Soccer Report and the State of the Union

[przed]

I was coaching solo last night since the Sweetie and Ros are up north visiting his parents. It was a lovely night for playing, just the right temperature, but the team sort of completely fell apart. Even our best players weren't playing well, and I had to keep reminding several of our less enthusiastic kids that they were there to play soccer, not tag. I also nearly lost my voice yelling at one of our goalies who was sitting on the ground, facing the wrong way as the opposing team was barrelling towards him. Final score, 6 – 0, and not for us. Oh well, we're still having fun, and I'm hoping this is just a blip.

In other news, I've been spending my time sans famille in reasonably productive and fun ways. I have:

Gone out for dinner and a movie with a friend I haven't seen for ages (The movie was Prometheus, which was middling, but Michael Fassbender was awesome in it, and I had fun picking out the Lawrence of Arabia quotes)

Gone for a pedicure and lunch with another friend

Gone to see Toronto FC play a friendly match with Liverpool FC with a mate from work (As a bonus, TFC held their own and kept LFC to a draw)

Frozen some fresh peaches (I'm hoping to get some actual canning done in the next week)

Tamed the weeds in the backyard

Seen The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX. (My verdict: The film did not need to be nearly 3 hours long, but the climax and denouement knock it out of the park. Loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Michael Caine made me cry. Twice!)

Added over 5,000 new words to my Take That Big Bang story (The sucker is going to hit nearly 20,000 words. Crikey!)

Not bad, considering I've been dealing with a stupid pain flare that resulted in not a whole lot of sleep over the weekend. (It was kicked off by me having two white chocolate chip cookies on Friday at a company picnic. Two measly cookies! Clearly, I need to avoid sugar entirely. Which okay, is a healthy thing to do, but still sucks. I've only had ice cream a couple of times this summer! /whine)

Tonight, I'm off to see Magic Mike with a few friends. Then tomorrow night, I jump on a bus and join the family up at my mom's.

Now, I just need to get cracking on the Pros Big Bang story. Zombies, ahoy!

Comments

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that all sounds fun! Well, okay, not the pain part, or the "Excuse me, am I the only one who realizes we're playing a game of soccer here?" part (except for the fun aspects of the latter), but all the rest! Go you, for the writing! \o/ And yay for movies and friends and things! Yay for having some time for yourself. *g*

I hope you have a lovely time with the family, and good luck with the BB!

[przed.livejournal.com]

Keeping the more, ahem, challenging kids focused on the soccer can be exhausting, if occasionally amusing. But the time to myself has been a nice bonus, even if I miss the family. And I'm far further ahead with the writing than I expected to be. I'm just hoping I can keep the same pace up and finish first drafts of both stories by the end of the summer. Fingers crossed!

Good with your BB story too!

[halotolerant.livejournal.com]

Boo for the pain flare *hugs* And being triggered by sugar? That sucks... Apply more Howard Donald and see if that helps, maybe... And if it's bad enough to interfere with sleep, add Jason too (I'm not saying you'd get more sleep, per se, with Howard and Jason around, but being awake might be more fun...)

Hee, Magic Mike! It's cracktastic, frankly and I think may do more good spawning AUs than anything else. And I'm glad the Dark Knight was worth it (I have quite deliberately spoiled myself for at least one Big Spoiler because I'll never make it to see it in cinema (not least if it's 3 hrs long) so I want to be able to read the fic before the DVD hits - yes, I'm prioritising *g*)

Woot wordcounts! I'm currently trying to herd my Pros into something more - might succeed. Otherwise I'm just being tremendously optimistic about my ability to write the last 5k of Pros and my whole TT fic in one month, which is actually not that unreasonable *coughs* because I often am most productive under pressure. We'll see *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

The pain thing for me is all about diet. I've already lost tomato sauce, spicy stuff, acidic stuff (including most fruit), and caffeine (including chocolate). To lose sugar entirely would be...irksome. Less irksome with added Howard and Jason, though. *g*

I'm approaching Magic Mike with muted expectations, but expect to enjoy it, even if only from an AU-inspring perspective. I have to say that the seats in The Dark Knight were not kind to the arthritis in my back, so I would not recommend it with your far more serious case.

I'm astounded this TT story is as long as it is. I've just hit 17,000 words, FFS. Crazy. But at least it's nearly done. The Pros story probably needs another 14,000 words, but I'm hoping to do all that in the next month. (Like you, I find a virtual gun to my head inspiring.) If I can get the two stories done for the end of August, I'm signing up as a vidder for the TT BB. Keep your fingers crossed!

