They're Baaaack!

The minions have returned!  By this, I mean those thousands of stink bugs that plaster the sides of our house every fall, and somehow creep through tiny crevices to find their ways inside as well.  It is absolutely disgusting!

I might as well call these things the minions as well:

the gazillion teeny weeds growing in my garden paths.  You can also note in this picture, how much of my mulch washed away in the rains we had several weeks ago.  It isn't what I wanted to do, but I have removed all of the pull-able sized weeds from the garden, and I sprayed weed killer on all these - I don't feel that I had any other recourse!

Today I spent about 2 hours digging dandelions and thistles from the asparagus bed.  I did this about 2 months ago before I mulched it all thoroughly.

SIGH.

L's 2 caterpillars formed beautiful chrysalises.  I figure that it will be 2-4 more days before they are back as well - this time as monarch butterflies!

This evening, for the first time in 10 years, both girls had after school activities that actually started RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL.  It seems a reasonable request to have this happen, but it does not most of the time.  It meant much less driving around, dropping off and picking up this evening, for which I was very grateful.

2 more weeks of soccer, and one more month until the play.  Hooray for Fall!

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night...

Well, not exactly at night, but in the dark...I was part of the way down the driveway to take the girls to school this morning, when I realized that I wasn't wearing my glasses (which I actually need to drive.)  Instead of backing back up the driveway, turning off the car, and unlocking the house to get in to my glasses, I dug around in the glove box for my prescription sunglasses.  I wore these to drop-off at both schools, and then home again, despite sun not being fully up, and the clouds/rain that are remnants from Florence.

I was wearing my glasses when I discovered a monarch caterpillar on the milkweed that I was pulling in the chicken yard Sunday afternoon.  After careful searching, L & I found another tiny one, and I left the remaining milkweed alone. L is now raising them in her butterfly enclosure in the house.  We haven't been able to find monarch caterpillars for the past several years, so this makes me happy!

L worked as Ball Girl at the Varsity Soccer game on Saturday.  The girls wiped up with the competition.  I was (very) briefly regretful that J wasn't playing this year:  the first Fall in 10 years that she hasn't been playing soccer!  She said that last year "just wasn't as much fun as it used to be."  Likely much of that was from the fact that she had drama practice AND soccer practice or game every night for 2 months, not to mention homework.  She was pretty stressed last Fall!

We got over 8 inches of rain last week in a 3 day period - nothing to compare to the drenching that NC got over the weekend.  We anticipated 24 + hours of drenching rain from Florence today, but have only gotten a half inch or less.  We really didn't need another day where the kids had a 2 hour delay for school due to flooding, and then came home 2 hours later because the rain never stopped!

L has a home soccer game tomorrow afternoon, and J is supposed to be at the HS for play rehearsal right in the middle of it.  Sigh.  Can scheduling EVER go smoothly?

Must run...work and school tomorrow!

Please Don't Stop the Music

We have had a rather exciting long weekend for Labor Day!

On Friday afternoon, the Middle School had a Fall Festival, sponsored by the PTO.  A friend and I volunteered to help out.  We had a bunch of inflatables brought in to play on, as well as kick ball and 4 square tournaments, free hot dogs and bottled water, a DJ, and the Kona Ice Truck was there as well.  My friend and I were manning the football inflatable, which was set up next to the jousting one, so I was able to watch L joust with a buddy.

It was a super hot day, so it felt good to go out to eat that evening with my parents to celebrate our anniversaries, which were in early August.

We reserved tickets several months ago for a Pentatonix concert about an hour from home on Saturday evening.  The opening acts were Calum Scott and Echosmith, who was actually cut short after 3 songs because of a forecasted chance of lightning.  We were all instructed to take cover for about 15-20 minutes, and after the threat cleared, Pentatonix came on, and we had a great time!

