Play Ball

I haven't been here in a while...now I'm black.

.....

I'm happy that baseball season has started, albeit in a manner (or more specifically, a location) that I'm not too pleased about. It's not that I'm opposed to Japan...it's a cool place I suppose, and they've given America some quality baseball talent, but baseball is our NATIONAL PASTTIME, and so Opening Day should take place here, not at 6 a.m. Eastern time on a Tuesday morning in Japan. At any rate, all is right with the world again...baseball is back. I consider Opening Day to take place Monday, when the Yankees open at home against the Blue Jays. Opening Day is one of my favorite days of the year.

In related developments, I have three fantasy baseball teams. I think I drafted well, and have a good chance at defending my championship from last season. I'll have to beat, not just my Pops, but my girlfriend as well.

.....

The kids are well. They're back in school this week after Spring Break. Yesterday we checked out the new Hardee's in Meridianville, then went shopping for clothes for summer. Tonight we all hopped in the hot tub, which I spent the weekend preparing. Matthew had been excited about it, asking me about it for several days. It worked buddy!

.....

This weekend the kids and I are off to Auburn for the A-Day game and a couple of AU baseball games with my parents.

New Computer

Well, I bit the bullet over the weekend...bought a new laptop. My old one would not take a charge, and is pretty much dead. I had to get a new machine, so I did. I had thought about a used IBM Thinkpad, but decided to go with a new machine at Best Buy. I bought a Gateway M-6309. It's not a top of the line edition, but it is nice, and plenty for what I need. It's regularly priced at $699...I got it for $499. So far I'm pleased, although I'm having an adjustment period to Vista. I'm trying to figure out the best way to transfer all my iTunes music files to my new laptop. I've pretty much got all my music on cd's and my iPod, so I think I can use a combination of both to make it happen. I don't know how I can use this laptop with my outdated printer though. My printer uses one of those large, wide pin cables, and my laptop doesn't have a jack for that. O well, I imagine Best Buy will have an adapter or some other solution readily available. Pax, if you're reading this, shoot me an email about resolving that issue...thanks!

.....

Karen and I spent most of the weekend together. She came to the kids' games on Saturday. We watched Auburn basketball that afternoon, then on Sunday, we both did some electronics shopping. Her bedroom TV died, just wouldn't turn on, so she bought a nice 37" HD model for her living room, then moved the nice 32" HD model into her bedroom. How nice!

.....

I need to hit the grocery store soon. Matthew has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), so we're trying to make healthier choices in his diet. Mostly that means cutting out sugars, caffeine, and red and yellow dyes. As you might realise, that makes it hard to use some food items. Of course, we're not totally eliminating all of those things, but we are conscious of cutting down on them. So, anyway, I'm looking for some treats or items I can throw in his lunchbag so he's not starving at dinner time. I will say that the modifications in diet, as well as some behavioral techniques at home, are helping him focus and deal with stressors more effectively. His brain just moves so fast, and has a hard time latching on or focusing at times. That's getting better, though.

.....

Sarah continues to stockpile Webkinz. My god, she has about 35 of them now. She loves them. We even have a game we play with them...all three of us play it: the tossing game. We all choose 5 of the animals, stand at the end of the hall, and throw them all the way down the hall and onto Sarah's bed. Basically, one character is eliminated every round until there's a winner. By the way, I'm the champion!