TGIF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it's been an interesting week! I'm working full time to help out a friend who is on maternity leave. So a lot of life is a blur now, running from work to soccer to the grocery store, to school, to the police station... More on that later!

1. First, to my wonderful friends in NY, FL, CA & TX - I love you all! Even when I don't have time to write or call, I LOVE hearing what is happening in your life. I love just knowing you are out there. You inspire me, encourage me and delight me. Thank you.

2. O.K. back to my crazy week... So on top of working 2 jobs I tried to tackle a photobook this week. Shutterfly sent me an email offering a FREE photo book (worth 30 bucks - cool!). So I thought I'd love to print up some of my digital layouts. Of course, it can't just be a book of pictures, I have to have a theme. So I decided to scrapbook the 20 most memorable events of 2007 - in my spare time. The deadline was Wednesday. After 10 hours at church I worked and worked and was in the home stretch at 11:45 pm when of course, the web site went down! AHAHAHAHAHAH! All's well in the end. I begged for an extension of the deadline, finished the book and I can't wait to see it!

3. Got some interesting mail this week. A postcard from a catalogue company saying my purchase is backordered. Problem is, I never bought anything from them. When I called the company, the customer service rep. informed me that this is possible identity theft and I'd better notify the police right away. Good grief! I think the real crime is what was ordered - size 18 leapard print blouse! I keep wondering if I'll find some fishnet stockings or a tiger print skirt in the mailbox someday - grin!

4. Last year we dug & tugged & chainsawed out all of our 35 year old bushes in the front of the house. We'll plant new shrubs this spring. But in the meantime, we filled the beds with bulbs - it is amazing! You can't miss springtime at my house!

Where Oh Where?

Thursday was really one of those days. I was sad that I couldn't be in Florida for a very important adoption. (Congratulations!) We were waiting all day for a friend to have her baby (welcome to the little guy). Another friend was having some tests done that could have been very serious (grateful all was fine). We got news of a dear old friend in New York who has terminal cancer. Brad wasn't feeling great. I was struggling to find time to clean the house for company this weekend. Then the big one... the dog was gone. Poor sweet old Summer dog wandered far away and we couldn't find her anywhere. We walked, we called, we drove for hours. Finally all we could do was go to bed and pray for her to be safe.

Friday we found her at the animal shelter. Thank God she was safe, traumatized, but safe. So after a bath, she is now grounded for a month!

Anyway, I think we've recovered from all of the drama. Here's some photos of our fun weekend at the beach.

What I Love About Soccer - GO RAIDERS!

1. It's a cool thing for dad to do with Danny and Geoff.
2. Teamwork. We'll never succeed in school, business, life or soccer without cooperation. What better place to learn it than on a field?
3. Boys need to run, kick and yell, breath fresh air, sweat and run some more!
4. Snack time.
5. Our awesome team parents who always arrive with a good attitude. They cheer all our efforts, win or lose. The players never feel defeated when the parents treat them like winners.
6. Sportsmanship. Face it, we all lose sometime. Soccer teaches us to lose with grace and dignity.
7. Watching the kids learn and grow. It is so exciting to see players communicate with each other, try out "moves", plan, problem solve and throw their whole body into what they do.
8. Belonging. Everyone on the team has the same name on their shirt - Raiders. A place for everyone.
9. Fresh air, sunshine, green grass, photo ops, chatting with other soccer moms, cheering til we're horse.
10. GOAL!