Hello Rowdy!

Meet the newest member of the Osterman family.
Name: Rowdy
Age: about 5 months old
Breed: some Wheaten terrier, lots of "I dunno"
Smile factor: off the scale

World Cup of Softball

Another year, another trip to beautiful Oklahoma City! We have been going up there since spring of 2002, for Catherine's first Big 12 tourney. Some years we have been there 2 or three times. It seems to have become "our summer vacation destination" except we really have seen very little else there except softball! IS there anything else in OKC to see or do? Ah well - if we did not have softball of some sort in the summer, I don't know if we would know what to do!

Anyway - photos are arranged in albums over to the right. We were not there for the first game, so no pics. :-( Some highlights - fan photos at the end of the Italy album and scattered in a few other albums. It is amusing when kids paint their faces, wear adorned caps, and make great posters! Caitlin Lowe's diving catch is towards the end of the Japan album. With a little lucky shooting, I also managed to get Hansen's grannie swing and Lappin's HR swing. A nice sequence of the Japanese runner, Lappin, and the throw coming in is also in the Japan album. Late games caused a few problems, since I kept having to change the settings. I deleted way more photos than I saved.

Crowds were great during the games, with a full house for Japan as expected. We got there about 20 minutes before game time and ended up having to park/walk about a mile down the road from the Firefighter Museum. Made for an enjoyable hike back when they cleared the stadium! (Yeah right!) But it made it easy to find a better spot when the game resumed. ;-)

I always enjoy moving around the stadium for photo ops, talking with others. I am always in awe of the fans that travel significant distances to see the games and haved no direct tie to the team, many with even no direct tie to softball. They just love watching the game.

Next year, OKC will host the World Championships. This tourney is every 4 years, in between Olympic years, and hosted in different countries each time. Since the tourney will be from July 16 through 26, we are going to look for a house or condo to rent near one of the lakes. The thought of 11-12 days in a hotel sends shivers down my "budget" spine!

Enjoy the photos!

Is It Too Much To Ask?

When you pay for a decent hotel room, is it too much to ask for sheets that actually fit the bed? How about a shower head that is higher then 5 feet up the wall? Free internet? I mean really, does a hotel need to charge $13 per day (and then not even give you a full 24 hours) for internet access? How about TWO coffee cups?

Ok rant over! I am glad to be home. More later! Tomorrow starts day 1 of the "Canine Idol - the Osterman Version". We shall see.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Whatever! Festivus? Anyofus?

Happy Blogiversay! Happy Blog Anniversary? Happy Blog Birthday? Anyway - happy belated!

I started this as a way for family to keep up with what was going on with us in our travels last summer. Then it was a way for them to keep track of us during the hurricane. Now it is a way to help them get to sleep at night!

Hope you all have had a great year!

Duke, the One Who Ruled the House

The house was weirdly quiet last night and this morning. For the first time in over 20 years, we do not have a dog in the house. We had to say goodbye to Duke Monday morning. We lost Abby suddenly in October to pneumonia, she was only 8 years old.

Duke was a stray, found at a post office in Austin, by Catherine. She tried to keep him, but after staying here while she was in post-season play, he was not happy back in Austin. So, Duke took up residence here with us and Abby, a little over 4 years ago, and promptly, quietly let us now who the boss in this house was.

The vet estimated that Duke was about 10 when he came to us, already a crusty old man who was missing at least 7 teeth. He was quirky and "bossy", but like most dogs, he loved us unconditionally. Duke loved laundry day, walking through the piles of dirty clothes taking in all the scents. He loved sitting out in the middle of the back yard in the morning, after he was done with morning business. At bedtime, he sat on the floor waiting to be picked up and put on the bed, where he hopped over to Gary to get his nightly petting. His bossy "arf arf" when it was breakfast, dinner, or Pupperoni time was sorely missing today.

Duke had a mass in his chest that was compromising his breathing. Sunday night it became very apparent that he was getting worse. So Monday morning, Chris and I took him to the vet's office. Both of us were with him to say goodbye.

So, today, while everyone else in the world was saying one more goodbye to Michael Jackson, the Osterman family was thinking of Duke, boss of the house! Happy trails Dukie! Hope you are having fun with Abby!