And S is for Shingles

As if a rousing weekend full of softball wasn't enough, I decided to give myself an extra special birthday present - shingles. If you don't know what shingles are, they are a kind of adult chicken pox; but in addition to itching, they burn...a lot, and all over. My mother has been thinking of getting the new shingles vaccine for a long time, and now I've encouraged her too. This is one of the most painful things I've ever had. The good news is that I'm on a bunch of medication now that makes day-to-day work barely livable, and I'm not contagious. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to do a whole bunch. But maybe now that it looks like I'll have some free time on my hands, I'll actually get some lesson planning done.

Summer is for Softball

If I had to choose one way to spend my birthday, it would not be getting up early, driving to Cincinnati and watching a 16 & under girls' softball tournament. In fact, the only birthday agenda worse than that would be getting up early, driving to Cincinnati, having the tournament get postponed due to rain, and spending the day in crappy hotel in Kentucky. Which is what I did yesterday. For my birthday. Oh boy.

Suellen and I have now watched her sisters play softball in five different states, and every time we attend a tournament I am amazed at the spectacle of competitive travel sports. Since the most athletic I ever got in the summer was park department sports and swimming lessons, the idea of packing my whole family into an SUV and caravanning around the country to sit in the sun and dust is less than appealing to me; however, to die hard softball fans, like the ones I spent my birthday with, it's the best thing since sliced bread. It would have to be I guess, seeing that they spend almost every weekend of the summer on the road, with softball gear and no fewer than three coolers in the trunk. While I will probably never understand the need to yell along with dugout cheering or the desire to motorcade to the next destination, I have begun to appreciate the sport, which is actually a lot more strategic than I ever realized in the 6th grade. With the rotation of players, pitchers and batters, it's more of a chess game than a contest of strength. At least chess is something I can understand.

You Gotta Start Sometime...

So I've decided to submit to the pull of the internet and start blogging - partly for keeping in touch, partly for writing pratice, and partly to see if I could blogging a viable classroom project. I don't have much to say right now, but check back soon. I'm sure I'll have something to say then.