Hmm, that wasn't so bad.

Although, the old 'gang aft aglay' factor did manage to make for some uncomfortable moments Friday evening. But further explanation will have to wait until the close of our stupid staff meeting, and the completion of the 72,000 word recap. Check back in a bit, and until then, be sure to check out everyone in the bloglist above. They are much more interesting, anyway. (Although they do have a decided lack of marsupial content.)

NOW then, glad that's over with. Where was I? Oh yeah, the long, boring excursus of my weekend. As you remember from last week's cliff-hanger finale, the Oglesbys were on the march...

Got in the van and headed off for where all the nice folks live and managed to get to the soccer park in "only" 45 minutes. Whew! 5:45 -- 15 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, no wife and kids. Actually, no one at all except for a team practicing. Hmm. Wait. Wait. Listen to radio. Wait. Hey, you know what? It's 6! Wonder if they called it off, wonder if it really is at Trussville! Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Listen to radio and finally someone else on the team shows up and I quickly verify that we are supposed to be here, and that the game doesn't start at 6, but at 6:30. Which is kinda comforting, yet still no family. This can't be good. Wait. Wait. Go to restroom. Wait. Wait. More of the team shows up, and as I stand there, the other team's coach comes by telling one of the parents that the game's not at 6:30, but at 7. Which is not comforting, but mildly frustrating, made even worse by the fact that if Reba and I left at the same time, she should already be here by now. Which prompts the recitation of the Long Mental Laundry List of Possible Dire Circumstances Which May Have Befallen Loved Ones. I had just gotten to Sudden Asteroid Strike Combined With Back Seat Illness when I finally see the car pull up with the missing family--including a wife behind the wheel wearing a kabuki mask of incredible angry mad mean nastiness. But since I'm real stupid, I had to ask. "I was getting worried--did something happen?" Did I mention how stupid I am?

After a few moments spent trying to retrieve my head from where it rolled up under the car, I was able to piece together the story that there had been an incredible three mile long backup and she had been sitting on the interstate for over an hour, trapped in a '94 Oldsmobile 88 with all four of our sweet, kind, never ever argue with each other children. Who were hungry. And tired. And bored. And in the car with her.

She was in a better mood this morning.

As for the game, it was cold, and windy, and damp. Which is the best thing for you when your chest and head are filled to capacity with diseased goo. Just forget about that silly Vicks Vap-O-Rub, just stand outside in God's moist chilly atmosphere and breathe deeply. What makes it better is to try and yell. The girls played each other to a 0-0 tie--the other team's defense wasn't that great, but our goal kicking ability is downright poor. Oh well. They had fun. And I got to stop by and see my mom--she lives not far from the park. She was asleep, but I didn't know--I mean it was only 8:30--so I stood there and laid on the doorbell for five minutes until I was finally able to wake her up and get her down the stairs. Sheesh! So inconsiderate! Anyway, despite being rolled out of bed by her lummox son, she let us in and we dropped off some photographs and called home to let Reba know we were on the way. (And yes, I did apologize for waking my mom up.)

Saturday was soccer again for the three younger ones--I took Boy early out to Moody, while Reba had the girls with her. They first had to go drop off Oldest Girl at her Granny's house to help with a bridal tea, then were headed for the Trussville park for Tiny Terror's game. What they didn't know is that five minutes after they left, Catherine's coach called to say that her car wouldn't start and she needed Reba to coach. Reba has never coached before. I quickly phoned her mom's house and left the message and then headed out the door. Boy's game turned out great, with a final of something like 9-0. This is the same team they played earlier which is about half girls--who weren't really handicapped by playing against boys, but by poor coaching. They would all bunch up and we would blow right past them. One of the little girls is in Jonathan's Sunday School class at church, and he sort of likes her, but I think he got mad at her the last game when she pushed him down. No such dramatics this time, but he still didn't want to say hey to her. Of course, he could just be shy.

As for Cat's game, come to find out not only did the coach and her two kids not show up, two other girls were sick, so we only had two players. Luckily, the other coach agreed to loan us some of his eight kids, so the game went on. Best of all was that Reba had an absolute blast. It was interesting that everyone--the other team's coach, their parents, and the one other parent on our team--told her that they were glad she was coaching. If you've been keeping up with this silliness, you know from past postings that there have been some "issues" with the coach. I mean, who doesn't like a little pyromania, but after a while, it is possible to burn a few too many bridges. Too much being late, too little communication, too little coaching, too much praise for your own kids, too lax about telling your kids to quit running around and kicking other kids and their parents in the shins, too snotty toward other coaches, too little concern spells trouble. It also may have created a monster--I think Reba may have caught the coaching bug. I am searching for a big enough can of Raid even as I type this.

Bec's Saturday game that afternoon didn't turn out well--they lost 4-0, and were again hampered by their slow offense. Sometimes they're on, sometimes not. Oh well.

I did manage to catch the first half of the Auburn-Ole Miss game--sure sounded like a good one, though. The game stats were nearly even except for those crucial Old Miss turnovers and the lack of them on our side. If we would have had the same three, I can almost guarantee we would have left The Grove in disgrace.

The rest of the day was laundry and cleaning and scrubbing kids, except for my silly thought--"you think your mom and dad would watch the rest of the kids and let us go on a date?"

YES!!!! They did, and we got to go out for a bit. Got some cheese-steaks from Philly Connection and then went to see the movie everyone else has already seen: My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

MOVIE REVIEW TIME: What a nice movie. It's a girly movie, so the only thing I can tell you is that Nia Vardalos sure does fix up pretty, and that guy from Northern Exposure is in it, too (not the doctor guy but the other guy). The only bad thing is the insistence of using sigmas for the letter "e" in in all of the credits and titles. I really hated that. Oh, and anything that has Andrea Martin in it automatically gets an "A+." Perini Scleroso ROCKS!

Sunday, Friends and Family Day, lots of people, lots of food, we spend 30 minutes in line, have to eat in kindergarten classroom sitting on tiny little kindergarten chairs. Whee. Go home, take Boy to get his hair cut and decide to get one myself. Something bad is happening at Head Start--it used to be a cinch to walk in and it look like they hired stylists from a supermodel convention, but the quality is markedly declining--although I shouldn't complain, because I didn't have to have Pernell cut my hair. But still, something's just bad wrong. If I wanted to be surrounded by lumpy plain people, I'd go to the barbershop and read the December 1989 issue of "Field and Stream," talk about the road widening project, listen to the Stark Raving Lunatic Hour on talk radio, then get my hairs all whacked up. I really need to do a better job of scouting out the store before going inside--the other Head Start back down the street has big windows where you can see in and shop before you go in.

Church again, then home for supper, then to bed, then to here. Then to blog. So there! Yes, I realize I'm shy by about 70,000 words, but I'm sure you won't complain.
posted by Terry at 8:04:00 AM