking or shattering and a surface that inhibits corrosion.

Steel traditionally and rightfully symbolizes 11 years of marriage.

Happy Anniversary Dearest. I love You.

Is it Wrong to Laugh?

Four quotes from the three year old that lives here:

-“I can hear the creek, it’s creaking.”

-“I’m ready for dancy class, I have my leaping tard on.”

-“Take the shampoo and scrumble it around on my head”

-“Jesus Christ Dad! I said no!”

Viva la DiVA!

A lesson on treating a DiVA with respect.

Mighty Pens

I am in love with the blog DOOCE. Mostly because Heather has a daughter that could be the cosmic sister of Ella as they seem to mirror every experience. Her daughter displays the same idiosyncrasies Ella is having during the same months; it's uncanny and makes me feel very sane. However, Heather is more well known for what happened to her and her blog years ago coining the term 'getting dooced'.

Dooced: getting fired for blogging about one’s job.

Bloggers around the world are familiar with the dilemma of what to write and how open they want to be with their feelings and the possible consequences of who reads. The blogger society is still creating a precedent; there are no hard fast rules as we all finding our personal limits. This caused me to really read this next story with great interest. Upon delving into the story I found an epic Scorsese-ian controversy deeply intertwined in the blogosphere and politics (like candy to me). So I now present to you "The 276 to 6 controversy"


September 1st I read in the Rockford Register Star

"Rockford cops face punishment - By Isaac Guerrero

Two Rockford police officers could lose their jobs for allegedly using department computers to write online rants while they were working.

Their comments via StoryChat on rrstar.com, the Register Star’s Web site, included harsh critiques of their boss and the Rockford Police Department..."


Five days ago the Rockford Register Star reported

"Overwhelming vote of no confidence in top cop Epperson - By Isaac Guerrero

Months of escalating tension between Police Chief Chet Epperson and his rank-and-file officers came down to a simple vote Friday, and nearly all members of the city’s police union said the same thing: They have no confidence in Epperson’s management.

There were 286 union members eligible to vote. Of the 282 cops who actually cast ballots, 276 voted “no confidence” in the way Epperson is running the department, said union Vice President Bruce Brannum…

…The union has 27 filed grievances, most concerning discipline issues, that have yet to be resolved. Four officers face disciplinary hearings before the city’s Board of Fire and Police Commissioners for allegations ranging from misconduct to unexcused sick leave.

De La Rosa, meanwhile, is suing the department over the way police brass handle internal investigations, and two other officers are suing the chief in a separate lawsuit involving the seizure of their firearms.

To top it off, union members have been working nearly two years without a labor contract.

…De La Rosa vowed the union will continue speaking out on issues important to its membership.
“We’re going to bring our message to the citizens of Rockford publicly and often,” he said."

Today I am reading 276to6 a blog heavily commented on by Rockford's finest, I recomend specificaly the forty-five comments made after the first post. Highlights:

"Anonymous said...
After a 276 to 6 vote against his police chief, Mayor Morrissey actually goes on TV and calls the police rank and file foolish (Sept 17, 2007, 9pm news, channel 39).Way to go mayor!
September 17, 2007 7:40 PM"

"Anonymous said...
...Bring out the spin, double talk and backpeddling. Bring out the truth on statistics and the manipulating of the numbers. Bring out how ther is no money for the Police and Fire and city streets but chedders wife can arrange for 24 million for the Metro Center that loses money every year..."

"Anonymous said...
Chet...What gave you the ingenious idea to allow 2 INTERNS into the property and evidence division? I am not saying that it was a bad idea but I mean c'mon...2 missing handguns while they were in there. What's next...civilians managing the drug siezures...."

"Anonymous said...
The Person who talked of an Intern was mis-informed There was no InternshipWe hired two College Kids ( with absolutely no Background Check ) Chet in his infinite wisdom Put two Kids IN a Place where ( " The Chief, Deputy Chief and employees of that Division ( ONLY ) are allowed and he let these KIDS Handle Hundred's of Thousands Of Dollars in Narcotics and Guns. NOW HE IS MISSING GUNS and he is hiding it from the media and Public..."

First Day of School

Coversation in the big bed.

Last night, we pulled the covers up to our chins and had the following conversations:

La: “Mom, let’s talk about closure.”

Me: “Ok?... What does that mean?”

La: “It means I need to have closure when I go potty. Prrrrrriiiiivate. Do you know what that means Mom? I need private.”

Me: “Oh, I see. You need to close the door and so you need closure”

La: “Yes, I need closure because I’m a big girl now and I can go potty all by myself in private.”

