A Little Boy's David Beckham Dreams

Jamie has been prattling on about how he wishes he could meet David Beckham at the game on Oct. 18, or see some of the Houston Dynamo players whose autographs he'd gotten before. I had to explain to him that the tickets we got are not VIP tickets like we had for the tournament here in San Antonio. Oh no, I couldn't afford those (besides, they were all sold out; I looked). Nope, we have nosebleed section tickets, way up high in Section 201. I explained that most of the up-close action we'd see would be on the view monitor (if they have one). He was a bit disappointed, but - in true "Jamie-style" - was just grateful to be going to the game. I have such a wonderful son!

We had a scare last night at Jamie's soccer practice. Even though Jamie has played keeper for more than SIX seasons, they keep putting him in as striker. For those of you not familiar with soccer positions, the keeper (or goalie, or goalkeeper) keeps the ball from going in the net. The striker (or forward) is the one who tries to put the ball in the opposing team's net. The striker does a LOT of running (at least, he does in the U11 age group, when they're still learning about passing and team work). Now, one would think that coaches and trainers, upon being informed a child has asthma, would choose a position OTHER than the one that involves the most running; a position that actually involves short bursts of activity, rather than one long, sustained effort; a position that the player has more than THREE YEARS of experience in playing. Nope. Striker it is. And last night, Jamie had his first asthma attack on the field. His team was playing a scrimmage against another team from the same league. Jamie had the ball and was heading downfield to the opposing team's net when he suddenly doubled over, started coughing and gasping, and couldn't breathe. He was able to get off the field and over to his bag to take his inhaler, but even after he was able to fully breathe again, he said his lungs hurt. He said it felt like someone had kicked him in the lungs and left him all bruised inside.


I really worry about him. He loves soccer, but with episodes like this, and Texas' wonderful trend towards Air Quality Alert Days when Jamie can't even go outside (which means no games, no practices), I have to wonder if his soccer days are limited. Which is such a shame because he's so darn GOOD. I think if his downward trend continues, I'll take him back to his allergy/asthma doctor and have them give me their medical opinion about him continuing to play soccer. Then, based on the doc's recommendations, I'll talk to his coach and trainer about whether or not it is wise for Jamie to keep playing striker.

It's Beckham, Baby!

I didn't really have the money to do it, but I did it anyway. My birthday is in about 3 weeks. My dad made me promise I would buy myself something completely impractical that I really really want for my birthday (he deducted a hefty amount from the big chunk of cash I owe him). Today, I was checking my e-mail and saw that the Houston Dynamo MLS (Major League Soccer) team has a home game on Oct. 18. That's the Saturday before my birthday. Then I noticed they're playing the L.A. Galaxy, the team that Mr. Hunky-and-Oh-So-Adorable-and-a-Really-Good-Soccer-Player-to-Boot David Beckham is on. So I decided my birthday present to myself is taking Jamie to see an MLS soccer game in a big huge stadium. Jamie has been bugging me to take him to see the Houston Dynamo ever since they played in an exhibition tournament here in San Antonio, and he managed to meet several of the players and get their autographs. Just about every week, he'd ask if we'd be able to drive to Houston for a game. I had to keep telling him no.

So today, when I picked him up from school, I casually mentioned that I had a secret.... and said nothing else. The. Whole. Way. Home. By this time, Jamie was squirming in his seat, just dying to know what I knew that he didn't know. Then I just casually mentioned he was taking me to see the Houston Dynamo for my birthday.... He whooped and jumped up and down. Then I mentioned who they were playing and who is on that team. The child SCREAMED like someone had just killed him.

I think Mommy earned some major cool points today. What do you think?

They Won! They Won!

What an exciting soccer game today! Jamie's team played another team that is part of the same organization Jamie plays for. I think playing against a team they train with really fired the boys up! There were many tense, exciting moments, as the teams were pretty evenly matched, so they had to fight for every goal scored. Jamie's team won 3-2, but it was really close! Jamie played striker and goalkeeper (of course). He didn't make any goals as a striker, but he sure did block some amazing goals as keeper! I could really tell his goalkeeper training sessions on Fridays are starting to kick in. He was doing collapse dives, knee dives, chest catches and all kinds of stuff I don't even know the names of. He blocked at least 10 goals! He was amazing! Unfortunately, I was so keyed up and excited at the game that I forgot to take pictures of some of his most amazing saves. I promise to do better next weekend, though!

Anyway, here's a look at what pics I was able to take today...


This is the picture I took and will submit for Jamie's soccer club badge.



This is Jamie just after he nailed a ball on his goal-kick. (I was standing pretty far away when I took this one, so it's kind of grainy.)



