Back to the 'Burgh, Part 2

Once Jacob's tournament was over, we had to pretty quickly clear out of there in order to make it to the baseball game.  We had to get back to the car (same convenient parking ramp as the evening before) and find a new ramp closer to the stadium so Jacob would be okay to walk it.  The game was starting in about a half hour from the time we left, so we were fortunate to find a close ramp across the river for only $20.  From there we just had to walk over!

We got to our seats as the anthem was playing...so not too shabby!  It was a little chilly--only in the 50s--which wouldn't have been so bad if the sun hadn't gone behind clouds for most of the game.  It still wasn't intolerable, but I really missed the sun!

Pittsburgh has embraced a funny thing this season - "Hoist the Cone".  Apparently a shirt was inadvertently made and sold that said "Hoist the Cone" instead of "Hoist the Colors", and the Pirates turned it into a whole thing.  The stadium is now filled with people lifting construction cones into the air with each big play.  Even the dugout has one!  It's pretty hilarious, and even more so when people are raising their cones (instead of their kids) during the "Simba Cam".

Not a bad view from our seats--our first time in the outfield!

These seats actually gave us way more than we bargained for!  For one, there was a home run that landed six feet from us.  Had we anticipated that other people in the vicinity wouldn't exactly launch themselves at it, Jacob (maybe minus his injury) likely could have gotten to it.  If you look on the replay you can see him taking his hat off in case he could catch it!  Then, at one point in the game, the left fielder threw a ball into the stands above us.  He threw a lot of balls into the stands, actually--one guy caught one in his cone!--but this one went high above us.  We didn't find out until later, when it went viral (!), that he was throwing to a little girl who was wearing his jersey.  Her brother caught it over the rail and immediately gave it to her, leading to the absolute sweetest sibling hug, complete with their dad cheering behind them.  It was so adorable and made it all over social media, and even the national news!  And guess what?  We were RIGHT THERE.

This is a screengrab of the beginning of the throw.  See the people in the middle, a couple rows above the blank green panel--one with their hand on their hat and another that's all bundled up in a hoodie?  Yup, that's us.  All over the media for half a second.

This was our typical view of the player who threw it.

It was fun to have a different view for a change, although I missed having a direct view of the scoreboard, which was directly behind us, and especially the gorgeous skyline.  But it was better than I thought!

Marcell Ozuna, mid-swing--so fast you can't see the bat

Rookie sensation Konnor Griffin

Power hitter Oneil Cruz, looking tough in center field

Fortunately, braving the chill was worth it because the Pirates won!  It was actually a great game, maybe the best we've ever seen in person.  Home runs, great plays...it was awesome!

Definitely a victory for us, too, after a tough weekend!

Had to try on the pierogi hat in the store on the way out...

Also, I love these pennants.

We finally got to a spot I hadn't known existed until maybe a year or two ago, and then never got a chance to go to.  This is a tiered field and walkway outside the stadium with all of the retired numbers.  

We also saw these Hall of Famer baseballs out along the river.

Such a gorgeous view from there.  Being down near the water made me want to go on another Duck Boat tour like we did when Jacob was little!

Notice the sun had come back out as soon as the game was over...figures!  We headed back across the bridge, sat in a bit of traffic getting out of the garage, and finally got on the road.  Our next goal was to make it to the Grove City Outlets before they closed.  We'd only have about 20 minutes, but Jacob wanted to check for a couple things.  We did make it, and Jacob found a couple things, but he didn't find what he really wanted.  I did manage to get a few things Carter needed, so at least it wasn't for nothing.

Back on the road, we periodically hit some rain.  Nothing bad, but it was odd to go from sun to sprinkles and back.  It got dark sometime after we crossed the border into New York, and we ended up stopping at a rest area so I could grab dinner and Jacob could get a couple snacks.  I got my beloved Panda Express!  I ate it as quickly as possible so we could get back on the road.  Once we got past Buffalo, we started running into snow.  Now, that was annoying on its own, but considering I'd been in shorts and flip flops the previous day, it was truly offensive.  Not only that, but it was really bad snow.  It wasn't sticking on the roads, so I guess that was good, but it was coming down so hard that it was doing the "Star Wars effect" and making it really had to even see the lanes.  It definitely slowed us down and made the end of the drive extra challenging.  It was such a relief to get home after that.  All things considered, we made the best of what could have been a really challenging trip.

Meanwhile, back at home, Craig and Carter had a rare weekend alone.  Carter had a scrimmage...

...and then he and Craig went to a Knighthawks viewing party, where Carter ate his weight in food and hung out with Chopper.  But why does he look so grown up?!

So now we have a couple weekends off, which is providing much needed time to get things done around the house and be a little lazy when needed.  I just wish the weather would cooperate so I could do some things outside!  Spring may be here, but it's doing its best impersonation of early April right now, and for the foreseeable future.  Grrrr.  I need to see some tulips, but it may not happen this time around.  Onward to another busy week...

Back to the 'Burgh, Part 1

Last weekend Jacob and I went to Pittsburgh for his second basketball tournament of the year.  The previous weekend Craig was on the hook for Boston and Carter and I stayed behind because of baseball (and that they needed to leave Thursday so it would have meant two days out of school).  This time, Craig had the Knighthawks' final home game, and Carter had another baseball scrimmage, so it was my turn.  Of course, we really love Pittsburgh, so this wasn't a bad trip to get "stuck" with!  But tournaments don't always allow for much exploration, so we weren't entirely sure how this would go.

Spring really started to do its thing over the course of the week before we left.  Bulbs were coming up, including my gorgeous hyacinths, which both came as potted gifts in prior years and transplanted nicely.  Too bad the deer ate the tulips I received last spring (along with the first peeks of some of my hostas and sedums...grrrrr). 

It was so nice last Wednesday that I needed to take a walk outside at lunch.  There were lots of signs of spring there--including a groundhog hanging out near the pigeon coop (which lives on our property for research purposes).  He was so still I wasn't sure he was real.  But groundhogs are a secondary mascot at the University (nicknamed Groundboi), so it's always fun to see one.  

I haven't seen our yard one yet, but Craig has.  Hopefully babies are coming!  We did have fox babies next door, so that was cool.

