September 22, 2003 - 7:22 p.m.

Catching Up

I am a selfish, thoughtless person at times. One of those times was when I wrote my last entry here. Later that night, as I was suffering from insomnia, it occurred to me just how obnoxious my comments were. Now that the storm has passed us all by and left many dead, that feeling has intensified. People lost their homes and their lives due to Isabel, and I was worried about getting on a plane to visit my boyfriend.

As it turned out, I had only the most minimal of problems getting down to Virginia. I left Boston right on time, and my flight out of Pittsburgh was delayed about an hour. We were able to land in Charlottesville even though the power was out there; they were able to run lights and security equipment from generators. Sam's power went out on Thursday night, but it was back early Friday morning. That was helpful, since he was able to cook me my early birthday dinner of steak, risotto stuffed peppers, salad of mixed greens with pears and candied walnuts, and calico bar sundaes. YUM! We ate by candlelight and then watched Amelie, which we both really enjoyed. It was such a funny movie, and the cinematography and costuming were unique and lovely.

Saturday morning we went for a long run, which my thigh muscles have been complaining about ever since. Still, after Friday's big dinner, it was needed and felt really good. The weather was perfect for jogging - sunny and not too warm. We figure we ran a little more than 3 miles and walked a bit after that. Later that day Sam made me both breakfast and lunch. He's such a sweet guy! In the afternoon we drove up to Sam's parents' house near DC. They were still without power from the storm, so after dinner and some conversation by candlelight, we went to bed early.

On Sunday we all went to the first Women's World Cup games in DC. We got to watch the US team play Sweden and Brazil play South Korea. It was my first time seeing a professional soccer game in person as well as my first time in a big stadium. The stadium was not full, but the crowd was enthuiastic, so it was exciting to be there. The US women played a great game against the Swedes and ended up winning 3-1. In the second game, Brazil routed S. Korea, though two fo the goals were scored right after questionable penalty calls. The Koreans played hard, but they simply couldn't match the speed and aggressiveness of the Brazilians.

I only got to see the second half of the second game. I had gone to get some food for myself and Sam, and ended up wating in line for almost an hour for a couple orders of chicken tenders and fries! I got pretty grouchy, but I was really hungry, so I wasn't going to give up after waiting for half an hour. Once I had some food in my stomach, I calmed down a little, but it was a very aggravating experience! You'd think a stadium that was hosting a crowd of only half its capacity would be able to handle the concession demands. Apparently, you'd think wrong. Grr. Still, it was a fun afternoon. I am extremely impressed at what good athletes these women are. They run hard and fast for the vast majority of the two 45 minute periods and are incredibly skilled at handling the ball. Even though soccer is a low scoring game, it is surprisingly exciting to watch. Of course, since goals aren't common, when they are scored it is that much more exciting.

After the second game, Sam drove me to the airport in DC. I actually got back to Boston early. Today was back to normal with the usual routine with the kids. M's 7th birthday is tomorrow. I cannot believe she is that old already! The highlight of my day, though, was probably watching B dance around the family room with his huge stuffed polar bear. :) This happened after he asked me to change CDs because he didn't want to dance to songs sung by girls! What an odd kid!

today's project:surviving the nasty allergy attack I am currently suffering

musing about: how quickly kids grow up

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flutter back - fly ahead