Sunday and Monday were way too hot to be outside, except in the pool, so we stayed in.  Yesterday and today have been even worse, and the schools even let out at 1:00 and cancelled outdoor sports practices.  That has never happened before!  There is no AC in the Middle School, so I'm sure those kiddos got SUPER hot!

This evening, L is off to an abbreviated soccer practice, as they have their first real game tomorrow.  J heads to voice/guitar in a few minutes.  She is prepping her audition piece for the Fall Production auditions next week.

Rock on Fall!

All Day I Dream About Soccer

J tells me that this is what the soccer team believes that "adidas" stands for.  I can tell you that it is not only the team that is sleeping-eating-breathing-dreaming soccer these days, the parents are too!  I have been frantically searching the internet for statistics regarding our standings and for predictions regarding how we would do in the State Playoffs.  This only got worse after the girls won their first round playoff game last Tuesday.

What I found was that we were in second place standings, just behind the team we were scheduled to play in the semi-finals.  We were also slated to place second overall, with that same first place team coming in third.  Based on this, I thought we had a good chance of making it all the way to the finals in Hershey next weekend!

Unfortunately, our girls lost to that 1st place team last Saturday, with a final score of 1-0.  (That team that was predicted to win the States overall also lost on Saturday!)  It was a big let down after this long, long season of wins.

We didn't have time to mourn or sulk, however, because the Cinderella Ball was scheduled to begin just 3 hours after the game ended!  We rushed J home to shower and primp, and I drove her off to the ball looking much different than she had 3 hours earlier!



Before...

...After

 

She had a nice time at the ball, and arrived home just before the Subaru turned back into a pumpkin!

So...no soccer practice tonight (J ate dinner with us!), no soccer game tomorrow, and a free weekend for her Birthday this coming weekend!

We did celebrate my mom's Birthday yesterday, by taking her out for lunch at Red Lobster, and having cake and ice cream at our house afterward.

 

The soccer dreams have ended.  In fact, I did no dreaming last night, and very little sleeping.  I seem to have caught the virus that L had a few days ago, and feel as lousy as she must have then.  Ugh.

Soccer Fall

Instead of "Soccer Sunday" like we used to have with County League ball back in the day, we now have "Soccer Fall."  It's like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going, and going, and going...

J's team won the championship title for Western PA on Saturday!  They played at the professional soccer stadium in the big city, and beat the team that had been undefeated for the past 39 games. 

It was a very nice day for a soccer game, considering that it is November and could have been REALLY COLD.



Photo by Darnell Graham

 

Instead, it still looks like Fall around here.  Lots of leaves are still on the trees.

 

The girls head to the first round playoffs for the State Championships on Tuesday evening...here we go!

Soccer Mom

Here is the headline from the front page of the sports section in our paper today:

And boy, oh boy, was that game COLD!

So  J's soccer team will play for the Western PA Championship toward the end of this week, and will automatically advance to the PA Championship playoffs, which start early next week.  This is the first time EVER that the soccer team from our school has made it this far, so we are all understandably proud of these girls.

But...the soccer season continues for another couple of weeks...AND I ended up with a giant bag of smelly soccer balls in the back of my car for the day!

By the way, this is my 1000th post.  Who knew I had this much to say?

Falling

Last weekend, it really began looking like Fall.  The leaves are coming down.  We've had an "Indian Summer" of sorts, with temperatures in the 80's...so really it's been warmer recently than all of August was!  Just yesterday, it dropped back into the 70's outside, and I've had the windows open to gather in all the fresh air!

 Not only leaves are falling from the trees, the nuts (black walnut, hickory & acorns) have been dropping as well.  The ones in the chicken yard are the size of lemons!  It's a wonder none of the hens have been conked on the head.

Actually, maybe they were - they were acting really goofy last week.  I washed the cover for my futon, and hung it on the highest clothes line, which comes very close to the chicken yard.  Apparently when I pulled it up there, it freaked them out - they squawked and ran and flew to the other side of the yard.  About a dozen of them must have flown out, because for the next couple of hours, we saw chickens happily grazing in our yard, and we had to flush several of them out of the woods.

