Do you have something to say? I apologize for the inconvenience of having to fill out Recaptcha whenever you want to post a comment, but I had to add it. I was getting tons of spam comments-mostly ads for pharmaceuticals but others were just disgusting and porn related.  I would log in to find several hundred such comments at a time!  And having to go through them all to find the valid ones left by friends was extremely time consuming.

So, please feel free to leave comments, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

I wish it looked like this right now.

Or even this.

Because then the evil ragweed pollen would be gone, and I could breathe.

In the meantime, Claritin, Benadryl, and endless rolls of tissue paper are my closest allies. How in the world did people function before modern antihistamines?

Football has started. And football in the midwest is about as big as it gets. I’ve  lived on both coasts, and while football is big those places too, it’s lived and breathed here.  It’s obssessed over. Especially college ball. Divisions over team loyalty can break up familes, friends, churches, even your MOPS group. Since I didn’t go to school out here, I am allowed a GO HOKIES. Otherwise, I stay out of the college ball rivalry.

But when it comes to football in general, it’s a matter of “when in Rome…”  They are frequent neighborhood football games, which are more akin to rugby. The older boys participate in those regularly with only a few trips to the ER needed over the years .  The younger ones, however, have been relegated to being yell leaders on the sidelines.

Then this year, I happened to notice that our local parks and rec offers a Flag Football League for younger kids. I signed my youngest four up right away, including the four year-old.

Today was his first practice, and, the poor kid didn’t have a clue. There is no tackling in flag football. And since Kyle has 6 older brothers, tackling is the one thing he has perfected in his life so far. He had no idea how to center, hike the ball, catch, or throw. He was born to be a linebacker. When it came time to learn how to de-flag another player, Kyle pulled his own flag off and chased the other players around trying to give it to one of them.  He thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I think I will assign a different brother to work with him each day for the next week. After all, they will need the practice too. Maybe that will help them all be more prepared next week. And even if it doesn’t, we will still have a great time!

Let’s go with Ragweed first.

It tortures me. I could claw my eyeballs out of my head, and I manufacture enough mucus to coat every Uruk-hai Saruman could ever dream of creating. (Remember that part in the movie? Yuck!) Anyway, I am very thankful for allergy meds. They see me through until mid October when the Ragweed DIE and I am free to live again. I need to add seeing a chiropractor to my list of things to do.

Then there’s water aerobics. Have you ever done water aerobics? at 0630? when the water is a tad on the cool side? It certainly makes one forget about ragweed. My neighbor asked me to do this class with her at the local community center. She is a morning person- gets up at the crack of dawn, gets right to work, has her day planned out. She’s one of the those organized and efficient people, and the wife of a Marine. As in United States Marine Corps, OO-RAH! You don’t mess with those people. And you don’t tell them “no, thanks”. Even to 0-dark-thirty aerobics classes. Plus, to be honest, I was kind of hoping some of her organizational efficiency would rub off on me.

I have to admit, getting up early, going to the gym, seeing all the cheerful morning folk, being in the flourescent lighting……it really did feel great! I was awake, energized, ready to start my day. I did require coffee, but that’s not too bad after more than a decade of nightshift. Of course, I would take just a teensy-weensy nap from around 10:30 to , say, noon at which time my kids fended for themselves with mayonaise sandwhiches and bad children’s television. However, this is a transition phase, a rebuilding season (GO Chiefs!). After missing a few classes this week accomodating the start of our homeschool year,  I’m hoping to hop back on the bandwagon with the next class.

Is it possible for a lifeling career nightowl to become a “cheerful morning folk”? I’m not really sure, but I’m enjoying the ride while it lasts.

About Autumn….It’s September 2nd. Usually in Kansas City, September 2nd, feels just like August 2nd; hot, humid Summer. But the last week of August and the first few days of September have been most fall-like with highs in the 70’s and nights dropping to 50. It really is gorgeous, and not using the AC will certainly help my electricity bill. But I am really not ready for summer to be over. I am not ready for the leaves to turn. And last, but not least, cooler weather makes me want to sleep in! It wars against my attempts to become a “cheerful morning folk”!

And it’s really, really not conducive to getting in a pool at 0630.