This weekend's soccer tournament had excitement off the field as well. In this case, it extended to the sidelines. K and her kids decided they wanted to come watch DQ's game on Friday night. I didn't think much of it since Barbie wasn't supposed to be there. Turns out Barbie's plans changed and she was.
Now you have to understand, Barbie and K have not met before. Barbie knew what K looked like since she's been to my house and seen the picture of us on my fireplace mantle. But K had never seen Barbie.
So gametime rolls around and I have the girls on one side of the field while all the parents are sitting on the other. K and her kids are all the way towards one side when I notice Barbie show up and plop herself down somewhere in the middle. I'm thinking "What the hell is she doing here?" Then to make things worse, DQ notices K and her kids had shown up and waves to them. And I notice that Barbie notices who DQ is waving at.
Crap.
So now I'm trying to coach a game while thinking about all the worst case scenarios that could happen. Needless to say that I was distracted for the rest of the game. Then when the game ends I have to get the girls lined up for a handshake. As I look across the field, my heart drops into my stomach. Barbie went right over to K and struck up a conversation. And K had no idea that this was coming.
By the time I got over there, the introductions were already made and Barbie was on her way out of there. Turns out it wasn't so bad. K said Barbie was polite, but that she was still taken by surprise.
Anyway, Sunday rolls around and DQ has her 3rd place game at noon. K tells me that T2 wants to go watch DQ again. And K has decided to come because she doesn't want Barbie to think that she is only showing up when Barbie isn't supposed to be there. Since there wasn't any sort of animosity at their first meeting, I said fine.
I got there early with DQ for warmups on the far side of the field, and then about 10 minutes before the game starts Barbie shows up and sets up her chair on the parents sideline. Not 2 minutes later K and T2 show up as well. And to my utter surprise, K walks up to Barbie, says something, and then sets up her chair right next to her. That's not what I had envisioned when she said she wanted to go.
Now here I am, standing on one side of a soccer field watching my future wife and my ex wife sitting on the other chatting it up. It was an extremely unsettling experience to say the least...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Soccer Tournament Pictures
DQ's soccer tournament was this weekend, and we finished in 4th place out of 8 teams. We finished 2-1 in our bracket, then lost the 3rd place game in a nailbiter, 3-2.
Anyway, here are some pictures from the tournament:
Anyway, here are some pictures from the tournament:
I voted
On my way to work this morning, I stopped and voted. Since Joe Biden was no longer on the NC Democratic Ballot, I was down to 4 choices.
Hillary Clinton
Mike Gravel
Barack Obama
Other __________
So now all I can tell you is that after I got up to walk out, Barack Obama is winning North Carolina 2 votes to 0. (I peeked at the woman in front of me when she was putting her ballot into the machine.)
At this rate it's going to be a blowout.
OK, maybe not...
Hillary Clinton
Mike Gravel
Barack Obama
Other __________
So now all I can tell you is that after I got up to walk out, Barack Obama is winning North Carolina 2 votes to 0. (I peeked at the woman in front of me when she was putting her ballot into the machine.)
At this rate it's going to be a blowout.
OK, maybe not...
Monday, May 5, 2008
The Joe & K Story
It's about time to start talking again. And telling a bit about myself is as good a place to begin, so here's the story of Joe & K, from the beginning:
Boy meets Someone.
Boy flirts with Someone, because boy is a) an incurable smartass, and b) will do anything for a laugh, and c) is secure in the knowledge that it can never go anywhere. And because Someone initiated the conversation.
Because you see, Boy had issues. From early adolescence, Boy had pretty much held himself apart from other people. Boy didn't want to seem like an insociable loner, so humor was the weapon he used to keep people at bay. He wore it like a mask to disguise himself. It became his schtick, to make people laugh. After a while, the act became so much a part of Boy that he found it hard to separate himself from the act.
