Hoops

So here I am a 44 year old mom of 3 kids. I am trying to get myself in better shape. You know the ole, move more eat less thing. Sadly, sometimes, moving less and eating more is, well, just more fun. Especially this time of year when it's getting cold out and everyone is baking and making soups. I love soups. AND I am in the mood to cook. I go through phases of loving cooking and hating cooking. I am in the former right now. But I digress....

This post is about Missy. I met Missy about a month ago the first time I played basketball (in a really long time).

My friend Becky invited me to play basketball at the NECC (NE Community Center) on a guest pass. I was leery since it's been, ohhhh, almost 26 years since I last played. But I went. Do you know how hard it is to play basketball for an hour straight? I was thinking "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I used to do this for hours every day!" The lines, the running, yadda, yadda and blah, blah, blah. The thing is I had a really good time. All the ladies were really nice, some were beginners, some had played before and were pretty good. It wasn't too competitive and we just tagged in and out as someone got tired.

I missed a couple weeks because I was out of town but I went back this past Monday. We were about 40 minutes into playing when I was guarding Missy. Missy has played basketball only a few times in her life. She was doing really well. She could dribble the ball, shoot and even scored a couple times. The next think I know, while I was guarding her, she was on the floor holding her knee. Anyone who knows anything about that action knows, "Oh CRAP! This is bad." She laid on the floor for a few minutes, we got her ice. She needed ice on both the back and front of her knee..... "Oh damn, that is really bad!"

I have to tell you that when this happened I was not in contact with Missy. I was really grateful for that fact because if I had been I would have felt REALLY guilty. Like it was my fault. As it was I felt bad enough. It really was just a wrong step.

After a few minute on the floor I remembered I had some Advil in my purse (fanny pack) and gave her some. 10 minutes later....no relief. We called her husband to come and assist her. Luckily he has a flexible job and was able to come. Laurie and I assisted her to his car (she couldn't put any weight on her leg), wished her luck and off they went. We all stared at each other and though, crap.....that sucks.

Apparently it was so swollen for 3 days that they couldn't even do an MRI. They could today. Guess what? It was worse then we thought. She has a torn ACL and Meniscus. Yikes! Worse yet, she has 3 kids, 6, 8 and 11. I called her tonight and she said that her family has been helpful and great. AND her mother and mother in law live close and have been really helpful. Thank goodness. A few of us from basketball are going to bring her some meals so that they don't get sick of Mac-n-cheese (though my kids would love that every day).

Here we are a bunch of 30 and 40 somethings trying to have fun and get fit(ter) and BAM, someone gets hurt, really hurt. I am trying to figure out if I should still play basketball. Missy and I are about the same size and she is almost 10 years younger then me. Doesn't that mean that I could go down just as easily or even more so? I'm just saying..... Maybe I should stick to the stairs and the bike. I feel like I have been so lucky with the knees so far, maybe I shouldn't push it. But then there is the other side...it's really fun. It's a fun group of women, it's a fun way to get exercise Becky, I know you read this....don't worry, I haven't made up my mind, I am just pondering.

Sometimes this getting old thing blows but I can honestly say this, I wouldn't go back for anything. I used to win at most sports that I participated in. Now I have fun playing sports and I don't really care if I win. I'm there to have fun. Age, grey hair, kids, happy family life, great husband and a bit of forgetfulness beats the heck out of youth, ignorance, arrogance and a bit of sports ability any day. I'm just not certain if basketball is going to be my thing or not. I don't know if I am willing to take that risk.....we'll see....it is fun.

Success

We have been having a great few days. Sophia started school on Tuesday so the boys and I had a little time together. While school starting has been great, I have felt like I just flew in from Europe. I have been whack tired. A - I am not a morning person and B - I am not a morning person that and I have been recovering from a sinus infection. I did, however, continue moving forward.

On Wednesday Coulter wanted to go to the zoo. He had been asking to go to the zoo for about a week. I don't know why it was so important but it was so I decided to oblige him. First the boys had to do some cleaning and they were great at it. Note to self, the boys DO know how to clean. Then zoo....

We only had a couple hours so we had to make a plan. First, get tickets to ride the train, next penguins and elephants. It was important to check on the growth of the baby elephant. Yep, he was bigger. The penguins were stinky but cute. The train was the highlight for the boys, it just made me want to fall asleep. The last thing we did was check out the sea lions. They're always awesome. Then it was time to pick up Fia. We had a nice day.

Friday was Coulter's first day of kindergarten. He was pretty funny. On Thursday night Coulter announced to me that he was going to walk to school by himself in the morning. That cracked me up. I had to insist on taking him. He could not figure out why I wanted to take him, the school is across the street for goodness sakes. Geeze mom! I made him the obligitory "First Day of School" sign for picutres. He let me take only two, he needed to get in that class room. Not only were there no tears he was practically giddy with excitement. That boy is READY for kindergarten. He had a great day. I didn't get many details but he was happy.

After he and Sophia were dropped off at school, Kees and I had a his open house at ChildsWork. Kees has Debbie for a teacher. He has literally known her since birth. Sophia had Debbie when Kees was born. Coulter had Debbie last year. And to keep the universe in order, Kees has Debbie this year. Anyone who has ever had Debbie as a teacher will tell you that she is awesome. We are all excited. Kees marched into the room as if he owned it. He was in there almost every day last year when it was Coulter's, now, finally, it was his. There was not a moment of hesitation. It was as if he was going home. It was fun to be in there with him. And next week....Kees will start school 5 days a week.

Saturday was a great day. It started early because Sophia had her very first soccer game / tournament. Bob took Sophia while I stayed with the boys. I stupidly thought that we could sleep in a bit and then join up with Bob and Sophia. Yeah right! The moment they left the boys were up and pestering me. We got dressed and made it over to the soccer field (across town) to see the last game. Apparently Sophia scored a goal in the first game. That's it...she is hooked. It was really fun to watch the girls play and hang out with the other soccer parents. This was the first of what, I am sure, will be hundreds of soccer games.

Then we needed to get ready for Saturday night. First we had our block party. I made my stuffed grape leaves. While I was cooking, Bob was setting up for a movie in the back yard. We decided that a movie in the back yard was so much fun that we should get an LCD projector. So we did. We're going to do this all next summer. And I am already projecting into the future. When the kids can't figure out what do do we'll do movies in the back yard instead of having them run all over the city causing trouble. Living where we do I am sure our house will be where the kids hang out. If you can't beat 'em......

The block party was great. The food was fabulous and I met a bunch of people that I had never met before. Our neighborhood is wonderful. Oh, and Bob won the party prize. It was a bicycle fitting. I have actually wanted to do this for a long time so I am thrilled. When I looked into doing that it was $100. The funny thing was Sophia drew his name. We all got a big ha ha out of that.

When it got dark out a bunch of us went back to our house. It was great. The kids were in the back yard watching Spy Kids and the parents were in front on the deck. It was a beautiful night. The temp was about 70 so we didn't even need the heater. We all had a great time. At about 11 when the movie was over we disbanded. I was exhausted and told Bob that I was going to bed. I left him up to deal with the mess, I couldn't stay awake for one more minute.

And today, the kids are all playing, Bob cleaned out the cars (that's a first) and I am watching Wild China on the Travel Channel and blogging. This is a good day. I suppose that I'll have to do something constructive today but for now I am really happy sitting here doing this. Yes, this week and weekend have been a success.