  

The trees were gorgeous at my office, too.

The nice weather was such a welcome relief from stubborn cool temperatures and lots of rain previously.  Thankfully, the day we left it was starting to get even warmer, although it wasn't going to last long.  But between home and Pittsburgh, I think the temperature jumped close to 20 degrees (although it got nicer later at home), and it was like a lovely summer day when we finally emerged from the car!  Just like our midwest trips three years ago, an extra, early shot of summer was such a nice mental boost!

We got a bit of a later start than planned on Friday, as Jacob was a bit pokey to get moving and I had a work meeting that ran long (even though I took the day off).  Then we had to pack up all the last-minute stuff, and I think it was around 11:30 when we got on the road.  Unfortunately, we ran into some pretty significant traffic due to construction on the Thruway, which set us back a bit and made lunch a bit more tricky.  Jacob has always been tough to travel with because of his Celiac Disease, but in the past six months or so he's gotten even pickier because he began to suspect he was getting glutened from some places, due to some oddly timed GI issues.  I'm not sure that was the case, but good luck convincing him of that.  So standbys like Chick-fil-A, Jersey Mike's, or Chipotle, which were staples previously, are all off the table now.  He mostly goes with places that have strong reviews in the gluten-free app, and he brings lots of snacks to fill in the blanks.  Since we didn't have time to stop at a sit-down place, he ended up just eating snacks for this round while I stopped at Chick-fil-A in Erie for a bathroom break and food to go.

The trip was otherwise pretty uneventful until we got into the city.  There was a backup near the convention center where the tournament was being held, and we were stuck in that for a bit--only to pop out on the other side and find out that the parking ramp we needed was full!  Time was short before our arrival deadline, so it was a little nervewracking trying to find another spot.  We ventured around the area and finally found one within walking distance.  The walk to the convention center was pleasant despite being a slightly sketchy area, as there were so many gorgeous old buildings with elaborate stone-carved adornments.  Jacob was dispatched to the player entrance while I paid my exorbitant fee for weekend admission, and headed in.  I had over an hour to kill, much of which was spent on this balcony adjacent to the upstairs lobby outside the exhibition spaces.  The view over the river was stunning!

My panoramic view

And of course, off in the distance was our ultimate target for the end of the weekend - PNC Park!  As Jacob is a big Pittsburgh Pirates fan, of course we wanted to try to fit in a game, but tournament schedules are unpredictable and typically a bit illogical and spread out, so we weren't sure it would be possible.  But oh, did I look at it longingly all weekend from this spot!

We honestly weren't sure how much Jacob would play.  He didn't play a lot the previous weekend because he had not practiced with the team prior.  He had actually been with the younger team to start the practice season, but because of his post-viral fatigue, he hadn't been able to participate and that coach felt he needed to get a more reliable player.  If I'm honest, that was probably a mistake as that team doesn't have a shooter and didn't do well the first weekend.  Alas, Jacob ended up on the 17U team, which is maybe where he should have been anyway since it's the coach he'll likely have for school next year.  But that team is pretty strong and maybe didn't need him as much.  He did get assurance he would get more of a chance this time.  Oddly, the 16U team actually didn't end up making this trip because the tournament had a bunch of teams drop out and the late schedule changes left the 16U team playing earlier Friday.  The parents balked at having to get there so early on such short notice, so they canceled out.  So I guess it was good he wasn't playing on that team if he wanted a shot at a Pirates game!

He did get into the first game and even hit a three early.  I swear, he didn't shove that kid over--he tripped!

But unfortunately, when he went back out later in the game, he jumped to block a shot and got his feet swept out from under him, leaving him to fall helplessly to the floor.  He landed hard on his butt and side, and was writhing around in pain.  I was having flashbacks to three years ago when he got hurt in the first game in Missouri, only worse now because of everything he's been through in the interim.  I just could not fathom him going through another lengthy injury.

Accidental pic, but glad I got it while I could!

He was definitely in a lot of discomfort as he came off the floor, but shook me off a few minutes later when I tried to check on him.  Most movements left him in a lot of pain, so it was pretty clear he wouldn't be playing anymore for the rest of the weekend.  That was a bummer, but later I saw a kid walking through the crowd being held up by two people and holding a very limp wrist, and then a kid on the other team twisted his ankle, and I was reminded that it could be so much worse.  He went over to the athletic trainers after the game, and they weren't concerned.  It wasn't his spine or his tailbone (even though it very much reminded me of how my back acted), so in the end it appears it's just some sort of deep bruise.  He's functional, but certain movements make it flare up.  He should be able to play by the next tournament, which is now a week later than it was supposed to be.  Good news/bad news--it was going to be in Atlantic City, which is a super expensive and somewhat challenging tournament setup to navigate, but also, we love the Jersey Shore and it would have been a lovely time to go there.  Not that Carter and I could have gone because of his baseball schedule, but the thought was nice!

Anyway, Jacob's team lost that first game, which stunk because it immediately put them into a consolation bracket and made our schedule less favorable for Sunday baseball.  Had we won, we would have played again at 9:40 that night, so honestly, I was relieved to have the rest of the night to figure things out, between the injury, getting to the hotel, and finding dinner.  He managed the walk to the parking ramp, during which we saw an arrest happening (as I said, sketchy), and headed to the hotel.  We got settled in and Jacob showered, and then we headed down the road to Burgatory for dinner.  We'd eaten at the downtown location a couple years ago and Jacob liked it, and it was nice to have it so convenient to our hotel.  He did have team meetings later that night, so we had to sort of rush through dinner.  But we got to watch the Pirates game on TV and the food was great, so we'll call it a win.  

Jacob woke up on Saturday having miraculously slept well, but feeling as sore if not worse.  We had a game mid-morning, so we had to get up relatively early and grab some breakfast before heading into the city.  This time we got in the good parking garage.  Jacob's team won pretty handily, and their next game wasn't until 4:30, so we had time to kill.  We first went to the Pirates store (yay for quick, cheap on-street parking) since it wouldn't be an option to go on Sunday on our way out of town if the game was still in progress.  After that, we ended up killing a bit more time than planned while trying to find a lunch spot.  Jacob picked one restaurant out of the gluten-free app that wasn't far away, but we could not find any convenient parking nearby.  Normally I'd just find something and walk, but with his back injury, that wasn't ideal.  So we moved on to another one over by Duquesne University, but we struggled on parking there, too.  We did get to see the Penguins arena, all ready for that night's opening playoff game.

