Skip to main content

I hate titles.

Blog titles.

Book titles.

I hate coming up with them.  Mostly because I'm not very good at it.

But, now that I have you here, I thought I'd share a little bit of what's been happening over here. It's really all the usual stuff.  Work. Sports.  School.  Too much television.  A book here and there.

Then there's the fear that I'm going to go prematurely gray because of this child right here...


I know he's not the only middle school student out there struggling with his grades.  I know this because parents talk.  I hear the stories.  I watch kids getting benched for being on academic probation.  Of course, none of that makes my hubby or me feel any better.  We're not worried about those other kids, we're worried about our own.  If he could succeed by our will alone, he'd be golden.  Unfortunately, doing well in school requires that he turns in his completed homework on time and that he pay attention to detail.  Two things he really doesn't do  well.

He has five weeks to get his grades to more acceptable levels.  He can do it.  In fact, I have no doubt that he will do it.  I just wish he'd put as much effort into the first half of the marking period as he does the last half.

Now, all that being said, I should mention that his grades have not gotten him benched.  Not yet.  Although I sometimes wonder if that would be the magic cure.  Would getting benched do what mom and dad yelling has yet to accomplish?  I think it might.  When I look at his grades, I don't believe it's a coincidence that he has a B in his basketball coach's History class.

And, at the risk of sounding like a bad parent, I have to admit I'm glad his grades haven't prevented him from playing.  It's a lot of fun watching him and his teammates battle it out on the basketball court.

Leaping to block the throw.

 
Of course, we have more than one basketball player in the house this year.  Instead of wrestling as he has done for the last few years, our youngest decided to to follow in his big brother's footsteps.  I thought he did very well.

Dribbling down the court. 

Oh, and I've got to say, gymnasium pictures are the worst!  I can't tell you how frustrating I find the lighting to be.  Not that it stops me from trying to capture the moments that make the kids look like superstars.  I fiddle with the settings throughout each game, trying this and trying that.  Some combinations of shutter speed and exposure work better than others at freezing the motion, but that means I don't always get the shot I want.  Sometimes, the shutter releases right after the moment occurs.

I guess that's enough rambling for one day.  Later!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Camping with Little Boys

  Our first travel trailer. I don't remember camping much with my family as a kid. This is likely because we always had the same vacation destination: a family plot in Baldwin, MI. There was no cabin there. Instead, there were two structures: a small, silver camper and an old single-wide trailer. The silver camper is gone but the single-wide still sits there and is used by extended family members to this day.  It wasn't until I was a teenager that my step-mom and dad bought a pop-up trailer and we started camping elsewhere in the state. My memory isn't the greatest, but I'm almost certain they got the pop-up after I started dating Ken. Eventually, my parents upgraded to a fifth wheel that my dad still pulls around to various nearby camping spots. Ken, by contrast, didn't have a set vacation destination growing up. His family camped. They started out with a truck-bed camper, I believe, and eventually upgraded to a fifth wheel.  Ken and I vacationed both in Baldwin an

They saved the finger..

This was supposed to be an easy, carefree weekend.  One of those rare weekends where spontaneity is possible because plans were not made ahead of time.  We could lounge on the couch, work on our hobbies, or even do a little shopping.  And, no, I'm not referring to the necessary evil of grocery shopping, but the much more enjoyable version where you get to buy things that actually make you happy. Because the oldest boy needed some pants and the youngest could use a new pair of shoes, I decided to head into the city to do some shopping at Kohl's.  Of course, my decision to shop there was not quite so altruistic.  Mama needed a new bathing suit! So, I pack the kids up and head into the city.  The youngest picks out his shoes . The oldest tries on a few pairs of jeans and ends up with two in the basket.  Did I mention we have to shop in the men's department now?  That he's wearing size 29?  My baby is growing up! Then it was Mom's turn.  I was looking ove

It Should Be Our 28th Wedding Anniversary

I had to do the math twice. Probably because I'm really bad at math. Today should have been our 28th wedding anniversary. We only made it to 26, which is so impressive when you consider how many marriages end in divorce.  So, because I have no doubt in my mind we would have been married still today had cancer not taken him, I want to honor our special day. So, here's a Happy Should Have Been Anniversary to my hubby in heaven.  Today, as I recognize what should have been and think about what was, I figured I'd share not only some lovely pictures from our wedding day but I'd explain how this widow plans to move through October 15, 2022.  In just a little bit, I'm joining another Millington widow at a Widow's Luncheon, which is being hosted by the Amish Church in Millington. I'm a bit nervous, to be honest, because I don't know what to expect. On my best days, I consider mys