Playing hard

My son had his first football game yesterday.

The game started at noon and it was over 90* degrees.

I was super hot up in the stands, which had NO shade whatsoever.

I felt so bad that the boys would have to be in full pads out on the field running around.

What I found very crazy is that about half the boys had no sunscreen on. NOTHING. NADA. ZILCH!

How'd I find that out? Because I went to spray the back of my son's neck, which I'd forgotten to get earlier. All the boys happened to be sitting in a specific order for weigh-ins. I looked at the boy next to my son and thought I'd just ask "Do you have any sunscreen on? Would your parents be okay if I sprayed some on you if you have any?" He said he didn't have any on and said his parents would be okay with me spraying some on his arms. I then went down the line. Like I said...about 50% of them had no sunscreen on. Some of these little guys were pale, pale, PALE and they didn't have any protection. Unbelievable!

But my son had a good time, even with the extreme heat. Now I know what to expect when we have home games now. I'll be better prepared next week.

First week of school

My kids started school this week.

No. They didn't start on Monday.They started on Wednesday. Yes. WEDNESDAY! Isn't that crazy?

So that was yesterday. And today?

I had to leave work early as I received a call from the elementary school that my son was sporting a 101* temp. ARGH!!!

I just love my daughter's reaction when I picked her up from the middle school this afternoon.

It's only the second day and there goes his perfect attendance!

Just under the wire

Deadlines loom before us all the time. It's how we handle the pressure that either makes or breaks us. 

Tonight, there was a deadline that I forgot about until I was cleaning up after dinner tonight.

Since the Bear has football practice every weekday evening from 5:30 - 7:30, we get home late and eat dinner late.

By the time I finished cleaning up, showering, and finally got onto the computer it was 9:37pm. The deadline? 12pm Central -- that means 10pm Pacific.

Holy guacamole Batman!

Less than 20 minutes to get an order in?

Could I do it?

I knew I wanted a couple shirts and a couple pair of shoes. I'd seen a coat that I wanted to get the Hubs for his birthday too.

Did I make it in and finish the order before the deadline?

AAAAAHHH! ~~~ imagine Macaulay Culkin in the first Home Alone screaming

Y'all?

I made it.

Me? I was pretty amazed that I squeaked in before the deadline. When I received my confirmation number it was 9:58pm. Two minutes to spare!

Woohoo!

A bump and a bang and a little more hustle

This week was the first week the boys got into full gear and started tackling.

It was a new experience for at least half the boys, including my Bear.

Last week was a wake-up call for sure with all the running around. Then it got some getting used to wearing the darn helmet & mouthguard for the entire practice. TWO hours with his head in a vice. Well, it felt tight for the first couple days but after that he was fine. I guess the helmet started molding to his head so it felt more comfortable. The only time the boys were allowed to take their helmets off was only if their water bottle didn't have a straw. That's right! The coaches were pretty strict about keeping their the helmets on. I guess so that they'd get used to the weight of the things on their heads.

Of course, the Bear was super excited to get onto this next step and get all his gear on. I mean he was anxious all last weekend. Wouldn't you know that I had to go to the last equipment pick-up last Sunday so that I could get a tutorial on how to put all the pads in the proper place. Of course, I had a couple pads in WRONG.

This week the coaches continued to have the boys do push-ups, sit-ups, up-downs, and a bunch of different agility exercises.

Then all the boys got training on how to tackle. Here's the Bear getting some one-on-one instruction on how to properly engage another player. The Bear was so hesitant when he was first doing this. I was surprised to watch how much restraint he was using during the exercise.

The Bear started having fun by mid-week as the coaches had them running plays. Defense got to put on redcaps over their helmets. Here's my guy getting some one-on-one training on what he needed to look for and where he needed to move. I think he's a safety here.

Even though he started the week a little hesitant with the tackling, he ended the week really well. The team did their first round of "King of the Circle" and the Bear did fabulously. He ended up placing 7th out of 28 boys. He really impressed the coaches and got their attention with his performance.

Scope in and scope out

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I was getting checked out and that my doc wanted to get a look inside?

Well, Monday was the day. My check-in time was at 12:30pm while the procedure was scheduled for 1:30pm.