After much angst and arguing, we eventually settled on a place outside of downtown called Mandy's, and it was a typical hole-in-the-wall pizza joint.  Only two tables in the place, and you had to go through a storage room to get to the bathroom.  But the food was SO good.  Jacob's pizza actually had a decent crust, and my chicken finger sub was on par with anything you might get in Buffalo.  We will definitely be remembering that place next time we're in town.  

Also, somewhere in our wanderings and wrong turns, we ended up with a quick but fantastic view of the setup for the upcoming NFL draft!  The draft was the following weekend, which was a great relief when I was hearing about it and panic-checked the dates to make sure we weren't going to be stuck in that mess.  The preparations there were crazy--so many closed streets even a week ahead of time, plus a ginormous stage with massive video screens in front of the football stadium.  It was really cool to see.

We ended up stopping back at the hotel for a bit after lunch to regroup ahead of the afternoon game, and then it was back into the city--unfortunately with Pirates traffic this time.  I had to drop Jacob off and once again search for a parking ramp that wasn't full.  The convention center was, as was the one we parked in the previous day.  Thankfully, I remembered a sign indicating there was one in the opposite direction, and it turned out to be a good one--close and not expensive.  I never quite imagined parking would be such a big part of our weekend.

As the afternoon went on, the clouds rolled in as forecasted.  The Pirates were playing at 4pm (which later got changed to 3:30 because of the approaching weather), so that game was out of the question for us.  And honestly, thank goodness.  I took this picture around 4pm and you can see that the sky was getting dark.  Moments later the rain started, and it didn't stop for at least a couple hours.  

In fact, it was still raining after Jacob's team won.  The rain made dinner a bit more complicated, but fortunately, that ended up easier than anticipated.  When I was walking to the convention center from the parking ramp, I noticed a restaurant less than a block away whose name I recognized as being the top listing in the gluten-free app.  It was a taco place called Condado Tacos, and the reviews were good, so I figured that would be a perfect option if Jacob was up for it.  We could easily walk there and not have to worry about parking yet again.  Sure enough, tacos sounded great to him, so we just had a quick walk through the rain.  It was pretty busy since Penguins traffic had started to roll in, but we got seated right away.  We had a nice view of the historic Gulf Tower and UPMC, and a helpful bird's eye view to monitor the rain.  

The food was really good!  We both enjoyed our tacos, chips, and queso, and that will be going on the return list for the future, too.  Even better, it's a chain, so we may run into other cities with them as well.  As we sat there, we saw a big group come in, wet and dressed in matching baseball shirts, most bearing Paul Skenes bobbleheads and Pirates beer swords, presumably having given up on the game.  They all had the same shirt featuring a "holy cow" playing baseball, but then one guy came in with a jersey that helped me solve the puzzle--they were apparently fans of the Danville Dairy Daddies, a very low minor league team from Virginia.  

Stuffed to the gills, we headed out.  The walk back to the car wasn't bad as the rain was finally starting to slow.  I'm not even sure when the Pirates started playing again, but not only did the game resume, it went into extra innings and didn't end until sometime after 10pm.  That was my nightmare as a baseball intern, by the way--long rain delay plus extra innings?  Ugh, that was like seven hours.  And they lost, too.  I'm so glad we didn't try to go to that one because it would have been exhausting to try to stay through all of that.

The evening ended with this lovely sunset as the rain cleared, and Jacob went off to another round of team meetings.  For the second night in a row, I hung out in bed, watched TV, read my e-book, and tried to stay awake until he got back so I could let him in (he didn't take a key because he didn't have pockets).

By this point we were also clear on our schedule for Sunday and it looked like we would be able to make the Pirates game after all!  

On Sunday morning, we slept in a little and then started getting ready and packing up.  As we drove into the city (much more easily this time), I asked Jacob to take a picture of the city as we popped out of the Fort Pitt tunnel, as it's such a striking view.  Well, I should have guessed it would turn into this...

This is what my camera roll looked like...Jacob, then attempts at what I wanted, then pictures of me, each on repeat.  Oy.  Teenagers, amirite?

In the end, he didn't get exactly the panoramic view I wanted, but this was close.

We had our last game, another win--a much tougher one this time--and wrapped things up for the weekend.  I have to say, it's one of the prettier venues that Jacob has ever played in.

This is what it looks like from the outside, as seen from the Heinz Museum a couple years ago.

With that, it was time to turn our attention to the baseball portion of our weekend!  But that's a story for another day!

Baseball, Easter, and Other Overdue Stuff

I realized I was a little overdue on sharing the couple things worth sharing in that tail-end of the winter slog.  First, Carter had his annual String Festival concert back in mid-March.  It was enjoyable as always, and they played my same favorite song from a couple years ago--Seven Nation Army.  It always sounds so cool with such a massive orchestra.

The following week, Craig and Jacob went to the first round of March Madness in Buffalo with Craig's mom, so Carter and I took the opportunity to finally do something we've been talking about doing since probably last summer--eating dinner at Chili's.  I think we had talked about it around when Carter was in the thick of his ulcerative colitis flare, and obviously at the time, gorging himself on fatty foods didn't sound like a great idea.  Chili's used to be a favorite of Craig's and mine way back when, but then they took my two favorite things off the menu and Jacob got diagnosed with Celiac Disease, so we stopped going there.  I think I ordered something to go once when we were doing weekly takeout during the peak of COVID, but otherwise, we just hadn't been there despite some intriguing food choices.  Between their burger deals and the viral mozzarella sticks, we had it in the back of our minds to get there someday.  This was our night.