Here he is waiting for the ball to come back to his side of the field. I personally think he thinks he's "so tough" when he's got those goalkeeper gloves on! (Again, I was pretty far away, so it's a bit grainy.)

Random funny quote of the weekend:
On Friday, Jamie had goalkeeper practice. Everyone was being very sluggish and not wanting to do the exercises the trainer was showing them. When no one was able to complete the exercise (throw the ball straight up in the air, collapse to your knees, pop back up again in time to catch the ball), the trainer, Joe, yelled out - "Ah, I see you all have the reflexes of cats.... Dead ones!" Now, before you think he's being mean, I should say that it was not said in at all a derogatory manner, but jokingly. All the kids laughed. He doesn't insult the kids, ever. This is the same coach who, when the kids are being particularly slow to do what they're told or totally ignore instructions, the worst thing he ever says is "You all are being a bunch of lemons!" Anyway, I thought it was funny, and so did the kids.

Soccer Game Recap

Well, unfortunately, Jamie's team got beaten very badly today. However, it should serve as a learning experience for the boys. Fortunately, I WAS able to get some video, which I will post when I have time. What I CAN post now is this snazzy pic I took of him in his uniform after the game!

Friday Eye Candy!

This picture was taken on Tuesday at soccer practice. His first game is this Saturday, and I think he'll be playing goalkeeper. He had two spectacular saves in a scrimmage yesterday. I'll have video highlights of the game (hopefully) to post on here next week.

And on another note, Rachel and I are going to go Karaoke tonight! Jamie's spending the night at Remo's house. Woo hoo!! Mom gets a night out! The last time I went out was 5 months ago!

The Ankle that Will Not Heal

UPDATE (6:55 PM): Jamie has been referred to an orthopaedist and ordered to wrap his ankle for additional support. His is not to play in the tournament next month. He is not to engage in physical activity involving running, standing for long periods, excessive movement, etc. until he sees the orthopaedist. He could very well be laid up for the most of the rest of the summer if he wants his ankle to heal enough for him to play soccer in the fall. I'll be calling the orthopaedist tomorrow for an appointment. Once we visit him/her, I'll post an update on his condition. Jamie is very upset about the tournament and the prospect of a whole summer without riding his bike or skateboard and no active play. He's very bummed, but understands the necessity of it. I'll keep you all posted. Thank you all for your concern on Jamie's behalf.


Jamie's ankle, despite him (mostly) staying off of it as he was told by the doctor, refuses to stop swelling and continues to be very painful. This worries me greatly. The doctor originally said it should be fine in a week he can go back to his active self. Well, he can't go back to his active self if he can't move it in certain directions without crying. So, I called the doctor's office this morning to see what they had to say about it. As soon as they heard it was still swelling and very painful, they told me to bring him in. They wanted me to bring him in first thing, but I couldn't because no one else would be at work to open up shop at 8:30. So, I made an appointment for this afternoon. I will be leaving shortly to go pick him up and take him to the doctor. Probably we'll have to go another round of x-rays. I don't care, I just want them to figure out what's going on and fix it. I'll keep y'all updated.

Crazy Week...and it's Only Tuesday!

Whew! This week has already been insane. First, I didn't get to indulge in my normal phone conversation Sunday night (which I always look forward to) because I had tons of homework to do and Rachel's wisdom teeth were coming in and causing her major pain, to the point I almost had to run her to the hospital.

Yesterday, I got a phone call that Jamie had hurt himself at daycare and may need to go to the doctor. So, I go pick him up and his ankle is the size of a tennis ball and his knee was starting to look like a cantaloupe. So, I call the doctor's office and they can't see him until 2:45, so Jamie got to go back to work with me (with an icepack and lots of movies to watch on my laptop computer) until it was time for the appointment. We get there, and since Jamie is so active in sports, the doctor wanted to be sure nothing was seriously injured. Jamie and I head off to the ER for x-rays, and wait around there forever. Oh, did I mention Jamie can barely hobble at this point so I'm carrying him everywhere?

Jamie gets x-rayed, and luckily nothing is broken. He's sprained his ankle and wrenched his knee, so he's in pain, but thankfully nothing is broken. But he can't go to daycare today (Tuesday) because everyone is going on a field trip to ride horses and hike. Doctor has left strict orders that Jamie is to stay off his ankle and knee for a solid week. So, Jamie comes back to work with me today to sit in an unused office with his leg propped up, a large stack of movies to watch, pages to color and paper airplanes to fly. Also, Jamie's kind of upset about all this because he was looking forward to the field trip and was supposed to go to soccer camp next week, but the doctor says no physical activity for a while, ergo no soccer camp.

