Things have been moving pretty quickly this week and I just realized I never got a chance to write a note about the trip to the JAX.

What a fantastic trip it was. It was really great to see some other family members since we all seem to be so spread out these days :( I was also quite impressed with the cities of Savannah and Charleston which had some really great atmosphere and history, and best of all was the great assortment of southern cooking we stuffed ourselves with. My fav ... shrimp n' grits :D

Highlights:
- our kick ass 4th of July southern style shrimp boil w/ corn on the cob and wedge salad ... mmm. Add in some corona's, a beatuiful beach, and fireworks and you've got a perfect night.

- dinner at the Homestead ... grubbin' southern food.

- walking around Savannah ... a beautiful yet eerie place.

- dinner at Hominy Grille ... best shrimp n' grits i've ever had. yum.

- sea kayaking w/ dolphins @ hilton head island.

- martini club followed by dog races. no explanation needed :)

There were a couple times that the whole trip seemed iffy and we weren't sure we were going to be able to go, but I'm glad we did. Can't think of a better way to have spent the 4th this year.

-- AG

Another really tough game yesterday where we once again only had 11 players for the whole game.

The first half was brutal and after about 20 minutes we got really sloppy. We had a # of opportunities, but so did they and at the half the score was 1-1. I started the game out in the field, but about half way through I tweaked my knee and it didn't feel too great for the rest of the game :(

In the second half I moved to goalie since we were once again without our regular goalkeeper and somehow we really managed to settle down a bit in the second half and play a better game. We had another unlucky call in the box which resulted in a PK, however this time I was sharp, stood my ground, and the guy kicked it pretty much right at me. I didn't do much, however I think that having the PK blocked did a lot for the team and helped raise everyone's spirit.

We got our second goal on a great counter attack that we controlled nicely and finished with a great shot.

We're still not making things easy on ourselves with all these PKs, no subs, no goalkeeper, but at least we are still winning. I should give some credit to the other team because they played just as well as we did and had some very strong players.

Went to see this Steve Martin adapted play called Underpants last night with the family+. Chels says that I was "bustin' up" the whole time which I suppose is the truth. There were definitely a couple times where I thought I was the only laughing and once I stopped I would wonder if nobody else got the joke or if I really was the only one who thought it was funny. The play was a fun little romp about a woman who had accidently had her underpants drop in public.

Funny stuff I say ... funny stuff.

I just wasted an hour in traffic ... and it wasn't even during morning traffic times!

I honestly wish we could rewind time back to the time when the rail/automobile wars happened and change the outcome so that trains had won. It would be incredibly interesting to see different the country would be if it was blanketed in a huge network of railways which were only supported by a more minor network of roads and automobiles. I also think this would have severly changed how our modern cities were designed and would have forced more centralized downtown areas around train stops rather than the suburban sprawl that we live with today.

Can't wait to move to the city and be able to use some public transportation for a while.

yay, it's now been nearly 2 months since I got back but oh well. You can find the images in the gallery, which I am just realizing doesn't actually have a link as of yet, oops.

Australia Photo Gallery

i put up the originals so that people can actually print them out if they like.

Enjoy!

-- Allen

Finally got back on the field yesterday and got a chance to run around for little while. I think I had an overly optimistic vision in my mind where I would step out onto the field and everything would just feel normal again, but that certainly wasn't the case. Every move I made had an unsettling sense of uncertainty that really suprised me, and even with the knee support I wore I could tell that I was holding back a lot.

At the end of the day the fact is that it just felt really good to get out and run around a bit, and I am pretty optimistic that I will rebuild my strength fairly quickly. My knee was a little sore last night, but felt nice and strong by morning :)

-- AG

Blogging from Bob's house :)

Finally got a little action yesterday when I filled in for our injured goalkeeper, which is ironic because I am injured too. hmm.

They got a lame goal off of a penalty kick at the end of the first half and i actually almost blocked it. It was a little off to my right and high, however i was only able to get enough of it to deflect it off the crossbar and in. bummer.

Anways, we got the "V" even though it was another shaky game with only 12 ppl showing up and 3 of us were playing injured.

Back in action after the break :D

-- AG

something to tie me over while i'm away for a week.

Quantic - Mishaps Happening
Wax Poetic - Nublu Sessions