Tag Archives: soccer

sweet anderson I’m tired!

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Sweet Anderson! is my new favorite utterance. It’s actually the name of a race horse but we’ve decided it’s just awesome to say. And so we say it. Loudly. With exclamation points.

Try it. You’ll be hooked.

What a weekend, y’all. I actually have pictures from the Arkansas Literary Festival and from the epic soccer event but they are all on my camera. And my camera cord is…um…somewhere. I did get one pic with my phone from the festival:

LOOK! I’m on a poster! Okay, my book is on a poster, but whatever. How awesome is that?

I also got a couple of pics of the #2 child. I’ve always called Rader my “little brown baby” because he tans like I used to: Quickly and very dark. This is from two days in the sun with a shirt on:

Okay, at first I thought that ring-around-the-neckline was dirt and I tried to shout it out by yelling SWEET ANDERSON! at it. But then I realized it wasn’t dirt, it’s his tanline. Yes, he has soccer tan. I’ve told him next weekend he has to play shirtless so he can even out a bit. That’s a little freaky…

Hmmm, what else went on this weekend? I met some great new folks, had drinks with my besties, spoke at the festival about writerly stuff with my pal Stacey Jay and another author who I’d never met until that day–Deborah LeBlanc. Epic soccer (oh wait, I said that already) and bade my pally Mark Griffin a fond farewell as he prepares to leave for his tour in Afghanistan.

Sweet Anderson!! No wonder I just wanted to stay in bed this morning. (okay, I’m not really sure how that is different from any other morning, but work with me here.)

So tell me, Internet. What did you do this weekend? Regale me with your tales of awesome and yay!

weekend recap

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Nashville was fantastic! I haven’t downloaded my pics yet, but I will this week. It was so great to visit with Grant and his family and meet his girlfriend (who I liked tremendously). Despite my raging tiredness, I had a great time.

We had dinner at a steakhouse called The Stockyard. It was fantastic, but don’t go there unless you’re willing to spend a minimum of $50/person. Seriously.

Nashville is about a 4.5 hour drive from Little Rock (depending on traffic) but when you drive to and from in 24 hours, it can be a little grueling, so I spent Sunday trying to recover. I did that by hanging out with YA Author Stacey Jay and her little munchkins Sunday morning, then watching soccer in the rain Sunday afternoon. I know all my British friends think that’s how football soccer is supposed to be played, but trust me, I’m not that girl. Not as a spectator anyway. Now when I was actually playing sports, I loved playing in the rain. But it’s not fun as a fan.

Even though this wasn’t a holiday weekend, it felt like it. But today I’m well rested and ready to take on the world.

Anything good, bad, or ugly happen to you this weekend? Wanna share?

PS: GOSSIP GIRL RETURNS TONIGHT! YIPPEEE.
Mel+Chuck Bass=2gether 4ever

[insert clever title]

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Not feeling the title love this morning. Feel free to title this particular post whatever you wish. You can even leave your suggestion in the comments. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even listen.

Yesterday was a very long day for my #2 son, Rader. Camp in the morning, in 90 degree heat, 90% humidity and not a cloud in the sky. But he’s loving camp this year. He came home and rested, then had two 3v3 games last night. I thought he would do that instead of going to camp…but no, he wanted to do both. So he played his two 30 minute games, then asked to go back out to camp. What a trooper!

Fishdog says he looked like warmed over death this morning. I’m sure all this activity is wearing on him, but it’s good for him.

One of the coaches calls him “Oakland” now. That cracks me up because one of the questions we often got after Rader was born was “So, you must really be an Oakland fan?” Um. No. Spelled different, but thanks for asking.

The other question we often got: “You must’ve really liked M*A*S*H.”

SRSLY?

No. His name is not Radar. Besides, if I were gonna name a kid after a M*A*S*H character, it would’ve been Hawkeye. Sheesh.

I’ve been lax with my picture taking this round. I will recitfy that tonight. We took some pics at the cookout on Monday, and I’ll be sure to take some at tonight’s gathering. There’s a scrimmage between the Brits and the Americans on Friday…I’ll definitely get pictures that night!

I know y’all are getting tired of me keeping the lads to myself…which is no hardship let me tell ya.

the british invasion & the bachelorette

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It’s been fairly quiet, actually. Which is a good thing because this is a busy and slightly stressful week. We have three lads, Grant (the big Scot I’ve known for 2 years), Justin and Mark (who are both from Manchester. And believe it or not, they live just around the corner from each other but didn’t meet until they got to the states!)

