News Trend Baby Blue Baseball Skies|Actual

Play ball!

I caught a couple games of the Seattle Mariners' series with the Texas Rangers this week.

I know. It's only April, a bit early for a civilized outing to the ball park, especially up here in the soggy Pacific Northwest. But when my daughter's favorite team comes to town, we go, no matter what.

And anyway, t's a well-documented fact that I love me some major league baseball.

The long-standing rivalries between the clubs

The slow, lyrical pacing of a leisurely game.

The sudden bursts of adrenaline from a home run or a double play

The sustained rally of an inning full of solid base hits and strong base running.

The always-present suspense of knowing that with each pitch of the ball, anything might happen.

I'm also a huge fan of the baseball culture:

Honoring our country before the first pitch.

Filling in my score card.

Listening to the vendors hawk their wares

Singing my heart out during the seventh inning stretch

And oh my gosh, the smell of those garlic fries is pure heaven.

But I must confess that on top of all those sports-specific pleasantries, I may most appreciate the simple joy of spending a few hours sitting outside under a baby blue summer sky.

Or in the case of this week, a sunny but shockingly chilly mid-spring sky.

Monday night's game was rough - despite my hat, mittens, boots, and layers of sweaters, I shivered through the game.

Tuesday was even colder. At forty-eight degrees, the air hung heavy and cold, damp from the day's rain. Luckily, I was prepared. Wrapping myself up like a burrito in a fleecy blanket, I managed to stayed warm as toast for all nine innings.

And best of all, on both nights, after the game had ended and I was home tucked in bed, I slept with the wonderful weariness that only comes from spending hours in the fresh air.

Magical things happen under those baby blue ballpark skies and my summer baseball mojo is off to a great start.

* * * * *

For more stories about baseball, check out:

Take Me Out To The Crowd

Buy Me Some Peanuts And Cracker Jack

As American As Apple Pie

#yolo

Face-Off

Safeco Sunday

News Trend Uncontrollable|Actual

Some years, spring comes wandering in like a dawdling child.

Slowly

Cautiously

Taking her own sweet time

And no matter how excited you are to see her, or impatient you might be to have her bloom into her full glory, you just have to let spring happen when she is good and ready.

Then there are other years, when the opposite is true.

When you are still comfortable with grey skies, tumbling clouds, sweater weather and only a tiny hint of change in the air, she rushes in, all posies and tree buds and pink-cheeked toddlers playing outside after their naps.

And BAM.

Whether you are ready or not, spring arrives. She can be quite bossy like that.

This spring, for me, has been the pushy kind. I would be happy to wear my boots and cable knits for a few more weeks, but oh no. Today, I had no choice but to break out my sandals, throw open all the windows, and take a nap on the grass in my backyard

I can't control Sirius either. But he is not putting up much of a fight on this warm spring afternoon.

Spring, I can't control you. And that's just as well

Because you are a very good reminder that this life is not meant to be controlled at all.

News Trend Perfect|Actual

Ranger and I see eye-to-eye on the ideal conditions for our daily walk.

A cool fifty-five degrees with a light mist falling.

Not only do we feel invigorated and refreshed in the brisk air, but the rain keeps most everyone else inside.

We love having the streets to ourselves.

And though Ranger and I definitely enjoy our outing in very different ways, we can both agree that today's walk was perfect.

News Trend For Now|Actual

Last week, I bought a set of coasters for my family room.

They were nice coasters. From the moment I saw them, I loved their

round shapes

wooden tones

and dip-dyed shades of turquoise and coral.

For a reasonable price, I snapped them up, brought them home, spread them around my coffee table, and felt perfect peace.

Oh, what's that you say? You don't see any shades of blue or red in these photos?

Yes. That's because I have a serious masalah with leaving well enough alone.

Somewhere along the recent way, I've tossed my lifelong obsession with bold color aside and decided that shades of black, white and grey are my new thing.

And within just a few hours of bringing these unsuspecting angels into my home and momentarily enjoying their bright coastal hues, I couldn't handle myself anymore.

Craving some delicious Scandinavian black and white minimalism, I dragged these innocent discs out into my rainy backyard where I attacked them with masking tape, various cans of paint and a passion for reforming them in my new image.

Now we are all living together in monochromatic heaven and I couldn't be any happier.

At least for now.

Acacia wood coasters sasaran

side table target

jade plant

News Trend Life Of A Math Teacher: Sharing Life|Actual

* * * * *

Today I found in one of my feeds this beautiful image and thoughtful message.

Though I would have found them meaningful under any circumstances, I was especially touched when I saw that they were posted by my former student, Tori.

I've known Tori since she was a sweet little ninth-grader, just back in the United States after living abroad with her family for five years, and definitely acclimating to the American high school culture.

Soon she became my student and we studied algebra together for several years. Because of the unique path I walk with homeschooled students, our connection has grown and deepened over the years. I've continued to work with her younger siblings as she headed off to college; we keep up with one another's news and see each other from time to time. From my special vantage point, I've enjoyed the privilege of watching her grow into her life as a sensitive, responsible, interesting young adult.

So thank you, Tori, for reminding me of the gifts of our planet on this Earth Day. And thank you too, for reminding me of how lucky I am to share life with all my wonderful students, including you!

* * * * *

Read more stories about my life as a math teacher:

Social Distancing

Playing With A Full Deck

The (Math) Joke's On Me

Sharing Life

Little Brothers

Sweet Inspiration

My Hero

What I Do

Number 15

Christmas Edition

tiga.1415926

Buy It And Burn It

In Honor Of James K. Polk

House Tours

My Deep Gladness

Isolating The Radical

By The Numbers

Teaching My Own: High School Art And Algebra

News Trend Glass Half Full|Actual

Did I predict that there would be some new holes forthcoming in my walls?

