We went to two soccer games on Saturday, during one of which the
youngest Secret kicked a powerful goal, I let out some kind of
involuntary wild-Indian yell, and received dirty looks from the
parents of the goalie.
Following the older Secret’s game everyone was invited to “follow
the trail through the woods” (WTF??) and have lunch at the house of
one his teammates.Man, I
can’t tell you how much I wanted to skip that particular social
obligation, but Toney insisted we go.It
will look bad if we don’t, she said.
So we walked through the woods, and immediately I thought I could feel
a tick preparing to get down to some crack-snackin’.Apparently it was just my imagination though, because I did a
quick sweep and it was all-clear.
When we came out of the trees we were in these peoples’ back yard,
and they had quite a spread waiting for us.Various chips and dips, and hotdogs, and a big cooler full of
sodas…They’d invested some
money in that deal, and I wondered what drives a person to do such a
thing.It would never cross my
mind, in 10,000 years.
We each had a hotdog and some chips, the kids played in the backyard
and kicked up one hell of a racket, and the adults made awkward
small-talk on the patio.It was
one of those events where I was known as (The oldest Secret’s) dad;
I had no actual name, only a function.
There was a little snorting, raspy-voiced dog waddling around, and the
wife asked the husband, “Should we give the pug a hotdog?”And the husband said, “Don’t worry honey, I’ll take care
of the pug.The pug will get
his hotdog.”
Who refers to a dog by its breed?And
over and over again?The crap??
We didn’t stick around long; within a half-hour we were thanking the
hosts for having us, and disappearing back into the brush.
Then we went to a high school football game.Oh, that’s a big deal around these parts, and they draw huge
crowds at the “stadium.”We’d
made a vow to take in a few games this year, and Toney reminded me of
it while we were driving home.
Hey, why not?Sounded
interesting to me, I’m always up for a new experience.You know, as long as I don’t have to talk to anyone...
The stadium isn’t exactly close to our house, but parking is insane
over there.So we hoofed it.And by the time we arrived, they weren’t even charging
admission fees anymore; it was almost half-time.
It was absolute pandemonium inside, the stands completely packed-out,
and hundreds and hundreds of people just milling around.I noticed that folks were actually sitting outside the fence,
in lawn chairs.What the hell,
man?!No way we’d be finding
seats in this crush of pasty whiteness.
But, to my complete surprise, there was a length of bleacher vacant on
the front row, near the middle of the field.Incredible.The kids
couldn’t see very well, because there was a handrail at eye-level
and people kept walking past in a non-stop parade.But we were sitting down, and I viewed that as a miracle.
The cheerleaders were performing right in front of us, and most of
them had fake tans and teeth so impossibly white they looked like they
were purchased from a dump bin at Party City.Hideous.Perhaps my memory is clouded, but I think girls looked a little
more human when I was in school.
At one point they were all huddled together and spelling the team name
with their pom-poms, when somebody in the stands hurled a foam
football and hit one of the cheerleaders full in the face.Heh.It’s good to know
a proud tradition is being maintained, even after all these years…
Following the game, we walked home and the Secrets free-fell into
couches and turned on Nickelodeon.I
asked Toney if she wanted to go get a beer somewhere (I hate just
hanging around the house during daylight hours, staring at the
flicker-box), and she said that sounded like a fine idea.
So we went to Jim Dandy’s, and each enjoyed two pints of Samuel
Adams Octoberfest.Yum.
After dinner we watched a couple of episodes of Seinfeld with the Secrets (suddenly they’re in love with the
show), then they went to bed, and Toney promptly fell asleep as well.After she officially hit the sack, I watched Zodiac
on DVD (a really good flick), and called it a day.
On Sunday morning Toney talked to her sister, and found out they have a
whole shitload of mice in their new Canadian home.Nossy wants to nuke the little bastards, but Nancy won’t hear of it.She wants
to “capture” them, then “free them in the forest.”Heh.
We went to Sam’s in the early afternoon, and I ran into some guy I
used to work with, over near the Big Ass Televisions.He lost his job on the same day I did, and he’s not working
yet either.That kind of thing
makes me feel good on one level, and nervous on another.
Know what I mean?
Toney’s starting computer classes this week, and wanted to make
sure she knew exactly where she was supposed to go.And I have an interview on Tuesday, and wanted to do some
similar advance-scouting work as well.The
kids groaned loudly at this news, so we took them home.They’re old enough to hang out by themselves at this point,
and it makes it easier on everyone.
Toney found her place, and I found mine (through the red HR door, on
the east end of the building), then Toney wanted to go to Yankee
Candle.So we walked around for
a while sticking our noses into glass jars and hollering in protest,
then went home.
I watched the final few innings of the Braves game, and finished
processing the rest of the Surf Report t-shirt orders.Every pending order shipped no later than today, so if I owe
you a shirt, look for it to arrive this week.Except for the one that went to France… that one might take a
while longer.
Also, I have five 2Xs, and two Smalls left.If you want one of ‘em, you’d better get your order in
today; they’re going fast, my friends.
But back to the Braves…Did
you know TBS isn’t going to show their games anymore??I didn’t, and it’s quite a kick to the onions.Here’s an article about it.Man,
that eats it from the ass-in. I rarely watched them, but I want to
always know they’re there.Ya
know?
After dinner and another Seinfeld
(the one where Kramer is an underwear model), Toney and I watched an
episode of Alias.
Then I promptly removed the remaining Alias
discs from my Netflix queue; I don’t much care for all the kicking.Call me crazy, but I just never got into the kicking genre.A chick in a spandex bodysuit running up a wall and screaming
like she’s passing a stone is not really my idea of a good time.
Then I had a cuppa two tree golden elixirs, listened to two Jean
Shepherd radio broadcasts from 1965, and you’re completely up to date on
my weekend.
What did you do?Tell us about
it, won’t you?
And just so you know… I might not be able to update tomorrow.I have an especially important job interview in the morning,
and have a feeling I’m going to be emotionally spent afterwards.So this might be it until Wednesday.
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