New directions

Ahh, life. Every time I think I have you figured out, you throw me a sinking curve ball.

I've written before about how much I love school supply shopping and I'm kind of excited to say that I actually have a real reason to indulge. I'm teaching literature and composition to fifth through eighth graders this school year. It's a part-time position which feels a lot like full-time right now. (I'd like to introduce the lack of posts on this blog as evidence, your honor.) The last several weeks have been filled with lesson planning, apprehension, butterflies, and brainstorming. I'm balancing my business with this new venture, so I never have a dull (or free!) moment.

Artistic leanings

Sometimes, one of the hardest things to do in life is to take a chance. We wade through self-doubt, risk defeat, and are often disappointed. It's hard to stay the course when there are so many bumps in the road. It's easy to get derailed. What gets us through? Persistence, courage and support.

This is my sister's story: Completely self-taught and totally gifted, she is an artist. Most of her work is very personal. She has a way of capturing the sweetest sensibilities of children.

So today, I'm celebrating her art and her courage. She recently exhibited at a local art show. I'm hoping it's the first of many.

A strange marketing decision

I saw this ad last week. I did a double-take, then laughed incredulously. It reminded me of those tests where you pick the one which doesn't belong.

Who thinks, "Hey! We're getting a divorce! Let's get some fireworks to commemorate the occasion!"

Championship game

After advancing through the second round of the tournament, the Tigers had home field advantage vs. the Bronx Bombers on August 11 for the championship game.

Manager Joel Carstensen brought out a semi-familiar defensive set with Paul Tiefel Jr. as the starting pitcher and Rebekah Carstensen behind the plate at catcher. The infield showcased Elizabeth Plath at one, Hannah Tiefel at two, Jer Gurgel at short and Tim Burns at third. Paul Tiefel III played left field, while Jill Tiefel was in left-center. Jarrod Lentz played right-center and Emily Tiefel was in right field. 

The first three batters for the visiting Bombers were summarily retired. In the bottom of the inning, Jer Gurgel led off with a single. Lefty Rebekah Carstensen flied out to left field, which was followed by singles by Jarrod Lentz and Jill Tiefel. Paul Tiefel III and Elizabeth Plath each drew a walk, before Paul Tiefel Jr. hit a double to score some runs. At the end of the first inning, the score was 4-0.

Jarrod Lentz's defense provided the first two outs of the second inning, as he snared a fly ball hit to right-center for out one. The next batter also hit the ball to right-center and Jarrod threw a tight rope to first base for out number two. The next three batters reached first base, but Jer Gurgel scooped up a grounder at short and made the force out at second to end the top of the second inning.

Similar to previous weeks, the second inning proved to be a red-hot one for Tiger batters. The team batted all the way through the lineup, starting with Emily Tiefel. Singles and doubles were plentiful and the inning was topped off by a grand slam by Jarrod Lentz. At the end of the second inning, the score was 16-0.

The Bronx Bombers staged a minor rally in the third inning, scoring two runs. Paul Tiefel III scored for the Tigers in the bottom of the inning on a hit by Tim Burns. The game ended at the end of three innings because of the 15 run lead acquired by the Tigers. The final score was 17-2.

BOX SCORE: Jer Gurgel (2 1B), Bek Carstensen (2 BB), Jarrod Lentz (HR, 2B, 1B), Jill Tiefel (2 1B), Paul Tiefel III (1B, BB), Elizabeth Plath (1B), Paul Tiefel Jr. (2B, 2 1B), Hannah Tiefel (1B, BB), Tim Burns (2 2B), Emily Tiefel (2 BB)

Tiefel Tigers statistics for the 2010 season:
Record: 11-0
Total runs scored: 133
Total runs allowed: 35
Average runs scored: 12.1
Average runs allowed 3.2

And so the sun has set on another memorable softball season. Thanks for your support!

Meet Corky

My sisters and I have a tradition. Instead of having coffee together, we have craft night. The hostess provides the craft supplies and general directions, then it's off to the races. Craft night is hilarious, but it's not designed for the thin-skinned. Prepare to handle good-natured jabs, mocking, and irreverent laughter.

When I hosted a recent craft night, everyone brought something to use in the creative effort. I set up a card table and piled on the supplies: empty bottles, glue guns, wire, beads, soap molds, bits of ribbon, corks, bottle caps...in short, whatever might fuel an idea.

