We just got back from Taco Bell. In all honesty – even I’m appalled by this, Sundays usually warrant at least minimal effort in the kitchen; obviously the adults didn’t choose the dinner fare today…
It all started when Cal asked me to shoot some hoops with him; we ran around a little, threw up some bricks and airballs, then got down to the business of showing off our best ‘buzzer beaters’. Abby came out a little later, started bitchin’ about us cheating because we’re older than her and was sent back in (FYI – this is pretty much s.o.p.). A little while later Dan came out… he hit the sport court with such zeal, such fervor – basically he looked like a jackass and I almost pissed my pants.
First off it should be noted that we are not a roundball couple. Put a football in our hands and we look like we know our way around the gridiron, with a baseball or softball – we got skilz, when we flood the court in the winter – we look like Edward HockeystickHands. Dribbling or shooting a basketball? We look like complete and utter morons.
Secondly – Santa left a pretty decent hoop for the kids this year… SOB did NOT assemble it. Dan finally got to it a couple weeks ago (3 months is a good turn around time here); I walked outside as he was finishing up, surveyed the situation and said, “hmmmm seems like the base should be facing opposite the hoop… you know – layups’ll be a bitch like this.” I wrecked his day then walked back inside. About 45 minutes later he came in to inform me he had successfully turned the base only to find it was actually the backboard facing the wrong way. In a perfect world I would’ve been standing there when this realization hit…. As it stands I just get to giggle every time a ball hits that thingy used to adjust the hoop height.
And lastly – how the sport court came to be should be mentioned. It’s a long story… for years Dan ran his own per diem pharmacist service – independent pharmacy owners called, asked for his services on a specific day, if he was free he filled in. In September of 2011 his stores were using him less and less; they were hiring newly licensed full-time pharmacists and we, in turn, were startin’ to sweat… We had a vacation planned for the week of October 2nd and decided to enjoy our time away and worry about it when we got home. Well… fate stepped in and 4 days before we were to leave we found out my mom was sick, real sick, the worst kind of sick. We didn’t go on vacation and Dan being Dan said, “I’ll work at the store, you stay home and help your dad take care of your mom.” Because he was self-employed he had to pay quarterly taxes based on the previous quarter – meaning we had to set aside money even though he was employed by Everett Pharmacy at the time; at tax time – all of that money was ours to do with as we wished.
Mom loved to watch our kids play – anything. We knew she’d be thrilled to know she “helped” us finance the sport court; we’ve kicked around naming it after her and hanging a sign… maybe someday. Ironically – as a side note – as his work had dried up right before mom got sick, 3 months later, during her last week with us, Dan started getting requests for days and when I was ready to get back to work he had a full-time schedule back in place… life is kinda funny, no?
So anyway, there we were – two 40-something idiots and a 12 year old showboat (who happened to look stellar considering his current surroundings) runnin’ around trying to not take a ball to the face. Somehow (it was never discussed) we found ourselves playing ‘5 seconds left buzzer-beater’; it was so horrific I decided to up the ante in an attempt to stoke the competitive flames that burn so deeply in our souls – the 1st to hit a buzzer-beater could pick dinner….
45 minutes later we went inside to ask the girls what they wanted to eat.
Nahhh, Cal did finally hit one (hence the Taco Bell) but I do believe it took a good 20+ minutes. I can’t even imagine what people driving by were thinking… and here in lies the beauty of having a sport court on a main road – when we look good it’s fun, when we shoot hoops it’s frickin’ hysterical. Dan is a pretty athletic guy but he is so… so… awkward playing basketball. He’s aware of this fact and plays it up a little just to get me to piss myself – my God he came close! I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed a person throwing a basketball at a backboard with such force – I mean, hell I suck but at least I look like I know what I’m doing; after I heard yet another loud dooonnnnggg and looked up to see him chasing his ball I asked, “Are you completely devoid of any kind of finesse?”
We built that sport court solely for our enjoyment and it never disappoints. We’ve spent hours throwing balls, hitting balls, whacking street hockey balls, ice-skating a puck from one side to the other (ok, so I skated with a chair and not a hockey stick – I was still out there); our sport court has been a marvelous family investment, not to mention… it seems its reaches are far and wide. We’ve had so many people honk and wave, tell us they saw us outside playing, laughing at us when we fall or strike out. We unwittingly entertain the passersby and apparently, our neighbors…
Last year we ran in to our across-the-street neighbor and we talked about his recent bout with cancer; he teared up a little and said, “I was awfully down. I was on bed restriction for most of last summer and my window faced your sport court… my best days were spent watching you and your family play on that court. I got so happy when I saw you guys out there… laughing, talking, running around having fun… you guys gave me strength.”
I didn’t even know what to say…
What a wonderful thing that sport court is; what an amazing tribute to Lalee…
I know said neighbor, and I can hardly write through the tears in my eyes right now. We never know how we can inspire someone without even knowing, or trying.
yeah… who knew??? And I feel even worse for not knowing he was THAT sick!!! It made me feel good to know we helped him, albeit unwittingly!