Regular Season District Champs!

So the big news around here is that we are the regular season distric champs!!  Waka waka!! 

Yeah, we are pretty much awesome.  We beat Rutherford on Saturday, despite getting down by a goal early.  Difference between this team and previous teams?  Prior to this year if we got down by a goal early on, we'd fold up like a bunch of lawn chairs.  We seem to be at a place now, where we're like?  Its only one goal!  And we have 70 minutes of game ahead of us.  Lets see you hold on to that lead!! 

So we have two regular season games left Tuesday (senior night) and Saturday (we go on the road to Sewannee).  Then next week, we skip the play in game (first time in 5 years that we have gotten to skip the play in game :)  We go to Panama City on Friday night to play the District Championship game.  Whoot!!  That is pretty exciting. I think this photo pretty much sums it up:

On another note- I ran a 5K on Saturday (before the game).  Again, with the lack of preparation.  I dont know who I think I am- maybe Kelly the Baller?  First, who thinks they can just show up to run a 5K?  Secondly, who cant do the math to see what that would entail?  Seriously- since I started my "Run Every Day of 2011" Resolution, the furthest I have run is 1 mile... which wasnt a big deal when I calculated that a 5K is 2.2 miles (its not).  A 5K is 3.1 miles.... so much of the race was Sucktownvilleburg.  But I am glad I ran it.  I had planned on running the Resolution 5K on FSU's campus this coming Saturday.  But Leslie (a friend and the other assistant coach (pictured next to #21) suggested that I run the Billy Bowlegs race this saturday... and she would run the Resolution 5K next week. 

On another note- how cute is THIS guy?

Don't you think he should be selling jeans for Gap?  Or hooded fleece sweatshirts for Old Navy?  Here is the thing:  If this soccer/judo/track/cross country/baseball/academic thing doenst work out for Nico, I think he might have a future career as a model.  No seriously.  Look at him and his cuteness! Can't you just eat him up?

Suddenly, I am asleep!

So Nico is doing the most DARLING thing lately.  Dave actually got it on video yesterday.  Hoping he will get it uploaded to youtube, because you HAVE TO SEE IT. 

Back story:  when I was in college, I was a different person.  I was really accomodating and basically just wanted to be liked.  Our first road trip with the guys (back in the days before Lee U was good, the women's program was sort of an afterthought.  It was like, "The Mens team is traveling to Memphis to play Union.  Why dont we bring the women's team too?") was a long one- I think it was either 4 hours to Nashville or 7 to Memphis, whatev.  One of the guys on the team had really bad leg cramps from being cooped up for so long and was complaining because the cramps were in his hamstrings. 

I offered to massage them out if he would lay on his stomach on the floor of the bus.  He did and I did.  He probably thought I was weird because who offers that?  Plus the hamstring starts to venture into the a$$ area- so that was probably weird.  Of course he had this crazy girlfriend from highschool- so it definitely was NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL.  Plus, he was the guy who insisted on doing f-ed up things with his hair.  In the time that we were at Lee, I saw him shaved bald, with a fro, in corn rows, and for an unfortunate period our junior year with a Julias Ceasar look- which, lets be real, is never good on anyone, including Julias Ceasar.  But I digress. 

Because I am also strong, I got a little bit of a reputation for being able to help with muscle spasms and muscle cramps and the like (this differs in stark contrast to the "happy ending" masseusses... which are basically hookers.  Yeah, I wasnt one of those.)  Once when we are at the National Tournament, one of my teammates had a kinda sore back and asked me to massage it out for a bit.  I was sitting on the bed and suddenly just fell over and said, "Suddenly, I am asleep." 

She basically peed her pants laughing at that.  And I have done it a lot since then.  Whenever someone asks me to do something I don't want to do, that is my response.  Dave asks if I can help him with the dishes?  Suddenly I am asleep.  But its not complete unless you fall over onto a bed or a couch. 

Nico has started doing this.  The other day, Dave was trying to get Nico dressed for school.  He said, "Nico, let's put your shirt on."  And Nico would lay himself down in the crib, as if he were asleep.  HILARIOUS!!  Really hoping I can get the video up here. 

I cant imagine that he got that from me.  Maybe this is just his way of protesting going to school?  Either way, its funneh!!

Release the BEAST!

I was off of work yesterday, suckas!!  Yeah, Nico's childcare was closed yesterday, so I took the day off.  We had a pretty fun little morning- ran a few errands.  Came home and made some more dog biscuits.  Seriously, the dogs love them and they are fun to make with little guys.  We also made Turkey soup with the last of the turkey from the Holidays.   So that was pretty fun. 

Nico starts back at school today.  Guess who is going to be a little Beast?  Nico getting to do whatever he wants+change in sleeping routine=BEAST.  Good thing I dont have to get him from school today... now the girls can't tell me what a bad mom I am for Nico getting COMPLETELY OFF THE CHAIN.  When they confront me, I am just going to point to Nico with a surprised look on my face. 

We had our first practice since the break yesterday.  Looks like the goodness we had rolling before Christmas hasn't rubbed off or mysteriously disappeared.  Seriously- I half expected to show up to practice yesterday and for it to be a HOT MESS all over the place.  Even awesomer?  EVERYONE is healthy.  KG (one of our seniors who has been nursing an (ankle) injury, is back.  So is Thig, one of our sophomore midfielders).  They weren't squirelly- which is a first for us.  And they played well.  So that is pretty exciting. 

Heart.

Cookie McCookerson

Quick post today. Nico is eating lunch.... and by eating lunch, I mean toying with his food while he chews on a new beanie baby dog thing I got at JoAnns.  Am I the only one that thinks its a little strange that he insists on chewing on the dog's nose?  Weird.

Here is a picture of Nico helping make Egg Fondue.  I figured that since he likes to cook and since he likes dogs, we'll make some dog treats when he gets up from nap.

We even have a dog bone shaped cookie cutter.  Yeah, he's pretty adorable, if you ask me.
Have a great new year!

He's a naked baby... yes he is... he's a naked baby....

