I'm back for a while

[ClingingToHope]

Sunday went well for D14. She had dinner at the boyfriend's dad's house. The boyfriend's parents are divorced. The dad lives on the river and has a couple of boats. The boyfriend actually made the beef stroganoff. It's really cute so far.

I'm taking the boyfriend and D14 to a college football game next Saturday. Give D14 a chance to soak up the college atmosphere a little. I have few worries right now about her. She got a 4.1 GPA her first quarter of high school and we've already picked out her top 20 choices for college and entered them into Cappex, an interesting college site.

We went shopping for jeans Sunday and she was going on and on and I told her the rule for dating will be the same as it was for theater -- if her grades drop then dating goes on hiatus.

Right now, a lot of things are going her way. It's good to see after all the drama the past couple of years.

D11 skipped her 6th, 7th and 8th grade church service on Wednesday and so she came with D14 and I to the big service. It's a big evangelical non denominational modern church -- lots of Christian rock. Everyone wears jeans. It can be overwhelming though.

She did OK. She really got into the singing. But after she said she'd go to the Wednesday service from now on. I thought that would be the result.

Everything was perfect Sunday and then she was messing around with her blinds and they got stuck so I climbed onto her loft bed and there was too much weight and part of the support gave way.

That irritated me because I thought I might be stuck having to get a new bed. This one came used. D11 thought I was mad at her. I told her I was frustrated that she was playing with the blinds instead of going to bed, but really I was worrying about the cost.

Still, she was up so late she was late for school. That's the first time in two years she's been late with me.

Going to be a weird week at work. I'm supposed to be learning a new database program, but stuff keeps getting thrown at me. I have several stories already on hold. It's hard to get motivated when you haven't had a raise in five years and you wonder when the next round of cuts is coming.

Went to run my basketball league tonight and we needed a player so I got back out there. I don't really mind anything about getting older -- except that when I play there are things I just can't do anymore. I held my own, but I was playing against top flight guys, most of whom never saw me when I really could play.

Here's an interesting thing -- when I was done, I felt flushed, angst gone at least for this day. It's always been like that -- almost a runner's high. Play for a couple of hours and everything will be OK. Well, OK after my whole body stops hurting.

There actually is a group of 40 to 50 year old guys that plays at the Y on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. They start around 6 a.m. I've resisted, sometimes because there are times during the year -- umpiring season -- where I can't afford to get hurt, and partly because I didn't want to admit that's where I probably belong.

Well, really, that's where I belong.