What's Been Going On

I feel like writing, but I can't think of anything in particular to write about. I hate that feeling. So I guess I'll just summarize what's been going on my world lately. Because I know you're just hanging on the edge of your seat to find out what's happening in my piddly little existence, right?

Most immediately, I have a fantasy football draft tonight. I play in a dynasty league run by my brother-in-law, RC. If memory serves, this is our fifth year of the league. I have a lot of fun with this league. After each season, we keep 10 of our 20 players, so we can keep the basic core of the team together, while still infusing new blood into our teams through the draft and trading. I've played in the championship game for the past three years in a row, but I've only gone 1-2 in those games, including losing to RC last season. If I keep this up, I'll soon be known as the Buffalo Bills of our league. I have a lot of good keepers, though: Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) and Tony Romo (Dallas) are the quarterbacks I kept; Chris Johnson (Tennessee), Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville), and Ray Rice (Baltimore) are my keeper running backs; Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis), Vincent Jackson (San Diego), Mike Wallace (Pittsburgh), and Pierre Garcon (Indianapolis) are the wide receivers I kept; and Jermichael Finley (Green Bay) is a tight end that rounds out my keeper list. Those who play fantasy football probably recognize that I'm pretty set at QB and RB for the year, but I need to beef up my WR's, especially with Vincent Jackson missing 3-10 games this season. Our drafts are always a good time, so I'm looking forward to it.

Wednesday night marks the beginning of softball season. Last season ended with a 1-6-1 record and a broken ankle for me. We're hoping to improve on both counts this season. We had our first practice yesterday, which was a blast. I've been having some shoulder issues lately (abbreviated version: I think I have a tear in my rotator cuff of my non-throwing arm), but the doctor shot me up with cortisone on Friday, and it worked great by Sunday. Not even the slightest bit of pain as I batted and fielded. My ankle is completely healed, so I had no issues with it, either. My batting felt good from both sides of the plate (yes, I can switch-hit), except for the screaming line drive that I sent directly into our pitcher's thigh. He seems to have escaped serious injury, but I still feel bad about it. I knew as soon as that thing came off my bat that it was bad news. I was yelling an expletive before the ball even hit our pitcher, but he didn't have any time to react. He was a manly man about it, though, only sobbing uncontrollably for about 20 minutes afterwards. My fielding needs some work, but once I got comfortable with the idea that my shoulder wasn't going to be a problem for me, my fielding improved. Looks like I'll be playing third base on Wednesday night.

I've continued to enjoy coaching t-ball on Saturdays. Our last game is coming up on Saturday, and that's a bummer. It's been a great experience, and I've loved teaching four- and five-year-olds about baseball. Too bad it has to end on Saturday. But I'll coach again next year, and Olivia and June will be on the same team. That ought to be interesting!

I got the tattoo of Lady Justice on my lower leg finished on Friday. I spent 3.5 hours in the chair about a month ago getting most of her done, and the finishing touches were applied in 45 minutes on Friday. I learned that I'm allergic to the red ink that was used about a month ago. And since this is the first tattoo that I've had done over two separate sessions, I learned that the second time around is considerably more painful than the first time. The tattoo artist explained that my skin is still "inflamed and pissed off" from the first round of work, especially where I had the red ink done. All of that aside, Lady Justice turned out absolutely spectacular, and I really like the woman who did the artwork. I'm definitely having her do my future tattoos. I'll post a picture of the final product after Lady Justice is done healing.

I've been watching a bunch of movies lately. The Mrs. and I saw "Despicable Me" in 3-D a few weeks ago. It was terrific! We loved it! I also watched both volumes of "Kill Bill" recently. I had never seen them before, and I was a little skeptical, because I'm not a big fan of Quentin Tarantino's movies. I really enjoyed both movies, though--the first volume slightly more than the second one--as it was an entertaining story with plenty of action. "The Taking of Pelham 123" and "From Paris With Love" were both entertaining (I guess I was in a John Travolta mood), as was "Transsiberian" with Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley in it.

I downloaded Buckcherry's new album, "All Night Long", last week. I love Buckcherry, but this album is not my favorite of theirs. I'm pretty disappointed. Another favorite band of mine--Disturbed--has a new album coming out later this month, so I'm hopeful that I'll like it better than Buckcherry's new effort.

Coming up sooner than I'd prefer to think about is my first college class in 14 years. I have orientation on August 21, and then I take the plunge with my first class on the following Tuesday, August 24. The Mrs. and I drove to the campus a couple weeks ago and walked around a little bit so I could get my bearings. She said she'll pack me a lunch in a Snoopy lunchbox, complete with milk in the Thermos, and that I can borrow one of my daughter's backbacks--either Barbie Princess or Dora the Explorer--to fill with my protractor, some pencils, a Trapper Keeper, and a box of crayons. I sure hope I fit in with the other students on campus.

And that about sums up my exciting life of late. Are you still awake?