Opening Day

I said I wasn't going to start a blog. Likely as not, I can't really *maintain* a blog. See, I write for a living. That means I spend a lot of time writing and editing. If you could read my mind, you'd learn that just because I'm not at my computer doesn't mean my mind isn't busy composing and editing. Over and over. So, my best defense against work is to become a vegetable on the sofa...watching 24 or Heroes or The Amazing Race or Grey's Anatomy...you get the picture.

Generally speaking, I don't think my everyday life makes a particularly compelling story. The parts of it that *have* been compelling have stressed me out so much that I could barely think, much less write. Don't get me wrong. I like my life. I have a terrific husband, challenging, but neat kids and something approaching my dream house. But when I put it down in writing, my life is excruciatingly dull. I could bore myself to tears updating a blog daily. So, that's probably not going to happen.

Two of the very brightest spots in my life these days are my kids. I'll be using their nicknames. We've got an unfortunate penchant for nicknames around here. I don't know why and I can barely explain where these ones come from.

Smunch, my little boy, turned 5 a few weeks ago and is the inspiration for today's title. Today was Opening Day for our city's Little League and today was Smunch's very first day as a baseball (well, T-ball) player. He looked *adorable* in his Sidewinders team uniform and he was *so* proud of it! I get choked up about these things. Maybe it's because somewhere in the recesses of my mind, the memory of the days when I wasn't sure he'd make it is still lurking, making me well up with tears at inopportune moments. I'm bound to be a disaster when he starts kindergarten in the Fall, even though I'm psyched about it.

Mam-a-Roo, my little girl, turned 3 a couple of weeks ago. She, like most of the rest of us, was bored out of her mind by Opening Day, although she gamely sported the Sidewinders' colors. Fortunately, one of Smunch's friends is on his team and his friend brought his little sister. Mam (for short) and teammate's little sister had a blast running around and playing "soccer" with a T-ball. Thank goodness. Ma'am's life history also includes a time when I thought she might not stick around to grow up. By all accounts, she should be mentally retarded and have cerebral palsy, but she isn't and she doesn't. Instead, she has glasses. I'll take that instead, thank you very much.