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| Toonces hanging out with a crocodile friend |
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| Croc stuff on my cat (check out the website: stuffonmycat.com) |
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| East softball's "I can, I will" shirts--their theme for the season |
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| Softball Coach Lance Kingery (the bald friends) |
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| East High Softball's "Strike Out Cancer" Night |
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| Beth Staswick and Baby Paul (Paul's first East event) |
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| Softball Pink Night Trophy |
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| Strike Out Cancer |
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| A croc painted by my former East English colleague, Jim Holechek |
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| The Grow Crocodile (before being submerged in water...in order to grow three times its size) |
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| Coffee post/pre morning run with Michelle, Michelle, and Bridget |
Tuesday I found awesome and strange things in my school mailbox:
My cat, Toonces, didn't think highly of this crocodile plate. Luckily, I put the chocolate in the refrigerator, because Toonces barfed up a fur ball on the chocodile.
There was a lot of hype about the East High softball team's Pink/Strike Out Cancer Night. Coach Kingery asked me if I would be willing to throw out the first pitch at this event. I said that I was okay making a fool out of myself, which is good because I have zero ability at throwing anything to its designated target.
Mom came out with me to Doris Bair Park, a softball complex out past 48th and Superior (I didn't even know this place existed). We were amazed at the number of cars in the parking lot--there were several teams on the different fields, but there were still several people there to witness the throw...several people that my mom and I knew, including her 7th grade boyfriend and softball coach at East, Nick Dean. The team all went out on the field in their pink team t-shirts, and a few cancer survivors were honored. I was given the pink softball trophy.
When it was time for me to throw out the pitch, I warned all of the girls and coaches behind me that they should move. I have a terrible slice, and the ball has the potential to go backwards. Sally Dean, Coach Dean's wife, was also a breast cancer survivor, and it was my job to connect with her for the throw. I was happy that I didn't have to catch the ball--I'm not sure I could have gotten up from the squatting position. Using my best wii bowling throwing technique, the ball actually made it to the glove, and nobody had to be too embarrassed.
My mom and I stayed to watch most of the game. While mosquitos have never liked the taste of my blood before, they now like it--apparently, chemo-flavor is tasty, and I started to get mauled by bugs. I was going to let my English 9 students Sharpie my head for the game, but I'm glad we didn't have time for it, because my head would have been a giant bug bite. This was my first East softball game ever.
Friday night I did what I call "croc factory work." I ordered more rubber crocodiles, so I had to write "I can. I will! AK" on 144 of those critters. I got bored after writing on the first two...
Saturday, I met Michelles (two of them) and Bridget at Scooters. They had just finished a 12-mile run, and I was heading out to "run" six. I met the cross country team afterward at Holmes Lake. The kids only had to run four miles today, so by the time I got back from my six mile run-walk, the parking lot was empty except for Brian's truck. My knee was a little angry at me (it said, "You haven't run all week thanks to fatigue, and you thought six miles was a good idea?"), and I thought of my friend, Brad Rettig, who ran the Leadville 100 mile race--he had to use a bungee cord to pull up his leg the last mile of the 100. I could have used such an item. The reward was having breakfast at HyVee, where we brought down the age demographic considerably.
It was a productive day, because I also went to see the East High production of Frankenstein with Jane Holt (who was hilariously funny during the scary/violent moments by the way). I also reread this week's SEED book, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, since, even though I read it this summer, my memory blocked out all information not given in the title. I don't suppose that too many Nebraska people simultaneously read a book while "watching" the Husker game.
On Sunday, Brian and I ate at Hiro 88, so I could get my half-price sushi fix. We donated more money to the Lincoln Running Company (in exchange for goods) and brought newspaper to the Capitol Humane Society. Brian and I wanted to get the kitten that we thought looked like a baby version of Apollo (the Children Zoo's bobcat), but we can't even keep our own cats from either vomiting on things or pooping outside the box. We might have been smarter just putting out newspapers all over our carpet at home, so Duke could extend his litter-box empire. Tomorrow, we have a cross country meet in Kearney, so we had a spaghetti feed.
Also, I just learned from watching a Smithsonian documentary that the ancient Khmer people thought that "the gallbladder contained a person's courage, and that by consuming the gall of one's enemies, a warrior would grow more brave and powerful." Since I had my gallbladder removed a few years ago, I can prove that this myth is not accurate.
I'm sorry not all of this information is profound (or not necessarily interesting), but I have a three-second memory, and I think life should be documented.
Stay tuned for...a giant crocodile maturing in my bathtub...a henna head tattoo (this is happening next Sunday)...getting approval from my doctor and finally booking my skydiving adventure--there's even a Groupon for that.
