Trade deadline!

  I am a baseball fan down to my Dodgers underwear.  Today is Major league baseball's trade deadline.  It is a fun time for me every year to sit here an speculate on how my team will change.  Can we get that superstar that will change our season.  So far the Dodgers have been active, but with the ownership divorce it is slowing down what we can do financially.  Maybe we will get rid of Manny Ramirez, who knows.

   This has got me thinking, I am the GM of my home.  What can I trade?  My kids?  Bills?  What?  LOL, I could not trade my kids, although if you talk to me next time Kolbie is throwing a fit, a good toaster might make the deal.  My teenagers are beginning to be somewhat fun.  Sometimes it is hard to get Chris away from the TV, he might be available for  a kindle, or ipad.  Kate is a little more pricey, you would need to make a great offer.... Like season tickets to the Bees or Grizzlies.  I am completely kidding, my kids are great fun.  They give me plenty of challenges, but I love 'em. 

  My knowledge of local hospitals has got to be worth something.  Could I get some running advice in trade.  I know our local hospitals like the back of my hand.  The cafeteria at Imed is actually pretty good.  I will trade my sprinkler system.  It has me tied up, every time I try to fix it I find something else that needs some attention.  I think I need a gardener.  I will trade you any of my bills.  There has got to be an easier way.  I wish I could just get on top of it all. 

  Did you hear about the guy on "Craig's list" that traded his way from cell phone to a Porsche.   So here goes I will give you a piano for.......  

To be a fly on the wall!

  The James Gang is certainly never boring.  If you lack sleep and would like a laugh just peek your head over at Woodgrove Drive, there is bound to be something exciting going on. 

   Jill is in the hospital for her monthly roto rooter hospital visit.  So..... the kids and I have got to keep everything else in line.  Yesterday I called to see what chores the kids had done and what was going on at home.  Of course nothing had happened and everyone of them was off in la la land.  I got them all home and gave them a list of chores to be done NOW.  After about 10 minutes I get a call and it is just hysterics going on.  This is not unusual I figure they were fighting about the chores.  No, Kate saw a bird down stairs.  A bird down stairs!!!! I am at work, getting ready to head to the hospital.  I was not planning on being home until late what do I do?  I told Chris to go down stairs with a big tub and put the tub over it.  Then I can get the bird out when I get home.  "Um, no Dad, I am not going down there", what????  Man up son, go down and help. 

   I called Kate, "what is going on?"  "It flew past my head and is in the laundry room".  I told her to go down and put a tub over it.  "Dad, I can't".  I tried to get Chris to go down stairs and hold up blankets from the ceiling, then the bird would go where we want it to.  No way was he going down.  I then got the brilliant idea to have them turn on the web cam so I could see what was going on.  There they were, my 3 kids and 2 neighbor kids staring back at me.  Kate then said she had an idea, Harley!  Oh no, that is all I need, the dog chasing a bird around the house.  I could picture a disaster!  (not that our house is pristine).  I turned back to the web cam and I see the back door open, the dog on his leash.  Alyssa with the broom and Savannah following the dog towards the stairs. 

   At this point I called Kolbie, "what is going on?"   " I do not know Dad, I am in my room with the door shut and a blanket over my head."  Click...... My kids have the circus market cornered.  Kate calls me back, we can't find the bird.  It must be back in the wall....... WHAT?????  Back in the wall????  Kate is sure that is where it came from.  About 10 pm, when I got home I went down searching for the bird.  Nothing to be found, no evidence nothing.  So my house is somewhat secure with a bird in the wall???

  After further investigation, Kate never actually saw a bird, she thought she saw one fly by her head.  I cannot find anything so who knows.  Chris would not sleep in his room last night, where is the video camera when you need it!

Synopsis summer 2010

It has been a little while, well if you can believe it I am still alive.  I could say that not much exciting is going on with the James', but it is always exciting on Woodgrove Drive.   Jill has spent quite a bit of time in the hospital the last 3 months.  Fighting these dang kidney stones is a battle to say the least.  The doctors just shrug their shoulders and say "deal with it".  What can we do, eh? 
In and out of the hospital has put us in dire spots, but we will make it.  If nothing else I still have a family that I love and can laugh with.  There is always somebody worse off, right? 
This has been the summer of no baseball, well sort of.  I got a call from a neighbor and he asked if I could come and help coach an allstar team over in Granger.  They were 10 year olds that got the raw end of the league.  We ended up with not one kid that had pitched on a regular basis.  Needless to say we got throttled 25-0 and 36-0.  We joked with Matthew that we needed to put a doggy cone on his head to make him pay attention.  He started pitching for us one game and it did not turn out so good.  No outs and 10 runs later he was on the bench taking a nap for 2 innings.  I guess if Ken Griffey did it why can't Matthew?   It reminded me of how much I love baseball and helping kids learn the game.  To see smiles after a good play or those oh yea moments when they forgot to cover the base, those times are priceless. 
Now I get down to business and get my book in order.  That is something I have always wanted to do.  I need to get it done. 
Well, thanks for reading, I promise more action in the future.  More laughs and maybe something embarrassing.  But for now Tchauzino!!!