We sure do miss mom, but she’ll be home soon enough. I don’t
want to make it seem like we can’t function in her absence, it’s just that our
favorite times are the ones we spend together, and we all enjoy each other’s
company and make a huge point of spending quality time together. It’s the first
time that we have had to go about our daily lives long term without her, but
we’re doing fine. Besides, as the kids get older, they’re going to want to
spend less and less time with us, so we might as well make the most of it while
we can.
Anyway, it helps that we have tons of distractions, even
they don’t involve hockey. During this past week we’ve been running around
doing track, guitar, drums, lacrosse, and of course, school work. Cooking meals
and trying (and failing) to keep the house from spiraling out of control are
good distractions, as well.
Last night A was invited to a friends for a sleepover. This
is a good thing because her friend is not a friend of N, so it distinguishes
her social life from his. In the past he’s always been included in A’s
activities, but at some point boys and girls will diverge. It’s already
happening. The moment the invitation was extended, however, my first response
was to scramble and find something for N to do. The first place I looked was
Dartmouth, and we were in luck. There was a soccer game that evening.
A mentioned that she thought soccer was a fall sport, and
she’s right, but for whatever reason they were having some exhibition game
against the Haitian National Team. It was for Partners in Health, an
organization that R is familiar with. The plan was for A’s friend to pick her
up, and then N and I headed over to Joe’s to get a chainsaw air filter, then to
the big city to get some supper. I asked N what he wanted, and we both thought
a burger sounded good, so we went to Molly’s. We just beat the rush, because
just we ordered, half the population of New Hampshire walked in. The place was
packed. I got the black bean burger, and N went with the turkey burger glaze
with maple syrup. I thought it was okay, and he said he liked it, though he
didn’t finish it. It was a little healthier, but he probably should have gone
with beef.
After supper, we were so stuffed that he even declined
gelato, which is huge. We headed over the game, and it was a beautiful evening,
perfect for soccer. We’d never been to a game, and weren’t sure what to expect.
Soccer is not high up on my radar, but I do think it’s more interesting in real
life than on TV. Kind of like everything. The stadium was empty when we got
there, but by halftime, it was at capacity. There was a constant stream of
people.
We got prime seats right next to the field, and the game was
fun. Dartmouth won, and it’s impressive how skilled these guys were. One funny
note was that we were sitting right in front of a group of girls with their
moms, and could overhear what they were saying. It really highlighted the
difference between men and women, because the whole time they were commenting
on how they liked some of the player’s shoes. The Haitian players wore bright
red, pink, and orange cleats. The girls also complimented the Haitian team on
their socks. Guys would never comment on these sort of subjects other than to
say negative things, which did in fact happen (one of the Dartmouth fans
disparagingly yelled, “Hey, I like your cleats.”)
The game was a fun and interesting experience, though early
on N said, “I have to confess, soccer is not that fascinating.” What a cute
kid. We got a cookie and some Cracker Jacks, and by the time we headed home, it
was late. We crawled into bed around 9:45, and are planning on getting some
breakfast at Stella’s, but we’ll see how that goes.
Today we’ll spend getting the house in order for mom’s
return. We can’t wait. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to ropro22 for the pic.
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