A day late, but not a dollar short ...

By Mike Szvetitz
Sports Editor, Opelika-Auburn News
Published: May 26, 2009

... more like $2.

We took off from the LBWC on Monday because of the Memorial Day holiday. Big, big ups to all the Armed Service men and women, present and past.

We celebrated their heroism with barbecue pork and beans like any red-blooded American should. And it was good.

So, without further adieu, here’s the God Bless America LBWC ...

5) Sunday-Monday. Rain, rain go away.
Because the Busy Girl was out of town last weekend, I didn’t get a chance to cut the grass. I planned on doing it this weekend. But the rain had different plans.
Because of the mass quantities of liquid drops falling from the sky, I couldn’t fire up my Craftsman 24-inch walk-behind Saturday or Sunday.
The plan was to do it Monday morning. It was overcast, and the grass was really, really wet. But I had to cut the jungle that had sprouted in my front yard before a panther came out and ate the Lazy Dog. It was that bad.
So taking advantage of a break in the weather, I headed out to the yard on a mission. I didn’t make one pass before it started raining again.
But I persevered. This needed to get done, and by the looks of it, it was going to rain all day.
So I mowed and mowed in the driving rain. Fun stuff, let me tell you.
Soaked, muddy and not so happy, I finished the front yard, tried to clean off the 100 pounds of grass that had gathered on my mower and tennis shoes and headed inside.
As soon as I shut the door, the rain stopped and the sun came out.
Yep.

4) Friday night. Screaming like school girls.
So it’s me and Auburn University beat writer Andrew P. Gribble in the office Friday night, working and watching Game 2 of the Magic-Cavs series. Gribble’s a huge fan of anything Cleveland. Especially the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA).
So here we are watching the game, pretending to work, when LeBron James hit the game-winner at the buzzer. We screamed. Gribble danced. It was pandemonium.
It looked a little bit like this.

3) Monday morning. Clean bill of health.
Took Little Tornado to her 18-month checkup. She’s healthy. I know you guys all wanted to know. She passed all the tests with flying colors.
Then, when it was all done, she had to get her shots. It’s common practice for infants and toddlers to get shots during well visits. Or so I’m told.
But it’s not the doctor who gives the shots. It’s the nurse. Which made me think, the “shot nurse” has got to be one of the toughest jobs ever.
Think about it, it’s your job to make kids cry.
Here you come, down the hall with needles like Darth Vader. You walk in, have the mom (and in most cases the dad) hold the kid down while you jab their leg with two or three shots. How can you sleep at night? I couldn’t.

2) Saturday. No, that’s not white, it’s bone.
I don’t know if you guys have heard, but it’s impossible to find white (actual white ... like snow) shoes for kids. There’s offwhite. Light white. Cream. Ivory. Cosmic Latte. And even bone. Yes, bone. But just plain, old fashion white? Ha!
It’s like coffee-flavored coffee. It just doesn’t exist.
My sister is getting married next weekend and Busy Baby is in the wedding. (See: Flower Girl). So she needs white shoes. WHITE. And there are none. The entire Auburn/Opelika area doesn’t have a single white shoe. Seriously.
There’s “really, really, really close to white” shoes, but none that are actually white.
Wait, there was one pair, but they were something like a million dollars. Is the color white on the endangered species list and no one told me? Really.

1) Monday. Thanks.
Memorial Day is a special day in the Lazy House. Both of my grandfather’s fought in WWII, with my dad’s father actually landing on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 (D-DAY). He was also captured by the Germans and was a POW for six months. My father was ... excuse me, is, a Marine. (Like he says, “once a Marine, always a Marine.“ Sorry, Pops.) And my middle brother is a captain in the U.S. Army. He flies Apaches. Yes, like the movie.
It won’t be long before my brother heads to the Middle East for his tour. So, Memorial Day definitely has a special meaning to me and my family.
Here’s to all who have served/are serving our great country. God Bless you and your families.