Parenthetically Speaking

This weekend has been our first taste of the additional craziness that will envelope our home from now until March.

Last night was Sawyer's first basketball game.  His travel team is playing in two leagues this year so he will have a game every Friday night and every Saturday morning through March.  They lost the game, but Sawyer had seven of their fifteen points and eight rebounds!  [I should also say that I am very thankful for the security of my salvation.  Otherwise, sixth grade basketball refs would be my ticket to hell, I'm sure.]

This morning began with a quick trip to our storage garage to pick up the Christmas decorations, which Jeff is certain somehow multiplied in the summer heat!  How in the world did we end up with five, yes FIVE, Christmas trees of varying sizes and styles?  Right now, all of that is still sitting in the garage.  Just thinking about all the "put up and tear down" it will require makes me tired. [I'm pretty sure when I'm old and (even more) gray that I will have one of those ceramic Christmas trees that sits on top of my television.  If it was good enough for my grandparents, then it's good enough for me.]

Sawyer's next game was at 10:30, and this one ended in the win column!  It was very exciting as his team outscored the opposing team 32 to 10 in the second half and won by 12 points!  Sawyer had eight points and seven rebounds!  [And today's refs did a great job, in my humble opinion.]

After a quick lunch, I slipped into taxi driver mode and discovered the hard way that the roads and traffic patterns in Laurel, Maryland, are the most confusing and ridiculous I have ever encountered.  I had my phone and GPS going, and we still had trouble!  The three teenagers in the car with me were less than thrilled, I assure you.  [And I was reminded again that I birthed perfection on several occasions-because my angelic offspring NEVER make mistakes or errors.  No sireee!]

Then, because my day wasn't going swimmingly enough, I decided that sanity was unnecessary and being of sound mind was overrated.  Sydney and I put on our elbow pads, took deep breaths, and headed into the mall.  Craziness.  Pure unadulterated madness.  It was full of rude, sweaty shoppers dressed in garish holiday sweaters and going deeper into debt with reckless abandon.  I did almost all of my shopping online this year.  It made me a little sad because I thought I would miss hitting the stores and hearing the music, etc.  Nope.  Today I realized I'm not missing a thing.  [Except wishing "Merry Christmas" to all the politically correct store employees!]

Although, I will admit that you can't beat the "sights and sounds" of the mall this time of year.  We were privileged to stand in line behind a lovely young man with a human eye tattooed on the back of his neck.  (Gives a whole new meaning "to eyes in the back of your head", doesn't it?)  And, as we left the mall, I think a sweet Asian lady might have asked me (in very broken English) if I wanted to give a monkey for Christmas this year?  [Did I miss something?  Are monkeys the hot gift this year?]