Kayla 33 - Blog

For years I have been asked “what are you going to do when Kayla leaves for college”? My response has always been pretty much the same - “that is so far off, not to worry”.  Well, it is NOT so far off anymore! In just two weeks Kayla will be starting her senior year of high school. Already??? She has been looking at colleges for about two years now. Education is priority #1 - and playing softball for college is a huge #2 on her list of priorities. Distance from me…not such a priority. I am actually ok with this. I have been pressing her to look coast to coast. I want her to have a great education and a great college experience all the way around. The result may end up that my little girl is not within a close driving distance. How will I cope???? Lots of trips for visits I hope!

Kayla made a difficult choice to change softball travel teams for this fall. She has been with the Rebel organization for about 3 years now. She loves her team and coaches, but felt it was in her best interest to make a final change. I am confident that where ever Kayla plays she will be a strong contributer to her team.

We are off to San Francisco next weekend for a picnic then hopefully an unofficial college visit to one of Kayla’s choices. More on that later…

Felix and Batman are doing as wonderful as ever. Batman will make the trip to SF next week to play with his cousin Otis, while Felix will stay to guard the house and sleep on the sofa watching Animal Planet.

With the start of a New Year I find myself worrying about Kayla and her health. At the end of January she had a touch of the flu. Since then she has not eaten! It is just not good to lose 20lbs in less than two weeks. We are on our second doctor and looking at a new round of tests next week. He thinks he has the answer, but until the tests are done, we just don’t know. Some type of post viral issue that literally shuts the stomach down. So many dieters might like this, but it is just not good for a 16 year old athlete.

Speaking of athlete, Kayla tooka trip up to the Bay Area to visit Stanford a few weeks back. Much to my surprise, she LOVED it! I thought for sure, being the second largest university in the world, she would be overwhelmed and want to go smaller, but noooooo. So now she is really keeping up to date with their softball coaches, as well as those from San Francisco State and Denison University. There are a couple of others, but at this time, I think those are her top choices. Her SAT and ACT scores as well as her GPA are all high enough for any of these colleges, but she is out today taking the ACT again to try and improve upon her scores so that she is eligable for even more scholarship money.

Travel softball has come to an end for the early part of this season and high school ball has already started. There never seems to be a break, but she loves to play. If everything is played and goes the way it should, there is NO REASON why Kayla’s high school team shouldn’t be in the State Championships this year. Of course, we all felt that way last year as well…so it’s a wait and see game.

I’ll update again after her tests have returned and we all have some idea of what the heck is going on!

Well, we have wound down 2008 and jumped right into 2009. It was an interesting end of the year for us. This year Kayla and I traveled to San Francisco to have Christmas with my parents, my brother and his wife and daughter. Interesting trip is the only thing I will say!

Travel ball is starting to wind down and high school ball is starting. Poor Kayla, there never seems to be a break - but she loves it! She is hoping to go to college and continue to play. We have had some very good responses from several colleges. Our goal is to have her verbally commited by this summer and signed by November of her senior year. Keep your fingers crossed.

Batman and Felix are both doing great. Batman will continue to work towards getting his therapy dog certification this year. He is doing well and should easily certify by this Spring. Work has been slow (being self-employed that tends to happen during recessions) but my contract job has been doing their best to get work to me on a constant basis - that has been a HUGE help!

Here in Southern Nevada - we all wish you the best for a new year - and we’ll check back soon!

I swear, I think my dogs have a love affair with the vet. Maybe not him, but someone in that office. If I can go 2 weeks without having to take an emergency trip there I feel lucky.

Earlier this week was just the latest. I was just loving on the puppies when I noticed what looked like a dirty leg on Felix. I bent down to wipe it off and it turns out it was blood. He had sliced his leg open on something - who knows what with him…so, off to the vets - yet again. Now, if you know Felix, you know he doesn’t like much of anything that is different. No conehead, no wrapping on his feet or legs, he just has to be difficult. So, after they kept him, cleaned it up and stitched it, I get the call to come pick him up.

Upon my arrival and getting my little angel, I note they have his leg, down to his foot, bandaged. I mention this will NOT work. But no, they want to give it a try. In Felix’s defense, he left it alone for a grand total of 14 hours. I was proud of him. After biting off the wrapping 3x - I finally put a conehead on him. Yeah, that just sent him into the “Nuts” zone. So, back to the vets I went to get the ever dreaded sedation. Do you know that even on drugs he was a pain the a$%!!! Now we have just left the stitches exposed and try and keep him from licking it.

