I also had a small project to complete that morning - in addition to finishing the laundry and putting dinner in the crock pot. By 4:00 p.m., we were ready for the power outage that never came. I am not complaining. Because our neighborhood gets very dark, all of the wind and nearby trees, it was a frightening night. I was glad I had Michael Westen to keep me company. I had recorded a full season of Burn Notice - my new guilty pleasure. With school cancelled the next morning, I didn't matter that I was awake most of the night.
This past week, I also wrote and submitted my chapter for a book contest. It is a serial book that will be posted on a blog starting in early December. There are seven authors, and one open guest author spot that will contribute to the Christmas story. I hope to be that eighth author.
After the high of completing the large work project, and high of a new fun writing project, my eating and exercise grew old and boring. I managed to keep up with the bare minimum, and even indulged in some candy and vino.
For Halloween, we went to a large neighborhood in town. Our own neighborhood hayride did not occur and most of the kids all trucked across town to see what the deal was with mass trick-or-treating. For the first time, I allowed Kat to go off on her own with some friends, who lived in that neighborhood. She had her phone and they had to text every fifteen houses. She proved herself to be very responsible and had fun being grown up.
Ry, on the other hand, was not comfortable in a new neighborhood. Whether it was because he was not invited to trick-or-treat with friends, or just was not into something different, he sat on the steps of our friend's house with us ladies and watched the trick-or-treaters. We encouraged him to go, but he was having none of it. In the end, we bought him his own 10 pack of kit kat bars, and called it even. We did not force K to share her candy - she earned it and should keep it. But, as a kind sister, she did toss him a few treats. I was proud of her.
This past weekend was Kat's soccer tournament. They placed second in their division and had to face the third place team.
Kat plays fullback - and is a solid defender. I can count on one hand the number of times she has played offense, and has never scored a goal. While she is a silent and dependable player, the spotlight is rarely on her. She is also the kind of kid that does not show fear or nerves. She watches horror movies, reads scary books and rarely jumps. She is at all times on and off the soccer field cool as a cucumber.
After a full game and two overtime periods, the score was still 0-0. So we all headed down the hill for penalty kicks. My folks drove out to watch her, and Kat shouted out "I'm taking one."
I must confess, that I have played the scenario of Kat kicking a penalty kick (PK) in my head dozens of times. Each time imagining that she is the fifth person to take the shot. Each team shoots five shots. Since she is usually so calm, I could picture the coach making her the anchor. So, when I heard she was taking a PK, I knew they would make her shot five. And she was.
I prayed for her to be calm, have peace regardless of the outcome but, I also prayed that she make her shot. Our first player missed, the other team made their shot. The next three girls for each side scored. Kat stepped up to take her shot. We were behind 3 goals to 4. The pressure was all on her. Hit it, each team picks another player in sudden death. Miss it and we go home. As team photographer, I focused the camera on her, and never moved. She watched the ref waiting for her to blow the whistle giving her the green light to shoot. She ran up to the ball and kicked. Through the camera I saw her hands shoot up and in the background saw her team jumping in the air. YES!! She made it.
The other team missed their shot, and we went into sudden death. I'll spare the drama and say we won the shootout and advanced to the finals today. Unfortunatley, we lost 2-1. I was not bothered by the loss, it was a close game and the girls played well. I'll always be happy that she had that opportunity and that she succeeded. I'm super proud of her!!
