Category: soccer

2025 in review

It was a year of highs and lows, but never have I been so ready for a year to be over.

(I’m not even going to touch politics or the state of our country but if you know me at all, you know which of the two that falls under.)

January

The year started by waking up on New Year’s Day to hear about a horrific attack just across the river in the French Quarter. Lovely.

A few days later, my friends took me to brunch to celebrate my 50th birthday a few days earlier. And the best part was Kiki came in and surprised me! I burst into tears when I saw her at the table. (In a good way.) It was such a fun day, even though I don’t remember the end of it.

And then, the day before my birthday, the fires in Altadena destroyed my brother’s house. He and my sister-in-law and niece lost everything. I spent my actual birthday mostly crying. We did have a yummy dinner at an Indian restaurant at least. I got to get as many books as I could carry from Barnes & Noble. Well, my back hurt that day so I couldn’t carry as many as usual. Boo.

My sister and I set up a GoFundMe for our brother and his family, and that at least restored a tiny bit of faith in humanity.

We took family pictures.

And then, on January 21, the most magical thing happened, something that brought everyone* in New Orleans immeasurable joy. It snowed. A lot.

* I mean, sure, probably there were some people who didn’t like it, but I don’t know who they are. Grinches, I suppose.

February

The boys were extras in a movie (that will be released in a few months.) I made a quilt for my brother and SIL. I got a new desk and new ink.

March

Mardi Gras. It was fine. I dressed as Sally O’Malley and kicked and stretched my way through the French Quarter. Went to Kiki’s for her 50th. George got mugged outside our house (no pics of that.)

April

I went on a cruise with a lovely friend and had a wonderful, relaxing time. Until George called me to tell me his father had passed away that morning. I’m grateful we had visited him a few days before. Meanwhile, I missed my uncle’s funeral which also happened while I was on the cruise.

I went to the orthopedist because my shoulder was still hurting, and he informed me I’d need surgery and gave me orders for an MRI. But first I’d need to do 6 weeks of physical therapy. Fun.

Ren turned 50 and there was a clown party! I got another tattoo.

May

The boys finished their junior year. One year left of high school?! I’m not ready for this. Start physical therapy. I don’t have many pictures from this month. Ziggy was cute. I made George a shirt. We ate Indian for Mother’s Day. I convinced Miles to donate blood.

June

Made another quilt. We went to Virginia for Emily’s graduation, and visited some colleges while we were there. Noticed a weird thing on my arm. Got it checked out.

July

Kiki and I meet up in London after my work thing. (At least I documented that already.)

Finally get MRI. Made another quilt, for a friend’s baby. Volunteered at the SPCA and played with kittens. Got weird thing removed from arm (fortuitously, was hidden within new tattoo.) Participated in first speed-puzzling competition. Realized I’m not as good at puzzling as I thought. Boys took senior pictures.

August

Take the boys to University of Alabama for a visit. I go to Portland for work. Doctor says I will need surgery on my shoulder. We schedule it. I buy lots of things. Katrina was 20 years ago.

September

Went to Virginia for a Pulp concert. Found out a favorite coworker died. (Enough with the deaths already!) A week before my surgery, I get bloodwork done and it comes back all weird. Platelets super low, weird! Other weird things! Surgery is pushed back a week and goes ahead when platelets return to normal. Mystery. I finish the month in excruciating pain (post-surgery). Shoulders hurt, yo! Kiki visits to help me recover. I spend a lot of time in my new power recliner.

PS I didn’t really get a robot arm. Don’t tell my mom.

October

Spend the month recovering, not working. Evan came for work so hung out with him. Couldn’t pull my own hair back. Couldn’t drive for most of the month. That sucked. Visited LSU.

November

Went back to work. Visited Tulane. College application crunch time! Soccer season started. The boys got their first suits, wore them to Homecoming. George and I celebrated 20 years of marriage! God, we’re old. I got an emerald ring and we had lunch at the place we went for our first date.

December

The boys turned 18. Went to LSU for another visit. I went to Edmonton for work. So much snow! College acceptances (and not) start rolling in. I saw one of my favorite movies on the big screen. Christmas was lovely.

2026, you can be chill. We don’t need the ups and downs of 2025, thanks. A less exciting year would be juuuuust fine.

(I realize I wrote real sentences for January but gave up after that. Seems appropriate.)

November recap

Oops, I forgot to do this. My bad.

November was kind of slow? I can’t even remember what happened.

Not necessarily in this order…

I had dinner with Kristie and her sister and Ren!

We went to Baton Rouge for the LSU game.

I got my hair did.

There was soccer.

The boys got their learner’s permits.

