I don’t know what it is, maybe it is the fact that we are in the thralls of the lovely fall football season, but I have been in a competitive mood lately. And fortunately, our activities and hobbies for the past couple of weeks and for many of the upcoming weeks ahead will allow me to get this out of my system. Unfortunately, I only like to win and winning hasn’t exactly been the trend early on in this fall season but I think the tides are turning, that or I’m going to get better at losing.
So, what has brought competition into our lives?
- Doubles tennis league – I signed us up without really thinking about the likelihood of losing games. But fortunately, there is only room to improve for both of us. Bryan is still very new to tennis and I haven’t played consistently or much at all for a decade. We are experiencing soreness in new muscles and an easier way to get outside and have fun with friends as the weather is turning. So far, we have only played (and lost) against our friends David and Tina in a practice match and then to our first competitors in our league. Both matches were close, but that is what kills me…we could have easily won our match on Sunday but instead lost 3-6, 5-7. We’ll get them next time! And we have vowed to have a night a week of practice just Bryan and I…although Bryan worries that I will give him drills.
- Soccer team – I’ve now played three games with the Motrin Mommas (because literally every woman on the team is a mother…of kids in their 20s) and really enjoy the team and being back on the soccer field. There are still kinks to work out but I’m slowly getting my touch on the ball again. Bryan watched me play soccer for the first time ever for Sunday’s 0-0 tie. I’m a part-time player but will hopefully play as many as I can. Our record so far with me playing is 1-1-1.
- Bowling – Bryan had a guy’s night out at the Garage in Capitol Hill for some fun bowling. Fortunately for him they decided to put money on the games just as his bowling game started to improve. Bryan won the last two games and even though I wasn’t there to see it I was still proud he got a score in the 170s.
- Fantasy Football – This is a sore subject with me right now. It’s been one bad break after another. First my draft got all screwy when I got distracted and it auto-drafted two running backs as my second and third picks. Then my number one pick, David Johnson got injured in the very first game of the season and is out for a few months. Then I finally give Kirk Cousins the boot just before he has like the fantasy football game of his life with 350 yards of passing and an absurd number of TDs while the quarterback I dropped him for gives me a piss-poor performance throwing virtually as many interceptions as Cousins got in TDs. I’m 0-3 and not too happy about it…especially since I had the number one draft pick. I’m playing one of the toughest opponents this week but if I don’t win I don’t know what I’m going to do.
- Seahawks – With a 1-2 record and as close a game as you could get to the miserable 49ers do I have to go into any more details?
- Michigan Football – Only wins typically…’nough said.
Oh, there are things other than competitions that currently are keeping my mind busy. For instance, our shower in our bedroom had a broken seal in the shower tile and now the whole shower is ripped apart for repairs. They are going to re-tile the whole thing but it’s now been weeks of us showering in the guest bathroom down the hall and our bathroom is DUSTY with a capital D. I’ve gotten back into mystery shopping a bit. Bryan and I dined at Tulio’s downtown a few weeks ago and then at the expensive Daniel’s Broiler for a fancy lake-side steak dinner last week. We went and saw the new Kingsman movie on Monday for free and LOVED the clever humor and action scenes in the movie. I treated Marika to dinner at Eureka! in the U Village shopping area this week to catch up with her. All of the dinners have been good…because they are free! And we had our lovely friends Billy, Val, and Ainsley over for dinner last Friday for a lengthy grilled dinner of carne asada, elote corn and Val’s delicious pear clafoutis. We’ve missed these three. Works been busy, busy with our 100% deadline fast approaching for both stations as well as performance reviews happening in the next month or two. I’m thinking that we have a few more weeks of business and then it will start to dwindle. And just in time for my monthly SEAW dinner meetings starting back up with our first one this past Tuesday on the upcoming renovations to the Seattle Waterfront which was exciting and interesting.
This weekend is looking rather rainy and cold and neither Texas nor Michigan play this weekend so we will look to keep ourselves busy in other ways.
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 