One of my favorite things in life is our bed time ritual. 

Because putting Nico to sleep is much easier when I am doing it (I am pretty much batting 1000), Dave does the bath, I do putting him down.  I know that this only builds up the expectation that I put Nico to bed, and thus makes it harder for Dave... but it is what it is.  What are you going to do?  Plus, Dave is also funner at bathtime than I am.  I tend to knit and talk to Nico while we are in there... Dave plays with him more.  So when Dave is giving Nico his bath, I am usually putting away dinner stuff... working in the office... maybe doing some laundry. 

In any case, Dave gets Nico out of the bath, dries him off.  Lets him brush his teeth.  And lets Nico go.  At which , Nico runs around the house looking for me.  When he finds me, he laughs, "Ha!"  Like he is so pleased with himself.  Ha! Ha! I am not wearing any pants!  What is amusing about this little ritual is that when we do the bath situation, it gets warm and toasty in the bathroom, but the rest of the house can get FREEZING cold.  So the fact that Nico likes to run around in the house in the cold makes me laugh even more. 

Of course, the other night was especially funny because he started peeing.  On the floor.  Its really hard not to laugh when your kid just took a piss on the floor and looks very pleased with himself. Plus, his little legs and bum are so juicy.  Nico running around naked looking for me is my cue to go get him and put a diaper and PJs on. 

The Nicody Bains got me a light for my kindle for Christmas (but JJ tried to take credit for it, like he got it)... so lately, I have been able to read when putting Nico down to sleep.  I finished a book last night.  Wha-what?  A whole book.  Isn't that great?  I could really into life post graduation...

All for now.  Hope everyone has a wonderful new year!!

The wood, the wood, the wood is on fire!

So this week we have had one of our former players watching Nico while Dave and I are at work (one of the pitfalls when your primary baby sitter is an undergrad- they take off at the drop of a hat... like Christmas break). Nico was NOT happy. At all. Didn't/wouldn't take a nap until 4:30. Yikes!! But, he was extra cuddly when he woke up- which was a bonus.

Other than that, not much going on. We had some firewood delivered last night. Wooo hooo. That is pretty exciting. Its been really cold here- which is not surprising given the weather on the rest of the Eastern seaboard. But its still pretty cold here. We've had a fire almost every night the last couple of weeks. Plus we've had space heaters going and the furnace going. Can't wait to see our power bill this month. Should be nice and high. Seriously, whenever Dave and I land where we are going to land, I am going to advocate building our house into the side of a mountain or a hill, like the Ingalls family in Little House in Walnut Grove.  Seriously- it really cuts down on the heating and cooling costs. 

I am thinking about using some turkey leftovers for shepherd's pie tonight.  Should be good. 
All for now.

Christmas WIN!!

So let me start by saying, I am sorry... I suck at life.  I have been absent of late... because I got a lot going on.  I am working towards something new...not really ready for the big reveal, but its going to be awesome!!  It's no excuse, its just the way it is. 

Sooo... Dave's parents were in town last week.  They stayed at the house with Nico during the week, which was great- definitely put me at ease, plus it was nice to not have to fork over the baby sitter money :) 
So we did the Christmas thing last week!  I am telling you, this is really the best way to do Christmas... one week, one grandma comes up, showers with affection and gifts (Nico got to open his Christmas present early, a little scooter/bike thing).  Next week, other grandma and grandpa come up, showers with affection and gifts (Nico got to open Christmas presents early- which included a judogi.).  Seriously, how cute:

Can't you just eat him up?

I think Nico had a good time tearing things up and running around in general.  We made the Rollins' corn chowder on Wednesday night and little cheesecakes (in wide mouthed mason jars).  Nico got to help... which was probably a bad idea, since now he expects to be able to help in the kitchen all the time... which normally isnt too bad (when you're peeling carrots or potatoes).  It can be a problem when you are trying to get the turkey out of the oven. 

Speaking of cooking... we started a new Bishop-Royse family tradition: gumbo on Christmas Eve.  I know... Awesome, right?  I made Paula Deen's.  It was pretty good.  Combined with the leftovers we had during the week, we didnt actually cook on Christmas Day.  We had leftovers and whatnot out of the fridge... and ended up cooking turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy last night. 

I had a major problem with my phone on the evening of 12/23.  I was told that in order to get two new apps I wanted for my phone I needed to update the operating system.  When I tried to do this my phone crashed.  And while I did back it up before the update, I lost everything when I was told to remove and reinstall itunes.... over 1,000 pictures and 800 videos of Nico... gone off the phone.  Luckily, I had synced it all up a couple of months ago... and I have posted most of the best pictures and videos here... so I guess its not all lost. 

Also had an epiphane this week... no more furniture or toys that need to be assembled.  Period.  What a PITA.  Spent most of the day on Saturday putting together Nico's play kitchen- which is pretty adorable... also assembled an easel from the Nicody Bains- which is pretty cool.  Nico has had a good time drawing all over it in markerboard marker. 

Okay, all for now.  Hope your break was awesome!!

Weekend Awesome

Weekend was AWESOMENESS!!

I dont know if I mentioned it or not, but Mama Bishop was in town last week. She dropped off some Christmas goodies and watched Nico during the week (so we didn't have to put him with a sitter for the duration of break).  Friday night Dave and I ran about town doing some Christmas shopping. We'd decided that our Christmas gift to each other would be a bigger flat screen tv.  So we ran around on Friday night looking at Best Buy, the mall, etc. for the best deal.  We decided to check out Cosco in the morning and made a stop at World Market... which is always a terrible idea at Christmas time.... or any time really.  Especially since I just got paid.  For real... I will know that I have finally arrived when I decorate my ENTIRE house with World Market furnishings.  SCORE!! 

Saturday morning, we took mom to Another Broken Egg.  Can I just go on record here?  New favorite place for breakfast.  They have a crabcakes benedict that will rock your face off.  Seriously.  Love it.  Mom got on the road Saturday morning and we headed to Costco, where we found our new baby.  A 40" Toshiba HD LED flatscreen.  Mmmmmm.  Of course, this necessitated a new entertainment center situation, which I bought on Saturday afternoon and commenced putting together on Saturday night... BARF.  Of course, Dave hates all things assembly, so guess who got to do the majority of the assembly?  This girl (points at self with two thumbs). 

