Team Meyer

It always rains on Memorial Day weekend. You see, I grew up on the west side. (Yep, Pete, even more west than this!) And it rains most of the time. But always, always on camping weekends. My sister and I learned to play pinnochle in the rain over many Memorial Day & Labor Day weekends...in leaky tents with soggy cards. Lanterns hissing, fires sputtering, skin pruny. Somehow, those were still the best of times. Although, then, I didn't know about baseball. Ahhh...baseball. The Bruins had their first outing. Saturday, the sun shone brightly and the boys won one, lost one. We all got sunburned. On Sunday, just like on the coast, we were rained out. Then Monday, the sun was out again. It's been the oddest spring. After the game Monday, we did some shopping. Got Zach a new bat. Man...how can a cylinder of metal cost so darn much??? And we all got haircuts, ready for summer. Here's mine: I'm having a little trouble with the straight part. As you know, I...

Have I told you about summer evenings in Walla Walla? Did I tell you about the first night I was in Walla Walla with Dave, sipping icy Coronas on his parents deck, staring at a million stars dusted over a black velvet sky, the air beginning to cool, the heat still drifting up from the pavement, the wood of the deck railing still warm to the touch, the smell of the onion fields, the rhythmic ch-ch-ch of the irrigation sprinklers...and Dave...leaning back in his chair, eyes closed, a smile on his face, his cap turned backwards, his boots propped up on the chair..."It doesn't get any better than this, Shelley. It just doesn't." As in so many things, he was right. Completely right. There isn't anything better. And I don't mean just the Walla Walla part. (Although that one evening is the single reason Dave could convince me to move here.) There is something so deeply satisfying about that feeling, when you've put in a long, hard day, working or driving...

Spring is wrapping up. Already. We're getting ready for Jake's graduation from high school. Can't wait to go see them. He'll be attending WSU in the fall. We're all so proud and excited. School ball is over for Zach. He got drafted to the Bruins for summer ball. He'll be traveling to Eugene and Missoula among other places, doing what he loves best...living it up behind the plate, blocking wild pitches, throwing runners out when they (stupidly) try to steal second, all that jazz. Kenny went to regionals in Spokane for Special Olympics and won FOUR GOLD MEDALS! Wow, his best showing yet. He had his awards barbeque for school track tonight. Kate arranged a very sweet "David's Restaurant" Mother's Day brunch for me and all the neighborhood moms. Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread on our deck. Warm sunshine and flowers and fancy placecards. It was lovely. Then we joined the Meyer/Johnson clan for dessert that evening. Dessert and a crani...

Wasn't it just yesterday that Kenny was riding his little scooter, up and down Alder Street, scaring the passing motorists with his hairpin turns? Wasn't it just last week that he boarded the big yellow bus with his Toy Story backpack, venturing into the big world of kindergarten? Wasn't it just a short time ago that we took off the training wheels on his bike? Look at him now! Proud mom, not too many tears. Dave do you see him? Aren't you proud?