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Robert’s Latest Photo Shoot: Round 5
The last bath of photographs from Robert’s April 27 photo shoot.
Off to Omaha
I received my State Soccer Tournament reffing assignments last night. I ended up with two centers (one today, one tomorrow) and an alternate (today). Everybody received either two or three game assignments. I’m trying to read the assignors minds. Do I still have a shot at centering a final? Let’s see…
On the one hand, the two centers may indicate that they like me in the center, which would bode well for a final center. Or they could be saying “here are your two centers for the tournament, thanks for playing” and I’m out of luck for the finals. Both of my centers are first-round matches; I think a semi-final center would definitely have ruled out a final center. Hmm.
So why the interest in having a center in the finals? For the same reason that teams want to make it to the finals, of course. The four championship matches are the four top games of the year. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? There’s a lot of stress involved, but that’s part of the fun. I enjoy the game within the game.
Regardless, I’m looking forward to the two assessments I will receive after my two centers today and tomorrow. I used to dread assessments but now I enjoy them. The feedback is almost always valuable. The two assessors I’ll speak with today and tomorrow are two who haven’t seen me work in a while, so that will give me a chance to hear some perspectives I don’t get very often.
Enough of that referee baloney. Who is going to take State this year? Get your picks in.
Robert’s Latest Photo Shoot: Round 3
More photos from Robert’s latest photo shoot.
Robert’s Latest Photo Shoot: Round 2
Round 2 of Robert’s latest photo shoot.
Robert’s Latest Photo Shoot: Round 1
These photos were taken on April 27, 2007.
An Update From 625 Elm Street
The Wilsons have been keeping busy lately. What’s been going on around the homestead at 625 Elm Street? Some updates:
Robert is sprouting his fifth tooth, and he is really working on walking. He becomes more and more of a toddler every single day. I haven’t decided yet if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Friday was Father and Son day at 625 Elm Street. Robbie’s day care provider was ill. We played and slept and went on a field trip to my office. Good times.
Robbie had his first experience with a large amount of blood yesterday when he slipped and bonked his mouth on the edge of the bathtub. As if teething weren’t bad enough! Fortunately the bleeding stopped pretty quickly and we were able to move on to more pressing matters, like stacking rings and playing the piano.
The Missus is counting down the days (just a couple weeks!) before she says adios to her current job. She’ll be staying home with Robbie at least part time from now on.
I reffed seven District soccer matches last week, and boy was I pooped by the end. I saw some good games and a couple boring games. My biggest kudos go to the Seward boys who, despite going 0-13 in the regular season, managed to win their play-in game and they even gave the eventual District Champion Lutheran Warriors a bit of a scare. I have been invited to referee games at the State Tournament, but I haven’t received my specific assignments yet.
I have been working on some freelance web development projects for a couple pretty big clients. The Power Line Forum launched its Republican presidential candidates forum this weekend. I developed some backend solutions to help the candidates’ campaigns manage their content. A second big project is currently in beta testing. That one involves a photo and video blog for a major broadcasting company. It should launch soon. I have another major project due at the end of May, but I haven’t received many details yet.
Walkabout
After a rough evening Monday night, Robbie and I had a great boys night yesterday. While The Missus was away, we got all sorts of playing in. Most fun for dad was watching Robbie really try to walk from A to B rather than always dropping to the floor and crawling. It was also a hoot seeing how much Robbie thrives on praise. His face lights up when he knows he is going to receive applause or a big hug. (Think he’ll still do that when he’s 16?) I can hardly believe he’ll already be one year next month. Time flies!
A Long Cry
I think Robert may have broken a record last night. He cried for a good hour and twenty minutes. We tried various techniques to figure out what was wrong/get him to stop crying, but nothing seemed to help. Finally I just plopped down on the couch with him and we watched Family Guy together. Apparently he finds Family Guy boring because he was out within five minutes. I let him lay on my chest for ten or fifteen more minutes, and then I put him to bed.
I hate (seemingly) random crying. It can really make a guy feel like a crappy parent. That usually isn’t true, of course. Sometimes babies cry for no reason, and sometimes babies cry for a reason that you just can’t figure out. Unfortunately, knowing that doesn’t make it any easier to look into a hysterical child’s eyes.
One of These Days They’ll Tell Me to Stay Away
I’m starting to think that the Lincoln East soccer teams are going to ask that I never again referee one of their matches. In the past three years, I have been the center referee in four games that ended in East being upset (two boys matches, two girls matches). The boys team was the latest victim of the Wilson curse when they fell to Kearney 3-0 yesterday. The girls team also lost yesterday, to North Platte, but I had nothing to do with that game.
The boys game was a very fun match to be a part of. It featured two very talented teams, both of whom should have a chance to work their way through the state tournament in a couple weeks. It was a clean, hard-fought match, and the players kept it clean throughout almost without exception. Best of all, it was the sort of game where I was pretty much able to stay out of the way. I only called four or five fouls in the first half, and I think I ended up below twenty for the game. The final score looks a bit like a blowout, but don’t read too much into it. As far as I could tell the two teams were pretty evenly matched. Kearney won yesterday, and they earned the victory. But if those two teams were to play ten times this season, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they went 5-5.
Unfortunately, the Journal Star once again missed out on covering a good game. For that matter, they didn’t cover any local high school soccer matches yesterday. I didn’t see any TV cameras either. Bummer.
