Reason 5,432,109 why I love working with the young women

the great slumber party of 2011

This picture is just one of the many reasons I love working with the young women. This week to be the camp leader again. Of course I agreed. I LOVE girls camp! When the girls found out they cheered. When you are having a rough week, nothing beats having a group of teenage girls cheer for you.
I've had such a great experience working with the young women at my church, and with "Little" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, that my dream and goal of becoming a foster mother to a teenage girl keeps coming back to me. Oh how I wish I had a real, stable, and well-paying job so I could get myself back into a position where fostering would be a reality again. (New to this blog? I was approved to become a foster mother in Utah just a few days before I got laid off 2 years ago.)
I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but if I did, getting back to a position where I could be a foster mother would be my top goal.
Until then, I'm just glad I get to "foster" and witness things like this-

Owling on the fireplace mantel

Monkeying

 

I have no idea

Thoughts of a Very Distracted Woman

It is almost noon and I'm tip-toeing around the house trying not to wake up the sleeping... teenager? I now finally understand how raising teenagers is a lot like raising toddlers.

I can't help but remember how my parents never would have let me sleep in till noon on a weekday (or any day for that matter). By now they would have brought in an infant or toddler sibling and let them loose in my bedroom. I learned quickly to never leave my toddler brother alone unsupervised in my room for long. RIP Kirk Cameron poster.

But I'm happy to let Little keep on sleeping. It gives me a few more minutes to get my "boring work stuff" done. Once she's awake I start to feel guilty that I'm glued to the computer while she's sitting there with nothing interesting to do.

I've been painfully distracted over the last few days, and it is really starting to show. I have to ask her to repeat herself every other line because I just didn't hear her the first time. It doesn't help that she thinks she's picked up a "southern twang," and enjoys speaking with it. What she doesn't know is she sounds more like Oliver Twist, than a Southerner. For instance, I haven't heard a "y'all" out of her yet. But she did try and use "yes'm" on me yesterday. I can promise you, no real Southerner alive today still says "yes'm."

While she works on elongating her r's and a's, my brain is rolling around too many other things. What will I do if the client who is 60 days past due doesn't pay up? Should I pack jeans to go to Cambodia? Why am I even thinking about Cambodia when the client hasn't paid? I can't go if it doesn't! What is the point in taking shirts I have to layer to Cambodia? Wait no, stop thinking that way, you are NOT buying new clothes to go work in a third world country orphanage! I need to call the doctor and see if they have had any cancellations yet. Dang it, the laundry is done. Do I have to wait till 90 days past due before hiring a lawyer to collect? I wonder if Little is ready to make an entree yet? She doesn't have the confidence yet, but her skills are pretty good. Maybe she just needs to stick to the small stuff still. Got to remember to mail the stuff. Where did I put that stuff? Is it just me or is it painfully hot in here? The dog stinks. Why does the dog always stink? Oh right, she played in the river. Note to self, keep dog out of river.

I'm so distracted that I lost 4 board games to the kid last night. I don't think she minded though. It was her first time to ever beat me that many times at a game. She probably likes it when I'm this distracted. Maybe tonight I'll challenge her to a rematch. Maybe. 

A "Little" Summer Fun

Planking!

Planking fail! (ouch!)

Why must kids grow up??

"Little" and me in May 2011

"Little" (on a ferris wheel ride) in June 2011

Can we all just agree it is completely unbelievable and unfair how much this kid grew up in just one month? I swear to you last month when I saw "Little" she was still shorter than me! This month? She's maybe, at most, half an inch shorter than me!! I told her to stop growing up, but I told her that last month, and look how well it worked. I'm going to have to move back to Utah just so I can make sure I don't miss out on anything else. If she keeps this up I'm going to have to stop calling her my kiddo, or little girl! And I am really not ready for that yet. 

Erin and Little Reunited!

Dear Everybody in the Whole Wide World:
As you may remember, I'm in Utah on vacation this week! Today (Saturday) was one of the best days EVER! And here to help me tell you about it is my favorite sidekick, "Little!"

On our way to Little's dance recital

First, Little wants to tell you about Wednesday!
I stayed home from school due to an allergic reaction. I was at home in bed all day with a swollen face. My mom left to go get us some lunch and pick up my brother, and i heard some knocking on the door. I wasn't expecting anybody so i figured it would be the ups guy or someone. The knocking continued so i went to see who it was. As i peeked through the window i saw blonde hair, and i thought it looked like Erin. i opened the door and i saw Erin holding a camera and i freaked out. I had no idea that she was coming, and i started crying!
We went out to eat, and talked a lot. We had a whole year to catch up on, then i asked her if she had seen my favorite movie, which is Tangled. She hadn't so we came back to my house to watch it. I had a dance recital that night so she curled my hair for me, and off we went. But mostly we were just excited for our big plans for Saturday (today).

