Well, that was pretty easy. As you can tell by reading this, the site is up and running just fine. It took me about half an hour to make the final changes and move the site over to its new home. I’ll write about the changes in the next day or so, but the important thing is that everything appears to be working fine.
The weekend was chock full of activities for us.
Friday night was a series of special nights for our girls. M. and her buddy next door went out to eat and to shop with their moms. C. and her pal went with the neighbors’ dad to a jump place and McDonald’s.
Which left L. and I. I did not have a game to cover – I covered the county tennis meet on Thursday – so I asked her where she wanted to eat. And after shooting down her first two ideas – McDonald’s or Wendy’s – by reminding her we could eat at those places anytime, she shouted out, “Barbecue sandwiches!” Alrightie, then! So we went to a local ‘cue joint where she had the had pulled pork, I had a combo plate, and we had fun eating together. After that, I took her for her first ever round of miniature golf. She played it a little more like hockey, following her ball and batting it forward constantly, but she loved it.
To top off the night we hooked up with the big sisters and other parents at another neighbor’s home where a fire was roaring and the kids made smores while the parents drank beer and enjoyed the fire.
Saturday was a damn perfect day here. It was one of those fall days I kind of hate, as it was gorgeous outside, but there was lots of football on inside. And we have a couple new soccer channels so I could flip between soccer games in England, Italy, Spain, and France all at the same time. It’s a fine way to avoid Big 10 football. C. had a friend over to play, so they made cake pops for us all to enjoy. In the evening, S. and I got to go to a very nice restaurant for dinner with her partners. There’s never anything wrong with eating steak.
Despite all that, Sunday was the highlight of the weekend. It was our first week of soccer. The girls’ teams all opened the season a week ago while we were flying back from Boston, so they were anxious to catch up.
C.’s team is the opposite of her team a year ago, which featured three large, older boys who could power through the other teams at will. This year’s team is tiny and very young. And they were playing a team that was much bigger. It didn’t go all that well. But C. just runs around with a smile on her face and giggling the entire time she’s on the field. She got an assist late in the game.
I missed M.’s game, but her team lost a tough 1-0 contest. It sounds like she spent a lot of time on the field, but as has been her way over the years, she’s still kind of skittish early in the season and tends to shy away from action.
I missed her game because I was coaching L.’s team at the same time. Man, was she excited to finally play a game! Remember, this is the kid who would wear shin guards, cleats, and a hand-me-down uniform to her sisters’ games last spring. Her team is also pretty young, and we have some issues getting everyone to show up. But we had all five kids, it was warm but not hot, so things were looking good.
It didn’t take her long to score her first goal. Then another quickly after that.1 Two goals in her first five minutes of action! The rest of her team did great, too; I was worried after some dicey practices that involved multiple meltdowns. I think every kid scored at least one goal. One girl scored two. Another boy scored three. And L. ended the game with five! I know, we don’t keep score, blah blah blah. But L.’s team won because homegirl scored three second-half goals. She knows how to finish strong.
So I had lots of high fives to hand out as the regular head coach was gone and I was on the field the entire game. I hate to read too much into one game this year, and C.’s team’s performance last year, but kids seem to score goals when I’m coaching them. It’s a gift, I guess.
The weekend wasn’t a total success. The Royals dropped two of three in Detroit, with an obligatory maddening managerial decision that affected the outcome Sunday. The Jayhawks lost their make-or-break game in Houston Saturday. The Colts let the Dolphins come to town and beat them. And I’m headed to 0-2 in fantasy football.
But that stuff would just have been icing on the pie. As I sit here watching Sunday Night Football on the big TV,2 drinking my first Sam Adams Oktoberfest of the year, I can let those disappointments slide and savor an otherwise tremendous weekend.