Wedding Reception, Flat Tire and Catching the Bouquet

Tonight we drove out to Temecula to attend Judy's daughter's wedding reception. We probably would not have taken any pictures or even blogged about it, but we had some random excitement.

The first of our exciting events was having our tire blow out while driving 75 mph on I-15. Kelly was driving and got us over to the shoulder quickly. The tire was smoking.

We were fortunate that it was not raining, and that we had room enough on the wide shoulder to change the tire safely. After a prayer and a quick stop at the gas station to make sure all remaining tires had air, we made it to the reception.

The reception was beautiful and so was the bride. I told Heather she could go out with the "single ladies" on the dance floor for the bouquet toss, and this is where exciting event number two took place. She was in the back and couldn't see, so she moved to the front. The bouquet was tossed and as she and another gal reached for it, they knocked it to the ground with their fingers. Heather being her spry, speedy self, bent down quickly to pick it up. Later she asked us what it meant to catch the bouquet. She wasn't happy with the answer. Ha, ha.

We're all home safe and sound, and reconfiguring the budget to fit in purchasing new tires.

Meeting Brandon Mull

Brandon Mull, author of the Fablehaven series, The Candy Shop War and a picture book titled, Pingo, came to our Huntington Beach Barnes and Nobel to promote his new series, The Beyonders. Heather and I have both read Fablehaven and The Candy Shop War (we were actually the only two in the crowd who had read The Candy Shop War), and this was our first time attending an author signing together. We are both very excited to read this new series!

Brandon is very down-to-earth and spoke about each of his books, how he likes to reward his readers for paying attention to details, how his stories usually crescendo toward the end (the new series starts at the level of intensity where Fablehaven was in book 5), his writing history and writing habits. Heather was hooked right away when he spoke about his school years. Two things he said that were endearing to her were:

• My Middle School years were not my best years. If you're in Middle School, just wait. It gets better.

• I always had ideas and stories running through my brain. I'd be in school and the teacher would be talking and I'd be like "squirrel!" and be off on some thought.

Heather turned to me and said, "Mom! He's just like me!" During the questions we were able to ask if he had any ideas back in school that he saved and used when he was an adult writer (Yes! The Candy Shop War town, gang of kids who explored the neighborhood together, and and old fashioned candy shop in his town), and also what kind of student he was (not so great in elementary, shy and quiet in middle school and better/more focused in high school). This was wonderful for Heather to hear not only because of their similar experiences, but because she is so interested in writing a book. She's been working on her story since 5th grade, and continues to tell me how the plot unfolds in the future. I thought she'd tire of the idea, but she hasn't. I can totally see her finishing this story or re-writing it when she's older.

We were able to take a picture while he signed all our books. Since I didn't have books 1 or 2 of Fablehaven in hard cover, he signed two book plates for me to paste in them when I was able to find them. He was interested in people's individual comments about the books and after I told him that Heather and I both read them, Heather shared that she was writing a story. He asked her questions about it, and one of the B&N associates followed us away from the table with a web address for a young writer's contest. Heather was feeling pretty great.

Sheryl and Grace Mosher joined us, and we had the girls take a picture together - Friends going to author signings together just like their mommas.

After getting our books signed and some shopping, we stopped at Islands for dinner. It was so fun to see Heather with a big smile on her face all night, especially since she's been so sick all week.

Stuck at Home

We wish the Pickle Jar had something fabulous to post today. In place of a phenomenally inspiring post, I'll give you the short version of what we're up to.

Recovery.

Heather is in the middle of a bout with mild mono and is flat on the couch waiting for the fever part to go away. I'm resting a lot and doing laundry while taking an antibiotic to get rid of whatever I've had since the first of March. Kelly is recovering from his sinus issues and is still really, really tired. He's in bed by 9:00 p.m.

Jenna is well at the moment and is out there experiencing life. She had a fun field trip to the Discovery Science Center yesterday. I was scheduled to be a chaperone on the bus with her, but stayed home with Heather.

We're hoping to be bouncing off the walls soon. Stay tuned...

Saying Good-Bye to Linny

Just a few days ago, I snapped this photo of Linny while taking shots for the Ides of March post. He was talking to me and trying to get to my feet knowing me being out meant something yummy for him. I gave his head a few little scratches and got him some red pepper. Most days Linny rummages around in the grass or garden munching on yummies. When we open the back door he will start talking to us with his little squeaks from where ever he is and scurry over our way to see what yummy treat we have for him. It has been nice to have him outdoors this last year knowing he can roam, but we have been aware of the dangers (hawks, cats, possums). He has been the smartest of all our guineas, but last night, we lost our little friend. I think it was the wind making so much noise rattling the bushes that must have caused him to not hear the possum. I heard Linny for a second and recognized distress, but I couldn't find him. It was three in the morning, and I could hear the bigger critter, but the bushes were so thick. I tried rattling with a broom and calling him, but I knew what had happened. I was so sad.

