The Owwies

Allow me to whine for a moment. (What's new, right?)

I started playing kickball as a way to keep getting exercise after our softball season ended. I figured it would be a blast - who doesn't want to relive their middle school PE days? (Okay, yeah, I don't either, but, anyway...)

Then the season started. And it was all kinds of this-is-not-what-I-expected. The teams who were good at softball were awful at kickball. The teams who couldn't play softball to save their lives were beating us by the mercy rule. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind losing (although, losing isn't much fun).

But, the bunting. The bunting is what really got me. I get girls who bunt. In fact, I'm all for it. I usually do it. I've got decent speed, so it allows me to get on base. But boys were not made to bunt. God didn't give boys muscles so they can bunt a kickball... like a girl. We played one team, where every single person on the team bunted. It was obnoxious. Halfway through, we just quit playing defense. We just let them keep bunting until it wasn't fun for them anymore.

Okay, I'm getting side-tracked. My point being: kickball has definitely not been what I expected. But the thing that I didn't expect the most? How painful the game can be!

1. Have you ever tried to sprint when it's 25 degrees outside?! Okay, you probably have, but this Southern girl hibernates in the winter, and I don't run unless it's at least 60 degrees outside. Cold air hurts. Even the most athletic guys on our team spend 10 minutes trying to catch their breath after running the bases.

2. The bruises. Last night a Bon Jovi-ette look-a-like nailed my foot with a ball mid-run. Do you know what happens when someone nails your feet while you're running? It wasn't pretty. And I have plenty of padding on my upper body, but I just had to fall on my hip, which has little-to-no padding (I suffer from self-diagnosed flat-butt syndrome. Which why I'm almost 25 and still wear juniors pants - women's sizes make me look like I took a dump in my pants... seriously. I'm actually looking forward to having a child, so that I'll gain a little junk in my trunk!) So now I have a roadmap of bruises on my behind and have to lean to the right when I sit in my desk chair.

3. Two words: turf burn. I thought raspberries were bad when I played softball on dirt fields. Astroturf is just plain painful. Josh and I both left some skin on the field last night. I even lost some skin through one pair of socks, one pair of pants, and a pair of fleece sweatpants - how does that happen? I swear I don't remember raspberries hurting this bad back in the day! Or am I just getting old?

I don't know about you, but lately I've found that I don't heal quite as fast as I used to. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep up this kickball deal. Softball I can handle. Kickball? I just don't know if it's quite worth it.

Happy Friday, ladies! You can find me laid up on the couch this weekend, icing my bum.