August started with football. We loaded up and headed to Bryant-Denny stadium on the 5th for Fan Day. We had a great time watching the Tide practice and then got autographs from the players after practice ended. We walked out onto the field (Heaven for a Tide fan) and talked to the players. My favorites were Vinnie Sunseri and Robert Lester, but they were all very nice. Makes me proud to be a Crimson Tide fan.
After much deliberation, Hunter decided he wanted to celebrate his 14th birthday by going to Dallas for the Alabama season opener against Michigan. Being the awesome mom that I am, I found tickets and planned a trip. Our friends, the Stroups, decided to go with us since Taylor's birthday is in August as well. What better way for two 14 year old boys to celebrate their birthdays? Another of the boys' friends wanted a ticket for his (early) Christmas present, so his mom asked if he could tag along. We spent the month planning and getting everything ready for our trip. More on that later...
August means the beginning of another school year. On the 9th, we had Parent Orientation at the school. Every year I feel a little queasy when I write that big tuition check. Then I go to Parent Orientation night and I remember why I write that check every year - seeing my kids laugh and talk to their friends, seeing teachers (that truly care) spending time with the kids, seeing the older kids smile and talk to the little ones, seeing other parents who consider every kid there "one of their kids". It is worth every penny and then some. We are so very blessed to be a part of the NRCA family. Just had to brag about our school "family" a little bit.
School started back on the 14th. Katelyn started 4th grade. She asked me to walk her to her classroom just like every year. I took a picture of her at her desk just like every year. I smiled as I watched her join her friends and I headed out the door. I almost made it back to my car before the tears started. Hunter had walked in by himself this year you see. He went straight to his locker with his friends with no help from mom. There is no picture of him at his locker on the first day of school this year because I promised him I wouldn't do that. He started 9th grade this year, so of course he's too old for all of that now. He's a freshman. Yes, you read that right. A FRESHMAN! How did that happen? How can my baby boy be old enough to be in high school? As I walked out the door of the school that morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks that he will only have 3 more first days at that school. Only 3 more. And I know it will go by so much faster than I want it to. In just a blink, it will be his last first day of high school. So I did what any mom would do. I sat in my car and cried for a while. I thought these first days of school were supposed to get easier as they get older, but that hasn't been the case so far. Not for me anyway. Don't get me wrong. I love watching him experience all of these new things. I have loved watching him grow into a fantastic teenager. But he is growing up. And he's growing up fast. It seems like just yesterday he was that sweet little boy sitting in my lap. Now he's taller than I am. I had always heard about how quickly time passes when you have kids, but I didn't think it would pass this quickly. I am so very thankful for the wonderful memories we have made over the past 14 years and I look forward to the memories yet to come.
With the beginning of school comes the beginning of football season. Hunter played JV last year and he loved it. He decided to play again this year and since he's a freshman, he gets to play in both the JV and Varsity games. The first game of the season was on the 17th. We traveled to Montevallo to watch the NRCA Chargers play Evangel. The Chargers didn't win this one, but they played hard and never gave up. Hunter went in on the second offensive play of the game and played most of the game. The JV Chargers played their first game on the 20th. Although they didn't come out on top, they played well and kept it close. It was a long drive back from Millbrook after a loss on a Monday night though.
I got my right retina lasered on the 22nd. I am so glad that's over with. The right eye didn't hurt quite as bad as the left one, but both eyes were dilated and the brightness of the laser wasn't the best thing I've ever experienced. All I can say about that is my retinas better never detach after all of this. Hopefully I'll never have to go through that again.
On the 23rd, I spent the day working with Habitat for Humanity. The CEO of the company I work for agreed to give everyone one day a year off to give back to the community. I have always wanted to do something with HFH so I was very excited about the opportunity. Me and 2 of my co-workers spent the day doing some cleanup work on a house in town that's nearly ready for the family to move into. While I would have liked to do more work on the front-end of the project, it was still a day well spent. I look forward to doing things like this in the future.
The Chargers varsity football team had their first home game on the 24th. The school started a Jr Cheerleading program this year, so of course Katelyn had to sign up for that. The Jr Cheerleaders got to cheer during the first half of the game and they did a great job. The Chargers played hard against our cross-town rival, Tuscaloosa Christian, but they came up short. This is a young team though, and I know they have a win in them. They will be tough in a year or two when they get a little more experience.
On the 25th, we headed to Bryant-Denny stadium for live feed radio pre-sales. Most of you know that we sell the radios at all of the Bama home games as a fund raiser for the school. Several people had requested the radios to be sold and reprogrammed prior to the Bama-Michigan game, so we set up inside of Gate 1 and did just that. We didn't have quite the turn out we had hoped for, but we had a good time nonetheless. After the sales ended, we wound up getting a private tour of the stadium. It was awesome. We saw the room where Nick Saban does his press conferences and had pictures taken behind the podium. We saw the rooms where the recruits are taken and walked through the tunnel where the players come out for the games. We didn't get to go into the locker room because construction was going on, but we really enjoyed seeing parts of the stadium that are usually off-limits. That was the only time I have ever been in the stadium when the jumbo screens weren't on and the field wasn't painted. It was pretty cool.
The 26th was Hunter's birthday. He officially turned 14 at 10:45 am. Hard to believe he's 14. Since his birthday "celebration" is a trip to Dallas for the Bama-Michigan game, we kept this day simple. We had Rolo McFlurry's from McDonald's (one of his favorites), ate at Zaxby's (his choice) and had "hot now" Krispy Kreme doughnuts for dessert.
On the 27th, we travelled to Gardendale to watch the JV Chargers pick up their first win of the season over Tabernacle. Hunter recovered a fumble during the game to help his team win. Those boys had played so hard in their games so far and it was great to see them finally pick up a win. I'm hoping this is what they needed to turn their season around.
On the 31st, we loaded up and headed to Dallas. 7 people in one Expedition (4 adults and 3 very excited teenage boys) for 10 1/2 hours. We made it and settled into our hotel room around 12:30 am. The trip had it's moments of excitement. We were in Brandon, MS when cop cars flew past us on I-20. About a mile up the road, we saw 5 or 6 cop cars surrounding a car on the interstate. The driver had his hands held up sticking out of his window and the cops were walking toward the car with guns drawn. I have no idea what that guy did but it must have been bad. I'm glad we got past it before they shut the interstate down. We also saw a high speed chase in progress a little further into Mississippi. After that, it was pretty boring. Thank goodness. For a recap of the rest of our trip to Dallas, you'll have to read the next blog entry. How's that for a tease?
August was great month for us. My gym time took a big hit with school and football starting back up but that's okay. I'll get back into it when things slow down a little....around March maybe. Until then, I'll get in a workout when I can. I have been running outside some while I wait on football practice to end during the week. That's been good I think and something different to change up my routine. I went through the same sort of schedule conflicts last year, and I survived it without gaining any weight back so I have faith that I can do it again.
Until next time, I hope everyone's school year has started out great. Enjoy Friday night football (and Monday night football too if you're like us) and ROLL TIDE!!
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