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fun in fours

Month: June 2022

Orlando 4

Wednesday 22 June 2022

Our first experience with nationals is now over. The Girl's team finished 124th place out of 200+ teams. That's not great, but it's not terrible.

It represents the end of a strange volleyball season, one of several ups and downs, thrills and disappointments. The Girl improved a lot, both in her sense of court real estate (knowing and moving around the area of the court in a smart, effective manner) and ball handling.

The end of this year brings a bit of sadness with it, as do all endings. In this case, it's due to the fact that it's very unlikely these girls will play together again. Everyone will be going their separate ways from here. Since they don't go to high school together, they'll probably be opponents if they're on the volleyball court again.

So the third year of L's club play is officially behind us, and what lies ahead? The Girl has big hopes, big dreams. She wants to come back to nationals and win it -- or at least place in the top ten. She wants to play college ball, using her academic success with her academic skill to work her way through college.

Teams Scattergories

In the end, though, the true friendships, whether among players or their families, will always last.

Orlando 3

Tuesday 21 June 2022

Another day, more games, more frustration. It's tough watching the girls not doing their best, but there's something admirable in their effort, no doubt.

Orlando 2

Monday 20 June 2022

Day 2 in Orlando didn't go quite as well as day 1. We have two more days, but the girls have a bit of a hole to dig about out of tomorrow. The girls are capable of it. It's really just more of a question of will, perhaps. Or maybe there's more going on.

Orlando 1

Sunday 19 June 2022

Today was a mixed bag for the girls in their first days at nationals. They lost two and won one, but they should really be able to compete with a lot of the teams here. They didn't get their butts kicked: instead, they got outplayed a little and kicked their own butts with silly errors that gave their opponents too many free gifts.

The Girl got some really big hits, and she got at least one monster hit that shot like a bullet to the back corner, the sound of the contact still echoing when the ball hit the court. It was a great hit.

The Boy discovered the joys of riding up an escalator and back down and back up and back down and back up and back down.

Planning Rides

Saturday 18 June 2022

This summer, I'm hoping to get back on the old mountain bike I left at Babcia's and ride a bit of the old areas I'd covered so many times in the early 2000s. Much of my riding then was on a road bike, which I don't have in Poland (or America anymore for that matter), but I rode a fair amount off-road as well.

To that end, I've planned at least a few rides I want to complete -- three of them completely new.

Ride 1

The first ride I want to do -- though not necessarily the first ride I will do -- involves crossing over the border at the top of Lipnica Wielka, the village where I lived for seven years. I'd always heard there were villages on the other side running somewhat parallel to LW, and I discovered getting to them is fairly simple. Since one can cross the border freely now, there's no risk of getting in trouble coming back into Poland without any documentation of entering Slovakia.

Ride 2

Next up would be a ride that begins the same ride four -- one I've done a few times but instead of turning left in the fields, I'll turn right. I never went right because I didn't know where I might end up. Turns out, I'll end up in Chyzne.

Ride 3

The third ride is through the fields of Lipnica Mała and Lipnica Wielka. It goes along the top of a ridge I'd looked at countless times when riding in Zubrzyca but never bothered to explore. I'll explore it this summer.

Ride 4

The small loop through the fields, I rode this route a few times in the past. It's a fun one, especially that climb at the start.

Dice

Friday 17 June 2022

For whatever reason, the Boy has become interested in dice -- as in, the game. As in the gambling game. I'm not sure where this came from. He just came back from a trip to Target with K (or some other store) with a pack of six dice.

He learned how to play by watching a video after he bought the dice.

"How do you even play?" he'd asked.

"I've no idea," I admitted.

So he's learned and been playing betting with Monopoly money.

It's been entertaining watching him celebrate when he wins and get playfully frustrated when he loses. We're glad to see he's not really taking it too seriously -- that might be problematic for all kinds of reasons.

Today, I picked up where K left off in their game and promptly lost all my stash of $500 bills I'd inherited from K. "It's not real betting: why not just go crazy?" I thought.

And then I promptly won them all back. And then all his $100s. And his $50s. And his $20s. In short, all his money. His response: "Well, happy Father's Day!" with a smile.

Thursday

Thursday 16 June 2022

We're approaching our departure of nationals -- the biggest volleyball tournament of the year. We'll be going to Orlando for almost a week. So I'm trying to get the last bits of the to-do list completed.

Sunset While Walking the Dog

Wednesday 15 June 2022

First, this, of course -- two weeks to go. We're all getting excited.

Then this -- a simple image from this evening's walk with the dog.

The List Updated

Tuesday 14 June 2022

"Those trees really kicked my ass," I texted our neighbor, "but I finally finished them today." I was letting him know that I'd returned his beast trimmer that's a holdover from his lawn care business. It's a Husqvarna 525HE3:

That is to say, it's an expensive, heavy hedge trimmer that is great for reaching high places. And our neighbor G is kind enough to let me borrow it whenever I need it. And when I'm trimming the Leyland Cypresses, I really need it. At first. Once I beat back all the smaller branches, I have to top the trees -- or at least I had to this time. And lacking a pole saw, which costs about as much as the 525HE3, I have to use a reciprocating saw (I am not going up there with my chainsaw -- no way I could hold it with one hand as needed) to cut out the thicker branches that have grown into mini-trunks.

So today, I finally finished trimming the trees. They look awful -- they always do because I assault them. But they always grow back and everything is fine.

So now the list looks like this:

  • Trim the Leyland cypresses (a two-day job in and of itself)
  • Clean the outside of the house
  • Pressure-wash the deck
  • Apply ample coats of water-proofing to the deck
  • Pressure-wash the concrete portion of the drive
  • Complete the furniture assembly for the remodeled basement

And that's a good feeling.

The Boys in the Creek

Monday 13 June 2022

E's best friend came over for the afternoon today. At first, they did what boys these days do: play video games. However, we have no gaming console in our house at all. No Xbox, no Play Station, no Nintendo Switch. In fact, I only know those things exist because I hear students and teachers talking about them at school. And of course, E brings them up occasionally.

And it's a little surprising, to be honest, how many adults with no children or with grown children still invest time and money into gaming systems. To each his own, I suppose, but I always thought there was a time when people outgrew video games.

Not having a gaming system has several advantages, not the least of which is the simple fact that since we don't buy games for our PC either, E's gaming options are severely curtailed. Which means he and his friend grow tired of them eventually and head outside to find other things to do.

Like catching minnows in the creek behind our house.

As for the Girl today, she was out of the house for most of the day: physical therapy, volleyball strength training, and driving instruction took almost all her day.