Steve will never learn

For some reason, I just can't seem to get it through my thick skull that me and sports no longer mix. I first discovered this about 5 years ago when I was playing softball on a company team. I was playing rover in the outfield and having a great game. I had caught the first 2 outs when the third batter also hit a line drive my direction. I sprinted for the ball when all of a sudden my hamstring tightened up and left me in great pain. Ever since that day, EVERY TIME I play softball, I seem to injure my hamstring. So I told myself, that I just had to give up playing and stick to golf.

Well, last night, my brother Mike called me to see if I could fill in for someone who was going to be out on his SOFTBALL team. At first I instantly said no. (I should have stuck to that answer). But then after thinking about how since January, I had been going to the gym regularly and I have even run a 5k race this year with a 10k coming up in June, I figured I would be O.K. this time, so I said yes. I was really excited to get out their and play. I got to the park, got my shoes all laced up, and Mike and I went out to warm up.

Silly me. I am not even sure I should really go into all the embarrassing details of this. Mike and I were just playing catch to loosen up. He was throwing me these nice knuckle balls that had really good movement. It was like they were dancing in the air. Fun to see and play catch with....until....one of the knuckle balls did a hi jump to the left right at the last second. Apparently, my glove failed to make the same jump up and to the left. The result was the ball smacked me directly on the left eye brow. It made a nice gash that started to bleed right away. After only a couple of seconds, the bleeding was more like dripping and I knew that I just set a record for myself. I had not even been out on the field for 4 minutes when I hurt myself. For crying out loud, this happened during WARM UPS!!! I was not even in the game yet!! The eye instantly swelled up and started to turn purple.

Here, take a look:


However, They still needed me to play in order to not forfeit, so Mike taped up the gash, and they put my in as catcher. (in my defense, I actually went 2 for 3 at bat with solid hits and caught a foul ball for an out while playing. Not bad considering I was wounded) However, while running the bases in the 3rd inning...you guessed it, I pulled the hamstring. Actually, it is really the inner thigh muscle this time, but same issue...I am just not able to play softball anymore. In fact, I have decided to give up all sports where you throw or hit balls away from you and then they come back at you. I am sticking to Golf where you hit balls away from you and then you walk down and find them instead of having someone hit them back at you!

When will I ever learn!

Steve

p.s. here is what the eye looks like the next morning:




Here I am now at day 4. The welling is gone and the purple is starting to turn to yellow. Another week of having to explain this to everyone I meet and I will be good to go!

More Pictures

Today is Saturday and we have made it through another work week! Work is actually really slow right now. Too slow. I had to lay a couple of people off work 2 weeks ago. I am down to a pretty small staff right now. We are at about 50% of the work load we should be at this time of the year. That, coupled with our company being recently purchased by a Fortune 500 company, has things at work feeling a little scary. I guess I won't worry about it. It won't do any good to worry anyway. It is what it is.

As for this blog, I got a little harassment from Dakota about the pictures I used in the last post. I tried to tell him those were the only pictures I had on the computer I have at work. Now that I am at home, I will find some better pictures of him to add to the blog, so here they are.



This is Dakota in the backyard on the 1/2 pipe. He was able to do this after only a day or so of practice. He really took to skating on this.

Here is the most current photo we have of our family:




This picture also includes my Mom and Dad. What did I tell you in the last blog about Carson. We go to set up for the picture and instantly, he climbs into Toni's Lap. He may be a little embarrassed by me saying this right now, but I hope he understands that it is one of the most endearing things about him. Toni and I just love it!!! Also, I guess this is the first photo of me on the Blog. Let's see if I can find a better one:




These are the boys in my family. My dad, brothers Rich (back) and mike (left) and me. Just so every knows. Mike is standing on his tip toes!!! He is not THAT much taller than me!


