Randy Wray’s Blog

Just typing those words I see the image in my mind of the skier slamming into the barrier from the ABC sports promo.

Our team lived and experienced every part of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

We were eliminated from the tournament with two (back to back) very difficult losses.

In both games we were ahead and in both games it unraveled for one reason or another.

I was so proud of the girls and the way they competed and the way they were graceful in defeat.

It has been said that sports do not build character but reveal character.

That being the case, we had no reason to question the character of the Roadrunners.

We are in Reno this week competing in the NSA World Series.

The team came out of the gate charging this morning and put one in the win column.

The good thing about the win (besides the win) is they don’t have to play again today.

It’s been a long time since I suited up and squatted behind the plate.

My first position in baseball was catcher and it is the only position on the field that is equipment mandatory.

You realize this after you have suited up and still take a ball off the unprotected areas of your body.

The Roadrunners are preparing for the NSA World Series next week and we’re trying to save our catchers (we only have 10 girls on the roster).

So, yours truly for the last two evenings has suited up and stepped in (more like squatted in) to anchor the defense.

It’s been fun catching for M and the others, but HAY CARAMBA!  I am sore!

I constantly tell the girls “keep your throwing hand behind you” and of course I forgot on one pitch and care to guess where the ball hit me?

I’m hoping once the sore muscles come back from being on strike that it will get easier (if I have to do it again).

At this point, the catching has caught up with me.

The words math wiz have never been used in a sentence to describe my mathematical prowess.

Last night I was looking over a standardized math test and was amazed at how well my kids understand the problems and how easy the problems seem to be for them.

It was also a delight to see how patient the oldest child was in explaining the problems (and how to solve them) to dear ol’ dad.

When all was said and done I felt pretty good about my 72%!

It was annoying that I missed 4 questions because I wasn’t paying attention to the question.

Just wait until the standardized bible (or fishing) test makes the rounds!

We hit 104 yesterday and expect to hit 106 today.

Forget all that nonsense about dry heat versus humid heat, it’s heat hot.

The story of Adam Bender is a story of hope and inspiration.

It’s also a reminder that no parent should be on a ball field yelling at their child.

Thanks to DN for the heads up.

Without going into all the gory details I had a difficult week at camp.

Fortunately I had the benefit of reading two books during this time.

Kudos to my mother-in-law for giving me this book that I devoured the first day:

Kudos to D for lending me this book that I devoured the next day:

It was nice to read and digest some “non-technical” books (as in not academic oriented)

It was necessary to read and digest the greater themes of forgiveness, redemption, and being part of God’s purpose.

If anyone has read either of these books and would care to discuss them let me know.

I forgot to tell you that I was gone away at Bible Camp.

Actually, mi esposa doesn’t like for me to mention when I’m away while I’m away.

So, I’ve been away and now I’m back.

We have satellite radio for three months as a promo in our Jetta.

Tuning in to the comedy channel we were just in time to catch a Smothers Brothers routine.

Here is their version of The Streets of Laredo (sing along if you know the tune):

As I walked out on the streets of Laredo,
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen
Wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay.

I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy;
I see by your outfit you are a cowboy, too;
We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys.
If you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy, too.

Funny stuff.

If anyone is still around from the first days of blogentary you will remember our battles with the inflatable pool.

We’ve had two of the inflatable ring pools and are now on our second metal frame above-ground pool.

The whole problem with this inexpensive entry into the aquatic scene is the filter they give you would barely filter the water of my 55 gal aquarium much less the 6000 gal of the pool.

Nothing says radioactive waste like looking at 6000 gallons of green water on a hot summer day.

I tried another product last night that claimed it would coagullate all the particles for sparkling clean water and easy clean up with the pool vacuum and sure it enough it worked!

Interesting how we are surprised when something works as advertised.

At this point I’ve worked more on keeping the pool clean then actually swimming in the pool.