I finished staining the entire tree house.  JP had to put me up in the bucket of the tractor to reach the highest parts.  That wasn't exactly fun since I'm quite afraid of heights!  It looks much better now, especially since I cleaned the inside really well too, and even scrubbed the decks, which were growing some mildew.

This week has been excessively busy.  J landed a part in the winter play, so she has had play practice AND soccer practice after school.  She also had 2 home games this week.  I estimate that I spent over 4 hours just driving to and from the HS to pick her up or take her to something.  I also spent 5 hours at soccer games, 2 hours in Library meetings, and about 8 hours cleaning.

Today the Sears repairmen were out again to look at my oven.  This was the 6th time, but they FINALLY found the problem - a short in something located in the bottom oven that actually controls the top one!  Of course they had to order another part, so they will be back in 2 weeks.  Sheesh.

After they left, I was able to sow grass seed out by the driveway where my dad cleared a bunch of brush, and also harvest my squash.  I only planted 5 plants, and this is what I got:

38 Butternut, and 12 Acorn Squashes!

This afternoon, I took a leisurely drive out in the country to the apple orchard that I like to use because they don't spray.  I bought 2 1/2 bushels of apples for my mother and I to make applesauce.  It was a lovely outing.

Now I am sitting at the computer, getting ready to pay the bills, and the only thing falling at the moment is me - falling asleep.  I am so grateful for a weekend in which there are no soccer games!

Enjoy your Fall, everyone!

The Final Countdown...

This weekend was the final countdown until back to school.  We spent it fairly quietly, as we were recovering from shouldering our way through the crowds at the Outlet Mall on Friday to finish up the school shopping.

J had her 2nd HS Soccer Game on Saturday - this one at home, so we all went to watch.  L actually served as ball girl.  Our team won handily.

 

This is the first year in a LOOOOONG time that I haven't been shuttling 2 girls to and from soccer practice and games this time of year, and the first time that we haven't had Soccer Sunday in 10 years!  Unfortunately, the County Soccer League didn't have enough girls for a team for L, and we are waiting on word as to whether she can practice with the Middle School Team and serve as Team Manager for a year before she is allowed to actually participate on the team.

We spent a couple of hours relocating the chicken run to the field of clover that I sowed in the Spring.  They have much more afternoon shade in this location as well.  The hens seem to be happy, and we are getting at least 20 small eggs daily!

Yesterday, L and I finished up a couple of projects that we meant to get to all summer, and the girls got their backpacks loaded up with all of their new school supplies.  I was super impressed that J did that without being asked, and also put away all of her new clothes, packed a lunch for today, and prepped her breakfast as well!  Maybe it's true that "With great power comes great responsibility."

L complained several times last night that she was not ready to go back to school, and that the summer was WAY too short.  Both girls commented that they didn't sleep well last night.  J is super excited for HS, L is pretty anxious about Middle School.  We'll see how they feel this afternoon!

 

All I can say is that it is amazingly quiet up the hill this morning.

Happy Back-to-School to all!

Time Flies When You're Having...Fun?

When I stop and think about it, the amount of time that I spend on seemingly futile activities every week is somewhat staggering.  For example,  I try to spend some time weekly to keep my moss bed free of weeds.  As you can see, I seem to be fighting a losing battle.

I did spend over an hour on Friday making that delicious Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream that I made before, and then accidentally left out on the counter over night.  This time we were able to enjoy it twice!

On Friday afternoon, I picked L up at school and we drove 40 minutes to watch J's first soccer game (which they won 7-0.)  I wouldn't consider that time wasted, as we had time to chat, and even listen to a story on CD. 