Saturday afternoon, we headed down to the county for a christmas party with the girls.  The sister that had it at their place have an amazing place complete with horses and karaoke.  Dave channeled his inner Billy Idol to sing "White Wedding".  The girls' Dad, Jim led Nico and Dave around on a horse.  The first time Nico was up there, he was a little nervous.  But then he got the hang of it.Will post a picture and maybe a video of them I took... adorable.

Saturday night, Dave played soccer- I stayed home with Nico and worked on putting together the thing.  BORING.  I think I hate doing that stuff almost as much as Dave- but someone has to man up to do it. 
Sunday we cleaned the house up (AGAIN).  It was a wreck after not cleaning it or putting things away for almost a week.  Sometimes Nico was helpful-he is getting pretty good operating the dustpan- but kind of sucks at cleaning the bathroom.  His insistance to do things the way he wants to do them made the power cleaning session a lot more tiring than necessary. 

Dave's parents got in Sunday afternoon and we got the TV hooked up.  So far I am a little concerned because the TVscreen shows a black box around the picture, which is kind of annoying.  Seriously, what was the point of getting a 40" screen if the image is only going to be 32"?  May have to put the muscle on someone at DirecTv.  :( 

Mostly got Christmas shopping done.  I stayed up late last night to do some wrapping.  I couldnt stay up late enough to get all my gifts packaged to send... which means that not only do I have to go to the post office today, but also tomorrow :(  Yay! Barf-townvilleburg!!

All for now :)

Top 5: Christmas Movies

So, I was thinking about it and I realized that I havent done my share of watching Christmas movies thus far, this holiday season.  Without much ado, this is what I think are the best 5:

1).  Love Actually. 
Billy Mack: Hey Kids, it's Uncle Billy with a public service announcment.  Don't buy drugs... become a pop star and they will give them to you for free!

There are lots of things that make this movie great, including "Uncle Billy" (above).  I love the fact that there are so many recognizeable actors and actresses.  Including Bill Nye (above), there is also Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, and Laura Linney.  It is pretty great. 

2).  Bridget Jones. 

Bridget: "Thank you, Daniel, that is very good to know. But if staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I'd rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein's arse."

I know its more about crazytown Bridget Jones than it is about the actual holidays... but this is my list, so bugger off!!

3).  Lethal Weapon.
Murtaugh: You're not trying to draw a psycho pension! You really are crazy! 

I know... the quintissential holiday movie.  Who can forget Mel Gibson's hair?  Granted, its not really a christmas movie in the sense of "Christmas Movies", but does include lots of references to Christmas movies. 

4).  National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. 

Cousin Eddie:  So are you surpised to see us?

Clark:  Eddie, if I woke up with my head sewn to the floor, I wouldn't be more surprised. 

There are many great things about this movie- including Cousin Eddie (he is wearing a black dickey with a white sweater- how classic is that?).  Plus the scene at the end when he confronts his boss...not to mention a spot-on Julia Louise Dreyfuss.  Clark, is Rusty still in the Navy?

5).  Scrooged. 
Frank Cross: Do you think I'm way off base here?

Elliot: Yes. You're, well, you're a tad off base, sir. That thing looked like The Manson Family Christmas Special!

You can have your Miracle on 34th Street, your "every time a bell rings" nonsense.  Classic. 

Have a great weekend!!

Great week!!

Oh happy day!!  Such a great week, thus far!!

It started last week when I graduated.  And just a shade under a decade, alright... yeah... it was pretty cool.  I was sort of nonplussed about the whole thing.  To me, the real accomplishment was defending- back in October.  Plus I am a sociologist, so there is the whole social construction of ceremony thing.  I didn't really "get it" until I was walking into the Civic Center, passed 1800 other graduates... it was pretty cool. 

Here I am with my Yoda/dissertation advisor/mentor, Ike.  This was before the ceremony.  I dont know how many of you know (or better yet care), but for PhDs, they call you onto stage and your advisor puts the hood on you (its the blue thing he is wearing around his neck).  It hangs down your back and is symbolic of the university and discipline where you recieved your PhD. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get to keep my hood or gown.  Apparently I only rented them for the ceremony (which is kind of BS, I think).  In the event that I end up as faculty at a university, I will have to probably order the get up, so that I can walk at graduation. 

One sort of surprising thing, was that my Dad came to my graduation.  Surprising because he was sort of surprised too.  He came up to Wakulla to go hunting with a buddy.  When he realized that he was so close to Tallahassee, he realized that he could come to graduation... which was pretty cool.  Definitely out of the blue, but nice.  Mom and JJ watched the graduation webcast (and drank wine!!)

We cleaned the house this weekend.  My mom was due to come up to deliver Christmas gifts, plus help with Childcare this week (Nico is out of daycare till Jan 4).  So far we've had a pretty good time cooking and doing crafts in the evenings.  She and Nico have been having a blast during the day.  Nico isn't being rotten the whole time, although yesterday he was on a tear when I got home.  For some reason, he seemed intent on being destructive, for the sake of being destructive.  Usually he happens to destroy on accident, like he tears up something because he is interested in it... yesterday he was just tearing stuff off of shelves and tables and just throwing it on the floor just because.  ROTTEN.   

Our two games got canceled this week, on account of other teams not wanting to get their asses handed to themselves in the cold.  Which is kind of a bummer- since we were looking forward to the wins (is that cocky to say?)  Also, a WHS student commited suicide over the weekend, so a bunch of the soccer girls are taking it kind of hard (I guess they all knew her).  It would have been nice to have the distraction of games, to help get their minds off all that. 

Since we aren't practicing, Mom and I are going to go to Joanns with Nico, plus get some frozen yogurt and maybe some cupcakes today (yeah, how do you like me now?).   I am looking forward to tying up some loose ends with shopping this weekend- looking forward to spending time in the line at the post office next week.  Woo hoo!!

