Home again…

So – we’ve been home for a few hours now – I’m exhausted, but I wanted to get this post up and written and stuff so I could curl up and relax. heh. [yes, that will likely include a nap. *L*]

[ok – so I lied, I wrote half, went to bed, and now, the next day, am finally finishing writing it. heh.]

So! We met all the girls at 11am in the morning, made sure everyone was there, and accounted for, and had directions to the ball fields, before we took off, and the beginning of my reputation was built – apparently, I’m the only parent with a lead foot. *sheepish grin* I’m blaming it on the aircast I have to wear due to my poor sprained ankle. Yup. That’s the ticket!

Anyway – we made it to Knik in record time, naturally, and despite my quick detour to see where the landfill was (so I took a wrong turn! shh!), I was the first to arrive to the Knik Fields. The girls painted our windows on the cars, got their jackets and visors (The girl’s name spelled correctly on the visor, not so on the jacket. *L*) and we headed to opening ceremonies. They announced all the girls by name, number and team, and it was nicely done.

[ya’ll might wanna grab a cuppa coffee – this one’s a LONG one. *grin*]

After that, we went off to discover where the church was we were staying at. It was a very nice facility, very BIG, and had a full kitchen. They put us in the “couch room” where there were 8…. you guessed it, couches! With those, plus the air mattresses that were brought, no one had to sleep on the floor! Cept the two 7 year olds (siblings of players, the pup being one) – but they’re young and much more able to adapt easily. heh. So, the girls got all set up, and had a quick snack and generally ran around a bit, before they were into their uniforms and we hightailed it back to the fields for their first game at 8:30 pm.

Oh yeah! Speaking of the pup – a funny bit of conversation during the drive up. I pointed out two motorcycles that had been converted into Trikes… “Here they come, two of them! Trike one, trike two” and without missing a beat, the half asleep pup in the back seat said “Strike three, your OUT!” hahahahaha!

And then the boy? We pass a lovely long walking trail that goes along the highway – at the end of it? An outhouse. That’s it. Just a long trail to an outhouse. The boy “I don’t GET IT! Walk all that way, just for an OUTHOUSE? What is the point?!?” The pup pipes up: “TO PEE! duh. That’s the ENTIRE point!” Rock on, lil sista, rock on…

So – yes. Back to the game. We get there, and they introduce the players, and then they introduce the umpires, and I have to do a doubletake… “did they say Osten? OMG IT IS HIM!” Umping (badly, according to the boy. heh) out in the field was a man I haven’t seen in about 4 years, who I haven’t even really THOUGHT about in that time, except for last week when I brought him up out of the blue to Papa Moosie in idle conversation and hel-LO! there he IS! So it was fun to catch up and trade numbers and stuff after the game. (his shock at how big the kids are [THAT’s the BOY? My god your a f’in TANK!] was awesome *L*)

[On a side note: Dammit H.! You have ruined MORE of my Contacts before I even got into the business then should be humanly possible. HOW IS IT that you and I run the same circles?!? Ahem.]

So anyway – the girls play, and My girl plays 3 innings and never even makes it up to bat – a solid thrashing by the home team, losing 28-0. The girls were AWESOME sports though – and congratulated the other team, before we headed back to the church for dinner.

The team was paid for (they bought grocerys and the team moms put things out) and I added things for my other kids and myself, etc. It worked out well enough. They did things the easy way, night one, and after a quick stop at the Fred Myer in town, the kids set up beds and got ready while pizza’s were baking, then everyone settled down for the night.

One of the mom’s (NOT ME!) is a bit of a… erm. control freak drill sargent? and when she said she got cranky and gripey when she got tired she was SO not kidding. (“I have a sensitive NOSE! put on DEODERANT girls! I don’t know which one it is so all of you apply/reapply – NOW!”) *L* But all in all, the kids got settled down with various music devices that we had to tell them to turn down because HELLO if I could hear it across the room while they wore headphones – it was TOO LOUD.. [omg – I was channeling my MOTHER!]

And then! THE GIGGLING! oh lord help us, the GIGGLING and then one by one the chorus of SNORING. I mean – I’m old and fat, I snore, big deal. But those GIRLS! several of them totally put us vetrans to SHAME. And there was one who moaned in her sleep, and one who talked, and one who giggled randomly (that’d be the Pup, actually. *L*) and the SNORING – did I mention that?

Then they were woken up at a GODAWFUL hour of 9am – by the aforementioned drill sargent who hadn’t slept well and was still sniping. heh. Breakfast was consumed, and the primping began. My god. The HAIR and the STRAIGHTENING and the CURLING (sometimes by the SAME GIRL!) and the NAILS and the MAKEUP (though that was one of the siblings. heh.) and the EARINGS!

Since we didn’t have a game, we decided to head toward the local festival. WHich hadn’t started yet. So what is a group of pre-teen and teenage girls going to do all day? You guessed it… SHOPPING! We hopped into the cars and drove into Anchorage to hit one of the malls – the one with the EXCELLENT lemonade at the Hot Dog on a Stick. Where the boy discovered the joy of watching the girls working there making the lemonade. Heh.heh.heh.

