-- Take advantage of $49 sale on tents for next year to replace the one that the wind took out this past weekend in Columbus. (And take the savings and spring for the weights this time.)
-- Get eyedrops to reduce inflammation caused by sunscreen sweating into eyes.
-- Inquire into furniture cleaning to remove musty-smelling tourneycrust on couch where dd would rush to sit before I could scream, "Don't you *dare*!!!" (Whenever we toss the clicker onto a couch cushion now, a puff of light brown dust is raised -- a quaint reminder of our long hot summer as well as our total lack of parental control.)
-- Plot our August tryouts schedule. (Any input on whether Montgomery, AL, is too far to commute for weekly practices? You parents with long-distance softball allegiances are especially encouraged to provide input.)
-- In the upcoming months, mentally rewrite history of this past season to place dd in rosiest possible light. (E.g., decide that the 0-3 game where she wrenched her knee ought to be expunged from her batting record because -- OBVIOUSLY! -- she can't be held responsible for making outs when she could HARDLY STAND UP!!!) ;&
-- Stop, take a deep breath, and know that these days of her girlhood playing softball are some of the most precious I have ever lived. These are unquestionably the good old days.**
**Not counting the umpiring which this year has been the WORST we've seen in five tournament seasons. I mean, truly, truly, truly awful. I don't know how such pathetic excuses for humanity and blah blah blah blah blah...
