Volleyball victories

Last week, Frank laid down the law to his volleyball team: pass to your teammates and quit criticizing each other. A couple of girls were right pissed off -- during the game, they let balls that came to them fall at their feet, in true teenage drama queen fashion. Those girls have now apparently quit the team, and the result has been a complete transformation of the team. At their match yesterday, the remaining girls were smiling, bopping around the court, serving, passing, and returning with skill and verve, and just plain having FUN. It was really terrific to see. *And* they won all three games by a large margin. Turns out the terrible twosome had been terrorizing the team.

In other news, yesterday was the Sons of Italy charity-fundraiser spaghetti feed. MJ helped out there all day (so she missed the volleyball fun, unfortunately) and had a grand time. She and my nieces bussed tables and took tickets and were very gracious hostesses. Frank and I just went for the food and to support the cause. It makes me a little melancholy to go there, since it was at the feed two years ago that we made the connection that brought Chiara into our lives. But at least I got to see her last week, and we have every hope that she'll come for a visit this summer.

Radio silence from Summerhill. This is supposed to be a good thing -- the kids only call home when they're unhappy -- but I'm still bummed. Maybe as the novelty wears off Chloe will do a little more emailing and blogging.

With MJ involved in Italian activities, Frank and I had a date for Cinco de Mayo. We walked over to the neighborhood Mexican place and were actually able to get a table. We ate way too much and ingested a bit more tequila than we had intended -- I think the margaritas were double-strength -- but it was nice to have some couple time.

MJ is really settling in at Hope for Horses and becoming a valued member of the organization, from all appearances. In addition to her barn work, she has been helping out in the office, putting together auction packets and returning calls to potential foster parents. A recently rescued mare, Faith, is due to foal any day. (She's underweight, so they're not sure how it will go.) Not wanting to miss the action, MJ spent some extra time at the ranch last week. On Thursday, she helped them take one of the mini horses -- loaded into the cargo area of an SUV! -- to his new foster home over on the Olympic Peninsula. His new foster family? The Nordstroms. Yes, those Nordstroms. So MJ had a bit of a brush with Washington-state royalty.

And I made it through my work week, despite continuing jet lag. I have seen more sunrises in the past week than I've seen in the last 20 years. :-)

Hope all is well with all of you. Let us hear from you!
Ronnie