Yesterday morning, I spent an hour and a half at the vet with Kali.  It looked like she was peeing blood on Friday night.  After a bunch of tests, it looks like she was dehydrated, had a UTI, and also has Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (in which her body is attacking her red blood cells.) So this explains the "blood" in her urine, which is probably mostly bilirubin from breaking down those cells, as well as the fact that she has been laying around so much for the past couple of weeks.  In fact, on Thursday afternoon, she was too tired to chase the ball, which is one of her favorite things to do!  She got IV fluids at the vet, as well as injections of antibiotic and steroids, and she came home with antibiotics, steroids and Pepcid to take twice a day for a while.  She returns to the vet tomorrow morning, where I assume they will check her blood again. 

Her urine is lighter in color today, which I am taking as a good sign.  Otherwise, it is basically wait and see...there is a very real possibility that she will not recover from this.  I think that fact hit J hard last night, as she got out of bed after 10 PM, and came upstairs to "say goodnight to Kali."

After we got home from the vet, I spent another hour and a half hauling water for our cistern.  It isn't wasted time, but it is extremely boring:  it takes 30 minutes to drive to the water station, fill the buffalo, drive home, and empty it.  Thank goodness for podcasts to listen to during that task!

Today the whole family drove an hour into the Middle-of-Nowhere, PA for L's first soccer game.  Unfortunately, her team was shut out, 0-9.  Since today is officially "National Cheeseburger Day", we stopped at Five Guys on the way home for some awesome cheeseburgers and fries.

Now here it is:  Sunday evening.  A whole, new week begins in just a few hours.  This week features more soccer games and soccer practice, voice lessons, vet appointments, Dr. appointments, work and school, along with the weekly making and canning of tomato sauce...along with all of the little futile things that eat up the hours.  Enjoy them all!

Dancing With 2 Left Feet

It has been absolutely CRAZY around here lately.  My afternoons are COMPLETELY full (and then some) with picking up, dropping off, encouraging homework, chores, and showers, and trying to get food into my family in a timely manner.  Recently I compared it to a finely choreographed dance.  To really make it flow, however, everyone has to be on their toes.  I am personally genetically predisposed to be a poor dancer, being of Mennonite and Amish heritage.  The rest of my family has similar issues, so typically the After School Activity Dance is stressful.  We're doing ok, but I wouldn't say that we are making any stellar memories at this point in our lives...no time for that!

Sunday afternoon was L's first soccer game.  They did fairly well, for only having 2 practices with their coach ahead of time.  L is the tallest on her team by an inch or two.  She also scored the first goal of the game!  Ok, that was a pretty stellar memory.

L had her first piano lesson of the year on Monday.  Her teacher was impressed that she practiced over the summer.  (Hooray, score one point for good parenting!)  J also had an orthodontist appointment, at which we were informed that the braces come off at the next visit.  She is thrilled.

Yesterday afternoon, J had her first away soccer game.  The bus left their school at 1 PM, meaning that she lost a good segment of classroom time, for which she had make up work to do last evening.  They won their game, but didn't arrive back in town until after 6 PM, which gave her precious little time to do homework, eat dinner and get to bed.  It was after 10 when she got there, and I was already in bed by then!

The garden is winding down, thank goodness.  On Monday, Mom and I dug the root crops:  potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beets.  We still have sweet potatoes to dig.  I have 5 beds ready to cover with leaves to "sleep" for the winter.  The potatoes did not do so well this year.  They were very healthy, but quite small and the quantity was fairly low.  I did plant potatoes from last year, so we actually came out ahead.  Perhaps it's time to buy new seed potatoes for next year?  The carrots did quite well.  This one has 8 "legs", so we've named it the Octopus.

 

We got quite a bit of rain toward the end of last week, so things are greening up again, and my rainwater cistern is filled to the brim.  The nights have been cool since then, and the days are extremely pleasant.  Most mornings look like this:

That's about it for now.  J has another soccer game this week, L has another soccer practice, we have parent/teacher conferences at the Middle School, and JP has another checkup with his Ophthalmologist.  Must.  Keep.  Going.

Week 2 is Through!

