Friday Night Lights

It's no secret that high school football is almost a religion in Texas. We love our Friday night lights in these parts. My boy played football for six years while he was in junior high and high school. He had a ball and so did my whole family.

It's funny, but when we were filling out his schedule of classes for 7th grade, he stated that he didn't want to play football. My beloved and I told him that he had to give it a try and if he didn't like it, he didn't have to play in 8th grade. But, he couldn't quit -- he had to complete his 7th grade season. We were just afraid that all of his friends would play and if he didn't, he would regret it. And, if he didn't start out with everyone else in 7th grade, that he would be a year behind.

My boy was apprehensive and skeptical about it, but a bunch of his friends were going to play and he agreed to give it a try. Well . . . let me tell you that after the very first day of practice, this boy was HOOKED! And, when he finally got to don pads and actually hit somebody . . . he was in 7th Heaven. He came home from practice every day saying things like, "Mama, you should have seen it, I blew so-and-so up today!" And, "I tore so-and-so up!" This from a kid that used to be afraid that he would hurt himself all of the time.

At first, my boy's size worked to his advantage. He was at least a head taller than most of the other boys and outweighed them by a good bit. But, by the time he was in high school, it was his skill and dedication that made him successful. He attended Speed Camps every summer (a camp that teaches conditioning and how to run well) and he worked hard in the weight room all year. He drank protein shakes and ate peanut butter sandwiches and anything that was loaded with protein. This boy was serious. And it paid off.

At the end of his sophomore season, he was brought up to Varsity for the playoffs. He never got to play on Varsity that year, but he practiced his behind off. Then his junior year he got to play at least a little in almost every game, earning his letter jacket. Then came his senior season. He ended up moving from right guard to center and was a starter for every game. To say he had a blast is an understatement.

The interesting thing is that the rest of my family also had a blast. We went to every game, home and away. Most games, my boy had his very own cheering section. Parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, great grandmother, cousins. You name it.

Also, my girl and I got involved with the Tiger Moms -- the other moms of Varsity football players. We met in the locker room every Thursday night before a game and decorated the locker room. Banners, streamers, posters, balloons, inspirational cards/notes and snack bags. We moms and sisters had an incredible time. What memories.

The games were so much fun, also. As a mom in the stands, my heart broke for my boy when they lost a game. But, my heart burst with love, pride and excitement when my boy had a triumph. A lot of people asked me if I worried about him getting hurt. Honestly, I really didn't worry about it until his senior season. He hurt his ankle in practice before the season started and for brief overnight period, we thought it was broken. We were in mourning that night. It just made me and my beloved sick to think that our boy had worked so hard from 7th grade on to make it to his senior season and now it looked as if he may not get to play. As it turned out, though, his ankle was not broken, only badly sprained. He wore very big braces on both ankles and managed to make it all season. However, I did hold my breath every time he ended up on the ground.

It's been three years since my boy last played and we still miss it. We still go to a couple of home games a season, but, alas, it's not the same. I know that my boy will remember those times very fondly for the rest of his life. And so will I.

Twilight Zone

I don't know what the deal is lately but my family and I have been having a run of bad luck or misfortune, whatever you might call it. Oddly enough, it seems to mostly center around vehicles. I have mentioned in a previous post how we feel about our cars. So, this current run of bad luck is really beginning to get us down.

It all started as far back as two years ago when my boy had a white 2000 Jeep. He bought it in June and over Labor Day weekend, my beloved repainted the Jeep. My beloved is a perfectionist, so believe me when I say that this paint job was done right. Long story short, my boy wrecked his newly painted toy (his fault) and it was totaled. Good news, of course, is that no one was hurt in the accident.

With the insurance settlement, my boy bought a black 2001 Jeep. This one had quite a few miles on it, but had all the extras that the previously mentioned Jeep did not. However, it was a problem from the very beginning. A rebuilt transmission, new clutch, rebuilt transfer case (4X4) stuff, etc. (almost sounds like I know what I'm talking about, huh?) later, this piece of $%&* cost us a fortune over the almost 2 years that he owned it. And, my boy is a poor college student, so guess who paid for it all. Consequently, we have been holding our breath and waiting for the next thing to go wrong. My boy decided that enough was enough and sold it earlier this summer.