All for now!

They call me cranky pants cuz my pants are full of cranky...

WOW.  Who am I?  My mom?  With the posting once a week?  Damn, next thing you know, I wont have posted since April. 

It's been pretty crazy.  We are in the full swing of the season... the holiday season and the soccer season, plus finishing up my last duties for TA-ing.  Soccer has been great.  We've been on a tear: we're 10-2-1, right now.  We have three more games before Christmas break, two against cupcake teams... one against a team that whom we owe a beating (Taylor). When/if we win tonight, it will have been exactly one month since we last lost.  That is an eternity in the high school soccer season.  Even crazier, if we beat Godby tonight, West Gasden tuesday and Taylor on Thursday, we'll have a thirteen game unbeaten streak.  That's definitely some type of record for WHS... :)

I gave them yesterday off, so they could start preparing for finals next week.  Which meant that I could do some crafts at home with Nico last night.  This is where I will admit my latest obsession.  Martha Stewart glitter.  ZOMG!  I die!  This ain't your granny's glitter!  That is all I am saying!! I recently got a subscription to MADE magazine, which is actually about DIY, crafts, etc. and not about the acceptance of lower level mob guys into mid-level leadership... in case you were confused. 

See them for yourself HERE. 

In any case, when I saw this in the magazine, I became convinced that this holiday season would not be perfect until I had a bunch of these that I could call my own.  Of course, this is completely ridiculous, because we have opted out of putting ornaments on the tree this year (since I am not sure Nico's obsession with it won't result in a repat of the Christmas 1986 (when Nicole and I caught beat downs from Dad after JJ pulled the tree over because he tried to climb it).  Thus far, I have caught Nico trying to take a garland of the tree and I have also caught him hitting the tree.  Yes, I just said hitting the tree.  Part of this wonderful phase he is in.  Oh yes...

Hitting and biting.  I dont think he is doing it to be mean- I think he is doing it to see what I will do.  Because as soon as I tell him no, he becomes obsessed with doing it.  So I have tried the really serious Dad face... he used to lower his chin and cock his eyebrows real stern like and lower his voice and you knew he meant business.  Nico hasn't quite gotten it yet...

He is definitely a talky mctalk lately.  He tries to repeat a lot of the words we say... and he knows a lot of words, like for body parts (head, hair, mouth, belly, hands, feet).  Sometimes he gets ears, eyes and nose right... most of the time he gets those wrong.  He knows tissue, toothpaste, toothbrush, dog, Dada, Mama (sometimes), bathroom, laundry room, bath. I didn't realize that he was learning body parts until just before Thanksgiving... and I was a little mystified.  Who was teaching him that?  How did he know what tissues were?  Well, school.  They actually teach things at his school.  Can you believe that?  I am stunned. 

So going along with this interest in talking is his increasing frustration with not being able to communicate.  So we've had a LOT of meltdowns lately.  Sometimes the afternoon is just one big meltdown.  One of my favorite things that he does is when you take something he wants (like the broom) he stomps and spins himself around in a circle.  He is so mad... but it is so funny.  And, he doesn't want to do anything you want him to do.  So like yesterday, I was starting my long awaited MS glitter christmas ornament project.  Now, mind you, I wanted to do about a dozen of these damn things to take to Nico's school this week.  And guess who wasn't pulling his weight?  Yeah, Nico.  For real.  Wouldn't use the paint brush to paint glue onto ornament.... but wouldnt let me have it.  I handed him an ornament at one point because he was being kind of gentle... which he responded by throwing it on the floor like a ball (to be fair, he probably thought it was a ball). But definitely a crank. 

We're also in the process of changing up the sleeping situation in the house.  While we do love this new house (A LOT) it is definitely a 60 year old house.  SOOOOOO POORLY INSULATED.  Seriously, I can feel cold air blowing into Nico's room.  Drafty much?  Since we have a fireplace, Dave and I are trying to take a different approach to energy management in our house this winter... simply because as blase as I am about spending thirty dollars on martha stewart glitter, I still have a coniption whenever Dave is like, "Yeah, the power bill was $400.00." WHA-WHAT? 

So we set up the Pack and Play in our room, with the idea that we would kind of close off Nico's room while it was cold... mostly because I felt like it was too cold to leave him in there at night without the space heater on... but Dave has this fear of setting the house on fire.  So by having all three of us in the same room, we can have the space heater on (and know relatively quickly if it catches fire).  Plus it will lower our energy bills, I think... we get the fireplace going in the evenings and when we head to bed we are really only heating two rooms.  But this has meant that Nico's sleep has been all jacked up, but it was before- this started back just before Thanksgiving.  So he hasn't been sleeping through the night... which I get.  But in the last week or so, he's been waking up and STAYING up.  Which I am definitely not a fan of.  At all- cause now I am just cranky and tired :(

I'm on a boat!!

Well hello there!!

It's been a while.  Things have been crazy.  Thanksgiving was awesome but crazy.  Dave's parents had a huge feast for us when we got to town on Thursday.  Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, the works. Mmmmm... no cranberry sauce (like his mom made last time).  Which was pretty much the only reason why I went... mmmmm.... cranberry sauce.  Apparently Dave's Aunt Rosie likes the cranberry jelly better... which is okay... all I am saying is that Dave's Mom is on notice:  Its okay to have the cranberry jelly, as long as there is the fabulous cranberry sauce, too!!  Did I just demand cranberry sauce at future Thanksgivings?  Why, yes!  I believe I just did!! 

So we hung out with Dave's family for a little on Friday  before leaving for the cruise.  Until I actually got on the cruise ship, I really had no respect for the size of a cruise ship.  We traveled on the Majesty of the Seas, which was about the length of the Titanic (880+ feet), which I would like to point out is the length of almost three standard high school football fields.  The Titanic and the Majesty carried roughly the same # of passengers (2600) but the Majesty's tonnage was almost twice that of the Titanic (76,000 tons versus 43,000). 