Last night after camp, we went to a BBQ that one of the other host families put on. All 10 of the soccer coaches were there (btw, there is a LOT of eye candy going on around these parts). There was a keg and a ping pong table, so it didn’t take long for a Beer Pong tournament to commence. Grant lost in the final round. I believe he was gutted. I didn’t see it though. We left right before midnight. I have to get my beauty rest. Being this hot takes work.

I’ve met some great families and I hope I’ve made a couple of new friends. Ian has already told us he wants to switch to the Maumelle Soccer Club to play and after the warm reception we’ve gotten and seen how close the families are, I think I’m in favor of the switch. Actually, the club director has asked Fishdog to consider coaching Rader’s age group so they can have a team. (they have the players but not the coach) and I am nudging him to do so. We’ll see what happens.

Tonight we’re going to a pizza party at American Pie. The real party will be Friday night…

Pictures coming soon…

The Bachelorette

Well, I called it. I was teary when Graham left last night, even though I knew he was a marked man. I know DeAnna had very strong feelings for him–it was evident they way she lit up when he was around. But he couldn’t open up. It was bizarre to see him shut down every show. Sadly, I think they would’ve made a great couple, if they would’ve met and dated like real people. I am afraid the show set up freaked Graham out. And I am very disappointed in DeAnna for admitting that she was falling in love with him but had to let him go because she was afraid he would hurt her. Honey, there are no guarantees in love. She wasn’t willing to take a risk for him, and she may have even let the ‘real’ one go. Who knows? I know that watching him leave last night made my heart hurt.

I believe Jeremy is the next to go and the final two will be Jesse and Jason. And Jason will be her choice in the end…I just hope whoever she chooses it’s because she has real feelings for him, not because she knows that person won’t hurt her. Sigh.

the british are coming!

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Many of y’all will remember two years ago when we hosted our first set of soccer coaches. Grant and Simon swooped in and ate us out of house and home and stole our hearts in the process. We also ended up ‘adopting’ all the coaches by the end of the week. I’m still in touch with all the gang and a few more member of the self-proclaimed “Dream Team” that we met throughout the summer.

Last year, we had two other coaches. Del and Rob. Del and I exchange emails some. He’s in California and enjoying it tremendously.

Well, now that’s it’s summer and we’re no longer in Oxford, we’ve had to find a new soccer camp. As luck would have it, Maumelle hosts the Challenger Soccer camp every year, and apparently it’s one of the best ones around…So we signed the boys up. And we asked to host.

And guess who’s coming?

My wee lad Grant! I haven’t seen him in two years. We email quite a bit and he calls us every few weeks to check in, but we’re going to get to see him live and in person now! Yippee!!!

We spent the day yesterday with the Maumelle Soccer club doing a 3 v 3 tournament. What a warm and friendly group. Fishdog and I are going to let the boys try out for their classic soccer team. We really like the sense of community that club had. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. It was a nice change to the Little Rock club, which I think has just grown too big to be friendly.

Anyway, today we’re tidying the house and getting it ready to be destroyed by the coaches. We have Grant, and 2 other lads from Manchester. I’m stoked. Should be a great (and very tiring) week.

For more pics and “lad” related blogs”

Hey Audrey! We’re gonna miss you!!!

daily tweets for 6/20/08 and stuff

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All the guys in the family have soccer today–Fishdog included. I have my iPod, my chair, my ice chest and my book ready to go.

Y’all have a great day!

Yesterday’s Tweets:
Daily Tweets

07:20 Morning came way too early for me. where’s the coffee. #

07:22 @uniquelysteph Yeah. I know. But some Network shows aren’t boring. Even the dialogue had me yawning. #

07:26 Lit Agent Nathan Bransford at Fictionistas: tinyurl.com/5t4r92 #

10:03 need a good, in your face funny, book recommendation. Got one? Preferably one with an HEA… #

10:07 i have a headache. bleh. #

10:11 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRO! #

10:14 @DaynaHart I need a mega cup now. will have diet coke instead. sigh. #

11:22 oxford house is showing at 2 today. everyone send vibes they love it. Been on the market 11 months now. Aaaaaack! #

11:39 @Romantic_Heretc thank you! #

11:41 Lady wearing too much cheap perfume not helping headache! #

11:46 Why does cheap perfume linger so long? #

12:32 @stormerider I don’t understand it either. Of course, I really notice it the days I have headaches… LOL #

12:35 am checking into twitterfox when I get home #

12:37 @dooce I have to know what camera you have. You take the best pictures ever for your blog and I’m jealous. #