George and I had our 18th anniversary.

Thanksgiving happened.

I was driven around a lot.

Ziggy was cute.

And now it’s December! Where has 2023 gone?

April in review

Okay, seriously, April went by way too fast. What did we doooooo?

Easter! Mom and Larry came over. I made a delicious chocolate cake and other things. And we got a family pic.

I donated blood, and while I ended up with bruising on both arms (my veins aren’t as hearty as you would expect from me) I also got a cool t-shirt.

And then a few days later, I got another flower tattoo. This one was for Kiki. I told her she could pick, and she chose a hibiscus because it reminded her of her mom, as they had them growing at their house when she was growing up.

Artistry by Mecca at Hell or High Water here in New Orleans. I highly recommend her and her shop.

Less fun, the boys kicked a hole in the wall and I covered it with a sheet of whiteboard:

Lots of soccer, but it also ended this month. Yay! There were goals scored by my children, which was nice to see. We went to a tournament in Lafayette. They didn’t totally suck! I made friends with a five year old. It was delightful.

After a real shitshow of a game on the north shore, we had dinner with my cousin Rob and his wife. It was so great to see them! So great.

Ziggy was cute, yet again.

What else? The boys got obsessed with basketball, I made another bunny for a grieving little brother, I got new shoes, I sewed some things, George and I had tacos, I made breakfast pizza for dinner. I started a three month rotation with the tumblr support team, and I’m loving it.

And now it’s May and this month the boys will finish their freshman year, I’m going to Rotterdam, and birthdays will be celebrated. But I won’t have to watch any soccer games!

March recap

March was obviously kind of low-key, because I haven’t felt the need to post anything since the monthly picture.

Today they had their 15 year well visits, and I was excited to see how tall they were. I assumed Oliver and I were the same height, 5’10”.

I was right and wrong. We are the same height, but we are 5’9″.

This has shaken me to my core. I’m actually fine with getting older and shrinking. I am not okay with the idea that I was never 5’10”. So we’re going to go with shrinking. It’s fine.

And Miles and Linus are only half and a quarter inch behind Oliver, and they’re all within a pound in weight, which is wild. I don’t think they’ve ever been this similar since they were born! (I was going to look to see how long they were at birth, and apparently this is not documented anywhere. Not on this blog, not in my medical records, not in any emails. Nowhere. Huh.)

My sister to the rescue: Her nephews were 16.5, 17, and 17 inches long. Which means, yes, they are (relatively) closer in height and weight now than they were at birth. Wild.

And boy, is it true that they just stretch out like taffy at this age. In the past two years, Linus gained almost 9 inches in height but less than a pound in weight. Crazy.

So let’s see, what else happened in May?

Let’s see. Ziggy was cute. No change there.

Oliver and Linus got haircuts. Zzz.

I made a pretty skirt! Oh that’s nice. It’s the Upton skirt by Cashmerette, this floral embroidered mesh came from Joann’s, of all places. I used a pale pink satin for the underlayer. (Thank you Ren for the runway photo from the hotel hallway.)

The most exciting part of the month was going up to Natchitoches for my 30th high school reunion. (Yes, I graduated at the tender age of 7.)

It was so much fun. Really nice to reconnect with friends I haven’t seen in a while. Bittersweet, though, because this is when the boys would be getting their acceptance letters if they’d applied. I mean, obviously I’m glad they’re not leaving me, but it’s hard not to want the same experience I had, when it was so life-changingly wonderful. And the new dorms are very nice.

There was lots of soccer too. A tournament in Baton Rouge where Oliver got the only goal for their team all weekend. Then another game last weekend where Oliver got the only goal. This weekend is another tournament, but I guess you’ll have to wait for the next monthly update to hear about it!

I also made a stuffed bunny for a mom in the neighborhood who lost her baby daughter earlier this year. I felt honored that she trusted me with the task. It came out cute, I think. She was happy, which is the important thing.

The jasmine is blooming, which is the only good thing about spring. Well, and daylight savings time (ending? beginning? I can never remember.) but I need to get a new grill because the one we had fell apart.

I read a good book, I recommend it.

I got to have lunch with a work friend.

The boys ate a lot of saltines.

Stephanie chopped off her hair for St. Baldrick’s. Tragically, I forgot to wear my giant medal.

24 years after graduating from LSU with a friggin general studies degree, I paid off my student loans! Wheeee!

And yeah, that’s about it.

Oh, except starting on April 3, I will be on a new team at work for three months, working on Tumblr support. I’m very excited for the change of scenery!

January in review

How on earth is it still January? I feel like this has been the longest month ever.