So there was shopping – and we divided the girls up into groups of 3 or 4, and each group had a cell phone and we had all their numbers and we set them loose on the unsuspecting public. The pup and boy hung with me and we wandered and then I let the boy wander by hisself for a whole 15 minutes while I rested my foot (and had 1000000MillionTrillion Heart attacks before he calmly wandered back around the corner into my eyesight. This struggle between letting him have his independance and keeping him on a tight reign to make myself feel better is KEELING ME!!) and we ate upstairs and the coach fed the girls at the food court and I sprung for quiznos for me and my other two kids, and lemonade of course. then we headed back toward the church.

The Girls also had a practice in the field, as well as a trip to the local batting cages [thepup, boy and i wandered walmart while they practiced – where the pup got squishy frogs that amused her muchly!]. All was well, except that one of our pitchers [daughter of the drill sargent] got hit by the ball while she was batting, and injured her thumb and three fingers – bruising them badly. She refused to go to the doctor though, for fear she wouldn’t be able to play. It looked NASTY however, but she was one tough little cookie! Loads of ice, tender care, Arnica, advil, elevation and a nap, and she could move her fingers and insisted she could play.

So! Back to the church after the batting cages where we were bar-b-que-ing that night, as well as starting the shower taking process.

What process? Let me lay it out for you.

10 Girls
1 Coach
3 team moms
4 Siblings

1 Shower
1 teeny tiny hot water heater.

Ya’ll can do the math. *chuckles* We put them in groups and 3 would shower quicklike and then we’d wait 30 minutes and send the next group through. We managed to get all the girls showered, plus a sibling before the whole “get into bed and quiet down NOW!” process began once more. Heh. The next morning, the early risers (Team Mom A, her little boy, and the Drill Sargent) got their showers, and after coach got his, I got mine. By that time the pup woke up – so she got hers, and I kicked the boy outa bed and got him into his – though he wasn’t very happy about getting woke up early for it at ALL. Heh.

Amusing side note: Half the girls PRIMPED AND STRAIGHTENED AND DID THEIR HAIR again after their showers RIGHT BEFORE BED! Where is the sense in that?!? I questioned one of the girls, and she did her best to convince me she was NOT a girly girl! [ “I am not!” Really, the hair and the painted nails… “I just did that to match my OUTFIT!” …….. “I mean UNIFORM! to show SPORTSMANSHIP!” …… uh huh. Heh. ]

So, breakfast, and lazing around, One on One practice with our injured girl, who indeed insisted she could play – with the help of a leather batting glove for further protection, some general goofing off, then it was time to get ready for the game. At which point ALL THE GIRLS decided their hair had to be french braided exactly the same! Fortunately, Drill Sargent mom is also a hair dresser, and she could do it very quickly.

So, to the fields, where we were to play Homer, whom we all beat during the regular season. Unfortunately, this was not regular season, and we lost a heartbreaker 11-1.

The girl was taken out after the first inning (she did get to bat this time, but struck out), and was to be put back in during the 3rd, but due to a coaching mistake (he forgot! to sub! my BABY!) she didn’t get put back in. He felt AWFUL about it when he saw her there with tears in her eyes, and apologized in front of the whole team, as well as to her individually and to me too. It was hard, but after the tears, she resumed smiling, and asked if we could stay that night with the rest of the team instead of heading right home. I agreed – it’s so unusual for her to be part of a group, it was nice to see her included and happy and getting along with all the girls, though she still has my shy tendancy to watch and listen instead of join in as much as the other girls. Hopefully someday that’ll wear off a little.

One of the local politicians was a major sponser for the team (his girls were on it) and as such he took EVERYONE – whole team plus parents (though I checked first because I was gonna stay at the church cuz no way I could afford it) out to dinner. We intended to go to the Royal Fork buffet – but they closed at 8:30 pm (in the SUMMERTIME! *Shocked!*) so he did the unthinkable and took everyone to The Villiage Inn, and let the girls order anything they wanted for dinner – though no milkshakes/dessert kinda thing. It was *very* generous of him, and we all thanked him for it.

I did give Coach a hard time – I’ve known him since high school – with the comment that when he told us back then that his life’s ambition was to be surrounded by pretty girls all the time? THIS was not what he had in mind. He chuckled and agreed – and I promised that when we found him sucking his thumb and rocking curled up in a corner, I’d get him a nice padded room to rest in after this experience. He appreciated the thought. *L* He’s a wonderful guy, and all the girls adore him. He picks on them, and takes their tromping on him all with an easy grin and rolling of the eyes and above all he encourages them all individually as well as a whole team. it was nice to see him interact with them and lead them in a positive experience. He was extremely proud of how they handled themselves, in public, as well as while we were at our temporary home – and so was I.

Then it was back to the church, and bed, and up and packing and cleaning up the areas of the church we used, and then we all finally headed out of Eagle River about 11:30 or so to head home. Me and my lead foot never looked back. *chuckles*

So there ya have it. The allstar experience. I’m glad I went, though I gotta admit I have a WHOLE NEW RESPECT for my own mum, Nana Moosie, who did trips like this with my basketball team, and my sisters gymnastics, and awanas, and various youth group functions and the like over and over again without complaint. I dunno how she did it! Well, I do – just like I did, but that she did it more then once is a miracle!

Course, I’ll do it again next year if needed, too. Just as she did. And hopefully without the swollen bruised sprained holy hell i totally overdid it and am paying the price ankle.

And… next time?

Earplugs.

Definitely.