12:50 The count down to Mex-to-go has begun. #

15:25 have downloaded twitterfox. am now trying to figure it out. #

15:27 okay. this is nifty. I’m already digging twitterfox and I’ve only twitterfoxed once. #

15:27 @DaynaHart i’m thinking i’m liking this foxy bitch a lot. #

15:44 @markdavidgerson probably not much different. I just use firefox and twitterfox is an addon for firefox #

15:44 @markdavidgerson I just didn’t have any desktop twitter client and needed one #

16:34 @alisonkent you totally should. get a desktop client like twitterfox or twhirl. You’ll twitter more often #

16:42 @Angeleque isn’t she just the little twitterfox pusher? #

16:47 just got a call from the mechanic. Alas, the ‘easy’ fix was not actually a fix. #

16:47 I really, really, really don’t want to put too much money into a 10 year old 167K mile mini-van #

16:53 @barbaravey you’ve been very quiet today my friend. #

17:39 somebody please tell my hubby that jerry lewis is annoying and should NEVER be watched when I’m in the room. #

18:02 @Romantic_Heretc hang in there! It’ll all work out. You’ll see!! #

18:44 tomorrow will be an all day soccer affair. #

18:56 I am just a little bit frightened that I’ve allowed my son to set up a facebook page. the rule is, he has to be my friend… #

20:12 omg. we forgot we had a party to go to! crap. Not just any party…a Love Boat party. I’m Charo.

oh alice!

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That damn Alice never did come bail me out. I still blame Sam. Last I heard, he had whisked her off to Jamaica and they were have a good time at Hedonism. Well, despite the fact she abandoned me for Naked Twister, my kitchen is clean and I did manage to vacuum the front room and do some laundry. That’s about it.

We had a busy weekend. Ian had detention Saturday. (which was totally my fault. I kept a signed slip of paper an extra day. He got written up for it. Excessive much?) Anyway, after detention, Rader had basketball practice for 2 hours and Ian had a soccer game in a town 30 minutes away. Then we had a friend in town who stopped by for a visit.

Sunday we did it all again. Ian went to watch his girlfriend play soccer and we took Rader to his soccer game in Conway (where Ian’s game was Saturday). It was BLUSTERY! We had 76 degree (but windy) weather Saturday, and yesterday it was barely 50 degrees and so windy I thought we were gonna blow away! WTF? I want my spring weather back, dammit!

Last night, Fishdog and I watched No Reservations. Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick to death of these movies being advertised as something they are not. It’s not a romantic comedy. Not even close. It had its moments, but it was definitely not a “funny movie.” It was more boring than anything. And serious. I wasn’t happy.

We have August Rush and Mr. Woodcock left to watch. Hopefully they will be better.

Did y’all do anything fun this weekend? Is your house cleaner than mine? I hope so.

march two

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Another beautiful day here in Whoville. Love it.

We have more soccer today. Ian played a rockin’ game yesterday, he gave a valiant effort in the goal and he blocked a penalty kick like a pro. He was the youngest player on the field by two years, but he held his own nicely. Some of the players on the other team looked like full-grown men. It was a little strange watching these boys with mustaches running down my almost-14-year-old in the goal.

I am going to write this morning. Gotta get my proposal to my awesome CPs for them to shred. I love this new story and I think it’s gonna be a great one…but it needs some work.

It’s gonna be 80 degrees today. I’m shaving my legs and putting on some shorts.

I hope it’s pretty and warm wherever you are. If not, maybe it will be soon.

Peace.

march one

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I don’t know about you, but when I think of March 1st…I think of spring. I know that technically spring isn’t until the 21st, but I’m ready now.

And apparently so is Mother Nature, because the sun is shining, birds are chirping and it’s going to be 70 degrees today.

I love spring. And I’m in a new house so I get to discover the quirky things, like where the Daffodils are planted. (btw, a patch of Daffodils sprung up this week in my backyard which is very exciting!)

I’m ready to dig in the dirt and make my mark on the new place. I overdid it in Oxford, and created a flowerbed that was as big as Texas. I won’t be doing that here. Sure, my flowerbed was beautiful, but it was also a lot of work!

Soccer starts up today. We found a team for Ian, and his first game is this afternoon. He’s actually playing on a U-18 team, which I hope will help get his skill back up. He wants to play for Catholic next year, but to do that, he’ll have to really work hard. It’s very competitive and he hasn’t played on a team in a year. He also starts track next week. My time will no longer be my own for a while.

Happy Saturday!