Fourth at Firman

As promised earlier in the week, I'm back to blog.  Last weekend was very busy.  The Bob Firman XC Invitational was on Saturday, and it looked like it was going to be a very nice day for it.  I've been to Eagle Island State Park for many a cross country race (Bob Firman and Districts), and some years it has been pretty nasty.  One year I remember watching some races with Adam in a driving rainstorm.  We looked like drowned rats when it was finally over, but we sure had fun.  A very good memory.  

Saturday was nice, maybe too nice.  Adam ran in the freshman boys' race, and it didn't start until almost 4:00 p.m.  By the time they all lined up at the start, it was about 90 degrees.  Sweat was pouring off of me as I stood there and waited for the race to start.  I felt super bad for Adam since the varsity boys had run at about 10:00 a.m. when it was about 60 degrees, nearly perfect weather for a fall cross country race.  I think a big part of Adam was wishing that he had run with his teammates earlier in the day.

In spite of the heat, he ran well and finished fourth.  He was, surprisingly, a little disappointed with his placing.  He had been running anywhere from second to sixth in the race, and I think he was hoping that he could have a really strong kick and finish second.  (The kid from Caldwell was amazingly fast.  To be honest, it was kind of a race for second.)  However, Adam simply hasn't grown yet.  When I remind him of that, he tells me I am just making up excuses for him.  I call it an explanation, but he still doesn't buy it.  I'll just say this:  he is very easy to find in a race, and when I'm standing somewhere out on the course, I inevitably hear, "Man, who's the little guy?  He's amazing."  Anyway, maybe he'll get a growth spurt here sometime soon.

I was very proud of him and loved going to the awards ceremony afterwards.  They handed out medals to the top 10 and ribbons to places 11-20.  He got fourth in the middle school boys race last year, so maybe four is his lucky number.  He is our fourth child. . .

   
Next year he will probably run in the varsity race.  Finishing fourth in that race would be simply spectacular.

Centennial Homecoming

Matt had homecoming festivities over the weekend.  He was nominated for homecoming king and made it through the first vote to be named as one of ten boy finalists.  He asked me to escort him on to the football field at halftime of the varsity game when the homecoming king and queen would be announced.  I absolutely hate being the center of attention, but I would do pretty much anything for one of my kids, even if it means having to share a bit of a spotlight with them (although donating a kidney to one of them might be less uncomfortable.)

When we got to the appointed meeting place on the track by the football field, the student council advisor gave us instructions on how to line up and walk out onto the field.  She told everyone where the winners were to stand and that they would then be taken on a limo ride around the track.  The runners-up were also invited to hop into the limo.  Matt knew that he wasn't going to win--he'd heard some well-founded rumors that one of his friends had won the first round vote in a landslide--but when he heard the the runners-up got to ride in the limo, he said, "Man, that would be so awesome to ride in."

So, as we're walking out onto the field, I'm feeling a bit conflicted.  I would love to have Matt get runner-up because then he gets to take a sweet ride.  However, I would have to go with him.  So, I just decided to be in the moment and try to enjoy whatever happened.  It was fun to be on the arm of this handsome young man.  (I'm still trying to figure out when he grew up.)  Plus, he is always a gentleman and good to his old mom. 

Anyway, I'll cut to the chase:  Matt did win runner-up, and we got to ride in the limo.  And, it really wasn't that bad.  I felt like an idiot climbing into the limo, but once we got in, I just enjoyed sitting in the lap of luxury.  It was a "tight ride," as the younger generation would call it.  I can see how famous people like to ride in limos.  It must be a nice escape from all the paparazzi and such.  Seriously, it was comfortable and quiet inside and so well-appointed.  It had lights on the ceiling, a TV, places where you could get a cold drink and snack.  It was pretty cool.

He got a different date for homecoming the next day.  They had fun paintballing at about noon, then went to dinner and the dance in the evening.  After the dance they went to Wings and did rockclimbing and other activities.  I'm including a picture of Matt with some of his friends.  He's the kid in the bright shirt in the front.  I suspect Matt may have already posted some other pictures on Facebook. 