We ended up having a ridiculous amount of food, but it was SO good.  We first got the Triple Dipper, the choose-any-three appetizer.  We got Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers, Buffalo boneless wings, and the super famous Nashville Hot Mozzarella Sticks.  I knew I had a lot more food coming, so I tried to take it easy, but I had to try at least a part of each.  The mozzarella lived up to the hype, for sure.  Their $10.99 burger deal was unreal, as well--a starter, drink, burger and fries for one low price.  Carter got bottomless chips and salsa, and I got a side salad.  Then came our amazing burgers--the smashburger for me and the quarter pounder for Carter--complete with fries.  It was so much food, but it was all so good!

Carter ate some of the apps, his whole burger and fries, and a lot of chips.  In addition to small bits of the apps, I ate a few chips, my salad, burger, a small portion of my fries.  I was pretty stuffed!  We took home the apps and fries, and then the waiter brought over a giant bag of chips to take home with us.  It was such a massive but fun meal!

Spring break was the week before Easter, and as usual we didn't really make any plans.  I did decide to take off both Thursday and Friday, rather than just Friday like other years.  I figured I just needed a mental health day and it was one less day to either leave the boys on their own or distractedly work from home.  Well, on Monday Craig messaged me that tickets for Wednesday's Blue Jays game were only $30 in the 100 Level, which is obviously an insane deal (and laughably cheap compared to the last game we went to...ha).  I looked at my work schedule and oddly didn't have anything.  Wednesdays are usually busy because everyone is in the office, but I'm guessing enough people were out because of break that nothing really got scheduled.  I figured it would be a fun day trip, although given that I had already taken Thursday off I would have loved to make an overnight of it.  But Craig had a lot to plan for his upcoming weekend trip to Halifax (meaning he was going back up to Toronto on Friday), so we just did the day.  

We decided to leave Tuesday night and stay at my parents' to get us a little closer and not have to leave as early, since it was a 1pm game.  Well, it ended up being a super rainy day and the storms that came through around dinnertime were CRAZY.  Like, I'm not sure I have ever seen it rain that hard for that long.  There was ponding in our front yard, which I don't think I have ever seen.  I was a little concerned by all of the gutter overflow into our front flower bed and went to check the basement.  It was good that I did because the sump pump pin got a little trapped by some of the tubing so it wasn't running quite like it was supposed to.  It might have worked eventually, but it was good that I caught it when I did and ensured that it was running properly (since it rarely has to run).  We reluctantly left just as it was starting to slow down, but promptly got rerouted twice due to flooding down the road.  I was watching the 911 calls and there were so many "dangerous conditions" calls, including two in our neighborhood.  I presume it was either for road flooding or water in basements.  Anyway, the rest of the trip wasn't bad, but the beginning was very unnerving.

We got a bit of a later start in the morning than we wanted, but the trip was pretty smooth until we got to construction outside the city, slow traffic around the CNE grounds, and a long backup at the Rogers Centre exit.  But we found a spot to park (accidentally ended up at our usual surface lot) and got in with plenty of time to spare.  We were greeted right away by this Ernie Clement sign!

It's the Blue Jays' 50th season, so they have a ton of display cases all along the concourse with artifacts, including the famous home run jacket.

We settled into our seats, which were only a couple sections over from where we sat a couple years ago when we went with Craig's parents.  I should have had Craig look when I took this shot, but the boys look good!

It was fun to be back after the craziness of the World Series, but it was definitely a different vibe--but as it was a school day game, it was still pretty fun.  The game, however, wasn't as fun.  Jacob and I actually missed the only Jays' run score while we were getting food, and Colorado came back late in the game and won it in extra innings.  Booo.  Rough start to the season for the Jays--sporadic wins and a lot of injuries.  

It looked really cool when everyone had their phones lit up.

I smiled when I saw this sign in the concourse, as that one shortstop was near and dear to my heart--John McDonald played for the Bisons when I interned there, and he was my co-intern's favorite!

The 50th season stuff was fun, and it was nice to have some cool new things to see and take pictures of.

Wish there was a third one of these!

All the uniforms

This was a bittersweet sight--nice that there's something recent, but it would have been cool if it was the BIG one.

It was extra cool to see Ernie out there after Carter got to meet him a couple months ago.  He played really well, too.

We also got to see the exciting new Japanese player, Kazuma Okomoto.

One of the fun things about the milestone season is that they brought back mascots of old--BJ Birdie, the original; Diamond, a girl blue jay; and Domer, a turtle that was the original SkyDome mascot.

We wandered around the stadium for a bit after the loss, mostly to avoid traffic, but unfortunately it ran right into rush hour, so it was busy anyway.  As we approached the border, we had to figure out dinner, and I had the thought to get Jacob to his favorite, Kith and Kin in Lockport.  We were right up north anyway, so I figured it might not be bad, and then we could take 104 home instead of the Thruway.  But it was getting close to closing time, so we ended up ordering it online, picking it up, then going down the road to Mighty Taco for the rest of us.  It worked out reasonably well aside from Mighty taking forever and getting detoured once, likely again due to residual flooding.  We got home pretty late, but overall it was a pretty good day for a last-minute trip.

It was a good thing I took Thursday off, because it turned out I had a ton of stuff to prep before Easter.  The boys and I were leaving Friday afternoon (and Craig was leaving Friday morning), and I had a bunch of food I had to prepare, lots of unpacking and repacking, and squeezing in a little work both days since I had projects that needed to be moved forward, and I wasn't able to do it Wednesday.  I was pretty much non-stop for two straight days.

Friday was a really nice day, too--to the point I probably walked a little too long and didn't get back earlier to push the boys along to pack up.  We got a bit of a late start, which made the stop at my parents' house to prep my Good Friday food contributions a little hectic, but we still ended up having a nice (though quieter than usual) Prunes and Noodles dinner.  Then we were off to church, and home to play some SkyJo with my parents.  Jacob loves that game and it's a highlight of staying there.  With all of the food prep and other things heading into the weekend, I was pretty tempted to go Friday, drive home, and come back Sunday, but staying allowed us to spend more time with my parents and do things like SkyJo.  We also made a stop at the new Dick's House of Sport and went back to Kith and Kin for lunch and Easter goodies for Jacob.  The food was fantastic as always, and Jacob enjoyed trying arancini for the first time and mozzarella sticks for maybe the first time since he went gluten-free?  Since we were staying for the weekend and Jacob was finally starting to feel a little better from his post-viral fatigue, he wanted to get some shots up.  Thankfully my cousin's wife got us into the gym where her volleyball team trains and Jacob was able to shoot for over an hour.

