Weekend Update, Like SNL only not as funny!

Soccer season is here. Our entire weekend was devoted to the game. Truly, I don’t mind and I even enjoy it.
Wait. Actually, that’s not true. The enjoyment part is; the part about our entire weekend isn’t. Friday night we had pizza at Monical’s. Yep. As in thin, crispy crust, Sweet & Tangy dressing, Monical’s. Evidently, they plan to take over the Midwestern pizza market. Jill C., are you paying attention?! They just added half a dozen locations around here, and I was thrilled. It isn’t Joe’s, but it was yummy! We ordered “The Family Pleaser,” which I remember being fed a number of times in my formative years. The salad was HUGE, and Brandon was surprised by it’s size. I explained to him the Family Pleaser had to feed families like the Kochers, Ochs, or Zubers and they weren’t small families.

So, back to soccer. Saturday, we had team pictures before our game. They take them at our enormous high school and kids and parents are wall to wall. It’s pretty well organized, but still it’s a crowd. After pictures, we had an afternoon game. Alex paid attention, somewhat. Still an improvement over last year. We had another game Sunday afternoon, which is a rarity. The day was so pretty. I was just thankful to have a credible excuse to be outside, rather than in my house trying to put it back into order. I’m losing the battle.

Right before the game on Sunday, I did a maternity shoot for Amy H.. I met Amy years ago when we both worked at Delta Faucet. We were pregnant with our first borns at the same time. This is baby number three for the Hommell’s and since she assures me it’s her last, we decided to snap a few belly shots. Amy’s an artist and is incredibly visual, so I was a little nervous.

Hmmmm...Have you seen this pose before? Hey, if it ain't broke...

Part of our weekend was devoted to our van. Here’s a little history on my vehicle. I didn’t want it. Before we had “Vanado,” as I call it--largely to annoy Brandon; we had an Expedition. I loved the Expedition, when it worked. It was brand new when we got it, but it ran like it had 200,000 miles on it. Among it’s tricks: starting itself…without keys…in our garage…on Halloween. It had to go. It made the most financial sense to buy a minivan. My brain knew it was the right thing to do, but I had to convince the rest of me. I could have bigger problems. So, I’ve driven it for six years and only grumbled about it once or twice a week. I will admit the automatic doors are wonderful. The only other feature I like is that it’s paid for.

My plan was to keep Vanado around for two more years. We have around 80,000 miles on it, which with in my mother’s book, is nothing. However, lately I’ve started to spend more time than I care to with our service advisor. On top of that, our friends who have virtually the same van lost their transmission at 100,000. From everything I’ve read, if your vehicle is paid for, you’re still better off spending money on occasional (in our case, every-other-month) repairs. Again, my head agrees, but my rear really wants to sit in the driver’s seat of a slightly used Yukon Denali, or something similar…I’m not that picky.

All the discussion sparked a cleaning frenzy in Brandon. He spent hours cleaning our van. I’m not sure if it was by order of the health department, an effort to help me tolerate the van, or in preparation to sell it. Truthfully, it doesn’t matter. It’s clean. I would be hard pressed to find a goldfish or a straw wrapper. God bless him!