10-30-14

We're checking the box on fall sports. 

Tonight was the first round of play-offs for Mac's flag football team. The Lions lost by one point (I think) and were eliminated. 

Since the beginning of September, between baseball and football, we've had at least three practices per week and sometimes up to three games per week. I'm pooped from keeping it all straight. I totally understand now why American parents are so eager for their children to get drivers licenses so they can drive themselves and younger siblings around to all these events. Whew. 

10-29-14

Tonight was Mac's last game of the fall baseball season. Thankfully (and I say this as a parent and not a player), there are no playoffs in the fall baseball league here. 

The Lugnuts have not enjoyed a winning season, but they have enjoyed a winning attitude. We parents have commented throughout the season that even when the team was losing (and often losing spectacularly), they seemed to be having so much fun. There was always encouragement being given on the field and from the dugout. And I wish you could've heard all the fun and laughter they shared in the dugout. 

Their primary coaches, a young husband and wife team newly pregnant with their first child, often seemed more upset with the losses and errors than the children. I hope once their child is born and grows up, they'll value the sportsmanship and team camaraderie more than how many W's the team accumulates. 

We're not all going to produce a Derek Jeter, but we can all work to produce a human being who, throughout his or her life, can learn the art of being a valuable teammate at home, work and society and who knows how to win and lose graciously. That, to me, is the true value of little league sports. 

10-28-14

Tonight Leo got his first home bath. 

Wow. 

He's possibly slightly cleaner than he was before the bath, but I don't think he smells clean enough to make all that effort worth it. 

I was definitely wetter than I was before his bath, but it's doubtful I smelled any cleaner. 

It is 

A

LOT

Of

WORK

to keep the dog in the bathtub, get him washed and rinsed, towel-dried and then sort of blow-dried. 

I thought the dog shampooing places were expensive before, but now I'm pretty sure they're worth almost every penny. 

10-27-14

Leo has discovered shadows. His reaction ranges from furious barking to attacking to chasing the shadows. He just can't figure out what they are. 

At Mac's football game tonight I stood in the glow of a light that cast my very long, very perfect (down to my hoop earrings) shadow. Leo went wild. If I moved my head, he pounced. If I took 2 steps, he crouched and attacked.  

This went on for a long time. Longer than most would've found it engaging. 

We are so easily entertained around this joint. 

10-25-14 to 10-26-14

I flew down to South Carolina for a quick overnight trip to attend Camp Meeting. 

If you've never been to a Camp Meeting, it's very hard to describe. The one my family attends started 220 years ago as a Methodist revival in the days of the circuit-riding preachers. Then and now families gather in rustic cabins with pine straw on the floor and no electricity or plumbing. There are still church services three times daily during this one week of the year but it's also a wonderful celebration of family, friends and good food. 

It's one of my favorite events of the year and the one I miss the most when we're overseas because there is simply no way to duplicate or even attempt to imitate Camp Meeting. 

I'm so thankful - so incredibly thankful - to have had these 2 days there. 

10-24-14

Because we're dog owners now and I've gone back to work, we've had to put a dog walker on the family payroll. 

Our dog walker lives in our building and she loves Leo. I mean LOVES Leo. 

In much the same way toddlers get daily notes from their preschool teachers about toilet habits, behavior, and food intake, I get a daily text from Liz. 

Proof that my dog walker is better than yours:

So happy and thankful we have Liz in our lives to help with Leo

10-20-14 to 10-23-14

It's remarkable how utterly exhausting this week, my first full week back at work, was. If I could've gotten in the bed every night at 6pm, I probably would've. 

Every day starts at 5:30am. Showers get taken, people get dressed, breakfasts get made and eaten, Leo gets walked, lunches get packed and we all get out the door at 6:55am. 

6:55am used to be a magical time at Casa Story.  Everybody left, and I enjoyed peace and quiet with the Washington Post, Matt Lauer and a cup of coffee. 

Those carefree mornings are but a warm memory now. 

The job's going well enough, and for that I'm thankful.