Believe it or not, that was just part of our weekend.  I'll write more soon about ESPN's Game Day coming to Boise.  Mike and the boys totally had fun on the smurf turf with Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, and company.  Go, Broncos!!!



Yellow Card, Yellow Jersey

It's been a few weeks since I posted.  I must be getting old and tired or something.  Or, maybe I'm just busy.  Let's just call it that, and I won't feel so lazy and vaguely guilty.  (My mom and dad are serving a mission in Bulgaria right now, and Mike's parents are in Mexico.  This  blog is mainly for them, so when I don't post regularly, I feel like I am neglecting them.)

I have a few things to post about, but I don't want this to get too long.  I'll hit a couple of high points tonight and hopefully get to the rest later in the week.  There.  Now I feel committed to actually follow through.

A couple of weeks ago after the Vallivue game, Matt arrived home with a yellow jersey.  I'd never seen it before.  He said it was a "player of the game" award that the team and coaches voted on.  Matt is usually pretty laidback about life, but I could tell that he was excited about this award.  He did play well in that game, and I guess his teammates and coaches thought so as well.  He got to keep it and wear it at practice until the next game when it was passed on to another player.  I forgot to ask if it got him special privileges at practice or anything.  Maybe it just makes you a marked man, kind of like the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

A couple of games later, Matt's fortunes turned, and he was awarded a YELLOW card.  Oh my!  Now this caused some very good-natured ribbing from some of the parents who have watched Matt play club soccer for the last six or seven years.  Matt is known as "the good kid."  He has never played on Sunday, and he doesn't swear or do things he shouldn't (at least to my knowledge).  He even finds a way to attend church when he is away at tournaments.  So when he got a yellow card, we were all a little surprised.  I pulled the picture off of one of the other parents' shared albums.  The photographer captioned it, "Never say never."  His original caption was different, but his wife told him not to use it.  I won't share that one with you. 

Anyway, we were all a little surprised but amused as well.  I'll have to say that the call was a little suspect and aggressive on the referee's part, but he's the guy in charge.  Matt is kind of laughing in the picture because the ref actually had to run him down to card him.  He honestly didn't know he was being carded. 

In the very same game, Matt somehow scored a goal from his defensive position.  He was not far past midfield when he saw one of the forwards, Will, in the box.  He played an excellent ball towards the goal, and Will missed it.  However, Will did manage to distract the goalkeeper enough that the ball happened to go in without anyone touching it.  GOOOAAALLLLL!!!  That was even more amusing than the yellow card.

You Say Tomato; I Say "Finally!"

This year has been somewhat of a disappointment in the garden.  We had a very cool, wet spring, and all the plants had a hard time getting established.  We even had to replant some seeds and starts after a freeze.  Then we went on vacation, and it got super hot while we were gone.  The garden didn't get watered enough, was somewhat overtaken by weeds, and generally looked pretty sorry when we returned.

I'd almost written off a good harvest on anything.  We've gotten some beans, some peppers, some onions, and other things.  But my tomatoes were taking forever to grow and ripen.  We were low on home-canned tomatoes, so I was feeling pretty bummed.  Much to my surprise, I went out about ten days ago and started picking and digging through the vines.  Jackpot!  There is nothing so delicious as a fresh-from-the-garden tomato, and it's even more fun when we have enough to can.  I've had one more similar picking since then and have canned about thirty quarts of tomatoes.  There's still more out there, too.  Awesome!

I'll post more later in the week about cross country, soccer, and homecoming festivities.  Now, I'm going to go relax with my men on Sunday night--one of my favorite times of the week!   

Summer is Over?!

Much to my dismay (and certainly to the boys' dismay), it seems like summer has ended.  Matt and Adam have gone back to school.  To the left is the customary first day of school picture.  They are not happy to have the carefree days of summer over, but I am happy that they will share a year at Centennial before Matt graduates in the spring.  At that point, we will have just one kid in the public school system.  Weird.