Most people liked the act. Others thought Boy was an arrogant smartass, or even worse, not someone who could be taken seriously. And Boy pretended it didn't bother him, all the while secretly despising people who weren't smart enough to see behind the mask.
And then one day Someone peeked behind the mask, and didn't shrink from what she saw. Boy fell deeply in love with this Someone, and married her. They spent eleven wonderful years together, and two not-so-good years. During that time, Boy and Someone had two beautiful children, imperfectly perfect little creatures who taught Boy and Someone things about spirit and love and determination that they would never have known otherwise. Boy thought it would last forever.
Alas, Boy was wrong. Old habits die hard, and Boy didn't realize until it was too late that he wore that mask and used that act with Someone far more than he realized. Boy's first and only clue that Someone wasn't happy was the day Someone sat down on the couch and told him that she felt like a roommate, not a wife or lover. Someone wanted a separation. Boy was devastated.
Boy spent many months doing everything possible to rid himself of that mask. Then about a year later Boy learned that Someone had been seeing Someone Else for quite a long time, been sharing her thoughts and feelings with him - the ones she wouldn't share with Boy.
And Boy was consumed with such a rage that he contemplated very nasty thoughts about Someone Else. But Boy took a long hard look at himself and stepped back from the abyss. Boy came to understand that he was at least partly to blame for Someone leaving. He took her for granted. He didn't make her feel loved. Even with the most important person in his life, he still wore the mask. He still did the act. And Boy vowed that he would never again become the person he was, he would permanently destroy that mask. He would share more of himself, because frankly, going through life alone sucked.
Boy spent that next year rebuilding relationships with friends and family, and sorting his life out. Boy learned he could be more open with people, show them a little part of himself, and they'd still laugh. He discovered that people liked his humor, but they didn't shy away when he dropped the act and shared something painful and personal. On the contrary, they showered him with understanding and affection. Boy was absolutely amazed, and humbled.
With this newfound outlook on life, Boy began searching for that special person who would be that perfect compliment to the person Boy wanted to be. Boy had his clumsy dating adventures, some of them with very nice women, but none of them were right, and as such, none of them lasted. Near the end of one such adventure, Boy began to despair that he'd never again find someone he liked in that way. He still believed in fairy tales and white picket fences. He believed in happily ever after, and 'til Death do you part'. He just didn't think it was going to happen.
Then like magic, Boy met Girl. There was this something about Girl that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but Boy was powerfully intrigued. Girl was smart, funny, pretty, self confident, and Boy couldn't deny that he really was attracted to Girl.
Boy and Girl started talking all the time. Soon the conversations became a daily thing, and they would go on forever and take unexpected turns and Boy would laugh and think and argue, and then look up to see that six hours had passed. Some of the conversations would delve into very dark places that neither Boy or Girl felt comfortable letting people see. Yet they did anyway.
Then one day Boy realized that Girl had become his best friend. He found himself thinking about her at odd hours, and smiling with the whisper of her name on his lips. Boy realized what he had seen in Girl from the beginning; himself. Not himself as he was, but himself as he could be.
Boy fell in love with Girl. He was scared to admit it, because the last and only other time he had felt this way, he had gotten hurt. Boy also considered that not admitting things like that was the reason his love for Someone had died in the first place, and how he had vowed to never let that happen again. So Boy took a deep breath and told Girl how he felt. To his surprise, she told him she felt the same way.
And just like that, Boy's life changed. And in the months since, it has only gotten better. The future looks like a better place because Girl is a part of it. And soon it will be official.
I love you, K.
Boy meets Someone.
Boy flirts with Someone, because boy is a) an incurable smartass, and b) will do anything for a laugh, and c) is secure in the knowledge that it can never go anywhere. And because Someone initiated the conversation.
Because you see, Boy had issues. From early adolescence, Boy had pretty much held himself apart from other people. Boy didn't want to seem like an insociable loner, so humor was the weapon he used to keep people at bay. He wore it like a mask to disguise himself. It became his schtick, to make people laugh. After a while, the act became so much a part of Boy that he found it hard to separate himself from the act.