In the meantime, we bought a 2001 Mustang for my girl. In early August, a moron, who was likely texting or talking on his cell phone, plowed into my girl and her little red car. Yes, folks . . . it was totaled. Again, the most important thing is that my girl was not hurt. However, she was hurt emotionally. This was her first car and man, did she LOVE it. Love I say. L.O.V.E. It broke her heart. She had visions of driving to school on the first day of Junior year in her new car. Poof! Up in smoke. The moron's sorry insurance company ripped us off and we were back to square one. No car and less money than we had only 5 weeks before when we bought the Mustang. Again, this was not my girl's fault, yet we got the raw end of the deal.

We went about the long process of looking for and finding just the right car. It was taking so long and the first day of school was looming. Silver lining here is that we found a beautiful smoke grey metallic 2004 Mustang on the Saturday before school started and my girl couldn't be happier. She is in L.O.V.E. again.

In the meantime, again, my boy bought a white 2003 Mustang with all kinds of after market toys on it. Things that make it very LOUD and give it more horsepower. An alarm, headers, and lots of other things I'm sure I don't know about. It also has a remote start feature. This is where the latest fiasco comes in. Last night, the car started all by its self. It was in 1st gear (manual trasmission) and had the emergency brake on. It drove up over our deck, where it became stuck. To say this is bizarre, is an understatement. What in the world?

I tend to really try to see the "silver lining" at all costs. So, I am thankful that this happened at our house, at the time that it did as there was no one outside. I'm also thankful that it got hung up on the deck, because if it had actually gotten over it, the car would have ended up in some trees and our basketball goal. And who knows if it would have stopped there. Thank God it didn't happen in the school parking lot. Or in the parking lot where my boy works. I'll say it again, thank you God.

After about 45 minutes of staring in disbelief and shock and cogitating on the best way to move the car, my beloved figured it out and the car was off of the deck and back in it's parking space. Since this happened after dark last night, we aren't sure of the full extent of the damage to the car or deck, but at first glace, it looks minimal. (Hopefully!) The only known casualty is the 40 year old metal glider/porch swing that was mangled in the melee. And, possibly the barbeque pit. We'll see . . .

See, Twilight Zone . . .

And, so it begins . . . again

Here we are. Again. At the beginning of another school year. Can you tell that I am not very excited? I feel quite a lot of apathy about starting another long year of deadlines, projects, tests, deadlines, schedules, meetings, homework, deadlines, etc. This is compounded by the fact that I work at a university and the first couple of weeks of the fall semester are CRAZY! As my 83 year old friend says, "I am catching 'em faster than I can string 'em. And, our town grows by 60,000 students every fall. In addition, Saturday football games bring in thousands more people. We "natives" feel a bit crowded this time of year. Traffic . . . that is a whole other story. Wrecks increase drastically around our town this time of year.

Truthfully, I am never really ready for school to begin. I have always been this way. From my childhood on through my children's school careers. Summer is just too much fun! Well, most summers are. This one was just wierd. My family wasn't able to enjoy any REAL vacation time. Sure, my beloved and I were off from work several times, however, were weren't able to enjoy any family time away "from it all". Between my dad's health scare in June, my boy taking two intense summer school courses (calculus and physics) and my girl's first job, there just was no time that all four of us could get together and do anything fun. Throw into the mix three intense car searches, selling a car, and a wreck. Everyone is fine, except my girl's red '01 Mustang (Not her fault, by the way). Not to worry though, it has been replaced by a 2004 dark shadow grey Mustang. It was just one crazy summer. One I hope not to repeat next year. Or the next year. Or ever, for that matter.

Of course, there are some good things about the beginning of the school year. Football, for one. Both high school and college. (I love high school football, but that is for another post.) Routine, is another good thing. Starting fresh. New school supplies . . . always liked that.

Okay . . . now I'm ready. Bring on the fall.