Spring Pleasures

Despite driving home from Katherine’s last night in the snow and waking to a white lawn here at Woodsong this morning, I enjoyed spring. In the center of our dining room table is a bouquet of daffodils that grandson Sam presented me with Saturday from his mother’s lamp post planting.  He must have read my blog that I was wishing for a daffodil bouquet, and I certainly appreciated their beauty as I sat doing paper work at the table all morning.

I used the two angel food cake mixes that did not get made on Monday at the end of the week.  One was Gerald’s birthday cake—un-iced and perfect for a disciplined guy who does not intend to develop diabetes.  We ate his steak dinner sitting in front of the computer watching granddaughter Geri Ann win the first of the three game sweep this past weekend against Ole Miss.  He had gone to Union County for his traditional birthday breakfast with his brothers that morning. 

I was relieved to find out that even his brother Garry made it to the breakfast because I had learned when I awoke that Garry had to take his wife Ginger to the hospital after midnight.  Their daughter Vicki Sue texted me.  She was being a good Samaritan that day to get Katherine dressed and ready for some ordered tests over at St. Joseph Hospital in Murphysboro.  Our pastor was the other good Samaritan, who was driving the van.   I was resting at home all day!  (I was go in for the evening after the ball game and perhaps stay the night—but as it turned out, we were able to secure a new weekend night person, so at the end of the evening, I came home and slept in my own bed.)

Garry told Vicki to go ahead and take care of Katherine just as she had planned, and he and her brother Kerry would take care of Ginger.  When I read the text, I figured that Gerald would be spending his birthday over at Cape with Garry.  But Garry was able to bring Ginger home by 5 a.m., and Kerry stayed with her while Garry drove in for Gerald’s breakfast celebration.  The doctors thought she had had a reaction to meds.  So after his special breakfast, Gerald had a pleasant day with lots of birthday phone calls and Facebook wishes even though his original plan to go on an  out-of-state was cancelled earlier in the week.

The second angel food cake mix provided me with a dessert for our church pot luck yesterday.  I am not sure I had ever seen such a large dessert table as showed up at that potluck, but the angel food cake was enjoyed enough that I only had a few pieces to bring back home.   Neva Woolard was not so fortunate.  I teased her husband George that I was sorry I ate the last piece of her homemade strawberry/rhubarb pie because everyone at our table was telling me how delicious it was and I just had to try that last piece!  Her pies are beautiful to look at and luscious to eat.

I took a plate of the potluck food on into Katherine’s house for her to enjoy although she could not see the colorful dining room decorations with Easter buckets of spring flower arrangements on all the tables. 

I was relieved when the Sunday night worker came a half hour early because it was snowing hard, and I was nervous about driving back to the farm if it turned slick.  It didn’t.  We usually have about the same temperature and weather as Saint Louis, just a little north of us, but we have not had anything like the bad weather they had yesterday and today.

When I got home this evening I was delighted to read that for the second time Geri Ann has been chosen Southeastern Conference Freshman Softball Player of the week.  (Last week University of Georgia’s Tina Iosefa received that honor.)  Geri Ann was also chosen for national honors as College Sports Madness National Player of the Week.  If you want to see UGA play, you can google their website and go to the softball page and watch their Wednesday game against Georgia Southern, which will be at 5 p.m. our time here in the Central Time Zone.
Here’s the article from the University of Georgia website that made my day when I came home tonight:

March 25, 2013

ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia freshman Geri Ann Glasco has been named the Southeastern Conference Softball Freshman of the Week and the College Sports Madness National Player of the Week for March 18-24. It is the second time this season that Glasco has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week and the first time she has earned national recognition. It is the third SEC Freshman of the Week honor for the Bulldogs this season, as Tina Iosefa earned the honor last week. 

Glasco helped the Bulldogs (25-7, 6-0 SEC) to a 4-0 record last week. She helped pace Georgia’s offense last week, hitting .600 with six hits, five of which were home runs. She also slugged 2.100 and had an OPS of 2.788 after reaching base nearly 70 percent of the time in four games. She led the team with eight RBI and scored a team-best seven runs in four games. The Watkinsville, Ga., native belted a home run in four straight games, including one in each game against Ole Miss. 

In the second game against Ole Miss last weekend, Glasco recorded her first multiple home run game, hitting home runs in consecutive at bats. She hit her third home run of the day in her first at bat of the second game of the double header against Ole Miss, bringing her total to three home runs in three at bats. The five round-trippers last week brought her season total to a 12, tied for most on the team and most ever by a Georgia freshman. 

In addition to her offensive numbers, Glasco led the Bulldogs in the circle, picking up three wins to improve to 15-1 on the year. She combined for two no hitters and two shutouts in her three appearances last week. She allowed just six hits in 12 innings of work and struck out eight. 

For the season, Glasco leads the team with a .452 batting average, a .935 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .542.

Glasco and the Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday, March 27 when they look to win their 16^thstraight game as they host Georgia Southern at 6 p.m., at Jack Turner Stadium.