Now, it is my (Erin's) turn to tell you about Wednesday!
Little's mother and I have been planning for over a month to surprise Little when I came into town. But then the night before she got really sick, so we had to change our plans at the last second. I liked our backup plan even better. Getting to surprise Little at home was really fun. It was just like she said- I knocked on the door (a couple of times!), she answered, and she yelled, "What are you doing here?!" We hugged, and then we just started to cry!!
Here's a not so flattering picture of that moment-

:-(

After we stopped crying and I got a good look at her face it broke my heart to see how bad she still looked! Her face was all swollen (she wants to make sure you understand she is NOT fat), and she had a subsiding rash on her neck. It made me so sad I hadn't been able to get there sooner to help her!
But we had a great afternoon together, and it was a lot of fun to get to go to her dance recital! But like she said- Saturday is the more important day!
Which brings us to-
TODAY!

Today started out with me (still Erin typing) going to pick her up from her dad's house. He was very kind to let me steal her away on his weekend. And even nicer of her little sister (no, really, her REAL little sister) to let Little leave her birthday party early.
We planned our day to be our version of a perfect day- a Real Salt Lake game, mani pedis, shopping, eating, and a sleepover! Can you think of anything better? I think not!
So we went to the RSL game first. We got there right as the game was beginning. A man sold us his SECOND ROW, CENTER FIELD seats for half price! Best seats we've ever had! (Even though it wasn't section 13, row 13, seat 13, which is our preferred place to sit in honor of our favorite former player, Ian Joy.) But we have to admit- second row in the center of the field is a pretty great place to sit.
Loaded down with the necessary foods from the concession stand, we took our seats, and watched the game. It was a pretty great game, minus the fact that one of the best players suffered a very serious injury. (Erin will talk about that on her soccer blog later. This blog is about us!)
Here's a picture of the awesomeness of our seats-

Johnson and Beckerman, and Beckerman's facial hair

As Little points out, we were sitting so close you could see their facial hair and Beckerman's dreads.
After the game we posed with a few of our favorite players for a goal shot-

Girl's got skillz!

Little also points out she jumps as high as Beckerman and Johnson too!

White girls can't jump!

After the match- which RSL won, but was very sad because Javi got hurt, we went to get mani pedis at our favorite place. Little is now sporting hot pink toes and purple fingers. Erin has bright blue toes and soft pink fingers. Every time we go there Erin gets creeped out by the finger things.

WTF?

Seriously, what are they?!
After that we went to the mall where Little finally got to cash in on getting straight A's. (Erin has been promising her money or clothes for straight A's for a very long time. Conveniently, she hasn't been around to pay up!) She picked a very cute little sundress and tank tops from Aeropostale. We only bring this up because Erin is happy she no longer has to be subjected to shopping in Justice anymore. (And because Erin is sad that Little is growing up and is too mature now for the silly styles of Justice. Peace signs? Who wears peace signs anymore?!)
After doing our part to support the economy, we headed home for a movie, giggling, and naturally, blogging. Ooh, and if you- the whole wide world- can keep it a secret from Little's mom for the next 5 hours, we'll tell you this part too! We made Little's mom a surprise Mother's Day breakfast she will get before she leaves for work way too early in the morning. (Just try not to spoil the surprise for her okay?)
Tomorrow we will be split up again- Little has to go back to her dad's house. And Erin will be doing something (she just doesn't remember what right now). But don't worry, we'll have a video of our reunion ready for you soon. Its so cute it will make you cry. And we have plans to continue shopping together in a few days. After all, we haven't emptied out the mall yet!
Here's a picture of our cuteness to tide you over-

Little and Big

I would if I could

I would do the singles week thing I wanted to do this week, but the truth is, I'm too tired tonight. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week.

For the last few weeks I've had a totally messed up schedule between going to Reno, working extra hours, watching the god-daughters, catching up on work hours, being sick with allergies, going to traffic courts, etc. But you know what tomorrow is? My first day back on my regular schedule in over 2 weeks. My cats and I are all looking very forward to that. It's not going to last for long, but I'm going to look forward to my 3 days of normal life while I can. Next week brings another trip to the courthouse, my brother moving in, getting new furniture, finally finishing the last of the foster care paperwork, a holiday, a wedding, and a trip to NYC.

Parting thoughts... Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

If you ever wonder if Big Brothers Big Sisters actually has any influence or effect on the kids they work with, I offer you the following picture.

Yes, for better or worse, I'd say I'm starting to have an influence on her. Same hair, same glasses. That's my girl!

Keeping It Real

It's time for a little soccer love and tutorial!
I'm going to guess that most of my friends don't know the following about major league soccer-
Games are actually called matches.
Matches are only 90 minutes. And unlike football or baseball, where 2 minutes of game time can literally stretch out over 40 minutes, the soccer clock never stops. The game is in constant motion. The exception to this rule is when someone gets injured on the field. If the game stops or slows for an injury, time is tacked on to the end of the half to make up for it.
Halves are 45 minutes with a 15 minute half-time.
Soccer rocks.

