The Beard

Movember continues in January for Sammy. We have four basketball games this week. We won the first two in an ugly fashion but the next two game are more difficult. They did get some new uniforms this week which are quite popular.

Summer Run

its 72 degrees around here. Easy running weather.

Before the hair harvest

Going short for a cause.

No Car

The boys both got their drivers license last week and have been slowly venturing out with our cars on their own. Nicole is downtown and Dylan drove my car to his rugby practice. I just went to the mailbox and was walking back up the driveway, with my head down looking at the the mail and thought, look up, don't run into a car. No cars in the driveway while I was home for the first time in the 18 years I lived here. Weird.

Sent from my iPad

1000

Jared scored his 1000th point last week and the team celebrated it after last nights game. He has been a starter on varsity all four years at Edison and an all around great kid. The team didn't do so well against Wakefield. The boys didn't really show up and lost by 30. We will play them again this year and it won't be so lopsided next time. They are better than that.

Another Day

A morning run for momma and a new day for the Vikings as they head to San Francisco after win over the saints.

Early Run

All this happens before I get up at 5:45am.

Happy New Year

Tourney Champs

Good weekend in Salisbury.

Tight Game

Up by 10 at half, then down by 7 in the 4th only to battle back and win by 4. Edison beats Winston Churchill form Potomac Maryland 66-62. Some clutch plays at the end sealed it. Sam played 24 minutes and had 6 points and 8 rebounds. Next game at 11:45am tomorrow at the Governors' Challenge Tournament in Salisbury Maryland.

Merry Chrismakah

The annual tee shirt shot.

Lake Chair

Did a little shopping in Wayzata in balmy 38 degree weather.

Happy Santurnalia

Missing Dylan in this one but he was tired after going to the gym me and grandpa at 6am.

Happy Holidays

mae and Dylan soaking up some holiday lights in Hopkins.

Cousins

they don't fit on the sofa like they used to.

6-1

Good start to the season for the Eagles. This score is worse than it looks. We were down one starter to the flu, one starter had a temp of 101 this morning but played anyway and everyone on the team played a fair amount of time each.

Something Fierce

Sent from my iPhoneEdison schooled an over confident West Potomac team last night 75-58. Sam played nearly the entire game and didn't give an inch down low. He played with intensity and didn't miss any free throws. West Potomac is a run and gun team and Sam was exhausted after all this minutes. The Eagles are 5-1.

Night Kicking

Cold night with a full moon for rugby practice.

Training

Dylan has been seeing Gareth, an athletic trainer that's been working on core, balance and agility the last couple months. He's doing the drills without his brace now while still wearing it during practice. He's also been lifting at school and getting huge.

Tree Too

dylan with the second tree. Double the fire hazard.

Tree Time

It was difficult finding time to do this.

Back at it

Sam rallied from his sickness to play in Edison's second win of the season, beating Tuscarora 86-67. Sam had nine points. Heading back for a game tonight against Woodson in a bit.

Poor Sammy

He doesn't fit on the examination table anymore and he's had a nasty virus the last few days. Fever up to 103, chills and all that stuff. He missed the first regular season basketball game and three days of school. I think he is on track to get back at it tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sent from my iPhone

Back at it

Sent from my iPhoneSam was back on the court in the Eagles second and final scrimmage before the regular season starts on Monday. I wasn't there but Nicole said he started and played well in all four mini-games against Woodbridge. Edison won 3 of the 4. As you might also have noticed, he's sporting a Movember beard which is tough to see unless you look hard.

Start the Cheer

Trees are starting to light up all over the place.

Thanksgiving Week

It's been a long pause since my last post and I need to get on it.  We have had a couple weeks of low sports games but everything is gearing up for the upcoming Rugby and Basketball seasons.  Sam was named 1st team district tight end at the end of the football season and he was quite pleased with that.  The football season started with him being quite frustrated with the low number of footballs thrown his way.  He saw that change quickly in the last few games of the season when he was catching a 7-8 passes a game. He worked hard all season and blocked and ran routes extremely well.  He didn't have control of where the QB was throwing the ball but he showed that playing the position well on each down will lead to opportunities to get some throws his way, and he took advantage for those opportunities.  He made the Varsity basketball squad for the third year and practices started for that the minute football ended. He has been a little hobbled be a sore knee and he tweaked his ankle screwing around in the locker room last week so he sat out the first scrimmage on Friday.  He looks ready to play in the scrimmage on Tuesday and then the season starts next week.  

