GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!

Madissen's first soccer game of the season was today...Game opened with Madissen playing sweeper and getting called for a handball! Yikes. The other team's excellent, strong, and ferocious goalie came out of the box for the penalty kick. Score 1 for the other team. Never did like Mads playing sweeper. Ahhhh then she gets moved to offense! Assist to Madissen, still first half. Eventually, the first half ended tied 2-2. In the beginning of the second half, the other team got the go ahead goal. Ten minutes later, Mads' team ties it off the foot of her teammate Taylor (an excellent ball handler). 5 minutes left in the the second half, Mads handles a corner kick and boots it in sending us up 4-3. A couple of minutes later, she sealed the game with when she handled a deep throw in from the goalie, dribbled a couple times and took the long, high shot. 5-3. She was really excited. I was there. Papaw was there. Her cousin was there. And, her dad was there. Nice showing for her first game back here.

Wish I could post some pictures

My aunt Bev and uncle Mert invited us over yesterday because my cousin Dawn (lives in San Diego) is visiting. Mads and I went of course, as did my parents, my sister Kris and her two kids. Uncle Mert gassed up the speed boat (they live on a lake) and we went tubing. It was a lot of fun! Dawn took pictures, which she is going to email me and when she does I will post. Mads was a trooper...Uncle Mert tried his hardest to dump her, but she hung on and road it out. It was good getting to spend time with relatives.

Concept REALITY?

Even though my blog title is "Rebecca's Reality" I am having a difficult time these days understanding reality. Walking into my hometown and my parents' home is like walking into the Twilight Zone.

Really. I don't think anyone could be quite aware of why I left the first time around unless some time was spent here. I sit back and ask myself if coming back here was really worth it at all.

In an effort to not become long-winded or too personal, my family is less than dysfunctional. Because I don't know who peaks in at my blog, I can not divulge as much information as I would like. But I just sit back and watch and question.

The worst part is that because I am spending this school year with my parents, I am directly involved, which is affecting me just as it did before. Home is supposed to be the place where you are loved and respected and your accomplishments are celebrated. Supposed to be.

Add that how difficult it is to be away from Joel (and Simon).

I have spent a lot of nights in tears...but my days are spent in anticipation of making my stay out here work. Although I began my blog with the hard stuff, I have been working to ensure that I get my foot in the door at this great school, that Madissen is comfortable with having both of her parents in the same area, and that I take the time necessary to become physically fit again.

I have been working on the curriculum for my teaching job, (Whew...talk about pressure. This job is everything I have always thought would be great, but didn't think existed.) which I will blog more about later. I am really excited for it. The gentleman that I am teaching part time with is excellent. He is so much fun to be around and he is so full of passion for teaching. It is contagious! It feels good to have him in my corner.

I begin back to Master' work Aug. 21. Excited again as well. The classes will be a great weekend filler. Not to mention, I have always loved being the student. Twenty-five page papers excite me. I love being able to exercise analytical thought into writing. I may be needing some help...be ready for questions/discussions.

Madissen starts school Aug. 22. She is already enrolled in soccer, which starts this coming Tuesday. I am really glad that her dad is making a greater effort to help with costs. He bought her cleats today. There are a lot of other issues about her being over at his house that bother me, but one day at a time/one issue at a time. I took her to get her hair relaxed and she looks beautiful and is much more confident. She was really excited about how she looked.

I started going back to the gym to help pass time. I am really excited about this too. I reenrolled in the gym I was going to before I moved. When I started going to the gym, which is a women's only gym, in 1999, I weighed 253 pounds. (My heaviest was 273 when I left the hospital after having Mads in 1997.) When I moved to California, I weighed 175. Although I am back to about 180, I am excited to go back to the place that was so important to my original weight loss. Goal set: lose the last 30.

And tonight, I just babysat my neices tonight, which is the first time for that. It was nice to be able to spend some quality time with them. They are beautiful little girls.

I am working at it!

Happenings!

Welcome to Swanton, Ohio... No, there were actually no welcome signs waiting for me, but my mom was awake when Joel and I pulled into the Harp Homestead around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning. We had just come from Chicago ( a slight detour so we could go to Niketown on the Magnificent Mile) which was a little anti-climactic. We didn't buy anything. **And normally, I would love to hit the return key right here, but my dad's computer is not permitting me to do such a thing, so this blog is going to be one GIANT paragraph. Oh, that hurts the teacher's sense of writing pride. ** After Joel and I left Becky's, we headed north, northeast. We decided to take the 80 through Nebraska. I GOT PULLED OVER by two youngin officers. They took both our licenses and decided to only give me a WARNING for going 80 in a 75 and because I didn't have my front plate on the car. The even funnier thing is that in order to give me this warning, the officer to me back to sit in the passenger seat of the cruiser while the other one stayed and talked with Joel. The one I was with was asking some pretty personal questions. At one point when he asked if Joel was staying in Ohio with me or flying back I kindly said..."That is really none of your business." Come to find out at a rest stop a piece down the interstate, there is a lot of drug trafficing through Nebraska from California. Don't Joel and I look like major cocaine dealers? ** After we got through Nebraska, we stopped in Iowa. Yes, everyone, I took Joel the next morning to see the Bridges of Madison County. We even ate at the diner where some scenes were filmed in the movie. It was awesome. The bridge architechture is so cool. They rebuilt one of the bridges that was arsoned and had to bring in some Amish from Southern Iowa to finish it because modern builders were not able to duplicate the structure. I thought that was great.** From Iowa to home, but first we stopped in Chicago as noted earlier. Fun, but wished be had more time. ** Now I am trying to cram a lifetime into a few days. I don't want to let him go. No Simon (thank you Adam for taking care of my baby and posting the picture), and no Joel. At least I have Madissen and a great job! 100 % graduation rate. That is unheard of. I wonder if they know what they hired considering it is the largest conservative district in the Northwest Ohio area. :) I will fit right in, yeah? ** Anyway, time to go. I wanted to get in what I could now. I put Joel on the plane Monday, and I am quite sure all that I would have to write at that point were wonderful sob stories about how much I will him. So, give me until the middle of next week, when I will still miss him, but will hopefully have stopped being a baby about it. See y'all!