Shall we kick off the week by catching up on odds and ends that have accumulated? I think we shall.

M. took another step towards big-girlhood a week ago when she got her ears pierced. Our rule has always been there will be no piercings until the girls can take care of them themselves. M. seemed ready for that and after a month of earning them through good behavior, she finally got them. She was super excited, telling her soccer teammates “Something’s going to look different about me the net time you see me! in a sing-song voice at practice one night. She’s been taking good care of her ears and is very proud of her new accessories.

A little different process than when I got my ear pierced 24 years ago. I went on a Friday night when my parents were out of town. Whether it was because I was a guy and they didn’t think it would last or they just forgot, the girls at the mall who put the ring in failed to tell me to leave it in for six weeks. So the next morning when I went off to work my shift at Taco Bell, I took it out as dictated by corporate policy. Image my surprise that night when I couldn’t get t back in! That led to an embarrassing trip back to the mall when I had to explain to a different girl that no one told me to keep it in. “We’ll of course you do, everyone knows that,” was her response. Clearly not EVERYbody knew.

M.’s soccer season ended this weekend. After slowly improving over the year, they finally got their first win two weeks ago in their final regular season game, then won a scrimmage the next week. Saturday they won their first round tournament game 5-0, although M. missed that game because of a church commitment. She made it for the second round game. They played incredibly well, but were going against a team that had a bye in the morning. It showed as the fast, scorers on M.’s team ran out of energy in the fourth quarter and they lost 3-1. They dominated the first half but could only manage one goal despite controlling the ball the entire half. It was a lot of fun watching them get better each week. Even M., who was still very passive mid-season, became a much better defender late in the season. She actually controlled the ball a few times Saturday and did a great job staying between the ball and the goal.

Some horrible news forward to me by a college chum. They’re trying to year down the dorm I spent two years in at KU. How dare they! Although as another friend said, given how crappy it was 23 years ago, can you imagine what a hole it must be today?

Of course the Colts crashed back to earth in New York this week. And I’ve kind of given up trying to figure out the NFL. My picks suck every week.

I likely wrapped up my high school football coverage last week by watching good ‘ol ECHS get pounded. They gave up an 83-yard TD on the opening kickoff and never got closer than that again. Sectionals start this week. We have a wedding this weekend and then will be out-of-town next week. So unless we have some major surprises and four teams are playing for sectional championships, I likely won’t work again until early November when girls basketball begins.

I covered six games this year, with one rainout thrown in. I saw two great games, one fair game, and three blowouts. I saw a 95 yard kickoff return, a screen pass that went for 83 yards, an 80 yard TD run, a 19-point comeback, two games won on fourth-and-goal, and a double overtime game. I also covered a soccer sectional final in there. A pretty good way to spend fall Friday nights.

The baseball playoffs have been crazy entertaining so far. My pick for World Series champ, Cincinnati is gone, and my AL champ, the Yankees, are down 2-0. I sure know baseball.

Favorite sports-related Tweet of the weekend, from “Ken Tremendous aka Parks & Rec’s Michael Schur:

If any person made me as upset, as often, as sports, I would totally not be friends with that person.

Much truth there.

I have a bad habit of leaving things on the DVR for ages if I don’t watch them immediately. All summer I had avoided watching the final three episodes of Community as I wanted to watch them together like they were broadcast. I finally knocked them out last week. Such a great ending to the season, and I loved how they framed the last episode so it could serve as the series finale if NBC never gets around to putting it back on the air. I’ve liked how Modern Family has kicked off this season, but I’d still put Community behind only Parks & Recreation as best comedy on TV.

I’m way behind on Louie, too, and knocked out four episodes one night last week. The Ikea episode was fantastically cringe-worthy. And I loved the piano lesson (I think the same half hour): “I have crabs but I don’t know if you gave them to me or I gave them to you. So ‘Fuck you!’ or ‘I’m sorry’.

Finally, I have not updated you on my beer brewing. My Octoberfest went into bottles about a month ago and we’ve been drinking it for a couple weeks. It turned out great! I love Sam Adams’ Octoberfest but I have to admit I like mine better. Sometime this week or next Ill be brewing a holiday ale that should be ready in early December.