We had a nice weekend, but I will say I was a little sad to leave my mantel at home with so much Easter happiness--all of my Polish eggs (most of which are in a years-ago IKEA clearance find, which actually lights up), my Target Dollar Spot egg cups (from two different years), two Aldi vases (and one set of Aldi tulips), one Aldi candleholder, two Target glass eggs, and this year's Aldi glass bunny (who goes so well with the eggs!).  Oh, and I have LED lights inside the eggs and bunny that light up at night.  Add in my homemade garland made many years ago, and it's just so colorful and fun!  Easter decor does make me happy! 

The group before us left Jesus lounging on the couch, so we had to replace him like that, but the boys added the tiny detail of the hands behind the head!  How perfect, no?

A well-deserved rest after a couple tough days, I guess!

We hung out at my parents' with the plan to pick Craig up from Niagara Falls on his way back from Halifax via Toronto around 1pm, but I ended up having a little food malfunction (half of my hardboiled eggs didn't cook right) so my dad went to grab Craig while I finished up the deviled eggs, which Jacob promptly, accidentally tipped as we got in the car, making a bit of a mess of them inside their containers.  Ugh.  We made a stop at Craig's brother's house, ate and socialized for a bit, and then headed over to his parents' house.  We were still pretty full but ate a bit more there, got a super cute Snoopy-on-an-egg candy dish and a peace lily, and spent some nice time with them.  But by that point in the day we were all pretty tired and eager to get home.  The only hiccup was that Craig was so tired that he slept most of the way home and as we pulled into our neighborhood, I had the jarring realization that Craig's vehicle was all the way back in Leroy at the park-and-ride.  We had literally driven right past that exit and forgot he had left it there back on Friday.  So we unloaded all of the food and luggage (which barely fit in my car by the time we had Craig's stuff in there), and he and I hopped back in my car to drive 25 minutes back there, and 25 minutes home again.  Darn it.  So much for a little decompression time.

That was not the best way to start the week, as I was exhausted the next day, but I had to buckle down for a busy week.  Lots of work projects and deadlines, plus a quick medical procedure bright and early Thursday to check out some lady parts, but that ended up being all good.  Apparently my body's just confused and a bit stubborn, but thankfully not diseased.  Nice to cross one thing off the list of worries, even if I have plenty of other annoying perimenopause-induced body weirdness to contend with.  That morning Craig and Jacob left for Boston for Jacob's first tournament.  We knew he wouldn't play much because his fatigue prevented him from practicing, but he did end up getting in a couple games for a bit.  Not the best weekend, but it's a start.  Meanwhile at home, Carter had his first modified scrimmage.  Again, nothing super exciting, but a start.  I predict this spring is going to FLY now that I see his schedule with 2-3 games per week until just before Memorial Day.  Jacob has some really interesting trips coming up, but I'm not sure how many we'll be able to go on because of Carter's schedule.  Hmmmm.  I also got in some early yard cleanup, finally, although multiple parts of my body are protesting that today.  I won't be able to do it when Jacob and I are in Pittsburgh (!) next weekend, so it felt important to bust through that this weekend.  No word yet on whether Jacob's schedule will allow us to cram in a Pirates game.

So, I guess we're officially into full-speed-ahead spring.  All the things are up and running (although, mercifully, lacrosse is almost over--not a good season for the Knighthawks, sadly), so it's going to be a lot to manage in the coming weeks.  But maybe there will be more to talk about and I won't go weeks between posts for a change...

Spring Has Definitely Not Sprung

I'd been counting down to Spring on my Scrabble-style letter magnetic board since I took down my Christmas stuff.  I think it was in the 60+ day range back then, and it dwindled down to the single digits with only one brief spring-like period a couple weeks ago.  But at least the sidewalks were finally clear and I could walk comfortably for a week or two.  It was so nice.  Then it was windy for days, including one spring-like day a couple weeks ago, before the temperature dropped like 50 degrees overnight and we woke up to three inches of snow.  It's been mostly cold pretty much ever since, and despite the official arrival of Spring last Friday, it sure hasn't felt like it.  We had another 50 degree drop the other night, in fact, after a few mild hours.  We've had so much rain, too.  I'm officially over it.  I am ready for warmth and sun.  It seems like it might start improving soon, but with everything else that's been going on, the cold, dreary, rainy weather has nearly been the straw that broke the camel's back on my joy.

We've had a lot going on since the end of Jacob's basketball season.  He unfortunately hasn't been feeling great since he had the flu.  He crammed in those last few games, but his energy level has been way down, and we suspect he has some sort of post-viral fatigue.  Of course, it's not the easiest thing to get diagnosed and we've been exploring our options trying to get him help.  We did blood work that his doctor had previously ordered, and it was all pretty much normal, so we didn't get a lot to go on there.  The one thing we did notice is that even though he supplements Vitamin D pretty heavily, his level is still on the low end of normal.  So, whether that's a Celiac thing (although those levels are perfect) or some other quirk of his system, we're not sure.  I did get on him a bit last week when he told me he's been taking a double dose of magnesium glycinate (which he says is still low compared to some people).  That stuff made me SO tired, and I'm like, is it possible it's making this worse?  He did feel a little better after he went down on his dose, though it also coincided with him not being as exhausted as the previous day, which was after a very late night going to March Madness games in Buffalo.  I don't think that's all of what's happening, but I think between that and his anxiety, it could be making it worse.

We talked to a couple functional medicine places last week, as their holistic perspective of connecting the dots on various issues seems like something he could use.  However, they're not covered by insurance and they are prohibitively expensive--like thousands of dollars over a year, plus more for testing.  We saw his pediatrician earlier this week, but he didn't have a lot to offer since the blood work was normal.  He said some doctors won't even take referrals of someone with no visible problem areas in their blood work.  But clearly the fatigue is an issue, especially for an athlete.  While we could go the holistic route eventually, my goal before that is to try to access different doctors that are covered by insurance, to see if we can create a similar plan that would find anything else that might be causing him issues.  Thankfully, one of Craig's Knighthawks medical contacts did mention an immunologist that might be able to help with the post-viral issue, so hopefully we can get in there soon.  

