Baseball with the Red Hot Bucket Monkeys

I am not the biggest sports fan. And some may call it luck but I am married to a man that is even less of a sports fan than I am. That is unless it involves horsepower...but that is another post...

Needless to say, my children are not exposed to much in the way of sports. It is impossible, however, not to feel the excitement for our hometown team, the Rays! What a success for them this year. This town fought so hard for this team. And they were in LAST place the previous season. And now we watch them on THE WORLD SERIES! A momentous event even for those of us that are not sports fans.

D.P. and D.A. were allowed to stay up past their usual bedtime to watch the first few innings of the World Series Game #1. The conversations were interesting to say the least...

D.P. surprised me with his knowledge about foul balls, outs and the term "on deck". This is the kid that wanted to quit T-ball half way into the season. He determines whether he will have a good day or bad day based on how much he will "have to sweat" at after care because it is his grade's day to be outside or in the gym. When I asked him how he knew so much about baseball, he confidently replied "from the Wii game". I should have known. We don't even own one!

And then D.A., observant as she is, noticed the helmet the batter wears is different because the ear is covered on one side. As any first grader may conclude, the purpose for the ear being covered is to "remind the batter which side to bat on-left or right".

Shopping for Pumpkins

Yesterday, we went to the Pumpkin Patch in search of the perfect pumpkins. D.P. prefers to paint his pumpkin so he doesn't have to touch all the icky pumpkin guts. He chose the smaller size as he was very conscious of our limited budget.

Fall in Florida is not much different than summer. Except fall activities are abound. Born a Yankee, it always seems surreal walking through the pumpkin patch sweating and still wearing shorts.

The kids are so funny-they really do not enjoy getting their pictures takes. They usually end up making silly faces or looking away from the camera.

D.A. kept oohing and aahing over the tiny pumpkins. She wanted to take home many little ones to decorate. I convinced her two would be enough and then we could still buy a larger pumpkin to carve.

Is this lady for real??????

On the today show this morning, I watched Ann Curry trudge through an interview segment that focused on how in these desperate times women can remain fashionable by buying designer clothing at thrift stores. Also, it was suggested that women pull their clothes that are just sitting in their closet and take them to a consignment shop or the internet to earn extra money. Ann spoke about this like it was such a novel concept.

It was at this moment that I truly realized exactly how far removed our government, and the media, is from the “middle class”.

I am very familiar with this term “middle class” because that is where my family’s income level falls according to the government.

My family earns too much for my children to qualify for free and reduced lunch. Yet, I still only have $75-$100 a week for groceries to feed my family of four.

I find time to cut coupons. I only buy the goodies if there is a BOGO. I shop at bread outlets and fruit stands.

I am blessed to have friends with children older or taller than mine. It is because these friends hand down their clothes, that my children have plenty of clothes to wear throughout the school year. It is because of my friends, I am able to only spend $150 shopping for school clothes at the beginning of the year. At least I can afford to buy my children new shoes.

My family has health insurance. It is at a cost of $193 a week. I take my children to their well-child visits, and, when they are really REALLY sick, I will take them to the doctor at a cost of the $25 co-pay per visit, per child. The $50 co-pay for my son’s dermatologist is a stretch. Especially when the medications prescribed for his rampant eczema falls in the third prescription tier so it costs $68 for a .5 oz. bottle. I, on the other hand, still need to make my well-woman visit w/my OBGYN. I hesitate because, again, the $50 co-pay for a specialist is a stretch. I had a medical issue over the summer which required 4 visits ($50 each visit) plus a $93 balance for the biopsy that insurance did not cover 100%. I question why our legislature passed such laws to prohibit physicians from scheduling one appointment and running the various tests at that one appointment. Hmmm???

I’ll ride my bike to the library, to the grocery store for a gallon of milk, to the post office or around the corner to pay the electric bill. While I believe in conservation, the truth is I ride my bike because it helps save even a little bit of money on gas. It is difficult to budget for gas when $50 will not even fill my tank for the week. I am blessed that my husband has a job that reimburses him for his fuel expense. This is particularly true when some work days he will drive 100’s of miles.

We do not go to the movies or rent from Blockbuster. Instead, we check out videos from the library on “Movie Night”.

This is also where my voracious readers get their books. Unless Scholastic has a good book on their $1 or $2 special that month.

Eating out is a true luxury. Even McDonald’s is a $20 adventure. And we stopped taking the kids there when they stopped their summer special ($.59 cheeseburgers).

We do not have the newest video game systems in our home. My children only have the opportunity to play a Wii at the rec center.

They do not have cell phones or iPods.

I do not buy my children the latest CD’s. They listen to music on the radio or on the internet.

They do not own Heelies. Instead they share a pair of roller blades.

They only get gifts on their birthdays and holidays. My son earned a very special award at school this week. He received a shower-curtain from a demolition job his dad is working on (sounds gross, but the curtain was like new and it had dolphins on it. My son is obsessed with dolphins. He was ecstatic. I wanted to cry.)

Yes, I have been known to give blood to get the $10 gift card to Wal-Mart.

Yes, I have been known to surrender my body for medical research in exchange for money to pay for expensive yet necessary car repairs.

I only have a cell phone because my dad has me on his family plan.

And this is for you Ann Curry…I have not been able to afford to buy myself clothing from anywhere other than a thrift store or consignment shop for the last 2 years. Not such a novel idea after all is it!

This is the true “middle class” lifestyle.