Most people liked the act. Others thought Boy was an arrogant smartass, or even worse, not someone who could be taken seriously. And Boy pretended it didn't bother him, all the while secretly despising people who weren't smart enough to see behind the mask.
And then one day Someone peeked behind the mask, and didn't shrink from what she saw. Boy fell deeply in love with this Someone, and married her. They spent eleven wonderful years together, and two not-so-good years. During that time, Boy and Someone had two beautiful children, imperfectly perfect little creatures who taught Boy and Someone things about spirit and love and determination that they would never have known otherwise. Boy thought it would last forever.
Alas, Boy was wrong. Old habits die hard, and Boy didn't realize until it was too late that he wore that mask and used that act with Someone far more than he realized. Boy's first and only clue that Someone wasn't happy was the day Someone sat down on the couch and told him that she felt like a roommate, not a wife or lover. Someone wanted a separation. Boy was devastated.
Boy spent many months doing everything possible to rid himself of that mask. Then about a year later Boy learned that Someone had been seeing Someone Else for quite a long time, been sharing her thoughts and feelings with him - the ones she wouldn't share with Boy.
And Boy was consumed with such a rage that he contemplated very nasty thoughts about Someone Else. But Boy took a long hard look at himself and stepped back from the abyss. Boy came to understand that he was at least partly to blame for Someone leaving. He took her for granted. He didn't make her feel loved. Even with the most important person in his life, he still wore the mask. He still did the act. And Boy vowed that he would never again become the person he was, he would permanently destroy that mask. He would share more of himself, because frankly, going through life alone sucked.
Boy spent that next year rebuilding relationships with friends and family, and sorting his life out. Boy learned he could be more open with people, show them a little part of himself, and they'd still laugh. He discovered that people liked his humor, but they didn't shy away when he dropped the act and shared something painful and personal. On the contrary, they showered him with understanding and affection. Boy was absolutely amazed, and humbled.
With this newfound outlook on life, Boy began searching for that special person who would be that perfect compliment to the person Boy wanted to be. Boy had his clumsy dating adventures, some of them with very nice women, but none of them were right, and as such, none of them lasted. Near the end of one such adventure, Boy began to despair that he'd never again find someone he liked in that way. He still believed in fairy tales and white picket fences. He believed in happily ever after, and 'til Death do you part'. He just didn't think it was going to happen.
Then like magic, Boy met Girl. There was this something about Girl that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but Boy was powerfully intrigued. Girl was smart, funny, pretty, self confident, and Boy couldn't deny that he really was attracted to Girl.
Boy and Girl started talking all the time. Soon the conversations became a daily thing, and they would go on forever and take unexpected turns and Boy would laugh and think and argue, and then look up to see that six hours had passed. Some of the conversations would delve into very dark places that neither Boy or Girl felt comfortable letting people see. Yet they did anyway.
Then one day Boy realized that Girl had become his best friend. He found himself thinking about her at odd hours, and smiling with the whisper of her name on his lips. Boy realized what he had seen in Girl from the beginning; himself. Not himself as he was, but himself as he could be.
Boy fell in love with Girl. He was scared to admit it, because the last and only other time he had felt this way, he had gotten hurt. Boy also considered that not admitting things like that was the reason his love for Someone had died in the first place, and how he had vowed to never let that happen again. So Boy took a deep breath and told Girl how he felt. To his surprise, she told him she felt the same way.
And just like that, Boy's life changed. And in the months since, it has only gotten better. The future looks like a better place because Girl is a part of it. And soon it will be official.
I love you, K.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Things you cannot unsee
Yes, it's 80 degrees outside today. Yes, there is nothing better than watching women walk around downtown Raleigh in little sundresses. There is, however, a downside. And that is the mini-skirt on women who have no business wearing a mini-skirt.
Welcome to my morning commute...
Welcome to my morning commute...
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