It all got extra complicated last Friday night.  He'd spent the day with some arm pain--presumably in line with sleeping on it wrong--but by evening it had ramped way up.  Of course, this was after having just gone to the pediatrician (the first time) to see if they could give him any guidance on the fatigue.  I think he was panicking a bit because he was expected to practice with his travel team, and he knew he couldn't do it, so he really wanted to get to the doctor that night.  He got mono and strep tests--both negative--but we only saw the nurse practitioner and she said we were better off seeing his doctor, hence the second visit.  But he didn't mention the arm pain when we were there because he didn't think it was relevant.  By this point he was freaking out that it was a blood clot or something, but ChatGPT came to the rescue with a few tests that strongly indicated it was a pinched nerve situation.  I suggested ibuprofen and heat, but he was still concerned and unconvinced.  He went to see a Knighthawks trainer for some peace of mind since Craig was at practice.  Of course, when he woke up Saturday, the pain was gone, which was pretty much what I expected as a middle-aged adult who's had more than one body part hurt in the morning and reset with a good night's sleep.  Ironically, I realized my really bad bout of back pain in January happened at a similar point post-flu, so I sort of wonder if that could be flu-related?  Like some sort of weird inflammation working its way out?

So, it's been another rough round with Jacob and his anxiety, but we really want to get him some help for this fatigue before it impacts his travel basketball season too much more.  We did decide to up his anxiety med dose, as it was low and it was clearly not even taking the edge off of this latest issue.  While he's generally functional, it does still seem to me that he worries about a lot of things way more than a normal person, like being skeptical of food freshness or my preparation practices, or worrying about a simple health concern.

The other current issue is that he's pretty much dead-set on going to prep school.  I have so many reservations about that--from the cost and him being away from home to his ability to manage his own life and what happens if, for whatever reason, it doesn't work for him--which I hate to assume, but given his history, it is a fair concern.  He hasn't stayed anywhere for more than a couple years since middle school, and each place has had its share of downsides.  There's no reason to believe this couldn't have downsides of its own (and actually there are far more things that could go wrong), and I worry a bit about what happens when he's stuck in that situation.  Then he's away from home with a minimal support system, and he doesn't have many (any?) options if he leaves there to finish high school AND play basketball.  It's easy enough to say that he'd have to suck it up, but having a kid who can get very despondent very easily, it's a little scary to be two hours away with zero control.  On top of all that, I'm just not seeing any initiative on his end about becoming a functional-enough adult to live somewhat on his own.  He doesn't clean up his own messes despite my constant nagging.  He can't easily motivate himself to do school work.  He struggles to get out of bed and get ready on time.  When he insisted that part would be fine because he would only have to walk across the parking lot to get to class, I reminded him that time blindness is a part of ADHD and if his brain knows his "commute" is that short, it will adjust accordingly and tell him he can sleep late and still make it, even though that's not the case.  And if he's tired, it's a toss-up if he'll even be able to drag himself out of bed.  I just don't know how I feel about investing all of this money in so many unknowns.  It just ticks me off that almost all of this is because his coach this year wasn't very good.  He didn't play him enough despite Jacob proving his worth, he doesn't have the knowledge to make him a better player, and he doesn't have connections with college coaches that are so important at this stage.  Oh, and it seems he didn't even nominate Jacob for their league all-star team this year (or if he did, it would be odd if the 2nd best 3-point shooter in our section didn't get voted in--in favor of a kid who averaged three points a game and missed a third of the season (who we love, but still...)).  If he had a better coaching situation where he felt valued, respected, and properly led, he likely could have made it one more year at BK.  But now, he really can't bring himself to go back for another year of that.  So, we could have a crazy few months ahead of us.  Suddenly 18 years seems like far too short to have prepared him for life.  More analysis/freak-outs on this coming soon, I'm sure.

On the other hand, Carter is doing well.  He had only a four-week interval between infusions this time because his med level was dropping too low and they wanted to see how he did with a dose increase and a shorter interval.  The med level came back pretty good, so we get to go back to eight weeks for now.  It's so reassuring that his blood work looks great, but in the next week or so, we'll do our first poop test in a while to see the calprotectin level, which measures inflammation in the digestive tract.  His used to be sky-high (in the thousands when normal is around 100, or a little higher for those with controlled IBD), so I'm curious to see how that is looking now that he hasn't had symptoms in months.  He's up over 40 pounds and has officially passed me in height, so clearly he's doing better.  I just told him to stop using the ointment he's used on the corner of his mouth for a couple years because I suspect that if he lets it go, it might not come back now that his system is regulated.  His next colonoscopy looms in July.  But in the meantime, school baseball tryouts were this week and he made the Modified B team.  Unfortunately it sounds like he just made it, as the coach made it sound like he wouldn't play much, but we're confident that if he shows what he can do in practice, he might get more of a chance.  In the meantime, let's hope the weather warms up before games start.  Travel baseball practices have been going for a couple months, but will take a little break now while modified is keeping most kids busy.  I'm so excited to see how he does this year with a healthy body!