Corky was made by my sister Rebekah, created with her three-year-old daughter in mind. Take a cork, draw an animated face, hot glue a magnet to the top along with yellow rick-rack for hair and place a bottle cap at a jaunty angle and presto...a new doll! I took one look at Corky and cracked up. My sister mischievously placed her in my curio cabinet where I discovered her the next morning.

We laugh at each others ideas and truthfully, the end result of some ideas may be unfortunate or just plain awful. But you can't get good ideas without some bad ones. You never know if the project you're creating will turn out to be "craftastic" or "craptastic"--but it's fun to find out!

DC Metro

After arriving in Washington D.C. for our family vacation this summer, we parked our vehicles and relied on alternate transportation around our nation's capitol. Outside of our primary mode of transportation (our feet!), the secondary mode was the Metro. And let me tell you, it is difficult to navigate through a large city on the week before a big holiday with 30+ people, many of whom are under the age of 12. We didn't need the additional challenge of trying to decipher the kiosks in the station! This is one of the machines where riders can purchase a fair pass. Sorta makes one's head spin, doesn't it?

I found myself befuddled by how the passes were used too. A columnist for our local paper also visited D.C. this summer and in her article, she mentioned that they threw out their metro passes after a day--before they realized they could redeem the card balance on their next pass. I did the same thing, spurred by the fact that the gates will not accept a pass that has less than $1.60 on it. To make it even more confusing, users can add to a single pass, but can't combine more than one pass.

I'd be surprised if there was a user experience designer involved in this project. If so, I guess I wasn't the target audience. It just felt counter-intuitive to me, especially for a city that has masses of tourists.

Shouldn't it be easier?

Tigers advance in tournament play

The Tiefel Tigers rolled into the post-season single-elimination tournament with momentum from the previous week's double-header. Their undefeated record in the regular season earned them a first round bye.

As the Tigers' players showed up to the field a few at a time, they witnessed the first round game between Wisconsin Metal Fab and A.H. Bennett with interest. Wisconsin Metal Fab pulled away with a victory and the Tigers were set to face them for the third time in two weeks.

As the home team, the Tigers took the field. Veteran pitcher Paul Tiefel Jr. started for the team, with Eileen Tiefel behind the plate. Lefty sisters Elizabeth Plath and Rebekah Carstensen were the first and second basemen, respectively. Jer Gurgel was back at shortstop and Tim Burns at third. Paul Tiefel III returned to left field, Jill Tiefel in left-center, Jarrod Lentz in right-center and Emily Tiefel in right.

Wisconsin Metal Fab was warmed up and ready to go in the first inning. A combination of hits, four walks and an error in left-center found the Tigers behind the eight-ball and behind by 8 runs in the first half inning.   The Tigers gained two runs back in the bottom of the inning. Relief pitcher Jill Tiefel took over in the middle of the second inning, as Paul Tiefel Jr. pulled himself from the game. WMF scored one run in the second inning, but it was the Tigers' bats that made some noise. The team put together a 13 run rally. The highlight of the inning was Jer Gurgel's in-the-park home run, where he slowed down lest he pass Mom on the base paths. The Tigers lead 15-9 at the end of two.

The team's defense proved to be key during the rest of the game, as left-fielder Paul Tiefel III tallied up several outs and left-center fielder Paul Tiefel Jr. made several semi-routine catches look exciting. In the final inning, Tim Burns helped ensure victory by fielding back-to-back ground balls and threw them to second baseman Rebekah Carstensen for the outs. The final score was 20-12.

Noteworthy on the night:

• Emily's on base percentage was 100% (4-4); on the bases, she had a textbook slide into third base (she was out, but she looked smooth!).
• Mom played her first complete game of the season, sans rhinestone belt.
• Paul III stated how much he loved the new softball jerseys. "I'm ready to wear them for the next 9 years," he reported.

BOX SCORE: Jer Gurgel (HR, 3 1B), Elizabeth Plath (3 BB), Paul Tiefel III (2B, 1B), Rebekah Carstensen (1B, BB), Paul Tiefel Jr. (1B, BB), Jill Tiefel (BB), Jarrod Lentz (2B, 1B, 2 BB), Emily Tiefel (4 BB), Tim Burns (2 1B, BB), Eileen Tiefel (1B, 2 BB)

The Tigers are scheduled to play in the championship game on Wednesday on field 10. See you there!