Oh yes, there will be dancing!

Can you believe that I nearly reached the age of 45 before going to a Bar Mitzvah Service? I didn’t have any Jewish friends until high school which was too late of course. Older son knew one boy and was invited to the service but only the boy’s friends were invited, not the friend’s parents (makes sense, I hardly knew them) Tomorrow, SportsBoy and I will attend the service and luncheon and then party for a boy we’ve known since they were both 5. They have played both baseball and football (sob!) together and attended elementary school together.  In fact, if the team had won last weekend (sob!), they would have been playing tomorrow without their kicker since he is tomorrow’s honoree. So it was a slight silver lining when the team lost (sob) to know that we could be there for our friend for all of the events of the day, not just the evening party. In fact, it has given us something to look forward to since it will be the first Saturday without a game (Sob! Ok, I’ll stop ) Many of his teammates will be there as well as his coach so it will be a very nice transition into Thanksgiving week.

And oh yeah, this family hosts some downright fantastic parties so you know we will be having FUN. I’m looking forward to a rare night out with SweetPrince who will join me for the evening portion. We so rarely get nights out together and shoot – we had one last week and now this! Downright spoiled I tell ya!!

I also think I will be the only female this weekend NOT swooning over New Moon and Edward and….BARF! I am SOOO the mom of boys – these books and movies are of ZERO interest to me! In fact, much like SB who gags when the girls he knows in school or online start in with the Twilight talk, I tend to change the channel really quickly and/or skip over anything related to the series. Thankfully there is a somewhat testosterone laden movie for the boys opening this weekend – Blind Side – we’ll be checking that out on Sunday.

Oh, but I will swoon just a bit – Adam Lambert’s CD has been shipped to me!! I may have it as early as today, possibly tomorrow. It’s official release is Monday and he is performing at the American Music Awards on Sunday night. THEN I shall swoon. And then SB will roll his eyes and make gagging sounds at ME, but HEY, what are moms for if not to torture their teenagers?

The newly minted teenager in the house (newly? He’s been 13 for 3 months now! Ah denial) has a habit of *declaring* things with all manner of certainty. Without, of course, any actual *thinking* in support of what flies out of his mouth. This usually ends up with me (no slouch at declaring things with certainty either!) questioning his declaration and then offering up a correction. When he protests – and he always does, you’d think he would learn – and we get down to the business of proving the declarations, it always ends the same way. He is *always* wrong That doesn’t mean that I am always *right* because sometimes my declarations are off base too, but more often than not I AM right, but the track record is that he is ALWAYS wrong.

I give him credit though – he never stops trying!

Case in point – about two weeks ago we were driving home from football practice (sob!) so it was late and I was kinda feeling rushed to get home and get dinner served. There was a large, cream colored SUV in front of us with one of those window clings that is a stick figure outline of the family presumed to be inside the vehicle. You know the ones – 18 kids, 5 dogs, 3 cats etc etc? All external signs indicated this was a classic mom-mobile. Well, said vehicle was literally crawling, if not flat out simply rolling through an intersection when they light turned green. S-L-O-W. My annoyance was enough that I started in on a verbal routine that my son knew by heart as he chimed in with me “Hello! Right pedal! Try it! You’ll like it! It makes your car GO FORWARD!”  Then I *declared* that the person in front of me HAD to be on a cell phone to be that spaced out over the actual task of driving through an intersection. The teen then *declares* “No, I’m sure it’s an un-manned vehicle” (His dad’s oh so charming way of saying there’s a woman driving. Yes, old jokes never go away as he’s been using that line for 19 years!)  I looked at my son and said “Oh, really? Has to be a woman huh? Fine, we’ll see!”

Now, as I said, all outward signs were that this was a mom vehicle and I knew I was taking a chance on my reputation with this one, but, you see, I had faith that my son is Always Wrong

We pulled up alongside the SUV at the next intersection and just as SportsBoy says “See? It’s a girl…” A very large, bald man TALKING ON A CELL PHONE comes into view!!!!!!!

HAH!

(thank you oh Goddesses for backing me up on that one!)

To give the boy further credit though, while chomping on his foot, he did nearly bust a gut laughing along with me.

Actually, I got nuthin today. Or tomorrow, or….

Unless someone wants to suggest something….

‘Cause other than work I’m just wandering around wondering whatever SB and I will do with ourselves with no football practices & game to prepare for this week….

Other than me doing my best not to need a tissue when I see his equipment bag sitting in the foyer as a stark reminder of what is over forever….

(I’m really not that pathetic)…

(Or maybe I am)….

Before

After

That face breaks my heart.

The final score broke my heart – 24-3. Even though we were the first team all season to shut them out in the first half and to have them down at the half, they were just bigger and stronger and had more players so they could be fresher in that second half and they flat out wore us down.

Seeing #55 make run all the way down the field and then dive to attempt to trip up the runner on their 3rd TD and seeing him face down on the field after the effort failed broke my heart.

Football breaks your heart.

