More baseball and Father's Day, and maybe time to rest

Erik's team had one last game to play... THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

I think it's a bit odd to have a championship game when this level of Little League is not supposed to be competitive, but they have it anyway.

First off I was late leaving work and my ex was not going to be able to make the game due to work. I had to rush out of the office and drive 25-30 minutes to pick him up at day camp, pick up Kevin at my house, and head for the game. Suddenly I get a call. MS is checking to see what is going on that evening. I told her about the big game. She asked if she could come with her son. Why did this cause any kind of freaking out? On top of this I already had plans for after the game. My kids had just met her a couple of weeks prior, but Kevin had not met her son. A small amount of panic set in. She said she wanted to come anyway.

I was nervous about it, but decided it wasn't a bad thing. She asked where it was at. I gave her some rough instructions, but told her I was running late and probably wouldn't be there on time. Then the idea hit me. If she could pick Kevin up that would save me enough time that Erik probably wouldn't be late. Plus, Kevin knows exactly where the game would be. I relayed a few phone calls between her and Kevin and it was done. She was going to take Kevin to the game. Then that panic feeling set in again. I told myself I am over reacting.

I got Erik and headed to the game. Luckily I had put his uniform and all of his equipment in the car that morning. He changed while I drove. When we arrived it was right when the game was to start. One of the assistant couches was breathing a sigh of relief. He told me he was afraid their best first baseman was a no show.

I was now worried that the coach was going to ask me to ump again. He was walking over to me with a smile on his face. Not good! Then suddenly a guy dressed in official ump gear walked up to the field. He said he was hired to umpire a game, but when he got to the field he was supposed to be at they were just having a scrimmage game. He asked if we needed an umpire. A HUGE sigh of relief from me was heard over the entire city.

The game was VERY tense. Not tense like that last game, but everyone was trying so hard to do well. There were a few hits, but we were scoreless through 3 innings. In the 4th inning the bats got heated up. We got one run hit in by one of the boys. When the other team got up they too scored, but they scored 2. I was starting to get really nervous.

Our 5th inning turned into a big rally. We had bases loaded and no outs when one boys smacked a big hit scoring 2. They got one kid out at second. More hits put one more score into the record before we got out.

We were up by 2 going into the 6th inning. If we can keep them from scoring more than 1 point we have the game. The first kid popped one up to our 3rd baseman. The next kid got a big hit... double. Our pitcher then put the heat on and struck out the next boy. The next batter hit a short blooper right over to Erik at 1st base. He didn't get to it in time to catch, but he got it with one bounce. You could see the concentration in his face. He raced the kid to the base to force him out.

A couple of the parents commented how I was not my usual composed self throughout the game. I am normally quite vocal cheering on the boys, but I guess my pacing and cursing the bad calls was noticed. Oh and then there was the time I was hanging on the fence shaking it in frustration.
I am very proud of this entire team. They started out the season looking pretty weak. For them to turn that all around and take the championship was quite remarkable.

MS did not come back to the house with us

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The boys decided to take me to Six Flags for Father's Day. My ex bought them season passes, and they got a coupon for me to get in free on Father's Day. I asked them if they minded if MS went with us. They thought it was a great idea. They had another coupon to get her in for like $15. Gotta love going to an amusement park and not have to pay $100 to get 4 people in.

The weather was perfect. Hot enough to have all the girls wearing as little as possible. But what I thought was odd was that the lines were short. We got right on some of the best rides in the park. I must be into some really good Karma lately.

My kids were behaving great. No fighting over what ride to do or food to eat (lunch cost me just over $40 for nasty cold hamburgers... yikes!). There were a couple of times where they were saying they wanted to do something, but I wasn't really up for it. When this happened MS said to the kids in kind of a negative tone, "What day is it guys?". She meant well trying to keep them from stressing me out on Father's Day, but they were no where near causing any trouble. I see this as stepping over the line. I know I'm going to need to address this. Trying not to over react.

The rest of this week I am going to try to relax and get a few things done around the house that are on my to do list. I'd rather get this stuff out of the way before I am unemployed.

COUNTDOWN TO UNEMPLOYMENT: 10 Days

Part of me wants to take a trip somewhere once my job is over. I just need a change of scenery. Vegas always comes to mind. I have been there in June/July before. The heat is not pleasant, but bearable with all the casinos and swimming pools. MS doesn't gamble. Something to do with her father or uncle, I'm not sure. Plus she is going to Europe in mid-July on vacation.

What to do?