Hockey

Derek decided to play street hockey this year instead of basketball. This is his first year playing hockey and he barely knows how to skate, so it should be interesting. This year the league added a roof to the rink and overlayed the concrete floor with a soft and slick skate surface. It's a really nice facility.

This past Saturday the league put the players through a series of evaluations in order determine teams. Some of the kids could really fly and handle the puck, but there were a number of kids like Derek who were just starting out - even a couple girls.

Derek had been using his regular street roller blades which didn't help because the wheels were too hard and slick to properly grip the new skate surface. We got him some real street hockey skates a couple days ago and he was very excited to try them out at his first practice last night. Unfortunately, practice had to be cancelled because of the rain so he skated around in the garage instead. I guess, even with the roof, the slick skate surface is very susceptible to moisture.

Basketball

Basketball season is under way. Adam had his first game last Friday. Derek had originally signed up, but decided to play street hockey instead. This year we switched to a new league at a church much closer. We have been wanting to play in this league for a few seasons, but the signup is always so early (just as Fall soccer is getting under way) and the league fills up within hours so we've always missed it. This year we made a point of trying to get in. Helen got to the signup just in time. Some people had been waiting in line for hours, but she hit it just right and walked right in.

Last year Adam was the top scorer on his team, but this year he has moved up to a new age group and the competition in this league is better so things are not coming as easily. He says he likes where he used to play better.

Immigration Day

Derek and neighbor Becca

Derek, along with the rest of the 5th grade, has been studying immigration. Yesterday I went to Derek's school and read an immigration story to his class and today the 5th graders are staging a mock immigration.

The school lobby is set up to be Ellis Island with immigration officials, judges, etc. The students were assigned a persona which included name, occupation, country, age, etc. Derek's persona is Mario Osborn. He is 43 years old, a potato farmer, and came over in steerage class from Germany. He has a scalp infection and his suitcase contains a few trinkets he hopes to use to favorably influence immigration officials.

Helen was rushing out the door in the morning when she told me quickly that Derek wanted a mustache for Immigration Day. She showed me the mascara and eye liner and gave me some quick instructions. I nodded to confirm that I had it under control.

I came back from my morning run as Derek was getting ready to head to the bus stop. I quickly worked to apply his mustache. I had two containers to choose from and I was proud that I was able to discern the mascara from the eye liner. However, the mascara applicator did not seem to be working. I quickly remembered that Helen said something about maybe needing to sharpen it. So I sharpened it and tried again. Still nothing would come out and Derek's upper lip was getting raw. I gave up, put down the mascara, and told Derek I didn't know what was wrong. Derek picked up the mascara, looked at it, and pulled a cap off the other end. It turns out there are 2 ends to a mascara container (who knew?) and I was working with the eraser end, which won't apply the mascara - even if you sharpen it.