Catch Up

So--a few notes about random things. . .
I went to TX. My stepdad is doing beyond great. He looks better than he has in years and years. His first biopsy showed ZERO rejection. Amazing. Really and truly amazing. He was a perfect match on 20 of 21 categories. Crazy.

The kids made it through the week without me. S, of course, did a great job. I typed out a very specific list of routine stuff and they all did fine. They had halloween without me, which I don't mind, because it isn't on my list of very favorite days. Daddy let them stay up later, and probably eat more candy, than I would have anyway. They were all ninjas. J. was not thrilled about the idea of a costume at all, so he only managed to get his shirt on. He was apparently extremely happy with the idea of getting candy from complete strangers, though!

I am back in the swing of weight loss. I am now down exactly 51 pounds. I am shaking up my work out routine a little, trying out the idea of training to WALK a 1/2 marathon in January. We'll see if that actually happens. For now, it is motivating me to work really hard at my workouts. Only 1 more pound before I am "hireable" at Weight Watchers. I'd like to work there, just to keep me honest!

N. was invited to be on the All Stars team for soccer. We decided against it when the coach said "There will be 13 kids on the team, but I will play the top 8 or 9. I'm playing to win." We decided that there should not be a competitive game for a non-competitive league. The coach is from the "premier" league, and basically views the recreational league as a place for the players who aren't quite good enough to make his team. The All Star team is a chance to "prove you are good enough to be invited to try out for the premier league." Are you kidding??? They are 7!
I know eventually you have to learn that you don't always get to play if you aren't the best one, but I don't think now is the time to learn it. It would break the kid's heart to practice 3 times a week for 2 hours, play his regular team game and practice, and then get to the all star game and sit on the bench the entire time. He wouldn't understand it--he plays for teams that alternate, no matter how good or bad you are. And, I know he wouldn't want to go back. Who could blame him? We all feel that way when we aren't "first string" even if we get old enough to hide that feeling.
So, I don't want his love for the game to be destroyed by some idiot who thinks there might be college scouts at the 2nd grade all star game. We're sticking with the recreational league where the best player and the worst player play the exact same amount of time--and neither one of them has any idea that there is any difference in their abilities!

Not much else is going on. I am lonely. There are not friends here like there always have been before. There are people that I know, and that I have perfectly pleasant conversations with when I run into them. There are a few people that I trade babysitting with. But, no one who just comes over to hang out for the afternoon, or calls me to go get coffee. Luckily, S. is home a great deal, so that is worth the lack of friends. But, once in a while, I wish for a girl chat. Every afternoon when I watch the kids play in the culdesac I think of afternoons in the front yard in Germany with my 'sister'. Sitting at the "wine table" watching all the neighbors go by. Having them stop and chat. We always kept a couple of extra chairs in the carport, and by 5pm or so, someone was always sitting in them. I miss that a lot. Not the snow, not the deployments, but the friendships. . .I really really miss the friendships.