Started out flying home from the Dominican Republic, and finally getting Ziggy back home. We missed him a lot. He…did not seem to miss us very much at all. I guess he had fun. He was hoarse from all the barking (or something, maybe a mild case of kennel cough, the vet said, he’s all better now in any case.)

“You could have left me there.”

Soccer started right back up, and then on Sunday the 8th, we took the boys to their very first Saints game ever. It was also the first time they’d ever been inside the Superdome. It was a not-great game, but we had fun anyway. Except we walked to the dome from the ferry and it was sprinkling so by the time we actually got to the game, we were all kind of wet and cold. No big deal.

Later that evening, I flew to Austin for a work meetup. Got in close to midnight, just a few minutes before my birthday!

Woke up the next morning, said hello to my colleagues, picked up a chocolate croissant from the Whole Foods down the road, worked, was surprised (sort of, I mean, I kind of demanded it) by a beautiful cake, had a nice lunch and later a nice dinner. This was my fourth work meetup on a birthday!

The rest of the week was more working, yummy food, bonding with coworkers, getting a spur-of-the-moment tattoo with Vanessa, bowling, puzzle assembling, scooter riding, renting a Tesla with Beckett and Karen, driving a Tesla, visiting our friend Elizabeth and finally meeting her daughter. I gave her a quilt I made her with bees and she seemed to like it.

IYKYK

Back home, more soccer, then another tattoo the next week (that I had originally scheduled for my birthday, but the had to push back a week because of the work trip) and more soccer and more soccer.

pink hydrangea

This past weekend was the end of school soccer, and the very last game was between the freshmen and sophomores. Under Miles’s coaching, the freshmen won! And I got some great pics of Coach Miles.

maybe my favorite picture ever.

I did some sewing. Made some shorts, bought more fabric I don’t need, but that’s okay. We had a bit of an issue with mice, but I think we resolved it. I don’t ever need to see tiny mouse bodies stuck in traps ever again.

Also I have someone cleaning the house again and it’s wonderful and it really is good for my stress levels because, let’s face it, it’s not exactly my forte.

I wrapped up the month by making a king cake yesterday. On to February!

First soccer tournament in a while

The boys joined a competitive team again, but not the same one they played on a few years ago. They’re probably the youngest players on the team (it’s for kids born in 2006 and 2007 and they’re right at the end of 2007) but they seem to be holding their own.

That said, the team only won 1 of 3 games this weekend. But they had fun. It was hot. Very hot. I was kind of sick all weekend. It was close-ish to Baton Rouge so we were able to spend Saturday night at Grandee and Larry’s instead of going all the way back to New Orleans, which is good because they had a game at 8pm Saturday and then another one at noon on Sunday.

I was happy to pull out my camera and fancy big lens I got just before the pandemic. The night game was challenging, but I got a few neat pics. In the last game, they all played at the same time, so it was fun getting pics with all three in the shot. (Linus is 12, Oliver is 17, Miles is 22.)

2020, don’t let the door hit you on the way out

This is going to be a weird year-end recap. Let’s see.

January

I got to go to Lisbon! Thank god we planned our meetup for January, or my only trip (outside of Louisiana, anyway) in 2020 never would have happened. Also I turned 45 there. (My third birthday meetup since I started at Automattic.)

The boys finished up their season playing soccer for the school team, which ended in winning the championship! I adore this picture of Linus.

February

Kiki came to visit! Thank god. I’m so glad I got to see her this year at least once. We ate a lot and took a road trip to Alexandria and Natchitoches for Linus’s archery tournament.

Later in the month was Mardi Gras! Where we were probably all spreading COVID like crazy! I made a fun Mardi Gras dress. Maybe I’ll get to wear it again in 2022.

Also I got a new wardrobe from IKEA. I love it.

March

Well it started out okay. I had raised over $2000 for St. Baldrick’s and I was so ready for my hair chop scheduled for the end of the month. Yeah, that still hasn’t happened. I did get a haircut, but nothing too drastic. (You can still donate, you know!)

Friendship day at the beginning of March. Probably we were all spreading COVID like crazy here too.

I took two days off to spend with Linus and Miles, just like I’d done the year before. We ate lunch and escaped from rooms.

Two days before Oliver and I were supposed to have our day off, I was sitting at soccer practice waiting for the boys when I got a message from the school. It was going to be closed for the next two days because there was a possible connection to a COVID case. You know what happened next.

The rest of March was a lot of sewing, cooking, and watching movies.

Click here for the fun part of 2020

02/29/2020

Finally got my new lens! It’s not as nice as the lens I have been using, but it zooms a lot more, so it’s a trade off, but worth it. (Especially since I got it for only $50 or something, used.)