Here are all the girls in the family. From the left, is Mike's girlfriend Gigi, then my sister Jenn, Then Toni, my sister Tracy, Devynne, then down to my daughter Cadie. My mom is right in the middle then Mikes' daughters Mikelle (in grammy's lap) and Taylor (looking thrilled to be here)

So that is all of my immediate family. Here is one last picture of the entire group:





Here we are acting just a little crazy.

Well, I guess that is it for toady. We are off to a picnic at the Church Park. Should be fun.

Happy blogging!

Steve

Here we go!

I am not exactly sure yet, WHY I am going to try this, but I thought I would start with Blog #1 and then go from there. My friend Brian started his family blog and after reading it, it inspired me to try one of my own. My brother-in-law, Ron also recently started a family blog that I thought went well, so I feel compelled to add to the Blogsteria going on.

It may take me a few tries to start getting things in here the way I want to. I have never really gotten into the blogs before this. To be honest, I haven't even really read that many blogs. So this will be a new thing for me. I sure hope this blog has a spell check somewhere or I will come off looking dumber than I really am.

To start with, here is a picture of my family:

As you can see...there are a lot of us. We are your typical "Brady Bunch" type family. Three kids are mine and three of them are Toni's. They conveniently have names that either start with the letter C or the letter D. Mine are Cadie, Cody and Carson, while Toni's are Devynne, Dylan and Dakota. Only the three D's live with us right now. The three C's live with their mother up in Northern Utah. I miss them all the time.

The best time of the month is when I get to go up and be with them. They are a ton of fun to be around.

Carson is my youngest and he is also the craziest. He loves to laugh. He comes up with some of the goofiest things to say. Anything to get a laugh. Sometimes he goes a little overboard. At the same time, he is the most affectionate little guy I know. He will snuggle up in the lap of just about anyone. He just loves the attention and the hugs.

All of us are huge Utah Jazz fans. It is nice to have the Jazz back in the playoffs, but the way they are ending the season has us all concerned. I was talking to Cody on the phone just yesterday and I asked him how he was doing? He said terrible. I asked why and he said "you know why". And I did....the Jazz had just lost to the Sonics the day before. He said..."exactly". I love talking basketball with "Code Man". He is so into it. Trading cards and all.

Cadie didn't like my last Blog, so here is her version of herself: I am 13 years old. I enjoy reading books, and playing any Sport. I also enjoy anything that has to do with Harry Potter. My favorite food is pizza, and my favorite color is blue. I like talking to people and hanging out with my friends. I get really good grade in school, and my favorite subjects are English, Utah Studies, and art. I also enjoy drawing and Sketching my Surroundings in my spare time if I'm not already playing outside or reading. theres a little about me.

Devynne is crazy about BOYS and cheerleading. Both subjects are very difficult for a father to stomach. I know it is just a part of kids growing up, but it still turns my stomach into knots. She is also the queen of using words that she doesn't even really know what they mean. It does make for very fun and interesting conversations. It is almost like she is playing off the "dumb blond" card, but since she is so smart...I am sure it is just her sense of humor.

Dylan is major into music right now. Our neighbor taught him to play the guitar and now he won't put his down. I must admit that he does play rather well, so I try not to discourage him. It is just that EVERY spare second he has, he grabs the guitar. Oh well, he could be into worse things (I will get into his hair and music choices some other time)

Dakota, the talker, is so full of energy, you would think he eats sugar for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is actually the one who eats the least amount of sweets, but is still just full of energy. He goes 90 miles and hour and can never sit still. His favorite thing to do is skateboard. He and Dylan even helped me build a 1/2 pipe in the back yard that they can skate on. He really likes being outside, running, jumping and skateboarding. They are building a huge skateboard park at the Rec center and Dakota can't wait to go.

Toni and I are doing great. We love to go to movies, eat out and play golf together. We just love being together. I still make her laugh, but lately I think it is more AT me than WITH me. Oh well, as long as she is happy. Life is really great. I feel very blessed. I know that we are being watched over.

Happy Blogging Everyone