Out of My Sports Comfort Zone

A surprising number of people over the years have thought that because I'm a hockey fan, I'm a sports fan, and that really isn't true. My dad watched football and basketball as well as hockey, but I imprinted on the Bruins like a baby duck, ignoring all else.

However, a friend of mine invited some people to come to a soccer game, and I decided to go along for the fun of the outing. The local team, FC Naples, is in a minor pro league, and is new to the area.

I drove up with one of the group, and we noticed a lot of smoke not that far from the arena. We weren't sure if it was a controlled burn or not, but we did see helicopters go by periodically with water bags, so it looked like they were trying to put it out. Happily for us, the smoke never got close enough to be a problem.

The weather was hot and humid, but there were some clouds as well as smoke cover, so at least the sunlight wasn't always too much.

Apparently my guess that this meant "fortune favors the bold" was correct! Fun phrase to put over a climbing wall.

We walked around the pitch before the game; it was lovely, but also very very hot, and very very buggy. Damned no-see-ums, get out of my eyelashes!

I was very glad that not only were we not at ground level, but our tickets actually included both inside and outside seating. That air conditioning was such a blessing!

The rest of the pictures I took were of warm-ups.

The game itself was fun. I did find some of the ways soccer is different from hockey to be confusing, but that's not a surprise, is it? (Seriously, though, their offsides is weird.)

We got to talk to a young man who watched part of the game in that area, who it turns out was the team's number-two goalie. He got a red card in the last game and had to sit this one out! He was very nice, and explained some things to us. 

Later on, a couple of young girls, maybe 11 or 12, were also explaining things to us: they both play soccer themselves, so they were a font of knowledge.

And our team won! Which of course made things even more fun. I'm not signing up for season tickets, but it was a very entertaining evening.

A Moment of Belonging

I had to go to a doctor's appointment this morning, and while it was nothing serious and it went fine, I still decided to treat myself on the way home and stopped in at a local bakery (they make a really good caramel latte). 

While I was in line, a woman I know through the Newcomers club came over to say hi, and ask about how Mom is doing, which was really nice. 

Then when she went back to her table, the woman in line behind me said, don't I know you from Newcomers, and I kind of recognized her too, and it turns out that we're going to the same event on Sunday. 

More to come about that, but I just wanted to remember this little moment of belonging here, and how nice it felt.

A Lazy Knitter's Way Out

I wanted to wind yarn to start a new project (because no, none of the projects I have going were crying out to be picked up again now), but I was too lazy to pull the swift and ball-winder out from under all the assorted crap piled in the corner.

So I took a look around and made it work another way.

The arms of the chair were the perfect size. And before you knew it, there was a tidy ball of yarn ready to go.

And after an evening hanging out with knitting friends, I had this.

Much more to come! In time.

Enjoying a Good Deed

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get to do something that is technically a "good deed" but also benefits me, and today was one of those days, as I joined the regular beach clean-up on my local beach. They do it monthly, I think, but 8 AM on a Saturday is a time I would often prefer to be sleeping in. This time, though, I'd arranged to meet up with some friends, so it was time to set the alarm and go.

The weather was warm and humid, and the walk over was pretty, as it often is.

It's a beautiful beach.

We walked around for probably an hour, doing some talking in between picking up cigarette butts (ewww*) and bottle tops. We aren't supposed to be picking up anything natural, just man-made, but I did pick up a bunch of orange peels and a lemon wedge, figuring that they may be natural, but having them on the sand biodegrading for months isn't. 
*We discussed how doing this made us think both that people are pretty cool, because look at the crowd of people doing this, and also people suck, because look at the crap they drop in the sand.

I picked up one thing to bring home:

It may have been early for me to be up and out on a day off, but it was a pretty nice start to the day.

That Kind of Tired

You know the kind of tired where you've been doing okay, coping and getting things done and getting through, but then one more thing goes wrong and your body just goes, nope, I'm done? I hit that today.

Mom got home from rehab on Tuesday, and we're dealing with the unfortunately familiar merry-go-round of in-home healthcare visits and so on, on top of the usual groceries/meals/dishes/laundry/condo checks/mail/work, fine fine. Coping along.