BUT

Our hearts were broken because we hate to have it end. Because it’s been 6 years of pure fun. Because for the last 5 years he’s had the best coach ever. A coach who first taught him discipline and the concept of TEAM. Then he taught him the game, play by play, formation by formation. Then he asked the boys to give each other 100% every play. To play with THEIR hearts. Knowing that the potential is always there for it to be broken. And then when it is, how you dig deeper and find the courage to play your hardest again on the next play, the next game, the next season.

I can’t speak for any of the other kids, but I know that mine was perfectly matched with this coach and has grown and learned so much because of it. I know he is ready for the next challenge – Freshman football. I know he will be bringing something with him that will make up for his lack of size.

A deeper knowledge of and instinct for the game.

Determination and discipline and toughness.

And a heart stronger and bigger than anyone else.

It dawned on my yesterday that I know just how to complete SB’s Pop Warner career scrapbook that my mom has been putting together with pictures. A thought that his been on my mind as this season winds down. Which it is. And I am sad. Because it’s been an amazing run. 6 seasons. 5 conference championships. Playing deep into November 3 years in a row now. Some personally awesome games for him. Some amazingly gut wrenching victories and losses over the years when the team showed so much heart. Lifetime friendships formed.

And I realized – hey, I’ve been writing about it right here since 2006! That was his 3rd year playing. I’ve got 4 seasons in here! Some were covered more closely than others (I have no idea why I haven’t kept up with game by game write ups this year but really this season was the least documented I think). That snapshot up there is from the very first post that I tagged as Pop Warner. July 31, 2006. Check it out! Look at that 10 year old face and those ugly tile floors that I still had!!

I will spend some time over the winter break going through all the posts, sprucing them up a bit and then printing them out to create a story book go along with the scrapbook.

I dug around some last night looking through the ones with the Pop Warner tag and revisited the end of the 2006 season when my participation in my third 3-Day walk crashed into the Chocolate Bowl weekend.  Then 2007 when we were first introduced to the concept of the Pop Warner Super Bowl held in Orlando each year for those teams that qualify (and we fell one game short). Thoughts of Florida dominated my days leading into that final game when we ran into the Tustin buzzsaw of a team that handed us final season losses in 07 & 08. those Orange County teams are the cream of the crop in our area for sure.

And yeah, it’s getting close again this year. Though we have to face the OC team THIS weekend instead of in the Wescon Final. So even though I have slight glimmer of Florida in my eye, we are still two games away. And the one in front of them tomorrow is the real challenge. Not the same Tustin team from the two years prior – a different one, Canyon Hills, but no easier for sure.

So we stand on the precipice of yet another game when a loss means the end of Pop Warner for us, and a victory buys us another week.

3pm PST Saturday – everyone please – cross your fingers for another week!!!!!!!

Yesterday my August Mom friend LSM and I were of like mind. I had just finished going through my Google Reader feed at lunch and grumbled in my head about some sites that only have partial feeds when viewed through the Reader. Meaning that in order to read the whole post, I would *have* to (oh my gawd), take All That Time to click through into their blog directly (we are talking one click here – horrors!) to read the whole thing. While I was bitching in my own mind, LSM was kind enough to post about it. A friendly little “hey, I have a question” post which asked folks how they read, if HER posts came across in full (they do) and how does one control that function anyway? Her first commenter confirmed that hers were fine and then ever so kindly gave step by step instructions to word press bloggers on how to check your settings for that and fix it.

Here is the comment I left at her place:

Same as above and it REALLY bothers me when others blogs only show a partial feed!! Funny because I am reading on my lunch right now and two of them came up with the partials and…I didn’t click through because I don’t have the time and I wondered if those blog owners even know?

Now, did I check my own blog settings before saying that? Of course not!!

On my way to my work out last night, this email from LSM buzzes me on my phone:

Hey, thanks for the comment on my post today.  I thought you might want to know that your blog entries just show up as excerpts on Google reader.   I’d love it if you changed it, so I can more effectively waste time at work!

Oooof!! Chomp chomp chomp. Boy does my foot need salt!

*****************************************************************

And yes, I changed my settings! I don’t know how to do it in Blogger or any other host, but on WordPress it is Dashboard->Settings->Reading->Full Text (which is a box you have to click. )

Depending on how you count things, this was #5 for SportsBoy. The Mighty Mite division doesn’t really have a championship playoff round. You play out the regular season and then play a one game Chocolate Bowl game which does make sure to match up the teams according to their records so it does always come down to the #1 and #2 teams which is *like* a championship. In that case, since his team’s went undefeated in 2 of his 3 MM seasons and THEN when he moved up to the more competitive divisions his D1 teams have outright won the PCC – well, he’s 5 for 6. He’s only lost 7 games in that time span. Pretty impressive! So here’s you photo heavy results from yesterday. All photos are going to be up on Flickr as well so just click on the Flickr link on the right for the full set.

Sports Boy had two catches in this game. Yes, just two, but let me tell you, the first was no slouch, but the second? Scary freaking good! The first was not *easy* by any means though he will say it was: (action shots courtesy of #56’s dad)

Snap from #56 to #5. That's our #55 at the bottom heading out.