This morning we told the girls after we found him and confirmed for sure that he was gone. They were pretty sad also. Our guinea pig days are over. It was a fun adventure while it lasted. I am pretty sure we'll be hearing about the next pet soon. The word "dog" was mentioned several times today.

And The Sickness Continues...

We have been passing the sick germs around our family for weeks now. Kelly was sick for a couple of weeks with sinus, fever, chest stuff. Then Heather had intestinal issues. Then Jenna had them. Then back to Heather. Now I'm down with the fever and cough stuff from Kelly. I think instead of tenting for termites we should have tented with bleach!

Fighting off germs could be why I've been so "blah" recently. Hopefully we'll be seeing the end of our illnesses soon.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is such a fun day for all things green: green pancakes, green shirts, green ribbons in little girl hair, green mashed potatoes with dinner. My favorite activity with my girls was our treasure hunt last year.

We will have to ride on the waves of memories for 2011 because mom didn't do squat to celebrate. What a doofus I am. I managed to get green shirts and ribbons out for the girls (and put on a green shirt myself), but that was it. I forgot about buying the bags of gold and decorating the house. The upside is that the girls didn't ask about anything, so maybe they won't notice my goof.

I better go get the Easter decorations down and get a jump on this next holiday.

Softball Tournament & Speedy Pete

Wednesday was Moiola's softball tournament. We learned something about our girl, Heather, that day. She is f a s t. Since there was never a chance that Moiola was going to win anything that day, I didn't expect this really positive experience. Boy, was I surprised.

Moiola is one of 4 middle schools in the district. We are the only K - 8 school; the others are traditional middle schools, 6th - 8th grade. At the end of 5th grade, if you are a serious athlete, you will probably choose to go to one of the traditional middle schools, and most do. The downside is that Moiola never comes in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and is referred to by some as the "losing school". The upside is that every child has the opportunity to play for the team and have opportunities that many of them would never have elsewhere (the other schools go through many cuts and keep only the best athletes on the team), and our kids have a lot of fun.

So here is our girl who has never played softball before. I give her my glove and my cleats and because her dad is working late most of the days prior to the tournament, I grab his glove and become her throwing/catching partner. She was a little stunned when I pulled cleats out of my bag (why is it that kids can't ever imagine their parents moving athletically?), but she could tell I knew what I was doing. It was fun to watch her prep for the tournament. She went from no skill to a little skill with the catching and throwing (Kelly did get a session in with her which helped a lot in catching), and her batting skills were no worse than the other kids who hadn't played before.

On tournament day, I arrived an hour after everything had started, but hadn't missed too much, or so I thought. I'll explain that in a minute. I watched Heather in the outfield and at bat a couple of times. Her at bats were not spectacular, except that she proved to be a bit spectacular. The hits she got had no power, and the balls just rolled out aways from home plate, but Heather ran for first like there was no tomorrow! The other teams were good, and they were able to get her out at first, but there was something remarkable about the three different times this happened. The opposing teams were so good that they should have had the runner out before she was half way to the base, but every time they got Heather out, it was by a hair. She made it literally about half an inch from the base each time. Myself and a few other parents were crazy screaming, but when she was called out, we just kept cheering. Oh my goodness was she fast! She looked at me like we were nuts because she didn't make it to the base and we were cheering like nutters. We were not the only ones who noticed. Some of the opposing school parents noticed, and Heather's teammates started calling her "speedy".

At one point, I walked over to talk to Heather because I could see she was really bugged that she was only getting to play outfield twice each game. The coach/teacher told her it was so that the 8th graders could have a chance to play their last year, but it was a weak reason, and Heather knew it. There were a couple of 7th graders and a couple of 6th graders out each inning as well as the two 5th graders who were recruited because of their experience. I should have been bugged because of the politics, but it is what it is, and I was so proud of my girl that I had to tell her. She was bugged by not getting to play, and I told her that she'll be in 8th grade one day and be playing every inning. Then I said with pride absolutely oozing out my eyeballs, "But forget that! You are FAST! Did you hear us screaming for you?" She thought we were teasing her. I had so much pride beaming from me that I knew she could tell I wasn't just trying to make her feel better. I told her it didn't matter that she got out, and how she never should have been able to get that far as good as those teams are. She started catching on that she was doing something well. I used that momentum to pump her up about her outfield position at right field. I told her it looked like a boring spot, but every single one of those teams were good enough to hit out there and she needed to be ready. She was totally listening and although not one ball came her way, she was poised and ready every time.

After the tournament, she asked me if I saw her home run. I was there the entire time except that first part which is when I apparently did miss something. She told me it was a base hit, but she ran past first base while the ball was being thrown to first. She kept going as the team scrambled to get the ball to the base she was running for, but they just missed each time. The ball was never out of play so she just kept running. When she crossed home plate, the umpire marked the run, and her teacher told her they'd yelled at her to stay at third. She said she never heard her. I think the wind was in her ears.

I'm still not sure how that whole home run thing went down, but I can't wait for the track tournament!