I am finally back at the ranch after a long, but very exciting trip. Like my cousin said, my Grandpa had a bad week with his back and we almost were going to stay in Missouri for another week. Luckily my Grandpa feels better and we were able to drive a long way while he took lots of pain pills. He said some very funny things on the last day of the trip (yesterday), but some of it didn't make any sense. Right now he is at the doctors with dad and they hopefully will make him feel better. Usually when he goes to the doctors he comes home feeling worse, but has more pills to take than before. Dad says that the pills just keep him well enough to make it back for his next doctor visit. I don't know about that but i am sure its just part of getting old as grandpa says.
Even with Grandpa's bad back, we had a very good time in Missouri spending time with uncle Don and his wife Beth. I also enjoyed making new friends with people like William and others who went to the carnival almost every day. Williams friends were also nice and I will miss everyone a lot. I think the best part of the week was when Grandpa and i got to throw out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game. I was a little nervous, but grandpa made me feel better by telling me to imagine I was a real pitcher and I got so excited I threw it over the catchers head and it ended up hitting the girl holding the american flag. She tried so hard to move out of the way that she ended up hitting the boy next to her and knocking him over and also dropped the flag. Everyone laughed a lot, but I was very embarrassed and decided to buy the girl a whole bunch of french fries that came in a mini batting helmet. Her name was Jody and she was also 12. I talked with her for a little while but her brother or maybe it was her boyfriend, I don't know, kept staring at me with what Mom would call "an evil eye".
Grandpas pitch bounced 3 times before it made it to the catcher and later complained that his back was hurting. My Dad warned him not to throw, but to let me do it alone, but Grandpa is very stubborn (like all Bigskys) and did it anyways. I said to Grandpa later on that both of us threw badly and he said that at least his made it to the catcher and Dad replied that it only proves that "stubborn and competitive go hand in hand". I guess maybe it wasn't the best part of the trip afterall except that everyone in town now knows me not just for being Jem Bigsky the third, but because i was the kid who hit Jody Scmidt with a baseball and made her drop the flag in the dirt. Afterwards all of Williams friends were laughing and patting me on the back because they don't like Jody very much and said that I shouldn't have bought her french fries. I guess that I am not as used to being mean as they are.
Well, I have so much to write about, but will wait till tomorrow to tell you more about my trip. Sometimes looking at the computer for too long makes my bad eye a little more blurry. I am not sure why that is but maybe I'll ask the eye doctor next time I go there. Todays word is from something that was said to me after my throw at the baseball game. A man behind the dugout yelled "lay off the steroids, kid" and then all his friends laughed loudly. So, todays word is "steroids" and it means "highly exaggerated, enhanced, or accelerated version of something". It refers to being "on steroids". I have heard it used many times, but never referring to me. Another definition in the dictionary is very long and talks about molecules and atoms, but it dosn't help me much. I will have to ask my Cousin Bruce what it is exactly because he is a yoga instructor and knows a lot about the human body, but I am not exactly sure what yoga is either.