Yes, I did.

Allow me to make good on my promise.

^ Holes be damned; there's a hockey game that needs watching and this guy

will not be deterred from his goal.

^ Those two black pipes lead down from the shower drain, and were centered at the worst of the leak. I don't need the Property Brothers to tell me what that means.

Pretty, right? This is the situation in my family room, where moisture had compromised the wall board and insulation.

I discovered this mess when - in preparation for painting - I took down some art and saw a strangely saggy spot on the wall. Using just a few fingers, I pressed lightly on the wall board which gave way under my fingertips like wet tissue paper.

Oops.

Immediately, I diagnosed the underlying problem. The shower stall, directly above this spot, was constructed way back when the builders roughed it in with regular sheet rock rather than waterproof backer board. The whole neighborhood suffered this same plight, and our showers have all gone down like a row of moldy dominoes.

^ Here's the guilty party, stripped down in shame.

^The toilet area is just an innocent bystander but he's been drawn into the fracas.

Obviously, we still have some work to do to put these holes right again.

But in classic glass-half-full style, I am rejoicing that my moisture problems have been properly mitigated. All surfaces are dry and antimicrobial-ed; both rooms smell like clean-chemical heaven. We're ready for the construction guys to come in and build us something beautiful.

And then my glass will be overflowing indeed.

News Trend Birthday Surprise|Actual

My husband is a pretty practical guy.

Not the type to covet luxury items, his birthday wish lists usually lead off with Cabella jeans and plaid flannel shirts, followed by options for Starbucks gift cards and dark chocolate candy bars.

But this year, two weeks before his big day, my frugal spouse told me he wanted a $270 chess set.

It's historic, he explained. The pieces are modeled after the very first chess set and constructed from a valuable resin from some weird place. Honestly, I don't remember much of what he said because my brain was experiencing a full-on state of shock:

Is. He. Even. Kidding. Me.

Precious days ticked by as I contemplated this uncharacteristic idea. Oh, the money wasn't my main concern. Dropping a few hundred bucks for a gift is definitely far beyond our normal birthday budget, but for a special request, we could manage the indulgence.

What I genuinely and sincerely questioned was how my budget-balancing finance director of a partner would embrace this whim once he saw the outflow of cash in his bank transactions.

He'll change his mind, I hypothesized. This is a passing fancy, and by the time his birthday rolls around, he'll forget all about this swanky Historic Chess Set and opt for an L.L. Bean online shopping spree instead.

Well. I was dead wrong.

* * * * *

On Monday afternoon, thirty-six hours before the Big Day, I checked in again. So what are you thinking about your gift? I casually probed.

"I sent you the link for the chess set two weeks ago," he stated.

Okay, I continued. So you're sure you still want that?

"I wouldn't have sent you the link if I wasn't sure."

Alright. Point taken, Mr. Nothing-but-the-Facts.

Fifteen minutes later, Amazon was processing the order and my fate had been cast.

* * * * *

But now I faced the classic post-terbaru gift-giving dilemma: While the ordered-online-at-the-last-minute item is still in transit, what will the recipient unwrap on his actual birthday?

I'm a stickler for a timely birthday ceremony and it's essential to me and my nurturing instincts that family celebrations include an actual, physical gift to be unwrapped. Now, we're all adults these days, and have developed sufficient self-control for second-day shipping, but in my view of the universe, there simply MUST be some representation of the gift on the dinner table for the birthday boy [or girl] to unwrap.

I pondered this duduk perkara deeply, and while driving home from a student's house on the afternoon of my husband's birthday, the solution came to me in a vision.

A photograph of a pink prawn against a white background, cut to a three-inch square.

Effortlessly, the whole plan of what I would do fell right into place.

^ As the birthday ceremony unfolded, I presented my husband with a wrapped gift box [not shown.] Inside, tucked among the handfuls of those crinkly bits of accordion-folded paper squiggles were sixteen small envelopes, sealed tightly shut, with one letter printed on each face. My husband fished them out and stared at me blankly.

First, I declared, you must arrange the envelopes to spell out a secret message.

^ Well done. Now, open each envelope and take out what's inside. The order no longer matters, so you can mix them up.

Luckily, my husband always carries a Swiss Army Knife in his pocket for moments such as these. You never know when you might need to slash through some washi tape, darn it. Better safe than sorry.

 ^ Now, each photo you see is a clue. Figure out the pattern of the clues, and arrange the photos into the proper order.

Folding his jackknife and tucking it back into his pocket as he scowled at the cards, the birthday boy muttered to himself for a few seconds until suddenly he smiled, and we all literally HEARD the light bulb click on in his head. With a few deft maneuverings, he positioned the cards just so.

^ Yep, he got it right. Each photo relates to a piece of a chess set:

Billie Jean KING

Freddie Mercury from QUEEN

Joey BISHOP

Bobby KNIGHT

Nathan Fillion from CASTLE

and eight perfect pink P(r)AWNS

The master strategist understood the need to place these unconventional game pieces in their proper location, as if readying them for a round of chess.

Now flip over the cards in their current positions and a new message will reveal your gift.

^ Ta daaa! We bought you that chess set!

At this point in the treasure hunt, my husband was not particularly shocked by my final message. But as he pointed out, he does enjoy solving puzzles and did not mind working so hard to reveal the truth about his mysterious birthday surprise.