Times Are Passing Us By

Welcome to the working week. It was a strange weekend. Saturday was hotter than hell, hitting the mid-90s. I opted not to do my long run, waiting for hopefully cooler temps on Sunday. We took Hannah to her first week of soccer, which basically involved having the kids do a lot of drills. Hannah didn't really have much fun, between having to run around in heavy socks and cleats in the sweltering heat and having those cleats be a size too small (we tried out her cousin's old ones). Hopefully, next weekend will be better for her.

Part of the problem also may have been that it was one more new thing to deal with last week. I may have spoken too soon about her dealing with kindergarten. On Friday and this morning, she was pretty anxious and weepy about the whole situation. I sat with her in the lobby both days until school started. She seems to have been fine once in the classroom, but she's worked herself up into a lather about the beginning of the day for some reason. Of course, she wasn't the only kid who was upset this morning; there were a few others there going through similar emotions. She's a sensitive kid, but I think once she gets a little more familiar with the school, teacher and other students, she'll be okay.

Saturday afternoon, we went to the beach and spent four hours there. Call it summer's last stand. Our timing was good, because about 90 minutes after we got home, some thunderstorms moved in and it poured like a mofo for about 20 minutes.

I got up at 5:30 Sunday morning to head out for my 20-mile run and was literally tying my shoes when the thunder and lightning started up again. I had to wait for three hours before I could hit the road, but it ended up being a nice cloudy and cool run. Less than five weeks until race day.

Let the bullets fly:

• After my run yesterday, I plunked down on the couch (post-shower, of course) and watched the Patriots destroy the Jets, 38-14. Brady had so much time to stand in the pocket and fire away to Randy Moss and his other new receivers. I'm just pissed I didn't activate Moss on my frickin' fantasy football team; he hadn't practiced at all, so I figured he wouldn't do much. Goes to show what I know. Meanwhile, a controversy has blossomed as the Jets have accused the Pats of stealing signals during the game. Apparently a Patriots employee with a camera was allegedly filming Jets' coaches using hand signals and relaying them to the Pats sideline; Green Bay accused the team of doing the same thing last November. The league's looking into the situation; if they're found guilty, the Patriots could lose a draft pick. To me, it sounds like sour grapes. Besides, wouldn't you change your signals regularly to prevent opponents from figuring them out anyway?
• Speaking of the NFL, a scary scene occurred yesterday in the Bills-Broncos game when tight end Kevin Everett sustained a life-threatening spinal-cord injury that paralyzed him. The surgeon who operated on him afterward said Everett may never walk again. Everett was trying to make a tackle and hit a Broncos player helmet on helmet. It highlights what a brutal game football is (and I'm not saying that as a criticism); any hit can result in a major injury, especially with the size of the players. Hopefully, Everett can recover enough to lead a somewhat normal life.
• Wow, Sen. Larry Craig is actually taking steps to withdraw his guilty plea in the Minneapolis airport sex sting. How clueless is this guy? He says the guilty plea was the result of "an intense state of anxiety" about the arrest becoming public knowledge and pressure from the media investigating reports that he is gay. Craig, of course, vehemently denies being gay because that goes against his conservative ideology. Wonder how his constituents feel about it? Whatever the case, he's making late-night monologue writers giddy with anticipation for his next idiotic move.