Notes For Me ( and You)

A nice weekend, weatherwise – and otherwise.  This was a quiet weekend on the sports front, with most sports  having a bye week due to the Jewish new year. Peter played on Thursday night – and this time Wootton won in overtime.

We had a nice time at a party for Nancy’s summer softball team. It was at a nice house out in Damascus – crabs, burgers, chicken, with lots other dishes and desserts.

I changed the oil on the van, and also changed the coolant – we have now had the “new” van for five years.

We did talk to Alex on Sunday night, hopefully the start of a regular phone call, and things are doing well for him. President Obama visited the campus l;ast week and there was a great exitement ( one of the pluses of going to a university so close to the nations capital).

Two days before we launch Alex off to the University of Maryland. He is finally getting motivated to take care of the various loose ends we have been bugging him about – and we are getting a taste of the various extra expense over and above the tuition fees ( which are not too bad, given the in-state rate). New laptop, new printer, bunch of new clothes, mini-fridge, etc, etc..

Here is where he will be staying, Cumberland Hall.

One of the noisier nights last night – we had three ( at least) storm lines come through, waking everyone up. Jake had a hard time getting back to sleep – although at least part of it – he would never admit this – was nervousness about his football scrimmage set for this morning.

Alex is finally getting focused on the fact that this week he actually leaves home – and that there are things to do, parents to be taken advantage of, and time is running out. He did get his new Macbook computer yesterday – combination graduation present/ thing he needed for school – and is thrilled with it. I’ve never been exposed to Apple stuff before, but it seems perfect for someone like Alex who is really not interested in learning “techy” things. He got it up and on the wireless network, webcam operating, etc, etc.. with no instruction from anyone.

Peter had the first football scrimmage of the year last night, and he played quite a bit – at least half the game at right guard. Jake plays football this morning, after playing soccer last night until the dark clouds and lightning ending play.

Today was the first day of serious “football” – not the round ball type – practice for Peter. These are the infamous “two-a-days” with the first session from 7:30 am to 10 am and then a second session from 5 pm until 7:30 or so. At least this avoids the heat of the day. There is, correctly, major emphasis on keeping the boys hydrated.

Jake has also been to his first practice for the middle school team, which is set up as a feeder for the Wootton squad, playing the same plays, running the same offense.

Hopefully this weekend I will find time to get the veg garden back into shape after the neglect of the long vacation. The potatoes, which looked rather weak before the holiday, seem to have died off completely. I hope that the actual tubers themselves are OK in the ground.

The weather is dry and rather warm and humid. The first named tropical storm of the season has formed in the Atlanta – TS Ana.

Lacrosse season is underway. Alex (Varsity) and Peter (JV) have both played two and won two, both very convincingly against weak opposition. The first real test comes on Friday against local rivals Churchill.

This weekend sees the first soccer games of the season with Jake’s team Thistle (coached by yours truly) playing in a tournament at the Soccerplex.

The weather continues to be chilly – it was freezing at the lacrosse games, sitting on the aluminum bleachers – but too dry. However rain is in the forecast for tomorrow.

The seed potatoes are by the basement window, chitting !

It’s Friday ( the 13th ! ). Which is good since the weekend is upon us. Or not so good, since this means another week has just flashed past and there are a lot of tasks, chores, and wish list items that are just not getting done. It might be time to take a couple of days of from work to catch up.

I’m going to try to focus this weekend’s energies on at finishing two tasks that have been underway for a couple of weeks – the cold frame and a IRS tax issue ( yuck!).

Things are not going to get any slower soon. Lacrosse season kicks off next week, along with soccer practices.

The Washington Post has a nice article on the swimming scene in the Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia area. Jake is up against some tough competition.

Warmer weather returns this weekend so I hope to get outside and take care of some overdue car maintenance including an oil change on the truck and taking a look at a slow leak on one of the van’s tires.

I am also going to try to decide whether to expand the vegetable garden space this year, possibly to grow some garlic and onions. However I may wait one more year with what I have got, especially as we will be gone for almost three weeks mid summer.

Here is a link to a farming blog which provides a frequently updated look at a small Vermont farm. I have been following along with them and their cheese making for a while now, and actually ordered some cheese making supplies – but so far have not actually done anything !

After a three day weekend, because of a teacher work day, the boy’s break just got at least one, maybe two days longer. Our first real winter storm of the season is moving in, causing Montgomery County to cancel school.

This is our first year of both Nancy and I working out of the house – but at least all the boys are old enough to be left to their own devices. With Nancy working so close by, there is at least the chance of a surprise visit home to encourage responsible behavior – we hope.

I however have to get on the roads and navigate to work, today via downtown for a meeting and then back out to Virginia. The forecast is for snow, to sleet, to freezing rain. Maybe I will telecommute tomorrow!

We are now into the short week of Thanksgiving, a three- maybe actually two and half – day work week. And I am really looking forward to four days of almost nothing – no sports, no travel ( not this year) and just hanging around. Of course the “to-do” list will need some attention paid to it, but otherwise I should have a simple time of it ( at least that is the expectation!).

A quiet weekend would be nice after yesterday’s long lacrosse day. Both Peter and Alex were playing – on two Wootton teams – at a lacrosse tournament held at the Episcopal School in Alexandria ( quite a place). Four games for each of them for us – Nancy and I went together – to watch. Tough competition, with each team only winning one of the four games, but good experience. The weather was really cold for a day out, but at least it was dry and sunny.

The weekend ended on a good note, with all of us around the dinner table watching the Redskins win a close one in Seattle.

It has been non-stop here, so I have not updated for several days. Much of the bustle has been related to the boys’ sporting calendar – football, soccer, lacrosse, swimming – plus  getting adjusted to Nancy’s full time, out of the house, job.

For Alex and varsity football it has been a week of highs and lows. A week ago they soundly defeated Whitman, a game that was recorded by the local cable company for broadcast later in the week. It also earned the team the lead in the mid-week Gazzette newspaper complete with a nice photo of Alex . Maybe all of this attention went to the team’s head – or maybe they are really not very good yet – but yesterday they went out and really stunk against a strong Clarksburg team and lost really badly 49-7.

Peter’s JV team lost in a close game to Whitman and this morning travel to Clarksburg – maybe they can avenge the older team’s lose.

Our Potomac Thistle ( Jake playing and yours truly coaching) also lost – twice – last weekend. We are back in action late Sunday afternoon. So far we have never had more than 11 players at the field and end up running out of steam against teams that can use all of their 18 strong squad.

Nancy’s soccer also has not been to successful. She lost last Saturday and in the mid-week game. But at least no more injuries this year!

The dry spell of the last 10 days came to an end on Thursday and we have had showery weather ever since, especially last night when thunderstorms rolled through all night long ( or so it seemed).

In the garden I harvested the last of the pole beans as dried beans, setting them out to dry before storing them in a jar – not many, maybe enough for one dish of baked beans in mid-Winter.

At work it has been a time of getting used to some constrained financial budgets – but we are certainly not alone in that, and the impact on my immediate department has spared people, if not projects.

We watched the presidential debate last night – seemed pretty much a draw. That a black man would be standing on the stage of The University of MISSISSIPPI, arguing why  he should be President, is the single best thing about this election – no matter who wins.