Soccer Girl

It was Nora's first day of soccer today. It was an interesting day for me. She was perfect. Absolutely everything that you would want out of a first day of soccer. The coach was someone we casually knew. (Actually very casually, as in met a couple of times and they seemed really nice.) Their daughter is in Nora's grade. Nora was observant and listened. She was active and brave. Attentive... loved it: Perfect. And I was completely proud of her. We actually went out for Nora's guilty pleasure, McDonald's, afterward because I was so proud. (This is a big give on my part).  But I couldn't help but sit there, and in the middle of my pleasure, feel a little pang of sorrow. Henry's group sports attempts were the opposite. Crash and burn... wreckage everywhere. He didn't come running back to us crying, as others had done, but, in some ways, that may have been easier. He tried, god bless him, to play the game. He just didn't have even close to the attention span needed for such a thing. He was off plucking grass and thinking about superheroes.

Now, this was Nora's day, and lets not take away from that. And exactly that was what I kept telling myself. This too: "Don't compare these two... that is setting yourself up for bad things in the future." He is sitting right next to me right now, desperately trying to pry me away from typing so he can tell me about his Yu-gi-Oh! cards. :)

Nora was really proud, and rightly so. They played a variety of training games... kick the ball down field... dive on the ball on command.... sit and listen. Perfect. She is truly an amazing girl. She has a memory that literally scares me sometimes. No walking around the house in boxers, because I am absolutely sure that she will remember it when she is 25.

danger will robinson....

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somebody is watching you

I replanted a couple of my outdoor plants today and I found this guy looking at me. Here is a nice zoom in on the picture above.

Its a jumping spider. I love these little guys, they are just like little puppies. They have eyes on the front of their faces like we do, because they don't catch flies in webs, they actually hunt them down.... jump on them. So cool! Both of my kids love em too. Cute little thing :)

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Cilantro Pesto

I harvested about half of my cilantro today. I have to tell you, if my vegetable garden is a ruin most years, my herbs are a total success. I might just turn the whole thing into an herb patch in the future. I have a row of cilantro that is getting nice and full. Cilantro, when it flowers, spikes out these feathery leaves that don't have even close to the punch that normal cilantro has. Well, mine was just starting to spike up..... so..... chop it down. Two years ago I discovered a recipe for cilantro pesto. So good. Its easy, lime juice, cilantro and just a pinch of salt. Just process the whole thing until its smooth. I put it into an ice cube tray and the cubes last all winter. = serious happiness when, in mid-winter I want a ray of summer.

Fifty Shades of Grey

The fog was thick this morning and my walk was really quick. Twenty minutes tops....but I stopped at the intersection and turned back toward the sun and there were birds flying across the path, swamp sparrows I think. Their wings would light up as they caught the light. I was in kind of a rush, but I couldn't help but be impressed. This is why I go out, to be caught up in someone else's world, just for a little bit before mine takes the day.
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pizza for supper

Well.... here we go. Today I taught class, prepped for tomorrow, raced home, grabbed the kids off of the bus, raced back to school with them in tow and met with a few teachers about the fall play that I am directing. I then..... possibly for the first time ever in my life....... mourned the fact that I don't have a cell phone. I had to drive home, order a pizza, and then drive back to the center of town to go and pick it up. The kids had an hour and a half before bed time......(gasp)

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Pizza for supper........ It's good. There can be no argument about that. It just feels like such a cop out, and I am looking at that cop out pretty often for the next two months. Directing the play at the high school is no little thing. I mean its not protecting the president or anything, but it really is a ton of time and massive effort to take on while trying to teach and have a family...especially on those days when Jenny works. Fortunately, Henry and Nora wanted me to do it possibly more than I wanted to. 

There was this defining moment for me the last time that I did this that I will never forget. It was hell week: practice every day after school for hours... doing all of my correcting while directing totally stressed out kids... one week until show time. I was completely exhausted... bone tired..... and I sat down in this high back chair set up on the stage  while the kids were taking a break for supper. The lights were low, the auditorium was empty, I fell asleep in about five minutes. Not a light sleep either. I was out. I woke up... I actually don't know how long later and the stage was full, honestly, of probably 15 or so kids completely asleep around me. One of them was leaning up against the chair I was sitting on. The rest were completely crashed everywhere on the stage in various stages of snoring and sleep.  

It is their stress as well as mine. Getting through an endeavor like this is like taking on the appalachian trail with a group of people. If you weren't friends before you will be forged together by the end. This is what I am taking on starting in a couple of weeks. Am I intimidated.... yup, and oddly looking forward to the pressure. 

Megan's Birthday

Its Labor Day. I love Labor Day. There is something so satisfying about having a three day weekend the first week back to work... easing back into things. Today's also my niece, Megan's birthday party. She is a sweet little redhead. Her parent's, Polly (Jen's Sister) and Rich are great. Rich has started a side business doing pig roasts, which generally means....carnivore's delight.... at Megan's party. This year no lamb... or pig... all is forgiven though because Rich had two pig roasts this weekend and hadn't slept in a couple of days. In fact, he was still out there BBQing lesser fare... hamburgers and hotdogs, which were great. I love summer birthdays. Salads and little kids and food and presents and food. I do love parties on Jen's side of the family, they're so quiet compared to my side. Relaxed is probably a better term. Low key. Every one gets together and eats and talks and that's about all that is needed.

Happy Birthday Megan.

aqua blue

This morning, when I got up very early, I decided to go to Reitta Ranch. Henry got up with me, so off we went before church. I was looking for books for my students (I am always looking for books for my students). Henry was hunting for comic books. Its amazing what Henry walks out of there with. People just give him things. He got a huge wooden cap gun this time from an antique cap gun guy. Free.  Just because he's cute I guess. At any rate, you should see him with the Comic people. They completely light up when he steps up to the table. I know what it is too. He is the perfect comic book age. Eight years old. The years before girls come into the picture.... the golden years, as far as comics go. They love him. He gets deals where no deal exists. Today he got five comics for $1.25. One of those was part of a set that the person before us was told could not be broken up. He just rolled over for Henry. And Henry knows his stuff to. He can carry on conversations about superheroes that would send a harvard grad into convulsions of awe. He found a magazine that listed dead superheroes this time. He now knows when toad-man, bird-man, ape-man and blackout all met their fate. He knows how it happened too.

I bought a book, and a bottle. Our upstairs bathroom is all white. White wainscoting, white sink... just a hint of light blue above the wainscoting. The bottle was sky blue and old looking. I think a bunch of bottles that same color would look pretty great along that bathroom window. The bottle is pretty cool. Its octagonal and it has very clear wording.  Shneck's Pulmonic Syrup. Love that. I could tell it was old by the uneven glass and the bubbles throughout so I bought it for five dollars.... He wanted 8. I thought it probably was some sort of medicinal bottle... maybe something to do with hearts.

When I got home I looked it up. Lo and behold, the thing is from the 1860's and is worth upwards of around $80.00 to $100.00.  YES! Still, it looks pretty great on that window, so there it will stay.

Makes me wanna buy more bottles though...... #dangerous