I wish I had taken more pictures of the actual ship... it was pretty much ridiculous- at least two hot tubs, two pools (I say at least, becuase I think that there were probably pools and hot tubs for higher class passengers, away from the commoners).  There were several dining rooms, elevators, a rock wall, etc.  MASSIVE.  Since this was our first rodeo, we got the lowest class room, an interior stateroom that was tiny.  I think that future ventures might require a larger room with a window or a balcony. 

The only really crappy thing about the cruise (in my opinion) was the childcare and pool situation.  We chose Royal Carribean because we were under the impression (from their website) that they had free childcare for children 6 months and up.  Yeah, not so much.  They had baby sitters who would come to your room and watch your kids, but that was the problem, there wasnt anything for Nico to do in our room (except play with toliet paper in the bathroom and the life jackets in the closet).  So that was annoying, and they wouldnt let kids with diapers in the pool (not even swim diapers).  So, there was basically nothing for Nico to do...

It is Dave's mission to visit all the islands in the Caribbean- so future cruises might be an option for us- but probably not until Nico is a little older- at least old enough to do some swims.  Speaking of the little guy:



This was on our way home from Miami on Monday.  I don't know where he got this behavior, but it is pretty funny!!

We had a game on Tuesday night, at home.  It threatened to rain all day, but we managed to get the game going.  Then, with about 5 minutes left to go in the game, this huge massive wind blew in... where the temperature had been somewhat pleasant (so much so I could take my jacket off), this wind came in and the temperature dropped 20 degrees in an instant.  Then it started to rain :(  So the last five minutes of the game was crap... but we still won 5-0.  Which puts us at 7-2-1.  We have Leon again tonight- the girls are pretty pumped.  I think if you talked to them, you might find that they expected to win our last game pretty handily and are thus a little frustrated that we tied.  Of course, that would be funny, because we beat them when we played at our place two years ago.  When we played them at their place last year we lost 4-0 (and played badly), but redeemed ourselves somewhat by losing only 1-0 at our place last year.  So history has shown that we play better against Leon at our place then we do on the road... I dont know what this means, becuase I think we played pretty damn well against them the first game earlier this season. 

In any case, it should be interesting.  One of our girls' dads has a barn heater, which apparently is pure awesomeness.  She is working on bringing it to the game tonight, which is even awesomer because some of the Leon girls were making fun of us for being country last game.  The temps to night are supposed to be pretty cold.  How'd you like them apples?  I guess sometimes it's okay to be country!!

The old throw clean clothes into an open suitcase trick...

So, I am beginning to fulfill my dreams of not having to actually go to a store for Christmas shopping this year.  I love having a job where one can actually afford to buy christmas gifts throughout the year.  Makes me want to pat my own self on the back. 

I am clearly not as cool as my sister, who got a pimped out pastel kitchen and repainted it to suit their color wants (see HERE).  I know... I would love to have the time... but at this point, I need to stop adding to my to do craft list and actually start finishing projects.   I ended up buying this one for Nico yesterday:

If there were any doubt that Dave and I are clearly amateurs at this parenting thing, it would be the fact that we chose this kitchen because it didnt feel too girly (remember, I am a shitty sociologist) and because it wasn't too childish.  If we were pros, we would have gotten the bigger kitchen, remembering more kitchen=more entertainment=less tearing the house up.  Oh well... at least its a cool looking kitchen.  Can I share with you how excited I am to stay up on Christmas Eve and put this together?  SO EXCITED!!

One thing I haven't done?  Pack for Thanksgiving.  Yeah... so this is what Thanksgiving entails for us this year:
Dropping dogs at vet
7-8 hour drive down to Miami
Thanksgiving with Dave's parents
Cruise 3 days (including a stop in the Bahamas). 
7-8 hour drive home

And I dont have a single thing packed... for me.  Or for Nico.  You can probably guess where this is going:  Open suitcase on the bed, start dumping contents of closet, clean clothes basket, and dresser.  Suitcase stuffed to capacity, but somehow I manage to forget to pack underwear, socks and only have on pair of shoes.  Yeah, this will be great. 

Also supposed to show Auntie Nic Nic how to make baby hats.  I wont take my oversized red yamakah as an example.  We'll just keep that under our hats (<-- HA!!  PUN INTENDED!!)

Why haven't I had time to pack, you ask?  Well, Nico has been out of school since Monday morning.  For one (still Poopy McPooperson).  At our game last night (at Franklin County).  I changed Nico during warm up and had to change him five minutes later.  On the sideline.  I bet Anson Dorrance never had to do that.  Oh, and guess who has diaper rash?  Poor guy!  Yeah... not fine times.

Speaking of the game last night... we won, 7-0.  But that isn't the awesome part:  7 different goal scorers.  Do you know how awesome that is?  Also, this is the first time that they have met my half time goal scoring goals for them.  Usually, we're up 1-0 or 2-0 on a team and I say something like, "Let's bang in 3-4 more goals and call it a night."  Last night, I suggested 5 (we were up 2-0 at half time).  Five goals later.... it was a done deal.

Dave and I really like this team.  In so many ways its different than past teams.  When the phone rings at 9 pm on a Friday night, I dont for a second think that it might be someone calling me to come get them from jail.  They seem to like each other.  They seem to run around in one big group with a couple of sub-groups, not 3-4 distinctive separate groups (like we have had in the past).  I have heard it said, that it takes 5 years to build a high school soccer program.  A lot of coaches get frustrated around years 3-4 and quit because they aren't seeing the return.  And granted, some of our success this year has been due to the Little Big Gun and RA... but overall, we are very pleased with the way this team is coming together.  Even without the Little Big Gun, we'd  still be happy with how well we are playing, the things we are capable of.  Its a nice situation to be in.  It just feels weird to be doing well without our "Freshman". 

