And the madness has begun...

Last night was the first night of soccer practice for the season! OI!

We're lucky this year-- last year, we had a practice on M/W, one on T/Th, a game on Friday and one on Saturday. This year, we don't have the practice on T/Th--and I'm thinking that's a blessing. We still have dance, but that's okay--we still had dance last year!

Anyway, Chicken, Zoomboy, and Squish all went to practice yesterday, and I'd forgotten (like you do) how lovely it is to just sit in the shade outside, and to read (and knit, and listen to your iPod) in the breeze. Of course, we were lucky there was a breeze coming off the cemetery (no lie--Zoomboy's U8 team practices on a school field near the cemetery. Apparently, a lot of gang members are buried there, because when a friend's kid went to school, every time they had a certain kind of funeral, they'd have a school lockdown until the cars were all gone.)

Chicken was off, practicing on her temporary team (if they don't get more members they'll disband and she'll be absorbed by another team--the U19 teams are a little iffy, most of the kids are moving on to other things.)

And Squish was playing Sharks & Minnows (a time honored soccer drill) with her father--and being hella cute.

Now I remember why this is madness, and why I can never seem to get a breath in the fall, and I remember why cooking for the family is hard and writing for myself is harder, and why my year seems to blur by my eyes at warp speed. But for the moment, the madness was almost... sane.

And then my own surreal twist kicked in.

One of the moms came up to me and said, "Hey--I don't know if you'd remember me, but did your husband used to work at Fridays?"

And we did remember her--and her brother--mostly because they were awesome, kind people, and I was sort of surprised all over again. She recognized ME? Why me?

"I don't know-- you were going through the whole teaching thing, and I thought that was sort of cool."

Blink. And now she teaches from home (she helps homeschooled kids and parents.) And I have a friend in my soccer moms.

Madness indeed.