Jim is celebrating a milestone. Rather, everyone else is celebrating Jim's milestone. He is turning fifty. Yet for some reason, he is not a celebratory mood, and though Jim definitely has his moments where he is a bit of a sourpuss (to put it mildly), and it can be understood that he may not want to admit he is getting old - or at least older - no one really gets why he is so grumpy about it all.
As Dana adjusts to life with a baby, Cheryl attempts to adjust to life with Jim. Continues to adjust to life with Jim. It seems that she has purchased a package of tickets to musicals and after the first, he is so impressed, that he will only attend one more: The one titled No Freaking Way.
Naturally, it means Jim solves the problem in the way that only Jim can. He looks for a gay man to go with her instead.
The absurdly-nice Devlins have returned, and Tim and Cindy have an announcement to make: They are getting a divorce.As usual, they are completely and utterly inappropriate in their timing - as Gracie is celebrating her eleventh birthday.
Also as usual, everyone tries to be honest and tell them that they aren't welcome, especially because there is already a party underway, but the Devlins don't want to hear anything about it. So they just laugh it off and make their announcement. Unfortunately for everyone else in the world, that means that everyone else is up for grabs - the Devlins are going to be on the prowl again. In an effort to make sure he is chosen, The Hunt for Red Octimber makes his typical move and pulls off his track pants to show his Speedo, which means Cindy is chosen as the winner.
In The Grill, Jim and Andy had a few issues because Andy didn't appreciate that Jim had given him something: His old grill, Old Blue. Similarly, Jim didn't appreciate that Andy had given him something: All sorts of things, really, but almost everything worth more than an old grill. Well, Old Blue is back.
When Cheryl, Dana and the girls get ready to head out of town, she hides the matches, the knives, warns the neighbors and blocks the adult channels on the television. She isn't even going to get a sitter because Jim has turned fifty.
The kids go through a review to get funding for their extra-curricular activities. Kyle can't play trombone worth a lick, so he gets to throw it in the trash. Gracie wants to play soccer, and whether she is any good or not she gets out of the house for a few hours on the weekend, which gets Jim to sign the check. Ruby, however, actually has talent. She can tap dance, so she gets the check.
Later, Andy takes his metal detector out in the yard and looks for gold coins. He doesn't find any, but he does find a nickel. And then he finds Jim's wedding ring. Apparently Jim has been wearing a cheap imitation for the last year. Andy is so proud.
Jim finds that he's got a load of stress in his life, but perhaps unlike most of us, it's not related to our job, or money, or even our spouse. Instead, it's the fact that his son is going to his first baseball game. Now this isn't the first sports game that he's played, as he's been in t-ball for a while. But this is the first real baseball game, where someone will throw the ball at him and he's going to have to hit it.
The girls, of course, played basketball in Coach Jim, which aired earlier this season. Strangely, Jim didn't have this sort of reaction to that. I guess it was all their happy thoughts or something. Nonetheless, now Kyle is up, and Jim can't stand the thought that he's about to fail miserably, and the event will haunt him - and haunt Kyle - forever.
When both Ruby and Gracie play basketball, it's only natural that Cheryl will be their coach. But when Jim watches the girls play, and sees just how badly the girls play - and worse, that they actually get excited about the poor play and the happy time that they spend together - he feels like he only has one choice.
He decides to coach. This was Cheryl's plan all along. She was just surprised it took two games.
Jim feels that he's had enough when he gets a doctor's bill, so he goes down to talk to the people at the insurance company and gives them a piece of his mind. By the time he's done, he has everything taken care of to his satisfaction.
Unfortunately, he has also managed to get them to drop their insurance coverage entirely.
Cheryl invites Dana to stay in the house so that it's easier for her to help with the new baby, and when Jim can't get any sleep, Cheryl suggests that maybe he should spend the night with Andy, since it's just across the street.
The next morning, Jim wakes up refreshed and ready to hit the ground running, and before you know it, he's growing accustomed to living apart from Cheryl. In fact, you could almost say that he likes things better this way. You probably shouldn't, but you could.
Cheryl and Dana plan their first night on the town since the baby was born, and that leaves Jim and Ryan in charge of the rest of the kids. If that doesn't add up to a problem waiting to happen, then you haven't been watching this show for long.
Luckily for Jim and Ryan, Cheryl and Dana have gone to a movie, and they also decided to sneak in some mini bottles of alcohol so that they can have a special treat while they are out of the house. This means that not only will they be gone for a couple of hours, but they will be out of it for a little while after that as well.
When Ruby and Gracie want new scooters, Jim tells them that scooters are expensive, so they need to do something to help out with the cost. Why not do what lots of other kids have done before them - try a lemonade stand? So Ruby and Gracie set up a card table out front, and start charging for some lemonade on a hot day.
When the neighbors come by to congratulate them on their enterprise, they look down their nose at the fact that they are using instant lemonade mix, rather than fresh squeezed, and promptly head back over to their side of the hedge to set up their own stand, using freshly squeezed lemonade (which Andy buys). Game on.