Sicky McSicks

So- the daycare called yesterday and told me to come get Nico.  He was a pooper mcpooperson- and not in a good way.  From 8-1030 they had to change 3 #2 diapers, added to the one Dave changed yesterday morning, the two I changed at the middle school game plus one from when he woke up around midnight, plus one at about 630 this morning... I am thinking he is sick.  What do you think?  It wasnt too bad... being home with a sick Nico is sometimes better than being at work... Since this is the time of the year when people are out- my productivity drops off a bit as well... mostly becaus there are people that I need to get back to me who are on vacation (not just with the State of Florida- in case my Dad was about to inform Gov Elect that he can start cutting government by getting rid of the Department of Health... yeah, don't do that.) 

Little kids are so weird.  Because they are sick all the time.  But also because they just aren't themselves.  I am pretty unforgiving of adults.  Like, there is no reason why you being sick should interfere with your ability to do your job.  Seriously- this aint 1898- its not like we are talking about Cholera, TB or Scarlet Fever.  We're talking about chills and a headache- MAN UP.  But little kids?  You can definitely tell when they dont feel well.  And not just because they go through diapers like no one's business. 

Nico did get a flu shot last week, so maybe that is what is going on...we also have started letting him have juice (in small amounts) and tried those black grapes from the store.... so we're aren't really sure what is going on here.  Except that the daycare did say that there was a stomach bug going around the daycare last week... so maybe that is it.  Oh, and bonus?  Dave is starting to feel sick too.  That can't be good for business. 

Nico is growing like a weed lately.  He is very coordinated and has taken to throwing things.  Yesterday he threw his sippy cup from the backseat to the front (which isn't "good"- but still kind of funny).  He also has pretty good aim.  He threw a car in a box from about 4 feet away last night.  Please God, dont let him be into basketball.  I would hate to have to have "The Conversation" with him when he is about 11 years old about how he will probably never be a starting forward for U of L... because I dont want him calling me "The DreamKiller."  He is also starting to understand commands- like, "Nico, go get your shoes" and "Let's go do some laundry."  He is also starting to talk a lot.  He "says" "dog" (gog), "yup" (up), yeah and no.  He is also really into games where I chase him... he laughs pretty much the whole time.  He is also starting to get into reading books (yeah, I know, it only took him 15 short months).  He will actually bring us books now and SIT WITH US WHILE WE read them. This is a new development.  LOVE IT. 

Also, one of the funniest things he is doing (at least to me) is when I change his diaper, he is trying to touch my stomach and hip.  I think he might be feeling my stretch marks, and how different the skin feels. Either that or he is trying to tickle me... because I do laugh whenever he does it. 

All for now.  LOVE.

Booyah!!

Great weekend around here. 

It started with dinner on Friday night.  Nico and I went down to the county for a light and easy practice on Friday.  On our way back, I passed by several places I wanted to stop for dinner and bring dinner home to Dave, but I just couldn't pull the trigger.  So, we ended up going to Famous Daves, which was delicious.  After we put Nico to bed, I finished up a hat that I had been working on, for "my own self."  It's stupid looking.  I can't decide what is so stupid about it, except that I was convinced I needed to use the largest loom  for it, since it is the only one that would fit on my head without squishing it.  And I have a sort of Elaine Benitz thing going with my head... I am not saying its freakishly big, but birds have flown into it before.  I was using this super bulky red yarn and put a brim on it.  Now it just looks more like an over sized yamakah than anything else.  FAIL. 

Saturday we played at home against Suwannee.  Suwannee is where we were 5 years ago... one or two decent players, but really not good enough to run with the big dogs.  So our best way to play with them was to play a very agressive/physical style of ball.  We were scrappy and teams hated playing us. 

All of the girls that could be considered our "enforcers" no longer play in our program- they've graduated.  So guess what I have now?  A bunch of little girls- who, while we can play the game now, now can't step when we get out muscled.  Want to take us out of our game?  Muscle us around.  So the game got chippy pretty quick, culminating in a the first yellow card of the season, for our little big gun.  To be fair, she is one of the best players on the field, and many teams we've played against haven't had an answer for her.  The other team basically just fouled the crap out of her.  Seriously, the only way most teams can play with her is to put a body on her... and even then, a lot of teams can't hang because she is TOO FAST.  It happened against Leon, it happened on Saturday against Suwannee.  She was on the verge of tears when she came off the field (a requirement for kids that get yellow cards).  I got her to calm down after a minute.  And told her as she went back on the field that there was no better revenge than to put one in the net.  Four minutes later, she beat the keeper and was all smiles: 

There is a great gesture that comes from professional wrestling that, frankly, isn't very nice.  It is a gesture that literally means "Suck it" but one uses it figuratively for when you own someone, usually in a sporting event.  If there was ever a time when such a gesture would be appropriate for a high school girls sports, this would have been it.  Really, she was quite composed about the whole thing- I probably would have walked by the girl that dished the fouls and said, "How do you like me now, #15?  There's a lot more where that came from!!"  Which is probably why I play in goal.... in any case, I think I actually said, "Boooyah, bitches!!"

We ended up winning 3-2 and now our record is 5-2-1, which is very cool.  We go to Franklin county on Tuesday.  Hopefully we will be 6-2-1 after. 

Sunday was pretty chill... I went to school and did some school stuff.  When I got home Dave went to play soccer and I went to the store with Nico.  We got our frozen yogurt after (where in he proceeded to make a huge mess). 

Hope you all have a great week.

WTF?

So this week has been like whoa...

Tuesday we hosted Florida High.  Now, I have had some issues with us the last couple of games- we just play like crap.  Doing things that some of them haven't done in years (like playing the ball back into the center), horrible first touch.  LR and I got to talking about it, and started wondering if it had anything to do with the massive amounts of caffeine these kids consume before games.  This isn't new to me- our GK used to chug a can of red bull before playing.  But these kids are drinking that Monster crap.  Plus, my mom noticed at the Taylor game that they are always running and doing... either running to the bathroom- to the concession, up the stairs, to play ball, to the bus, etc.  Like they are powered by motors...

So I tried something new with them on Tuesday.  During the last part of the JV game, we went under the stadium and did some visualization and breathing exercises.  Just tried to get them to clear their minds and focus on the task at hand. 

