Holiday roundup.

I can't believe how fast the time has flown. It seems like I just got here, but 7 days has already come and gone and now I am getting ready to leave Blanding and head on back to Baton Rouge. We will be leaving in about 2 hours and I have said my goodbye's to most of my family.

Some of the most memorable and fun moments have been the visiting with family and also the overnight softball tournament. It has been about seven years since I have played softball, and so Summer made me practice for the three days before the tournament, it was a good thing, because there was a bunch of rust to get off. It worked though, because I did a great job.....now I am not one to brag about myself very often, but I think that in these circumstances, I deserve a good old pat on the back. I played shortstop and caught/stopped almost every ball that came my way, one got by that I should've stopped....I was able to make throws to first with only one fairly wild throw that bounced in the dirt in front of Jim, who was our first baseman.

As far as hitting is concerned, I did well. I only fouled out once, singled once, but every other hit was a double or triple, with three homeruns during the tournament. (one was infield, two were over the fence). It was fun and I am so glad that it was a one-pitch tournament. I am glad because our pitcher was my brother in law who is a good pitcher and was consistent with his delivery....I got used to his pitches during our practices and it felt good to swing a bat again.

There were 24 teams that competed in the tournament and we ended up in fifth place. We started at 6pm and were eliminated at about 5am the next morning. It was the first time that I had ever played in that tournament and I hope to do it again next year.

For the next two days, I was soooooo sore....I had used muscles that hadn't been used in ages and am still paying for it a little bit as I type this.

One thing that I didn't get to do was visit as many people as I wanted to. It seemed like I had something going on every single minute of the day, but I got to spend the majority of time with my family and that was the best thing.

I love my parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends and other family and wish that I had more time to spend with each of them. But, I have to go back to work. This time, I think that I will be a little sad leaving Blanding.....normally, I am eager and ready to leave after a few days, but this time it is different....maybe I'm slowing down and appreciate the small town life more, maybe I appreciate my family more, but regardless, it is harder to say goodbye this time around. ....I love the views here.....Blue Mountain to the North, Sleeping Ute Mountain to the East, Teec Nos Pos Mountains to the South, and Bears Ears to the West.....interspaced with beautiful, untouched, earth-colored canyons, mesas, and rock formations. Home is definitely where the heart is and mine has been refilled and expanded with new memories, laughs, and love.

Wednesday in Blanding

Wednesday morning started out early as my brother, dad, and I went to lift weights. I didn't want to embarrass them, so I took it easy...also I had to keep in mind that I would be playing in a softball tournament in two days and didn't want to be too sore. :)

Later on in the day, I watched a movie with my brother, hung out with my parents and then went to hitting practice...I think I should mention here that because I didn't bring any cleats, I had to borrow my sisters (we wear the same size) and so now I have black Nike cleats with a pink swoosh on the side. My nieces laugh and laugh and think that these shoes fit their Uncle Justin to a perfect tee.

That evening we had hobo dinners and a cookout at the parents. They turned out sooooo good and it was great to hang out with the family and do a cook out. Normally, I hear about it after the fact, because they all live in the home town and I live 2000 miles away.

Although it is great hanging out with the family and nieces/nephews, it takes a little getting used to....I mean, the noise, the constant activity, the crying, the laughing, the cooking, the cleaning, at home, I only have myself to worry about and I'm pretty low maintenance, or at least I'd like to think that. Here, there's kids underfoot, worried parents looking for/disciplining their kids, or me becoming a real-life jungle gym. It's fun though.