Luckily, Jamie can go to day care for the rest of the week, he just isn't allowed to run around with the other kids. He'll be stuck on the sidelines while everyone else gets to play.

3-3-1

That's Jamie's soccer team's record right now - three wins, three losses, one tie. His last game is this Saturday, an event he is looking forward to yet dreading at the same time. He's excited because it's a game to play; he's dreading it because it's the last of the season. I'm going to try to scrounge up the funds for him to attend three soccer camps this summer - one basic skills camp, one advanced skills and ballhandling camp, and one goalkeeper's camp. He's really excited at the prospect of attending these three camps. The kid eats, breathes and lives soccer. He's a phenomenal goalie - but his stamina when he's out actually running around on the field needs work. Hopefully, the camps will help in myriad ways.

In my school news, I took a final last night for sociology and got an A. That means my final grade for the semester in this class is also an A. I'm fairly certain I have an A in my criminal law class, as well. So far, I have an A in Earth Science, but I won't know my final grade until I take the final exam next week. I have a D in math right now (ugh!), only because my teacher dropped my abysmally low exam 2 grade (25/100!). I have to bust my butt trying to get at least an 80 on the final exam (please, Lord, help me figure this math out!) in order to get a final grade of C. If I do manage to squeak out a C, I'll be allowed to take the math class I need for my major. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate math?

As for Jamie's school, he's only got about 3 weeks left. Right now, he has A's and B's in everything except social studies. He has a D in that one. I told him I except (read: demand) that it be much higher when report cards come out! Other than that, things are going really well for him. He's not getting in trouble very often, is polite and attentive in class, and is slowly starting to learn to control his emotions when he gets upset with his peers at school. I'm very proud of my boy!

Now that the end of my collegiate career is within sight, I'm wondering how I can put a BGS degree to good use. I know I want to go to grad school, but when? Where? Where do I want to go from here? Where am I wanted/needed? Where does God want me to go and what does He want me to do? Where is best for Jamie to be? These are questions for which I do not have the answers.

At work, things are going okay. This is the last week for R.T. to be here, supposedly. I got tickled yesterday because we had a "going away" luncheon for him. He had the nerve to send out an email request to everyone telling us what he wanted as a going away present! Can you image the gall? Then at lunch, he said he almost bought us all presents to show how much he appreciated us, then decided he wasn't going to. My main boss piped up and said "That's okay, the fact that you're leaving is present enough!" I about choked on my lunch I was laughing so hard!

Guess I better get back to work now. I'm going to try to leave the office early today so I can go on an office supply run. It's been so long since I've had time to go that we're dreadfully low on many things!

Dragons - 3; Black Vipers - 1

Fair warning to all who tread here: Lots and lots of bragging about my kid about to commence!

Jamie's team won its soccer game today! Woo hooo! Jamie played goalie the whole game, and only let one slip by him. He rocked! Also, we had some major hustling going on with the strikers. It was kind of funny, though, because the game was at 8 a.m., and it was soooo obvious at the beginning of the game that many of the players from both teams just were not awake yet. However, they finally woke up and it was an exciting game. This is the first year we've had a team that won more than one game in a season. Yes, I know winning isn't that important. However, the kids get discouraged when they lose or tie every single game over and over again all year. So, I'm really happy for them. They have another game tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully they'll do well again. I just hope they don't get too cocky.

Another exciting piece of news. Last week's game, Jamie blocked, to quote his coach "a gazillion goals". So, at last night's practice she announced that Jamie had won player of the game for last week's game. He got a cool medal and everything. He's really stoked about it!

Okay, enough about winning games and blocking goals. You want to know my proudest moment today? Just before the ref blew the whistle for the half, one boy from the other team had tripped and fallen as he tried to make the goal against Jamie. Jamie blocked the goal, then the ref blew the whistle. Everybody started to leave the field, except the one boy that missed from the other team stayed laying on the grass. He may have been crying, I couldn't tell. Jamie stopped, turned around and noticed that the boy was still laying in the grass. When all the other players from both teams just walked around (and in some cases just stepped over) the other player, Jamie went back to him, knelt down, helped the other player up then shook his hand. It was only after Jamie made sure the other player was okay that Jamie joined his team to get his half-time snack. That was one of the proudest moments I've had of my boy.

Updates

Most importantly, Jamie is feeling better and finally back at school today. He still has a cough and a sore throat (the latter is probably caused by the former), but no more fever and headache. He's pumped up because he has soccer team pictures this afternoon, which necessitated his wearing his soccer jersey to school today. He was very eager to get to show it off to his gym teacher, especially.

