Good morning! I just walked around the house with the landscaper to inspect the bushes and trees. It seems that my foliage is a perfect appetizer for the deer in my region. It also looks like they have quite a party at night when the rest of us are in bed. Hmmm.....one of my trees is eaten 2/3 of the way up, then there are leaves to the top. This was not the look that I was going for when it was planted which is half apocalypse, half spring time. Now it is war on the deer....eat the grass....eat the bushes in the way back of the house....go over to Sparky's house since she puts deer food out every night, but leave my tree alone.


Whew....got that off my chest....on to the mountains....



It was a quiet day yesterday....or so I thought....not hearing from the big guy means that he is working on school assignments and not bored. Yeah, I know, I get a call with boredom. I could be insulted....or complimented depending on the way that I look at it. When he wants to chat and has no one else, he calls me. Nice.

On to the complaint of the day.....yesterday the Czar went ballistic and it seemed that the kid was called out in the locker room.....

Here we go again...all he is trying to do is get through the next two weeks, leave campus and come home...then head off for the next phase of his life...but there is always drama....

The Czar comes in and  grabs the trainer. He asks the trainer to tell the team about his qualifications....then he goes crazy....

Paraphrase...."any of you who do not tell us what is going on are breaking protocols. We have the best health care staff in the country. Some of you (guess who) went out for a second opinion without following the process. Then you go and pay for surgery (guess who). If you did that, then you are an idiot...."

Ouch.....the rant went on for 15 minutes. It was obvious to everyone who he was screaming at, yet the team and big kid kept silent.

He called his dad to report the rant and tirade and then I got wind of it.

Dad is livid. Now the Czar has gone way too far as he berates the big kid for taking care of himself AND calls us idiots. Yes, I have done idiotic things in my life that will go with me to my grave, but hey.....when a child is injured and the treatment is not working, what parent would not seek further consultation? In fact, if I did not do so, I would be an 'idiot'.

Ok, here is where we stand. Dad is peeved that he and I were called idiots in front of the team. Now that we have been called out, it is fine that we address the concern face to face...mano y mano....idiot y idiot....

That's right, folks, we are going in. Uh huh. As soon as the season is over and the locker room is cleared out, we will have a sit down with the Czar to have our final say. It won't be aggressive or nasty unless he makes it so. But, he cannot bully us. When called out, I respond and take no prisoners. Is this a threat? Nope. I will simply go in there and call him out on the policies and laws that he has violated as well and the impact he has had on my kid's development.

One thing is for sure....without his constant criticism and bullying, my son would not be the pitcher he is today. It sounds odd, but the constant pressure caused him to rise to the occasion and improve his game. So, in a way, I can say that the negative pressure added a certain meanness to my son who can certainly take on the top talent in the country.

Stay tuned. The turbulence is about to begin.....

PS: There was a snafu in the media office. The big kid's photo is on the website and twitter feed to advertise the weekend series against a top ten team.....someone who cares was not checking....oops.

Peace!