It seems weird that next week is already District Tournament time. Before then, I’ll be a part of three more big-time matches this week, each one of which could have serious implications for the participating teams’ seasons. Then next week I have accepted contracts for six District matches, including a center on a final. After that, I’m hoping that my assessments from the regular season and District Tournament are enough to get me some matches at the State Tournament. And as always, I would love to get a center on a State final. I came close last year, but no dice. Will this be the year?
We Must Look Friendly
The Missus, Robbie and I must look very approachable. After our dinner at Lazlo’s last night we grabbed some ice cream at Ivanna Cone, and then we headed for the small park north of the Train Station where we sat in front of the brick mural. We must have looked picturesque because a woman asked if she could take our photograph. Well, sort of. She asked if we would mind being in the background of a photo she was taking for her nephew’s Flat Stanley project. We said sure. Well, The Missus and I said sure. Robbie said “Give me more of your caramel shake right now!”
A few minutes later as we were walking back to our car, a young couple in a Duncan Aviation vehicle stopped and asked us for directions to Fireworks. The woman had a tourist map in her lap, so I assume they had read about Fireworks on the map and decided to give it a try. I broke it to them that Fireworks had bolted for more suburban pastures, but that Lazlo’s was owned by the same folks and would be a good substitute.
It’s interesting to observe who asks whom for directions and other related help. I know when I’m lost I look for certain characteristics in the people I choose to ask for help. I also pay attention to people who look lost as they look around for somebody to assist them. (You’ll see these people Downtown all the time if you look for them.) If I’m in a grouchy mood or in a hurry, their eyes skip right over me. But if I make eye contact, offer a little smile, and cock my head just a bit (that’s the part that asks “Can I help you?") they scoot right over. Last night I didn’t do any of those things; in fact, the people came up from behind us. I think they just figured that happy family with ice cream = likely to be helpful.
Good Call, Ref
Sometimes when I prepare to show a player a red card, my mind starts to race. Did that really happen? Did I actually see what I thought I saw? Was I in position? Does this player really deserve to sit out the rest of this match and the entirety of the next match?
Those questions came to mind last night as I reached for the red card in my back pocket. Then, when I drew it out and held it high in the air, the player smirked.
Good call, ref.
Bird Signs
Back in school I remember reading about the use of birds in mythology to portend doom. I may be in big trouble, if the two dead birds lying side-by-side outside my office’s front door are any indication. That’s just what I need after a long day on the soccer field yesterday.
One Small Step For a Man…
Robert took another major developmental step last night. And by that I mean he literally took a step. Yup, at around 7:15pm last night, Robert took his first steps. And just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, he repeated the feat two more times.
The first time he did it he caught me off-guard. He was standing in front of me—itself a milestone he reached only recently—chewing on a toy. Usually he does one of two things while he is standing: he panics and sits down; or he lunges to the nearest person or couch. This time he did neither. He looked at the couch I was leaning against, took two solid steps, and on the third step he was there. It happened so fast I thought maybe I was calling “steps” what really should have been called “stumbles”. Just for fun, I called up grandma and said, “Hi mom, Robbie and I need a ruling from the judge.” I told her what had happened, and asked, “Did he just walk?” She said that it sure sounded like it. I wasn’t quite convinced that I wasn’t just exaggerating the memory in my mind.
Robert must have sensed my doubt. Determined to prove himself, he took a couple more steps after I got off the phone. But these weren’t very pretty steps. Certainly not as pretty as the first ones.
Right before I started getting him ready for bed I gave Robert one more chance. I stood him on the floor, backed away, and knelt in front of him. Sure enough, boom boom boom, in three steps he was in my arms. And these were good steps. It was confirmed: my son can walk. Sort of.
At ten months and six days he is on the early end of first-steppers, but he isn’t off the bell curve or anything. (According to my mom he’s got me beat by three whole months. Apparently I was quite content to drag myself around on my belly. My sister, on the other hand, took her first steps at ten months.) It seems like he has changed so much in these past six weeks. I can hardly keep up with all of his new abilities and behaviors. His first birthday is two whole months away. I can’t even imagine how much different he’ll be by then.
Unfortunately, The Missus wasn’t home for Robert’s first steps. No worries, though. She doesn’t have to work today, so hopefully Robert will show off his new tricks for mom. Robbie has never been the shy type, so I don’t think it will be a problem.
The Sound of Sleep
At this moment I am listening to perhaps the most boring audio recording in the history of audio recordings. (Well, except for anything by John Cage.) It is 8 hours and 8 minutes of the sound of me sleeping. In other words, it’s eight hours of not much of anything.
Why would a guy record himself sleeping? The Missus claims I snore, or breathe heavy, or whistle like a teapot, or something like that. I don’t necessarily doubt that’s true, but sometimes I wonder if her description of the volume of my breathing is a bit ... exaggerated. A couple times she has even accused me of breathing too loud while I was awake and consciously trying not to make a peep. Sometimes I think she just needs to turn down her hearing aids. If she had hearing aids.
More seriously, based on a number of factors I have wondered for years if maybe I have sleep apnea or some mild sleep disorder. An audio recording isn’t exactly the best way to diagnose a sleep disorder, but I figure it’s a start.
So far I haven’t heard anything interesting. I scanned through the recording and I didn’t notice anything too obnoxious. There’s a little light snoring here and there, but nothing that could make the nightstand shake. I’m going to run the file through some audio software to see if I find anything interesting.
And just so this isn’t the most boring thing you read all day, please go read the most boring thing ever written.
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