Kiss My Knits!

I went to pick up Em early because a) I wanted to see the World Cup Finals, and b) it was pretty cloudy. Well, on the drive there, “pretty cloudy” turned into torrential downpour. My clothes were plastered to me, just on the walk from the car to the outbuilding. Where they weren’t. Nor were they in the first gym I went to. They were in the “little gym” which was an indoor basketball court. (Did I mention this was a ritzy private school?) There were about 20 pairs of shoes just outside the doors. The kids had a bunch of balls out and were all running around in their stockingfeet kicking balls all over the place. Em was, of course, having a field day.

My husband had it right when he said, “BEST DAY OF SOCCER CAMP EVAR!!!”

There was another pair of shoes identical to Em’s in the foyer. Another mom and I determined that they were the same size, and had both been newly purchased, so there was really no way to tell them apart. So we may have come home with another kid’s shoes. We also came home with a soccer ball, a free gift with the camp. Yay!

On the down side, my phone fell into a stream in the parking lot. This is my workhorse Nokia 3390, which I got in 2001, I think. It can’t take pictures, or do anything a more modern phone could do, but until today I’d have said it could withstand a nuclear blast. It still powers up, but I’m not getting any bars, and it doesn’t want to connect outgoing calls. However, there’s still water dripping out of it, so I’m not writing it off yet. Let’s hope it recovers. I’m fond of my little workhorse.

Okay, I’ve done a little cleaning in the den, I need to do a little more. Things have kind of reached critical mass in there. Where’s Hercules and his shovel when you need him?

When I dropped Em off this morning I hung around for a few minutes to watch her play. They were doing a pickup game organized by the coach before camp, white shirts versus colored shirts. Em basically wandered around on the field, intently doing her own thing. At one point, someone kicked the ball in her direction, but she wasn’t paying attention. It actually hit her foot and deflected off as she kept walking. Em may be having a good time, but she’s not ready for a team. Of course, I don’t think I would have liked to be on a team at her age. Or, really, ever. But she wanted to try this, and she’s enjoying herself, so in my book it’s still worth it.

Today they do their kiddie version of the World Cup Finals. They’ve been having little games all week. Em’s on Team Argentina, who are getting their tiny butts kicked. Well, it’s not whether you win or lose, right?

I decided that as my next “not for anyone but me” project, I’d knit up some of the handdyed from the dyeing session last month. I’m doing two at a time, toe-up, because I’m not entirely sure I’ve got enough for a long pair of socks and I don’t want to be in the position of being oh-so-close on the second sock and running out of yarn halfway down the foot.

This is a very speckled yarn, so I’m thinking just a straight stockinette would be best, so as not to obscure a pretty pattern in all the variegation. What do you think?

If I dyed this the way I meant, then there won’t be any pooling or flashing. I knew it would give some really short repeats, but this may be a little too high-contrast for short repeats to not look confusing. Eh, I knew it was iffy when I was doing it, but as I say, it’s all about the learning!

I have childcare for Saturday night! I can go to Serenity! WOOOOOOO!!!!!

Pictured: me on the right in blue shirt, helping someone with earflaps at last year’s Serenity screening. This year there’ll be a costume contest too. Turtlegirl, it’d be the perfect time to wear that felt thing that looks like a space blanket. I’m just sayin’…

Too, too excited! Yay!

…or “How Hillary Spent Her Summer Vacation.” I’m sorry, Em’s choice of names just amuses me.

“Bill and Chelsea went into Chelsea’s pool. Chelsea’s mom was there to watch.”

Because, you know, safety first. That long thing to the right with legs coming off of it is a water slide. There’s a splash in the pool at the base of the slide. The circles are lights inside the pool, so they can swim at night if they want to. Chelsea’s mom appears to be wearing a dress and heels while lying on a wheeled deck chair. Ah, this is the life.

“4 other kids (two boys and two girls) came. So they played Marco Polo.”

The kids are labeled as Lindsay, Chelsea, Jimmy, Bill, Sarah, and Robert. Looks like little Barack wasn’t invited. The large thing behind them is a ladder so they can climb out of the pool. Or possibly a diving board. On the face of it, it looks like Robert’s the only one in the pool and everybody else has cheated and gotten out, but I may be misinterpreting. At any rate, it looks like everybody’s smiling and happy, so that’s good.

In knitting, no way is this going to be a size 4T legwarmer. Time to rip it out and de-biggen it.

All the Can’t Stop the Serenity Jayne hats should be at their destinations, except for Dallas’s bonus “baby Jayne” and Raleigh’s hat, both of which should arrive tomorrow. There’s a chance I may not be able to make the full Serenity screening here in town – I may know tonight – but if I can’t then Em and I will go to the pre-show festivities and drop off the hat. I think Em would enjoy the costume contest and hearing Cedric the Bard. She enjoyed him when we went to that bar uptown. Yes, I took my daughter to a bar. What? I needed a designated driver.