Me: “You’ve got it kiddo.”


***

Me: “Tell me a story about the three bears”

La: “Once upon a time there was a tiny baby bear, a bigger mommy bear and a great big daddy bear and they lived in a big bed. One day they made honey waffles and drove their bed into outer space to eat the waffles. Then Goldie locks came and shared with them and they all lived happily ever after in outer space - the end.”


***

Upon waking she said “I think I grew while I was sleeping and I’m probably big enough to go to Disney world now”

Jack Frost is my Hero

My nose itches so fiercely throughout the day I can’t help but swipe it and scuff at it several times an hour. The skin on my nose is now so dry that it’s starting to peel and that still hasn’t alleviated the itching. The compulsion to rub my face is so tremendous that sometimes I claw at the air with my fingers and swear. My eyes feel as if I have a permanent eyelash jammed into the corners and no amount of cool eye drops stored on the top shelf of the refrigerator can alleviate the compulsion to rub them with the palms of my hands while my mouth hangs agape and the my brain shuts down to it’s most primitive thoughts “ah yes, scratch scratch rub ah yes! I itch!”

I feel like I’ve come a long way from sleepy Jenny with crying swollen eyes and a top lip rubbed raw and red with two lines of snot still extending from my nostrils to my mouth. Although, if suddenly stranded in time without antihistamines I no doubt would become that girl in a matter of minutes. This is when I pray for a frost despite my aversion to cold weather. Numbing fingers and toes and back muscles that shiver until I’m sore are a perfectly fine trade for the wretched itching to stop. Any night now Jack Frost will swoop into Illinois and with one motion kill every piece of pollen suspended in the air around my face.

What is in my sinuses right now.

The Jammers Bible

We are attending roller derby ‘boot camp’ this evening and I am sooo excited to get the opinion of some bad ass women about my skating ability. Ok, let’s face it I am sooo excited anytime we’re going skating. I’m a fanatic. The new league is doing great. We’ve started to set our season and our first bout will be in January. It’ll be an away bout (sorry Mom) and then my lovely friends and family can come see us play a home bout in Feb. more details later, I’ll send out a save the date to everyone soon. We are up to roughly 30 women and still growing. We have one gal who nearly broke her elbow at her first practice falling at White Pines (marble floor) but she still keeps coming back, I already love her and I barely know her. Boom Boom Martini pointed out at the last board meeting we haven’t had a month go by yet without new skaters and that’s the best kind of news.

We also have a couple of new coaches. Dan Diamond who has a way of yelling that makes you motivated but not mad and Dangerous Dave who jammed banked track roller derby back in the day and has all kinds of interesting things to tell us. I literally write down all the advice he’s giving and started making one a sort of scrapbook called “the Jammer’s Bible”. Eventually I imagine it’ll get passed form jammer to jammer with all sorts of scraps of paper and scribbles sticking out of it (think of the Devine Secrets Ya-Ya Sisterhood or the Sex Bible from American Pie). Of course you have to be a good jammer before anyone will take your advice, so let me just say that Dangerous Dave can skate faster than me while going backwards to my going forwards and I am fast.

Speaking of - I’m working terribly hard on spinning mid track and skating backwards. I want to be great at it before we hit Roller Con next year. I want to be able to block backwards and execute the most awesome backwards whip in the world - the one Annsanity learned in Vegas. But first I need to stop being knocked kneed while just skating backwards. I fell a few months back at White Pines (again marble floor) and bruised my tailbone pretty good and since then have been all nerves when skating backwards. I’m getting over it by just doing it.

Dangerous Dave Jammer - September 2007

Perfect Hair Day

The air is crisp and light and the clouds are high. It’s a perfect hair day and it’s a perfect going to the park day. You can wear jeans so that your rump makes it down the slide without that sticky eeek eeek eek your legs make on a humid day, but it’s is still warm enough to need short sleeves. It’s a day to run full blast until cool sweat breaks on your brow and your legs feel stretched and long and well used. It’s a day to reach down and draw long hop scotches that reach to 15 and have stars and odd jaunts to the left requiring three one legged hops in a row. It’s a day to invite imaginary friends to view ant hills on the sidewalk and share chocolate cookies on the porch. It’s the perfect balance of dry and cool and warm and sun.

