A Tale of Two Cities

There were many good things that happened over the weekend.

You’ll remember that we split up, right? M and I headed to the Boston area, while Cute W and J stayed home.

Cute W and J went to see Solo and they liked it, I think more than they had expected to like it. They were also super-productive, installing our window A/C units and going crazy on the house with a brand-new power washer. They also worked on a big Star Wars LEGO project together. All of these are good things.

M’s tournament went well. It was nice for me, not having to drive. Our hotel was decent enough if you didn’t count the weird number of random guys smoking and drinking cheap beer in the parking lot. M had tons of fun with her teammates and found some fabulous bargains at the nearby outlets, and I had fun with the soccer parents, too. M’s team ended up winning their bracket, which meant medals and a big, lovely trophy. Best of all M scored a goal from her position on defense. So, all of those things are wonderful.

Man, that goal, you guys. It was super-pretty. In fact, look:

M kicked with her left foot. . .

. . . And the ball sailed from pretty far away (M is so far back and to the right that she’s not in this photo). . .

. . . And the ball was high, in the corner, and the goalie was reaching to get it. . . .

. . . Really, the goalie was so close. . .

 

. . . but she just couldn’t quite get it.

And, yes, I know I am making a really big deal about this goal, but the thing is, my defender daughter doesn’t get a chance to make goals all that often, and when she does, I often miss them, just because that’s how The Universe works. So it was lovely to see the goal, and even lovelier that another parent was videotaping the game, so now we can watch it again and again.

But I’m also trying to focus on the positive because it was a really, really horrible weekend.

Our kitty Isis got very ill very quickly, and after a long and torturous evening at the emergency vet, Cute W and J had to go through putting her to sleep while M and I wished we had better cherished our last cuddle times. I can’t write about it. Maybe I’ll want to later, but right now I don’t even want to say it here, but I would like people to know and I can’t bear to tell anyone. I can barely bear to type this. The girls don’t remember not having her as part of the family. It is not great at our house right now.

 

We all really loved having her around.