I actually got in earlier than I'd originally been scheduled. I was supposed to check-in at 2:30pm for a 3:30pm scope. I'm SO glad I was able to get in earlier. Why? Because I had to FAST before the test. Even though my appointment was supposed to be at 3:30pm, I wasn't going to be allowed to eat at all the day of the procedure. Not only was I fasting, but I couldn't drink ANYTHING six hours before the procedure. No tea. No water. No nothing. ARGH!

I ended up taking a half day on Monday, so I kept myself busy working that morning. My sister picked me up and drove me to the appointment. Why'd she take me? Because they were going to put me under and I wouldn't be able to drive for 24 hours after the procedure. Twilight sedation they called it.

The check-in nurse was great. She was chatty and kind. She got me prepped in no time flat. My sister was surprised when she was called to the back so quickly. I was already in a gown with my hospital issued socks lying down on a gurney under a warm blanket with an IV drip going. Since I got prepped so quickly, my sister and I were able to talk for a long time. It was great catching up with her. I hadn't seen her in a couple weeks. The last time I saw her we each had our kids so we couldn't really TALK -- just the cursory catch-up. You know what I mean?

One of the ambulatory nurses came back and rolled me into the procedure room. She got a fresh warm blanket and put it on me. Another ambulatory nurse had me roll onto my left side and placed a mouth guard on me. The first nurse put a wedge behind me and then gave me the sedation meds. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery area. Yup! I don't recall ANYTHING about the procedure. Woohoo!

After I woke up, they called my sister back into recovery and we started chatting again. Go figure! The nurse came back and saw how I was doing, then gave me the go ahead to get changed back into my clothes. Once I was back in my clothes, I thought I was good to go. I got up and started walking out of my curtained area. My sister stared at me and said "Is she supposed to be walking out?" The nurses and my sister started laughing because I looked at them all behind me like they were crazy. One of the nurses rushed over with a wheel chair and helped me in and then pushed me to my sister's car which was parked just outside the recovery exit.

People? I felt fine. I didn't feel impaired at all. I could have walked out on my own. But I guess it's a liability thing and they were required to wheel me out. I just couldn't help but laugh at the fact that I was ready to go and there I went. Ha-ha-ha!

Anyway, the doc said that my throat and esophagus looked fine. There was a bit of redness at the bottom portion of my stomach. A couple polyps were in my stomach, which is pretty normal, but she took a tissue sample for biopsy. She also noted that the glands below my stomach were a little enlarged but she wasn't surprised by that based upon the meds that I'm on. The biopsy testing should be back in 7-10 days and my doc would give me a call once those results are in. I'm also going to have a follow-up with my doc in about 3 months just to check how I'm doing.

But that's another "check" under my belt. No major issues from the initial endoscopy. Woohoo! Hopefully the biopsy will come back totally clear as well.

Getting hit and bumped

Tomorrow the team will start practices with full gear on. Yes, they'll have all their pads on.

AHHH!!!!

We actually had to go over to the final equipment pick-up this afternoon so that someone could show me how to fit the darn pads into the pants and undergear. I had to get my boy a new hard cup as well. We've got to protect his pieces and parts so he can give me some grandkids (many moons from now).

I'm not sure if they'll do any tackling tomorrow or not. But we'll see. 

But this first week has been busy. I'm sure this next week will be even more interesting. The Bear is going to be even MORE tired than this last week I'm sure. [sigh]

Here's my favorite photo of the week:

It's officially football season!

Today my son started his first season in football.

Tackle football.

Yes, we skipped flag football all together. Last year when I had planned to get him started, we moved and then it was too late to get him signed up. [sigh]

So after much anticipation, he started practice today.

It's conditioning week. The coaches are just putting the boys through drills and checking out their skills. Loads of running, bear crawls, up-and-downs, side-to-sides, push-ups...the regular PT that goes along football. They're not wearing their shoulder pads or lower body pads this week. That'll happen NEXT week when they start tackling each other.

After practice, my son was all sweaty. But grinning from ear to ear. He didn't do anything half-assed. He put in his all for each of the coaches.

Me: So how did you like it Bud?
Bear: It was fun Mom!

Yeah...I wonder how long it'll feel like fun. I'll have to see what he says next Tuesday morning after his first practice with full gear and tackling.