Dylan has started three day a week Rugby practices and doing additional training with a sports trainer to get his leg back in shape for games that will start in January.  He's a little more that 7 months removed from the ACL repair and continues to make great progress.  He has really worked hard to get himself back in game shape and he and I have worked on kicking a bunch over the past few months. He really loves the game and his team.  He wants to get back to playing to help them win another Virginia Championship and possibly a National Championship this year.  I'd like to see that too.

Kickster

No rugby practice today so went up to Edison to get some kicking in. The boy is getting his groove back and getting a good foot on the ball.

The Browns

Another flag football season comes to an end with a browns victory over the Falcons. All the boys had a good season, even the older coaches. We were missing a couple kids for the last day but we had eight, yes eight. You need to look real close to see the eight kid being a goofball.

Support

Sam's friend Sydney brought a sign to the game last night and inspired the boy to score twice and force a fumble on defense. It was a nice end to a tough season. The eagles won the first and last games of the season. An 8 game losing streak was tough but Sam got better each week.

Separate Cakes

They may be twins but they have different tastes. Cakes number 33 and 34 for these two.

The Belt

Sam got the belt for a great catch in the game on Friday. It's a way to reward good play but he doesn't get to keep it.

Winter is coming

Some frolicking on the last night of daylight savings time. Dylan had a great time at the South County homecoming dance and sleepover party at his friend Lula's house.

Too Cool

Dylan getting ready for South County High School homecoming dance. He is the man in black.

Teddy Dylan

Dylan wore his teddy bear jumpsuit to the TC Williams game. It was costume night. Remember the Titans.

Devil Boy

Sam and Sydney had coordinated costumes last night. He looks a little evil with the flash induced red eye.

Happy Halloween

We got a few kids this year. Better than the zero kids last year.

Halloween Out

it was costume night at the Eagles district semi-final volleyball game. The lady Eagles move onto the final on Wednesday, beating Justice 3-0.

Getting his kick back

a warm day for rugby practice and some kicking. Dylan drilled a couple dozen out of 40 attempts from 45 yards out. His knee was a little sore afterwards but likes getting back in the swing of things.

10th Marathon

The Marine Corp marathon was a wet one.

Rents

The parents and I watching the boys flag football team lose game.

It Doesn’t Exist

The magic play to get this flag football team back on track that is. The boys have struggled with the 2018 champion team in the next league up this year. They are a young team and need a little seasoning before they will be able to win another championship.

First Fire

A little later than last year but it was cold and rainy enough to light one up.

Not Thrilled

Sam would like to see the ball a little more and a W for the team. It's been a tough season but at least he's back on the field after a week off due to the knee issue.

Early Flight

Sent from my iPhoneChicago O'Hare

Art

Sent from my iPhoneFun visit to Wesley Kilmer's studio in west Chicago the other night as part of my council meeting. Interesting stories about his paintings and the art world itself. This was in a warehouse in west Chicago that is slowly starting to gentrify but has a ways to go. He my have to move south side if the hipsters keep moving in.

Finish Line

Sent from my iPhoneNicole's Newport Marathon Medal seems to have fallin into the sea. Nice picture anyway

Newport Marathon

Sent from my iPhoneAnother race in the books and a two week test before the next one.

‘‘Tis The Season

thisnplace is near where I get my car washed. They aleays go early and big.

Best Case Scenario

Sam has between a grade 1 and grade 2 MCL tear. Let's just say a one and a half but no ACL issues. That was a huge relief. A grade 3 MCL tear or an ACL would mean surgery and months of recovery. This injury should keep him out of football for a week or two and he got a metal hinged brace to wear the rest of the season.

Sammy’s Turn

Sam had 4 catches and about 40 yards in the first half of the game last night. His last catch of the half resulted in a knee injury of some sort. He was hit low and the left knee kinda whipped around a bit and he came up limping badly. It was not the knee that he had planted and was running on at the time which is good.

We were playing an Arlington school and that school system has an orthopedic surgeon at games which was sort of lucky. He happens to be an ankle guy but he did the things ortho surgeons do to get an idea of what happened and he thinks it's an MCL tear. Not great but better than an ACL like Dylan and I.

The MCL runs on the outside of the knee and has a much better blood supply which allows it to heal. The need for surgery on an MCL is quite rare so we are hoping for the best. That said, we don't know if the ACL is totally fine but the surgeon did the test to see if it was loose and he didn't think the ACL was compromised.

Sam has pain but not a lot of swelling. Nothing like the swelling Dylan had for a week after his incident. He's on crutches and using a brace to protect it and will not be playing football for at least a couple weeks. We will visit our favorite surgeon this week and see what he thinks. Knees are fun.

Early madness

Things you do when you run at 5am.