I can't really believe that Easter is only a week away.  I felt like it took forever to get past St. Patrick's Day so I could put up my Easter and spring decor.  I was oddly craving having my Polish eggs out, and I was excited to enjoy my glass eggs lit by LEDs.  I was so excited about them that I ended up adding a glass bunny from Aldi this year.  Those decorations make me happy, although part of that reason is because of the hope of spring weather, but that's currently still just a hope.  I think my strong desire to have those decorations out is akin to the large role that simple pleasures played during the pandemic.  Remember how people were putting up Christmas decor in October, just to have something to make them happy amidst the monotony of social distancing?  I think right now is having much the same effect because the world feels like a big dumpster fire right now.  On top of the usual political insanity of this administration, now we're at war with Iran, gas is approaching $4, TSA is still not funded because Trump is pressuring the House to block it, and every day things just keep getting weirder and weirder.  There is a prevailing feeling of gaslighting when half the country is screaming about every atrocity, and the other half (who was screaming about similar atrocities during the last administration) is giving it all a free pass.  I'm currently in that realm of trying to control what I can control, although admittedly, it doesn't feel like much.  I'm getting PT (now more for my tennis elbow than my back), I'm en route to some executive function training despite not getting the ADHD diagnosis, and doing what I can to keep my house from looking like a tornado hit it.  We just hit the 16th anniversary of moving into this house, and I'm having another round of "I miss loving this house the way we did when we moved in."  It felt so spacious and bright back then, and obviously going from one tiny toddler to two teenagers, plus 16 years of stuff, has changed some of those feelings.  But we definitely can't afford to move in this housing market, so I really think I need to do two things: 1) Get rid of stuff; and 2) Decide when the time is right to invest in some updates to make it feel like a new house.  We've been meaning to do the kitchen since the pandemic, and there are a couple other things that could make a difference, as well.  Just today I was staring at our office (which is now mostly a storage room) trying to envision how we could remake that into a better guest room.  I even flipped the orientation of our kitchen table today to see if it fit right, thinking it might give us a little more space.  It didn't, but it could work if there's just three of using it regularly if Jacob goes to prep school.  I don't know, I'm just trying to find ways to love my house more, but truthfully, getting the rest of my family to help keep it neater would go a long way.

I'm still wishing for a change of scenery or something to look forward to, whether that's travel basketball season or a weekend away.  We were hoping to all go to Oshawa this weekend with Craig, but Jacob had practice (that he's simply sitting through), and Carter's practice on Friday was later than Craig could wait for, so it's just me and the boys at home this weekend...again.  Sigh.  My Facebook memories reminded me today that three years ago this week was the start of Jacob's and my midwest travels, and while I would not want to relive that anxiety, the adventure sure was fun.  I could use a little of that (80 degree weather included) right about now.  We do have Easter next weekend, and Good Friday is always a favorite, but I'm honestly feeling a bit more overwhelmed than usual about planning food and all of that, so I'm not having my usual giddy anticipation.  I'd also really like to think of something fun for the extra day I'm taking off Thursday (so as to not completely resent the boys being home on break all week).  

So, long story short, our lack of spring is sort of screwing me over in the mental health department, as it could very easily be throwing me a bone right now to get through some of the other stresses floating around out there.  Any day now...

Big Wins...but Still at a Loss

I haven't talked about Jacob's basketball season in a while.  We're long overdue for a catch-up, as a LOT has happened.

When I left off, we had just had senior night to wrap up the regular season.  We secured the top seed for sectionals and earned a bye for the first round.  Good thing, too, because Jacob came down with Flu B the following week.  It hit him pretty hard.  Carter tested positive 24 hours later, as well.  I can't help but wonder if Jacob was contagious the weekend prior when they were in the back seat of the car together for about seven hours over the course of the weekend.  We visited Craig's parents in their new house that Saturday, and then took a two-hour drive to Elmira to visit a possible prep school for Jacob (more on that in a bit).  Both boys were out of school for most of the week, which was the week after break (ugh).

Even as he recovered, Jacob was getting extra frustrated by the fatigue.  He sat out the first sectional game as it was against an easy opponent and they knew they could win without him.  The semifinals were at Finger Lakes Community College against East Rochester.  Why they make these neutral site games so far away (all but one of ours have been an hour away; the other was less than 10 minutes), I will never understand.  We knew it would be a tough game, and it was.  It got way closer than it should have been, and yet Jacob barely played.  He started the game, got two quick fouls (which never happens), got pulled about a minute in, sat the rest of the first quarter and part of the second, played maybe 3-4 minutes and got pulled for some perceived defensive lapse, then started the second half but had a pass tipped and intercepted, was pulled and never played another minute.  It was SO bizarre, especially once it got close and we could have used his free throw shooting skills.  Thankfully we pulled it out, but it was very odd and concerning.  

Team pic

The team got interviewed by local social media favorite Primetime 585 after the game, and it was pretty clear Jacob was not enjoying that or the big win.  Neither were we, to be honest.  Happy for the team, yes, but so annoyed that Jacob was essentially ignored for most of the game.  That was a tough ride home.  

That win put us into the sectional final at the Blue Cross Arena, Jacob's first return there since 2023 when he was in 8th grade.  That triggered a lot of thoughts about that run and recollections of how frustrated he was in the midst of their eventual victory because of how he was treated/used by the coach.  I really wanted a better experience for him this time around, but with what happened in the semifinal, I wasn't sure that would happen.

We had a very late game on Friday night for the championship--definitely a different feel from a late afternoon game the last time.  My parents came in for it, and Lori came along with us too.  We started out so strong--Jacob hit a three right off the bat, and then we started hitting a ton of other shots.  Jacob once again came out earlier than expected, and eventually the lead got whittled away.  We even lost it momentarily in the third quarter.  All the while, we were perplexed about why Jacob wasn't in the game.  He barely played in the second half despite hitting a couple big threes in the first half.  We needed scoring and there he sat.  And then we did eventually go on a run and get a big lead, but despite signs of fatigue, that lineup stayed in until the bench guys went in for the last little bit.  We ended up winning 82-58, which seems a bit deceiving, but it was great to see the boys get to celebrate.  

Jacob getting his medal

Jacob ended up with eight points, but should have had double that if he played as much as he should have.  His original BK friend Colby won the sportsmanship award that Jacob won three years ago, which was a great choice.  Even though we were a bit disappointed with how Jacob was used, it good to see everyone accomplish the goal they'd set for this year.

The boys headed back to the school afterward, and got a police escort!

They posed with the giant BK in front of the school, too.

That was quite a late night between the festivities and post-game "analysis" at home.  Jacob seemed to be in good spirits and excited about the win, but as the weekend went on, it was clear he was getting a bit more aggravated about his coach's decisions and how he was being treated.  Then he started feeling like his flu might be making a comeback--he was quite fatigued and sore heading into Monday's Class B qualifier.  He just couldn't figure out if he was getting sick again, had been glutened, or something else was going on.  It got pretty frustrating, to be honest, because he got rather combative and started going down his first real anxiety spiral in a while.  We ended up getting him in with the doctor Monday morning to check for pneumonia (negative), and over the course of the day he talked to both his therapist and his trainer, who seemed to help him a bit more.  We weren't sure how the game would go, or how much he'd even be able to play, but off we went--another 45-minute evening trip for another neutral site game, this time in Bloomfield against B1 champion Leroy.

