Got this link from Mr. Occultation:


...and a still pic:

We're back from our first major tournament of the year. The boys did ok as a whole, but Lil Lookout came out of our 4 games looking like a freaking wunderkid. I am obviously biased but other coaches and parents were impressed enough to be chatting with each other about his performances. He scored at least one in every game and even had a 4 minute hattrick in our 3rd rainsoaked game. The boy looked happy with himself.

Unfortunately, our final game was against an out of state team that absolutely, positively had to have provided fake birth certificates. I know a little about this game and how kids develop. I KNOW that there is no team of 8 year olds who all have that kind of technique. Everyone of their attacking players was better than LL, every one of their defenders better than our best defender.

-an 8 year old girl who is 5'6" and puts corner kicks on the backpost every single time with no variation?
-two 8 year old boys who exchange blind passes down the length of the field using only the outside of their boot without letting the ball touch the ground?
-an 8 year old boy who knows how to elevate for a header and fully extend his core to redirect a ball to goal?

No flippin way. I was really proud of my kids for holding the score to a 3-1 loss. They beat our biggest rivals 8-0 earlier in the morning.

Mebbee they got 'em on growth hormones.

Congrats to LL! :cheerldr:

This week is Fresher's Week. My induction meeting (and drinks and nibbles afterwards) is tomorrow :)

That's it. Now I have to get serious about research. I'm starting to feel a slight buzz of anticipation. An end to Summer's drifting.

We've got absolutely spectacular weather today and Max is just being so cute...and I'm finally starting to feel like things are almost back to right in my world again. :)

That's good to hear!

Glad to hear that Ali! I've been wondering about you. Is he eating better? Is he putting on any weight?

Great stuff Ali. Glad things are bedding down a bit:)

What's making me happy: I went off to uni on Tuesday for induction day: had a really nice time, felt totally reconnected with my goals. Came back buzzing with excitement at the whole research student thing. called at Mum's to grab the dog and she gave me a lift home: walked in to my house to find she'd tidied and cleaned (like sparkling) my kitchen and living room. She's spent the last couple of days chivvying me into action to do runs to the town dump with many black bags of old clothes, broken electricals etc. It's an ongoing project but already i feel lighter :P

Got back yesterday to discover she'd done my bathroom :P I've spent this morning bagging up more junk: just got back from dumping it.

It's been bothering me, the state of the house. But depression set in and I've found it increasingly difficult to tackle it. She's a gem.

On top of that, reconnecting with my study goals has kickstarted the project. I've done several hours work on it in the last couple of days, including starting my research blog (very handy as a way of organising your thoughts) and emailing my supervisor to arrange our first meeting. I've done a very basic (very basic) run down of my thoughts so far, breaking the overarching thesis title down into subquestions and briefly analysing some of the evidence I've identified, and at the same time identifying some stuff I am very shaky on (how to create a usable sample set for example).

I am very happy :)

Anniversary today. 16 excellent years.

Hey, congrats glatt!

Great news Glatt. You are beating the odds. Congrats.

Wow, congratulations to you and the Mrs., glatt!

Happy Anniversary to the glatts! :)

Thanks everyone! We're going out to an Italian place in Old Town Alexandria where we've never been before.

Congrats Glatt:)