The word of the week is Algebra.  This and soccer practice dominate J's life at the moment, and therefore, the life of our family.  A letter came home from the Principal on Friday that begins, "We have been made aware of concerns about our...Algebra program this year, including the level of difficulty and the amount of time spent completing homework."

The Middle School has moved to a new book this year, which supposedly incorporates the Common Core Standards (dirty words, GRRR!), and is supposed to encourage students to be "self taught learners."  It also requires the students to purchase a graphing calculator (which cost $88 at our local Wal-Mart.)

J's homework this weekend was 30 exercises involving various functions of the calculator.  Let me tell you something...even if your child did not throw away the instruction book on the first day of school, this thing is tremendously difficult to figure out!  The Principal's letter states that "...the teachers are using every minute of class time to provide the students with instruction on each lesson."  The truth according to J seems to be somewhat different - she says that the teacher went over 2 examples in class on Friday.

In any case, all told, J spent about 4 1/2-5 hours on Algebra homework this weekend, which includes watching several YouTube videos about the calculator functions (very helpful!)  So.  Glad.  That's.  Done.

L's soccer coach finally had all of his clearances come through, and was ready to have practice on Thursday.  We were all suited up and getting L's soccer ball in the car to head to the field, when she ran around the side of the car, and straight into the opening back hatch with her face.  She reacted so strongly that I was concerned that she might have done more than just get a giant goose egg on her forehead, but JP checked her out and thought she was ok.  So...she missed her first practice, poor thing.  The school nurse called me around noon yesterday to report that L had been in to see her, and requested an ice pack for her head.  I've heard nothing more about it today.

It is Labor Day weekend, which usually means that we work more than normal.  JP & Dad put the Brush Hog on the tractor and then JP mowed the fields.  I mowed down the weeds in the orchard, and removed the straw bale Kitty Kastle from the veranda.  (It was meant to be a temporary thing, but stayed out there for more than 3 years!)  I also broke down and watered the trees in the orchard, as it has been about 3 weeks since they've had any water.

Speaking of dryness, all of the forecasted thunderstorms have dispersed before hitting our corner of the world, so it is super dry.  I used all of the water from the 1000 gallon rain water cistern on the garden, trying to keep the Fall peas, the tomatoes, and the eggplants from dying.  I spent a couple of hours hauling 3 loads of water yesterday to fill that cistern as well...never did that before.  So far (*knock on wood*) our well has been hanging in there.

We are planning to take it easy tomorrow, hopefully with friends.  Possibly on Labor Day, we will also chill.  It would be nice.

Enjoy your long weekend everyone, and if you want to cook out and play in the pool with someone, come our way tomorrow afternoon.  It'll be fun!

Week 1 is Done

 

We are well into our second week of school by now, and nobody is happy.

L is in a class with a teacher that was not her first choice, and with only one out of her group of girlfriends.  She is also disappointed that recess does not happen until the very end of the day.  Every day, she scowls and grumbles.

J has Jr. High soccer practice for 2 hours every night, and over an hour of Algebra homework as well.  I have been picking her up from school, so that she has 45 minutes more to do homework than if she would ride the bus home.  She comes home from practice at 8 PM, sweaty, exhausted & ravenous, and sometimes has more homework to do before a shower and bed.  She spends most of her life in a state of semi-consciousness.

This afternoon, we were asked to come to the Library for newspaper pictures.  Both girls were among the top readers in the Summer Reading Club.  J racked up over 42 hours of reading in the 6 weeks of SRC, and L read more than 36 hours.

At this point in life, I am extremely grateful that we had such a low key and laid back summer.  It allowed our minds and bodies to rest before the upheaval of school and Fall sports.  I only heard the girls complain a time or two that they were bored.  They read A LOT.  We got in the pool almost every day.  We made some day trips and did some fun things - nothing huge or glamorous.  It has been lazy and unstructured because of JP's continued eye issues and forced activity restrictions for the past 2 months.  We all slowed down.  Perfect.

And now for some REALLY good news:  JP was released from all activity restrictions as of last week.  Hooray!