Tonight the Little and I went to the rare mid-week, school night game to see our beloved Real Salt Lake take on the LA Galaxy. Let's quickly learn to say "Real" the proper way. "Ray-al." Not "reel." Some people also pronounced it "Ree-al." I don't have a preference either way. Just don't call it "reel salt lake." That's just dumb.

If you are a pop culture fan you may know that the LA Galaxy is David Beckham's team. He didn't play tonight. I believe he's still on loan to Italy. If you are a real soccer fan you may be groaning at my lack of interest in Beckham's whereabouts. He doesn't play for RSL, so I don't really care.

Tonight's game rocked, even if we didn't win. We were ahead, and came really close to winning. But anyone who was there will tell you the last 2 minutes of the game (after the clock had stopped at 90 minutes, as we went into injury make up time), were 2 of the most exciting minutes you could ever ask for in soccer. We tied, and that's better than losing, right?

On top of that, RSL was playing with some key players missing.Our amazing goalie Nick Rimando was out with a lacerated finger. Jamison Olave was out on a player suspension (which was truly just dumb). Javier Morales was missing from action. And our favorite player (and by our, I mean me and Little) Ian Joy is still out on the injured list. So that's 4 first string players (out of 8) that were missing tonight. So I'd say that staying ahead most of the game, and only tying it up in the last few seconds was actually really remarkable!

Here's the picture story of our night.

Little looking more grown up every day.

And here's me posing as well.

 

We had great seats in our second favorite section, in row 10. We still prefer to sit in section 13, row 13, seat 13 (for Ian Joy #13), but this isn't a bad second choice. We were close enough to see the player's faces and see them yell at the refs. We like that. 

Here's one of the obligatory goofy shots. I would attempt to take a self-portrait, and Little would pop her head in at the last second.

One of my favorite parts about the games is the opening ceremonies and the National Anthem. The two teams come out holding hands with little soccer players. For reasons I can't explain, this chokes me up, and I think it is adorable every time. One of my biggest goals in life right now is to find out how to get Little to be one of those kids. She supports me in this goal I might add, as one of her biggest goals is to get the autographs of Kyle Beckerman and Ian Joy.

Let the game begin! (These really are great seats, just above the goal, so our vision isn't obscured!)

One of the unapproved, but strongly held traditions in soccer is to throw stuff on to the field. Particularly to throw streamers at the goals. We've seen games where the players ended up running down the field with yards of streamers around their ankles. But usually the streamers are just thrown to distract the goalies. This picture was taken very early on in the game, and barely does the streamer throwing justice.

And then there was some soccer playing going on! I have a crappy camera, and for that I apologize. But you should be able to see that the guy in the bluish jersey in the goal box has dived on top of the ball to block it. He's the other team's goalie, so that actually sucked.

But happily, just before the half, RSL scored. There was much rejoicing. But I didn't take any pictures of that.

The game continued on with a fabulous header by Robbie Russell. Poor guy jumped up to get the header, just as a Galaxy player jumped and did the same. But the Galaxy player mistook Russell's chrome dome for the ball and headbutted him instead. I swear you could hear the heads cracking all the way up in our seats. I have never felt so bad for a player writhing around on the field like that before.

I am now going to do something I have never done before on this blog. I'm going to bad mouth the refs for this game. I'm normally not the kind of fan who yells at a ref. I figure they are just human too. But wow, I have never before seen such biased and bad ref-ing as I did tonight. Galaxy players could grab RSL players by the collar and throw them to the ground, and no one would get penalized. But an RSL player could barely breathe in the direction of a Galaxy player and suddenly the ball has to change hands. I will hold myself back from calling the ref the Blind Hobbit From Hell, and instead just say, wow, it is hard to believe those guys were professionals tonight.

So the game goes on, and the game was great. Lots of cheering, singing, etc. My sister always wants to know if they sing "Ole! Ole, ole, ole!" at RSL games. The answer is yes, tonight they did. But in SLC we sing it, "Ole!, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ray-al, Salt Lake!" And that's always fun.

The second half just flew by. No goals, nothing. And then, suddenly in the 90th minute, some seriously bad refereeing took place, and they called a hand ball on RSL, which means the Galaxy could take a dead on shot on goal. They scored. Crap.

Not to be defeated like that, RSL grabbed the ball and took it down field. It was total bedlam in the stadium. I love it like that. Streamers were flying everywhere! And then, suddenly, there was a Galaxy hand ball! Woot! Penalty kick on goal!!
Here's the cutie #8 Johnson kicking on goal!

And there's the ball shooting just passed the goalie's hands! We scored!

There was much rejoicing! Please note the streamers!

Thinking there was only a few seconds left, and we were ahead 2-1, Little rejoiced as well.

 

But then, disaster! The unthinkable happened, and the Galaxy scored again! Bummer.

So we tied 2-2 in the last few seconds of the game. Oh well. Like I said, considering we were playing on a second string, with the third string goalie, I'd say that is impressive.

Next we hung out and got some autographs!

 

And again, there was much rejoicing!

 

All in all, we love soccer. And we really love our Real Salt Lake!