39

Today is my birthday. I am 39 today. I joked around at work yesterday that I have finally had my last birthday. Isn't 39 the age everyone says they are when they reach 40+. I went to lunch with some friends. It was very nice. Then the boys and I went to see Twilight. I am ashamed to admit I haven't read the book, but I did enjoy the movie. Mason said it was the best movie he has seen in a while.

Tomorrow is turkey day. We are going to my mom's for lunch and then to my brother's to watch the horns beat the aggies. Friday we plan to go into San Antonio to the base and do some shopping. Nothing too exciting.

Tanner's football coach called and said they are entering two tournaments in December. That would mean we would have football, baseball, and basketball practice next week. I had to tell them we couldn't commit to playing football. I think I would lose my mind trying to juggle all of that.

Busy weekend

Tanner and I went to Austin for the weekend for the state baseball tournament. My mom drove in and stayed with us on Saturday night. It was nice to get to visit with her and for her to watch Tanner play ball. His team played twice on Saturday and they won both games. Tanner hit another in the park home run. Sunday we played and lost our game, which meant it was time to go home. We rushed back to Katy and got back just in time to watch Mason's second baseball game of the day. They won. All in all it was a great weekend for baseball.

Both Mason and Tanner's football teams played Saturday in the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately both teams lost and they will not be going on to the second round. The good that comes out of this is we no longer have to juggle two sports, at least until basketball starts. Speaking of basketball we got a message on our recorder from the basketball league asking if Brad might want to coach Mason's team. I laughed so hard I almost wet my pants. I told Mason and he said, "We would lose all our games if Dad was our coach."

It has been nice the last three days to come home from work, cook dinner, get a chance to sit down and enjoy it. Monday night Mason asked if we could sit in the dining room and use our china. We did eat in the dining room but I didn't pull out the china.

On Monday I took Mason to the nephrologist for a follow up to his hospital visit. He is doing really well. He never relapsed during the time he was sick. I asked the doctor what this might mean. He said it is a good sign. I asked him if we could start cutting back on some of the medicine and he said we needed to wait until January. If he has still not relapsed we might. He said about 60% of patients relapse when they start tapering down the Neoral, but that means 40% don't. Maybe Mason will be in the 40%. We won't know until we try.

We still haven't talked to Kyle, but I have found out a few things from a little birdie. He is living on his own somewhere. He is working somewhere. He got two tickets. One for speeding and one for an expired registration. The grand total of this bill is $310 dollars. Sucks to be Kyle. I am not sure who's car he was driving. I told Brad to call him and see what he is doing for Thanksgiving. We will see what happens with that. The whole Kyle thing is just weird. I knew he couldn't grow up normal living in such an unstable environment.

Go Curve!!

Tanner joined a select baseball team a couple of months ago. So far the kids played in a Sunday league in the fall. In the fall league his team came in second. This past weekend they played their first tournament. The first game they played they played a team that has played way more games than we have and have been together for a while. During this game our team was down a couple of runs. Tanner got up to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. I always say a little prayer when he gets up, because he can get nervous. That boy hit a line drive down the middle of the field. He hit it so hard it went through three players and stopped at the fence. He got a grand slam! When he got home he had to slide and just barely missed the tag. He was so excited. Everyone was screaming and hitting him on the head and back. We ended up winning 14-12. He got the game ball. His team ended up winning second in the tournament. It was so exciting.

Mason is a little jealous. He has been playing select ball for two years and they placed fourth in one tournament. The rest of the time they never placed. Mason has played 10 plus tournaments and has one trophy. Tanner has played two and has two trophies. Mason's team is doing much better and in the Sunday league they are doing really well. They don't really play too much in the fall, because of football.

Tanner's football team won their last game on Saturday. This puts his team in the playoffs which are this Saturday. His baseball team is traveling to Austin for a state tournament. He had to make a decision as to which one he wanted to do and he picked baseball. His football coach isn't too happy. I hope he doesn't take it out on him.

Mason's team is in the playoffs too. I won't get to see the game, because I'll be in Austin with Tanner. I hope they win, so I can see them play again.

R.I.P. Abigail

The boys have killed the hamster. Poor Abigail was left with no water. Yesterday Mason called me while I was at Tanner's game to let me know Abigail had died. I told Tanner on the way home. He got really quiet and asked if God thought they had killed her? We had a little discussion about responsibility. He then asked if Abigail was in heaven. When we got home Brad and I made them get her out of the cage. That was an ordeal. We put her in a baggy, dug a hole, and put her in. We said a prayer and asked God to forgive us for not taking better care of her. Mason cried. Then Brad covered her with dirt. It was a very interesting experience. Today is has been raining most of the day. Tanner said, "I sure am glad I am not Abigail." Don't we all!!!

Election

This past week was not near as crazy as the week before. Although some major things happened. I haven't said much about the election because it is really hard to say how I feel. I am really nervous about the next four years. I think it is funny that before the election things that should have been questioned about Obama were pushed under the rug. I know this happened because of the whole race thing. No one wanted to be called racist and looking a little deeper into the life of Obama and the questionable people he associated with was seen as picking on the black guy. If the shoe had been on the other foot and McCain had associated with a someone that was racist and anti-American he would have been thrown off the ticket faster than we could believe. So, was this election a race oriented one, yes. Just look at the post election reports. That is all we hear about. People can't even be disappointed in the results with out being seen as racist. I am not racist, but I am anti Obama. The only bright side in all of this is when Obama screws things up I get to be the one that says, "I thought things were going to be better with Obama." The other positive thing that has come out of this, is hopefully now that we have an African American president, race really will not be an issue again. The next time people will really look at the character of the two candidates and the issues. I just pray that our country can survive the next four years.

On Wednesday morning the boys woke up asking who won. When I told them Mason said, "Man this has been a horrible week. First I get sick, go to the hospital, UT loses, and Obama wins." It really was a bad few days.

We're Home

We got a little surprise this morning. When the doctor came in and saw us he was pleased with Mason's labs. Mason had to drink a certain amount of liquid yesterday and he did. The doctor was so pleased he said we could go home. We checked out about 1:00. When we got into the car Mason was very tired. He had me worried, he seemed worse than he did when we were in the hospital. I think it all just hit him at once. When we got home I took Tanner to his football game and Brad stayed home with Mason. I told Mason he had to take a nap or he couldn't watch the UT football game tonight. He has been sleeping a couple of hours now. He has no restrictions and might get to go back to school on Monday. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. It is reassuring to know we have such nice people in our lives.