Yesterday, the OT who visited suggested a half bed rail would help Mom getting out of bed, so today I ran over to the local church that collects various medical supplies like walkers and wheelchairs to loan out, and picked one up. It was partly assembled, and when I got it home, I tried to put it together the rest of the way. And I know how, I can see how it should go, but the second "leg" of the thing has two parts that have to click together, and the holes are juuuuuuuuust not quite lining up, no matter what I do. 

I'm that kind of tired. My hands hurt from fighting it. For tonight, I give up. But it's so frustrating.

Edited to add: today the PT person was here to evaluate Mom, and he was able to get it to lock in. Whew!

The Mom Situation

After I wrote last month that Mom hurt her back, and that she was getting better but really slowly, I didn't update more because that's where we were for a week or two: getting better, slowly, slowly. But last Wednesday she fell, the poor thing, and was off to the hospital again. It's really just one thing after another for her, the last few years, isn't it?

She had a big bump on her head and a black eye, and it turns out also broke her clavicle and scapula*, and a few ribs, all on the right side (already her bad side due to the shoulder surgery that went wrong a few years ago). 
*That's the collarbone and shoulder blade, for those of us who had to look the words up to be sure.

She was in the hospital for a few days, and then moved to rehab over the weekend, so they can work on her overall strength (on the left, and lower body) and balance until the right side is up to being worked on. The good news is that she's at the same place she was ~18 months ago, after hip surgery, and at the time she felt it was a good experience, as such things go, so hopefully this time again they will be able to help her. We don't know yet how long she'll be there, or what will be next. 

While I am very sorry she fell and hurt more things, I will admit that in a way, I am enjoying this period of time where I am not responsible for knowing what to do, if that makes sense. She is being well taken care of, and I don't have to worry that I'm doing something wrong or missing something important. Nursing is not something I'm good at, and I appreciate that she's in good hands for now.

On Friday night, I went in to the hospital to visit her after work, and took myself out to dinner after (so that I could go buy groceries without being so hungry I bought All The Food). Down here, "season" is finally over, the hordes of snowbirds and other tourists have vastly diminished, and it meant that I could walk into a restaurant that a month or two ago would have been crammed at 6 on a Friday night, and be seated immediately.

I got a fried rice dish with chicken and pineapple, and you can't fault the presentation:

It even had an umbrella!

On my way back to the car, I was overcome by the glorious scent of these flowers. I don't know what they are, but they smelled fabulous.

And looked good too. It was a beautiful night.

Anyway, now, I'm trying to accomplish things, whether it's laundry or dishes, or bringing things to Mom, or talking to medical people about her, or just getting things done that need doing. Which might be paying bills, or doing condo checks, or even things for my own sanity.

For instance, I have a few knit items that I've been meaning to wash and block, so I finally did the first one. This is the Swell shawl, knit in Mary Ann yarn from Wonderland (colorway "8 That first magical kiss," which is a colorburst/assigned pooling colorway with dusky pink/lavender as the main color, and bursts of blue and purple). Here it is laid out before its soak:

And then pinned out wet. It grew!

It wanted to curl up there at the top (aka the right corner), so I let it. I look forward to it being dry, so I can see how it falls. And then it will be on to the next!

Really Coming and Going

Each time I notice the new plate on my car (or even think of it, honestly), I smile.

It goes so well with this sticker in particular.

And of course with the front plate.

When I picked up the new plate, the woman mentioned that if my old plate was registered with any programs like Sunpass (the Florida toll payment system), to be sure to update it there. Since I only signed up for that for my rare trips to the east coast (we don't have toll roads anywhere I drive regularly), I'm not sure that would have occurred to me, so I'm glad she said so. I went online this weekend and updated it, which was a simple matter of deleting the record with the old plate and adding the new plate. Ta da:

It's like the batmobile, isn't it? 

Also, for the full image with the new plate, you can picture me driving along, windows down, cranking Imagine Dragons...it works for me.

Coming and Going

Guess what came?

My new license plate! 

The power screwdriver is charging, so I can put it on ASAP. Wave if you see me!