Church picnic

In an effort to be more social, we have been actively working at doing a bit more at the church we've been going to for the past six months or so. We like the pastors, I like the music, the people seem fine. It meets in a middle school auditorium, and that just makes it a lot more challenging to connect with people--especially unsociable people like us.

We went to the picnic, brought food, ate food, chatted with a few more people.  It was all good.

Always fun to read bumper stickers at places like this, especially when we see one we've not seen before.

Seems like a fair fit. 

Holly's visit home

Because of my training schedule at work, Robert made plans to pick Holly up from school.  She has one required class that was scheduled ONLY early on Friday afternoons--no long weekends for her!  She received permission to leave a little early.

Me doing the Happy Dance while they were on their way home.

We also had a soccer game that night.  We knew Robert would be late, so I agreed to be the stand in coach.  Hahahaha!  I really know NOTHING about soccer, so "coach" was in name only.  I was very proud of Trevor, who gave the team their assignments, reviewed everything during practice, and spoke to the ref to receive permission (as a player) to call for subs.  That's normally the coach's job, definitely outside of my realm. He watched from the sidelines during the game, planning strategy and shouting occasional instruction.  So grown up and mature!  Robert arrived at half time, and we went on to win the game, 1-0.

Holly and I ran off to find an internet connection for a paper that was due after the class from which she'd left early, but by 8pm.  (Yes, but whatever.) It was an otherwise relaxing night, and she got to watch Trevor's second game that evening.

She and I went shopping on Saturday.  She'd been at school for more than three weeks and had a good idea of things she wanted for her room. She also wanted to stock up on food to keep in her dorm.  She's been doing very well managing her meal plan (which, for Holly, means managing to use up most of the meals), but it's still nice to have food handy and close by.

The eggs and Good & Plentys are mine.

With the exception of a few things that needed refrigeration, we kept everything in the back of my car.  You should have heard Robert the next morning. He wondered why we weren't packing things in my trunk--until he saw what was in there. Hahahahahahaha!!

She and I headed back up on Sunday.  We stopped for lunch at Q-Doba in Harrisonburg.  It's harder to interest her in eating out since she's been eating at school. Q-Doba is fresh though, and she likes to take the leftovers for a snack.

When we got to school, it took us about five trips to empty the car.  We put together a shoe rack that she will use for storage, and I left shortly after 5:00 for my three-plus hour drive home.

It was great to have her back home.  We'd planned it since before she left. While she was fine coming home, she wasn't super-excited-can't-wait about it, which was good.  She's happy where she is.  But she was happy to be here, happy to see her beloved little cat, and Pumpkin was really pleased about it too.

SOCCER!

And right in the middle of everything else, soccer season began six weeks ago!  It started out being a very strange year.  Robert continues to coach. Holly and three other players graduated.  Several players changed teams.  We have fewer 13+ players in the league in general, and instead of the usual eight teams, we have just five for now.  There are a couple of factors which came into play (no pun intended!).  For the past few years, the 9-12 teams have been sparse; so fewer kids are moving into the 13+ teams.  After breaking for a few seasons, the competitive boys' soccer team is playing again, so some of the players are there for the fall season.  Lastly, I believe many are fed up with the league and have just left.  I certainly have my moments when I wish we were doing the same.

So we have a mostly new team, with just three returning players from last season.  A few others have played on our team in the past.  We figured it'd be a year to rebuild and gel, working together to play stronger in the next couple of years. 

Surprisingly, this team has come together very quickly.  Trevor thinks it's the best team we've had yet, quite something since this is also the youngest our team's been in awhile.  The players have synched well, and everyone's enjoying themselves.
 

No, Trevor's not the goalie; this is just practice

What I need to do is bring my real camera.  My phone photos just don't compare.

Goodbye!

The week after Holly left was my last week of work at the library.

 It was quite lovely. Rachel baked a cake. They gave me a card full of wonderfully sweet sentiments, along with a nice gift card from Kroger.

Truth #1: I didn't cry at all. Truth #2: I was glad that I didn't.

Gone shootin'

The day after my birthday, I took a handgun safety course **FREE!!** through a local company.  It was a ladies-only class, about a dozen of us, who met up in New Castle.

The first half was classroom instruction, and then we headed out to a public shooting range.

It was okay.  I didn't really care for it.  It was too loud, too big, and no one understands when I tell them it didn't have anything to do with ear protection.

I was hoping I'd like it better, but I didn't.  Regardless, I'm considering getting my concealed carry permit, just because I can--to be counted, to take advantage of my rights, with all of the crazy anti-gun talk over the past few years. But then I think I have better ways to spend $40 . . .

Trevor's (belated!) birthday

Subtitle: The Tale of Two Cakes

I am sure I had more pictures of Trevor's birthday, but I'm not finding them.  He celebrated turning 15 over a several day time period. It was smack in the middle of The Craziest Week of the Year, with me resigning from the library and Holly's GMU move in.

We celebrated as a family two days early. Per Trevor's request, I attempted a lemon cake.  I've been making the kids' birthday cakes for nine years or so, and this was the first one that was really a fail (first one since Holly's first birthday, which caused me to purchase cakes for the first nine years).  But Trevor has such a sweet and tender heart; he was appreciative and happy.  He opened his gifts, and we ate dinner at home.

On Friday, his real birthday, Kurt came over.  Despite many options, Trevor's only wish was to go to Game Stop, where he and Kurt both bought "stuff."  Trevor used some of his birthday money, and Kurt bought himself a 3DS. Trevor later joked that even Kurt got cool things for Trevor's birthday! We grabbed Vietnamese subs, came back home, and the boys spent the evening playing games.

The following week, I tried to redeem the failed birthday cake, this time baking some kind of chocolate and flan cake. While I didn't like it, Robert liked the flan part, and Trevor liked the chocolate, so it worked. 

It was a fun but low key birthday, and I'm thankful that my kid is so flexible.  Fifteen years. My mama's heart is full.

Hmm

Here's an unflattering picture of me and Robert from our Carolina Beach trip in the middle of summer.

I don't know why I'm posting it though.  (Seeing this again, and DANG, my skin looks good! I don't think I've ever said that before!)

Waiting it out

I found this while going through some of my photos from this past RAINY summer. Holly and I ran into the grocery store only to find this when we were leaving.  This was not the first time I had to wait out the pouring rain after shopping this summer!  Holly and I waited under the eaves in front of the store.

Notice there's an open bag of Cheetos in my cart. We didn't want to starve, you know.

And Trevor's shoot

A week or so later, I was able to more easily convince Trevor to do the same thing.

It made for an easy birthday gift for Robert (or was it Father's Day?).

My handsome and sweet Trevie, quickly becoming a man. How much I love you!

Time just stop, please.

Senior pictures

Holly and I agreed to do a photo shoot for her senior pictures earlier this summer.

I say "agreed," because she turned me down more than once (okay, more than twice).

I was disappointed but understood. 

Really, who likes being the center of attention and having their picture taken a hundred times?

A few weeks later, she changed her mind.

Looking at these several months later, as I post these pictures, I cry.  My gorgeous, sweet girl.

Pretty much all grown up.

 Where did that time go?

My Billie, I love you and miss you so much.
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