Married In Ohio

The temperatures hovered right around freezing with a wind chill of 23°F. Not the best weather for The Girl’s first soccer game of the “spring” season. The field had patches of partially frozen mud between tufts of still dormant grass. But it was still outdoor soccer. So, she and her teammates put in their Under Armour underneath the game jerseys and took the field. They were happy to be playing again.

It was cold for the parents on the sideline. We could have used some cold weather gear ourselves. Even though I was shivering in the wind, I was glad to be out there. I always enjoyed watching the kids compete. But, now that The Boy’s high school athletic career is over; I have an even greater appreciation of how precious games days are. It’s still two years away; but it doesn’t seem nearly as far as it once did. So we need to enjoy them while we can.

The Girl is on a new team this spring yet she has still been able to make her mark. Despite playing a new position she’s still been a major contributor. In fact, The Girl was instrumental in two of their victories this weekend. Things come easily to her on the soccer field. She has no idea how rare that is. Maybe she’ll understand it one of these days.

In case you were wondering, they brought back the first place trophy. She’s got a lot of them on the mantle. But, I think this one will be one of her favorites.

We went to a very nice restaurant on Saturday night to celebrate The Boy’s college plans. It was fabulous. We all dressed in evening attire and spent almost 2 hours being pampered. We can’t afford to do things like that very often; but California Girl and I thought that it would be a nice way to recognize The Boy’s accomplishments. Pretty soon, it will be party of three; so it was good to live large with The Boy. We call him The Boy; but he is really almost a man. I have been having some very serious conversations with him. Like most teenagers, he likes to have fun; but he understands the big picture much better than most kids his age. Despite being quiet and introspective, he has a lot of insight into people and things. I think that ability will serve him well in life.

We also went to another “last” for The Boy. It seems like his senior year is just flying by. I’m both proud and sad at the same time. I’m glad to see him doing so well in his final few months of high school; but sad to turn the page. California Girl and I are more than mom and dad; so are relationship with him will continue even when he doesn’t “need” us anymore. But there won’t be as many opportunities for the spontaneous good times that we have enjoyed. He’s needed his share of pep talks; but he brightens our lives with his quick with far more than he needs cheering up. Some of the things he has said are priceless.

That’s how far away The Boy will be when he goes off to college. Everything came together last week and his college plans are finalized. I’m happy that goes going to the college of his choice; but sad to see him making plans leave home. That’s about a 4 hour drive for me if I make good time; so we will be able to visit him periodically. But, it’s not the same as living at home. And, since The Girl usually has soccer games on weekends in the fall we won’t be visit him much at all. It could be “worse”. He could be going to college on the other side of the country and only come home over breaks. He’ll be able to come home for long weekends since he’s in easy driving distance.

I haven’t forgotten all of the positives. In today’s economy, college is very important. It doesn’t guarantee anything; but having a college degree is better than not having one. It gives him four more years to learn and grow without having to face the hard, unforgiving world in which we live. And, if he gets good grades, it can pave the way to a good first job after college. Plus, it’s a great reward for working so hard in high school. We often blog about how well the kids have done in sports. But they both know that high schools sports are just for fun. And that academic excellence is far more important than being a good athlete. I’m going to miss watching him compete when wrestling season is over. But I know that he will still be competing and excelling in the classroom.

January
HNT was suspended for a week.
I finished a major milestone on a project I was doing at work so I came home early and made a movie to celebrate. It’s funny how sex helps us celebrate our victories and drown our sorrows.

February
Celebrated the two year anniversary of Married In Ohio.
The Boy’s wrestling team won the league championship. The Girl scored a hat trick (three goals) in soccer for the first time in years. California Girl and I really enjoy kids that are good athletes and good students.

March
Got a new car. Discovered it was good for other things besides transportation.
Posted our first and only book review.

April
Watched one of the darkest days unfold on a college campus in recent memory.
Got out and about (for sex) for the first time in the new vehicle.

May
Had some fun both inside and outside of the car.

June
More sex in the great outdoors.

Married In Ohio was offline for four days while we were on vacation and enjoying life in the 3-D world.
Went over 1,000,000 visitors.

July
California Girl started completely shaving her pubic hair.

We were able to get in the pool and relax over the long Fourth of July Weekend.

August
It really started to sink in how The Boy’s final year in high school is a series of highs and lows.
My favorite view of California Girl.

September
We’ll always be Bengals fans regardless of their record.

Had a reason to do the Snoopy dance.

October
Watched The Boy win some iron in cross country as well as run his final cross country race.
Changed to an even shorter hairstyle.

November
Sparked quite a bit of discussion in comments and emails with our Have We Thought… post.
Posted our first higher quality video.

December

Didn’t have sex under the Christmas tree this year but had a wonderful substitute.

Made a digital photo frame (Flash slide show) of many of the year’s Two for Tuesday photographs.

I was going to post this yesterday but I was too busy having nothing to do that I didn’t get around to it. It wasn’t easy but we delivered our project on time and under cost. So, now I’m on Christmas vacation. The kids still have to go to school but that just gives me more time to spend with California Girl. After taking them to school, I came home and climbed back into bed. Except for sex, I didn’t do anything until almost two o’clock in the afternoon. After dog days and double dog days, it was nice to be free.

Some of you with Blogger blogs may have noticed that I started using my OpenID when I’ve left comments on your blog. I finally had the time to install some software updates that had been long undone and that was one of them. And, for that matter, I think I’m finally caught up on everyone’s blog. I’m even considering configuring and building a new computer his holiday season. It’s not the first thing on the list; but it’s still nice that the list is getting shorter rather than longer.

California Girl has to work so I try not to be too distracting. Usually, she’s the one who is on vacation when I am not, so it seems a bit strange that she still has work to do. She works at home, so I try to not get in the way too much, but that doesn’t stop us from getting re-acquainted with each other. Anyway, I’ll be back a little later on with some pictures for Two For Tuesday.

And did I say that the project that drained almost all the life out of me was very well received? I guess I did; but it’s still good to savor the success.