A Lovely but Busy Weekend

I have not had one free moment to get on my computer. Friday night we had Nico's end of season football party. I have dreaded going from the time I knew we had it. I knew it was going to be bittersweet and it was. This past year was Nico's last in the Rams program. He had a great run and I was and still am sad that it is over. The coach did a wonderful job of talking about each player and I waited in anticipation to hear what he was going to say about Nico. I wasn't ready to be so emotional when he talked about some of the other players but I was. One of the players is one of Nico's closest friends and I love that kid like he is my own so I had to swallow the lump in my throat when the coach talked about what a great heart he has. Another boy got me because I've known him since the boys were 7 and I see him all the time in our neighborhood. He and Nico are the kind of friends that hang out during football season but then one plays basketball and the other is a wrestler so they go separate ways for a little bit but I know that if either one of them needed the other, they would be there. He is always respectful and comes up to say hi and ask how I am. He is the kind of kid that might give Nico a hard time about playing basketball instead of wrestling but if anyone else says anything bad to Nico, he's the first one to stand up for him. There is a grown respect there that they have as athletes. I nearly lost it when the coach was talking about two other boys that Nico has played with since he first played tackle. These three boys have played together forever and get along so well but the two of them will go to the rival school. I hate that. It seems unnatural to see these boys on opposite sides. I will miss the boys as much as Nico will and I will miss sitting in the stands with their parents; some of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever had the chance to know. We will all remain friends and if given the chance, continue to cheer each other's kids on but it still stinks. Then he got to Nico and I tried so hard to listen to what he was saying but I was concentrating so much on not crying that I missed a lot of it. He said he'll post it on the website so I'll get to read it which is good. To have a coach say some of the things I did hear him say was...well...there are no words for it. I am so proud of Nico and the season he had. I know the coach said something about overcoming obstacles and I'm not sure if he knows Nico has CF but whether he does or not, that line got me. Leo and I watched the video that one of the dads (who is also the dad to one of the two boys going to the other high school) made and to say it is awesome, is a huge understatement. It was professional and invaluable and I cried like a baby watching it. At the end there was a montage to the song, "The Boys of Fall" by Kenny Chesney and...ugh...not enough Kleenex in the house. Great job, Bob!

Saturday I went to the Christmas Tea and craft show at Drury Lane. Usually I love this. For some reason, the whole day was off. The craft show was off. I got my ornaments that I get every year and when I proofed the one, she held it so close to my eyes that I couldn't see it. The realization that I am starting to have old eyes hurts because after I walked away, I looked at it again and she put the wrong last name. Usually the music of the event gets me and then the speaker is uplifting. I didn't care for the singer. I like the church band better but I LOVED the speaker. She is hilarious. I wished there was more of her. I found out it was my fault that we had bad seats. I didn't get my name in on time so I felt bad the whole time about that. I didn't know who was all coming and I guess by the time I did, it was later than before. I feel awful that two whole tables had to sit where they were because of me. Next time, I am just going to put my name down for all the seats. It was still a lovely event...every time can't be life changing. I went shopping after to buy things for my house and not only am I way under budget but I love the things I got: four lamps for $49.99 at Lowes and 3 rugs for under $50. We ended the evening playing games with friends of ours and I laughed until my stomach hurt.

Today, we have two basketball games for Nico. My kids will still get Sunday dinner at my mom's but I will be at Nico's second game. He is having surgery on Thursday and you can tell he needs it. He has been dragging and is just generally not himself. He seems to be going half speed in everything. He hasn't really been his normal happy self. I am sure his nerves are getting to him or he has been feeling so lousy that he just wants to be done with it. Leo is done with his old man basketball league which means I will be able to go to Target tonight by myself...so sad that I am this excited about it.

Up this week: More doctor's appointments, the first dance class, art class, basketball games every night this week, Tommy has practice, baseball meetings (seriously...baseball meetings???), surgery and the beginning of two weeks of "Can I hang out? Can you drive me____? Can I call____? Can I have some money?" and the dreaded, "Can we have a sleepover?"