Oh, and it’s not just him…Batman wants to clean and protect his big brother. So not only was I already taking Batman darn near everywhere with us, now it is everywhere! He did the same thing this summer with Felix’s ears after surgery. It took a month longer to heal because I couldn’t keep Batman from cleaning them.

Dogs! You gotta love ‘em - but I swear they cost more than my kid! Kayla doesn’t see the doctor this much! I have to find out who Felix is crushing on so I can put an end to his visits!

The Fall season is in full swing. Fundraising (which, I HATE) but we all must do. Why? Well, if you have ever played a competitive travel sport then you know how terribly expensive it is. We just always seem to come up with things last minute and it messes up my plans. I am currently sending out as many letters as I can to corporations to try and get some sponsorship money so we can spend more time playing and less time trying to raise the money to play. Know of a business that wants to help girls get into college? Please pass the info along.

Ok, no more soap box about fundraising. Things are rolling right along for Kayla and her college and softball future. We are playing in several tournaments this Fall where colleges have written that they will be coming to see her. I believe she is talented enough to play anywhere, but we’ll just have to wait and see which, if any, colleges agree. We have had some positive responses back on schools that have seen her mechanics video, now she just has to do her part and play as well as we know she can when they are watching.

Kayla has several colleges in her sites, but we’ll just hold off on naming them because I am supersticious and don’t want to jinx anything. Her first priority is education, so we’ll just see which of the schools will give her the best leg up for her future plans of working with and training animals. She wants to major in Psychology with a minor in some type of animal sciences and behaviors. She is in AP Psych now in high school and loves it. She is disappointed that she will have gone as far as she can in this program in high school and will have to wait for college to go further. I am thinking next year because she will be on a limited morning schedule as a senior, maybe she can take a college course through UNLV or CSN if she wants. We’ll just have to wait and see where she ends up going to college and what their requirements are.

So far we have only had one tournament this Fall, but the bulk of them are coming up at the end of this month and all through October. We are off to Barstow next weekend, so when we get back, I’ll post an update of how the team, and Kayla, did. Wish us luck!

Ok, what is wrong with people? Really, getting your jollies off of hacking into someones websites or computers, people you don’t even know! Ok, so if you hate someone and want to get even with them, I can see that, but just sending out random virus’ to create havoc on people is just wrong! Years and years of building a client database and using the same client software, and now I may have to start over. If you hackers are reading this, I am sure you are laughing your ass off. But remember, what goes around, comes around. I hope someone else gets to laugh their ass off at you when you lose something important to someone else’s jollies!

Batman is officially a Canine Good Citizen! Yes, last night our little angel passed all his tests. We were told that it was a great accomplishment for a dog so young. (10 months) Most dogs this young don’t pass the first time and take several trys, but Batman smoked it. We will continue to work with Sonja and on our own so that Batman can become an official Therapy Dog! He is doing great. Sonja said he could go down and pass now, but I have decided to work with him until he is a little older. Although, I believe he can start going to Child Haven (a facility where children go when taken from their homes for a large number of reasons) - so we may start doing some work there with the kids.

We are very proud of our boy since not all dogs pass this testing. As a matter of fact, two dogs in the class did not pass last night. It was a shame because they did so well last week in the practice test, then last night took one little, easy point of the test and decided not to do it! They both refused to follow the command “down” - which they both do all the time! Just goes to show that dogs really do have good days and bad days, just like us!

So please, take a moment to congratulate Batman the next time you see him!

Where has the time gone? Summer is almost over and I am sad. I love spending time with Kayla, and Kayla loves her job. She is down to the last week of being a lifeguard…for now! If you check out the photo section under random 2008 you will find her summer job photos. They really had a good time.

Kayla is almost back to being healthy after a 7 week battle with Viral Bronchitis. She still has some coughing and breathing problems, especially at night, but we are getting there. For her, softball will start up again this week full time. Their first tournament is in Barstow, CA on Labor Day Weekend. This will be the first time I have ever missed a tournament. Sadly, my doggy sitter will be out of town and there is no one to watch Felix. Batman would have gone with us, but I can’t take both. So, I guess I will just have to get news from the road.

Soon, school. Boo - I want another month to play. At least Kayla will be driving herself this entire year, so that is a gas saving, good thing! She is a very good driver and is looking forward to next week. Her first 6 months of driving will be up and she will be able to have people in the car with her. She WILL NOT be a taxi, but it will make things easier if she needs to help someone out with a ride.

Hopefully she will keep up her friendships with all the lifeguards she met this summer. There are some really great people she worked with. I know she wishes she could continue to work during school, but with all her classes and softball, it is just not possible.

I guess it is good-bye summer (at least the vacation part - the heat is here for a while longer) and hello to classrooms and homework!