I am still alive and kicking...well, alive at least...don't know about the kicking. I've been sick since Easter, and just as I thought I was getting better, I relapsed, went back on antibiotics, and became a hermit, or so it seems. I've been confining myself to the house, even missed Travis' tee ball game this past Monday night, in fear of getting worse if I exposed myself to the cool night air. There's more to tell about tee ball, given that I have not updated since he had his first game. But I will get back to that in a minute.

Guess what tomorrow is? What? You give up? Too bad. You couldn't answer the $25,000-question. Tomorrow is my 25th birthday! :-) Last night my parents took me to Applebee's (it finally opened back up in Olive Branch!), and they even brought a cake and everything. I didn't even expect a cake! My Mom took me birthday shopping a couple weeks ago and bought me some clothes, so I was basically already wearing my present. My Dad's birthday is today, and I gave my Dad a Cabela's gift card (hunting/fishing stuff) and a really pretty card. What is funny is that the card I gave my Dad is the same exact card my Mom gave her Dad for his birthday. It's like the card just jumped out at me in the store, it was the first one I saw, and I picked it up, read it, and I was like "Yep, this is THE card." It made my Dad get all teary-eyed...he's getting more sentimental as he gets older, I guess. I have NO idea what Michael is getting (or already got?) me? I suppose I'll find out tomorrow...hopefully tomorrow morning so I can enjoy whatever it is all day :-) We have tee ball practice on Thursday night, the actual day of my birthday, so we are going out to dinner on Friday night, at the Olive Garden....with or without our friends. There's a lot more to THAT little story right there, but I refuse to make this blog post negative or derogatory in any way. Hopefully all is well that ends well.

So anyway, back to tee ball. Travis is the star of his team! :-) And I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother. He is the most athletic, most focused kid on the team, and he takes it so seriously. He's the only kid on the team that can throw the ball from 1st base to home plate. He has such an ARM on him, which we've known that about him since before he even turned 2. In his mind, he probably really believes that he's a major league player! His first game, April 15 (was supposed to be the 11th, but got rained out), he played the pitcher's mound, which was a unanimous decision by all the coaches. He went after every ball and knew exactly what to do with it. He just amazes me! His batting has improved so much, too. We have players on our team that could care less about playing ball, and you can really tell which ones are in it because THEY want to be, and the ones who are in it because their PARENTS want them to be. We have kids out there playing in the dirt, LYING DOWN on the field, picking their nose, running over to the fence, running circles around the pitcher, climbing the fence, etc. Those are the kids that probably needed another year of maturity before their parents put them in tee ball. Some kids had to be literally picked up or dragged to the batting tee, crying! Don't get me wrong, we have maybe 3 or 4 other kids that are very much into the game and love playing, but MOST of them don't have a clue what's going on. Travis got really upset his 2nd game because he started out playing pitcher, and halfway through the game, another kid that played last year kept running out into the pitcher's circle, getting in Travis' way, and took a ball that Travis caught. This same kid's mom told Michael he needed to let other kids have a turn, which maybe so, but for that game, Michael had already chosen the positions, so I don't really agree with that mom, but Michael went ahead and let this other kid have a turn for the remainder of the game, just to keep the peace more than anything with this other mom, and Travis was NOT HAPPY. Thankfully, the game was just about over by then, and I had to go out onto the field with Travis and get him to talk to me, and then we finally got him calmed down in the car. The only words I could offer him was "You're still my star," and I told him that part of being on a team is letting other kids get the ball, too. Which is true. At this age, I think the kids SHOULD switch up positions so they can learn different positions, BUT I do not agree with the WAY that it happened at that game. I think the kids should play a certain position for one game, and then switch for the next game. Honestly, before this tee ball stuff ever started, I never thought I would get upset about my child being done wrong during a game, but when I saw what happened and HOW it happened, my heart ached for Travis! I mean, I understand why Michael did it, because he is the type person that likes to avoid confrontation at all costs, and he doesn't want to be accused of playing favorites, but it still made me MAD that other kid did what he did, and that mom spoke up about it. GRRRRRRR!!!! Okay, I feel better now, lol. No matter WHAT, Travis is still MY STAR :-)