I'm Back

Ok well I have actually been back for almost a week now but I have had a lot of little things going on. And it has taken me a spell to upload pictures and for some reason they aren't all uploading quite right. I plan to have pics for people to see this weekend along with some commentary on my blog.

As to how everything went - it went good. I have a nice tan - that is starting to fade already. And I cut my hair short after having it in braids for a week, resulting in seeing my natural hair color for maybe the second time in my life. I'm not really sure how I feel about the color but T wants me to keep it this way for awhile so......we'll keep it for awhile and see if it grows on me. No pun intended.

As to other events going on, the kitties are good of course. Other than being very needy upon our return. Those poor neglected little fluff balls. All the food and water then can have - a semi ok litter box. Warm house to snuggle and romp in. Toys to play with - oh the woe they must feel! LOL

Played in my women's game last night which I got to be a forward - I love that! Sometimes I have to play center mid and that is tougher. We played 11v8, then 11v9, then 11v10 by the second half. Needless to say we played with no insistence in the first half and as a result put ourselves in a bad position in second half. We went up 1-0 from a GREAT run that YOURS TRULY made all the way down the right flank, cutting in toward the box and making a great square pass in front of goal to our lone player that got forward with me. She got caught up with the keeper but the ball landed at her feet 1 foot from goal and did a back heel kick into goal. Then we had some poor defensive mistakes and allowed them to have some breakaway runs - so they tied it 1-1. Then......I pulled a Ronaldo.



I ended up battling for the ball with their sweeper in two small skirmishes in a row and then she took a bad touch and I realized – 50/50 in the box. I probably wasn’t going to get there but I was going to force it and see if I could get the ball or a call. We both went in hard, I angled my shoulder down into her and stretched my leg. Barely getting the ball - and she swiped me. Now the reality is, it was just a good hard challenge and most likely other refs would not have called the penalty - but you never know and if you don't try - you'll never know if you can get the goal. I got the call – although really, I probably shouldn’t have gotten the call. It’s a penalty!!!! At that moment, I was tired from battling and running. I had been knocked down pretty good – which I of course took the girl with me. But nonetheless - lots of times if you have been knocked down - you shouldn't take the kick. And my eye is all blurred – I have had some eye infection for two weeks and last night playing it got real bad. Driving home was not good either. So I asked three girls if they wanted to take it – seeing as I felt I wasn’t probably the best candidate at the moment. Everyone shrugged it off. So I set the ball, took my steps, looked at the ref, he blew the whistle. I ran up, struck and…………………………………………………….



Right to the keeper…........dead center. For crying out loud Athena – DO BETTER!!!! It would have put us up 2-1. We ended up losing 2-1 and I was so pissed at myself. Can you believe that? The only thing worse would have been if I shanked the ball around the goal. At least I got it on frame. Our keeper was joking at the end that if the keeper had just dived like they all do then I would have scored! True seeing as many PK's scored even in pro matches are dead center and the keeper dived - whereas if he had just stood still he would have made the save. So in the end - I hope I get another chance to make up for that mistake. I don't like making those kinds of bad mistakes. So just like Ronaldo in the second minute of the Barcelona game this week - I missed the penalty that could have saved the day and turned the match around.