Volleyball!!

I know, I know....more photos of my kids playing sports. This is different. This was my sport, when I was in high school. I was able to help Ally, giving her pointers and advice. It was something I knew about and didn't have to keep leaning over to the person next to me, asking questions. You'd think I'd be more knowledgeable about baseball and basketball by now, but somehow, I am NOT an expert. Anyway, Al had a lot of fun and says she wants to do it again next year!

Mavericks Football.



This year, after the regular Highland football season, the coaches all voted for 3-4 players from each team to play for an all-star team. I distinctly remember talking to a dad whose son did this last year and being very grateful we were done, while they still had 3+ weeks of football. Don't call me a bad mom just yet. I realize this is a great opportunity for Max and would never interfere.....however.......it was A LOT of football and a part of me was mourning the loss of freedom I had been dreaming of. Of course I'm being dramatic. After all was said and done, Max has a blast, Eric and I were very proud, and the kids got to swim in a hotel pool. It was all goooood.



2 weeks of practice and two tournaments. Max was able to hang with the guys he pounded heads with for 2 months.

The kids had a blast playing in the hotel pool. Eric's mom was in town, so we all headed to Troy, OH for tournament # 2.

The best part of this experience was that Max was able to play receiver, instead of QB. He isn't in love with the QB position, so when the opportunity arose for him to get back to catching and running, he went for it. He ended up with 5 TD's throughout the Mavericks play and loved every minute of it.

The boys seemed to all have a good time and will call each other friend......until next September ;)

Great action shot, right??? Eric took about a bazillion photos of the two tournaments, so trying to weed through all of the shots was excruciatingly slow. This one stood out, though.

I do a lot of grumbling about how much time, energy and money Max's sports require. I should really stop, because he may end up paying for some college with this stuff.....God help us. He's a great athlete and a great kid- a perpetual biological ball of energy. I'd much rather him be involved in sports than riding the streets getting into who knows what. So, I will vow to complain less - out loud, anyway. If you see me muttering under my breath, I am not talking back to the "voices", I am grumbling to myself. At least that's what the voices told me to do.

Oy.

I submitted my paperwork to get my LPN license transferred to Ohio. I checked the website yesterday, and I am listed as licensed. I (think) it's official. I should be getting notification in the mail within the next several weeks.

I'm excited!

I'm nervous as hell!

This is huge for me and this family. The plan is to work part-time at first, until I decided if I've made a huge mistake....or.....this rocks finally having money after 12 years of not. It's not only about the money. It's also about NOT feeling worthless. Don't get me wrong, raising a family- and some pretty awesome kids at that, it VERY worthwhile. However, as I have stated before, this is not where I thought I'd be at this point in my life. Viv needs to be around kids her own age and I need to be around other grown-ups.

So, the next step is to begin looking for a job. Easier said than done. I have a couple good leads, so we'll see. If and when I am fortunate enough to find a good fit, we'll look in to who will be competent enough to look after my baby. That may be the hardest part of all............ :)

Just a little icing on the cake - My kids will see me do something that scares the living shit out of me, but I forge ahead, anyway. Sure, it's taken me years to get to this point, but I'm doing it. I want them to see me set a good example, instead of sitting back, complaining about how I never got to do ________, I didn't have the opportunity to try__________, or I was too scared to________. No. I want them to see that it's ok to be scared (terrified is more like it). It's ok to change your mind and go after something you really want. I want to better myself, in this way........ for now. I may go back to school or find a completely different career path. Who knows? I do know, however, that it won't be quite so scary next time.