And we're off...

And so the sports insanity begins.....

January through March will be basketball (Tera), indoor football (Toby), baseball (Toby), and at the tail end of March, softball (Tera).  Add a couple of non sports related activities and we have a crazy, but manageable schedule.

So far the schedule looks like this:

Monday: 4-H (Tera)

Wednesday:  Youth Group (Toby) and basketball practice (Tera)

Friday or Saturday: Football game

Saturday:  Basketball game, baseball practice

Sunday: Football practice.

That's not bad at all.  We have a couple of days with nothing on the schedule and the games and practices are only going to take up a portion of the day.  Really, that's an incredibly easy routine...

It's when we hit April through June that we get in to the meat grinder of the schedule.

With softball and baseball there will be at least five practices a week and then the weekend tournaments.  The tentative tournament schedule is 6, maybe 7, tournaments for Tera and possibly as many as 8 tournaments for Toby on top of his league schedule.

This is where the stay at home dad experiment will be put to the test.

As I have stated in previous posts; it's not that we can't get through it with both of us working.  It's that we can't get through it without watching the house fall apart and us spending WAY too much money on fast food.

Our diet goes straight into the toilet when the baseball/softball season gets into full swing.  After all, you can't make sandwiches and pack granola bars if no one has had time to go to the store.

It's kind of funny now that I think about it.....I mean, how can we have no food in the fridge and still have a mountain of dishes? That just doesn't add up...... Oh wait....Pizza....Yes, I remember now.



I do know of a couple household pets that will be thankful that I'm home.  I don't know how many times throughout the ball season that either Karla or I have come home to an accident in the house; and you certainly can't fault them.  If you were to ask me to hold it for twelve plus hours I'd be poopin' on the floor too.

I did find a way to get out of cleaning canine mishaps.  In our house whoever stumbles across an accident first gets to pay the "finders fee" -- they get to clean the mess.

So whenever we all got home from the ball field, I would unlock the front door and let everyone else go in first.  :)

There have been a few times where I have opened the door and as the kids walked in I caught a whiff of something incredibly foul....."Whoa, that's got a little bite to it."

(Let me throw out that, overall, the dogs do very well.  But there have been those few times where we left home at six in the morning and didn't make it back until eleven pm or later.  So I'm glad for their sake that at least during the week accidents shouldn't be a problem.....I really ought to put up a fence)

I'm letting the cat out of the bag thinking that this won't be an issue this summer....But if it is you can bet your ass that there will be four people standing at the front door late at night; arguing over who has to go in first....


The one thing that I am not looking forward to is the cleaning of uniforms.  Karla used to do it, but she shoved that off on me the instant I gave my two weeks at my full time job.

Karla has an incredible hatred for white uniforms.  In fact, the word hatred may not be strong enough.  I don't know how many times I've seen that little flash of anger in her eyes as she asks, "Why did they have to get white F###### uniforms?!"

For Karla, little miss prim and proper, to drop the F bomb -- it has to be bad.

Karla, the family workaholic, cannot stand scrubbing the stains out of uniforms.  I've watched her practically grind an entire bar of Fels Naptha soap into a pair of pants, wash them on hot, and then do it all over again multiple times until they come out sparkling.

The uniform would always come out looking as if it were new.......Then the kids would promptly go out and soil them up again....I can almost hear Karla's teeth grinding from the dugout.....And if we happen to be playing on red dirt?  Karla will be dropping F bombs for the next week.

I'm worried....Real worried.  Karla loves to work; and if she's gleefully pushing this chore off on me, it must be a real shit job.



On top of the indoor insanity I am also hoping to tackle the yard and plant a garden this year.  I may be biting off more than I can chew with the garden; but I can at least take solace in knowing that I won't have to pay anyone to mow my yard this year.  Being on a half acre lot, the trimming of the grass can be an expensive proposition...

As far as the garden goes I will readily admit that I have no clue what I'm doing or what it is that I'm actually getting myself into.  But I have wanted to grow a garden for quite a while now so, by God, I'm going to do it........If anything it will make for good blog material -- especially if it turns out to be a complete disaster.


The only other thing we have to worry about is Karla's travel itinerary.  So far, she is already scheduled to hit both coasts once this spring.  I am anticipating a few more business trips over the summer.  So there may be times when I have to call grandparents and ask for help....



Crazy, crazy, crazy......Am I ready for it?  I have no idea....