Here’s a link to a YouTube video of the Bedlam Bards, of which Cedric is one half, singing “Hero of Canton” when they performed in Charlotte at Ri-Ra’s. The sound and video quality aren’t that hot, but you get the gist. They put on a good show. But no, sadly, those aren’t my Jayne hats that they’re wearing. At the very end, a young woman is twirling around one of my boxes, as I donated a hat to the raffle that they’re about to give away.

There are actually fewer than 10 Jayne hats in line, for a wait time of less than a month. It’s a miracle! WOO! See, if you want to order, NOW is the time, because come August it’s going to start shooting back up again as people start to think about Halloween, Christmas, and cooler weather in general.

Time to hang out more clothes – it’s nice and sunny, but not oppressively hot. Looks like a great day for soccer!

Phone: Ring ring!
Me: Hello?
Lady: Okay, I got approval to go ahead and do that, but he has GOT to be empty by tomorrow.
Me: … I have no idea who this is.
Lady: Oh, well, this is ______
Me: I don’t know who that is. I think you have the wrong number.
Lady: Oh. Is this XXX-XXXX?
Me: No, it’s not.
Lady: Oh, well then maybe I do!
Phone: *click*

Wait, what? Who has to be empty by tomorrow? Empty of what? Now I have to know!

Definitely more participation today. Em was out on the field playing when arrived. Then I looked down to get my camera ready. Then she was crying. Then someone went over to comfort her, so they came off the field.

“What happened?” I asked the teenage helper.
“Nothing!” she said. “I think she was just ready to go.”
“That sounds about right.” I said. She hasn’t done it in a while, but it used to be that things would just suddenly be too much and it would tip her over the edge. It still does happen occasionally, especially when she’s tired or sleepy.

We went to get her lunchbox, then saw Grandma was there. Heh. Everybody should have a coach like my mom in their corner.
My mom had been watching, and said Em had basically been wandering around. But wandering around on the field for 20 minutes. Woo!

As we made our way to the car, Em was getting over being weepy, although she still had a very runny nose. I was talking to her, saying, “So you were ready to be done, is that it?”
“Yes,” she answered, then added “I got hit in the chest!”
So she wasn’t just ready to go home. She had gotten smacked, and I guess the teenage helper monitoring their end of day match didn’t notice.

I’m going to mention it to the head coach as an example of how, while I know there are about a thousand little bodies moving around out there, I’d appreciate an extra eye on Emily. She’s not always going to be able to tell you what’s wrong in the heat of the moment. It can take her a little time to get the words together.

The coach did say that the “I need you to do this for five minutes” tip was extremely helpful, and that he’d recommend I pass that along to any other teachers or coaches she has this summer, so that’s a positive.

All in all, a better day, and I think we can improve even more tomorrow.

Speaking to yesterday’s soccer freakout on my part, let me say that while I was still trying to get my eyes open at 7am this morning, Em had her cleats on and was ready to go. She consistently said she had a great time, soooo…. back she goes!

Today, a little lesson.
In which I try too hard and make things way too complicated.

Well, we’re home. Pretty much all of Em’s time at soccer camp today was spent lying around. On a bench, or on the porch of the building next to the field – always in the shade, at least. The camp director kept asking her if she wanted to come out and play on the field, and she didn’t until the last five minutes or so when he enticed her with, “Your mom will be here soon, I know she’d want to see you play.” She was back on the bench by the time I got there.

I recommended he tell her next time, like “Emily, you need to come join us for five minutes.” She’ll always say no if you ask, but she’s pretty easygoing if you tell her matter-of-factly that this is what’s going to happen.

He also said that she did get some social interaction, such as the other kids trying to engage her some at lunch. Camp Guy was concerned that she didn’t eat anything at all. He got a little juice or something in her. That’s par for the course – she never really ate at school, either. He said he was worried because she was burning calories out there. I’m thinking, “what calories? She’s lying on a bench!” I was more concerned because the water bottle I sent with her to camp was still full. She said she drank a little. She may not be burning calories, but she was sweating. My girl needs to stay hydrated!

Camp Guy is a teacher at the school, and he was really interested in figuring out strategies to engage her more. I’ll do my best for him, because we are coming back tomorrow. Em says she had a good time and does want to go back, so that’s a little victory. This in spite of the fact that for the past hour (I got her early) she was also talking about how incredibly hot it was. She also mentioned that her shinguards were uncomfortable. She’s going to wear her Converse tomorrow, too. Hey, whatever works.

So, a mixed bag. Maybe tomorrow when it’s only supposed to get up to 90 and not 95 it’ll be a little better. We’ll see.

I’ve spent almost half a house payment on this camp, what with gear and registration and such, so on a strictly practical level I’d like it if she continued to go. If I have to eat that money so she’s not miserable, then of course I’ll do it, but let’s hope it’s money well spent – in the form of a learning experience for my girl, not for me.

Now if you’ll pardon me, someone wants to make lemonade.