Now we are sweating and math-ing and reading and grouching through another week, and looking forward to a 3 day weekend.  We'll need the extra break - J has her first soccer game the following week, and L will return to piano lessons.  (We've decided to wait to add on guitar lessons until soccer is over with in October, as we might be able to squeeze a lesson in weekly, but not daily practice time.)

Welcome to Fall!

Post-Soccer

I have been waiting for this day since late August - the first day after soccer is all over with, when after school time will be carefree and not at all rushed.  The first day when we don't have a million things to do after school.  It didn't quite turn out all free and easy today, but the girls and I did enjoy a little walk outside in the sunshine, and J is still AWOL out there somewhere.

The girls played their last soccer games of the season yesterday afternoon.  We celebrated with lunch at Dairy Queen, complete with Blizzards!

We have been working hard toward getting the Chick-bit house ready to house at least chickens...rabbits will come later.  Since the days have been getting shorter, we are getting fewer eggs all the time.  I have gone from supplying a dozen a week to my parents and all the eggs we can use plus selling 3 or 4 dozen a week, to barely having enough for our family!  The 14 hens are only laying about 3-4 eggs daily.  Once we get them in a space where we can turn on lights, the production should increase significantly! 

On Saturday, JP and I finished insulating the entire structure, walls and ceiling.  I also finished painting the outside eaves.  Today, Dad and I put metal up on 2 out of 3 inside walls, and I put a second coat of paint on the second clean-out door and the outside door.

The inside of this door still needs some work!

We hope to get the last wall and the ceiling panels up tomorrow.  Once that is finished, Dad can start building the nest boxes and the inside wall to separate the chickens (Chick) from the rabbits (bits.)

After lunch, I spent about 45 minutes staining the railings in the tree house.  I have lots more to do, but hopefully I can finish it up tomorrow. 

I timed it so that I could come in to get a shower and leave in time to pick up J from school and get her to an emergency orthodontist appointment (her wires were tearing up the inside of her mouth) and then pick up L from piano lessons.

While I was in the shower, the dogs started barking.  Apparently the tri-axle load of logs had arrived.  I took the quickest shower ever, dried off slightly, threw on sweats and a sweatshirt and ran outside.  In those 8 minutes or so, they had managed to off load about half of a truck load of logs...in the wrong place!  I explained where I wanted the second load to go, and they told me they preferred cash for payment.  I managed to scrounge up the cash, finish dressing, grab a bag of Puff Corn for the girls' snack, and took off for town about 10 minutes later than I had hoped.

I didn't manage to remember L's piano books, so she didn't actually get her piano lesson tonight - it has been rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon.  J's mouth is feeling better.  We now have 2 loads of logs that need to be cut up before winter.  I actually had 15 minutes to sit down and blog.  I have a Library Board meeting tonight, so I need to get dinner made and the kids and myself fed in the next hour. 

Maybe tomorrow will be a carefree and easy after school time!

Happy Hour

My posts are few and far between this Fall.  That is partly because I am not spending hours and hours every day at the computer doing Cyber School, and partly because we are so goldurn busy!  We are supposed to be at soccer practice 5 days a week, music lessons 2 days a week, and games on Sundays.  There aren't enough days each week to fit it all in!  We are doing the best we can, and while it isn't optimal (we are eating a lot of Wendy's salads for dinner lately,) it's working pretty well.  I have my weekly calendar color coded with every place we are supposed to be and at what times.  So far, we have not been more than a couple of minutes late for anything.

By the end of the week, I am ready for my own little Happy Hour...to sit back and relax and sip a glass of wine.  So far we have lucked out enough to have the Saturday AM soccer practice cancelled.  Thankfully, Sundays are fairly mild...sit and watch a soccer game for a couple of hours...and we try to keep it low key at home. Since I have some time off during most days, I am not feeling so stressed about being gone in the evenings.