On the job front, we aren't going to be losing any of R.T.'s clients. Seems he's completely changing career paths to environmental engineering and moving to Oregon! The bad part about that is that will leave my boss with even more stress and clients on his plate. So now we're going to start conducting a search for a new metallurgist, as well as an experienced technician. So, if anybody knows of a metallurgical or materials engineer who'd want to move to San Antonio, tell them to drop me a line here on my blog. I'm sure my boss will appreciate it!

Long Work Hours, Soccer Game, Time Warp Trio, Tooth Fairy

I'm not a happy camper, folks. The past four work days I've come in to work anywhere between 7:15 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. (regular work day starts at 8:30 a.m.). There have been way too many reports to do, plus payroll, plus last minute "urgent" demands that have required me dropping everything else and starting on that. Then I have to try to remember where I was and what I was doing in said reports before I was interrupted. Plus, I had payroll to do last week. SOMEBODY who shall remain nameless (but has an annoying rat-tail) decided to wait to come in until noon on Thursday and announce that he'd be out of town on Friday. Then he dumped about 5 last-minute invoices on me to do that day before he left around 4:30(!!!). This was on top of everyone else's reports and invoices I already had to do. And if that wasn't enough, he then gave me 18 chemical analysis test results to type into a report. Sheesh! I know y'all are very tired of hearing me gripe about my job. I'm sorry. I have to vent somewhere so I don't explode. See, I feel better now.

Anyway, moving on to this weekend's soccer game. Jamie played goalie for the majority of the game, and he was smokin' hot! He blocked 10 goals from going in! 10! Unfortunately, we lost 2-0, but the referee came up to us afterward and complimented our team. The kids we were playing were HUGE (like, one looked like he should be playing tackle football, not soccer!) and the kids were 10 and 11 years old. Jamie is one of the oldest kids on our team at 9, the rest are 7 and 8 year olds! The ref said he'd refereed that team before, and they usually trounce their competition by 10 points or more. He was very impressed that the game wasn't more one-sided than it was. Then he told Jamie that he did a "fantastic" job! Jamie was so happy he was beaming. Then one of the parents from the other team came up and complimented our team on how fast they were, and (again) Jamie got complimented on his goalie skills. There were times he was the only defense we had, and he rocked!

Tooz sent Jamie a Time Warp Trio t-shirt recently. Just to let you know how much he loves it, Tooz, he had to wear it to school Friday (even though I hadn't washed it yet), then he wore it to church on Sunday (I had washed it that time), and wanted to wear it to school today. Obviously, he loves his shirt!

And, while at church yesterday, Jamie was eating a Tootsie Roll and got a surprise. One of his baby molars came out when it stuck to the candy. We didn't even know it was loose. So, Jamie got to put it under his pillow last night for the Toothy Fairy. Jamie's friend Josh went to church with us yesterday, and I had to threaten him with bodily harm, though. When Jamie said something about putting it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy, Josh piped up with "Aw, you still believe in that?" Luckily, Jamie at just that moment ran off to show his Sunday School teacher and didn't hear, so I bopped Josh (lightly) on the head and reminded him that Jamie is a little younger than he is, and that it isn't nice to infringe on the fantasies of others. Then I whispered in his ear that if he told Jamie the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny wasn't real, I would "whoop his butt." Josh and I have had to have private discussions before about respecting other people's rules and beliefs. I've also had to kindly remind him that if he cannot follow my rules at my house, he can go home. Overall he's a decent enough kid, just very exhuberant.

Anyway, that's my recap. Better get back to work now so I can go home at a decent time today and not have to come in early tomorrow.

Dragons-4; Flyers-3

Woo hoooo! Jamie's soccer team, the Dragons, won their first game of the season! Yayyyyyyy! It was one of those really tense, exciting, never-know-which-way-the-score-is-going-to-go kind of games. Jamie's team scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game. And they were playing against kids who were older and bigger, to boot!

Jamie played goalie the first half, and was a striker (forward) in the second half. He didn't score a goal personally, but he was very good about being there for the others to help them out with passing and such.

The team has come a long way in just three games! They were actually playing as a team the majority of the game, looking to see who was open, passing the ball, spreading out, all that good stuff that makes the game exciting. And it was incredible seeing them finally "getting" what their coach has tried to teach them all along.

I was so excited and yelled so much that I fear my voice has suffered a set-back. I guess I'll have this odd, husky-yet-scratchy voice for a bit longer. I guess it's worth it, though. :-)


Oh, and here's some eye candy for you:

I can't believe I actually got a *real* smile out of him for this one. Of course, for the next one, he had to goof off:
And in case you were wondering, the Dragons lost their first game, tied their second game, and now have won their third game. I can't wait to see what happens next weekend!