And it worked.  We pretty much dominated Florida High... played very well... passed very well.  And the best part?  They didnt make a lot of stupid, dumb mistakes, and anytime one of them tried something that didnt work out, a teammate was right behind them to pick up the slack.  It was brilliant.  We got 2 goals in the first half and had a ton of good chances in the second half (their keeper kept them in it).  But Florida High really wasn't THAT strong- so I was sort of looking for us to play well against a good team. 

We got that last night.  We came up to Tallahassee to play Leon.  Leon is a pretty good team.  Most of those girls play TUFC and ASG.  And I dont know if Tony has practices where he puts them on a wrack and stretches them, but holy hell, he has some tall girls.  Which is in stark comparison to me, who often feels like Gulliver in the land of lilliputians.  For real. 

So we put a body on their best player and it got chippy from there.  At one point she even had her hands around our player's throat.  And she was running her mouth.  And they didn't have an answer for our little big gun... she blew by their back line on several occassions.  She is one of those fast little agile kids, who can dribble the ball and hop over defenders trying to kick the ball away AND maintain posession of the ball.  It was really awesome.  The game ended 0-0.  But that isn't the awesome part.  The awesome part was that those girls from Leon did exactly what every other girls soccer team from rich-kid schools do: started running their mouths.  Seriously- it was such a stereotype.  I felt like I was watching a bad teen movie. 

Towards the end of the game they were saying things like, "Seriously, they're Wakulla" and "Are we really not going to beat Wakulla?"  After the game (when the teams line up to shake hands) they said things like, "I bet you're really happy with a tie."  One even said to Dave in the most sarcastic tone possible: "I'm glad you're happy." 

First of all, WTF?  Really, I understand talking shit to players.  It happens.  Whatever.  But to a coach?  WTF?  Really, WTF?  How is this possible?  What kind of program is it where this is acceptable?  In our program, our girls have nothing to say to noone. Referees, coaches, parents, noone. 

I felt kind of bad for our girls- that the Leon players would take it so badly that they felt the need to show their tails as much as they did.  We have a solid group of GOOD girls in our program.  Nice girls- seriously.  They feel bad when we play bad teams and score lots of goals.  The snotty bitchiness that comes with some highschool girls teams?  Not a trace of it with these girls.  These are good kids.  They care about playing the game well.  They care about having a good time- that is all they want.  I think a lot of them are realistic about where they come from and their place in this world with soccer in that, sometimes there are teams that you play were everyone could be playing absolutely out of their mind and we may still lose, because we dont have THAT much skill, or the other team is just THAT good.  I think that some of them are starting to get the fact that there is a dynamic in this sport that goes way beyond just skill and hard work.  There is also a political and socioeconomic influence that puts elite level ball beyond the reach of most Wakulla girls.

What is even more ironic is that a lot of those girls play for TUFC (their coach is a pretty big deal with TUFC).  They dont have enough players to play in each age group- the oldest full team they have is U16s.  Uhhhh, hello?  I have 9 juniors... who happen to be 15-17 years old.  So last night could have been an awesome opportunity to possibly join forces.  In fact, when TUFC and Andy Warner split, I saw it as a golden opportunity to maybe bring the thing that we do in the summer together with TUFC for a legitimate travel squad.  Get these girls infront of some coaches who know what they are doing.  I am thinking not so much... if the Leon squad that played last night is at all indicative of the girls that play at TUFC, I want no part of it.  I dont want my Wakulla girls exposed to that.  And I dont want them picking up bad habits like mouthing off to coaches.  Call me petty. 

However, I stopped feeling bad.  It's the greatest compliment when a team loses their composure while playing you.  That these Wakulla girls got in their heads is great- it means that we're actually becoming a better team.  And they did it by playing good, smart soccer.  Not by playing dirty or running their mouths.  And the fact that they didnt let it come to blows and didnt run their mouths back makes my heart burst with pride.  It was so... elegant.  So classy.  It is actually funny, because Leon played several county songs during their warm up, I suspect to make us feel at home (insert sarcasm here).  And I know that they think that we're just poor white trash hillbillies from down in the county.  So here is my question:  who is trashy now?

The FAIR!!

WOW.  What a great weekend!!

So Dave had to go to Phoenix for work Friday-Saturday coming back on Sunday.  Mama Bishop and Uncle Billy came up to help pick up the slack with Nico.  They met us in Taylor County for our game on Thursday (JV tied 2-2 and we lost 2-1).  It was definitely interesting- for the first time EVER, we didnt get our heads down when we got down.  We poured the pressure on and actually got a goal back in the second half.  So that was cool.  Friday I ended up taking so Sick Leave because Nico wasnt feeling well. I guess I could left him home with Mom and JJ- but I didn't want to do that to them  :)  He was feeling better Friday afternoon, so JJ and I took him the Fair.  Whoo- hoo.  It was very cool, Nico loved him so goats.  We had some street food and called it a day.  I am trying to learn how to crochet- so Friday night mom taught me something I have been trying to learn- so that was cool. 

He loves animals... dogs, goats, cats.  If we didnt have dogs, this might be weird... but he is always loving on them.  Saturday morning, I got dogfood and it was sitting in the kitchen.  He was hugging the dog food bag because there was a picture of a black lab that looked like Gordon on the bag.  Definitely heart breakingly cute!!



Saturday we were due to play in Panama City at Rutherford.  We decided to leave Nico at home with Mom, who proceeded to wear him out.  They read a ton of books, played, went out side, sang songs and did a little dancing.  FOR. REAL. He was sound asleep when we got home.  It was pretty awesome. 

We, on the other hand were not awesome against Rutherford.  We got a goal early on and hung on to win 1-0.  I say hung on, because I was pretty sure we were going to give up a goal.  Did not play well... which is a shame, because it should have been a celebratory occassion (first time ever beating Rutherford- we played them four times last season).  We're 2-0 in the district.  But didnt play well.  Had a hard time putting passes together.  Should have had a ton of more goals- but we have a small issue "staying on-sides".  But it is pretty cool that we can play badly against a tough district opponent and still win...unlike last year where we played badly against a tough district opponent and got our a$$es handed to us.  So there is that. 