This weekend, I tried to make a point of helping my Mom get some of her outside projects finished up.  Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time to give her as I'd hoped, but we made some progress on her flower beds.  Yesterday at dark was our deadline, since we left in the wee hours of the morning today for the Hospital in the next town. 

Mom was scheduled today for a laminectomy and fusion of 3 vertebrae in her neck.  She has been having worsening symptoms of unsteady gait, poor balance, and numbness and decreased grip in her hands for more than a year.  Early this summer, she was finally diagnosed with pretty significant narrowing of the spine in her neck, causing compression of her spinal cord.  In the process of her pre-operative blood work, she was found to have a mild form of a genetic clotting disorder (at age 70...go figure!)

In any case, I spent 7 or 8 hours in various waiting rooms at the Hospital today.  I ate breakfast and lunch in their very nice cafeteria.  I almost finished a book.  I did some continuing education tests.  I made a few phone calls.

After Mom was admitted to her room, I went up and got her settled.  Since she was still so groggy that she could hardly stay awake, I left her in the capable hands of the nursing staff and buzzed off to Target before heading home.

I arrived at my friend's house just a few minutes before the girls were due to arrive on the bus, then I whisked them off to the Orthodontist for J to get her spacers in.  Once home, we got snacks, homework, dog and poultry tending taken care of, then drove in to town for piano.

Tonight, I am exhausted...mostly because I slept poorly and rose too early.  It was actually quite a treat to sit for hours and read a book, and to stroll through Target without whining or begging going on...a different sort of Happy Hour.  Yes, today was full.  Yes, for a few moments there I felt like I was running in circles and getting no where.  But we managed to accomplish all of the important things today, including sitting together to read a chapter of "Going Solo" by Roald Dahl.

Knowing that Mom is doing well, and that we've successfully navigated another busy day is enough to allow me to sleep some happy hours tonight.

Best Soccer Game of the Season!

We had SNOW this weekend, believe it or not. About 2 inches up here on the hill. The peas and peppers were snug and warm under their blankets, and are still going strong. It was supposed to warm up to 60 today, and be sunny and bright, shows you how much meteorologists know!

L's game was at 1:00 today at a field we had never been to. We got lost on the way, JP made a couple of 3 point turns in the middle of the road, so we arrived a few minutes late. Part of the field appeared to be under water, so they had moved the goals down a bit. There were still several big puddles on the field, which the kiddos were sure to hit several times each. It was cold and gray for most of the game, but the sun came out toward the end and brightened every one's mood.



J's game was 30 min after L's ended, but back in town. We booked it and got there with time to spare (that doesn't happen often with us!) Her team has been undefeated so far this season, with all of the kids showing incredible improvement in the game. They got one goal early on in the game. After a lot of back-and-forth action, the other team got several goals. J's team came from behind at the end of the second half, and scored 3 goals, ended the season undefeated. It was a great game, with all of the kids showing how hard they could work and how well they could work together as a team. It did my heart good after a long a trying season. Good job GREEN TEAM!



This afternoon, after repairing the fence around the orchard that the deer knocked down (they managed to nibble tiny branches off most of them...GRRR! Their time is coming...on Nov. 28th I plan to execute revenge!), I emptied out the back of my van. Two soccer balls, and three folding chairs went back to their post-soccer homes.

Ahhh...now I can breathe easier and have my evenings free. Oh wait! Tomorrow night is trick-or-treat and we haven't even carved our pumpkins yet!

Beautiful Day

It is amazing how clear and deep blue the sky can get on these crisp Fall days. Unfortunately, I spent the better part of this lovely day inside at work or doing school with the girls until soccer time. I've been having delicious day dreams lately of life without Cyber School, where my time with the girls would be pleasant without wheedling, coaxing, or threatening for lessons to be done, and the sky is blue and breezy all the time. It will be better once the soccer craze is over with, right? Then I'll be able to stop popping the Zantac and Advil and breath deeply once again...right?