Down the field, ball in the air

Ball coming down towards his left shoulder, defender closing in

They leap - will he catch it?

Yes he can!

This was in the first half and it led to a field goal by our studly kicker. That field goal ended up being the difference too. So they finished the 1st half up 17-6. And they never scored again. The second half was all about defense and field position. The green team (yes, same one he scored his touchdown pass against earlier in the year, but if you recall, we missed the extra point and hence lost to them 8-6), came back in the 4th quarter with a huge touchdown pass. Then they had a strong defensive stand of their own and then returned a punt to the 7 yard line. 1st and goal, they were down by just 3 now with 3 minutes to go and looked like they had an easy so ahead touchdown in front of them. 4 tries. One penalty flag for a false start moved them back 5. A run moved them back to the 7. Another to the 3. THREE YARDS! I’m now using my board access and am on the field, behind the end zone and trying not to cry from the stress. There is NO WAY my son’s pop warner career is going to end here, is there? Not after the guts he was showing coming off of the flu, a pulled hamstring, a foot that was rolled on at the end of the half and was heavily taped. A knee newly sore thanks to that hamstring strain. And after making a catch that made people’s eyes pop out (pics to follow). I was seriously flipping out. A time out is called and the Best Coach Ever goes out there and just keeps saying “You gotta believe!” He said later that when he went out there to a man (yes, at this point these boys become men), they looked at him with determination and not a shred of doubt in their eyes. They KNEW they could stop them.

And they did. And when it was over, oh yeah, I cried.

And now, the Sports Center Top Ten play worthy catch:

This time coming in over his right shoulder. Again, defender right where he should be

Reaching

He leaps, arm up and I'm thinking "Just knock it away baby, don't let the guy intercept it"

The leaping, one handed grab.

Pulling it down to his body as he goes down, defender on his back

Second hand covers the ball as they both go down

Best bud #25 runs up "Dude, no WAY!"

Yes, way

Congrats to the team and to two friends who have shared many years of baseball glory together, and who are blessed this season to be on the same football team for the first time too:

Glory Days

I promise this is not a political post, but get this:

One of the front pager writers from DailyKos is sitting in on the Rules Committee hearing on the House Health Care Bill. He’s there courtesy of the Chairwoman, Rep Louise Slaughter who got him on as credentialed media. He’s covering it by “live tweeting” sending along 140 character updates via twitter every minute or so. It’s like having a play by play announcer in the room. Meanwhile, I am listening to the live stream of the hearing – listening, because they traditionally don’t have cameras in the hearing rooms like they do on the Congressional or Senate floors. While I am listening, it is easy to lose track of whose voice belongs to which Rep. A quick tweet to the DailyKos writer, and I get an answer! I can TALK to someone IN the hearing room which it all happens! And as he pointed out a minute ago, this hearing session is WAAAY more productive and respectful & less about theatrics & bombast. There’s a couple of members on this committee who have been *quite* theatrical with their floor speeches to the point of some sharp criticism, but in this hearing they are being quite subdued and reasonable. Is it the lack of cameras I wonder?

It doesn’t matter – I am just flabbergasted at how accessible this all is! I mean – five years ago coulf I have imagined this kind of inside access? Heck no!!

I love technology!!

The best way to heal a hamstring strain? Ice and the flu. Why the flu? Because it knocks you on your ass and you therefore stay off the hamstring

SportsBoy came home from school (when I had been stressing over him walking between classes and then having to walk home on the sore leg) on Monday with a 102 fever. He had something to eat and then lay down on the sofa and passed out until I got home nearly 2 hours later. He pretty much remained on that sofa or in his bed for the next 48 hours. The fever broke for good around mid-day yesterday so he still has to stay home one more day (24hours fever free before you go back to school). Meanwhile as he’s felt better he’s started expending some of that pent up energy and let me just say unequivocally that the hamstring is F-I-N-E!

Meanwhile I did nothing. Well, no, I did do some work that I could do from home. But I had these big plans to maybe read, or write, or get a jump start on cleaning the house. I did none of it. When there are two cats laying around and one 13 year old, it is rather hard to get motivated to be the only one being productive

At least I got out of the house and worked out last night. That felt GOOD. And I’m back at work today since he no longer needs my regular attention at this point.

Of course the cats might be confused. Or, they might get some rest! When I am home, I apparently require double feline escorts to every corner of the house. While they normally sleep through the day, there was no sleeping going on unless I settled in one room for any length of time. Tuesday when my home base was up in my room and I was going back and forth between SB downstairs on the couch and then back up to my temporary desk setup, those cats got their exercise! Yesterday I gave them a break and stayed downstairs and just put on earplugs and had SB lower the volume on the tv.

It’s amazing how I managed to exist pre-cats without their constant protection ;->>

The photo above is from last week as I drove in to work. When fall REALLY, FINALLY arrived it made the air on the shore so clear and beautiful that I had to bring the camera with me and stop for some shots. The waves are rather anemic this time of year, but still beautiful.