Bruising

H. isn't that keen on the bruising/being bruised part of football after all. He opted out this morning, after a long night of thinking it through. Turns out the realization that the game is primarily about 'kill or be killed' (metaphorically speaking) just isn't his thing. When a guy coming at you is twice your size and is intending to deck you, you reconsider why you wanted to play the game in the first place. It's just not his cup of tea and we're fine with that. We are immensely proud of how hard he worked during the summer (the ENTIRE summer) to make the team and also proud of how he handled himself. He showed up at the practice this morning to let the coaches know that he wasn't enjoying it at this point and he opted out. They sent him home to wash all his gear and he'll return everything on Monday. J. overheard one of the coaches saying 'well, at least he told us instead of just being miserable'.

It's unfortunate that it's too late for him to join a soccer team. The kid needs some sports as an 'outlet'. But he'll manage. He has freshman PE everyday so that's something. Hopefully, he'll find a sport he enjoys during PE and can try out for a different school team of some kind.

B. had his wisdom teeth out on Friday morning. I had a class and when I called to check in, I felt bad not being there for him. So instead of going back to the office for the afternoon, I called my boss and explained and he said 'hey, you're the Mom - you need to be home with him'. So I came home with a gallon of draft A&W root beer for him to enjoy. With vanilla ice cream that J. had bought earlier, along with Jello, pudding, etc. He's actually doing really well - taking some pain meds pretty regularly but he's been to the mall (J. drove) and is playing drums a lot. So that's good. He used a lot of ice packs yesterday and so far, he doesn't have a lot of swelling or bruising. He looks fine. He woke us up at 4:30 this morning in a fair amount of pain - it woke him up. But after some ibuprofen, he went back to sleep and slept until after 9.

I worked most of the morning and into the afternoon and will do the same tomorrow. There's just a lot to do and it's time to bite the bullet and put in some serious effort on getting the year wrapped up. It's full steam ahead. There is no 'break' in this job. Maybe December will finally calm down - and I'm planning to take 3 full weeks off in December, which will be heavenly. But that's 4 months away. Seems like forever. I have 3 days off for Thanksgiving and am planning to take off that Monday and Tuesday also, for a full week off. Hope that's do-able. And then there's a week in Hawaii in March! YEAH!

J. plays bass at church tomorrow for the 3rd Sunday in a row. He's enjoying it - and we all enjoy going even more when he and/or B. are playing - but sometimes, we just want a weekend off. Just to be 'attending' church, not a part of the service. We made our Costco run this evening so at least that is crossed off the list for the weekend.

We took the dogs for a walk to the park. They just LOVE running around the park - they get so excited when we step up the curb onto the grass and they start running full tilt. They run, leap, weave in and out. Just have a blast, smiling the entire way. It was a good brisk walk and we're going to try to do it more often. They need it, we need it.

Dinner was Costco pizza. Tomorrow is steak and salad. We had thought about going out to celebrate J. hitting the -30 lb. mark but then thought 'we can make great steaks here and if we don't go out, it will be easier to eat meat and salad. No bread, no potatoes, etc.'. Saves money and our waistlines. Good planning on two fronts.

American President is on so gotta run.