Road Rash

I've decided I am a complete moron when it comes to playing sports. I fall all the time and it seems that 90 percent of the time, I come home with something injured. Yeah, not one injury in junior high or high school and now I can't play without something hurting by the end of the game.

Background: We were playing in a tournament in I think it was West Valley or somewhere over in that part of the valley and the field is total junk, probably some of the worst fields I have ever played on. It was like gravel!! Anywho, we played in shorts and so we wore knee-high socks, sliders and a sliding pad. Well, being the awesome hitter that I wasn't I forgot to pull up the sliding pad. What happens? Yeah I get a hit through the infield and head on over to second base. The throw was coming in and so I had to slide. My sock slid down with it and my entire right shin was a bloody mess! However, I was safe. So, I get back to the dugout where my mom (AKA: Team Doctor Cowles) decides to help clean me up by pouring an entire bottle of hydrogen peroxide on my leg! OUCH, OUCH, OUCH! I have never hurt so bad in my entire life! So, the wretched wound heals after about five gauze pads, lots of neosporin and about four weeks leaving a really nice scar to adorn my leg.

So, anywho, last week we were playing softball. Our first game was total junk and the second wasn't much better but we did win. However, my legs did not win. I decided that I hadn't slid for awhile and I went down on my way to second base as the other team was trying to turn a double play and I didn't want to pull a Jorge Posada (remember when he got hit in the face with the ball? OUCH!) So, I go down and rip up my right shin to smithereens again! The only thing I can do is pull my sock back up over the wound and finish the game.

So, here we are a week later and it still hurts like a mother! Every time I bend my leg it tears the wound and it reopens! Aahh!! Oh well, I guess it is my own fault. If you're already out, there is no point in sliding I guess. I need to remember that for fall ball.

"I don't let people rent space in my head."

Today while I have been oh so busy sitting at the front desk checking email and Fox News, I have listened to Jessica helping students register (open enrollment started today!). She is really nice and patient with them and at the end of her conversation always says, "No problem." This reminded me of our conference in Boston last summer.

Our first "keynote" speaker was a professor from Stonehill College in Massachusetts. I think he was a sociology professor and probably the worst "keynote" speaker I have ever listened to. (After him, I was done with the keynotes for the conference. I couldn't take it anymore!) He started off on the right foot by insulting everyone from Utah (the U, BYU, and USU) by stating that we had to be one of the least educated states from some article that he read. He didn't even know which state the article was about and just threw Utah in there (what about Idaho or Montana or like Alabama?) Jerk! Maybe this is changing, but last time I checked, Utah was one of the most educated states. After the insult, he kept spewing off all of these statistics about 24,000 children who had died in an African country earlier that week. He kept stating "I don't let people rent space in my head. Those children, I can't get them out of my head." Can you please get out of my life!? The only other thing that stands out from his oh so interesting speech was his crude understanding of basic mathematics to bring it back around (I realize the background was a little long). So Professor Tactless states, "No problem? When did two negatives become a positive?" What an idiot! (Maybe Ph.D. should stand for Phundamentally Dumb!) Did he not pass basic math when the teacher explains that two negatives equal a positive? It's not that hard, think about it.

PAINFUL!!

Croquet playin' fools!

Remember that part in Happy Gilmore when he is waiting at the putting green and the sprinklers come on? Okay, so, we're playing croquet last night and wouldn't you know it, the sprinklers came on! It was quite a sight to see us try to outrun the sprinklers, however, it did speed up the game tremendously.

It was good times until I was killed by poison! I worked so hard to get back in the game just to be exterminated! Oh well, I guess that I must keep playing and honing my skills to be the master champion croquet player I know I can be! Kind of like the ladies in the picture. Now they look hard-core!

Driving Escapades

Straight up now tell me, how bad are minivan drivers?!! Oh my heck, I'm driving back from North Ogden this morning to go to work. I'm just going along and I can count three instances of horrible driving:

1- Minivan coming up right behind me and then switching not one, not two, but THREE friggin' lanes to take the 500 South exit in Bountiful!
2-Minivan confused about how to exit on to I-215. There are two lanes to exit to I-215 as most of us know. The left lane is also the Beck Street Exit as most of us know. However, the mini from Idaho did NOT know! She is like freaking out and thinks she has to be in the right lane and proceeds to cut off three cars while going 50 mph!
3-Minivan driving east on South Temple. First of all, it's from Wyoming; second of all, it's lost! So the guy is like praying about turning right on 600 East. Keep in mind I still have 7 friggin' blocks to go to get to work! So, I swerve around him and he is still in the middle of the lane probably just saying Amen!

Did you notice a pattern? A pattern of MINIVANS! It's like people get behind the wheel of a mini and completely forget how to drive! AAaahhhh!!

In other happenings, the reason I was driving to work from North Ogden is because...my mission papers are done!! I had my physical exam today and it turns out I am in ship-shape to serve a mission! After getting stuck with four needles, I am set to go! TB, Hepatitis AB, Tetanus Booster and Hemoglobin check. I think I am done with needles for a little bit. Next step: the Temple. The Ogden Temple will be the place in August!
So, let the guessing begin, the call should be here in about two weeks! Booyeah!

It's Tournament Time!

It's that time of the season, the time when you really show what you're made of: Tournament Time! Our team is 7-1 on the season and we had our first tournament victory last night against a team that looked completely different from the team we played last week. That's funny, they had the same name but about seven, yes seven, different players! I hate when people cheat! It didn't do them any good anyway; no one on their team could hit or field any better than the real players. Replacement players normally backfire I think. For a few reasons: 1-many times they haven't been playing all season and so they are not in playing shape or state of mind; 2-the team says "let's bring in this person, she's good" and it totally backfires because she isn't up to par; 3-the team probably isn't that good anyway and obviously they have commitment issues with its regulars, so replacement players are not the answer.
Anyway, we have a bye next week which in a way is nice because trying to get back north is such a pain in the behind. So, in two weeks we'll be back on the field ready to play!

Independence Day Happenings

The 4th of July is always a fun time. I certainly had a fun time this year.
Tuesday we were invited to go boating with the Bawden clan. We headed up to Jordanelle and hit the water. I haven't been waterskiing for about 7 or 8 years, so I was pleased with my performance. It took me two tries to get up on the skis, but I did get up and I went for a little while. The next adventure was wakeboarding. I have never tried wakeboarding before this and to my surprise, I got up on my first try. Granted, I was only up for a few seconds. I couldn't figure out which leg I wanted to be my back leg. So, I tried a few more times and got up on a couple. The last time I got up, I was going along, kind of getting a feel for it when we hit a little bit of hard water. Needless to say I crashed, but I did it with style! I completely fell out of the boots on the wakeboard and pummelled head-first into the water. I thought my legs were pulled out of the sockets, but I would definitely try wakeboarding again.

Of course, the 4th of the July is not complete without fireworks. We had the best seat in the house for the Sandy City firework show. We watched them from Dr. Bawden's office and what a sight. I think a third of the fireworks went off on the ground or shot the wrong way! We were entertained with some lady screaming at the top of her lungs after every firework was shot off! She sounded more like she was at an amusement park on a rollercoaster rather than watching (and that's all we were doing is watching) fireworks.


Anywho, this year marks the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Wowser! I hope you all had a fun, happenin' 4th weekend!