The PAL Shavings Mystery

This is the view I have in the morning leaning over my sink to shave…

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When I leaned over the other morning I saw red shavings all around the Tivoli Audio PAL radio (one of our best purchases.) At first I thought someone had been scraping off pieces of the red rubber coating! What in the world! (Click on photo to zoom in.)

Then I remembered the baseball game the night before. Kathy and I had gone to watch Danny play in the evening. We decided to let Kelly and Claire stay at home with strict instructions. Kelly was in charge and Claire had to do as Kelly said. If she had any problems with Kelly, she could bring them up when we came home. We told Kelly not to be bossy. Both had Kathy’s cell phone number if they needed to call.

We called several times during the game to check in. Everything was going fine. Then we got a call. It was Claire. There was a problem. Kelly was upset because she had a comb stuck in her hair. Claire had not caused the comb to get stuck in Kelly’s hair, she said. Kelly did it herself.

Kathy had an upset Kelly get on the phone. Sure enough, Kelly had rolled a comb up in her hair and created so many knots and tangles, she could not get it out. Kathy told Kelly to stop trying and wait until we got home… in about 45 minutes.

When we got home, Kathy determined the comb was tangled up so much it would have to be cut out piece by piece. Danny came to the rescue with some wire snips, carefully cutting out the comb piece by piece. Kelly did not like any of this, but Danny was really being a big help. Some hair was lost in the process, and Kelly would later have to get her hair evened up at a stylist.

According to Kathy, getting a comb stuck in your hair is an experience every girl has once in her life.

If you have been following a long, Dr. Watson, you should be able to answer this question: What color was the comb?

Now playing: Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles

Career Night and The Package

Kelly went to career night at Crews Middle school with Kathy. Kelly has been thinking about being in the FBI.

A detective brought in a black, drug-sniffing German Shepherd. He hid a real bag of pot in the room. The dog found it pretty quickly. All commands were spoken in German or Chech, so the dog was bi-lingual. Everyone was impressed.

When the officer left and everyone was leaving the room, Kathy realized he had left the drugs under the cushion on the couch. She went out in the hall, worrying that he could get fired for leaving drugs in a middle school.

“You left your package!” she shouted.

He turned around, “What?”

“You left the marijuana in the couch.”

“Oh S–!” he shouted in front of the kids and parents.

So Kathy had fun at career night, and Kelly still wants to be in the F.B.I., but I suggested the C.I.A. since the “I” there stands for “Intelligence.”

Now playing: Smoke by Ben Folds Five from “Whatever And Ever Amen”

Best Cashel Report Card Ever III?

Cashel, Mary C.

Brookwood Elementary School

First Quarter from 08/11/03 to 10/10/03

ID: 200109622 Grade: 03

E = Excellent

S = Satisfactory

A = 90 – 100

E – 3rd/Gr (Conduct), Mattison, F.

A – Language Arts/3/Reading, Mattison, F.

A – Language Arts/3/Spelling, Mattison, F.

A – Language Arts/3/Wrtg-Gram, Mattison, F.

A – Math/3, Mattison, F.

A – Science/3, Mattison, F.

A – Social Studies/3, Mattison, F.

E – Heatlh/3, Mattison, F.

S – Phys Ed/3, Heck, B.

E – Art/3, Cunningham, S.

E – Music/3, Turner, P.

E – Math/3/Enrich, Mackellar, N.

Comments:

Shows enthusiasm for learning

Wonderful role model

(I put III because Nicole’s was the first entry, and in the gap of recording these things, Kelly likely brought home II.)

Sports Saturday With A Twist

We had a big sports Saturday with Mary Claire and Kelly both playing soccer, and Danny playing baseball.

Kelly saw a lot of action playing at the YMCA field. She was on defense and the other team was HUGE. (So most of the game was spent on Kelly’s side of the field.) She played fierce and unafraid of the MONSTER girls. Kelly’s team didn’t have subs, so she battled the entire game.

Our favorite moment was when Kelly took the ball from back, middle field and curved out to the right around three different ENORMOUS players. She moved it up the side until the opposing team kicked it out. One of the GIANT girls said “We can’t let her dribble down the line like that!” Kelly is always very aggressive about retrieving an out ball and throwing it back into play. She uses her head and usually gets the ball to an open teammate. The “Magic” held the score to 0 – 0 until the very end when the AMAZON women’s team scored.

Mary Claire played forward and goalie. In between tieing her shoes, she played her usual speedy game. It was a close, but the Blazer’s took the lead early and held it. Kathy and I huddled under an umbrella in the drizzle, and I was able to grab a couple of good photos.

Danny’s game was was exciting. He pitched the first three innings. He had a good first inning and really enjoyed striking out one of his old teammates, John M. The second inning was terrible with a lot of walks and errors, and the Braves went down 4 to 1. In this league a pitcher isn’t allowed to go more than 3 innimgs. We were a little surprised when the catcher came out to pitch the 4th inning. We were even more surprised when Danny came out to catch! The switch worked, because the team came back and tied the game 4 to 4. Danny had some great throws down to second base and first.

The end of the game included a controversial call at home plate when the other team’s winning run was ruled an out. The runner failed to slide into home, mowing over a surprised (but unhurt) Danny who was trying to make a play with a throw in from the outfield. A wild pitch to the next batter allowed a man on third to try at home. Danny was able to scramble back to the ball and toss it low into the pitcher’s glove for a just-in-time tag at home. It was perfectly executed and the third and last out of the game.

The coach thought Danny did a great job catching. He was surprised to find out he hadn’t caught a game since he was eight.

I told Danny that high school baseball may be played at a higher level, but rec league sure delivers a lot of excitement and fun.

Happy 21 Nicole!

Nicole came home for a birthday celebration including funky glasses shopping, church, dinner at Roadhouse, and a delicious birthday cake with Nicole’s favorite icecream from Bruster’s.

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Nicole flanked by her two goofy sisters.

Name That Cache

We need help naming the Geocache we are going to hide on Tybee Island in Dad’s honor. We already have the ammo box (dark green) and have painted on the sides:

OFFICIAL

GEOCACHING.ORG

GAME

Please Do Not Distub

Dad has filled it up with Civil War souvenirs including belt buckles, dollars, and uniform buttons. However, the contents of a cache turnover as people take things out and put things back in. We could tape photos or something on the inside lid and decorate the log with a Civil War theme to help maintain the theme. And I think we should hide the cache near the old fort at the lighthouse.

Dad suggested a name with C.S.A. (Confederate States of America.)

Kathy suggested something with Smut in it…. “Smut’s Revenge.”

I was thinking about taping a photo of the cigar boys from Anna Maria Island and calling it “Smut’s Rough Riders” or maybe “Smut’s War Chest.”

Ideas on what we can name the cache? I want to set it up before we go down so that I know it is ready to go. Please post a comment.

Danny Scoops at Bruster’s

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With a clear goal of getting his driver’s license (and paying half of the insurance) Danny found work at Bruster’s on Sugarloaf. (Great highway name for an ice cream shop. Thanks to Lexi for the referral!) One of the most surprising things he has learned is how the regulars not only come for ice cream every day, but sometimes they come twice in one evening! For us Bruster’s has always been reserved for special celebrations of achievement by the kids. I’d just as soon keep it that way.