Good Reads

The heat broke today and we are wearing sweatshirts. I am longing for a good book and a steep cup of coffee and so I think I may pack up my family tonight and hit the local book store. Oh yeah, we don’t have a local book store, we drive to the next town for that. Sigh. I want to read something good and heavy and contemplative but not terribly sad. So while “The Life of Pi” would be in I am again putting off “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. For those of you not following along it’s on my list to read next and I started it twice but when not to far in I am reading about selling a four year old, I can’t read further without being so entirely consumed by anger and sadness that I am wondering why I am continuing. I assure you all I will get past it someday and read this book, however not today. I joined good reads and am leafing through what people are reading. It’s like Myspace for book critiques, so if that’s something that sounds fun to you join me over there I could use some more friends.

Pfc. LaVena Johnson Call to Action

Pfc. LaVena Johnson's family believes that she was sexually assaulted and murdered. The Army says it's suicide and refuses to investigate further.

Petition to re-open the investigation

Lavena Johnson website

Reclusive Leftist says

from Wave Flux:
"...It is a pleasure to note that The Barack Obama Report - a campaign blog independent of the senator's official presidential effort - has written about LaVena Johnson. The post, the concern it evinces for soldiers and their families, and the attention it will bring to LaVena's story, are all greatly appreciated.

However, the blog post does bring a question to mind regarding another presidential contender: Senator Hillary Clinton.

A convergence of circumstances places the junior senator from New York in a unique position. She is one of the most prominent members of the majority party in Congress. She is the leading Democratic presidential contender. She is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee - one of the two legislative bodies to which the LaVena Johnson petition is addressed.

These factors make for a compelling argument that Senator Clinton should bring her support to the Johnson family and its efforts to launch a new investigation of the circumstances surrounding LaVena's death in Iraq. Of all the presidential candidates, Democratic or Republican, only Senator Clinton is in an official position - right now - to bring influence to bear on the Army. Even in purely political terms, the opportunity to demonstrate support for military families and their loved ones in service should be clear to all.

It is to be hoped that the senator from New York has sufficient concern for soldiers that she will lend the Johnsons her support in the name of all service families who have given so much, and whose search for the truth about their daughters, sons, fathers, and mothers is too often lost in the fog of war.

Constituents of Hillary Clinton who share this hope are invited to express their feelings to the senator herself by way of email, or via the addresses (district office recommended) or phone or fax numbers below:

District office
780 Third Ave
Suite 2601
New York, NY 10017
Phone (212) 688-6262
Fax (212) 688-7444

D.C. office
United States Senate
476 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone (202) 224-4451
Fax (202) 228-0282 "

Please repost.

On the Waterfront

Sunday Night

Kickball Do-Over

On Monday Dan and I packed up our child, a Tupperware of homemade potato salad and a six pack and drove to the next city over for a cookout and pirate kickball. When we were first invited both Dan and I remembered being picked last and the humility of getting tagged out between first and second and walking away with the imprint of rubber waffle kickball on one’s cheek, Dan said “Why are we subjecting ourselves to this again?” I assured him that our friend Andy who during fourth grade kickball team drafts was often left standing beside me as the second to last picked for a team, would not be inviting anyone named Chaz who would guffaw when the fly ball I am trying to catch hits me in the top of the head instead.

The party started with making uniforms. Dan and I made stencils and Andy spray painted the designs on red and white tee shirts. Our teams filled with Andy asking people to pick a card to indicate which team – alleviating any anxiety about popularity. We donned our freshly painted shirts; the Scurvy Dogs wearing a dog skull with a leg bone in its mouth on their chests and the Crimson Tide team with a giant wave emblazoned on the chest and some even painted the words “Out for blood!” on the back. I was right, no one laughed too hard when I missed that fly ball and it bounced off the top of my head and when I was up at bat and kicked so hard my right shoe flew into the infield I didn’t hear any whispering and snickering coming from the pretty girls behind me. Instead they said next year “Cannon Ball Jenny” would have to become “Shoeless Jenny” while I ran to first base with one bare foot.

I cringed in the 5th inning when my dearest “Dan-ger” missed a kick tripping on the ball and garnering the first strike in the history of pirate kickball, but to my relief the following two men on the Scurvy Dogs missed also whiffing their leg out into empty space as the ball rolled past. Apparently the 5th inning is when the beer starts to impair one’s depth perception. Luckily the beer handy cap allowed to the Crimson Tide to catch up bringing the score from 2-13 to 9-13. The Scurvy Dogs took the win in the end but not before many cries of “That’s it?! We’re done already?” Afterwards, we retreated to Andy’s deck to eat and socialize. I am happy to say I now look forward to kickball. Thanks for the do-over Andy.