highlights of the week

Sela had her first cross country meet of the season. She was nervous and excited and then nervous some more. Just as school let out, the rain started to pour and I felt a cancellation was likely. We headed to the host school anyway and as we drove up, the rain quit and the meet was on. We didn't race at this school last year and I was a little surprised to find it had a HUGE hill that the kids called heartbreak hill. I was tired just watching them run up the thing! After the big hill, the kids run out of sight and then aren't really able to be seen until they round the last corner and head to the finish line. Sela was neck-n-neck with her good friend Morgan (an incredible sprinter!) on the uphill, and I thought there was a good chance Morgan might pull ahead on the downhill. But as the runners approached and the cheering started, out Sela popped in front of the pack. I was so excited for her. She ran her little heart out. All the HH girls did really well and I think the 4th grade girls took 1st through 5th place. And there was lots of hugging and laughter at the finish line.These kids really support each other!




Sela and Morgan

Jasmine, Gracie, Morgan,  Annie and Sela...such a fun group of girls!

 I played my first competitive singles match in 16 years on Friday. And let me just tell you how wierd it feels to say 16 YEARS! How is that even possible? Where has the time gone? I still feel like I'm 25. Erin and I were talking about that on the phone this week. She feels much the same way. I remember my last high school singles match like it was yesterday and now I have four kids and I life I could not have imagined back then. Never would have thought I'd be (somewhat) settled in Washington for sure. It's all strange even to think about. But anyway, back to the tennis. I kind of got thrown in at the last minute to play on a Cup team this year. But that's another story. My first match took place on Friday and it was really tough. No one warned me, but apparently this lady was a 5.0  and one of the top players. We had a close match, but I was behind at the buzzer so the win went to my opponent.  I really did not expect to lose, I don't know why, but I was way too tentative, played it safe, and she made me pay. But it was awesome to be competing again. And I'd definitely rather play hard players because that is the quickest way to get back to my game. I was dripping with sweat at the end...I could have wrung out my clothes, and to be able to get that kind of workout at something I love, well, I'm pretty stoked about that. My teammates are great women, they play hard, but they don't take it too serious. They have lives and kids and balance and are just playing for fun. They're all business on the court, but all laughs afterwards. I lucked out because at this level not all teams are like that, some take it WAY too seriously.

  Aside from playing tennis a few times this week, I stayed home a lot during the day. I tried to prepare meals in the morning so our evenings would go smoother and that was very helpful. I took some time to read. I have a huge stack of books beside my bed calling my name. I carted the kids around in the afternoon, but because I had lots of downtime in the morning, I wasn't too worn out. Here's what we had for dinner:

Monday: Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad
Tuesday: Wild Rice Cherry Soup
Wednesday: Sengalese Peanut Soup (recipe coming)
Thursday: Crisp Black Bean Tacos with feta and slaw
Friday: Goat Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Sauce    Saturday: Tomato Goat Cheese Crostini (my favorite summer meal)  Sunday: Grilled Salmon, Greek salad, and potatoes For family night, we made Eclairs before Sela taught the lesson. Sela has been wanting to learn how to make them since she had one at a bakery this summer. Rollin and I made the dark chocolate icing during the day and the girls and I made the filling and shells and put them all together in the evening. I'm glad it takes several steps to make these things so I won't be tempted to do it too often!  

Blogger is really acting up and I'm tired of re-doing stuff so I'm going to have to cut it short tonight and prepare for the week ahead.