[halotolerant.livejournal.com]

I've never thought my flares were diet-related but if it has such an effect on you now I'm wondering if I ought to try elimination diets or something... *ponders* Mind you, I'm off a few things on your list anyway due to my heartburn (which is the legacy of two weeks on Diclofenac so kind of the arthritis' fault too) If I 'lost' caffeine I don't think I could move at all, though, so probably not that *g*

I really wouldn't go to a 3 hour film now unless I was expecting to adore it, and whilst I'm keen to see Dark Knight, I'm not expecting it to make me bounce with joy.

It is very exciting that your TT story is so long! And I certainly hope you can vid for the Big Bang because that would be *awesome* I still need to settle on a plot idea for my TT fic - I have a few kicking about that could finally get beyond the first sketch of an idea but then other ideas assault me too. Hmmm. I keep promising elfwhistletree something with dragons in it, for a start... *ponder!face*

[przed.livejournal.com]

My pain issue at the moment isn't the arthritis thing, it's interstitial cystitis, a.k.a. painful bladder syndrome, which is a whole different ball of wax. And not something I'd wish on my worst enemy. Fortunately I have a mild case and I can mostly keep it at bay with diet, but when I cheat or accidentally eat/drink something I shouldn't, it's miserable.

I can just about handle 3 hour films, but I no longer do double bills. Unless it's the film festival, in which case I break out the ibuprofen and hope it doesn't eat a hole in my stomach before the festival is over.

The TT story is ridiculously long. Especially since I initially thought I'd be hard pressed to get even 10,000 words from the story idea. (Which was no more than "what was going through Mark's head during the FTR interview?") Whether I vid for the BB or not, I think when the BBs are done I'm going to go on another writing hiatus and try and finish another vid or two. Must vid TT!

Dragons! TT with dragons! I heartily approve of this idea. Or any other idea you come up with. More TT from you would be a very good thing.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Well, darn for the soccer loss but at least the kids are getting some exercise. You've been busy! I do love a nice pedicure. Enjoy your writing and bus riding.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I mostly thrive on busy. Mostly. *g*

I've discovered pedicures late in life, but now I love them. I'm working my way through every wacky colour our fave spa has for my toes. I'm currently sporting pearly blue.

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

Michael Caine made me cry.
He did that to me as well. *sobs*

I've been dealing with a stupid pain flare
Hope you feel better soon ♥.

Oh and bring on the Zombies.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one! Oh, Alfred!

The pain flare is fading. I'm hoping I'll be sleeping better in a day or two.

And the zombies are on the way!

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

I know it's a healthy diet, but it really sucks that you can't even indulge two measly cookies.

Cannot wait to read your BB, btw, the longer the better say I!

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'd give up cookies if I could have ice cream once in a while. I've been hesitant to have any this summer, and it's looking more like that's a good call. But I luuuuvvvvvvv ice cream. :(

Can't wait to read your BB too! Pros and Castiel FTW!

[jennicide.livejournal.com]

I think my favourite part of the TFC/Liverpool friendly is how much more interesting the match got in the second half when all the regulars were off and it was mostly just academy players (on both sides, really). Some of those kids are hungry, and it's encouraging to see the up and coming talent TFC actually has!

Aaaaaaand thanks for reminding me I really need to buckle down and write my Big Bang story! I've only got around 2,100 words written... doesn't help that yesterday I had to rewrite most of that because it just didn't feel right. The boys are not playing nicely in my head right now, or maybe they're protesting because I'm putting them all through the ringer.

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was really great how much heart the younger players showed in the second half. And it was awesome that the kids were the ones who scored for TFC.

I'm sort of amazed that my story has come together so well. It's been a rare story where I've had no earthly idea what the end game was, but each scene kept falling in place, and I've now just got two scenes to go. I'm off up north tonight, but I think I should reasonably be finished early next week. Of course, that leaves nearly half of what's looking to be a 30,000 word Pros story to write also by the end of the summer, but I'm going to try not to think about that.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the boys start playing nicely for you. And I have to say, I'm eager to see how you're putting them through the ringer.

[rangerke.livejournal.com]

It's a shame about the footie, but on the bright side, it will already be a victory if all the goalies would be facing in the right direction next game :p. The pain-thing sounds horrible, and no more sugar... yikes!
You've been a busy bee again! Nearly 20,000 words. That got me properly excited! I'm glad the guys are being their nice chatty selves with you ;).