This was a new gym for us, and while it seemed decent enough with a large bank of seats on one side and more at one end, apparently the floor was super slippery when the team got there, and the rims were problematic--both oddly tilted.  Jacob kept having shots rim out...like, repeatedly.  He only ended up with three in the end, but did seem to play more than previous games.  As the game went on, he apparently felt better and better, based on what the athletic trainer said about his responses every time she asked him how he felt when he came back to the bench.  The game was close in the first half, and then we pulled away.  This win put us into the state sub-regional in Buffalo, which of course was fun since it would be closer to family.

Jacob loves playing in nice venues, and this was a pretty good one.  Big, a center-hung scoreboard, real seats, presumably a quality court and rims.  I had a feeling he would thrive there.

Warming up

Both sets of grandparents, Craig's uncle, and my aunt and uncle all came.  We've often talked about how Jacob needs to get hot early so his coach will leave him in.  He got taken out oddly quickly this game, for no apparent reason, but he went back in a bit later.  And then he did get hot--two threes and even took a charge.

And then, inexplicably, he still got taken back out.  We were so confused.  He was doing everything he was supposed to do--make shots and play strong on defense--and it didn't matter.  A couple times after he got taken out, the other team immediately went on runs of 7-8 points.  It was so strange.  While he probably played a little more than some past games, he still sat for a concerningly long time considering we consistently were losing by about 7-10 points for most of the game.  He hit another three to start the second half, and at one point he came in and hit two technical foul shots (he would have hit more had he been in the game when the tech happened).  He had 11 points despite only playing maybe half the game, which seemed inexcusable being down.  I don't care what you think your defense will do--it literally wasn't helping us gain ground, so offense seemed to be in order.  Neutral fans around us were so confused about why we kept taking #11 out, or why he wasn't going back in.  All of us sat there stumped.  Instead of Jacob hitting threes while he was hot, we ended up with a lot of ill-advised drives, intercepted passes, and missed shots and rebounds under the basket.  We got within 6 late in the game, but Jacob went back in way too late and we just couldn't close the gap much further.  We lost and the season was over.
  

I felt terrible for the seniors, of course.  We had one more game (that was said to be winnable--and apparently was, as the team that beat us doubled up their next opponent) before we would have headed to states, and I would have loved an extra excuse to go to Binghamton and see Heather and Mason!  But it was not meant to be.  And in addition to being sad about it, we were just so confused.  Our 7th grader looked awful and never scored, but only sat out of the game for a short time.  A player that was playing selfish earlier in the season went back to his old ways.  Our bigs that had kept us in games all season had a hard time hitting shots.  The other team was good, but it was a winnable game and we blew it.  There were a lot of red eyes coming up from the locker room after.  Fortunately, Jacob was happy with how he played, so at least we didn't have to talk through that part.  But he was so annoyed he didn't play that he basically decided he had no choice but to go to prep school next year, as he can't do another year like this if his coach is not going to respect him.  I couldn't blame him, but also....dammit, why couldn't the coach just play him?  Now we have to send our kid off and shell out even more money just for the hope he'll be in a better place.  Uggghh.

Jacob was somewhat relieved the season was over, particularly since he was still dealing with fatigue and just fed up with how he was being used.  But of course, travel is already starting practices and he's not ready for that.  In fact, he had to get permission to sit out this weekend because he just needs to rest his body for a week.  His trainer, therapist, and school trainer all said the same thing.  Hopefully we can get to the bottom of the fatigue issue soon.  

Oddly, another parent contacted Craig on Friday and tipped him off to something that might explain why Jacob didn't play much.  It seems a little far-fetched, but it's actually so far-fetched that I'm not sure anyone could make it up.  Not that we think it's made up, mind you--there's supposedly email proof--but it's like something out of a TV show or something.  Long story short is that the powers that be may have "encouraged" ending the season before states because a prominent hockey parent/donor felt that the hockey team was getting overshadowed.  Somehow that meant the school wasn't going to pay for things related to states.  We still don't have all the details, and obviously there are some missing, but it's quite a damning accusation.  It would, however, explain why Jacob didn't play very much at the end of the season.  Regardless, we clearly need to have some conversations to understand what next year might look like if he stays.

The alternative, as mentioned, could be prep school.  We took a trip to Elmira a few weeks ago to see a school that Jacob's old coach James is turning into a prep school.  It's a Catholic school, very similar to the one he's at now, but with better sports facilities.  There's an old convent building across the parking lot that currently houses a dozen or so international students.  The basketball students would move in there, as well.  They're all single rooms, small but with enough room for a bed, desk, dresser, and sink.  The rest of the bathroom facilities are shared, and there's a big common area and dining room.  Food is handled by a chef, and they can accommodate his gluten-free diet.  The school wasn't bad, to be honest, but obviously we have a lot of reservations.  He's pretty needy and the thought of him being two hours away is...a lot.  His mental health can go down the tubes fast with his medical anxiety, and that's a scary prospect.  And what if he doesn't like what the chef is making, or he finds out the cooking isn't as safe as he'd need?  There are so many unknowns, and very few alternatives if it doesn't go well.  We thought about having him finish high school next year at his current school, and then do a post-grad year at the prep school to ensure he can get a good college offer.  But there's still a lot to think about.  And a few days after he was dead-set on going, now he's leaning toward staying because he sees how challenging it would be if things like this fatigue happen to him there.  He has a lot of resources here and he's scared to lose those.  Needless to say, we have a lot of figuring out to do.

It was so disappointing to lose when we did, but the original goal was to win a Sectional brick, and they did that.  And they did make it to the state tournament, just not as deep as they thought they could.  It's even more disappointing if the deck was purposely stacked against them (and Jacob in particular), but more basketball awaits...whenever he starts feeling better.