In the meantime, we've managed to squeeze in a few fun activities, and presently JP and my Dad are busy building the long awaited lean-to's on our garage and barn. JP poured concrete into an old tire as a base for the tether-ball set that has been stored in our garage for over a year. It is extremely stable now, but a bit too heavy to move around. By the way, it's no fun to play tether-ball with JP...he simply smacks the ball up so that it wraps around the pole about 2 feet above my head. He needs to play with someone his own size!

Several of our friends made a spur of the moment trip to Pittsburgh to attend the U2 concert this summer. JP was a bit sad, learning that he had missed his (possibly) last opportunity to see them. So, we did the next best thing...bought a live U2 concert DVD from Amazon, and played it on the big screen downstairs with surround sound. It was an incredible concert: Sept. 1, 2001 at Slane Castle, Ireland, and a great pseudo-concert experience. The last concert I attended (before Suzuki Violin recitals became part of my life) was Jimmy Buffet, so avoiding the crowds, the backpack margarita machines and vomiting was quite pleasant as well! The only down side is that the girls now sing "Sunday bloody Sunday" over and over again...just. that. one. line.

I was overly proud of myself last night for finishing up the last of 2 bushels of apples into sauce. JP brought me down a notch when he told me that his mother canned 110 quarts of applesauce yearly. I'm still apparently not quite Mennonite enough!

I passed up the opportunity this past weekend of taking a road trip BY MYSELF. Yep! It's official: I'm nuts. My 20th college reunion was held last weekend down in VA, and JP was willing to let me go, while he stayed home with the girls. I bailed though, because the van has been making odd clunking and squealing noises of late, and I was a bit nervous to drive it 5 hours South by myself. I would rather stay home and make applesauce and tend to feverish children than sit by the highway somewhere in West Virginia, waiting for a tow truck.

That's the story of my life lately: blue skies to balance the black holes where I think I can't possibly make it through this school year, U2 concerts in the privacy of my own home against the auto repair issues and missed parties, tether-ball inadequacies and applesauce abundance. Through it all, I have a good man by my side, and 2 lovely girls who look a bit like me. Life couldn't be more beautiful.

Lovely Day for Soccer

We had a full, but enjoyable week in Mennonite Land, aka Lancaster, PA. We did school in the mornings, and visited friends and family in the afternoons. The girls enjoyed playing with their second cousins on the dairy farm, and playing games with their great aunt and great grandfather at the retirement community. They also loved swimming every evening in the Hotel pool, and playing mini golf just outside.

On our way home, we stopped to visit my brother and his family, newly returned to the Commonwealth after a 12 year stint in New York. We enjoyed seeing their new home, and realizing that it's just a few hours away (vs 7 or 8)!

Yesterday, I did 4 loads of laundry while JP mowed the grass. We went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner with Mom & Dad to celebrate JP's birthday, then returned for 5 Flavor Pound Cake and Strawberry ice cream.

Today JP has been sifting through the 3 inch stack of paperwork from the office, while I worked in the garden and took the girls to soccer. It was a glorious day for both activities!

Nearing. Complete. Exhaustion.

We have already put in 6 or 7 hours of soccer this week, between practices, games and shuttling to and fro. We have another 2 hours rescheduled for tonight. We have eaten fast food for the past 3 nights running. I feel like a blob with no energy.

Tonight I am admitting defeat and calling in the troops. I will take J to soccer practice, and call on the good will of my friends to keep an eye on her while L and I come home and make dinner, something with LOADS of vegetables. I'm hoping that I will have time to eat some of it before I run Kali off to college (she is in a study of dog training at the university for 30 min/week).

School is going ok, but absolutely ALL of my time is gone between that, soccer, and the inevitable life things like laundry and meals. I spend another 1-1 1/2 hours after the girls go to bed just prepping materials for the following day. What have I gotten myself into?

I'm about a fraction of a centimeter from going insane! Once soccer is over in another 6 weeks, I'm tempted to take a giant sleeping pill and hibernate for approximately 10 days.