Well, after taking a week off last weekend, we were set for another Saturday morning soccer game. And we were up against a team that I assumed would be better than us.  We only had 4 girls this time. So Addie sat out at first. But then she went it.

:TIMEOUT:
Addison really seems to enjoy soccer. But she’s always just seemed to like the running around and really looked forward to the snacks after then game more than the game itself. But after playing both Fall/Spring last year, she did make some improvements. But even the first game this year, she seemed not really into the game itself.  Girls would have the ball and she’d run along side them looking at it instead of kicking at it herself. She was content to just run and wear the uniform. On the way home from that game, she was even upset that the other girls were trying to take the ball away from instead of letting her score! But obviously something has happened to her.
:TIME IN:

When Addie finally went in, she was all over the place. She was running and taking the ball from people. She was leading “fast breaks” (what do you call them in soccer?), she was scoring. Yes, scoring! She would take the ball, turn her body around it and then reverse direction instead of making wide arcing turns. Something clicked to where it was all fitting together it seemed. And she was so proud!

She ended up scoring 6 or 7 times. Honestly, not sure where all that came from.

Here are some pics.

I brought the laptop home from the office to do a little work w/ the video files and noticed it said it could detect a wireless connection. I tried to connect, but didn’t work. Oh well. But just a few min ago I tried again and VWAHLAH! I’m connected. So I’m blogging from my couch while The Wife and I watch a movie that is struggling…The Lake House.   Not sure where the connection is coming from. But it’s sweet!

Not really. But it’s been a while since I’ve put my thoughts on here. But there’s been a lot in my head. Weird how sometimes it’s bouncing around in there during the day, but then harder to actually get down when in front of the keyboard. I think that means that consistency is the key to blogging. Not saying it has to be an every day or two times a day or whatever sort of thing. But when you have something to say, say it.

I’m hoping to find a wordpress theme I really like and stick w/ it for a while. I keep bouncing around w/ ones I think I need to keep. But none have really been “the one”. But I’m noticing WordPress is still gaining some converts. Seems that Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad are the kings of the hill. Not sure of the order though. They all work well though. Perry Noble wrote about why he blogs the other day. Pretty good read. Mark Batterson has made a Top Ten list of why he blogs as well.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer
Measured in minutes or hours, how much exercise have you had in the last week?
Oooh, sadly, probably about 1.5.

Soup
If you had to change your blog title to something else, what would it be?
“Monkey Cheese”

Salad
Name one television show you watched when you were 9-12 years old.
Knight Rider

Main Course
If someone gave you $50 to spend with the one condition that it had to be educational, what would you purchase?
Educational can be a broad stroke, but I’d probably get some books for my daughter as she’s jumping into home schooling.

Dessert
Do you tend to prefer dark colors, neutral shades, or lighter/pastel hues?
I like the contrast of some light colors with dark accents (or the inverse.)

It’s the Friday’s Feast!

Appetizer
What was the very last song you listened to?
I think it was “Welcome Home” by Jonezetta. A band that is about to release their first CD next month. Gonna be big. Really big.

Soup
What is one company/store/corporation you would recommend that people stay away from?
Hmmm, so I’m supposed to hate on someone here. How about the pornography industry. Pretty smutty and not anything good coming out of that.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy having your picture made?
Usually depends on the situation. Growing up w/ my mom trying to make me pose and everything, it was somewhere around a negative 17. But these days, it’s probably around 7.2 or so.

Main Course
Besides a bookmark, what is something you’ve used to keep your place in a book?
A highlighter, a dollar, or a gum wrapper. But I usually just let it close imagining that I’ll remember what page I was on.

Dessert
Name a food that you like that most people don’t.
MEATLOAF

I think bluetooth is a great innovation. But while it does create lots of opportunity for information transfer, it also creates some pretty dorky looking people.

Now I understand the usefulness of a bluetooth headset for your cellphone. When we chartered a bus to Colorado for a ski trip. The bus driver had one in his ear and he could answer his phone w/ a single button click and talk hands free w/ no worries at all. And some people might work at a desk or have some job that involves their hands enough that such a headset is useful. And MAYBE you could even walk around the mall w/ one IF you were talking on it (that’s a stiff maybe).

But what’s with the people just walking around w/ the thing in their ear w/o a current need for it. Are you expecting a very important call that necessitates the ear piece? Or the people who are sitting in a restaurant scarfing down a burrito supreme with the little thing sticking out of their head. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to look cool or inconspicuous or what.

I’ve learned to never say never. But if I do ever use one, it will be where I pull it out of my pocket to use it, not just stick it in my ear hoping for the random call so I can walk around and look like I’m talking to myself.

Tonight is when it seems the fall schedule of television shows kicks off for me. I have to say that one of my favorite (or maybe most watched) television shows is Survivor. I remember Brad Butler telling me about it and it’s premise. But I couldn’t watch the first few episodes because it came on Wednesday night while I had work conflicts and I didn’t have a VCR that could record off of my rabbit ears antennas.

But I caught up w/ Jeff Probst and his friends just after the merge and was hooked. I’ve been a fan since. I think the show is a pretty good study of social interactions and there are many different “strategies” players assume. Some work and work well in different ways. While some crash and burn pretty quickly.

But the season premiere tonight begins a much different. Before they’ve divided the survivors up in gender specific tribes or age specific groups. But this season, when the divide up in race specific groups, some people seem to have a problem with it. I think it’s pretty cool. But we’ll see how it all shakes out in the end. There will be four tribes w/ five people each: one tribe of Hispanic, one of Asian, one of Black, and one of White.

I think it will be good, yet again.

Well, five years ago on this day, it started sorta the same.

My wife was out at the gym or something and I woke up to check on some Fantasy Football results from the day before. Seeing if I’d won or lost or if it depended on Monday night football (lost more depend on MNF this year because there are TWO games tonight.) While looking around a buddy shows up on AIM and asks if I’d heard about the plane hitting the Trade Center in NYC. I’d not.

I figured it was one of those small Cessna planes where the pilot got disoriented or drunk or something. So I didn’t immediately think it was a major disaster. But then he told me it was a airliner w/ lots of people on board. So I try to look on CNN.com or USAToday.com and got some info but their servers were VERY slow. But yes indeed, a big passenger plane slammed into the World Trade Center and lots of people had died. No one was sure why it had happened. Pilot error? Hijacking?

I go get in the shower and listen to the radio and hear the rest of the story unravel. A second plane hits the other tower. Buildings begin to collapse. Many thousands expected dead at first estimates. Fire and Police details scrambling to get control of the situation. Other planes hitting the Pentagon or ground in Pennsylvania. It was just nuts. An act of terrorism.
I go to work and we just watch TV all day. You felt numb almost. Is it really happening. Of course, way down in Mississippi you feel distant enough you almost “safe” from any terrorist threat. But you just didn’t know (just like we still don’t.) People went crazy at the gas pump. Cars lined up everywhere trying to stockpile gasoline. All people did was watch the news for the next few days. Prez Bush was on tv a good bit. He was a hero for a few weeks there. My how times have changed.

How is my world different now because of 9-11? In small ways, I’m sure. But my average day to day goings on, nothing overtly obvious. Of course airline travel is different. But I’m sure there are subtle, or even secret ways, that my life (and everyone’s life in the USA) has changed. But what’s to come?