Heard from the sideline at MPUL tonight.

Seven players on the line. One starts complaining about the lights in the back endzone (which is, admittedly, dark).

Player 1: And what's up with this endzone?

Player 2: What?

Player 1: That cone over there. It's all wonky.

Player 2: Oh.

You know, if the endzone is all wonky, walk over to the out-of-place cone and move it. How hard is it to fix the field? Certainly you and all the players on the field will benefit from the fix. Take some personal responsibilty.

A documentary post about today, with a hint of personal progress.

Today was Aruna's baby shower. Libby, JenO, and Sarah organized it, with Libby hosting. I like that Libby hosted, as it meant a 2 mile (if that) jaunt for me to get there. Of course, Aruna's isn't much farther for me. I like having friends so close.

Lisa didn't make the shower, as the movers were here today to move their belongings. We (Ben, Lisa & I) went for Cold Stone Creamery last night (for dinner! It was my dinner! I love having CSC for dinner!), when she told me she probably wouldn't make the gathering.

The group at the shower were mostly Rippit women, with two non-ultimate women. We played very low-key baby shower games. Thankfully. Because the bachelorette parties these ladies throw are embarrassing! We played "How many toliet paper squares does it take to fit around Aruna's belly?", "Memory" (20 baby items on a tray shown to you for 1 minute, take the tray away and write down all the items you remember: Libby won at 16, I was second at 15), and "CAAAAB" or "Create An Acronym About Aruna's Baby" (where Aruna pulls 5 letters from a Scrabble set, and we created acronyms about the baby with the letters - this was right up my alley).

Lisa had purchased our gift for Aruna, so I just had to make pumpkin bread and head over. Mmmmmmmmm....

Later in the day, I called Jess to see how she was doing. Jess called me on Thursday night and told me she has breast cancer. It's the kind her mother had (15 years ago, so survival is good), been caught early (so survival is good) and doesn't require chemo at this point in the diagnosis (so survival is good). We talked for a while on Thursday, but I hadn't called her on Friday, so I wanted to call her today. She seemed in good spirits. Yesterday was her 5th year wedding anniversary to David, which is really cool.

Her surgery is tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday. She wasn't able to get confirmation because the O/R scheduling system was down at the time her surgeon's office called to make arrangements. She's having reconstruction done at the same time.

I'll head out to visit her at the new year. In the new year, I'll be able to stay a little longer, and get to see Crazy Cousin Kelly, Jenny and Dad, too. Maybe Dad will go sledding with me. That would be fun. And fun is needed in low times.

I was about to write, "I'm not able to visit her until next month/year." but in reality, the proper sentence is "I choose not to visit her until next month/year, in favor of spending my first Christmas with Kris as husband and wife, spending $400 instead of $700 to get there since money is an issue, continuing my training, take care of Rossi (Mike & Kate's big chocolate lab, who is staying with us for the holidays) and finishing up projects I said would be done by the end of the year." I say "choose" because it is my choice (taking a chapter out of the mental toughness book I'm reading).

Today was an upper body workout. Today, and the next two weeks, to give my legs a rest. My cardio for the day was a mere 30 minutes on the StairMaster (whoo - I felt like one of those old ladies I've seen working out in the gym, not for a goal like kick-ass-in-ultimate, but to lose the 5 pounds that no one in the world knows is there but them). It was so short, but my legs were fine. Kris managed an intense lower body workout on Monday, which I missed for MPUL, so this complemented it well.

I've been doing rotator-cuff lifts every day. I'm using only 3# weights, but I've been very very consistent. Today I learned how to use the elastic bands to replace those exercises. I'm not sure if I'll do both, as the previous ones work well as shoulder exercises. These exercises are ones that I often see the baseball players doing.

I did only one set of the new exercises, because we were pressed for time. From now on, I'll have to arrive 15 minutes early to warm up with these.

G provided me with new rotator-cuff exercises. These are the ones the baseball kids do each time they're in the gym. Now, I too, will start doing these every day.

The first three exercises are with the bands hooked low.

• Lower back, face away

  Face away from the wall where the bands are hooked, one band in each hand, hands together on forehead (bands go over the head). Stand in a power stance with one foot forward, moving forward so that when standing leaning back slightly, the bands give resistance. Lean forward past 90°, keep back straight. Stand back up so that the bands pull slightly back, the front leg and torso should be straight. Repeat for 10 reps.

• Lower back, face forward

  Face the wall where the bands are hooked, one band in each hand, hands together on forehand. Stand in a power stance with one foot forward, moving backward so that when bending forward below 90° the bands give resistance. Stand up, leaning slightly back, keep the back straight. Repeat for 10 reps.

• Straight arms, tip

  Stand facing away from the wall where the bands are hooked. Stand in a power stance with feet apart, arms straight out to the side, one band in each hand, forward enough so that the bands provide resistance. Tip to the left, stand back up, tip to the right stand back up. Repeat for 10 reps.

The last two exercises are with the bands hooked high.

• Rotator cuff, forward

  Stand facing away from the wall, band in one hand, arm at a 90° angle, hand up, with upper arm parallel to the floor. As quickly as possible, push down so that the arm is parallel to the floor, then back up. Repeat for 10 reps. Repeat with other arm.

• Rotator cuff, away

  Repeat as above, but face the wall. Start the arm parallel to the ground, and at a 90° angle, with slight resistance. Quickly pull the arm up so that the hand points up, then rotate the arm back down. Repeat for 10 reps. Repeat with the other arm.

That's one set. Do 3 sets.

That went much better.

The first night of MPUL was tonight. We had attendance issues (12 on a winter league team is 6 too few), and gender issues (my team forfeited for lack of women players), but people showed up. They seemed to have fun, too.

So, I'm happy.