Sunday JJ and Mom left to go home after breakfast.  Nico and I hung out. We went to the park and got some groceries, did some cleans.  Speaking of cleans, does anyone know where I can get one of those awesome step stools for kids where its like they are standing on a chair, but, the top part is enclosed, so we dont have a situation like yesterday where Nico was reaching for the door and stepped off?  Yeah, I am a bad mom... I know. 

Back on the grind this week!

GRITS and Biscuits and Gravy.

Not much going on around here.  We had kind of a laid back weekend.  We won pretty big on Friday night against JP II (6-0), which was nice.  We got some goals from our little big gun and some goals from old hats.  It was definitely a change of pace for us.  So needless to say, the girls were in a pretty good mood at dinner.  I didnt get home till late (almost midnight). 

On Saturday, I got Nico out of the house to do some errands and whatnot.  We went up to Thomasville to see Mandy Lou-Hoo play ball (she graduated last year and is currently playing softball at Waycross).  I got a wonderful nap in when we got home (wooo-hooo!!). 

We have installed a forward facing seat in my car.  It was given to us by one of Nico's teachers- and we probably could have done it a while ago, I am just nervous.  In any case, Nico totally loves it, like I thought he would.  He can get himself in and out of it pretty easily, which is a bonus.  Now working on getting another one so that we can have two- one for my car and one for Dave's. 

Sunday we hung out at the house and cleaned and put some stuff away after we went out for breakfast.  This is where I pause the blog to tell you how much I love grits.  Yeah, how you like me now?  I like me some grits.  HOLY.... WHAT?  I seem to have conquered my issues with texture, because I got some grits at Angelettes on Sunday.  And I bought some instant grits to eat for breakfast.  Guess what else I like?  Biscuits and Gravy... Mmmmmm... I know... dont tell my mama, she'd probably object saying she didnt raise her kids to eat like southerners.  I know. 

All for now... must work.  Sadface.

EPIC

The first game... was... not good.  We lost 7-0, to the best team we will play all season (probably, er... hopefully?)  It wasn't a total disaster, but pretty close.  The thing is, that sometimes I forget that they are highschool girls.  See, when I played, I didnt really get nervous.  I mean, not in the sense that I pulled a Rob Green or anything (see the game that the US played against England in the World Cup.)  I mean, I would get nervous, but only until I got a chance take someone out.  You see, the reason for doing that is to let the other team know that I am bringing my A game, and if they mess with the bull, they were gonna get the horns. 

I was reminded (AGAIN) last night that high school girls sometimes have jitters.  Bad jitters.  Doing things in a game they havent done in years jitters... butterflies in their stomach, dont feel well, gonna die jitters.  What?  Who are these kids?  Then I remember that I graduated my GK and my entire midfield last night.  So juniors who have been sitting on the bench for the last two years, were a tiny bit nervous. 

Dave and I also out-coached our own selves.  The game plan that we executed last year, which was ugly and overly defensive, we did for the first 20 minutes... in which we did not give up goals.  We switched at the first waterbreak and gave up 4 goals in about 10 minutes.  But we played "better".  I say "better" because while we did actually start playing soccer, it wasn't better in the sense that it accomplished what we needed to do. 

Our little big gun MH is going to be awesome this year.  I think she is going to tear it up against Non-Chiles teams (their defense had a hard time with her last night).  Our goalkeeper was inspriring.  Seriously, watching her play last night was like watching me play 15 years ago... really, I am old enough to say that?  The funny thing is, that with Shay last year, I always felt a little lucky when she made saves she shouldn't.  Like she had no business making some of the saves that she did- because let's be real here, it took her about two and half years to start taking it seriously.  And so when she did make those saves, it felt like the universe was somehow making things right... rewarding her for deciding to work hard.  With Froddo last night, it was breathtaking- because I haven't had the time to train her- so many of her saves were straight reactions.  Like, she knew that all she had to do was keep the ball out of the net.  Forget technique, forget training, just keep the ball out of the net.  She made 22-23 saves last night (including 3 one on one's), and still gave up 7 goals.  She never looked like she didnt know what was going on back there.  She got beat, yes.  But at no point did I even for a second think about pulling her.  In fact, she is the reason we didnt get mercy ruled... which sounds so strange to say- because this is the kid that often forgets to bring gloves to practice.  So its weird.

In any case, we are playing at JPII tonight, so that will be an adventure.  I am hoping that we can shake that game off and get back to kicking ass and taking names.

Last night, Nico was so cute when I got home.  He was having a hard time settling and staying asleep... so I went to try to put him to bed and was holding him, patting his back.  Be started patting my back too, which was adorable.  He also was rubbing his cheek against mine and being very snuggly.  When Dave got home (before me) he got a fire started in our fireplace (YES!!) and we watched a show I dvr'd. So aside from the beating we took at Chiles... last night was pretty nice.

On a mission...

I know, I know... I owe you some halloween pictures.  I suck at life.  My bad. 

Not much going on around here.  Nico and I went up to Chiles last night to scope Chiles v Leon.  We open against Chiles tomorrow night.  Dont really know what to think...I am reluctant to get all crazy excited, because we tend to not live up to mine and Dave's expectations at the beginning of the season.  So we will see. 

I am finally finishing up all the graduation stuff this week. It's pretty shitty (pardon my language).  I have done the hard part (writing the dissertation) and the harder part (defending it).  But all this paperwork?  It has got to go!!  On the upside, it looks like I am going to be able to actually walk at graduation... turns out I was smoking crack when I put the schedule together and accidentally scheduled us to play at Taylor on graduation night.  I did a little fixeroo so we should be good to go. 

I finally got all my passport stuff done.  Yeah, there was about to be a throw-down yesterday.  I show up at the Leon county courthouse to do passports and there was a line out the door and down the block practically- for VOTING!  Uuuggh.  Then I realized that I needed to go to the annex to do the passport.  I walked in with all my forms completed... with the pictures.  BOOM!!  I was out in literally 5 minutes.  The post office can suck it, for all I care (see previous post about THAT production).