Labor Day weekend also seems to signal the end of the summer, and it's a holiday that used to excite me.  It meant that the kids were headed back to school, and we could get a little structure back into our lives.  My feelings have changed over the years.  Let's face it:  summer vacation with little kids can get pretty tiring.  However, as the kids have gotten older, I have craved more unhurried, less strictly scheduled time.  They get so busy during the school year that it's a treat to have them home more. 

We had an awesome Labor Day weekend this year because Karen and Andrew came home for a visit.  Last weekend's visit was a bit of a "drive-by."  They did accomplish their purpose of watching Adam run and Matt play soccer, but it was way too short a visit for anyone to really enjoy themselves.  This time we actually got to relax and spend some time with each other.  That made for a much more pleasant visit.

We talked, cooked, went to church, played games, went to the driving range, ate good food, and watched college football.  We also rode bikes on the greenbelt.  The weather was absolutely perfect on Monday--sunny, clear, and mild with an occasional light breeze to cool us off.  Adam insisted that we ride all the way downtown so that he could show Andrew the beloved blue turf in Bronco Stadium.  Andrew was good to act impressed.  We really wanted to go in and check it out up close, but there were some athletes working out and the gates were locked.  Bummer!

Matt was quite thrilled to wear his old, fashion-forward helmet.  (He doesn't ride his bike much, so we haven't upgraded either his bike or his helmet for a few years.)  As you can see from the above picture, Adam's mind was very much on the big game that night.  Fortunately, about half of the people we saw on the greenbelt were also wearing Boise State gear, so Adam would say "Go Broncos" to any fellow fan he saw. We even saw two dogs with BSU bandannas around their necks.   Anyway, it was a fun outing and a great way to build up an appetite so that we could home and enjoy the "Biggest Bestest Burgers" Mike barbequed on the grill.

Unfortunately, Karen and Andrew had to leave before the big BSU-Virginia Tech game, but we enjoyed it without them.  We let Adam and Matt go to different friends' houses, and Mike and I watched it together here at home.  Actually, I got so nervous that I wasn't able to watch the whole thing.  I had to take a little break to bring my blood pressure and pulse down.  I'll also have to admit that I had pretty much lost faith in the Broncos.  However, Kellen Moore came through in the clutch yet again.  He'll make a great coach someday, I predict.  Should be interesting to watch the season unfold.

Am I Becoming My Grandmother . . . or My Mom?

I realized lately that I am starting to turn into either my mom or my grandmother.  I'm okay with that.  For the past several Sunday evenings, I've convinced Mike and the boys (and Karen and Andrew this weekend) to play Wahoo.  What's Wahoo?  It's just like the game Aggravation from the 70's.  It has strong family roots.  I remember well playing it as a kid at my grandparents' house.  Grandmother gave us our own board for Christmas several years ago, but we really haven't played it much.  For some reason, we pulled it out of the closet a month or so ago and have enjoyed it ever since.

The funny thing about Wahoo is that it can bring out a whole different side of people.  My grandmother was probably one of the most elegant, refined women I've ever met, but she was absolutely ruthless when we played Wahoo.  Seriously, there was never any mercy shown to anyone.  If she could get you out and send you home, she absolutely  did it.  It was almost comical to watch.  I find I'm a little similar.  I do it with a smile, but I will, without question, send you home if I get a chance.

For dinner on Sunday, I served fresh green beans and sliced tomatoes from the garden. among other things.  I'd also picked up a yummy watermelon and cut that into cubes.  As we were eating dinner, Karen said, "This reminds me exactly of Grandma."  I agreed.  I may not be able to rhapsodize quite as poetically as she can about her garden, but I do love the fresh produce.  There is NOTHING better than a freshly-picked, red ripe tomato from the backyard.  It is what I most look forward to when we poke the seeds into the garden and plant the little starter plants.  The above left?  A handful of heaven . . . YUM!!! 

I miss Grandmother.  She died about five years ago.  I also miss my mom.  She's serving a mission in Bulgaria.  However, seeing little parts of them pop out in me somehow warms my heart.  I greatly wish that I could send my mom a fresh tomato or a green pepper in the mail, but "consider yourself hugged" instead, Mom!